There's Something Wrong With Your Logistics Uma Musume Chapter 21

"Wow... looks delicious! By the way, is this also Chinese food? It feels like little sister is learning mostly Chinese dishes?"

"That's right, because I like it, and I can also prepare some for the young lady as afternoon tea. It's nutritious and delicious, and eating a little won't exceed the daily quota."

"Damn... I'm so envious of Rudolph..."

Maruzensky couldn't help but feel envious when she thought about how Rudolph could eat such delicious food every day without having to wait in line like her, and she had also heard that Kagura would bring her food and massage her, and that Kagura's technique was quite good.

"Ah! I want a support Uma Musume too... Kagura, why don't you come work for me! I can take care of you!"

As she spoke, Maruzensky hugged Kagura and rubbed her chest, taking a deep breath of that comforting scent.

Although Maruzensky wanted to find a support Uma Musume herself after seeing Kagura, the Tracen Academy's support department was chronically understaffed, and this year there were only a few new recruits. Moreover, the skill level of the other support Uma Musume was not on the same level as Kagura's. After all, Kagura was a genuine maid trained by the Symbol family, and she also understood the content of logistical support, while they were just students.

"Ahaha... Miss Maruzensky is a little too enthusiastic... I have a job to do, so I can't just switch."

Kagura patted Maruzensky's head to make her let go, and seeing that Gold Ship was still slowly savoring her food, she went back to the kitchen to continue washing the dishes she had used.

It was already past 9 PM, which was past dinner time. Everyone else had even left work. Now, Kagura was the only one still borrowing the kitchen. She had already delivered Rudolph Symbol and Excellent Quality's meals, and she was only staying to try making something new. As for why Maruzensky and Gold Ship were still in the cafeteria so late, Kagura couldn't think of any reason other than to specifically wait for her new creations to try.

"Delicious...! It's clearly a dessert, but it feels a bit light... but it's still very delicious!"

Unlike Gold Ship, who brought her own tableware, Maruzensky simply grabbed it and started munching on it. Seeing her happy face, Kagura knew that her taste control should be fine. It seemed that this experimental product could be taken to Rudolph Symbol to eat tomorrow.

"Thank you for the compliment~ Chinese desserts are like this. It seems that my seasoning is fine. Miss Maruzensky, please be a little more refined. Look how elegant A-Ship is eating."

Kagura, who was still fiddling with ingredients in the kitchen, replied without even looking up.

Maruzensky eats like she runs, as if every move carries a gust of wind. Kagura is always worried that she will choke while eating like this.

"It's become a habit, it's hard to change. By the way, Kagura, do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"Hmm? I have plans. Is there something you need, Miss Maruzensky?"

"I wanted to take you out to buy clothes, but if you have something to do, then forget it."

"Th-thank you for understanding..."

Hearing that she was going out to buy clothes, Kagura only felt her eyes twitch. She was somewhat glad that she did have plans to go out tomorrow. She hadn't forgotten the last time she went shopping for clothes and was tormented by Maruzensky as a dressing doll for two hours.

Quickly washing the dishes and putting them in the disinfection cabinet, Kagura took off her apron and hung it up, washed her hands, turned off the lights in the kitchen, and then came out and locked the door.

The two Uma Musume outside had already finished their pastries and were clearly still not satisfied. Seeing Kagura come out of the kitchen, they both cast expectant glances, as if to say, "Is there any more?"

"Geez... you two! That's dessert! Even if it's not a high-calorie food, eating too much late at night will make you fat! No snacking! Go back to sleep!"

Kagura put on an angry face, preparing to send these two gluttons out first so she could turn off the lights and lock up.

"Eh! Is there really no more! I can smell that you still have some on you, little sister!"

"Sodayo! Gold Ship-sama can see the mark of the sacred object on your body!"

"A-Ship, play less Age of Empires! That's for Quality! Your share has already been eaten!"

Originally, Kagura wanted to give these two gluttons a flick on the forehead, but when she raised her hand, she realized that this poor little dwarf couldn't reach anyone, so she could only helplessly put it down again.

