Your Logistics Uma Musume Has Problems

Seeing the other party rushing straight towards her, Kagura already guessed that this blue-haired Uma Musume was from the Mejiro family. She straightened her expression, and her tone became serious.

"We're so sorry! So sorry! It was our oversight! Thank you, Miss Kagura, for your timely help in rescuing the young lady! We only discovered this morning that Miss Ardan was not at home and have been searching everywhere for her, which is how we found her here..."

The Trainer apologized profusely to Kagura, while squatting down to observe the blue-haired Uma Musume on the ground who had not yet regained consciousness. The other party's identity was finally clear. Kagura had heard this name from Speed Symbol. She knew about this sickly Uma Musume named Mejiro Ardan.

It sounded like even the Mejiro family's Trainer was unaware of Ardan's whereabouts. In other words, Ardan's decision to run here at this time was her own, without the Trainer's consent.

Isn't this child sickly? Running to train under such a hot sun, is she trying to make things difficult for herself?

Kagura wondered inwardly.

Soon, Kagura saw a large group of people, including doctors, servants, and maids, chasing after them from the same direction, carrying all sorts of rescue items. Kagura knew that there was probably nothing for her to do here.

"You can handle her situation, right? Then, I won't stay here any longer."

Kagura removed her hand from Ardan's head and stood up, preparing to leave. The still-sleepy Ardan looked up a little reluctantly, wanting to nuzzle her small hand, but she didn't manage to touch Kagura's palm as she wished.

"Miss Kagura, thank you for your timely assistance. We would like to invite you to the Mejiro family for a meal. I wonder if you are available?"

The people who had arrived discovered that Ardan's condition had greatly improved and that it was only a matter of time before she regained consciousness, so they extended an invitation to Kagura.

"Never turning a blind eye to patients in need is my principle. There's no need to thank me. Besides, I have work to do today, so please allow me to decline your invitation."

"...It doesn't matter. Whenever Miss Kagura is free, the Mejiro family will always welcome your visit. We also wish Miss Kagura success in your work."

"Thank you~ Same to you~"

Kagura, who had already walked a distance away, didn't turn around, but simply raised her hand to wave to the Mejiro family's entourage behind her, also sending her blessings in response.

24. Miss Nice Nature Still Doesn't Realize the Seriousness of the Situation

"Surprise! Little sister made lunch in the cafeteria!?"

After finishing a satisfying meal and leaving the cafeteria, Kagura, who had separated from Rudolph Symbol, ran into Akikawa Yayoi, who looked like she was preparing to inspect the cafeteria, while on her way to deliver a meal to Nice Nature. After hearing that she had just missed Kagura's cooking time, she seemed very regretful.

"Is there any tonight? I can bring fresh ingredients over!"

Being looked at by Akikawa Yayoi's pitiful eyes, Kagura couldn't bear to refuse her, so she agreed to call her over for dinner. She just happened to have a phone that she could use to contact her now, and she also exchanged contact information with the chairwoman.

She heard that Akikawa Yayoi had her own field in Tracen Academy, and her ingredients were all grown by herself. As for the quality, at least Rudolph Symbol's evaluation was very good. Kagura could only judge what it was like when she saw it.

Leaving the cafeteria area, Kagura wandered back to Sokuto Dormitory. She still remembered Nice Nature's dorm room number. Following her memory, Kagura knocked on the door of the dorm.

"Coming!"

A familiar voice of Nice Nature quickly came from inside, followed by a burst of hurried footsteps. Soon, the door to the room opened, and Nice Nature, who was wearing only her underwear, appeared in front of Kagura for some reason.

"Uh... Quality, although I understand the idea of wanting to relax properly during the holidays, but your state... wouldn't you have just gotten up?"

Kagura's eyebrows twitched a few times. She didn't know where to start complaining.

It was already past twelve o'clock. Although Kagura would also slack off when she was on vacation when she was in school, she would never slack off to the point of not getting up until twelve o'clock.

"S-Sorry! I... accidentally stayed up late reading novels last night..."

Nice Nature became nervous all of a sudden, her little face flushed as she stammered.

In fact, Nice Nature's housework skills were also very high. It could be seen from the fact that her own dormitory had been cleaned up neatly and tidily. It was just that she would always subconsciously rely on Kagura when Kagura was around.

"Okay, okay, I brought you food. Go get dressed and wash up quickly."

Seeing that Kagura didn't intend to lecture her, Nice Nature escaped back as if she had been granted amnesty, opened the closet, took out a skirt and clothes, and quickly put them on, and then went into the bathroom to wash up.

Kagura walked into the dormitory. Nice Nature's roommate didn't seem to have arrived at the dormitory yet, because the bed on the other side was empty, unlike her side, which still had a quilt. The room was also quite empty, except for the basic furniture, there was also a small table that Nice Nature had brought herself.

"It smells so good~ I smell the aroma of taro radish cake!"

As soon as she came out of the bathroom, Nice Nature smelled an aroma that made her delicate body tremble. After eating too much of the food that Kagura made for her, she could already judge by the smell alone that this meal was definitely all her favorite things again.

