Only after the bus had come to a complete stop did Terizumi Shinji finally take off his eye mask. Beside him, Nishizaki Ryu had already grown impatient, looking as though he wanted to jump off the bus that very instant.
If you did not know Nishizaki, the eager look on his face would probably make you think he was just itching to go feel some legs. Unseemly as that sounded, Shinji had to admit that examining a horse girl's legs really was one of the fastest and most reliable ways of judging her talent.
That said, if he set friendship aside and judged Nishizaki objectively, Shinji felt the man had no manners at all in that regard.
He never asked before touching.
Rising slowly, Shinji waited until the hulking trainer named Kuro-numa had passed down the aisle before stepping out from his row. Looking out through the window, he could already see several junior-division teachers waiting outside.
He had actually arranged training for this morning, but halfway through, Nishizaki had dragged him here, saying that the academy had organized a visit for trainers to the junior division to observe the students' training.
It was also meant to help them scout promising talent. The academy allowed trainers—especially well-known ones with established teams—to sign particularly outstanding girls from the junior division in advance.
Shinji himself had little interest in it. He was already busy enough this year. Even if junior-division girls would not join up immediately, he had no spare attention to give children who still needed years of growth.
After all, King Halo had once dominated the junior division, yet when she first approached him, she had not even passed his test. Shinji knew full well what kind of immature temperaments these girls could have before real hardship polished them down.
At most, he was here to watch the show.
Thinking that his three trainees probably would not slack off, Shinji yawned and followed the group into the school grounds.
The Tracen Academy junior division had not been built inside Central Tracen itself. Instead, a separate campus and training grounds had been opened nearby.
As he watched the young horse girls on the track, their faces full of hope and tension, Shinji was already beginning to feel a headache coming on.
These kids really had no idea how to hide what they were thinking. Plenty of them were trying to act casual, but the repeated glances they kept sneaking over gave them away completely. Nearby, some trainers Shinji did not know had already started joking and chatting among themselves.
Shinji's gaze shifted toward Tojo Hana, who was standing beside Nishizaki Ryu.
With El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder as the core of her current generation, Tojo Hana was naturally also thinking about her team's future. If Rigil wanted to remain firmly seated at the very top in Japan, it needed fresh blood—new talent worthy of the team.
Her eyes swept across the girls on the field with great care.
In contrast, Nishizaki wore a thoroughly relaxed expression. The reason Shinji was convinced Nishizaki had come here for the same reason he had—not to make any serious preparations for the team's future—was because Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen had already tied up Nishizaki's next several years. There was simply no way he had the capacity to take on more girls.
Watching the way Nishizaki surveyed the field, his eyes lighting up every now and then, Shinji curled his lip.
"Feel free to look around as you like."
Tazuna gave the signal. When she noticed Shinji glance at her, she even winked, clearly urging him to try and discover a few promising girls. Shinji pressed his lips together.
Pretending he had understood perfectly, he headed straight for the most remote corners of the junior division. The girls crowded out on the main field, all desperately trying to stand out, did not interest him in the slightest. Everyone here had known since yesterday that trainers would be coming. With the field now this crowded, their training was no longer effective at all. If anything, it only got in the way.
The only reason they were all out there was because they wanted these trainers to notice their talent.
Shinji was not saying that sort of ambition was wrong. For a young horse girl, securing a team and a trainer early could bring all sorts of benefits.
It just did not appeal to him.
Perhaps, in some smaller and more remote training grounds, he might find the kind of girl who would actually catch his interest.
Unfortunately, Shinji had underestimated how famous he had become.
An autumn Triple Crown-winning trainer did not get to stay low-profile just because he wanted to. Ever since he had arrived, countless young girls had already set their sights on him.
Looking at the children gathering around him and the hopeful expressions in their eyes, Shinji frowned. The personalities on display here all felt the same: they believed they had talent and ability, yet at the same time, they were already shrinking back before the fight, convinced they might not be worthy of someone like Tojo Hana or of matching the prestige of a trainer of that level.
"Trainer Shinji, could you take a look at me? I'm really fast!"
"My finishing kick is amazing! My mom says that when she was young, she was the best Classic-year horse girl in her whole area!"
"I'm really strong! I can handle all kinds of track conditions!"
These children were not completely clueless. Their studies and training in the junior division had at least taught them to recognize their own strengths, which was why they could say things that sounded almost professional.
But Shinji was already tired of hearing it.
In all those eager eyes, he did not see a single gaze that interested him.
That same feverish enthusiasm, repeated over and over, contained nothing else of value.
So Shinji smiled and nodded his way through them, then slipped away from the main field. These girls would find their way to Nishizaki and the other top trainers sooner or later anyway.
At last, he made his way toward the quieter training grounds.
Walking down a tree-lined path in the junior division—though "tree-lined" was hardly the right word in January, when the branches were bare—Shinji could still imagine how lovely it must look in summer.
Not bad at all, he thought.
A nice-looking campus.
Then he came upon a very small training ground.
He would have thought a place this tiny could barely support any real training, and yet one girl was running there with all her strength.
"The same kind of training as Little Yue?"
Watching the girl merely run laps, clearly without any technical knowledge beyond that, Shinji sighed inwardly.
The front-line trainers were not necessarily all that knowledgeable themselves, so there was even less reason to expect too much from the junior-division teachers. At best, what they could offer these students was care, encouragement, and whatever the textbooks said.
These children were getting through this period entirely on talent.
But not every girl's talent lay in brute-force running.
Some talents had to be guided out.
Race rhythm, pacing, tactical control—being able to bulldoze through everything with sheer numerical superiority was the privilege of only a small handful of horse girls. In that sense, this place really was delaying the growth of many children.
Shinji could only feel a little regret over it. He had neither the power nor the desire to change that reality.
Looking at the girl's long, silky black hair, at the sweat dripping from the tip of her chin, he noticed the small black hat pinned between her ears. Compared to those great horse ears, she looked almost too petite.
After only a brief glance, Shinji moved on toward the next training ground. Before he even got close, he could already hear a voice coming from inside.
It sounded like a trainer's voice. Judging by the level of what he was hearing, Shinji felt the man was frankly overqualified for the junior division.
So he stepped up to the edge of the field and looked inside as he entered.
A tall trainer stood there, his sunglasses hiding his eyes. His expression was calm, but the quiet authority he gave off was unmistakable.
Standing before him was a horse girl who looked strangely mechanical. The device-like gear framing her face made her seem as though she belonged in outer space rather than on a school track. Even in the standard junior-division uniform, she radiated an oddly futuristic air.
Shinji recognized him.
This was that trainer with the terrible reputation around the academy.
[Still sounds like he's got the real goods, though.]
"That much is true."
Agreeing with the system, Shinji walked forward under Kuro-numa's gaze.
When Shinji extended his hand, Kuro-numa's eyes sharpened slightly. He clearly had not expected the man currently at the height of his fame to approach him like this.
"Hello. Terizumi Shinji."
"…Hello."
Kuro-numa paused, then added:
"Kuro-numa."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 142)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter181)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter103)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter192)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 173
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 166
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 110
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 190
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 165
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 156
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 81
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 102
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 120
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 80
Uma Musume: I Want All 95
I Can Copy Unique Skills 84
Summoning an Evil God, but the 66
Supernatural Multiverse 83
My Harem Is Indescribable 75
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 81
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 75
Still playing traditional Honk 55
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 60
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 55
Checking In in Demon Slayer 60
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 65
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 35
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 35
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 39
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 58
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