"Alright, let's go. We've got a day off, so let's make it count. First stop is the shoe store!"
There were tons of Uma Musume specialty shops around, each one packed with more stuff than the last. They picked one that looked pretty fancy and headed inside.
Seiun Sky's eyes went straight to a pair of pink shoes.
King Halo immediately started her inspection routine, picking up a pair of elegant white racing shoes. She examined them from every angle, then set them down with a small frown. "The stitching on the left side is 0.2 millimeters off from the right. Unacceptable."
"King, I don't think anyone can see that," Hayato said.
"I can see it. Next pair." She moved on without hesitation.
Silence Suzuka wandered quietly toward the back corner, occasionally glancing at the shoes but not touching anything.
"Suzuka, you should grab something too." Hayato walked over to her. "Training shoes and racing shoes gotta be separate. Save the good ones for races."
"I can pick one, too?" Her eyes went a bit wide.
"Yeah, of course. I'll get you a pair."
"Th-thank you." Suzuka's face softened as she started looking more carefully, though she still seemed hesitant to actually pick anything up.
"Trainer!" King Halo called out. "These ones have asymmetrical lace holes. And these, the color is slightly different between the left and right shoe. How does this store expect anyone to race in such conditions?"
"King, they all look fine to me."
"That's because your standards are too low." She crossed her arms. "A true champion needs perfect equipment."
Seiun Sky snorted from across the store. "Or maybe you're just scared to actually pick something and commit to it."
"I am NOT scared!" King Halo's face flushed. "I'm being thorough!"
"So, decided yet?" Hayato turned back to Seiun Sky, who was still staring at those pink shoes like they were the Holy Grail.
"Yep, decided. This pair." Her eyes stayed on the pink ones, but her hand pointed at a blue pair sitting on the shelf next to them.
Suzuka quietly walked over, looking between Seiun Sky's face and the two pairs of shoes. A small smile tugged at her lips. "You... like the pink ones."
"What? No, no. The blue ones are fine." Seiun Sky waved her hand dismissively.
Hayato shot her a look and grabbed the pink shoes anyway. "Hey, how much are these?"
Seiun Sky's mouth fell open. "Oh! Trainer, those are crazy expensive. You sure about this?"
"How expensive could they be?" Hayato shrugged. If his Uma Musume wanted these shoes, he should just buy them. Simple as that. Price didn't matter as much as whether she actually liked them.
King Halo perked up. "Oh, are we getting the expensive ones? In that case, I found a pair that meets my standards." She held up a sleek pair of golden racing shoes that practically shimmered under the store lights.
"These are on special for 320,000 yen per pair," the clerk said, pointing at Seiun Sky's pink shoes. He held up three fingers with this practiced smile. "But if you're buying today, I can knock it down to 300,000 even. Want me to wrap them up?"
Hayato's face went through like five different emotions in three seconds.
"And those?" He pointed weakly at King Halo's golden shoes.
"Those are 450,000 yen per pair. Premium craftsmanship."
"See? I have excellent taste," King Halo said proudly.
Hayato very carefully put both pairs back down. He pointed at the blue pair instead. "What about these?"
"80,000."
"And... something similar for King?"
"We have these white ones for 85,000."
"Perfect. Great. Wonderful!" Hayato grabbed both pairs.
"Seiun." His voice came out kinda strained. "I think the blue ones suit you way better, actually."
"Oh really? You think so?" Seiun Sky was clearly having way too much fun with this, barely keeping herself from laughing. "But I still think these look better, you know?" She rested her chin in her hand, staring wistfully at the pink shoes.
Suzuka leaned in and whispered, "The blue ones... are pretty too. They match your name."
"See? Suzuka gets it." Hayato nodded gratefully.
"Trainer's just being cheap," King Halo muttered. "A true champion deserves champion-quality equipment."
"A true champion doesn't need to bankrupt her trainer in the first month," Hayato shot back.
King Halo gasped. "I would NEVER bankrupt you. I'd leave you with at least 10,000 yen for emergencies."
"Uhhh...."
