At Tracen, Good at Doing Time

If the Horse girls were happy with it, what could the Three Goddesses do?

"Take good care of Oguri Cap for now. We're leaving, but we plan to prepare more game modes later."

Darley and the other goddesses waved goodbye. If anything needed doing, they could leave it to Zhou Yuang.

The Three Goddesses were the freest beings in this world. They were gods; doing whatever they pleased was the whole point.

"Oh, right. That Horse-girl game you're streaming isn't just a game, you know~"

Just before they left, Godolphin dropped that remark.

"What?"

Zhou Yuang sprang to his feet at Godolphin's words, forgetting all about the ring box in his hand.

He wanted to ask what she meant, but the Three Goddesses vanished far too quickly.

By the time he tried, they were already gone.

Don't tell me the game is connected to the Horse girls in the real world...

Oh, crap!

If Silence Suzuka in the game sees my face... No, wait. From their perspective, I was just staring at that guy whose name starts with A.

Don't panic.

Zhou Yuang tensed. Would he have to keep his head down during future streams?

So be it.

If his identity got exposed, Horse girls might come straight to him and give him a piece of their minds. And if he did something especially infuriating, they might confront him in person.

How's an ordinary guy like me supposed to fight Horse girls with three times an adult's physical ability?

That would end badly.

I can't exactly count on suddenly becoming big and strong, can I?

"Better keep my head down. Living cautiously every day like the unremarkable protagonist of a mortal-cultivation story isn't such a bad idea."

As Zhou Yuang spoke, he looked at the ring box in his hand, his feelings a tangled mess.

The row of gleaming silver rings was almost dazzling.

He picked one up and immediately felt how pleasant it was to the touch.

Zhou Yuang had no idea what it was made of, but a gift from the Three Goddesses couldn't be shoddy.

He closed the lid and set the box on the desk.

As long as he stayed put, the box wasn't going to fly away.

After thinking it over, Zhou Yuang decided to behave himself for a while.

He would check for news around Tracen now and then before making his next move.

Zhou Yuang picked up a pen and paper to write Oguri Cap's upcoming training schedule. After that, he planned to slack off.

Umapyon Police, Move Out!

Classes were in session at Tracen, so most Horse girls were in class.

What about the few who weren't?

They were at the Student Council.

Like most student councils in anime, Tracen's Student Council had powers no real-world student council possessed.

Its members worked like employees, only without pay.

That wasn't a problem. No Horse girl who joined Tracen's Student Council was ordinary.

Some were young ladies from prominent families. Others were likely to enter the workforce in management roles after graduating with excellent results.

Working on the Student Council was like a simple internship.

They could skip classes, provided they didn't fail them.

As the comments on the screen gradually dried up, Symboli Rudolf, Tracen's Student Council president, struck a pose like Commander Ikari.

"That trainer. I think I ought to have a chat with him."

She couldn't let such a talented trainer's abilities go to waste. Surely a trainer like him would seek out some powerful Horse girls?

That would bring even more energy to Tracen.

"So when should I investigate?"

She could continue investigating in three days, but that was far too long to wait.

Rudolf was impatient by nature.

Someone else, however, was even more impatient.

Air Groove, one of the vice presidents, pushed open the Student Council office door.

"President! I need you to... You're watching too?"

Air Groove had barely taken two steps inside before she saw Rudolf doing a perfect Commander Ikari impression.

There was even a screen floating in front of her.

"Oh, Air Groove. Perfect timing."

Air Groove's earlier behavior hadn't quite given her away, but as far as Rudolf was concerned, it came close.

Rudolf had even worked out that one of the commenters was her little admirer.

Well, it hadn't taken much working out. Who else but Teio would keep calling her "President" with such open admiration?

"There's something I'd like to ask you."

"Is it about the stream?"

Air Groove watched Rudolf close the screen as she asked.

There was plenty Air Groove wanted to do about that stream.

First, she needed to find out who that shameless scumbag was. Then... she thought she ought to protect a Horse girl named Silence Suzuka.

A scumbag who declared he wanted to marry thirty Horse girls was, without question, an enemy of Horse girls everywhere.