"Yeah, you like to eat it, so I made it specially for you."

"Yay! Kagura is so good! I like Kagura the most!"

Nice Nature couldn't wait to run over and sit down with Kagura at the small table, and gave Kagura a big hug.

"You little rascal... hey, don't eat too fast, I also brought soup, drink two sips of soup before eating!"

Seeing Nice Nature's gluttonous and ravenous appearance, Kagura was afraid that Nice Nature would choke from eating too fast, so she still opened her mouth to remind the other party.

Uma Musume eat very quickly, even Uma Musume with small appetites are no exception. In a few minutes, Nice Nature finished eating what Kagura brought.

"So great~ The food that Kagura makes is still so delicious, how can you make it so good?"

"It all depends on intuition~ It's good that Quality likes to eat it."

Although she could have let Nice Nature go down to eat by herself, Kagura still chose to make it for her by hand.

Nice Nature, who was still on summer vacation for school, naturally had no arrangements, and she didn't need to train yet, so after eating, the two of them naturally entered a state of doing nothing.

Kagura wanted to tutor Nice Nature, but after thinking about it carefully, it was only the first few days of the holiday, so there was no need to keep Nice Nature studying, so she didn't bring it up.

"Let's go for a run!"

When asked what Nice Nature wanted to do today, Nice Nature gave an answer that surprised Kagura slightly.

"Because I've never run with Kagura before, I'm a little curious what it feels like."

"Didn't you say you wanted to rest during the holidays?"

Kagura didn't mind running a couple of laps; she was mainly curious why Nice Nature wanted to run with her.

"Running is a kind of rest, I quite like it."

Although she couldn't quite understand the Uma Musume's hobbies, looking at the time, the hottest part of the day was over. Kagura thought it wouldn't hurt to run, so she agreed.

For ease of movement, Nice Nature changed into sportswear. Kagura hadn't received her school uniform or sportswear yet, so she had to run in her maid outfit.

Because the afternoon sun wasn't as strong, some Uma Musume who stayed at Tracen Academy to train were on the track. As Kagura and Nice Nature approached the track, they ran into Rudolph Symbol and Maruzensky, along with their Trainer, Toujou Hana, who were warming up.

"Good afternoon, Kagura. Are you running with a friend today?"

"Yes, Quality said she wanted to run with me, so we came."

Kagura nodded to Toujou Hana, who paused thoughtfully and looked at Nice Nature.

"Nice Nature, is it? Have you trained in running before? Do you know what distance and running style you're good at?"

"Huh? Me? I... I usually run 2000 meters, but I'm not sure about my running style."

After thinking for a moment, Nice Nature replied hesitantly.

"I see. Nice Nature, I have a request. Would you be willing to race Kagura as a training match?"

25. Nechaps: Damn, I'm becoming fried fish!

"Track conditions: good. Weather: clear. Distance: 2000 meters, counter-clockwise."

On the track, Kagura and Nice Nature were in position. Toujou Hana stood next to a sign with a picture of an Uma Musume, announcing the track conditions.

Rudolph Symbol and Maruzensky, who were training, stopped and watched the training match, which was said to be a friendly race, with great interest.

"Nice Nature, Kagura, wait for the starting command!"

Toujou Hana gave a reminder, mainly to remind Kagura, who had poor concentration. Nice Nature seemed very focused and didn't seem to have any problems.

The two bent down slightly into a starting position. Kagura took a moment to look at Nice Nature next to her. Nice Nature looked very serious, staring straight ahead, completely unaware that she was being watched.

Since we're going to run... I can't embarrass myself in front of Kagura!

Nice Nature stared ahead. She had always been taken care of by Kagura. Although she always wanted Kagura, who was two years younger than her, to treat her like an older sister, it was clear that Kagura was more mature in every way, making her seem like the younger sister instead.

Why do you two act like you're in a professional race when you get on the track...? We're here for training, right!?

Feeling the pressure, Kagura complained in her mind, her forehead covered in black lines.

She remembered when she ran with Rudolph Symbol and the others. They had agreed to just run a training match, but as they ran, Kagura realized that these Uma Musume were getting more and more competitive.

"Rudolph, who do you think will win?"

Maruzensky watched the two little Uma Musume preparing to start with great interest. In contrast to Nice Nature, who was dressed lightly and ready to run, Kagura's maid outfit was quite unsuitable for exercise. However, Kagura probably didn't have any sportswear to change into.

"I don't know how strong Nice Nature is, but it takes a certain amount of skill to beat Kagura. I personally think Kagura will win."

Although Rudolph Symbol didn't know Nice Nature's level yet, she was sure that there were only a handful of people among Kagura's peers who could beat her. It depended on whether Nice Nature was one of those geniuses.

The track fell into a brief silence. A moment later, Toujou Hana's starting whistle broke the silence. Nice Nature, who was ready, immediately sprinted out. Kagura, as usual, stood still for half a second before starting.

"Oh dear... this little girl's concentration is really not good... and she's a runaway Uma Musume."

