Adjusting Stride

By the time Saburo Kitajima had left and Kitasan Black crawled into bed, her thoughts inevitably drifted back to the question her grandpa had asked.

"One word—to represent all your dreams?"

She murmured to herself and realized that it truly was a question she could not answer right away. But she had never been one to dwell on things. After thinking for a while without finding any answer, she naturally put it out of her mind and gradually drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Central Treisen Academy welcomed the new term.

Spring sunlight bathed the Academy's Western-style spired buildings. Everywhere, groups of Horse Girls in school uniforms laughed and chatted as they headed toward the classroom buildings.

Having run out from home, Kitasan Black was as full of energy as ever. On her way to the Academy, she helped an old lady cross the road and caught a little dog that had slipped its leash and run off.

By the time she had finished helping out, the class bell was already ringing. Under the slightly reproachful gaze of Miss Hayakawa, the Secretary to the Principal, she dashed into the campus and sprinted all the way to the classroom.

Familiar classes, familiar campus, familiar training—everything returned to its usual routine.

The training load on the first day of term was not heavy. After the warm-up, the first exercise was simple: a Grassland 2000 Meters test.

"Alright! That's enough!"

As he shouted, Anjing Zhen pressed the timing button on his stopwatch, then looked toward Agnes Tachyon and Daiwa Scarlet beside him.

The two Horse Girls wore different training equipment. After each checked the data on their boards, they looked over and nodded.

Anjing Zhen nodded back, then turned to Kitasan Black as she jogged over from the track. "You're in great