Some time later, in the Student Council's office room, Air Groove questioned Symboli Rudolf's previous instruction toward the three new Trainers,
"President, why are you letting the new Trainers tour Tracen Academy by themselves? Tracen Academy is incredibly large, and it's easy for newcomers to get lost. At a time like this, shouldn't we have Teio guide the new Trainers?" (T/N: THREE FRACTURES!!!)
"You're right, Air Groove. Normally, I would have Teio show new students or new Trainers around, but this time I didn't. But I do have my reasons."
Symboli Rudolf smiled slightly at her words and said to Air Groove, "These three Trainers... are quite special. Compared to the new Trainers I've met, they feel 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 Trainer 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 had 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 what you think about them," Symboli Rudolf asked curiously, not expecting Air Groove's level of interest in the new Trainers to be even greater than her own—and more meticulous.
"Trainer Ikezoe and Trainer Wada's scores were more focused toward their judgment on the racetrack, and on coordination and training with Uma Musume. That is to say, they are better at helping their Uma Musume perform better on the racecourse.
"Additionally, Trainer Ikezoe's tactics are clearly more aggressive, while Trainer Wada's are relatively more conservative, and he excels at situations where an Uma Musume is being targeted, which is very rare." (T/N: T.M. Opera O and Wada were targeted quite a lot, to the point where other jockeys formed an encirclement to block them.)
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, his answers were so perfect that even someone as strict as myself couldn't find any flaws. His written performance was absolutely 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 answers 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 be more bold in choosing their Uma Musume."
It was only then that Symboli Rudolf nodded and stated her true thoughts. "They are all excellent Trainers with their own specialized abilities. I believe their judgment will not disappoint us."
"...As expected of the President, you noticed their capabilities 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.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Hmm? Come in," Symboli Rudolf instinctively replied to the knocking sound, and soon the 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've already found an Uma Musume you wish to train 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 every single Tracen Academy student. 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 'T.M. 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. I don't know where Wada-kun ran off to, so I'll look for a suitable Uma Musume here."
And while that was happening 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 an office space, but a school. Was he becoming a teacher guiding students?
"Trainer... It sounds a whole lot easier than my previous job as a Jockey. At least I don't have to deal with problematic racehorses or worry about suddenly getting kicked into the hospital by an irritated 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 the JRA, ever since the racehorses he rode were ones with terrible temperaments, he had been hovering on the brink of "wanting to resign" and "about to die."
It all started with Dream Journey, didn't it? That ill-tempered and irritable racehorse really gave Ikezoe a hard time back then. However, ever since Ikezoe's riding allowed the racehorse to show 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 Orfevre.
But even though Ikezoe had once ridden a top-tier racehorse like Orfevre, which made all of Japan boil with excitement, this time Ikezoe did not want to experience the same life as he did 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 trainees and coast through the days. That way, I can get paid, and they can run a few OP or GIII races to accumulate prize money. Winning a few GII races would also be enough to give the students something to show for being an Uma Musume."
"Oh, right, I wonder if Curren Chan is also at this school. Would a gentle racehorse like Curren Chan become very cute after becoming an Uma Musume?"
Ikezoe couldn't help but begin to fantasize about his wonderful future life, free of being kicked by horses, as he scanned the passing Uma Musume at Tracen Academy, looking for which cute Uma Musume he should choose as his trainee.
"Slap!"
"—Hey, old man, you look a bit suspicious. 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, not only did he become younger, but he also looked much more handsome, 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 an Uma Musume to be my first trainee. 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 somewhat wild-looking orange-yellow hair and wearing a mask, dressed like a delinquent, staring at him with an unfriendly and suspicious gaze. (T/N: Orfevre's old design)
What Ikezoe found eerie was that even though it was his first time seeing this girl, upon seeing the color of her hair and her expression, he felt a strange sense of familiarity and instinctively wanted to run away!
This feeling... it was like... "—Orfevre?" Ikezoe blurted out unconsciously.
"Huh? You know me?"
The delinquent girl, called "Orfevre," looked at the man in front of her with a strange expression, as he had recognized her at a glance.
Orfevre also felt a strange sensation looking at Ikezoe. Normally, she wasn't particularly social and was even somewhat afraid of others paying attention to her.
But when facing this man in front of her, she lost all fear. Instead, she felt a sudden surge of annoyance and wanted to kick him. "Are you really a new Trainer?" Orfevre suppressed her urge to kick him, but her tone was still not good.
As for Ikezoe, after receiving Orfevre's definite confirmation of her identity, his face immediately turned pale. He smiled awkwardly while quickly putting distance between himself and Orfevre, saying nervously,
"U-uh, um, I have something to do. I need to go now. Uh, Miss Orfevre, please don't mind—"
With that, Ikezoe turned around and ran as if being chased by a fate worse than death. Watching Ikezoe run away from her, Orfevre's aura suddenly changed, and her eyes became incredibly fierce! (T/N: Running away from an Uma Musume? Truly foolish...)
"You stop right there!"
At this moment, as if awakening some hidden instinct in her body, Orfevre dashed forward, aimed at the fleeing Ikezoe's back, and delivered a powerful flying kick!
"Bang!"
"You really are a pervert, aren't you! I'll capture you and kick you out!" The moment Orfevre kicked Ikezoe to the ground, she immediately restrained all his limbs. Ikezoe, who was surprisingly unharmed after a kick of that magnitude, could not resist the strength of an Uma Musume and was quickly subdued.
And at this moment, Ikezoe, kicked to the ground by Orfevre, had already begun shedding tears—tears of "nostalgia."
"This pain—this kick, without a doubt, it is Orfevre's..."
"Someone save me... I don't want to train ill-tempered racehorses anymore, let me live my life safely..."
Ikezoe, on his first day as a Trainer at Tracen Academy, had already begun developing the desire to resign.
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And with that, Orfevre is introduced! If you didn't read my review, the original author wrote this fic before some of the Umas were officially introduced into the game, so some Umas' personalities and appearances might not match their official game counterparts.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it, and I will fix it as soon as I can.