(Platinum, you liar!)
(I'll remember this grudge!!)
Noon.
Inside the infirmary.
Lin Anran was making notes on his opponents in the Japanese Derby.
The list read...
Powerful opponents to watch out for:
Jungle Pocket (very strong), Black Ship (very strong), Manhattan Cafe (possibly very strong)
Halfway through, he heard a knock at the door.
It was Agnes Tachyon's voice.
"Guinea pig..."
"Doctor Lin, are you off work?"
48. The Doctor's Dark History: He Mistook Someone for Someone Else!
A "guinea pig" was often used in experimental research.
And "Guinea Pig-kun" was what Agnes Tachyon, standing outside the door, had almost said—but she'd stopped herself.
As someone who loved research, Agnes Tachyon usually had little interest in ordinary people. But Lin Anran's promise and reassurance last time had, unusually, touched her.
And he was a companion who shared her interest in overcoming tendonitis.
What's more, as a mysterious doctor capable of treating fractures, he'd become one of the research topics that intrigued Agnes Tachyon most.
So, for Agnes Tachyon, who was now preparing to retire due to injury, Lin Anran wasn't an Uma Musume but simply a doctor and companion. She found him far more interesting to talk to, and he'd gradually become the "Guinea Pig-kun" she looked forward to seeing.
After Agnes Tachyon's question rang out...
Inside the infirmary, Lin Anran recognized her voice at once. That was Tachyon, wasn't it?
She was his beloved big spender! If he could make a pile of coins from her, then he had to treat her well!
He'd treated those small fry in America and Europe, who couldn't drop a single coin, well enough that they all had a great impression of him.
And someone like Agnes Tachyon could drop more coins than Secretariat, Dahlia, Bully, and Route combined. How could Lin Anran not be enthusiastic?
Agnes Tachyon was the strongest! (In terms of dropping coins.)
The unscrupulous young doctor immediately closed the document with his race notes and hid it, in case anyone saw it. Then he glanced at another document on the screen.
That other document was titled "Tendonitis Treatment Research." Lin Anran had asked someone to get it for him as soon as the race was over.
He'd already guessed why Agnes Tachyon had come. The excuse he'd given when he hadn't shown up at the Oaks had probably drawn her here.
Every field had its own barriers. Agnes Tachyon was outstanding in the world of Uma Musume racing, but she clearly couldn't gather much information about treating Uma Musume injuries in such a short time.
No matter how unscrupulous a doctor Lin Anran was, he was only in it to make money by treating Uma Musume—not to scam people out of money.
After all, he had to heal them to build a reputation, then play the long game and reel in bigger catches! It was safe, too!
Those naive Uma Musume loved running. As long as their legs fully recovered, they'd surely be willing to pay a little extra!
So Lin Anran couldn't have been more satisfied with his career as an Uma Musume doctor. And when it came to his big spender, Agnes Tachyon, he'd show her the side of himself that made him an excellent doctor!
Lin Anran got up and went to open the infirmary door.
The moment it swung open, his pupils shrank, and he looked outside in surprise.
Besides the unmistakable Agnes Tachyon, there was another Uma Musume! Was that... Tachyon's friend, Manhattan Cafe?
Lin Anran immediately recalled and thought it over. Suddenly, he remembered a mistake from the past that he wished he could forget!
In his eyes, it was one of the few dark chapters from his time in this world...
As an Uma Musume and Arknights player, he usually skipped most of the story, but he still remembered a few things. For example...
The girl named Manhattan Cafe had won the Kikuka Sho, the Arima Kinen, and the Spring Tenno Sho, achieving some excellent results.
Back when the unscrupulous young doctor was still in America, he'd happened to see a plain-looking, petite, frail girl with dark skin. She looked nine-tenths identical to Manhattan Cafe, a character he'd pulled in the Uma Musume mobile game!
Grass Wonder and El Condor Pasa from the anime were foreigners, weren't they?
Someone who looked that similar had to be Manhattan Cafe. Even if she wasn't, she had to be some kind of twin sister. Either way, there'd be coins to collect!
Lin Anran had been dumbstruck at first sight, convinced he'd struck gold. Then he noticed the dark-skinned girl was injured and in terrible shape, so he immediately started treating her.
At the time, the girl hadn't debuted yet and couldn't afford the medical fees. She was about to sign her name on an IOU...
But Lin Anran shook his head and refused. Without even looking at the IOU, he tore it up and said, "I became a doctor because I don't want promising Uma Musume like you to get hurt."
Not only that, the unscrupulous young doctor held the soft hand of the little filly and encouraged "Manhattan Cafe," who lacked confidence and wasn't valued at all at school.
"Keep at it. You'll surely achieve great things in the Classics. I promise."
"Even if you don't believe in yourself, please believe in me, who believes in you!"
