"Hall of Fame? Of course... huh?"
Walking with Anjing Zhen outside the dormitory building, Kitasan Black responded instinctively, then suddenly stopped in her tracks.
A moment later...
"Huuhhh? H-H-H-Hall of Fame?!"
Utterly shocked, she stared at Anjing Zhen with wide eyes and cried, "A-Zhen, are you... serious?"
It was not too late yet, and warm yellow light shone through the dormitory windows.
Horse Girls were wandering around nearby, while others had just returned from training.
Some walked in groups of two or three, chatting and laughing, while others moved with tired steps, though they still radiated youthful energy.
Kitasan Black's cry was far too loud, instantly drawing many curious and surprised looks.
Noticing those curious gazes, Kitasan Black's cheeks immediately burned.
She hurriedly glanced around, then instinctively reached out and grabbed Anjing Zhen's arm.
Without waiting for his reaction, she dragged him down the tree-lined path leading to the Academy courtyard, moving so hurriedly that she looked like a thief fleeing the scene.
Only when there were hardly any people around and the quiet atmosphere of the night enveloped them once more did Kitasan Black sigh in relief.
Pressing down on her chest, which had been rising and falling sharply from her hurried breathing, she turned around and faced Anjing Zhen again, complaining with a hint of reproach, "It's all your fault, A-Zhen. You suddenly said something so scary..."
In the next instant, uncertainty crept back onto her face. Biting her lip, she repeated her earlier question, "A-Zhen, were you really talking about becoming a Hall of Fame Horse Girl?"
In Anjing Zhen's eyes, after day after day of training and the tempering of race after race, Kitasan Black was no longer the inexperienced rookie she had once been.
Moreover, when facing Almond Eye, she had increasingly begun to carry