Dragging the two gluttons out, she closed the cafeteria door, but didn't lock it tightly, because the Tracen cafeteria door is never locked. Although Kagura was a little curious about whether it was safe for the Tracen student cafeteria to not lock the door, there was nothing to steal in the cafeteria except for ingredients, and the kitchen door was locked anyway, and there was nothing to lose outside.

All the way back to the dormitory building, they finally reached the place where they had to part ways. Maruzensky seemed a little reluctant, but after all, she didn't live in the school, and she couldn't enter the dormitory.

"...I suddenly want to live in the dormitory! There's still a vacant spot in little sister's room, right?"

"If Miss Maruzensky signs up now, she might go to Miho Dormitory... and, I have a roommate, although I still don't know who my roommate is."

Half a month had passed, and Kagura still hadn't seen her roommate anywhere, but she had been helping to clean and tidy up that bed all the time, even if the owner of that bed hadn't returned for a long time, it was still neat and tidy.

"Damn! Does that mean Gold Ship-sama doesn't even have the chance to sneak in and occupy the sacred land!"

"Unfortunately, no~"

The picture that should have been in the previous chapter.

34. Unexpected Meeting

The next day, after asking Toujou Hana and Rudolph Symbol for leave and handing the day's menu to Rudolph Symbol to keep an eye on at noon, Kagura prepared to set off alone to complete her arrangements for today.

She wasn't just refusing when she said she had plans for today. She was also following Eclipse's previous suggestion that before Rudolph Symbol's race began, she should go to the race venue herself to get a feel for it. Yesterday, she had looked up information about the Icho Special race and confirmed her destination for today – the Tokyo Racecourse.

Tracen Academy's location was a bit far from Fuchu, where the racecourse was located. Kagura had originally considered running there, but after seeing the distance, she obediently chose to take the train. This time, Kagura learned her lesson and specifically changed into less conspicuous casual clothes before going out.

——I don't think it's bad for you to wear that outfit. It's a good way to train your courage.

'Miss Eclipse, you're trying to kill me...'

It wouldn't be accurate to say she was going out alone. Kagura had an invisible ghost with her at all times, namely Eclipse. Her communication with Eclipse was mostly through Eclipse writing words on various mirrors, and she would reply through thoughts or speech. Like now, she looked like she was scrolling through her phone, but she was actually looking at the words Eclipse left on the screen.

——Even if you don't wear a maid outfit, people will still take pictures of you, you know. After all, I'm very beautiful!

'I think Miss Eclipse, you could be a little more humble!!'

Of course Kagura knew that someone was taking pictures of her. Just now, even a few children and their parents came over and asked if they could take a picture with Kagura. Although Kagura was a little embarrassed, she didn't mind so much when she saw how happy the children were.

It was only a twenty-minute train ride from Tracen Academy to Fuchu. Kagura didn't understand what was so attractive about her. In those twenty minutes, three groups of people ran over to take pictures with her. Two of the groups were children who loved Uma Musume, which Kagura could understand. The other was a fashionable gray-haired Uma Musume about her age, who was now standing in front of her.

"Cute lady~ If you don't mind, can I take a picture with you and post it on my Umastagram account?"

"Although I don't mind... but, are you..."

Kagura had heard of this platform before. She even had an account called "Inari kagura" on it, where she posted her food videos. Over the past two weeks, she'd been doing pretty well, attracting quite a few Japanese netizens curious about Heavenly Dynasty cuisine, as well as a considerable number of fans who were clearly from China. Although she was still a bit far from her small goal of 100,000 followers, Kagura felt that she should be able to reach it before too long at this rate.

"I'm Curren~ That's my Umastagram name!"

"Curren…"

Kagura felt like the name sounded familiar. She thought back to see if she'd heard it somewhere before. Then she remembered: she had seen a blogger on Umastagram with an abnormally high number of followers. That blogger's account name seemed to be Curren. That blogger was also the first person she followed when she joined the site. She even wanted to see how this Uma Musume usually created content to increase her popularity.

