Some time later, in the Student Council, Air Groove questioned Symboli Rudolf's previous actions towards the three new Trainers:
"President, why are you letting the new Trainers tour Tracen Academy by themselves? Tracen Academy is so big, it's easy for newcomers to get lost. At a time like this, shouldn't we have Teio guide the new Trainers?"
"You're right, Air Groove. Normally, I would have Teio show new students or new Trainers around, but this time I didn't. I have my own reasons."
Symboli Rudolf smiled slightly at her words and said to Air Groove, "These three Trainers... are very special. Compared to the new Trainers I've met, they are much more mature and independent."
"We've all seen their files, Air Groove. What's your assessment of the three new Trainers?"
"They're all very good. To be able to pass the Central qualification exam at such a young age and be directly assigned to our academy, they are undoubtedly outstanding," Air Groove replied honestly, not knowing why Symboli Rudolf suddenly asked this.
"I also looked at their test scores and the answers to many open-ended questions. They all have very distinct characteristics."
"Oh? Tell me about it," Symboli Rudolf asked curiously, not expecting Air Groove's level of concern for the new Trainers to be even greater than her own, and more meticulous.
"Trainer Ikezoe and Trainer Wada's scores were more focused on their judgment on the racecourse, and on coordination and training with Uma Musume. That is to say, they are better at helping Uma Musume perform on the racecourse to achieve better results."
"Additionally, Trainer Ikezoe's tactics are clearly more aggressive, while Trainer Wada's are relatively more conservative, and he excels at resolving targeted situations, which is very rare."
Clearly, Air Groove had a very high opinion of Wada and Ikezoe, and before Symboli Rudolf could speak, Air Groove continued to add:
"And Trainer Imanami... I'm ashamed to say, he almost made it so that even an Uma Musume as self-proclaimed strict as myself couldn't find any flaws. His paper performance was perfect, and when facing various open-ended questions, his answers were also impeccable. He is truly a top-tier Trainer."
"Honestly, if he didn't look so young, I would have thought these were the paper results of some seventy or eighty-year-old veteran Trainer."
"—Therefore, Air Groove, in the face of three such excellent new Trainers, we should give them some freedom to experience the atmosphere of Tracen Academy, so they can more boldly choose their in charge Uma Musume."
It was only then that Symboli Rudolf nodded and stated her true thoughts: "They are all excellent Trainers with their own independent thinking abilities. I believe their judgment will not disappoint us."
"...As expected of the President, she noticed it early on," Air Groove couldn't help but exclaim, seemingly understanding at this moment why Symboli Rudolf was the President and she was the Vice President.
"Tap, tap, tap."
"Hmm? Come in," Symboli Rudolf instinctively replied to the knocking sound, and soon, the Student Council door opened, and someone who had just left earlier walked in.
"President."
"—Trainer Wada, what's wrong? Are you lost?"
The person who came was none other than Wada Ryuji. However, facing Symboli Rudolf's question, Wada shook his head, walked forward, and said with a particularly serious and solemn expression:
"No, I want to inquire about a person, or rather... the name of an Uma Musume."
"Oh? You're already interested in an Uma Musume so quickly?" Symboli Rudolf immediately perked up and asked with interest, while Air Groove immediately handed a student file to the President, who quickly flipped through it while asking:
"Don't worry, Trainer Wada, the Student Council has files on all Tracen Academy students. If you have an Uma Musume in mind, please tell me her name, and I can look her up for you immediately."
Facing Symboli Rudolf's action of flipping through the files, Wada's mouth parted slightly. His lips trembled a bit, and his tone, unable to hide his excitement and anticipation, asked word by word:
"I want to know... if Tracen Academy has an Uma Musume named 'Opera O'."
"..."
However, as soon as Wada said this, Symboli Rudolf's hand, which was flipping through the documents, stopped. The next moment, both she and Air Groove looked at Wada with surprised expressions, their eyes flickering with an inexplicable, strange look... "Well then, Ikezoe-kun, you can take your time looking here. I'm going to the training ground to check."
"Alright, Imanami-senpai. Wada-kun, that guy, I don't know where he ran off to, so I'll look for a suitable Uma Musume here."
And within Tracen Academy, Ikezoe bid farewell to Imanami, who was heading to the training ground to look for an Uma Musume. Looking at the magnificent and spacious academy before him, which would soon become his workplace, he felt an extraordinary sense of exhilaration.
This would be his future work environment... Not in Central but in a school. Was he becoming a teacher guiding students?
"Trainer... It sounds a lot easier than my previous job as a Jockey. At least I don't have to deal with problem Racehorses or worry about suddenly being kicked into the hospital by a sick Racehorse."
