There's Something Wrong With You, Logistics Uma Musume

"Haha… I might really need to trouble you the day before the race. And lately, ever since you came to the school, I've been troubling you to cook and clean for me, running around doing this and that, even though you're so young…"

"It's no trouble at all, and don't worry about me. I'm a Logistics Uma Musume; taking good care of you and keeping you in perfect racing condition is my duty."

Rudolph Symbol once thought that a trainer was enough to assist her, but after having Kagura as her Logistics Uma Musume, she gradually felt that having more people to help her wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Although her initial intention in bringing Kagura to Tracen Academy was to let her get acquainted with it, Rudolph Symbol realized that this goal had gradually gone astray. She originally wanted to take care of this child more, but it seems like now…

'With Kagura around, it's okay to relax a little, right…'

With the race just around the corner, Rudolph Symbol had less and less energy to spare, and Kagura had helped her maintain a good balance between work and rest during this time. She suddenly understood where Speed Symbol's assessment of Kagura came from when she sent her here.

"…Ojou-sama? Ojou-sama? Are you listening?"

Kagura's voice brought Rudolph Symbol back to reality from her daze.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a moment. What's up?"

"Today's training is over. We still have a little over a week to train. I believe that with Ojou-sama's talent, you can master this new running style in a few days."

40. Akikawa Yayoi's Test

"That's strange, why haven't I seen Kagura today?"

When Rudolph Symbol arrived at the track for training as usual, she noticed that Kagura was nowhere to be seen.

"The Chairwoman said that although she approved Kagura's enrollment, she still wants to test Kagura's level separately, so she called Kagura over for an exam today."

Toujou Hana received a notice from the Chairwoman in the afternoon, saying that she had organized a separate exam for Kagura and would personally supervise it, requiring Kagura to take it alone. So, she borrowed Kagura for the afternoon.

"Oh? So, she's giving Kagura a separate knowledge level test for enrollment?"

"You could say that. After all, Kagura didn't go through the normal procedures to get in. I'm not sure what the Chairwoman is thinking exactly. Maybe she just wants to find a more legitimate and reasonable reason to write her name into the student roster."

"That's really…"

Rudolph Symbol was a little surprised. Although she didn't think the entrance exam questions were difficult, she figured she would also feel very uncomfortable if the Chairwoman stood next to her and watched her the whole time. She was a little worried that the already introverted Kagura might have some problems.

"Don't worry about her, she's more reliable than you think. It's you I'm worried about. You're competing tomorrow, so train hard today, review the running style Kagura has been telling you about, and see if you can still run that style perfectly without her by your side."

Meanwhile, in Akikawa Yayoi's office.

Kagura, who had been called to Akikawa Yayoi's office at a little after two in the afternoon, was sitting next to Akikawa Yayoi, with a blank test paper that Akikawa Yayoi had just taken out of the printer in front of her.

"Um… the reason the Chairwoman called me here is… this test paper?"

"Testing! Although I trust Kagura-san's level, Kagura-san didn't enter the academy through the normal procedure after all. I'm just making up for the procedure that should have been followed."

Akikawa Yayoi's voice was as energetic and full of ups and downs as ever, but Kagura wasn't very concerned about that right now. What she was worried about was that she hadn't received any formal education at all, so how was she supposed to take this test?

"Relax! Don't be stressed, it's just a formality. It doesn't matter even if you fail!"

Akikawa Yayoi, who wanted to enroll Kagura, certainly didn't intend to make things difficult for her with the test paper. She had also been watching Kagura's performance in the school during this time. Not to mention the new students, the level of most of the Logistics Uma Musumes who had been enrolled in the school for a long time was far inferior to Kagura's. In terms of skills and basic qualities, Kagura's ability was beyond doubt.

The reason why she still organized this exam was that, on the one hand, Akikawa Yayoi really wanted to complete the original procedure and give Kagura a formal reason for enrollment, so that she could explain it to her classmates in the future.

On the other hand, this test paper was not actually the entrance exam paper that the students would actually take. Instead, it was a special test paper that Akikawa Yayoi had added a lot of her own difficult questions to on the basis of the entrance exam paper. Many of the additional questions at the back were not something that new students could do. She had long heard from Speed Symbol that Kagura was very smart, and she wanted to see what this child could do.