"Ah! I remember you. You're that Uma Musume blogger with a ton of followers, right?"

"Eh~ Miss, you also use Umastagram, and you know Curren too! I'm so happy!"

Hearing that she knew her, this little Uma Musume looked very happy, her tail wagging cheerfully. She almost stuck to her.

"Can I add Miss as a friend~? Let's follow each other?"

"My Umastagram account is Inari kagura. I've already followed you. It's nice to meet you, Miss Curren."

"Inari kagura… Eh! Miss, you're Inari kagura? The blogger who specializes in Heavenly Dynasty cuisine?!"

Although excited, Curren seemed to know not to read people's online names out loud in public. She lowered her voice when she said this.

Kagura saw Curren pick up her phone and show it to her, and found that Curren had already followed her a long time ago.

Unbelievable! Did I run into a fan?? Or is it the legendary Curren??

Kagura, who hadn't paid much attention to her follower list, looked at her follow history for the past two weeks and indeed found that Curren had followed her a long time ago. She had completely failed to notice when such a person had joined her fans.

"To think I'd run into Kagura-sensei while riding the train! Is today my lucky day?!"

"I didn't expect to meet Miss Curren here either. You look just as cute as the photos you post."

"Thank you for the compliment!! I didn't expect Kagura-sensei to be such a cute girl! Let's take a picture together!"

As she spoke, Curren wrapped herself around her familiarly, hugging Kagura's right arm and resting her face on her shoulder. Her other free hand raised her phone to take a selfie. Kagura was slightly stunned, but quickly reacted and tilted her head towards Curren, smiling and making a peace sign at the camera. However, compared to the quirky Curren, Kagura in the photo looked a bit dull and cute.

Kagura seemed to see some kind of dazzling light on Curren, which stung her eyes. She realized that this was the light of a social butterfly. Although she couldn't be considered a social recluse, she probably wouldn't be able to run up to someone and strike up a conversation so naturally and smoothly in this lifetime, but this little Uma Musume had done it so easily.

"Here, Kagura-sensei, take a look. Should we use a beauty filter on this photo? Curren doesn't think we need to."

"I think so too. Curren is a very cute girl."

"Hehe~ Then Curren will post the update, okay?"

Curren looked very excited and tapped out a tweet on her phone. Kagura also curiously leaned over to see what she was going to post.

[I met Inari kagura-sensei on the train today! I'm so happy! #Curren #Inari kagura]

Ah, it's a surprisingly normal daily update. But that's right, there's nothing else to say.

"Speaking of which, Kagura-sensei, I've been craving the delicious food you make for so long! Every time before I go to sleep, I always see it on my homepage and it tortures me! It's made me eat a big meal a few times… and I almost couldn't control my figure! Ugh! Where does Kagura-sensei have a shop? I must find time to stop by Kagura-sensei's place!"

After posting the update, Curren began to ask a question that a fan would ask.

"I don't have a shop. My videos are all filmed during my daily work. If you don't mind, you can come to the Central Tracen Academy cafeteria and check it out. I'll treat you to the desserts I make~"

"Daily… work? Kagura-sensei doesn't look much older than me?"

Curren tilted her head in confusion, her watery purple eyes full of curiosity.

"I'm a support Uma Musume at Central Tracen Academy. The videos I post are of the dishes I usually make for the Uma Musume I support."

"Eh—"

Blinking her eyes, Curren made a long, drawn-out sound. Kagura guessed that she didn't quite understand what a support Uma Musume was, so she explained the support department of Central Tracen Academy and the related matters of professional Uma Musume.

"So, if I enter Central Tracen Academy, I'll have the chance to eat the dishes made by Kagura-sensei? If I can have Kagura-sensei become my exclusive support Uma Musume to support me, I can eat the things made by Kagura-sensei anytime, anywhere?"

"You can understand it that way… well, that's about the meaning."

Thinking about it carefully, what Curren said was indeed correct, so Kagura didn't correct anything.

