Although the man before him was the most talked-about trainer in Japan these past few days, Kuro-numa's mood had already begun to sour. He could see it clearly: ever since Terizumi Shinji arrived, the horse girl he had taken a liking to had not taken her eyes off him once.
So she recognized him, then. Kuro-numa did not find that surprising. Terizumi Shinji did not exactly have an ordinary, forgettable face. And from this particular girl's unusual perspective, she was probably not the type to mistake one well-known figure for another—or fail to notice one.
Taking a deep breath, Kuro-numa steeled himself for the possibility that Shinji might snatch away this talented girl before he could act, then finally spoke.
"Didn't find a suitable trainee over there?" he asked. Then, belatedly realizing the implication of his wording, he added, "A future trainee, I mean."
"They're all just brats whose temperaments haven't been tempered yet. Even if they have talent, unless it's extraordinary, there's still nothing proving they'll truly rise above the rest in the future."
King Halo had been exactly like that. Back in the junior division, she had been the undisputed number one, far ahead of second place by an enormous margin. Among all the students in the division's history, she was one of the very best. Yet after entering the middle division, she completely failed to live up to the achievements and glory she had earned in her junior years.
In the end, that reputation had become the sharpest weapon others used against her—and the sharpest weapon she used against herself.
Kuro-numa nodded in approval. He had not expected such an old-fashioned, seasoned answer from someone who looked this young. He had been at Central Tracen for many years. He had seen countless so-called genius trainers fade into mediocrity.
There was one thing these trainers all needed to understand: a trainer's career was very long. Those truly exceptional horse girls, the kind that emerged only once every year or even every few years, were never going to fall into the hands of newcomers like them.
Even if those newcomers were hailed as prodigies, as the symbolic stars of the next generation of trainers.
The vast majority of the girls they would actually get to work with were the horse girls with merely first-rate aptitude. Such girls might still challenge for GI races, might even win a few—but that was exactly where a trainer's real ability would be tested.
How could a trainer who had never won a GI lead a horse girl equally unfamiliar with that stage to the glory of a GI victory?
No textbook would teach them that. They had to figure it out for themselves.
And unfortunately, over all these years, what Kuro-numa had seen again and again were young trainers who blindly worshipped talent, only to disappear just as quickly as they had emerged. They followed the textbook to the letter, never once asking why the textbooks contained nothing about how to dominate at the GI level.
All at once, he found himself thinking much more highly of the young man before him. Producing a single GI-winning horse girl did not by itself prove he was different from the rest. But being able to say something like that at all meant his thinking had already gone beyond the shallow basics written in books.
He turned to the horse girl he had taken a liking to. He still had not asked her name. He had not wanted to rush things.
But now that Terizumi Shinji had shown up out of nowhere, he suddenly felt pressed for time.
"What's your name?"
Kuro-numa's voice was as cold and flat as ever. Even Shinji thought the man sounded almost as if he disliked the girl.
"Miura Habo."
Her voice was equally cold, almost mechanical, and Shinji found himself thinking that the two of them really were a match made in heaven—trainer and trainee perfectly suited to each other.
Kuro-numa nodded, then continued.
"Watching the way you're trying to run right now, have you considered this…"
As he spoke, Kuro-numa instinctively glanced at Shinji, making Shinji widen his eyes slightly.
"Do you need me to step away?"
"That's not what I meant."
Kuro-numa would never say it out loud, but this was the first time he had ever instructed a horse girl in front of another trainer.
And since he had already developed a certain degree of respect for Terizumi Shinji, he felt strangely uncomfortable.
That discomfort, of course, also held a trace of worry. He worried whether what he was teaching might not actually be right.
"You're currently trying to lock your pace over a thousand meters. You can keep refining it, yes—but within a sixty-second range, a lot can happen."
Shinji said nothing, but a flicker of approval passed through his eyes. This man's reputation had ruined him—and ruined plenty of horse girls' opportunities alongside him.
His eye was sharp. His reaction was fast.
He had instantly identified the flaw in Mihono Bourbon's current training.
"In fact, you might consider shortening that from one thousand meters down to two hundred. Treat every two hundred meters as an individual unit, and set a target time suited both to yourself and to the race."
At that, the girl's eyes lit up at once, and she looked at Kuro-numa with unmistakable expectation.
"I can help you with that, of course. But what matters most is you. You have an advantage other horse girls do not. You need to make proper use of it."
As he spoke, Kuro-numa looked at the black mechanical-looking attachments beside Mihono Bourbon's ears.
The system muttered in Shinji's mind.
[Two hundred meters, huh? A pretty brutal standard. For horse girls, there's barely any room for adjustment within two hundred meters. Applying that to daily training would mean a huge amount of work.]
No wonder the academy called him a demon trainer. Many of the girls who had studied under him for a while eventually left—likely because of standards like this.
Yet wasn't that exactly what training was supposed to be?
If you demanded a lot from yourself in practice, then naturally you ought to perform better in the race itself.
Watching Mihono Bourbon set off again, Shinji could see she was trying very hard to follow Kuro-numa's instructions. But her control over her body, and her overall sense of rhythm, were still lacking. The result was messy. Soon enough, her breathing got dragged out of sync, and the strain on her body mounted.
After barely completing a lap, Mihono Bourbon was dripping with sweat. Kuro-numa looked at her in silence. She was clearly a very hardworking child. He could say with confidence that the amount she had just trained already exceeded the daily work of quite a few horse girls at Central Tracen.
After a deep breath, Kuro-numa seemed to tense slightly. It was the first real sign of emotion he had let slip, and even Shinji found that surprising.
"Once you enter Central Tracen… would you be willing to become my trainee?"
Kuro-numa's question made Shinji curious enough to look at Mihono Bourbon again—and just then, he met her eyes.
They were astonishingly clear. So clear they seemed almost devoid of emotion, and even Shinji paused for a moment.
"I would be honored. Thank you for your guidance today, and thank you for recognizing me."
Her tone was flat, and her face just as calm as ever, but Shinji somehow still sensed a touch of happiness from her.
This pair really did excel at hiding their feelings.
Kuro-numa seemed a little surprised by how firm and immediate Mihono Bourbon's response was, as if she had answered without any need to think. That sparked a flicker of curiosity in him, and he spoke again.
"My reputation at the academy isn't good. My training will be hard."
"I understand."
Mihono Bourbon answered just as calmly.
"I can sense your emotions. Just as this trainer over here has only been interested since he stepped onto the field, I can clearly feel your focus and how highly you think of me."
Her explanation was so serious that Shinji, having been mentioned directly, found himself slightly surprised. Mihono Bourbon was not wrong. He truly had been no more than an observer.
Still, the morning had not been wasted. He had witnessed a very worthwhile signing, and for a trainer, that in itself was an excellent experience to study.
Far better than those long-winded, empty signings from which nothing at all could be learned.
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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