"Mr. Sakuraba... are you truly unwilling to consider taking a position in America?"
"You can name whatever salary and conditions you like!"
After Secretariat woke up, she immediately extended an invitation to Sakuraba.
Sakuraba had proven his worth once again, and Secretariat was not the type to get shy about these things. Naturally, talent like his had to be recruited if at all possible!
"I've said this many times already, Miss Secretariat. Do I look like someone who's short on money? Please don't insult me with money!"
Why did every student council type want to drag him into working for them?
Work? Impossible. Losing money was way more exciting than honestly holding down a job.
Still, by this point, even Sakuraba was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with his massage technique.
That couldn't be right.
He was pretty sure he had only picked up the skill casually...
So why did every Umamusume who experienced it look like she came away addicted?
Could some power he didn't know about actually be dwelling in his hands, causing any Umamusume who touched them to pass out on the spot?
Impossible. A setting like that only existed in fantasy light novels. It would never happen in reality!
If he had to find a reason, Sakuraba felt it was probably the Loss System's fault.
After all, it was the only abnormal thing about him.
If anything had caused his massage technique to level up in some strange direction, that was the only possibility left.
While Sakuraba was thinking about the oddities of his own massage skills, Secretariat, standing in front of him, had clearly misunderstood something.
"True. Money alone really wouldn't be enough to attract you, Mr. Sakuraba."
"After all, you're the investor behind Nishikino Academy, aren't you? I suppose money really is a small matter to you."
"You know about my investment in Nishikino Academy?"
Sakuraba raised his brows slightly. He had not deliberately hidden it, but he was still surprised that Secretariat, who had been all the way over in America, knew about it.
"Of course. After all, I'm especially interested in you, Mr. Sakuraba."
"So before coming to Japan, I made sure to do a little digging into you."
Secretariat winked at Sakuraba, then said it with a smile.
Hearing her answer, the corner of Sakuraba's mouth twitched.
Girl, did you actually dig up my info?
I thought you were just joking.
"...Then, since Miss Secretariat knows money won't move me, why invite me anyway?"
"Well, isn't that because your skill is just far too amazing, Mr. Sakuraba? I figured I might as well ask."
"Though you really are cruel, Mr. Sakuraba. After making me make all those sounds just now, you can still bring yourself to reject me like this~"
There was something wrong with her.
That had been a perfectly normal massage!
If she made weird noises, that was definitely her problem!
"..."
Sakuraba sighed, then turned toward the blue-green-eyed girl who had been silently watching his exchange with Secretariat since earlier.
"Are you all right, Miss Easy Goer? You've been quiet this whole time. Was there something about the service you were dissatisfied with?"
Easy Goer shook her head.
"There are just a few things I wanted to ask you, Mr. Sakuraba."
"Things?"
Sakuraba blinked, a little surprised.
What could Easy Goer possibly have to ask him?
"Ask away. If I can answer, then..."
"From what my sister said just now... Mr. Sakuraba is the investor of Nishikino Academy, where Sunday Silence is, correct?"
"Yes."
"Then may I transfer to Nishikino?"
"Sure—wait. What did you just say?"
Sakuraba nearly agreed on reflex, but froze the moment he realized what she had said.
What did she mean?
Was she defecting on the spot?
Your sister's face has already gone dark right next to you, you know?
At that moment, the expression on Secretariat's face could only be summed up in one word: spectacular.
Her usually calm, smiling eyes were now round with shock. Her brows had shot up, her lips were slightly parted, and the muscles in her cheeks twitched faintly, stiff with disbelief.
She jerked her head around to look at Easy Goer, her gaze filled with incredulity.
What are you talking about?
Your big sister, the student council president of Tracen Academy (American), is standing right here!
I was trying so hard to recruit him, and you go and jump ship right in front of me?!
The air seemed to freeze solid in that instant. Secretariat could practically hear the faint sound of her own reason cracking.
She turned toward Easy Goer, forcing the corners of her mouth upward into what could technically be called a kind smile, though the curve was clearly rigid. Her voice was deliberately gentle, but every word sounded as if it had been squeezed out from between her teeth.
"Easy... did you just say you want to... transfer to Nishikino Academy? What... is that about? Your sister didn't quite understand."
Her gaze locked tightly onto her younger sister, trying to find even the slightest trace of joking or impulsiveness in those blue-green eyes.
Easy Goer met her sister's gaze. There was not the slightest hint of humor or wavering in her expression. If anything, she looked even more serious.
She nodded lightly.
"Yes."
"To be precise, I mean studying abroad. I want to spend some time there and properly see what Nishikino is like."
She paused. Her gaze seemed to pass beyond her sister and Sakuraba, toward some unknown distance—or perhaps toward the very center of a target called "possibility."
"If... Sunday Silence chose that place, found her own path there, and even became that strong... then Nishikino must have something special about it."
