Tracen Academy, Student Council President's Office.
Rudolf Symbol sat at her desk, dark circles under both eyes, looking utterly exhausted as she worked through two stacks of paperwork even taller than the ones from last time.
Besides Rudolf Symbol, there were also two veteran trainers in the room. One sat in a wheelchair, the other leaned on a crutch. Both wore solemn expressions, as if waiting for someone to arrive.
A knock sounded from outside.
"Come in."
The wooden door opened, but no one appeared to enter.
"Hm?"
While the two veteran trainers were still wondering why no one had come in, Rudolf Symbol looked up and smiled at the empty space before her.
"So, you've come."
"Yes. I have."
Only when that androgynous voice rang out did the two veteran trainers realize that a black-clad figure was slowly materializing in the empty space before them.
And it was not that he had appeared out of nowhere. He had been standing there the whole time. They simply had not noticed him.
"Let me introduce him. This is the new trainer, Mr. Tang Han," Rudolf Symbol said, introducing Tang Han to the two senior trainers.
"His outfit can dampen his presence. The first time I met him, I was just as surprised as you are now."
"It can dampen his presence?!" The two veteran trainers were shocked.
If they could get hold of those clothes, wouldn't that mean they could finally escape the torment of their own horse girls?
At the very least, they could hide for a few days and stop spending every night unable to return to their dorms.
"Heh heh."
A greedy gleam instantly appeared in both their eyes.
Tang Han suddenly felt a faint trace of malice and quietly edged a few steps farther away from them.
Rudolf Symbol then began introducing the two veteran trainers to Tang Han.
"This is Intermediate Trainer Mr. Kiyoshi."
"Hello." Kiyoshi, the one with the crutch, waved at Tang Han.
"And this is Senior Trainer Mr. Iin."
"I see." The man in the wheelchair nodded with a smile.
"Pleasure to meet you, seniors. I've long heard your great names," Tang Han replied politely.
In truth, Tang Han had seen both of them before.
On his first day reporting in as a new trainer, right after getting off the bus, he had seen Senior Kiyoshi holding up a cardboard sign warning the new trainees to run, teaching Tang Han just how terrifying Tracen Academy really was.
Then there had been the incident where Senior Tokugawa sold out Senior Iin, who had been hiding in a trash can, showing Tang Han that one had to be very cautious when making friends at Tracen, or one might very well be betrayed by them.
It could be said that Kiyoshi and Iin had been Tang Han's first guides upon entering Tracen Academy. He respected them greatly.
But now Tang Han realized that these two seniors seemed to want to steal his clothes.
If it came down to it, for the sake of his own safety, Tang Han was fully prepared to sacrifice even personal loyalties.
"There was supposed to be one more veteran trainer here," Rudolf Symbol said, "but something happened, so he was unable to come."
Tang Han fell silent.
From the pattern that the more experienced the trainer, the more severe the injuries, Tang Han already knew exactly what kind of "something" had kept that senior from attending.
"I've called you all here today to discuss the incident on the academy forums: the thread titled The Three Goddesses Descend! A Mysterious Man Appears."
Oh. So it wasn't about that prohibited clickbait thread after all. Good. Good...
The two senior trainers both let out sighs of relief.
But Tang Han, unlike them, did not relax in the slightest. In fact, he grew even more tense.
Because the mysterious man in that thread was his drunken self.
Tang Han panicked inwardly, though thankfully the Doctor's Coat hid his expression so no one could see how nervous he was.
Rudolf Symbol continued.
"A great many strange things happened at Tracen Academy yesterday."
"A sudden downpour fell from a clear sky. Every horse girl who got caught in it developed headaches, fevers, sore throats, and weakness in the limbs..."
"The God of Honey Drinks appeared in the cafeteria, causing sales of honey drinks around the academy to plummet."
"But the most serious impact came from the mysterious man who suddenly appeared before the statue of the Three Goddesses..."
Rudolf Symbol sighed helplessly.
"Ten horse girls saw that mysterious man with their own eyes. Since then, they have been unable to eat or sleep properly, desperate to see him again. Some of them even came to me, hoping that I, the all-capable student council president, would help them find him."
"Ordinarily, finding people is not my job, and I would have no obligation to get involved. But if I allow them to remain dejected and lose all motivation to train, these promising stars of tomorrow may very well lose the futures they deserve."
"I could not bear to see that happen, so I agreed to look into it."
"From their descriptions, I can roughly tell that this mysterious man is extraordinarily charming, almost as though he does not belong to this world at all, but is instead a gift the Three Goddesses bestowed upon the horse girls of this world."
"Unfortunately, because all of their attention was completely captured by his face at the time, none of them noticed what he was wearing. All they know is that he seemed like a very warm person."
"And among the four... no, three of you, you are the trainers I know most likely to fit the description."
Among everyone present, aside from Tang Han, all of them were gentle, soft-hearted trainers, which matched the "warm" quality described by the witnesses.
Of course, the one Rudolf Symbol actually suspected the most was Tang Han, because no one had ever seen his true face. Perhaps the very reason he wore those clothes was to conceal that defining trait.
Still, Rudolf Symbol was not entirely certain. After all, could someone as calm and rational as Tang Han really do something so foolish as to expose himself like that in front of the Three Goddesses' statue?
"What do you think?" Rudolf Symbol asked, fixing Tang Han and the other two with a sharp gaze.
The office fell silent.
So this was why Rudolf Symbol had called them here: to ask whether that mysterious man had been one of them.
"I think," Iin said, "that this mysterious man was probably my friend, Tokugawa."
"Trainer Tokugawa?"
"That's right." Senior Iin nodded.
"Tokugawa is a very gentle person. Much gentler than I am. He should be the mysterious man."
Tang Han said nothing.
He could not help but feel that Senior Iin was naming Tokugawa purely to get revenge for the time Tokugawa had betrayed him.
"Trainer Kiyoshi? What about you?" Rudolf Symbol turned to him.
"It definitely wasn't me. I have a perfect alibi. My own horse girl can confirm it," Senior Kiyoshi answered instantly.
"So I think the mysterious man was my friend, Trainer Billy."
Tang Han fell silent again.
What a thing. For the sake of their own safety, both of them were instantly selling out their friends.
Did their consciences not ache at all?
"And what about you, Tang Han?" Rudolf Symbol asked.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Tang Han thought it over seriously before saying,
"I think... perhaps... it was Trainer Gangmen Guantong..."
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 139)
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 (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
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 168
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 156
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
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 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
Still playing traditional Honk 49
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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