Maruzensky was a little worried about Kagura. From the looks of it, Kagura's start was basically half a beat slow, which wouldn't be good for her future development.

Good... the start is perfect... Did Kagura have a bad start? Or is she running as a chaser?

Nice Nature took the lead. The perfect start made her breathe a sigh of relief. She didn't immediately notice Kagura's position. Kagura's footsteps were behind her. If Kagura wasn't slow or using a chasing tactic, then she had a bad start.

Toujou Hana naturally saw Kagura's problem. She was thinking about how to improve it. Concentration training couldn't be solved in a day or two. It required a long process. Fortunately, Kagura was still young and had plenty of time to correct her problem.

"This child... isn't trying to take the lead?"

Toujou Hana originally thought that Kagura would accelerate madly to regain the lead, but Kagura didn't do that this time. She saw Kagura following steadily behind Nice Nature, not as fast as when she ran away last time.

Not trying to take the lead right away meant that Kagura had chosen a stalking or leading tactic this time.

Should I rush ahead?

Kagura didn't immediately burst forward, mainly because she wasn't familiar with the distance. The reason she dared to sprint at full speed before was because she had run 1600 meters, and she knew that running 1600 meters wouldn't put any strain on her stamina, so she dared to burst forward the whole time.

Now that the race had been extended to 2000 meters, although Kagura felt that it wasn't too much pressure, she wasn't sure if she could finish the 2000 meters if she rushed so hard, so she decided to observe Nice Nature's situation before taking action.

"Nice Nature... as the leader, she can't distance herself from Kagura, who's still in the leading position."

Rudolph Symbol shook her head. It wasn't a good thing that the leader couldn't distance herself from the person behind.

The two quickly ran a few hundred meters, and the strength of both sides began to show. Kagura was still biting Nice Nature in the leading position. Nice Nature in front seemed to be accelerating as much as she could, but she still couldn't distance herself from Kagura.

"Rudolph, when you debuted, the leader in front of you was just like Nice Nature."

"...Maruzensky means that Kagura is as strong as I am?"

"Who knows, maybe she'll be even better than you when she grows up?"

"That would be wonderful."

Rudolph Symbol smiled. She longed for such an opponent. The Uma Musume in her debut race didn't give her enough pressure. She didn't even feel the joy of chasing. But when she chased behind Kagura that day, she rarely felt threatened and excited.

——Catch up with her! Surpass her!

When facing Kagura's runaway, she had such a feeling for the first time. Before that, only Maruzensky could give her such a sense of oppression.

'Why… why is Kagura's footstep still so close?! Has the distance between her and me not changed at all!? How can this be… how is this possible…'

The one under the most pressure right now is Nice Nature, who has just passed the second turn. She can clearly hear Kagura's footsteps chasing right behind her, and the volume has hardly changed, indicating that the distance between Kagura and her is almost constant!

For Nice Nature, this is very bad news, because if the leading position fails to widen the gap, the probability of being overtaken on the final straight is very high.

'If I accelerate again… I'll lose speed at the end, but if I don't accelerate…'

Nice Nature assesses how she should run the final stretch, weighing whether to accelerate with all her might now to shake off Kagura.

But in this moment of hesitation, she and Kagura have already entered the third turn, with only the final turn and the final straight remaining to the finish line!

"Quality—sorry!"

Kagura has confirmed that the distance and stamina should be in the right position, she lowers her posture and begins to increase her speed.

The constant footsteps in Nice Nature's ears suddenly close in. Toujou Hana, Rudolph Symbol, and others watching on the sidelines can't help but widen their eyes. Kagura goes around to the outside lane, then lowers her body and begins to accelerate dramatically!!

"So fast!! Are you kidding me!!?"

In an instant, Kagura's figure flashes like a shadow, appearing two lengths ahead and to the right of Nice Nature, and Kagura is still increasing her speed with terrifying acceleration, rapidly widening the gap between her and Nice Nature!

Nice Nature doesn't have time to worry about whether she will lose speed on the final straight. She must immediately accelerate to catch up with Kagura, otherwise, even if she has a late burst, she won't be able to make up the distance.

"The distance won't close… how can this be…"

But what makes Nice Nature even more desperate is that she finds that her acceleration is not as high as Kagura's at all. Even though she is now accelerating with all her might, the distance between Kagura and her is still widening.

At this time, Kagura, who is already leading by four lengths, takes the lead in passing through the fourth turn and steps onto the final straight. Nice Nature only hears a crisp shout in the howling wind, and Kagura in front accelerates again!

"This speed is too outrageous… this isn't going to work!!"

Amid Nice Nature's desperate oyster-like wails, Kagura, who has already widened the distance between her and her, crosses the finish line first, while she, who has already lost speed, spends just over four seconds to cross the finish line.

Kagura, who has just finished strenuous exercise, is breathing slightly rapidly. She takes a few deep breaths and quickly adjusts her breathing rhythm, while Nice Nature is exhausted, supporting herself on her knees and gasping for breath.