After dining together with Fei Bohua, more than ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
That day, Shinji Terumi had learned quite a bit from his conversation with Fei Bohua, and it left him acutely aware that top-tier trainers stood at the summit of the profession precisely because they possessed priceless experience and broad, hard-earned knowledge.
No matter how diligently Shinji tried to absorb that knowledge, experience itself could not simply appear out of nowhere.
Especially after gaining the System, many insights he might once have discovered through ordinary training and reflection had become much harder to notice. Under the framework of the System, patterns were absorbed into its mechanics instead. In a sense, that did place certain limits on the growth of Shinji's own abilities as a trainer.
He had no intention of blaming the System. Everything he had achieved so far was deeply tied to it. So rather than resentment, what he felt toward Fei Bohua was respect and gratitude—as well as a growing urge to communicate with other elite trainers.
Together with Offside Trap, he had watched the Prix Lupin. Noble Lineage, the girl Master Painter had always considered the most gifted among the next generation of French horse girls, ultimately failed to live up to Master Painter's expectations in that race and had to settle for second place.
There were many possible explanations. Noble Lineage had needed to conserve strength for the French Derby three weeks later, and her opponent had also been in superb form. But a loss was still a loss. Even through the television screen, Shinji could clearly see the frustration and dejection written all over the girl's face.
Thinking back to the day they first met, Noble Lineage had seemed, at certain moments, to harbor a competitive spirit toward Offside Trap. But judging from the contents of the Prix Lupin alone, even if Noble Lineage had gone all out, she likely still would not have been able to threaten Offside Trap.
Shinji scratched his head and stretched lazily.
He was getting sleepy. Why had he even compared Noble Lineage to Offside Trap in the first place? If he really wanted to compare them, he should at least wait until Noble Lineage had finished developing—until after that rapid-growth summer phase had passed.
Turning his gaze, he looked at Offside Trap, who had been sitting beside him the entire time. Since they had watched the race inside their room, the two of them had been shoulder to shoulder on the sofa. Offside Trap, on the other hand, looked wide awake. Or rather, Shinji being sleepy at this hour was what was strange. That left Offside Trap staring at him in puzzlement.
The morning's training had indeed been exhausting—but wasn't she the one doing the running? Why did her trainer look like the one about to pass out?
"I'm going to bed in a bit. Tidy things up when you're done."
Looking at Offside Trap's clear, faintly puzzled face, Shinji pointed at the snack wrappers and bags scattered across the coffee table, and her cheeks puffed up at once.
Every single time, her trainer said they would take turns cleaning up the snack mess. But every time, he found some excuse to dodge it, which meant that in the end, she was always the one doing the cleaning.
She might have put up with it if he had at least offered an excuse. But this time, Shinji did not even bother with that—he simply strode off toward his room as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
[Negative Emotion +70]
"Trainer!"
Offside Trap sprang to her feet, her voice coming out several degrees sharper than usual.
Shinji turned around and looked at her blankly, slightly bewildered. His mind was foggy with drowsiness, and he truly did not seem able to process his horse girl's emotions.
"What is it?"
There was such obvious exhaustion in his voice that Offside Trap's heart softened on the spot.
She had clearly seen how sleepy he looked. The irritation she had just been feeling melted away.
"Y-You should make sure you keep the blanket wrapped tightly around yourself later. I'm going to turn the air conditioning on for a little while."
Even she felt annoyed with herself for caving so quickly. She turned her face away.
The door clicked shut behind Shinji after he entered his room, and Offside Trap bit her lower lip.
All at once, the urge to follow him in surged through her.
After all, he was so sleepy that he probably would not even notice.
Taking a deep breath, Offside Trap put thought into action. She crept toward the closed door to Shinji's room. Though the steady, even sound of his breathing already seemed deep enough to indicate he had fallen asleep, she still moved carefully, afraid of waking him.
She gently pushed the door open and saw Shinji lying on the bed, his face peaceful. There was nothing pained or weary in his sleeping expression, despite how tired he had looked moments ago. If anything, it was calm and serene. Staring at that face, Offside Trap found herself grinning foolishly.
Only after a long while did she realize how long she had been standing there staring. She swallowed, then took her first step into Shinji's room.
Then a second.
Then a third.
With every step, she drew closer to him.
His presence was right there in front of her now. Offside Trap's ears trembled, and her face flushed bright red. Even without touching it, she knew her cheeks must be burning hot.
Like a guilty thief, she glanced around the room, then slowly reached out and waved a hand in front of Shinji's face.
"Trainer… I'm a little hungry."
She knew her trainer was capable of pretending to sleep just to toy with her, so she had to test him first. With that excuse, she watched him expectantly.
Shinji slept on, utterly unresponsive.
Offside Trap let out a quiet sigh of relief. The test was complete. Her conclusion: Shinji was fast asleep.
That made her bolder.
She lifted one side of the blanket without hesitation, then glanced toward Shinji's bedside before looking toward the window. Sunlight streamed into the room, carrying the faint warmth of the coming summer. Offside Trap found it a little surprising. So there were really people who napped in broad daylight without even drawing the curtains?
She leaned toward the window, checked that there were no Paris Tracen students nearby outside, and then—swish—pulled the curtains shut completely.
Turning back to look at Shinji, Offside Trap wore a silly, blissful smile without realizing it. Then she sat on the bed.
The mattress dipped beneath her weight. She slipped under the blanket she had just lifted, shifted a few times, and soon reached Shinji's side. His body temperature was not especially high, and yet Offside Trap felt as if she were the one overheating.
But she did not dislike the sensation at all.
Tentatively, she stretched out a hand and laid it lightly against Shinji's chest, quiet and careful.
He did not so much as twitch an eyelash.
That only reassured her further.
Slowly, her hand changed from merely resting there to hugging him. The smile of satisfaction on her face grew brighter and brighter.
"Trainer smells so nice…"
That was all she had meant to do—to steal a little more of his warmth and scent.
But the comfort of it all was too much.
Before she even realized it, drowsiness crept over her.
And so, without noticing it herself, Offside Trap drifted off to sleep as well.
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 165)
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 (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
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 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
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 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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