"Maybe there's an opportunity there for me to become stronger too."
"Stronger?!"
Secretariat felt the veins on her forehead throb. The smile she was barely maintaining nearly cracked apart.
"You can't become stronger at Tracen Academy?! We have the best facilities, the most scientific training system, and the richest racing environment! Is all that still not enough? Do you think I, as your sister and as the student council president, wouldn't give you the best resources?!"
Her voice rose before she realized it.
She truly had not expected to be stabbed in the back by her dear little sister.
Faced with her sister's rapid-fire, nearly exasperated questioning, Easy Goer's gaze remained as calm as a deep pool.
She did not immediately argue back. She simply waited quietly until her sister had finished speaking.
"Then, Sis."
"Can you really be certain that if I stay at Tracen Academy and continue down my current path..."
She tilted her head slightly. Her clear eyes looked straight into Secretariat's slightly unfocused ones as she asked the most important question, the one that left Secretariat utterly speechless.
"...That someday, I'll definitely be able to beat Sunday Silence?"
The air froze completely once again.
Secretariat opened her mouth, but all the things she had prepared to say about honor, tradition, and resources lodged in her throat before that soul-piercing question.
She could not give a one-hundred-percent certain answer.
Sunday Silence's strength and transformation, especially that indescribable quality she had displayed after choosing Nishikino, were themselves a silent challenge to the traditional path of elite schools.
Looking into her sister's eyes, bright with determination and the desire to explore, Secretariat realized with unprecedented clarity that this younger sister, who had always been quiet and obedient, had already nurtured her own ambition and her own path, one that reached beyond the existing framework.
And the starting point of that path seemed to point directly toward the base camp of the person Secretariat had just been trying so hard to poach.
That feeling...
It was even more suffocating than being rejected by Sakuraba on the spot. Her vision nearly went dark.
Secretariat felt her temples throb with pain.
This time, she had crossed the ocean to find Sakuraba ostensibly to try out his massage skills. But on a deeper level, it was because she had seen that her younger sister Easy Goer seemed a little down and lost lately, so she wanted to use this excuse to take her out for a change of pace and see whether Sakuraba's "miraculous" methods could help guide her.
And the result?!
He had guided her, all right. But the direction had completely veered off the planned track, turning straight onto a road Secretariat had never imagined—not reigniting her confidence in American Academy, but directing her gaze at the competitor's nest instead!
She had thought Sakuraba's technique was merely special, that at most it could relax the mind and body. How could she have imagined that after relaxing, Easy Goer's head would actually clear so thoroughly that she would begin thinking about her life strategy, and her very first move would land in the "enemy camp" Secretariat had just tried to poach from?
What made Secretariat's chest feel even more blocked, almost enough to make her cough blood, was that she could not fundamentally refute Easy Goer's reasoning.
Yes, Tracen Academy had everything at the highest level. But Sunday Silence's transformation and strength were real, and that irreplaceable quality she had found at Nishikino was equally undeniable.
Easy Goer had not simply been tempted. She had made a judgment based on calm observation.
As her sister and as the student council president, what Secretariat found most unacceptable was precisely this kind of "reasonable rebellion."
If Easy Goer were just throwing a tantrum or had been coaxed by sweet words, Secretariat could still bring out the authority of an older sister and a student council president, crushing her back down with reason and resources.
But now, her little sister had used an almost cold rationality to point to a potentially better path and ask her:
Are you certain the road we're on now is the only one that leads to the summit?
Secretariat found that she could not give an ironclad "yes."
The powerlessness and frustration brought on by that realization hurt worse than simple anger.
She felt as if what she had brought with her was not a medicine to soothe her younger sister, but a key she had personally handed over, one that would let her sister pry open the trajectory of her own life. And the keyhole was aimed directly at the gates of Nishikino Academy.
How was Sakuraba merely a massage therapist?
He was clearly a kidnapper who worked without making a sound!
One massage, and he had nearly massaged away the younger sister she valued most!
For a moment, Secretariat looked at Sakuraba the way an old father might look at the blond delinquent who had ridden a noisy scooter up to his front door to ask for the daughter he had painstakingly raised.
I'm going to kill you!
She looked at Easy Goer, whose expression was calm but whose eyes burned bright, then glanced at Sakuraba beside them, who still seemed not to have fully recovered from the shock of Easy Goer's request to jump ship. Her vision went black, and only one thought circled through her mind:
What exactly did I come here to do?
Feed myself to the enemy, with a future star thrown in as a bonus?
So I'm basically just plopping myself on the cuck chair, huh?
Sending my little sister a thousand miles away—a light gift, but heavy with feeling?
Easy Goer no longer looked at her sister, whose expression kept shifting as if she might explode on the spot at any moment. Instead, she turned her gaze back to Sakuraba, pure resolve in her blue-green eyes.
"So, Mr. Sakuraba, what is your answer? May I... go to Nishikino Academy?"
