At Tracen, My Specialty Is Doing Time

Zhou Yuang almost laughed.

"If you can consult a trainer, then there's no need for a rookie trainer like me to stay here, is there?"

I still need to find Silence Suzuka on the Dirt Track.

And when it comes to results, Smart Falcon is even stronger.

She's safe, too. It's just her roommate who's dangerous.

Zhou Yuang spoke calmly, as though none of it mattered much to him.

That puzzled Agnes Digital. She had her suspicions, but she knew she had no grounds to stop Zhou Yuang from standing there.

"If you're AT, admit it! If you aren't, don't even think about approaching Silence Suzuka! AT might be a scumbag, but I'm definitely rooting for him and Silence Suzuka as a couple!"

The little Uma Musume clenched her fists and made her vow.

She was determined to protect the couple she had decided to root for.

She was simple that way: however many Uma Musume couples there were, she would root for them all.

But she couldn't accept a relationship that was too tangled.

So she would find AT, beat him up, and force him to accept monogamy. She would make him swear to spend his life with Silence Suzuka and no other Uma Musume!

That was true love!

She was Tracen Academy's fairy of pure love!

"I'm Tracen's greatest... No, the world's greatest champion of pure love! I'll fight anything that goes against it to the bitter end!"

At that moment, flames seemed to blaze in Digital's eyes.

Zhou Yuang and Silence Suzuka both stared in astonishment.

Fired up and ready to fight nonstop, Digital looked set to stay close to Silence Suzuka for quite some time.

That Uma Musume who roots for everyone is a bit much, but when it comes to helping Uma Musume, she's absolutely dependable.

She would risk her life for any Uma Musume. Most trainers couldn't do that.

Under her protection, he wouldn't be able to approach Silence Suzuka, but he wouldn't have to worry about other trainers approaching her either. That was fine.

"I have no idea what's going on, but good luck. Excuse me."

Zhou Yuang waved and turned to leave.

The way he moved made Agnes Digital narrow her eyes. She studied his gait, then relaxed a little when she saw it was nothing like the one in the livestream.

"He doesn't look like him."

He lacked AT's infuriating air of effortless confidence.

He seemed more like a handsome young man full of energy.

Could it be someone else?

"Um..."

Silence Suzuka's voice caught Digital's attention.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry for springing all that on you!"

Digital wasn't exactly two-faced, but she was always respectful and humble around Uma Musume.

She spoke to ordinary people normally.

When she met a fellow human Uma Musume Fan, she chatted as warmly as two die-hard fans meeting each other.

But the moment this fan of every Uma Musume met an actual Uma Musume, she couldn't help getting excited.

Sometimes even an accidental touch while spending time together left her thrilled for ages.

She treated Uma Musume like a fan worshipping her idols as gods.

"I shouldn't have rushed over and blurted out all that nonsense, but I really couldn't help myself!"

I can't stand by and watch an Uma Musume couple's relationship turn into a mess.

Digital bowed to Silence Suzuka with perfect form. Suzuka was so flustered she didn't know where to put her hands.

"I understand. Just calm down first."

"Okay! Thank you so much!"

Zhou Yuang was no longer there to see Silence Suzuka and Agnes Digital interact.

For now, he couldn't get to the Uma Musume he'd planned to approach instead of Silence Suzuka, either.

As he walked over, a short-haired Uma Musume with black hair appeared beside Smart Falcon.

She was Kikiko's roommate. Unlike Kikiko, who was hopeless at romance, this one was an expert. She was a top-tier trainer-love contender who had once set a record for meeting a trainer's parents at lightning speed.

She was German, too. In all sorts of fan works, she was a formidable Uma Musume who would launch a blitzkrieg and whisk her chosen trainer off to Germany.

It's too dangerous to show up beside her. Maybe I should go back and win over Oguri Cap?

Forget it. I'll remain Oguri Cap's devoted follower today.

There was nothing wrong with Oguri Cap, and she was very obedient. She was just so dense sometimes that she might do something that left him speechless.

Come to think of it, if Agnes Digital won't get in the way of my ambition to marry thirty Uma Musume, she'd make an even better helper than Smart Falcon. She's strong, too.

The trouble was, she might keel over from sheer adoration the moment she met an Uma Musume...

From Oguri Cap to Kikiko and now Digital, why were they all Uma Musume who made him wonder whether they'd let him down when it counted?

Remembering their hard-to-describe behavior, Zhou Yuang began wondering which Uma Musume were perfectly dependable.

Mejiro Takamine? Maruzensky? Symboli Rudolf?

