In an instant, the surrounding atmosphere fell into a moment of awkward silence.
"Ahaha... it seems like he really likes you, Senpai."
El Condor Pasa couldn't just keep her hand outstretched forever, so she slowly lowered it and scratched her cheek with a laugh.
"Haha, maybe so. Little guy, why don't you come back tomorrow?"
Tilting her head slightly, Starlight asked the bird.
"I'll leave the window open for you. Come back tomorrow morning, okay? And also, don't wake me up~"
Reaching out to pat the creature's head, Starlight picked him up and gently placed him back into El Condor Pasa's hands.
"They say pets take after their owners. I imagine El Condor Pasa-san is also very lively and cute."
After taking the bird back, El Condor Pasa looked up at the girl smiling beside her.
There was nothing particularly striking about her— grey hair and a hairstyle that obscured her eyes.
Yet, whether it was her tone or the way she spoke, there was always something special about her, something enough to leave a lasting impression.
Grass Wonder, standing nearby, had already finished greeting Starlight. Noticing that El Condor Pasa hadn't moved, she reached out and lightly tapped her shoulder.
"El-chan, Senpai is talking to you."
"Ah~ sorry, I spaced out for a second. Thank you, Senpai."
"It's fine. After all, El is working hard to prepare for Team Rigil, right? It must be grueling. I hope you have sweet dreams tonight."
"Okay! Thank you, Starlight-senpai. I'll take those kind words to heart."
After finishing her conversation with the two juniors, Starlight slowly closed the door.
Turning around, she saw a small black cat on the balcony railing, seemingly trying to strike up a conversation with Big Orange.
The cat's four paws and nose were white, making it look quite adorable. Near the base of its tail on its back, there was a white mark shaped like a circle.
"Meow~~"
"Meow!! Meow!!"
"What's wrong, Big Orange? Whose cat is this?"
Walking onto the balcony, Starlight directed her question to Big Orange. Big Orange turned his head away with a cold huff.
It seemed the relationship between the two cats wasn't very good, though Starlight had no idea what had happened.
In the next second, the little black cat looked at Starlight with a pitiful expression.
"Meow~"
It even crossed its front paws and bowed toward her a few times.
"Do you want to come in?"
Seeing the cat nod frantically, Starlight reached out and moved Big Orange, who was blocking the window, out of the way.
"Come on in, little guy, though I don't know why you want to enter so badly."
Seeing this, the black cat's tail began to wag faster. It crouched down slightly, aimed for Starlight's outstretched hands, and leaped.
Catching the cat and hearing its little purrs and whimpers, Starlight found it quite amusing. After smoothing its fur, she placed it on the table.
"You're quite cute. Big Orange, don't treat our guest like that, okay?"
She turned back to scratch the chin of the defiant Big Orange.
"Purr-purr~"
After soothing the two cats, Starlight began to discuss race tactics with her trainer, Kiryuu Inami.
Although she had run as a Late-Surger during the last scrimmage race, that had been a temporary decision. She still wasn't sure if that strategy truly suited her.
On the other side.
El Condor Pasa had ruthlessly locked her pet hawk back into the iron cage hanging by the window. She took her undergarments from the wardrobe and headed toward the bathroom.
"Senpai has lived next door for so long, why did we only just notice her recently?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe Starlight-senpai just prefers to keep a low profile," Grass Wonder replied.
"Eh, she has such a good personality and is so easy to be around. I wish I'd gotten to know her back when she first moved in," El Condor Pasa said while pulling off her sweat-soaked training uniform.
Outside, Grass Wonder, who was sitting on the edge of the bed reading a book, responded with a smile.
"It's not too late to know her now. Senpai even helped look after your hawk all day."
"Mhm, true. I wonder how strong Senpai actually is... I'd love to have a match with her!"
"Senpai competed in yesterday's friendship race, but she was completely blown away by Taiki Shuttle-senpai."
"Is that so? Well, it's not surprising. Taiki Shuttle-senpai is practically invincible in short distances right now."
"In last month's race, even Suzuka-chan was strained trying to keep up with her speed."
"Hahaha... no need to worry! Because the future belongs to me, El Condor Pasa! The title of 'World's Best' will be mine and mine alone!"
"Um... El-chan, confidence is a good thing, but the soundproofing in the bathroom is a bit poor..."
Before Grass Wonder could finish her sentence, there was a knock on the door.
"Hey, El. If you keep being this loud, I'm going to have to tell the President."
Mejiro Ardan's voice drifted in from outside— gentle, yet laced with an unmistakable threat.
"Sorry, sorry, Ardan-senpai! Please don't— !"
The silhouette in the bathroom immediately apologized toward the door, her voice dropping significantly from its previous high-pitched boast. This scene gave Grass Wonder a good laugh.
Back in Starlight's dorm next door.
By now, she had finished discussing tactics with Inami. They decided to stick with a mainstream running style based on her habits for now, and then make a final judgment based on data monitoring a week before the race.
Yawning, Starlight turned off the lights and drifted straight into dreamland.
Beside the bed, Big Orange and the new black cat had started a feud. The two of them scrapped from the head of the bed to the foot, all to fight for the right to "nest" on Starlight's chest.
Unfortunately for the newcomer, the ginger cat used his terrain advantage to successfully kick the black cat off the bed, winning the match.
He burrowed comfortably under the covers and snuggled into Starlight's arms.
The black cat, getting up from the floor, shook its head and let out a few disgruntled whimpers before settling for the spot by the headboard, curling up right next to Starlight's head.
The next day.
Starlight was woken up by noise once again. This time, it was the hawk and the two cats chirping and meowing incessantly. It was impossible to sleep through.
She rolled out of bed, swaying slightly.
"Yo, morning everyone~"
After greeting the three little creatures, Starlight went to the bathroom. With her mouth open in a yawn and eyes half-squinted, she began fixing her hair.
After finishing her morning routine like a walking zombie, she sat down at her desk.
[Option 1: Change into training gear and go practice.]
[Option 2: Crawl back under the covers and perfect the art of being a Salted Fish.]
Stretching her limbs, Starlight thought it over and decided to change into her clothes and running shoes.
She was still too weak, she had to seize every possible training resource
Based on the rewards she had received so far, there was nothing truly "game-breaking." Even the best rewards were just skills.
Because of her natural talent and aptitude constraints, comprehending new skills was basically impossible for her. The skills she obtained from rewards only served to narrow the gaps between her and other graded-stakes runners.
After eating a few pieces of bread to line her stomach, Starlight headed to the training grounds.
While doing her warm-up exercises, she reviewed her newly acquired training plan. If all went as expected, this would be the finalized routine leading up to race day.
"Right, didn't I just get those weighted bracelets? A 30% boost to training effectiveness is pretty great."
Once finished warming up, she checked the plan on her phone and strapped on the bracelets. The training effect increased according to the weight level.
Level 6 was the highest, providing that 30% boost.
For her first try, she naturally wanted to see what the maximum level felt like so she could figure out how to scale the weight later. There was no doubt about it.
So, after setting them to Level 6, Starlight began her first set of 20 100-meter dash sprints.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
These bracelets were definitely something else.
Look at that— in this 100-meter sprint, Starlight only left three footprints on the ground.
Incredible!
It's just that...
This "evaluation" was based on the fact that after taking the third step, she was forced to faceplant and stay down.