Ikezoe was in an exceptionally good mood. Few people knew that Ikezoe initially did not aim to be a Jockey. Or rather, although he later became an excellent Jockey designated by Central, ever since the Racehorses he rode became difficult to describe in temperament, he had been hovering on the brink of "wanting to resign" and "wanting to die."
It probably started with Dream Journey, didn't it? This ill-tempered and irritable Racehorse really gave Ikezoe a hard time back then. However, ever since Ikezoe's riding allowed this Racehorse to perform its abilities relatively stably, his life underwent a huge change.
More and more Racehorse owners entrusted him with riding those ill-tempered Racehorses, saying things like, "If you can get this child to win a championship on the racecourse, I'll be grateful to you for the rest of my life," and then sending him to suffer. This included, but was not limited to, top Japanese Racehorses like Gold Ship.
But even though Ikezoe had once ridden an existence like Gold Ship, which made all of Japan boil with excitement, this time Ikezoe did not want to experience the same life as before he transmigrated.
Therefore, this time Ikezoe made up his mind: he would absolutely not train any more ill-tempered Uma Musume! He wanted to change his life after transmigration! He was going to slack off!
"Well then, I'll just find a few gentle and cute Uma Musume to be my students and coast through the days. This way I can get paid, and they can run a few OP or GIII races to accumulate prize money. Aiming for a GI race would be enough to give the students something to show for it."
"Oh, right, I wonder if Curren Chan is also at this school. I wonder if a gentle Racehorse like Curren Chan would become very cute after becoming an Uma Musume?"
Ikezoe couldn't help but begin to imagine his wonderful future life, scanning the passing Uma Musume at Tracen Academy, looking for which cute Uma Musume he should choose as his student.
"Slap."
"—Hey, old man, you look a bit strange. How about you come with me?"
Old man? Ikezoe shivered all over when he heard the muffled female voice behind him, his expression rather peculiar. He didn't look that old, did he?
Although he did look a bit old before he transmigrated, after transmigrating, he not only became younger but also looked much better, just like a college student. He shouldn't be associated with the word "old man" at all, right?
But even so, Ikezoe still smiled awkwardly and turned around to explain:
"Uh, you've misunderstood. I'm a new Trainer, and I'm choosing my first Uma Musume to be in charge of. I'm not a pervert."
"Huh? A new Trainer? How come I haven't heard of it?"
Ikezoe turned his head only to find a girl dressed in a Tracen Academy uniform, with a somewhat wild-looking, orange-yellow hair and wearing a mask, dressed like a delinquent, staring at him with an unfriendly and suspicious gaze.
What Ikezoe found eerie was that even though it was his first time seeing this girl, upon seeing the color of her hair and this expression, he felt a strange sense of familiarity and instinctively wanted to dodge away!
This feeling... it was like... "—Gold Ship?" Ikezoe almost blurted out.
"Huh? You know me?"
The delinquent girl, called "Gold Ship," looked at the man in front of her with a strange expression, as he had recognized her at a glance.
Gold Ship also felt a strange sensation looking at Ikezoe. Normally, she wasn't a particularly good communicator of an Uma Musume, and even somewhat afraid of others paying attention to her.
But only when facing this man in front of her, she lost all fear. Instead, she had an annoying urge to kick him... "Are you a new Trainer?" Gold Ship suppressed her urge to kick him, but her tone was still not good.
As for Ikezoe, after receiving Gold Ship's definite answer, his face turned green. He smiled awkwardly while putting distance between himself and Gold Ship, saying nervously:
"Uh, um, I have something to do, I need to go now. Uh, Miss Gold Ship, please don't mind—"
With that, Ikezoe turned and ran as if fleeing a plague god. Watching Ikezoe move away from her, Gold Ship's Presence suddenly changed, and her eyes became fierce!
"You stop right there!"
At this moment, as if awakening some instinct in her body, Gold Ship dashed forward, aimed at the fleeing Ikezoe's back, and delivered a powerful flying kick!
"Bang!"
"You really are a pervert, aren't you! Watch me subdue you!" The moment Gold Ship kicked Ikezoe to the ground, she immediately restrained all his limbs. Ikezoe, who was surprisingly unharmed by the kick, could not compare to an Uma Musume's strength and was quickly subdued.
And at this moment, Ikezoe, kicked to the ground by Gold Ship, had already shed tears, tears of "bitterness."
"This pain—this kick, without a doubt, is Gold Ship's..."
"Someone save me... I don't want to serve ill-tempered Racehorses anymore, let me retire safely..."
Ikezoe, on his first day as a Trainer at Tracen Academy, had already developed the desire to resign.