Why were all the dependable, mature Uma Musume such old-fashioned types? Seriously!

But a dependable younger one... I did meet one earlier.

Air Groove, the Empress.

But she was also one of the Umapyon police. As the most serious and conscientious of Uma Musume, would she ever agree to his idea?

Unless I win her over... I never expected to run into so many options today, and they're all tough ones.

Then again, wasn't a challenge what made things interesting?

Zhou Yuang thought of the rings locked in his drawer.

The idea might have been a little off-putting, but as a player, of course he wanted to get close to all sorts of Uma Musume.

He had said it, and there was no taking it back.

I'll win over Oguri Cap first.

Zhou Yuang looked around but couldn't find his adorable Gray Coat. He headed for the trainers' office building instead. Perhaps Oguri Cap was waiting in his office.

As he went upstairs, Zhou Yuang heard people talking nearby.

At the door to one of the trainers' offices, a trainer had pressed his palms together and was speaking anxiously to an Uma Musume in front of him. He seemed to be asking for help.

The Uma Musume facing him was Air Groove, the Empress: the very model of a dependable Uma Musume who had called Zhou Yuang out earlier and whom he had just been thinking about.

"Please, you're on the Student Council, aren't you? You can't just ignore this."

The trainer seemed to be seeking her help because she was a Student Council member.

Zhou Yuang found that odd. Wouldn't it be better to ask Miss Hayakawa?

Why ask someone from the Student Council?

With time to spare and a story to hear, Zhou Yuang wandered closer.

Let's see what's going on.

Tracen Was Not Above the Law

(This is a lighthearted Uma Musume story. The livestream is an important turning point, but it isn't the whole story. Alongside the focus on the Uma Musume and their stories, the protagonist and his Uma Musume will deal with incidents at Tracen Academy. Bizarre incidents like those in fan stories will come up, but not too often—too much of that would get old. This Tracen isn't Trep. Most of its Uma Musume are still ordinary, lovely girls.)

Air Groove was in a poor mood.

Perhaps because of her family, she had always lived by strict rules.

She made it her duty never to bring shame on her family or fail to live up to her mother's standing.

That morning, Air Groove had planned to spend some quiet time at the Student Council, helping President Rudolf with its work.

But then, out of nowhere, a livestream had appeared.

An abstract avatar resembling a character from a Tanuki animation had started spouting nonsense.

It had forced a livestream on some Uma Musume that they couldn't close.

It was sudden, but time around them stood still during the stream.

That at least gave the Uma Musume a chance to rest.

But there was a serious problem with what that fellow said.

"I'm gonna marry thirty Uma Musume, damn it!"

Air Groove's blood pressure shot up the moment she heard it.

Tamamo damn it! How could he say something so sleazy?

That would be bigamy!

Air Groove remembered that the law was quite clear... Exceptions existed in some countries, but most enforced monogamy.

And he planned to marry thirty Uma Musume?

This was beyond the pale for a trainer. Someone had to crack down on him!

After hearing his dream, Air Groove had been ready to leave the stream and arrest him.

As vice president of the Student Council, she had to uphold Tracen's standards.

She would do everything she could to keep Uma Musume out of unscrupulous hands!

If she could protect even one Uma Musume, she would.

After searching for a while, Air Groove discovered that Tracen's trainers each had their own peculiarities.

Some were sloppy, some were dull, and some looked downright disreputable.

And some were fools.

One particularly talkative fool had left a deep impression on her.

That trainer had fussed like an old father, going on and on about how wonderful his Uma Musume was.

Listening to him had given Air Groove a headache.

Why were Tracen's trainers all so hopeless?

Checking floor after floor was no problem. Air Groove investigated each one with her usual efficiency.

She hadn't found that sleazy AT, but she had discovered that some trainers' offices were in a disgraceful state.

Some were filthy and cluttered. Other trainers' desks were crammed with Uma Musume belongings.

Air Groove was beginning to think some of the school's Uma Musume weren't entirely sensible, either.

Her search had turned up nothing, and she had been about to leave when a trainer approached her.

He was an utterly unremarkable man with a face that blended into any crowd. There was nothing about him worth noticing.

Yet he pressed his palms together and bowed to her—a student—as he asked for help.

"Please, you're on the Student Council, aren't you? You can't just ignore this."

"What is it?"

The Student Council mainly handled Uma Musume matters. Hayakawa was better suited to dealing with trainers.

Air Groove intended to hear him out, then point him in the right direction.

She wasn't a heartless Uma Musume. Everything she said and did had to set an example.