In the eyes of that quiet, petite, overlooked girl with dark skin, the passionate, unscrupulous doctor seemed to become a ray of light shining into her dark life!
That's right. Manhattan Cafe, who could win the Kikuka Sho, would surely repeat history, wouldn't she?
With that expectation in mind, Lin Anran had left the dark-skinned girl with a flawless impression of him and treated her thoroughly.
But when it came time to sign the discharge papers, something happened that left Lin Anran dumbstruck.
The dark-skinned girl hadn't signed "Manhattan Cafe" at all. Nor was she a twin sister from the same family with a different given name. She was...
—Sunday Quiet!!!
It was an utterly ordinary name, and she wasn't even named Cafe. Lin Anran finally realized... he'd mistaken her for someone else!
He'd spent all that effort treating her, hadn't charged a cent, and had planned to play the long game and reel in a big catch. But the one he'd saved wasn't Manhattan Cafe. She was just some unknown small fry!
She must've simply looked similar. They weren't the same person at all. He'd mistaken her for someone else...
Damn, what a loss!
Thinking of that dark chapter, Lin Anran was furious and filled with regret!
Some time had passed since then, and it wasn't until recently that Lin Anran had flown to Japan...
Now, seeing Manhattan Cafe, he couldn't help recalling what had happened.
Lin Anran couldn't help taking another look at Manhattan Cafe, comparing her to the dark-skinned girl in his memory.
(She really does look so much like her. No wonder I mistook them.)
(Whatever. It's in the past. I should be able to make back what I lost on that small fry, Sunday Quiet, by cashing in on Tachyon and Cafe!)
The unscrupulous young doctor, his fighting spirit rekindled in a strange way, smiled again and looked at Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe.
"Welcome!"
"What can I do for you two?"
The expressionless, dark-haired girl, Manhattan Cafe, sniffed faintly and tilted her head a little.
(What's that smell? It's a little... fragrant?)
49. The Pegasus Winning Live Costume: What Kind of Weapon Will the Goddess Bless Me With?
(What's that smell? It's a little... fragrant?)
The first thing the dark-haired girl, Manhattan Cafe, noticed was a somewhat alluring fragrance.
Did they spray perfume in the infirmary, too?
Manhattan Cafe raised her head, slightly puzzled, and looked at Lin Anran in front of her...
The next moment, her pupils shrank as a strange familiarity and excitement washed over her.
(Have I... seen him in a dream?)
(Is this just my imagination?)
She seemed to have had a strange dream before. In the dream, her "self" had been treated in a hospital bed by a warmhearted young doctor.
But in the end, the young man had mysteriously disappeared. Her "self" in the dream had searched desperately for him without finding a trace, and could only work hard at training, hoping to repay him properly when they met again one day.
(Doctor Lin looks trustworthy. He must be a good person.)
Even though this was their first meeting, Manhattan Cafe couldn't help forming an opinion about the young doctor in her mind.
"Cafe came with me."
Interestingly, Lin Anran was wearing a white coat as the school doctor, while Agnes Tachyon was also dressed in a white coat. With her mature air, she had the decisive look of a doctor, too.
They looked a little like a pair of doctors in the infirmary, while Manhattan Cafe seemed like their nurse.
Agnes Tachyon smiled faintly, her hands tucked into the pockets of her white coat, and made a request to Lin Anran.
"Doctor Lin, could you send me a copy of the tendonitis information you got the other day?"
Just as Lin Anran had expected—
He nodded, then took out his phone. He'd already prepared it in advance.
"I've sent it, Miss Tachyon."
After saying that, Lin Anran raised his arms, as if to take off his white coat.
Clearly, it was time to get off work. The lunch break had arrived.
"If there's nothing else, I'm heading out."
Agnes Tachyon came to her senses and smiled as she nodded. She also wanted to go back and study the more detailed information on tendonitis as soon as possible.
"Okay, Tachyon. Let's go."
"Doctor Lin, thank you for your help!"
A short while later.
Agnes Tachyon was walking back to the laboratory. As if she'd thought of something, she turned to her friend, Manhattan Cafe.
"Cafe."
"Hmm?"
"Did you smell anything when you went into Doctor Lin's infirmary?"
The topics that interested Agnes Tachyon weren't limited to tendonitis and Platinum. They also included Doctor Lin!
So it was no surprise she asked now.
"Yes..."
Manhattan Cafe nodded.
"I smelled a fragrance. It was the first time I'd smelled one in an infirmary."
In her understanding, shouldn't an infirmary smell like medicine or bitter potions?
Could another Uma Musume have visited not long ago, bringing a strong perfume scent that hadn't completely faded yet?
"Just as I thought—!"
"It wasn't my imagination. All Uma Musume can smell it."
Before you continue