The Empress, Air Groove (Continued)

Zhou Yuang was chatting here while keeping an eye on the comments. Who could have known that a Uma Musume would suddenly walk over?

She was a Uma Musume who looked very mature.

She had short black hair, with only one lock of bangs over her forehead, and a pair of beautiful blue eyes accompanied by a hint of red eyeshadow.

She was tall and had a figure countless girls would envy.

(165 cm B905786)

She could be said to have an S-shaped figure, with a prominent bust and shapely hips.

Now compare her to a certain Uma Musume.

(161 cm B705379)

Without comparison, there was no harm. Fortunately, they had not brought in a heavyweight Uma Musume for comparison.

[Side-Eyeing Lewd Manga Teacher]: Streamer, why does your gaze keep shifting back and forth between the two of them? Could it be...

That was exactly what it could be. Silence Suzuka's figure was clearly inferior to that of the Mare standing before him.

Fortunately, he was a male Horse; otherwise, he would have been finished... Though it had nothing to do with male or female, he really was finished.

Cy's setting was that the more injuries the real-life original suffered, the worse its figure would be after being turned into a Uma Musume.

And the real-life original of Silence Suzuka, the racehorse Silence Suzuka, was a tragic horse.

Because its strength had not been controlled properly during a race, it ended up suffering a comminuted fracture in its leg.

Many people believed that horses could only sleep standing up. Actually, that was not entirely true. Horses would lie down when they felt safe, but they spent more time standing—not only because they were vigilant, but also because horses did not like simply standing there quietly.

Because horses could not lie down as obediently as humans, they could not recover.

Once it could not recover, the pain became unbearable, and the real Silence Suzuka was taken away to be euthanized.

It had been at the height of its racing career, yet it had met such a tragic end.

Thus, it was given the title Silent Meteor.

But that was getting off track. In reality, the real Silence Suzuka's condition was reflected in Uma Musume's Silence Suzuka as a body like a bamboo pole.

"Silence Suzuka, you already have a Trainer, so why did you come to the Library to look these things up? Are you planning to discuss racing knowledge with your Trainer?"

The Uma Musume who had walked over spoke with Silence Suzuka and seemed quite familiar with her.

At the same time, a nameplate introducing her appeared beside her.

She was Air Groove.

The vice president of Tracen Academy's Student Council, she was a Uma Musume known as the Empress because of her strength and conduct.

Although she was called the Empress, she still got along well with the Uma Musume around her at certain times.

"Yes. Good day, Air Groove."

Silence Suzuka closed her book and greeted Air Groove.

She was one of the Uma Musume who had a good relationship with Air Groove.

In the world of Uma Musume, they were schoolmates in the same year.

But in the real world, where animals called horses existed, Silence Suzuka and Air Groove had a very unusual relationship.

These two horses, one male and one female, had been rivals during the same period.

Oh, by the way.

Male and female were professional terms in the horse industry.

A male horse was called a stallion, a female horse a mare, and a castrated male horse a gelding.

In the world of Uma Musume, since they were all girls, this distinction was shown through their ear accessories. Those who wore them on the right ear were male horses, while those who wore them on the left were female horses.

In reality, where horses like Arima existed, the owners of these two horses had a good relationship.

As everyone knew, the older generation loved urging people to marry and playing matchmaker to bring families closer together.

The two horses, one male and one female, had been privately promised to each other for breeding by their owners. After all, in their eyes, matters such as foals depended entirely on the owner's wishes.

Thus, people in reality said that these two horses had been engaged. Unfortunately, the real Silence Suzuka had died young.

Then this mare, Air Groove, became a widow... No, that was not right. Humans and Uma Musume shared the same values, but humans and horses did not.

Their ideas could not be forcibly applied here.

Although racehorse breeding was not as chaotic as that of mice, hamsters, or Greek mythology, it was perfectly normal for a horse owner to find several excellent stallions to breed with his mare.

The existence of racehorses sharing a father but not a mother, or a mother but not a father, was common knowledge.

After Air Groove retired, her owner took her away for breeding, and one of her breeding partners was particularly noteworthy.

A stallion named Sunday Silence was an impossible presence to overlook.

He was a great stallion brought into Japan to improve the bloodlines of Japanese racehorses. In the racehorse industry, the original horses of many Uma Musume were this great stallion's sons or descendants.

The original of Silence Suzuka was also this stallion's son.

Air Groove's owner had originally planned to breed Air Groove with Silence Suzuka, because Silence Suzuka was the offspring of the high-quality imported stallion Sunday Silence.

Silence Suzuka and her brothers had all been outstanding, so the owner felt that Silence Suzuka's genetics could not be bad either.

But Silence Suzuka died young. Then, after the owner thought it over, he realized: Wasn't Silence Suzuka's father, Sunday Silence, still alive and capable of working?

Breeding did not require the horse's consent. It only required the owner's willingness.

And so this widow, who had been Silence Suzuka's rival, became Silence Suzuka's stepmother.

To use an analogy, Cao Cao would have died young, while Cao Cao would have tearfully attended the funeral feast at his grave, then gone home and sought out Zhen Ji.

Still, in reality, the relationships between horses could not be casually applied to Uma Musume.

In the world of Uma Musume, these two were merely acquainted, same-aged female high school students.

"Good day. Who is this Uma Musume?"

Zhou Yuang looked toward Air Groove. Although Air Groove was stern, she greeted Zhou Yuang very politely.