"The exam time is two and a half hours. Please check and read the questions carefully, and don't write in the wrong boxes."

"…"

During the time that Akikawa Yayoi briefly explained the exam rules, Kagura had roughly scanned the test paper. In addition to some race-related knowledge points, the rest was normal theoretical knowledge of literature, mathematics, and English. The questions at the beginning were very simple, and even the more difficult questions at the back didn't seem very difficult to her after she glanced at them, because they were only at the level of high school entrance exams.

'That scared me, I thought I was going to have big problems taking the exam without any preparation… but it's just testing junior high school questions and common sense…'

After roughly confirming the questions, Kagura suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. When she received the notice in the afternoon, she thought she was going to be in big trouble, but now she felt that her worries were completely unnecessary.

Even the race-related knowledge that she wasn't familiar with before, Kagura had crammed a lot from Toujou Hana and Eclipse during this time. After all, it wasn't complicated or difficult, and Kagura easily remembered it.

If there was anything that made her feel pressured about this exam, it would be Akikawa Yayoi, who was staring at her closely from the side.

'Just junior high school questions! Don't underestimate a battle-hardened medical student!'

After waiting for Akikawa Yayoi to explain the rules, the clock turned to 2:30 PM, and she issued the order to start the exam.

After announcing the start of the exam, Akikawa Yayoi stood behind Kagura and wanted to watch the child do the questions the whole time. But as soon as she started, she realized that something was wrong. Kagura picked up her pen and swept through the first twenty multiple-choice questions without even looking at them. Her writing was decisive and without any hesitation, so fast that it made people suspect that she was just guessing without even reading the questions. But Akikawa Yayoi carefully checked and found that Kagura hadn't written a single question wrong.

'Huh?'

If she didn't have to maintain silence, Akikawa Yayoi would have couldn't help but make a sound of doubt.

When she got to the twenty-first question, Kagura's speed of doing the questions slowed down a little, from the speed of doing the questions like she was just guessing to looking at each question for a second or two before writing. But this speed was still too fast, far exceeding any new student of this age that Akikawa Yayoi had ever seen.

The multiple-choice questions didn't stop Kagura for long. In Akikawa Yayoi's unbelievable gaze, Kagura folded the test paper over and began to answer the subjective questions. Although her hand speed limited Kagura's speed of doing the questions again, Akikawa Yayoi could see that Kagura's thinking was very clear. Her answers didn't stop for long at all. The answers to these questions already existed in her mind, but her hand couldn't translate her answers to the test paper so quickly.

'Is she eleven years old??'

Akikawa Yayoi couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with the age on Kagura's identity registration information, but Kagura was indeed a child.

Originally, Akikawa Yayoi was worried that two and a half hours wouldn't be enough for Kagura to write so many questions, but now it seemed that her worry might be a little unnecessary.

Half an hour into the exam, Kagura had completed all of the "original entrance exam paper" section and checked it twice. Akikawa Yayoi had also been checking along with her, and she knew that Kagura hadn't lost a single point on these entrance exam questions.

'No wonder that student named Nice Nature has such good grades. I heard that she usually tutors her… she's really a gifted child.'

That is to say, if Kagura took the exam normally, then the first place in the theoretical exam for this year's freshmen should not be Nice Nature, but her. After all, she didn't lose a single point, at most someone would tie for first place.

After entering the additional question section set by Akikawa Yayoi herself, Kagura's speed of solving problems obviously decreased, because this part not only began to include more difficult calculation problems, but also involved actual combat on the race track.

However, even so, Kagura still completed the entire paper in an hour and a half, and checked it several times. She confirmed that there was nothing else she could do, and then looked at Akikawa Yayoi and asked:

"Chairwoman, can I hand in my paper early?"

"Surprising! Such a fast answering speed!"

Akikawa Yayoi had actually read Kagura's answers to every question. For questions with definite answers, Kagura's answers could be said to be perfect. For questions that required practical experience and had no definite answers, Kagura's answers obviously had problems, which was also what Akikawa Yayoi had expected—Kagura lacked relevant experience, and her answers were obviously more theoretical than practical.

It wasn't that Kagura had no experience at all, but the little bit she had accumulated from training with Eclipse during this period was not enough for her to cope with the questions personally set by Akikawa Yayoi.