"Looking good doesn't mean they suit you anyway," Hayato continued, turning back to Seiun Sky. "They don't even match your name, Seiun Sky. Blue makes way more sense." He brought the blue shoes to the clerk. "These ones. Wrap them up, please."
"Hahaha! Okay, okay, Trainer wins this round." Seiun Sky grinned.
King Halo huffed. "Fine. But I'm picking the most expensive horseshoes later."
"Please don't."
Besides the racing shoes, all three of them grabbed two pairs of training shoes each. King Halo inspected every single pair with the intensity of a detective examining crime scene evidence, but eventually found some that met her "standards."
Suzuka quietly picked practical-looking ones without any fuss, though she did ask Hayato's opinion three times before committing.
Then came the horseshoes. Even the basic ones ran 60,000 yen. The nicer quality ones started at 180,000.
"These ones." King Halo immediately grabbed the 180,000 yen set.
"Of course you did," Hayato sighed.
"Seiun will take the same!" Seiun Sky grabbed another set of the expensive ones with a cheeky grin.
"You're both killing me here."
Suzuka looked between the basic and premium horseshoes, clearly torn. "Um... which ones should I..."
"Get the good ones, Suzuka. If these two are getting them, you should too." Hayato was already mentally calculating his remaining funds. What's another 180,000 at this point?
Each girl got two pairs.
On top of that, they each bought two weighted training horseshoes, 20 pounds each at 120,000 yen a pop.
"Perfect for building leg strength!" King Halo looked genuinely excited for the first time since entering the store.
"Seiun's gonna get so fast with these," Seiun Sky said, weighing one in her hand.
Suzuka just nodded quietly, but there was a determined look in her eyes.
Training shoes just needed to last, so at least those were cheaper.
Even so, by the time they left the store, Hayato looked like he'd aged ten years. His wallet had definitely aged a hundred.
A million yen. Now he had less than 300,000 left.
His poor wallet was dying in the cold wind.
While Seiun Sky started checking out the insole and sock section, Hayato physically dragged her toward the exit.
"But Trainer, we need proper insoles for the new shoes!"
"We'll survive without them!"
King Halo followed behind, already browsing a catalog she'd picked up. "Next time, we should visit the custom equipment store. I heard they can—"
"There won't be a next time," Hayato said flatly.
Suzuka giggled quietly behind her hand.
He was starting to seriously regret letting all of them tag along. Especially Seiun Sky and King Halo "standards."
At least karaoke wouldn't cost much. He still had enough for the dancing lessons. Probably.
"Socks are really cheap, though. Trainer's being such a cheapskate." Seiun Sky snickered.
"I think Trainer's being responsible with our budget," Suzuka said softly, trying to be helpful.
"Thank you, Suzuka. At least someone appreciates me."
"Trainer, aren't you gonna treat us to a meal?" Seiun Sky pressed on. "We finally get to go shopping together."
"Oh! Yes, a celebratory meal would be appropriate," King Halo added. "I know an excellent restaurant that specializes in—"
"We're eating at the convenience store."
"WHAT?!"
Seiun Sky had figured out his entire budget down to the last yen. Hayato's eye twitched.
This was definitely revenge for a harsh training session.
He took a deep breath. "Let's just focus on fixing this dancing problem first, okay?"
If they didn't hurry, he wouldn't even have money left for karaoke.
Technically, trainers could charge team fees from their Uma Musume for stuff like this. The minimum was 500,000 yen a year, more if needed.
But since the girls had already given him a bigger cut of the prize money, asking for team fees felt kinda wrong. Besides, he wasn't that worried about money. He could earn it back later.
The real problem was that without Tokai Teio around, he had no clue who to ask for help. He hadn't seen her in over a month, she probably hadn't even enrolled yet.
Teaching themselves would eat up way too much time. The whole thing was giving him a headache.
As they passed by a shrine, Hayato stopped.
"Since we're here anyway, let's make a wish first."
He led the three Uma Musume up the stone steps.
New Year's had just passed, so the place was packed. He spotted a few Uma Musume scattered in the crowd, though none he recognized.
The shrine had this absolutely massive tree, had to be a hundred meters tall with branches so thick it'd probably take a hundred people holding hands to circle it.