"Okay, I understand!"

Kagura felt that Curren seemed to have a strange fighting spirit rising up. Her intuition told her that it shouldn't be just pure appetite, but, with just that little bit of communication, what other ideas could Curren have besides appetite?

"Arriving at—Fuchu Station, please passengers…"

Just then, Kagura felt the train begin to slow down, and she heard the announcement of the station.

"Ah, I've arrived at my stop. Miss Curren isn't here to go to Fuchu, right?"

"No, it's a pity… If we have time in the future, we can go out and play together! I'm very familiar with Tokyo and know many fun places!"

"Okay! Then if I want to go out and find some places to play in the future, I'll have to ask Curren for help~"

With that, Kagura waved goodbye to Curren and got off the train.

Curren on the train also waved to Kagura, her purple eyes staring at the departing Kagura.

"Central Tracen Academy… huh? Curren needs to work hard too…"

35. Miss Eclipse thinks it's great

Because it wasn't during a race, there weren't many people at the Tokyo Racecourse. Like Kagura, the only ones who would come in at this time were some Uma Musume she didn't recognize and the people who should be their trainers.

However, the racetrack didn't allow her to run on the track. Even if she applied, she could only walk around the outer circle to the viewing seats. She could understand this. After all, the venue also needed to be maintained. You can't just let people go up and run around at any time. Just look at the grass at Tracen Academy, which needs to be repaired every now and then, and you'll know how much damage the Uma Musume's footwork does to the ground.

Recently, Kagura had even seen Akikawa Yayoi personally get on the machine to help the students press the track, which greatly surprised her. She really didn't expect that Akikawa Yayoi had also learned this wonderful skill.

"Get closer, closer, look carefully!"

Eclipse urged Kagura to get as close as possible to the racecourse area and to observe and memorize the conditions of the track as carefully as she could.

"Look closely, and it'd be best if you could touch it a few times. Once I've recovered, I'll take you here in your dreams for a few practice runs!"

'Huh? You can do that?'

It had to be said that Eclipse always managed to come up with something new. Although, on second thought, Kagura figured it made sense. Last time, Eclipse had used Kagura's memories to recreate the Niigata racecourse in her dream, and then left Kagura in the dust by a dozen lengths in a big runaway.

Since she had this advantage, Kagura naturally wanted to make use of it. However, with the fence in the way, Kagura could only touch the outermost ring of the track at most, but Eclipse said that was enough.

"Why are the tracks here so hard? It's annoying! What's the difference between this hard ground and the concrete in the city? Who's going to take responsibility if the kids' feet get ruined?"

After walking around the track, Kagura had a rough idea of the racecourse's layout. Eclipse seemed to have finished memorizing it as well, and Kagura soon saw Eclipse's complaints on her phone.

Kagura also felt it. She never had that feeling of sore feet when she strolled on the Symbol Family's track, or at least it wasn't obvious. Later, when she got to Tracen Academy's track, she felt that her feet were noticeably more uncomfortable after running a lap. It seemed that it wasn't just her imagination.

"There are a lot of straights here... the sprint distance is very long."

"A great place to charge. The turns are also wide, so you don't have to worry about bumping into each other. You can let loose and shake off your opponents. It's the type I like, but the ground is a bit too hard."

While Eclipse was commenting on the racecourse, Kagura was taking notes in her little notebook. She compared the features and quickly remembered that Tracen Academy also had a training ground similar to the Tokyo Racecourse. Not only were there many large straights, but even the steepness of the straights looked exactly the same. It was probably built to imitate this place.

'Speaking of which, has Miss Eclipse ever thought about running again?'

"Although I like running, a racecourse without rivals is too boring. And even if I had rivals now, what could I, a spirit, do?"

'Uh... Miss Eclipse, as a spirit, don't you have the kind of possession abilities you see in traditional horror movies?'

"Just pretend I don't."

Although she said she didn't, Kagura felt that Eclipse's meaning wasn't exactly "no."