When Kagura finished answering, Akikawa Yayoi had already completed the scoring process in her mind. Although Kagura's answers to those extra questions were still lacking, Akikawa Yayoi was already very satisfied.

"Then... I'll go back and wait for the results?"

"No need! Kagura, I have already graded your paper. The sum of your scores in the first and second parts is 193, and the full score is 200. Your performance is very good! I even want to give you a reward!"

Kagura's first reaction was that Akikawa Yayoi was giving random scores, but then she thought that if Akikawa Yayoi was giving random scores, she could just give a full score directly, and there was no need to leave a fraction like 193. This should be what she gave after careful judgment. Although getting this score didn't surprise Kagura very much, because these things were really simple for her.

Akikawa Yayoi was happy on the one hand because she knew that Kagura had a solid theoretical foundation in addition to her super physical talent. On the other hand, Akikawa Yayoi also confirmed what Toujou Hana had mentioned not long ago. Kagura's practical experience was indeed insufficient, and that strategy guide was unlikely to have been completed by Kagura alone. She most likely knew another powerful Uma Musume, but she was keeping her identity a secret for her.

'Who is the person you know? Little sister...'

41. The Night Before the Race

"Are you nervous?"

Kagura sat on Rudolph Symbol's bed, massaging her while asking.

"It's okay, much calmer than I thought."

She didn't know if it was because she had been practicing new running styles all this time. Just like a student who had done almost all the practice questions before the exam and was sure that the exam questions would only come from the question bank, Rudolph Symbol felt that she didn't seem as nervous today as she had expected.

"That's good. It's just a relaxed race anyway. Just run according to your feelings, Milady."

"Yeah... I'm really sorry to trouble you to come to my dormitory."

"I told you, you don't have to be so polite."

Tonight, Kagura had come to Rudolph Symbol's dormitory specifically at Rudolph Symbol's request. Originally, Kagura was tutoring Nice Nature with her homework in Ritto Dormitory. After all, school had started, and Nice Nature had also started having daily homework. She would also save up the problems she encountered in her homework and wait for Kagura to have time to help her solve them together.

So when Kagura had to leave temporarily today, Nice Nature looked very disappointed. Kagura could only hug her to comfort her and promised to bring her some of her favorite radish cakes tomorrow.

Kagura's massage skills have improved a lot during this period. Rudolph Symbol looks quite enjoying it. When she's lying down, her ears are wagging happily. Kagura rarely sees her showing this kind of appearance in front of people, which shows that she is indeed in a good mood now.

Actually, for Kagura, it would be easier to sit directly on Rudolph Symbol to massage her, after all, her hands are not very long, and she is such a small child, sitting on her lightly would not feel anything. The main reason is that Kagura felt it would be too rude to Rudolph Symbol, so she didn't do that.

"Kagura... have you ever thought about your home? Do you miss it?"

Rudolph Symbol, who was lying down, suddenly asked.

"Why are you suddenly asking this question?"

Kagura doesn't really have any feelings for the word "family" now. After all, she can't go back to her original world. She lives well in this world without family, so she doesn't have such a strong obsession with home.

"I just remembered a friend mentioning something before... I was just curious, so I asked casually."

"No, I haven't thought about my home, after all, I can't remember it at all. I'm living well on my own now."

"I understand..."

Seeing that Kagura answered the question almost without hesitation, Rudolph Symbol nodded. The question that she had wanted to ask for a long time in her heart was finally answered, and she didn't plan to mention it anymore.

Rudolph Symbol also had to admit that Kagura's technique was really very good, and the strength was also well controlled. Rudolph Symbol felt that her mother-in-law had used a lot of luck to find a child like Kagura at her doorstep, but she felt that if there was really such a thing as luck, then it was worth it.

Feeling Kagura's comfortable and peaceful aura, Rudolph Symbol, who was enjoying the massage, gradually became drowsy. She felt that Kagura's strength began to weaken.

"Good night, Milady..."

Kagura could see that Rudolph Symbol was starting to get drowsy, so she also began to gradually reduce her strength to avoid waking Rudolph Symbol up. Tomorrow is Rudolph Symbol's second race, and it is also the first race that Kagura is supporting Rudolph Symbol to participate in. Naturally, she hopes that Rudolph Symbol can perform well, which will also help her to better improve her daily work content in the future.

