In the morning, when Hayato woke up, he saw the figures of King Halo and Silence Suzuka standing in the doorway.
Looking at the time, it was almost past eight.
"It's already this late? Then let's start training." Hayato pulled out the new training schedule, rubbing his stiff neck.
"Trainer, did you not rest all night?" Silence Suzuka asked with concern, her voice soft.
"No... wait, where's Seiun? Why didn't Seiun come?"
"Don't change the subject. Trainer, you'd better explain yourself." King Halo released a very displeased aura, her arms crossed.
Hayato felt confused. I'm the one who pulled an all-nighter, so why are you getting angry? With his current physical condition, staying up all night really wasn't a big deal anyway.
Especially with his increased Wits, he felt quite energetic even without resting all night, his mind surprisingly clear.
"Small matter, it's just a small matter! I'm fine. You two check out the upcoming schedule first. I'll go find Seiun." Throwing down the schedule, Hayato quickly fled the scene before they could protest.
This feeling of being controlled by his mom hadn't appeared in a long time. He kind of missed it, actually.
"Hey, I'm talking to you..." Watching Hayato walk away, Halo King stomped her foot in frustration, her protests falling on deaf ears.
—
In a classroom, Hayato found Seiun Sky cleaning, with Sakura Laurel alongside her, sweeping in tandem.
"Trainer, good morning." Seeing Hayato, Seiun Sky smiled and greeted him like nothing was wrong.
"Sei-chan, is it your turn for classroom duty today?"
"No, it's..."
Just as Sakura Laurel was about to speak, Seiun Sky interrupted. "Yes, it is. Sorry, Trainer. Training will have to be a bit later."
This was the first time Hayato had heard about horse girls having classroom duty. If this were a school, it probably wouldn't be that strange, though.
"Can someone else do the duty? You go train, I'll handle the cleaning."
"Can't." The voice came from behind Hayato, firm and authoritative.
Just as Seiun Sky was about to say okay, she saw Hishi Amazon appear at the door and shut her mouth, silently sweeping the floor with sudden focus.
"These two snuck out of the dorms last night. They went out to train in the middle of the night. This isn't classroom duty, it's punishment. You two better reflect on your actions."
After hearing Hishi Amazon's explanation, Hayato understood what was going on, the pieces clicking together.
"W-wait, you're saying Seiun Sky went out to train in the middle of the night? I think there might be some misunderstanding here." Hayato really had a hard time believing Seiun Sky would be diligent to that extent.
"Exactly, exactly! Poor Seiun is so wronged!" Seiun Sky put on an aggrieved expression, wanting to appeal her case. "Everyone knows I'm the laziest Uma Musume around. You say Seiun went out to train at night. Do you have proof?"
"Trainer, you have to stand up for me!" Looking pitiful, her eyes wide. Wronged Seiun Sky's eyes were bright, tears about to fall any second now.
This expression from Seiun Sky actually managed to rattle Hishi Amazon a bit, making her second-guess herself. "Although I didn't see it, I heard that Uma Musume say she was Sakura Laurel, so..."
"So there you go! You didn't even see it, so how can it not be someone impersonating me? Seiun is so pure and innocent, how could I possibly do something like that?"
Pure and innocent....
Looking at Seiun Sky putting on a pitiful act, Hishi Amazon bit her teeth, muttering under her breath, "Don't think I don't know it was definitely you two. Sakura Laurel in person already admitted it, so how could you not be involved? Made me wait all night..." She had to punish them for that alone.
"Um, Miho Dorm Leader, you say Seiun Sky went out to train at night, but I think you've definitely got it wrong. Most importantly, you don't have proof. You can't just convict her forcibly, right?" Hayato still decided to speak up for Seiun Sky. Her training right now couldn't stop, not with the race coming up.
"I'm really sorry, though I think the possibility of her lying is higher..."
"Trainer, you don't believe Sei-chan either?"
