Dormitory Building.
A room that had originally served as a storage closet in the dormitory was cleaned out, the clutter temporarily relocated elsewhere.
One by one, the Uma Musume who had been dashing across the racetracks for the past few months filed in, forming a cram session to tackle the upcoming exams.
A blackboard stood at the front of the room.
Fuji Kiseki and Hishi Amazon, dressed in their student uniforms, stood there, tasked with explaining the first half-year's curriculum and clearing up any tricky questions for the students.
Barbatos sat in the corner by the window.
To borrow a line from an anime she'd watched in a past life, this was the King's throne.
Glancing around at her fellow cram session attendees, she spotted Grass Wonder, Special Week, King Halo, and a bunch of familiar faces she'd run into during the Triple Crown races.
"Man, no matter how high-spirited you are during races, when exam time rolls around, you still gotta hit the books."
Barbatos sighed.
Even though this was a school for Uma Musume, turns out you had to study more than just running.
As her sigh faded, a few of the girls nodded in strong agreement, inwardly wishing the first-half races hadn't ended just yet and the exams could hold off a little longer.
But most of the Uma Musume packed into the room had a deep, bitter look in their eyes.
High-spirited during races? That's you, Barbatos. You're noble! You're something else! And we're the ones stuck being the oysters here!
Of course, that was just their silent little grumble, their petty venting. They still worshipped Barbatos, the reigning number one in Japan. Even being in a cram session with her was pretty cool.
Coming to a cram session had felt a bit embarrassing at first, but if Japan's number one was here too, what was there to be embarrassed about?
"Ahem."
At the front, Fuji Kiseki cleared her throat softly, drawing everyone's attention.
"Exams are just a few days away. Since everyone's race schedules were different, the material you've missed varies too."
"With that in mind, I'll be breaking down the key points for all the first-half exam subjects over the next few days, giving you a quick rundown."
"If there's still anything you don't get after the cram sessions are over, feel free to come find me privately."
Despite being a legendary Uma Musume, Fuji Kiseki didn't carry herself with legendary majesty.
She was more like the "friendly big sister next door," a perennially top-ten most popular Uma Musume at Tracen Academy.
And it was precisely because of her personality that Symboli Rudolf had entrusted her with the dorm head duties.
--+--
Thirty minutes later.
At the front, Hishi Amazon, who had been standing beside Fuji Kiseki, was now slumped over a nearby desk, dozing off.
Among the girls in the audience, led by Special Week, a good number had also joined Hishi Amazon in dreamland.
Uma Musume were, by nature, born to run—a race that loved to move.
Forcing them to sit still in a classroom and study was sheer torture. Even Barbatos agreed with that sentiment wholeheartedly.
Still, Barbatos forced herself to stay alert, listening to Fuji Kiseki's explanations and adding annotations to the study notes Fuji had provided.
Fuji Kiseki wasn't a real teacher, after all. She'd set up this cram session, and attendance was completely voluntary. She certainly wasn't about to disturb the sleeping beauties' dreams.
But Barbatos, with her past life's experience of countless exams, knew exactly how much it sucked to stare at a blank paper, unable to answer a single question.
Instead of complaining during the exam, it was better to be thoroughly prepared during the lessons.
Besides.
She glanced at Seiun Sky beside her, who had pushed her desk together with Barbatos's and was studying just as hard. There was no way she was going to fall behind.
After these cram sessions, Seiun Sky was definitely going to pass.
But if she failed... when summer training camp came, and Seiun Sky and the others were playing on the beach, would she be stuck on the shore, having miserable make-up lessons?
Especially with Seiun Sky in a swimsuit—there was no way she'd be able to concentrate then!
She absolutely had to study hard!
A green breeze rustled past Barbatos. She focused even more intently on the lesson, grasping the knowledge Fuji Kiseki explained even faster.
The sleeping Uma Musume—well, most of them—didn't notice anything unusual. Everything seemed the same as before.
But at the front, the corner of Fuji Kiseki's mouth twitched involuntarily as she lectured.
No wonder she was the number one in the Zone, not just in Japan but the world.
Using her Zone to listen to a lecture—who else could have come up with that? Was this what they meant by "full-power Zone"? Did it actually make listening more effective?
The next few days passed in much the same way.
Every day after morning training, Barbatos and Seiun Sky would head straight to Fuji Kiseki's cram session to study.
The girls led by Special Week, probably thinking they could just sleep a bit and wake up to study later, also showed up to clock in at the cram session every day.
Until finally, exam day arrived.
At the exam venue, all the students were gathered in the classroom, except for El Condor Pasa, who was away on her French expedition.
Test papers were passed down the rows.
When Barbatos got her paper, a sudden feeling of "that's it?" washed over her, just like the year-end exams last term.
For a moment, Barbatos wasn't sure if the Tracen Academy exams were always this simple, or if Senior Fuji Kiseki's cram session was just that good.
No need for overthinking.
Answer after answer flowed onto the test paper. She was writing furiously, like there was no tomorrow.
By the time she finished the entire paper, only a third of the exam time had passed. She looked around.
Seiun Sky, King Halo, Grass Wonder—some had already finished, others were on the last page.
Special Week, however, seemed to be wrestling with the very first page, as if praying for the Three Goddesses to take pity on her and help her complete this exam.
Then she pulled out the "Fuku-chan Special Exam Pencil!" that Barbatos had seen her use last year.
Barbatos knew right then: Special Week's fun summer camp was probably going to be spent in cram sessions.
Her gaze drifted away from Special Week and landed on Seiun Sky, who had already fallen asleep on her desk. That girl could fall asleep anywhere, anytime.
After a moment's thought, Barbatos put her head down on the desk too, closed her eyes, and rested, waiting for the papers to be collected.
This counted as a rare moment of relaxation after all the training and studying.
During the exam, it was easy to slip into a dream. She was only woken up when it was time to hand in her paper.
And just like that, the first-half exams were over. Some were happy, some were sad.
The question was, would Twin Turbo still be as cocky as before?
Yawning, still groggy from her nap, Barbatos looked at Seiun Sky, who had just woken up too, and issued an invitation. "Wanna go check out swimsuits later?"
It was their one chance to go to the beach during summer training camp. There was no way she was wearing the standard-issue school swimsuit, right?
--+--
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.