Your Logistics Uma Musume Has Problems

Nice Nature wasn't usually so careless about herself, but she tended to be when eating with Kagura. Kagura wasn't sure if it was because the food was so good or because she was just more relaxed around familiar faces.

"If you like it, I can take note of the recipe and make it for you when we get back to Tracen Academy?"

"Really? I thought ramen shop owners usually kept their recipes secret?"

"Don't worry about that. I can figure it out just by tasting it. If you want it, I can make it."

"Learn it just by tasting it? Do you really have that kind of ability?"

Nice Nature looked utterly incredulous. She knew Kagura was a good cook, but learning a dish just by tasting it sounded a little far-fetched. The cooks at the Tracen Academy cafeteria would be sweating bullets if they heard that.

"Of course. As long as I have the ingredients, I can make it."

"Then, in the future, if I find something delicious, can I ask Kagura to come and taste it and then make it for me?"

"Hmm~ that depends on whether what you find is healthy or not. You can eat, but I can't let my little glutton ruin her stomach, or I won't be able to face your parents."

As she spoke, Kagura reached out and gently pushed Nice Nature's forehead with her finger. Nice Nature, pushed back, smiled a little sheepishly and lowered her head to continue battling the noodles in her bowl.

'This child is so innocent and cute, it's hard not to worry about her…'

48. The park really is Tracen Academy's power spot! (Admiration)

Having filled their stomachs, Kagura led a satisfied-looking Nice Nature out of the shop, wondering where to go for a walk next.

Kagura had also taken the opportunity to ask the waitress named Invincible for her contact information and added her as a friend. Invincible had recommended the park near Tracen Academy, saying that if they wanted to have fun with friends, they could check out the park, and she also recommended the newly launched honey special drink at the roadside stalls there.

--Nice Nature is so cute and ditzy. She reminds me of my Trainer. He was so nervous the first time he asked his girlfriend out on a date. Afterwards, his girlfriend couldn't help but laugh every time she mentioned it to me. So funny.

'Don't laugh at her! Nice Nature is still young, and besides, she didn't have many friends before. It's only natural to be nervous on her first outing with a friend!'

--Hmm~ Since she's your friend... I'll let it slide for now. It's understandable.

Eclipse left a somewhat meaningful but also somewhat cryptic hint and then didn't say anything else. Kagura didn't pay much attention to it.

Kagura had heard about the park near Tracen Academy from her classmates many times since school started. Because the Logistics Uma Musume usually attended classes with the other Uma Musume, Kagura often heard strange and interesting stories from her classmates, listening to those bizarre campus legends, which made her feel like she was listening to ghost stories.

"Speaking of which, Kagura, have you heard that rumor recently? They say that there's a black little Uma Musume ghost active in the park at night. Some people have even seen her, walking silently without making a sound, and you can't see her shadow on the ground..."

Hearing that they were going to the park, Nice Nature couldn't help but think of the popular legend in her class.

"Indeed, I've also heard that legend... Uh... Nice Nature, don't be nervous. Ghosts won't come out during the day, right? Besides, I'm here. If there really is a ghost, I'll protect you."

Although Kagura really wanted to say that she didn't believe in ghosts and gods, thinking about the fact that she had a ghost following her all the time, who could even possess her, she suddenly felt that the legend might not be unreliable.

After wandering around with Nice Nature for a while, they arrived at the park. There weren't many people in the park in the afternoon. You could see some Trainers taking Uma Musume for a walk here and there.

Kagura also saw some Uma Musume trying to "attack" their Trainers, but these Trainers "looked" like they were made of wood and were completely unmoved, looking like they had zero EQ. In anime, it would definitely be a scene that would frustrate the audience to death, but Kagura, who had attended a Trainer lecture for a while before, knew that this was probably not because the Trainers were wooden, but because of the self-protection measures for Trainers that were mentioned in the lecture...

'What dedicated Trainers. I salute you all…'

Kagura paid silent tribute to these "wooden" Trainers in her heart, these were the ones who truly adhered to professional ethics and principles, never adding trouble to the students or affecting their careers.

"Kagura, what are those Uma Musume doing?"

Nice Nature, who was following along, naturally saw those Uma Musume as well. Still young, she couldn't understand what was going on.

"I don't know. They're probably just acting cute with their Trainers."

Kagura also used a vague explanation, with the intention of not leading the child astray.

"Acting cute with Trainers..."

"Speaking of which, Nice Nature, you've grown so fast recently. Have you reached your peak?"

After learning about the concept of reaching one's peak, this was the first time Kagura had seen this phenomenon. Nice Nature's body development had been advancing by leaps and bounds recently. In such a short period of time, she now had to tiptoe slightly to touch Nice Nature's head.

"I guess so. I thought Kagura had gotten shorter! So this is what reaching my peak is."

"Yes. After reaching your peak, you can participate in the Tracen Academy internal selection race, which can help you find a good Trainer as soon as possible. After training for a few years, you can debut."

"Eh?! Is that how it works!"

