At Tracen, Skilled at Doing Time

She could not let down her identity as the Empress, as vice president of the Student Council, or as that horse girl's daughter.

"Um, my horse girl has been acting... a little strange lately."

When the unremarkable-looking trainer heard Air Groove ask, he sensed that her tone had softened, but he still did not dare let his guard down.

"Strange?"

Air Groove was puzzled. Could it be some adolescent emotional issue?

That was something she could help with.

"Lately, my horse girl has been... really strange. She keeps trying to control me, telling me what I can and can't do."

"What exactly does she forbid you from doing?"

Air Groove frowned. Perhaps the horse girl thought the trainer led too careless a life and had forbidden him from smoking and drinking.

She was in no hurry. If it turned out he was doing something he should not, she could scold him then.

Not far away, Zhou Yuang stood still, having happened to overhear them.

He could neither leave nor walk over.

He had stopped for more than just the gossip.

Everyone liked a bit of gossip, but eavesdropping was not right.

It was impolite, and learning someone's private business without permission was intrusive. No one wanted a stranger finding out their little secrets.

Zhou Yuang had stopped because he spotted a horse girl by the corner of the hallway.

He did not know her, but she stood silently at the corner, much like Senior Tachibana.

The corner concealed half her body.

Her eyes were fixed on the trainer talking to Air Groove.

Could that be his horse girl?

Zhou Yuang looked again. She was watching Air Groove and the unremarkable-looking Passerby T, and her ears were almost pinned flat.

A horse girl's ears and tail revealed her feelings.

Real horses pinned their ears back when they were angry or about to attack.

Their ears were vulnerable, so they had to protect them in a fight.

That was why they pinned them back when angry or aggressive.

That horse girl was angry!

Seeing her grow angrier by the moment, Zhou Yuang immediately walked toward Air Groove and Passerby T.

"Sorry to interrupt. Are you talking about the earlier inspection of trainers' offices for prohibited items?"

Zhou Yuang spoke loudly on purpose, making sure the horse girl around the corner could hear.

Horse girls had sharp hearing, but how many people listened to reason when they were angry?

"Do you have something prohibited that they're making you throw out too, Trainer-san?"

"Huh? Who are you?"

Passerby T startled when Zhou Yuang suddenly approached.

At the sight of Zhou Yuang—the man who became awfully talkative whenever his own horse girls came up—Air Groove's ears drooped.

Is he the type who can't stop talking once he starts?

Good grief. Not only was he a busybody, he was a chatterbox too?

"Hold on. I'm—"

"I know this is sudden, but please keep your voices down. There's a horse girl around the corner behind you."

Zhou Yuang quietly described her hair color and ear accessories. Passerby T's face immediately filled with panic.

"What?"

Passerby T instinctively tried to turn his head, but Zhou Yuang was ready.

As if they were old friends chatting, he draped an arm around Passerby T's neck and stopped him from looking back.

"Don't turn around. She's still watching."

If you turn around in a panic now, she'll think you're making excuses because you have something to hide, no matter how reasonable your explanation is.

She probably thinks talking to Air Groove means you're being unfaithful to her.

Zhou Yuang looked at Air Groove and put a finger to his lips.

"Play along, Miss Air Groove."

"Play along?"

Air Groove looked puzzled. Passerby T had his back to the horse girl, which meant Air Groove was facing her.

She could see the horse girl's fierce glare in the distance.

Air Groove was no fool. She immediately understood what Zhou Yuang was doing.

"What are you planning?"

Something felt wrong about that horse girl.

Air Groove instinctively felt there was a problem with her, but the trainer who had appeared out of nowhere beside her seemed even more suspicious.

"Don't look over there. Let's talk for a bit. Sir, I think your conversation with Miss Air Groove just gave your horse girl the wrong idea."

Zhou Yuang felt her stare on his back but did not panic.

Even if he could not beat a horse girl in a fight, she was not going to do anything to him right away.

"I..."

Passerby T's scalp prickled. He had no idea what to make of Zhou Yuang, the trainer who had barged into their conversation.