The whole tree was covered in wish plaques and red ribbons for matchmaking, plus these cool little handmade lanterns.
"So this is the sacred tree the Three Goddesses left behind?" Seeing it in person for the first time, Hayato couldn't help but stare. "Damn, that's impressive."
"The historical records indicate this tree is over 800 years old," King Halo said, reading from an information plaque. "It's witnessed the debut of every legendary Uma Musume throughout history."
"That's... actually pretty cool."
"Of course it is. I did the research before we came."
"You knew we were coming here?"
"I prepare for all possibilities."
"Trainer, how do we do this?" Seiun Sky pulled out a red ribbon from nowhere. "Making wishes definitely needs you to leave something behind, right? Do we gotta climb up? Seiun heard that the higher you tie it, the better your wish works."
"Seiun, you've got shrine visits mixed up with matchmaking stuff. Red strings are for romantic wishes... oh." Hayato paused. "Oh, I see."
Suzuka's eyes widened slightly. "R-romantic wishes?"
"What does it matter?" Seiun Sky covered her mouth with this mischievous smile. "I heard if you make a wish in front of the sacred tree with someone you like, it'll totally come true. Trainer, wanna join Seiun for... hehe!"
"I volunteer as tribute!" King Halo raised her hand.
"Nobody asked you, King."
"Oh my! Just kidding!" Seiun Sky turned red before Hayato could even respond properly.
Quite a few people were circling the tree, and from what Hayato could tell, nobody was climbing it. There was even a sign that said "No Tree Climbing."
Some of the lower branches weren't that high anyway. You could reach them just fine.
"Can't we just tie it right here?"
"No way, no way. Higher is better." Seiun Sky shook her head right away, her eyes settling on his shoulders.
"Oh, I understand the plan." King Halo nodded. "Trainer will serve as the base for our ladder formation."
"I'm not a—"
"I can... help support too," Suzuka offered quietly.
Hayato got it. He wasn't winning this argument.
Hayato crouched down. "Fine. Seiun, take your shoes off first. And be careful, alright?"
Seiun Sky kicked both feet and sent her old shoes flying. Since she had new ones now, she clearly wasn't keeping that old pair.
She'd been waiting for this exact moment. She patted his shoulder as her eyes gradually went vacant, and then Hayato felt this chill wash over him.
"Seiun, wait—"
Without any warning, she stepped onto his shoulders with both feet.
"Gaaahhh! Be gentle! You trying to kill me?!"
"Sorry, Trainer. An Uma Musume's strength is just like this. Can't really hold back."
"This is what you get for not buying the pink shoes," she added with a grin.
King Halo circled around them, observing. "Your posture is all wrong, Trainer. You need to distribute the weight more evenly across your shoulders. Here, let me—"
"Don't you dare try to get on too!"
Suzuka watched the scene with a soft smile, one hand covering her mouth as she tried not to laugh.
"Fine, just hurry up. You're so heavy. Seiun, you seriously need to go on a diet."
"Excuse me?! Seiun is at perfect racing weight!"
"Then why does it feel like I'm carrying King Halo's gold horseshoes?"
"HEY!" King Halo protested.
If he hadn't dumped over forty points into his power stat recently, Seiun Sky would've totally dislocated his shoulders.
How ruthless.
Was she still pissed just because he forgot about the whole victory stage thing? Or was this revenge for the shoe thing? Or the training? At this point, he'd lost track of what he was being punished for.
---
For a preview of the next/upcoming chapter (related to the future story), it would be better if you know something about BNW. (especially their race from anime)
If anyone is curious about what happens next, simply go to the other side to become a member. :) For 1 month, it's cheap, though. It's just for one meal/two meals (in asian). 5ch/days or 7ch/days=x30 days.
Here's the deal: The quota for Webnovel is 2 chapters. Now, if you become a member, literally 2 chapter quotas from Webnovel will be redirected to the 'regular' ones, with an additional bonus of 3 chapters, making it 5 in total. It's not that Webnovel chapter 39 will only open up to chapter 42, but chapter 44. Of course, the bonus opening of 15+ chapters will count (if 39+15=54), opening up to chapter 54 and so on.