"Yes... Speaking of which, if that's the case, I'll have to take you to the track to practice with Rudolph Symbol and the others soon. It's important to run well in the selection race and find a good Trainer!"

Kagura had a plan. She planned to run on the internal selection race track first to get a clear picture of the track conditions, and then give Nice Nature some advice or write a guide to help her get a good result.

"Eh? N-no, you don't have to go to so much trouble! I..."

"Listen, Nice Nature, this is a major event that concerns your future. It doesn't matter if I'm a little tired. At worst, I'll just sleep for a few days after I'm done. What's important is your future. You won't have many opportunities like this in your life. Don't leave any regrets in this matter, okay?"

As she spoke, Kagura stopped and turned around, reaching out her finger and gently tapping it on Nice Nature's lips, looking at her with a very serious expression, making Nice Nature unable to say a word.

Nice Nature wanted to decline, but Kagura didn't give her a chance to finish. Looking at Kagura, who was still a head shorter than her, the feeling in her heart became more and more obvious. Rather than a friend, Kagura was more like a very easy-going parent or senior.

Because she had only heard such words from her own parents before. Kagura was still the only person who cared about her and worried about her so much since she came to Tokyo to live alone. She felt warm inside.

"I understand. Then... I'll have to trouble Kagura. Thank you! Really, thank you very much!"

Nice Nature bowed deeply to Kagura, like she used to do to her teacher.

"Pfft... What's with being so formal? Aren't we friends? It's normal to help you."

Kagura smiled and quickly reached out to help Nice Nature up. For her, Nice Nature being able to walk her life path steadily was the best reward, and this wasn't something very troublesome, she didn't need Nice Nature to thank her so formally.

'Ah... Kagura is always like this... unreservedly sharing her gentleness with everyone she cares for…'

Nice Nature didn't get up immediately, but took advantage of Kagura's momentum to help her up and rubbed her face against Kagura's shoulder. She realized today that there was an incredible sense of relaxation when she was so close to Kagura.

'Kagura cares about me so much, I can't let her down… I'll give it a try! I'm not that bad, am I? Sometimes I can do things, right?'

Nice Nature, who had always been a bit insecure, looked at Kagura's smile and felt like she had found a reason to work hard.

"Quality, you can hug me as much as you want when we get back to school, but we're still in the park right now, so be mindful of appearances."

"Okay! Got it! By the way, Kagura, I heard from my roommate that there's a honey special drink that's really good around here. Do you want to go check it out together?"

"Sure, that waitress also recommended it to me, but I don't know the way. Can you take me there?"

Nice Nature grabbed Kagura's hand and ran from the middle of the park towards a small food truck on the side.

After the two of them had left for a while, behind a tree on the lawn, a black-haired Uma Musume poked her head out, watching the two of them leave from afar. More precisely, she was staring intently at Kagura.

"...You're saying that Uma Musume is the same type of person as me?"

49. Listening to the Rain

"Ugh… It was a sunny day this afternoon! How did it suddenly start raining in the evening!"

Nice Nature held her head and hurriedly ran into the Ritto Dormitory building, shaking her hair and tail to get rid of the water. Kagura, who also didn't bring an umbrella, followed closely behind, holding her head and shaking her wet hair and tail.

"Kagura, Quality, are you two okay?"

The head of the dormitory quickly grabbed towels and ran over to check on them. Luckily, the two of them were just wet and didn't have any other injuries.

"We're fine, we're fine… We just didn't expect it to rain suddenly, and we didn't bring umbrellas."

"It's good that you're okay. Hurry up and take a shower and drink some hot water. It wouldn't be good if you caught a cold."

The head of the dormitory used a towel to wipe the heads of the two Uma Musume, and then urged them to go upstairs to rest.

Because Fuji Kiseki, the Ritto Dormitory head, often had to drag Rudolph Symbol out of the office after curfew, she was quite familiar with Kagura.

Fuji Kiseki was a heroic Uma Musume, with the same kind of androgynous charm as Rudolph Symbol. She was also gentle and cared about the students, like a handsome young man. Kagura had heard that this dormitory head had quite a bit of popularity in Ritto Dormitory, and she would often bring Fuji Kiseki some of the food she made.

"Okay, thank you, Head Maid!"

"It's my duty, and Kagura, you usually take care of me too, so don't be so polite. You should also take care of yourself and don't exhaust yourself."

"Okay~!"

Kagura and Nice Nature quickly ran upstairs to their own dorm rooms to take a shower and change clothes.

To be honest, if there was one thing in Japan that Kagura felt was pretty good, it would be the bathtubs that were everywhere. Being able to take a hot bath after being drenched in the cold rain was indeed a very pleasant thing.

"Phew~"

After taking off her clothes and soaking her body in the hot water, Kagura made a comfortable sound.

—I sensed other spiritual bodies active nearby in the park just now.

A line of words appeared on the surface of the water in front of Kagura's chest, quickly dissolving into ripples and disappearing.