Called on again by this sudden, serious question, Sakuraba came back to himself.
He rubbed his chin, his gaze moving back and forth between Easy Goer, whose eyes were burning with intensity, and Secretariat, whose entire body was radiating a dark pressure.
Thinking about it carefully... it seemed like there really was no reason to refuse.
Nishikino Academy was currently short on people.
Although his original goal had been to lose money, the academy still needed students to function.
Easy Goer seemed talented, and she had a clear goal and motivation. More importantly, she had come to him on her own. That did not count as him taking the initiative to poach her, so the system probably... would not be able to catch him on a technicality, right?
A transfer student like her probably would not develop any feelings for Nishikino Academy either.
And the money she earned from races probably would not go to Nishikino Academy...
Mm. Very low risk.
"Mm..."
Sakuraba pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"From the perspective of the academy's investor, if an outstanding student is willing to come, we would naturally welcome her. In principle... it's not impossible."
Easy Goer's eyes brightened slightly.
"However."
Sakuraba changed tack and raised a finger.
"The specific transfer... or rather, study-abroad procedures definitely can't be handled immediately."
"And if I remember correctly, Miss Easy Goer, you're still preparing for the Triple Crown series, aren't you?"
"The final crown hasn't been run yet. It's too early to discuss this now. No matter what, you should at least finish the most important race in front of you before considering what comes after."
Sakuraba offered a perfectly reasonable buffer period.
Easy Goer nodded calmly.
"I understand. The race comes first."
Sakuraba then turned his gaze toward Secretariat, who had fallen terrifyingly silent beside them. The student council president's expression at that moment was truly something to behold, with shock, anger, frustration, and a deep sense of helplessness all tangled together.
The way she looked at Sakuraba was even more complicated than words could describe.
If he had to describe it, it could probably be summed up clearly with one phrase: aggrieved victim.
Sakuraba sighed inwardly.
What a mess. How had a perfectly good massage experience turned into a family dispute plus an on-site talent war?
It wasn't like I deliberately dug up your corner!
Your sister volunteered, okay?
Sakuraba refused to take the blame.
He cleared his throat, trying to smooth things over while also giving Secretariat, who looked like she might faint from rage, a way to step down.
"Um... Miss Secretariat, it seems you're not exactly... in favor of Miss Easy Goer-'s idea?"
Secretariat let out a short huff through her nose. The meaning in her eyes was obvious.
What do you think?!
"How about this?"
Sakuraba made a suggestion.
"Words alone prove nothing. Seeing is believing. No matter how much we talk about what Nishikino is like, or what Sunday Silence is like there, it isn't something you've seen with your own eyes."
"So... as the investor, I can make arrangements and invite the two of you—Miss Secretariat and Miss Easy Goer—to visit Nishikino Academy in Hokkaido yourselves."
He spread his hands in an open gesture.
"You can see the environment there, meet the trainers and students, and get a feel for the atmosphere."
"After you've seen it with your own eyes and properly understood what kind of place it is, Miss Easy Goer can make her decision then."
"And Miss Secretariat, you'll be able to feel a little more at ease too. At least you'll know what sort of place your sister might be going to, rather than imagining it out of thin air. Right?"
It was a reasonable proposal. It did not immediately finalize anything and provoke Secretariat, while also giving Easy Goer a clear goal and an opportunity to inspect the place.
In any case, Sakuraba had extracted himself from the matter.
After they visited the school, whether they stayed or left would have nothing to do with him.
He was only providing an opportunity to tour the place. The decision was in their hands.
That was what Sakuraba thought.
Easy Goer considered it seriously for a moment, then nodded again.
"All right. Confirming it with my own eyes is indeed a necessary step. Thank you, Mr. Sakuraba."
The tension in Secretariat's face eased ever so slightly.
At least this was not an immediate, irreversible "defection."
There was still room to turn things around.
Going to see with her own eyes the place that had changed Sunday Silence and now nearly stolen her sister too...
Fine.
She would like to see exactly what magic Nishikino Academy had!
Perhaps once Easy Goer saw it for herself, it would instead help her recognize reality.
"..."
Secretariat finally squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth, her voice still somewhat stiff.
"Then... I'll trouble you to arrange it, Mr. Sakuraba."
---
T/N: ehuehuehuhe giving ur sister away
T/N: SORRY I TOOK A SMALL WEEK BREAK!!!!!!!! I ANNOUNCED IT ON THE P WEBSITE AND DISCORD
bonus chaps
100 stones → 1 bonus chap
200 stones → 2 bonus chaps
300 stones → 3 bonus chaps
and so on :3
100+ new chaps every week across all my TLs on the P website :)
hehe every 100 followers on either instagram or twitter = 5 bonus chaps...?
(for all ongoing tls)
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl
instagram: hanbaowise
twitter: WiseKingOfUruk_