As a vice president of Tracen Academy, Air Groove could not stand by and do nothing.

She had to step forward. If she could keep even one Horse girl from becoming a victim, she would.

"Yes. That stream and the game being streamed have caught my interest."

It wasn't just the talented trainer. The game's apparent ability to predict a Horse girl's potential and the fate that might await her had deeply intrigued Rudolf.

"What do you think would happen if I were the first character he trained?"

The name Symboli Rudolf came from Rudolf, heir to Austria-Hungary.

This Horse girl, who truly lived up to her title of emperor in their world, was far more composed than most.

She rose unhurriedly to pour her fellow student a cup of tea.

"President! You're the president! If he picked you, wouldn't that man take liberties with you?"

Air Groove was startled to hear her say that.

Their Student Council president could be unreliable at times, but she came through when it mattered. She was capable, too, and Air Groove naturally respected her.

But when Rudolf started acting like this, Air Groove could barely keep her composure.

"Don't worry. I don't think I'm a girl someone could win over so easily."

Rudolf calmly poured Air Groove a cup of tea.

Air Groove had plenty to say, but she thanked Rudolf for the gesture all the same.

"You came to look through the files on our school's trainers, didn't you?"

Rudolf's question earned an immediate nod from Air Groove.

The sooner she acted, the better. Air Groove couldn't imagine a trainer who said the things Zhou Yuang had said quietly sitting in his office and slacking off.

Zhou Yuang really was slacking off, but that didn't stop Air Groove from imagining otherwise.

All sorts of versions of him appeared in her mind.

Perhaps he was handsome but frivolous. Perhaps he looked like a creep and wanted to do something indecent. Or perhaps he looked perfectly ordinary while hiding a lecherous streak.

She couldn't judge what kind of person he was until she knew who he was.

She worried that Zhou Yuang might already be looking for a victim before she could intervene.

"If he's a trainer, he must have already hurt a Horse girl!"

Having said that, Air Groove looked at Rudolf, ready to make a formal request for an investigation.

She was always this serious and meticulous. She would never allow anything that violated Tracen's rules.

If a Horse girl and a trainer were corrupting Tracen's atmosphere, she would come down hard on them.

"President, let me investigate every trainer!"

Air Groove bowed to Rudolf, the movement drawing attention to her striking figure.

But no one there cared. There were only two Horse girls in the room.

Rudolf rubbed her chin with a helpless look.

Her fellow student was rushing things.

The more aggressively they searched, the more that trainer would take notice.

If he didn't want to be found, he would find ways to hide.

"How about this? Make a round of the trainers' offices. Pulling all their files would be a lot of work."

Rudolf thought it over. That trainer seemed like the sort who acted on his ideas.

If he wanted thirty Horse-girl wives, he would try to make it happen.

First, he needed access to Horse girls. And with expertise like his, he had to be a trainer.

Trainers were staff members, which meant there would be records. Even if he pretended nothing had happened, they could identify him by going through the files one by one.

Still, whether Air Groove's inspection stirred anything up would be one way to see what that trainer was capable of.

Once Rudolf had settled on a plan, she approved Air Groove's request, but on one condition.

Air Groove would have to listen to her puns later—no, scratch that. When Rudolf investigated the files afterward, Air Groove had to stay put.

Air Groove was puzzled, but she quickly understood once Rudolf explained her thinking.

Rudolf was still the shrewd president she had always been.

"I understand. I'll cooperate with you, President."

With permission secured, Air Groove immediately prepared to leave. She was eager to confront Zhou Yuang.

Armed with Rudolf's written authorization to "inspect trainers' offices for prohibited items," Air Groove began her rounds.

She went straight to the building that housed the trainers' offices and started checking them one by one.

Some offices were spotless. Others were rather messy.

Some had alcohol and cigarettes lying around, even cans scattered across the floor.

Air Groove felt as though she had become a dormitory cleanliness inspector.

As she inspected the offices and saw the trainers inside, her irritation mounted.

At this point, every one of them looked like that AT to her.

Too confident when he spoke? Suspicious.

Too timid when he spoke? Suspicious.

Good-looking? Suspicious.