Wasn't he afraid she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight?
By the time the pre-race meeting ended, the sky outside had completely darkened.
Standing by the window and watching Kitasan Black and Almond Eye disappear toward the dormitory building, Anjing Zhen turned around, gathered the scattered documents from his desk one by one, and sat down beside it.
As he flipped through the documents, his gaze lingering over all kinds of data, his brows unconsciously furrowed into a deep crease.
What he had said during the meeting had not been an exaggeration.
Futanari Shingang and the others' familiarity with their strategies and tactics, new opponents like Teio Sho, Maurice's explosive Final Burst...
Every name and every figure was like a heavy weight pressing down on the other side of the scales of victory, making this race—which was already unfavorable for Kitasan Black—even more difficult.
This truly was the toughest race Kitasan Black had faced since her debut.
And, naturally, his as well.
"Still mulling over tactics?"
Agnes Tachyon's voice came from nearer and nearer. Anjing Zhen looked toward it and saw the Horse Girl approaching with two steaming cups of tea.
"Yeah. A lot of the plans don't look too promising now, and besides..."
As Agnes Tachyon set one cup on the desk and pushed it toward him, Anjing Zhen thanked her and pulled out a document from the stack in his hands.
"There's also the weather.
"Tokyo Racecourse was last refurbished many years ago. While it has received routine maintenance over the years, its overall structure hasn't changed much. Deterioration in parts of the track is inevitable.
"And although late October and early November aren't the rainy season, the southern Kanto Plain is still heavily affected by the maritime climate. The weather can be... hard to predict.
"Especially since