"Shut up." Hayato snapped at Seiun Sky once, his tone sharp. The more she put on that expression, the more certain Seiun was involved.
"…I can't believe this."
Hayato covered his face with one hand, patting it once in sheer embarrassment, his shoulders tensing as he exhaled through his nose.
"If she did anything to upset you, I apologize, but her race is coming up soon. The training really can't stop."
Hishi Amazon wasn't unreasonable. With Hayato putting it that way, being relentless would make her seem petty and vindictive.
"Fine, just finish cleaning this classroom. Don't let it happen again." Hishi Amazon dropped that line and turned to leave, her footsteps fading down the hall.
"Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for your great kindness, Dorm Leader. Dorm Leader, take care." Seiun Sky bowed toward her back, overly theatrical.
She wasn't being perfunctory about the punishment. On the contrary, she was cleaning very seriously, putting actual effort into each sweep.
Looking at the changes in Seiun Sky's stats, her speed had increased by 5 points, which perfectly matched one night's worth of training.
She hadn't done speed training. She'd originally wanted to train skills, but unfortunately, skill training wasn't something someone could do just by running around randomly at night.
Hayato had them run one session, rest for 15 minutes, then run in optimal condition, that was the standard for skill training, no shortcuts allowed.
Whether slow jogging, sprinting, straightaways, or turns... if it didn't meet the standard of surpassing limits, there was no way to awaken skills. At most, it would just increase speed.
"Seiun, I don't know if you're really that diligent, but I don't think you need to do this. I have a good training plan, we haven't reached the point where you need to do extra training."
While cleaning, Seiun Sky said, "Trainer, aren't you just a bit anxious? Getting caught this time was just an accident, an accident! Don't worry, I won't get caught next time. You gotta believe in my abilities."
"Your slacking abilities?"
"Haha! Using my slacking skills for training, pretty impressive, right?"
"Seiun...." Hayato's eyes widened, getting somewhat angry, his patience wearing thin.
"The trainer's office light was on all night yesterday, wasn't it? And you have the nerve to lecture me." Seiun Sky rolled her eyes at Hayato, also showing a very displeased expression, turning the tables.
Feeling guilty like a thief caught red-handed, Hayato really couldn't blame her right now.
"Alright, alright. Trainer, go to the training grounds first. Seiun will be there right after finishing cleaning." She said impatiently, waving him off.
Hayato stopped paying attention to her and instead looked at the cherry blossom girl beside her. Sakura Laurel's current stats were beyond his expectations, or rather, below them. She didn't have any insanely overpowered skills, and her stats weren't particularly high either.
Speed was in the 300s, and stamina was also in the 300s. Her other stats weren't much different from Air Groove's, all in the 200s, solidly mid-tier.
This was Seiun Sky's future opponent?
Was she this year's Tenno Sho Spring protagonist?
If it were just this, Hayato really wasn't scared at all. So the only thing to worry about was her zone, that unknown factor.
There was also another possibility, the current Sakura Laurel might really not be strong, but who knew what could happen in two months?
Seiun Sky was improving, so why couldn't she?
Late-night training escapades were very possible, especially with Seiun Sky as a bad influence.
Seiun Sky might even be the one making her stronger, pushing her forward without realizing it.
No matter which possibility it was, I couldn't stop it now, and I didn't want to. Defeating a Sakura Laurel who didn't possess Tenno Sho Spring-level strength would make him feel no sense of achievement, no satisfaction.
What Hayato needed to do was cultivate Seiun Sky into an Uma Musume who could truly dominate the Tenno Sho Spring. The kind who was invincible at the Spring Tenno Sho, untouchable.
—
Not far from the school gate.
"Good morning! Yukino-chan, one crepe please."
"Here."
Yukino Bijin wrapped it in paper and handed it to a horse girl who was about to be late for class, her movements practiced.
The horse girl tossed down a hundred-yen coin, grabbed the crepe, and jogged into school without looking back.