But so far, this trainer seemed not only harmless, but actually intent on helping him.

He had even asked the horse girl in front of them to play along.

"Go on. Tell us what's bothering you, but keep your voice down."

"Well, my horse girl lately... She won't let me look at other horse girls. You know trainers have to study how different horse girls run to plan their own horse girl's training and races."

Passerby T gritted his teeth and began pouring out his troubles.

To help Zhou Yuang understand, he explained how it had started.

His horse girl had already made her debut and enjoyed some success.

After he helped her win several major races, she seemed to trust him even more.

A few days earlier, she had handed him a letter.

It was a love letter.

"Did you turn her down?"

Zhou Yuang was curious. He watched Air Groove's expression at the same time.

Her face was quite a sight.

"No. I thought she was joking."

Passerby T looked miserable, and his expression was quite a sight too.

"She even said she wanted to be my bride when she grew up, and I laughed and said sure."

"Idiot."

Tamamo, do you have any idea what you've done?

Air Groove put a hand to her forehead and sighed.

Most of the students at Tracen Academy were middle- or high-school girls who were still immature.

It was normal for trainers to see them as children.

But horse girls?

They were deeply emotional, and promises and feelings mattered enormously to them.

What were you thinking, agreeing so casually?

"You treated something like that as a joke?"

Air Groove wanted to berate him. He had brought this on himself.

Horse girl or not, if you accepted a young woman's confession, she would naturally start seeing herself as your future wife. If you behaved carelessly, of course she would try to rein you in.

"Uh, that aside, you haven't done anything inappropriate since then, have you? What about her? Has she done anything inappropriate?"

Zhou Yuang remained calm. This was not too bad. If his fellow trainer did not do anything foolish, he might even marry a cute horse girl a few years from now.

"Yes. She won't let me smoke or drink, but that's not important. As a trainer, I need to watch race footage and study other competitors to make plans for my horse girl, right?"

Whenever he watched other horse girls, she immediately got jealous.

At first, she only forbade him from staring at other horse girls' thighs. Then he was not allowed to look at their faces. Eventually, she would not even let him talk to them.

"She's also filled my office with things like scented oils. My desk is piled high with gifts from her..."

Passerby T looked thoroughly flustered. His little bride-to-be seemed rather possessive.

He smelled strongly of scented oils. The mixture was muddled, but not unpleasant—at least, not to a human.

Perhaps the complicated scent was why Air Groove looked uncomfortable.

Did that horse girl's family happen to sell scented oils?

Maybe she only wanted to improve her and her trainer's moods. Or maybe she was marking him with a scent only she liked, so horse girls with sharp noses would know he was a trainer with a wife-to-be.

That sort of thing happened all the time in bizarre stories.

Zhou Yuang felt a headache coming on. Was this world actually one of those bizarre stories?

His own horse girls would not have a problem like that, would they?

"This is a problem. Letting a horse girl behave like that would poison the atmosphere at Tracen."

Air Groove, ever the horse-girl conduct patrol, immediately spoke up for what was right.

It seemed Tracen was not such a bad place after all.

"So you'll handle it?"

Zhou Yuang looked at Air Groove. If the Student Council stepped in, everything would work out.

The trainer would have an easier time too.

Assuming the Student Council's intervention worked.

"To be precise, the Student Council will."

"Thank goodness. I'll leave it to the Student Council, then."

The trainer breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhou Yuang had a feeling it would not be that simple.

If only it were.

"Don't worry. The Student Council will speak with her later. I should go now."

Air Groove had no intention of lingering. She needed to return to the Student Council. The earlier livestream had made her forget all about its business.

There was no better way to put it: Air Groove was a very busy woman.

"Wait. I'll go with you."

Feeling that gaze fixed firmly on his arm from behind, Zhou Yuang decided to leave with Air Groove.

As for his fellow trainer, he would have to keep his composure on his own.

Air Groove did not answer. She simply walked off, and Zhou Yuang promptly caught up.

He could have kept up the act, walking beside her while gesturing and spinning some dramatic story.

But if he did, Air Groove might start wondering whether he was a sly trainer.