"Hello, Trainer. My name is Air Groove, and I am the vice president of the Student Council."

"My name is Mysterious Trainer A. Just call me AT."

His completely unreserved introduction left Air Groove somewhat puzzled, but she simply pretended nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yuang kept sizing Air Groove up.

Then he began speaking to the audience.

"This Uma Musume is quite dashing."

[Tracen Cold-Joke Master]: That is true. She is always so imposing, and she is especially reliable too.

A Uma Musume who had spent a long time with her could naturally evaluate Air Groove.

A Trainer as knowledgeable as Zhou Yuang could, of course, evaluate Air Groove freely as well.

Especially since, back when he had been doing time, he had often chosen Air Groove as his support.

In terms of gameplay, Air Groove was truly excellent—so excellent that Zhou Yuang really wanted to tell Silence Suzuka that Air Groove was great.

Because Silence Suzuka's running style was Front Runner, while Air Groove often served as support and frequently provided a pile of skills specifically meant to counter Front Runners like Silence Suzuka.

"But I don't really like her. I prefer long hair."

Objectively speaking, Air Groove was an exceptionally excellent woman in both personality and ability.

She could be called perfect.

But she was not Zhou Yuang's type.

Zhou Yuang liked long hair best, especially long, straight hair. Of course, long, wavy hair was acceptable too.

"Short hair is nice, but long hair has a more elegant quality. Whether it reaches the shoulders or the waist, it resembles a waterfall of silk. When a Uma Musume runs, it moves with the wind, outlining one perfect curve after another—eye-catching and beautiful."

There was also one most important point: when a long-haired girl tied up her hair, she would gather it all in one hand, revealing the snow-white nape that had been hidden beneath it.

If the people sitting in the Livestream Room were not a group of Uma Musume but a crowd of gentlemen, they would probably have started an XP conference by now.

Unfortunately, not only were there Uma Musume sitting there, but one of the characters who had appeared was also in the Livestream Room.

[Hates Flashes and Manic Guys]: Who! Asked! You!

First he had evaluated someone, then he had started rambling about not liking short hair, and then he had begun acting slightly manic.

Who was discussing XP with him? Why was he acting like this here?

Who cared what he liked?

Air Groove, the Empress, forcibly held back the urge to curse and typed a comment word by word, seemingly gritting her teeth.

[Invincible Lord of Seaside]: Although what the streamer said was extremely baffling, I support the person above.

[Uma Musume Fan]: Indeed. When a Uma Musume starts running, with her long hair streaming in the wind... Just thinking about that scene makes me feel like I'm going to die!

[Side-Eyeing Lewd Manga Teacher]: You can die just from seeing long hair flowing? If you saw a Uma Musume lying in bed, with her hair naturally spread across the white sheets and shifting as she moved, wouldn't you be doing sit-ups in the underworld?

[Hates Flashes and Manic Guys]: What are you talking about?!

[Tracen Cold-Joke Master]: Calm down. How about listening to a cold joke?

[Hates Flashes and Manic Guys]: No need!

Tamamo's, why were even the Uma Musume in the comments so infuriating?

Air Groove stared at the comment feed, feeling her blood pressure shoot through the roof.

She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

She remembered her mother saying that an outstanding Uma Musume had to learn to control her emotions.

Fortunately, I don't have an annoying Trainer like that... Though I don't have a Trainer, I do have reliable colleagues and adorable juniors.

That Trainer had actually made such vulgar comments in front of so many Uma Musume... How utterly distasteful. Fortunately, she had never encountered a Trainer like that in her life.

My future Trainer absolutely will not be such a distasteful person!

After Air Groove thought of a certain reliable Student Council president and her always-timid, adorable junior, her blood pressure gradually settled.

Unlike certain people in the comments, each more infuriating than the last.

After rubbing her temples, Air Groove looked at the screen.

On the screen, Air Groove and Silence Suzuka were chatting, casually discussing some matters about the race, and then Zhou Yuang pulled Air Groove into conversation for a few lines.

It was simply to become familiar with each other.

Air Groove was an extraordinary Uma Musume. In racing, which had mainly been dominated by male horses, she had forged a path and led the way for the Queen mares who came after her.

Thus, her image in Uma Musume was also that of a serious, meticulous, perfect lady.

She expressed her hope that Zhou Yuang and this troublesome classmate would achieve good results, then left.

But she was not an NPC who would merely show her face and leave. She had once competed against Silence Suzuka.

There would be plenty of opportunities for her to appear later.

"Um, Trainer."

After watching her classmate leave, Silence Suzuka held her book and looked toward Zhou Yuang.

She seemed uneasy. What Air Groove had said earlier was not something that could simply be brushed off with a laugh.

"Should I listen to your advice more?"

"I think it's a good thing that you have your own ideas."

Zhou Yuang shook his head, rejecting Silence Suzuka's desire to obey him in everything.

"Although I can arrange what tactics you use in a race as your Trainer, the decisions about the small details on the track have to depend on the Uma Musume's own thoughts."

In other games, players could directly control a character's every action. Uma Musume was different. The main point was whether the Uma Musume herself was willing.

If a Uma Musume performed badly under a terrible Trainer, it was definitely because her Intelligence had not been raised enough.

The recommendation was to switch to a better stallion and better Support Cards.

"Yes, is that so? But I don't really understand how to think about it..."