Stopping the massage, she quietly turned Rudolph Symbol over so that she could lie down properly and rest well, and then Kagura quietly left Rudolph Symbol's dormitory, closed the door, and went back.

Returning from Rudolph Symbol's dormitory, Kagura pushed open the door of her own dormitory. Originally, she was planning to rest early and get up early tomorrow to watch Rudolph Symbol's race, but when she returned to her dormitory tonight, she smelled a faint fragrance, and that fragrance obviously didn't belong to her, which meant that someone other than her had come in.

Kagura immediately turned her gaze to the other bed in her dormitory. As expected, the bedding and other bedding items that had not been moved for several months had also changed.

After looking carefully, Kagura also found a note on the table:

'Thank you, Kagura, have you been cleaning my bed while I'm not in the dormitory? I'm really sorry for the trouble! Thank you very much! This is a small token of my appreciation, please accept it!'

The handwriting on the note was dignified and delicate, and looked like the handwriting of a lady from a noble family. It could be seen that the other party should have specially practiced calligraphy.

——Yo, your roommate is back? I wonder what kind of child she will be.

Eclipse has been curious about who Kagura's roommate is for a long time, but unfortunately, for so long, from the summer vacation all the way to the start of school, that mysterious roommate has never shown up, and has not even returned to the dormitory. If Kagura hadn't been cleaning all the time, that bed would have been covered in dust long ago.

In addition to the note, there was also a small pink gift box pressed on the note. The small gift box was packaged very delicately, and the pink appearance looked very pleasing. Kagura could also vaguely smell a creamy and fruity scent wafting from inside.

'This smell, it's cake... so this is the greeting gift my roommate gave me?'

As a senior foodie, Kagura is very sensitive to the aroma of various delicacies. She immediately recognized what was inside. She curiously opened the package, and as expected, it was a cake with strawberries, yellow peaches, mangoes and other fruits on it. The whole cake also exuded a faint durian aroma, and it didn't look cheap.

Curiously taking a bite, Kagura was even more certain that this was definitely not something you could buy at a regular cake shop. The price tag on this cake was definitely far beyond the ordinary; it was absolutely the kind of high-end product that Kagura usually wouldn't even dare to look at. It seemed her roommate's family background was quite good.

Unfortunately, Kagura still didn't see her mysterious roommate tonight. Although she seemed to have returned today and even left a gift, she didn't seem to have much time to stay at the school and socialize. After leaving these things, she hurriedly left.

"How strange... what exactly is this classmate doing every day? She hasn't been back to school for classes in so long, she could at least slack off in gym class."

Satisfied after finishing the cake she received, Kagura considered it an unexpected surprise. Unfortunately, she still didn't see where the other girl was, nor did she understand why she rarely came back.

However, today's situation also showed that her roommate hadn't left, but for some reason, she couldn't come to the dormitory, only occasionally popping up like today.

'Who could it be?'

--Alright, alright, you child, there will be plenty of opportunities to seize the chance to meet your roommate in the future. You have a race to watch tomorrow, be careful not to oversleep.

Eclipse's reminder quickly appeared on Kagura's phone. Kagura thought it made sense. She had to get up early to go to the racetrack tomorrow, so she decided to put this matter aside for the time being. After quickly washing up, she turned off the lights and went to sleep.

42. Maruzensky's Dream

The Icho Special wasn't a particularly large-scale race, and its viewing scale shouldn't have been that big originally, but before Kagura even arrived at her destination, she could already feel how terrifying Rudolph Symbol's popularity was.

'So this train can get this crowded...'

Kagura barely squeezed into the train. She felt like she, a small child, was about to be submerged in the crowd. People were packed so tightly that they were bumping into each other, making her feel as if she had returned to the days of squeezing onto the bus to go to work in the morning.

Thankfully, Maruzensky was next to her. Although she was also squeezed into a ball, with Maruzensky using her body to block, at least she didn't have to worry about encountering any weirdos commonly seen in Japan's adult films on the train.

"Miss Maruzensky... are all the people on this train Miss Rudolph Symbol's fans?"

Kagura, who was being held by Maruzensky and pinned against the train door, barely managed to turn her head and ask.

"Well~ hard to say all of them, but most of them probably are."

"How terrifying..."