"Orfevre, I hear you've been spending a lot of time with the Empress lately."
In the Expedition Support Committee room, Orfevre sat on the sofa, sipping the tea Dream Journey had brewed for her.
"Did something happen?" Dream Journey asked.
"I was merely curious about what the Empress does every day. I observed her in passing."
"Observed her?" Dream Journey pushed up her glasses.
"Indeed. I am observing the Empress's weaknesses, gathering information on her, and then, on the racetrack, I shall crush her in one decisive strike. As the saying goes, if one wishes to defeat an enemy, one must first understand the enemy."
"That's something Trainer Chiya said, isn't it?"
Dream Journey had investigated Fujiwara Chiya before.
She had learned that before every race, he conducted an enormous amount of research. Tactical analysis. Physical analysis. He even investigated an uma musume's personality.
He was the kind of trainer who liked to gather as much information as possible before a race, then arrange targeted training and tactics for his uma musume based on what he found, all so they could handle whatever came next.
Dream Journey called that type of trainer a "chess player."
His training was like playing a match on a board called the racetrack. He prepared every possible response in advance, then countered each move as it came.
However, this training method had one major drawback.
It required absolute trust from the uma musume.
They had to trust his arrangements. Trust the tactics he gave them. Trust his training methods.
Sometimes, Fujiwara Chiya would make his uma musume train things that seemed completely unrelated to running. Reflexes, emotional control, even learning how to restrain their own feelings.
If an uma musume did not truly trust him, she would definitely feel those exercises were a waste of time. She would refuse to follow through, think he was brushing her off, and demand a different trainer.
In fact, Trainer Chiya had a history of being asked to transfer off assignments. His rating at Central had once been somewhere in the lower-middle range.
Then, at some point, something changed.
His situation suddenly improved. His uma musume began producing strong results one after another, and his trainer rating climbed all the way up with them.
And now, the uma musume on his team trusted him unconditionally. His abilities had also earned unanimous recognition from Central. Among senior trainers, he had become one of the standouts.
Looking at the whole picture, Trainer Chiya was a textbook example of someone who had learned shame, then used it as fuel. He had refused to rot away and forced himself to rise.
But Dream Journey still felt that something about it was strange.
Trainer Chiya's change had been too sudden.
According to his colleagues, he had become "kind of spooky, always muttering to himself about who-knows-what."
Clearly, something had happened to him. Some kind of incident had caused a sudden shift in his mentality.
As for what that incident was, Dream Journey had no way of knowing.
But from his training methods alone, she could tell that Fujiwara Chiya was the steady, methodical type. He was unwilling to take risks. More than that, he did not want to take risks. He liked to make thorough preparations before a race.
During his rookie period, however, his experience and ability were nowhere near enough to support that style of racing.
There were too many things he could not see. His margin for error was enormous. And that was why Chiya's record had looked so awful.
But later, once Fujiwara Chiya's ability caught up, that calm and careful training method gradually began to show its strengths.
He considered the various situations they might encounter during a race ahead of time, gave his uma musume advance warnings, and allowed them to compete in their best possible condition.
At present, every uma musume on his team had a GⅠ record.
Among trainers, that was an incredible achievement.
After all, most uma musume could run dozens of races throughout their entire careers and still never win a graded race.
That was the first reason Dream Journey believed Fujiwara Chiya was suited to become Orfevre's trainer.
His results were impressive enough.
On top of that, Dream Journey had done some digging.
The uma musume on his team were all famously difficult to manage at Tracen. They were the kind of problem children every other trainer avoided taking responsibility for.
And yet, with a team like that, Fujiwara Chiya had torn through Japan, defeated a genius trainer, and charged straight toward Europe.
That was the second reason Dream Journey had chosen him.
He saw uma musume differently from other people.
Then came the final reason.
The most important one.
Trainer Chiya's uniqueness.
He might be the only trainer in the world with stamina comparable to an uma musume.
Orfevre believed in supremacy through strength. As a rule, she would never submit to someone else's control.
Getting her to listen to a trainer was harder than climbing the heavens.
Even if Rudolf herself came over, Orfevre would at most yield by three steps. Making her completely obey was basically impossible.
And yet, as if by fate, there appeared a trainer powerful enough to defeat her.
That alone made the man the only real choice for Orfevre.
Things had unfolded exactly as Dream Journey expected.
The two of them naturally became trainer and assigned uma musume, and Orfevre listened to him surprisingly well.
Perhaps Orfevre herself had not noticed it, but whenever she chatted with Dream Journey now, barely three sentences could pass before she brought up her trainer.
Just now was the same.
Orfevre had repeated something Fujiwara Chiya had once told her almost out of habit.
Dream Journey knew that Fujiwara Chiya was the best possible candidate to be Orfevre's trainer.
What she had not expected was for Orfevre to be influenced by him this deeply.
That once fiercely independent child had, before anyone realized it, begun to carry a trace of her trainer's scent.
And the reason Dream Journey had asked about her and Shirayuki was because of Shirayuki's relationship with the trainer.
Siblings.
Although Trainer Chiya had denied that relationship, one thing was certain.
Those two had an extraordinarily special connection.
And it was precisely because of that connection that Orfevre's attitude toward Shirayuki had begun to change.
It was hard to imagine that one day, Orfevre would pay this much attention to a trainer. And not merely casual attention, either.
Perhaps Orfevre herself had yet to realize it, but the way she treated her trainer had long since become completely different from the way she treated everyone else.
Using the convenience of her position, Dream Journey had also taken the chance to investigate Fujiwara Chiya's background.
His family circumstances were good. His father was a retired trainer. His mother was an uma musume. There were no particular stains on his record. His personality was decent enough, and he knew how to take care of others.
As for looks, he was certainly above average.
If Orfevre chose a trainer, Dream Journey would not object.
But there was one problem.
A person worthy of catching Orfevre's eye would naturally not be lacking.
If Orfevre thought the trainer was excellent, others would think the same.
Based on Dream Journey's observations over this period, there were quite a few uma musume who maintained a close relationship with Trainer Chiya.
No, rather, more than half of the uma musume on his team seemed to hold affection for him.
And among them, the one with the highest affection was undoubtedly Shirayuki.
When she was beside Chiya, Dream Journey could smell the scent of romantic feelings.
It was a difficult smell to describe in words. A scent only someone like her, who understood humans so deeply, could pick up.
After suppressing herself again and again, Shirayuki's feelings toward Trainer Chiya had become so thick they seemed almost ready to take physical form and drip out.
And that person would become Orfevre's greatest future opponent.
Even though Dream Journey believed her younger sister was the most perfect person in the world, someone no one else could compare to, when she looked at Shirayuki, even with the pickiest eyes possible, she still found it difficult to locate a flaw.
If Orfevre wanted to make the trainer her own, then the hardest obstacle would be Shirayuki.
Right now, Orfevre still had not realized that.
She was still looking at Shirayuki and the trainer's relationship with innocent eyes.
So, as her older sister, Dream Journey needed to give her a reminder.
"The Empress is very clever. She has her own arrangements. Rather than focusing on her, I think you should invite your trainer out somewhere."
"Invite Trainer?"
"Yes. Whether it is the body or the heart, an uma musume needs to relax. Travel is one way to relax. Taking a walk is also a way to relax. When you have time, you can ask your trainer to accompany you outside. He has a responsibility to help you unwind."
Orfevre pinched her chin.
After thinking for a while, she said, "Very well. Then I shall have Trainer come and help me relax."