A Talent for Getting Locked Up at Tracen

Silence Suzuka did not mention that she had watched the stream too.

For one thing, Daiichi Ruby had not asked. For another, something was bothering Silence Suzuka.

Zhou Yuang had seemed terribly concerned about his identity being discovered during the stream.

What would happen if she said she knew, and that he seemed strangely familiar?

Silence Suzuka did not know. But Daiichi Ruby never asked, and even Air Groove, who arrived later, did not ask whether she had watched the stream.

When Air Groove came to find Silence Suzuka and spotted Daiichi Ruby beside her, she realized no explanation was needed. She simply warned Silence Suzuka to be careful of any trainer who approached her.

If a trainer sought her out or even proposed to her, she should call the Student Council immediately.

Someone from the Student Council would rush over. Sorry for the trouble, but Silence Suzuka would need to keep things under control until then.

Curious, Silence Suzuka asked what the Student Council would do to that trainer afterward.

Air Groove answered with righteous conviction: a trainer with that sort of problem would receive a reprimand and some guidance at best, or be fired outright at worst.

Silence Suzuka froze at the word "fired."

She barely registered the reprimand. All she could think about was being fired.

That meant if AT came to reveal himself to her, he would be caught, and might leave Tracen Academy forever.

Then she would never get to run under his watchful gaze for the rest of her life, as they had promised on the stream.

After thinking it over, Silence Suzuka decided to do nothing.

She believed AT would come find her. But getting past those obstacles was his... no, it was something they would have to do together.

If he cares about me as much as he did on the stream, he'll find me. Then we can do what we promised...

And if Zhou Yuang was not AT, the real AT would surely be unable to sit still after seeing her chat with another trainer.

Silence Suzuka was a running fool, yes, but she was not a fool who knew nothing but running.

The Most Cutthroat Place of All: Tracen

So when Silence Suzuka heard Zhou Yuang invite her to train, she agreed without a second thought.

The speed of her answer left Air Groove and Daiichi Ruby deeply troubled.

"I didn't come here just to train."

Air Groove had also come to protect Silence Suzuka and bring certain people to justice.

She was about to object, but Daiichi Ruby cried out beside her.

"Training with such adorable horse girls... I know! I'll join in too!"

An astonishing volume came from the petite horse girl.

Even Air Groove jumped.

After all, group training meant a bunch of horse girls training together.

Just as food tasted better when everyone ate together, training together felt better too.

It did not have the game's effect of sending stats soaring when enough people trained together, but the atmosphere put horse girls at ease.

Real horses were herd animals. Socializing in little groups and chasing one another around were perfectly normal.

Some lively horses grew restless without it.

And when Daiichi Ruby, who wanted to observe horse girls up close, heard the invitation, she could not possibly refuse.

Oguri Cap was the first gray-coated horse girl she had ever seen in person, and gray horses were especially popular with other horses.

Plenty of horses had a fondness for sniffing gray ones.

Daiichi Ruby had her doubts about Zhou Yuang, but she would never pass up a chance to spend time with a horse girl!

Training together would let this horse-girl enthusiast help other horse girls and observe a gray-coated horse girl up close.

The thought of twice the joy was enough to send her into bliss!

I bet if I talked Daiichi Ruby into joining my side by promising she could watch two adorable horse girls every day, maybe even live with them like sisters, she'd switch sides and surrender on the spot... Okay, that's wishful thinking.

Zhou Yuang discarded the ridiculous idea. That die-hard fan had previously sworn to defend the pure romance between him and Silence Suzuka. If she heard him say that...

She might immediately shout, "Silence! I've never seen anyone so shameless!"

The idea of having thirty wives did run afoul of modern law. But during his time in the world of horse girls, Zhou Yuang had kept up with international news. Some famous horse girls and their trainers had moved to countries that allowed polygamy and begun new lives there.

Zhou Yuang did not know how those trainers were doing, but he was sure their lives were equal parts pleasure and pain.

And in the game, Zhou Yuang had loved far more than thirty horse girls. Could a fan who loved them all so easily abandon any of his favorites?

Of course not.

"Then, Miss Air Groove?"

Zhou Yuang turned to Air Groove, hoping the nearly flawless Empress would grace him with her company.

Air Groove closed her eyes and rubbed her chin. Her ears twitched. Then she opened her eyes sharply and looked at Zhou Yuang.

"Pardon the intrusion."

Did that mean she agreed?

Was it really that easy?

Maybe she wants to observe me up close... Wait, is my daily life turning into a game of Werewolf?

Give me a break. I just want a quiet life.

"Then let's start training."

Zhou Yuang first explained that today's training would focus on Mile races.

Oguri Cap's first race in the central circuit was only a few days away.

