Cafeteria
King Halo was still sulking about her loss. Seiun Sky plopped down next to her.
"Halo-chan! I heard all about it! You turned down every single trainer. Your standards are ridiculously high, you know. At this rate, good luck finding anyone willing to take you on!"
Seiun Sky's carefree teasing wasn't helping.
"Obviously! I'm going to be a top-tier horse girl. There's no way I'd settle for just anyone." King Halo flipped her hair and crossed her arms, still radiating confidence.
After losing that race, she'd completely lost her appetite.
"Ugh, I lost and not a single first-rate trainer showed up. Guess I'll have to wait for next time." She sighed.
"First-rate trainer? But you already met one, didn't you?"
Seiun Sky really wanted to smack her.
"Who? Don't tell me you're talking about some rookie trainer. Unless they've trained a Triple Crown horse girl, they can't be called first rate."
'Ah, um....'
Seiun Sky didn't even know what to say anymore. She pulled out a pink ticket.
"Alright, cheer up already. I've got a little present for you. Ta-da! An entry ticket for the other practice race. If you win there, you should be able to find a first-rate trainer."
Seeing the pink ticket, King Halo felt genuinely touched. That's her best friend for you, always looking out for her.
She hesitated. "But this is your entry spot, right? I couldn't possibly..."
Seiun Sky smiled. "It's totally fine! No big deal. So, what do you say? Want to give it a shot? All the well-known horse girls will be competing. Tons of trainers will be watching too."
Hearing that, King Halo stopped hesitating.
To become first-rate, she'd do whatever it took. Even playing dirty if necessary.
At most, she'd just owe Seiun Sky a favor.
"Alright then, I'll do it." King Halo gratefully accepted the pink ticket.
"In that case, I'll just have to show more trainers what this King is capable of until I find a first-rate trainer."
The moment she handed over the ticket, Seiun Sky spun around and bolted. "Yes! That means I can slack off that day. See ya later, Halo-chan! Bye!"
"Wait, what?" King Halo froze mid-reach. "Hold on, your lazy attitude... is seriously a problem!"
But Seiun Sky had already vanished.
At the next table over, several horse girls were gossiping intensely about today's tryouts.
"Did you guys hear? A new trainer showed up, and during today's race, there were two dark horses. He spotted both of them immediately."
"Right? Even the veteran trainers missed it, but he caught on right away."
"Yeah, even with all of that for King Halo's race, he straight up said she wouldn't get first place, only second."
Hearing them talk about her, King Halo's ears perked up. The comment about not getting first place made her grit her teeth in irritation.
Still, something about this sounded like a first-rate trainer. She wondered who he was.
"That trainer had his eye on Silence Suzuka from the start, but Rigil Team snatched her up first."
"Aw, what a shame." One of the horse girls laughed. "Wait, doesn't that mean he still doesn't have a dedicated horse girl? You should totally try!"
"He's new, so yeah, apparently he doesn't have anyone yet."
"I asked around. He's the trainer assistant of the previous horse girl, who was Oguri Cap, who dominated back in the day. After Oguri Cap and her trainer retired, all the other horse girls bailed because he's just a trainer assistant."
"Oguri Cap? Her?"
The horse girls all glanced toward a corner of the cafeteria. Oguri Cap sat alone, eating.
Her food was stacked impossibly high.
She spent all day eating, never thinking about training.
Honestly, every time they walked into the cafeteria, she was there.
When the topic shifted to Oguri Cap, they lowered their voices.
"I heard her old trainer got threatening letters from her fans. No wonder she retired. If you can't even eat your fill, how are you supposed to race?"
"Was she being exploited by her former trainer?"
"Apparently. Once it got exposed, that trainer had no choice but to retire."
"That's why they brought in a new trainer."
"The second the old trainer's contract ended, everyone couldn't wait to leave."
"Yikes. You really can't be careless choosing a trainer. Gotta be careful."
"Oh, and the new trainer's name is Hayato."
Hearing the name Hayato, King Halo felt a flicker of recognition. Had she heard it somewhere before? "A rookie? Hayato? No way, that'd be too much of a coincidence. Could it really be him?"
There was definitely a rookie trainer today who'd introduced himself as Hayato. It's the trainer who stands beside Seiun Sky which made him memorable.
Buzz buzz buzz!
King Halo glanced at her phone.
After losing today's race, her mood was already at rock bottom. This was the third call already.
She thought for a moment, then hung up anyway.
The second she declined, a text popped up: "If you failed, just come home already. Stop embarrassing yourself if you can't win the race. Our noble King Bloodline doesn't need to race to survive."
"Come home." "Embarrassing yourself."
'Yeah, having a daughter who always loses it was the real embarrassment.'
'But I'm not going back. Not until I become a first-rate horse girl.'
'I'll prove it to you. I'm not a worthless daughter!'
After thinking it over, she typed out a message and sent it.
"I'm participating in the Spring Practice Race.
I'll win and prove myself.
To Mother, respectfully."
Evening
That night, Hayato skipped his usual reading. He left the academy and wandered around the various race venues.
He remembered that some horse girls, after losing races, would come out to train late at night instead of sleeping.
Silence Suzuka was one of them. She was the biggest night owl of the bunch.
That's right. He was here for a "chance encounter."
After checking several venues, he finally spotted a horse girl sprinting hard.
She ran incredibly fast, completely unaware she'd picked up an audience.
Hayato hadn't figured out how to start a conversation yet, so he just waited off to the side.
After a long while, Silence Suzuka finally stopped. She gazed up at the stars with a smile.
"Hehe, tonight's sky is so beautiful." She clasped her hands together, letting out a happy laugh. "Hehe, I've got this gorgeous view all to myself."
Seeing her stop, Hayato walked over. He'd come all this way, so he couldn't just keep watching forever.
At least he had to say something.
"Who's there?" Silence Suzuka immediately went on alert.
"Don't worry, I'm a trainer from the school. Hello, my name is Hayato. Nice to meet you, Silence Suzuka."
"A trainer?" Hearing that, Silence Suzuka relaxed a bit, hand on her chest. When she spotted the trainer's badge, she eased up completely.
"Oh, just a trainer. Did you need something?"
"Not really. I just saw you training so late and wanted to check in. Need any help?"
"No, I just like running. Especially at night when there's nobody around. The beautiful scenery and the quiet sound of the wind are what make me enjoy running."
'Yeah, I Know Your Future, Silence Suzuka,'Hayato unconsciously smiled, thinking about the unique skill that only Silence Suzuka has in the Uma Musume game.
[The View from the Lead Is Mine!]
[Increase velocity by drawing on all remaining strength when in the lead by a fair margin in the second half of the race.]
This is a unique skill that only Silence Suzuka possesses as an escaper, because they were unaware of this, the actions and teachings of the Rigil Team caused Silence Suzuka to face consecutive defeats.
After all, the escaper's running method is different from that of the typical front runner. In the previous era, which was dominated by many pace-chasers and late-surger runners, being a front runner was considered a foolish tactic because it used up stamina too quickly.
'But because of that, the shining horse girl in the great escape running method hasn't appeared yet. Not all horses have the talent for a great escape, Silence Suzuka is the only exception.'
Since Silence Suzuka didn't ask for help, he couldn't push it. He tried a different angle. "I'm a trainer, and I'm absolutely professional. If you ever run into problems during training, feel free to tell me."
"I don't have any problems! I already have a trainer. If there's nothing else, I'm going to keep running." With that, Silence Suzuka took off again.
Well, Hayato couldn't force it. He'd just have to wait for another opportunity.
He didn't leave right away, though. Instead, he watched her running form carefully.