Hearing: Qualification

"Please, let the questioning party comment on Trainer Yasui's response." Nase Fumino turned toward the other side, her voice calm and unruffled.

A younger Association representative across from them immediately took over, his tone plainly impatient and irritable. "Contingency plans? Coordination? Trainer Yasui, your words sound nice, but they're all 'possibilities' and 'long-term trends'!

"What we need is a guarantee of certainty!

"You say confidence can't be quantified, that you can't guarantee the industry's foundation. Doesn't that amount to admitting that you know there's a risk of affecting others, yet still cannot produce any substantive damage-control plan? Placing a top athlete's personal wishes above the stability of the industry as a whole is no longer idealism—it is dangerous arrogance!

"If your team cannot even possess this most basic awareness of risk management, then we seriously question whether you have the broad perspective and qualifications necessary to continue serving as the trainer of a nine-crown champion!"

"Dangerous arrogance." "Qualifications." Those words stabbed into Kitasan Black like needles.

She saw Anjing Zhen's silent profile. Beneath those taut lines lay the same steady core as ever, and an impulse in her heart could no longer be restrained.

I can't just stand here watching—I can't let A-Zhen stand in front of everyone alone and say such difficult things anymore—I have to—do something too! At the very least, I have to tell them how I feel!

In the oppressive silence after the other side finished speaking, Kitasan Black took a deep breath and raised her right hand without hesitation, firmly.

In that instant, the confusion and pain in her crimson eyes were replaced by a clear resolve.

"Racer Kitasan Black, please speak." Nase Fumino looked toward her.

Kitasan Black stood up. Her voice trembled slightly at first, but grew clearer with every word. "I—I understand