"Other spiritual bodies? Could there really be ghosts?"

Thinking of the rumors she had heard recently, plus the example of Eclipse right next to her, Kagura did believe that there were ghosts in that place.

—That possibility cannot be ruled out, or rather, there are other Uma Musume with a similar constitution to you, who can allow spiritual bodies to possess them.

"That's really interesting… I wish I could meet them."

Kagura was also quite curious about what other spiritual bodies looked like. She didn't know if she could see them. She remembered that her Shrine Maiden Outfit seemed to have some special functions. If she wore that Shrine Maiden Outfit out, would she be able to see that spiritual body?

—I don't recommend you try that, because that Shrine Maiden Outfit was originally to enhance your psychic constitution, to make it easier for you and me to communicate. In that case, they might run over and possess you.

"Huh? It can do that?"

—I never said that only I can possess others, but you don't have to worry. If they dare to make a move on you, I'll beat them back.

Looking at the line of words left by Eclipse, Kagura suddenly felt an extra sense of security.

The rain outside hadn't stopped, and it was even getting heavier, with the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. Kagura was glad she ran fast and slipped back before the rain intensified.

After taking a shower, she looked at the weather and figured she wouldn't be able to go out, so Kagura decided to just eat an apple to fill her stomach tonight.

Walking back to her room, wearing a tank top and panties, Kagura was just about to put on her school uniform when she thought about how she couldn't go out anyway, so she might as well try out what Eclipse had said earlier. So she turned around and changed into the Shrine Maiden Outfit.

"Hehe~ Why are you in the mood for this tonight? Do you miss my voice?"

After changing into the clothes, Kagura could clearly feel Eclipse hugging her from behind. Maybe it was because of the enhancement effect, but her perception of Eclipse's movements had increased a lot, and she could hear Eclipse's voice a little bit.

"Miss Eclipse, although I can hear your voice, I still can't see you."

"That's normal. If you want to see me, you have to wait for me to recover a little more. If you can provide me with some publicity support, I might recover faster."

"Publicity support?"

"You don't need to think about it for now. Once you start running races, it'll be done. The time isn't right yet, so don't worry."

Eclipse didn't seem to be in a hurry for Kagura to do anything for her. It felt like she was raising a child in a very chill way.

"By the way, I feel a familiar presence standing outside the door, and they've been standing there for a long time. It should be your friend downstairs who came up, but I don't know why they haven't knocked."

"Huh??"

Eclipse was definitely talking about Nice Nature. Kagura suddenly remembered that she hadn't turned on the lights to make it easier to do experiments. Maybe Quality thought there was no one inside because the room lights were off, so she didn't dare to knock.

She quickly ran to the door and opened it. Nice Nature was indeed outside the door, but seeing her wearing pajamas and holding a pillow, Kagura couldn't figure out what she was doing.

"Quality? What's this about..."

"Ehehe... well... it's just... it's thundering today, and my roommate happened to go out... I'm a little scared, so could I maybe squeeze into your dorm with you?"

"...Huh?"

Kagura blinked. She didn't remember Nice Nature having a fear of thunder, but seeing the poor girl looking so pitiful, Kagura couldn't bring herself to leave her alone in the dorm during this thunderstorm, so she let her in.

"Why was Kagura in the room just now, but without the lights on?"

After stepping inside and closing the door behind her, Nice Nature looked at the pitch-black room, a little puzzled.

"I just like sitting and listening to the rain without the lights on when it rains. Without artificial light, it's like merging with nature, quiet and comfortable."

"Eh... Kagura has a hobby like that..."

Although she wasn't doing that just now, Kagura did indeed have such a hobby. She liked rainy days because of it.

Turning on the room's lights, Nice Nature adjusted to the sudden bright light before looking at Kagura. Only then did she notice that Kagura was wearing a gorgeous outfit today, completely different from her usual maid uniform and school uniform.

Kagura usually gave off a gentle and kind feeling, but today, Nice Nature felt a kind of sacred and inviolable aura from her, like a proper shrine maiden. If she had any impolite thoughts, it would be like offending an envoy of the gods.

"Wow... Kagura, that outfit looks so beautiful! So Kagura is a shrine maiden?"

Nice Nature looked at Kagura with envy and curiosity. Frankly, she also wanted such an outfit that was unique to her, beautiful and gorgeous, and very characteristic of her.

"I guess so... Ah, didn't Head Maid tell you? I came from a shrine."

"No, this is the first time I've seen Kagura like this, hehe... Kagura is usually cute, but now she's even more beautiful!"

As she spoke, Nice Nature reached out and gently wrapped her arms around Kagura's neck, hugging her and nuzzling her. Kagura, who had just taken a shower, had a fragrance that smelled very comfortable.

"Thank you for the compliment, but, Quality, next time, don't hug me and press me against your chest, I'm afraid I'll suffocate..."

Kagura quickly broke free from Nice Nature's embrace, realizing that this girl had grown up a lot without her noticing, to the point where she could make it hard for her to breathe.