The black-haired woman standing at the podium commanded a silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.
"Without rules, there is no order; without the six musical laws, the five notes fall out of tune."
Her pale golden eyes swept across the room.
Students, trainers, coaches, teachers…
Finally, her gaze settled on Agnes Tachyon and the others.
"Effective immediately, Tracen Academy will implement a strict management system!"
It meant managing and recording every individual's behavior.
During the Uma Musume's competitive periods, everything must proceed according to their trainer's plan.
No actions unrelated to the scheduled activities are permitted within the designated timeframes.
Every trainer must strictly manage the Uma Musume under their charge.
"After this meeting concludes, I will distribute forms to each trainer. One will be your personal schedule, the other the schedule for the Uma Musume you are responsible for."
"I expect every trainer to take responsibility for their Uma Musume and dedicate their full effort to them."
"Daily training, diet, sleep—not a single aspect can be neglected!"
As Kashimoto Riko listed regulation after regulation, the faces in the crowd quickly soured.
They say a new broom sweeps clean.
But this wasn't just sweeping clean…
This was flipping Tracen's entire culture of freedom on its head!
Akikawa Yayoi's eyebrows were practically knotted together.
Are you people trying to turn Tracen into a prison?!
Restrained by the other's position, no matter how much displeasure churned inside her, Akikawa Yayoi could only grit her teeth and swallow it.
"That concludes my arrangements for Tracen. If anyone has objections to these regulations, you are welcome to visit the Acting Chairwoman's office at any time. I am open to discussion."
With that, Kashimoto Riko bowed to the assembly.
While everyone was still digesting the new rules, Symboli Rudolf stepped forward from behind Akikawa Yayoi.
"Everyone."
She spoke.
All eyes focused on Rudolf once more.
"As you have heard from the Acting Chairwoman, Tracen will soon undergo a management reform."
"During this period, the Student Council will also make some adjustments."
She spoke deliberately.
"The current Student Council system cannot fully shoulder the management responsibilities required by the Acting Chairwoman. Therefore… to better serve everyone, I wish to announce to all students of Tracen."
She paused.
The air grew so still, you could almost hear hearts stop.
"I, Symboli Rudolf, will resign from my position as Student Council President. I will entrust the management duties of the Student Council to the personnel appointed by the Acting Chairwoman."
"I believe they can manage the reformed Student Council effectively and provide better support for the student body!"
Her voice echoed through the auditorium.
Rudolf slowly lowered her head in a bow.
The crowd fell silent.
Several minutes passed.
"Wha… What on earth—?!!"
A tidal wave of shock and noise erupted in the hall.
--+--
"Wake-up time, class time, lunch break, training time…"
With each item recited, Toujou Hana's eyebrow twitched.
This isn't management…
This is scripting every single thing every Uma Musume must do each day!
It's like printing out their entire existence onto paper.
Are you sure this is training, not programming robots?
Looking at the form in her hand, the young girl couldn't help but ask.
"Trainer, does everyone really have to keep these records?"
"Yes. You heard her. They'll be conducting irregular checks on the content of these forms."
If an Uma Musume's actions were found to deviate from the records, the Academy would hold the trainer accountable.
They might even be labeled negligent.
Hearing Toujou Hana's words, the girl's expression grew serious.
"How would they know if the records on the forms are true or false?"
"Hard to say. There might be dedicated inspectors."
Constantly monitoring both trainers and Uma Musume every single day.
That was far too strict!
The girl thought to herself.
It sounded like a measure specifically designed to prevent Uma Musume from slacking off.
But she couldn't shake a strange feeling.
Was it really necessary to go to such extreme lengths just to stop someone from skipping training?
"Implementing strict time management might not be a bad thing for the Uma Musume…"
Toujou Hana said, "Kashimoto Riko… I saw her once at the Central headquarters when she was serving as a supervising instructor for trainer evaluations. Even then, she was already a seasoned trainer."
"She's from Central?"
"More precisely, Central's management tier."
Resourceful and capable.
"People from Central say you could see her every day, carrying thick stacks of record books everywhere. She's a capable person who implements management in every detail."
Not only that, she also managed her own team of Uma Musume and achieved quite notable results in competitions.
"Though that has little to do with us…"
Toujou Hana rubbed her aching eyes.
"Whether these forms exist or not, our work remains the same. Silence, are you prepared for today's training?"
"...Yes, I am."
It took the girl a few seconds to respond.
"Next is the team's coordinated training. Remember to keep an eye on Narita Brian. The moment she exceeds the prescribed training load, stop her immediately. Don't let her push herself. If she doesn't listen to you, report back to me."
"Understood." The girl nodded.
Someone from Central.
So, they really are targeting her…
--+--
Meanwhile, in Manhattan Cafe's room.
Heavy curtains blocked out the sunlight. A celestial-shaped desk lamp rotated slowly.
Two girls sat wordlessly on the sofa.
"This is troublesome…"
Agnes Tachyon spoke, dropping sugar cube after sugar cube into her teacup.
If for others, these rules merely disrupted their personal freedom…
For Agnes Tachyon, they directly strangled her research progress.
Her research was fundamentally built on sacrificing vast amounts of training time…
Ignoring the instructors' lectures, even skipping basic curriculum classes.
That was how her research had progressed smoothly.
And now, the Acting Chairwoman suddenly demanded all instructors and trainers document the Uma Musume's schedules.
Who attended training, who left midway, who was absent, and for how long.
Submitting this whole process would make it easy to pinpoint any Uma Musume with irregular behavior.
This was clearly a vast intelligence network, tracking every move of each Uma Musume with precision.
Once this system was in place, every trainer at Tracen would become the eyes of the Acting Chairwoman.
And, more distressingly…
They were key surveillance targets.
Everything they did each day would be scrutinized clearly.
This move of hers had directly hit Agnes Tachyon's Achilles' heel.
What a pain.
She kept stirring the sugar cubes.
Just then.
Staring blankly at the slowly swirling coffee in her cup, Manhattan Cafe spoke as if in a daze.
"Is it possible…"
That 'friend' could become the trainer for both of us?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.