It was a 1,600-meter Mile race.

As it happened, all four horse girls there knew a thing or two about Mile races.

On the stream, Zhou Yuang had thoroughly analyzed training methods for different tracks and distances, but each distance demanded a different focus.

He had discussed middle-distance races on the stream. Now he was discussing Mile races. What did one have to do with the other?

Training methods could not be applied across the board.

Zhou Yuang took out the training plan he had written earlier.

He explained the training plan for Mile tracks.

While he was at it, he also explained how to care for specific parts of the body after training them.

Air Groove looked surprised as she listened.

She had seen how Zhou Yuang had arranged things when she secretly peeked at his training plan, but now she heard the whole plan from him.

He even repeated it word for word.

He's really telling us, a bunch of horse girls he barely knows, such an important plan?

Is he an idiot?

Isn't he afraid we'll tell someone?

Air Groove still remembered how her face had burned when she sneaked a look at Zhou Yuang's plan.

She had even berated herself for going too far, and now Zhou Yuang was telling them everything?

She could not tell whether he was foolish or simply saw them as friends.

Air Groove said nothing more and trained alongside the others.

As they trained, Zhou Yuang's gaze swept over the four horse girls from time to time.

The way his eyes scanned them made Air Groove uneasy.

Honestly, she could not figure out what sort of person Zhou Yuang was.

She could call him a fusspot, but he was not fussing over his own horse girl in front of everyone.

She could call him shrewd, but he was training them all without hesitation. Even when Silence Suzuka raised her hand and asked him to repeat something, he showed no reservations.

Surely he did not really consider all of them his own horse girls?

She could call him an idiot, but the training plan he had produced was remarkably clever.

Nor had he been foolish during that earlier incident involving the trainer and the horse girl.

Besides, no matter how she looked at him now, he seemed like a polite, gentle trainer. There was nothing of AT's utterly obnoxious manner or tone.

That made things painful for Air Groove. She found it hard to bring herself to intimidate a trainer like this just to determine whether he was AT.

She was a horse girl with a conscience, not a hothead who made unreasonable trouble.

Even if they arrested Zhou Yuang because Oguri Cap was a horse girl AT had recommended in the game, he could simply say, "What does your hunt for AT have to do with me, Zhou Yuang?"

Tracen's Student Council was not a pack of fanatics who arrested people on a whim!

"This trainer is just an ordinary, positive person, isn't he?"

Air Groove was not heartless, and she had not judged Zhou Yuang through particularly biased eyes.

As sweat ran down her face, she recalled what she had learned earlier.

At least she had gotten something out of this.

"But that horse girl, Silence Suzuka..."

Sooner or later, she would need to find a trainer. Would that trainer be AT?

Then again, did trainers not all want as many talented horse girls under their care as possible?

Air Groove still remembered the crowd of trainers who had rushed over after she ran a practice race.

Their overlapping pitches—"Trust me!" and "Choose me and you'll succeed!"—had thoroughly put her off.

They had all made grand promises without offering a plan that satisfied her. If one of them had shown the same attitude or knowledge as the trainer before her, she might have considered it for a moment.

Just a moment.

That experience had also taught Air Groove a basic truth.

Competition among Tracen's trainers was brutal.

For horse girls, choosing a good trainer and winning races were matters of pursuing their dreams.

It was about dreams, youth, passion, and having no regrets.

But horse girls were minors, while trainers were adults.

The adult world usually had little to do with dreams or youth.

So many lively people entered society and discovered how harsh it was.

They were lucky if they did not shut down completely. Those who stayed open to others usually learned a little cunning.

So they kept competing harder just to survive.

Having a powerful horse girl meant a trainer could earn money from her races, use those winnings to support further races, and gradually carve out a place at Tracen, where competition was everywhere.

It was like a strategy game: resources were limited, no two generals were alike, and every player scrambled to claim both people and resources.

So whenever a talented horse girl appeared, trainers swarmed toward her like sharks catching a scent.

Judging by what AT had said, he knew the strengths of many horse girls.

He might not rush to recruit one, but surely he would not want Silence Suzuka, who wanted to be his wife, getting too close to another trainer.

Having realized a major problem, Air Groove naturally turned to look at Zhou Yuang.

Either a trainer would suddenly appear to compete with him for Silence Suzuka, or Zhou Yuang himself was hiding something...

During training, Zhou Yuang only glanced around at the other horse girls. Most of his attention stayed on Oguri Cap.

It looked as if he did not care about Silence Suzuka.

Air Groove was puzzled. Her dealings with so many trainers and all her suspicions had left her thoughts in a tangle. In the end, she decided to leave the matter to Rudolf.

She could act on Rudolf's decision afterward.