At Tracen, Skilled at Doing Time

"Maybe. In that case, I'll call home tonight."

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he'd called. He might as well talk to them today.

Zhou Yuang took Oguri Cap to the Cafeteria. After treating her to a full meal, he brought her to other classes, such as music and dance.

After all, Uma Musume in Japan had to perform a live show after their races.

Not letting his own Uma Musume learn to dance would be incredibly stupid.

The day ended quickly. Before he knew it, it was time to leave school, and Zhou Yuang left Tracen Academy together with Oguri Cap.

After entering into a contract with Oguri Cap, Zhou Yuang would occasionally take her out for a cheap meal.

In other words, they ate at relatively inexpensive restaurants.

Looking at Oguri Cap across from him, wolfing down cheap but delicious and filling food, Zhou Yuang secretly clenched his fists and swore.

Once he had money, he would take Oguri Cap to all kinds of restaurants and treat her to a full meal.

French restaurants included!

Just kidding. I'm super brave!

After finishing dinner with Oguri Cap, her day had come to an end.

Zhou Yuang walked Oguri Cap back to her dormitory.

As an adult, however, he still had to go home.

After all, tonight's radio show had yet to begin.

Zhou Yuang suspected that the Three Goddesses' reason for making him stream was to watch him work in this industry.

Zhou Yuang quickly returned home. When he arrived, he discovered that a package had been sent from his Hometown.

He promptly opened it.

Inside were several thick books, which appeared to be part of a series.

"...What are my parents doing?"

Looking at the two archaic characters "Inner Canon" on the books, Zhou Yuang was speechless.

When he opened the final book... Zhou Yuang felt like Air Groove after hearing one of Rudolf's jokes.

He had already planned to call them, but now he had no choice.

An international call was no big deal. It was expensive, but not so expensive that he couldn't afford it.

Before long, his Hometown in Seres answered the call.

"Son, what made you suddenly think to call us?"

On the other end of the video call, his father in this life appeared on-screen, and his mother appeared beside him as well.

It seemed they had been watching television.

"Can't I call you two for no reason?"

Zhou Yuang chatted with his parents. They were open-minded and knew how to behave without being unpleasant.

After making small talk about their family traditions and telling them that things were going well for him, Zhou Yuang took out the books and asked what was going on.

"Weren't you planning to marry thirty Uma Musume wives?"

His father looked at Zhou Yuang's speechless expression and began to argue back.

"Uma Musume are lively and healthy. One outstanding Uma Musume is worth a hundred ordinary women. If you actually managed it, you'd really have three thousand beauties..."

"Stop! Don't say another word!"

Zhou Yuang visibly lost his composure. Wasn't a normal person supposed to assume that it was just something a clueless child had said?

"You're still embarrassed? You're already a Trainer. Are you saying you didn't mean it?"

His father teased him, but his mother stopped him.

"Speaking of which, you've taken on responsibility now, right? How are things progressing?"

"Fine. No, that's not what we're talking about!"

His parents were like relatives urging him to get married during the New Year, asking about his romantic life. Zhou Yuang had no intention of going into certain matters. He would bring an Uma Musume home for the New Year someday and discuss everything then.

The most important matter right now was the books.

"Why did you send these books, anyway? The earlier ones about astronomy and geography were fine, but the later one is way too improper."

Zhou Yuang raised the final book and waved it around. The earlier books in the series were full of knowledge and principles, but the last one alone...

No matter how he looked at it, Zhou Yuang could only read three words: Umapyon.

It was slang, an obscure euphemism for erotic material in Uma Musume fan fiction. Judging from the tone of this book, it meant Bedchamber Arts.

Tamamo's sake! I've lived a perfectly healthy life since the day I was born.

His room was so healthy that not a single photo or poster in it was even remotely erotic. And now this... Did they think he didn't know how to ride a horse?

"What are you saying, you little brat? How is this stuff improper?"

The moment his father heard that, he began scolding him.

"This is the crystallization of our ancestors' wisdom, no matter how you look at it. It can be treated as a family heirloom."

"Even if the Inner Canon is an ancient book, there's no need for us to..."

Wait, are you sure this isn't something bought from a street stall?

Zhou Yuang wanted to argue, but at that moment, his parents unexpectedly told him to pay attention.

"Other families can treat it as child's play, but we can't, because this really is something passed down by our ancestors."

His father spoke seriously, then his mother gave him a meaningful look. His father coughed.

"These books were passed down through our family's direct line of ancestors."

"Direct line..."

The corner of Zhou Yuang's mouth twitched. Which direct ancestor was he talking about?

"Right. You were too young before, so we forgot to tell you. Our family is just an ordinary clan now, but our ancestors really were once prosperous."

Realizing that he had failed to tell Zhou Yuang something everyone in the family had known, his father looked embarrassed.

Their family was not insignificant, but neither was it among the highest-ranking families. They were simply doing fairly well.

They were not some overbearing, powerful clan, but whenever they mentioned who their ancestors were, they could hold their heads high and brag.

"Prosperous?"

"That's right. We didn't actually have the surname Zhou before. We only adopted it later because we were Zhou people, and the Spring and Autumn period was so chaotic that our branch eventually changed its surname to this one."

"Huh?"

Zhou Yuang stared blankly for several seconds.

Seeing that his son seemed to have realized something, his father continued.

"Actually, our ancestors used to have the surname Ji."

"You mean, from the Zhou Dynasty..."

"Not only that."

"...Then what else?"

What the hell? Not only that?

What could be more legitimate?

Just as Zhou Yuang was sweating nervously, he suddenly realized something. He lowered his head and looked at the copy of the Inner Canon containing the Bedchamber Arts.

"Could you mean... that person from the Ji River?"

"Not bad, you're not completely stupid. Who else would it be?"

His father folded his arms and looked at Zhou Yuang's stunned expression before adding:

"I even told you when you were little that you had the potential of that ancestor. With your physique, you still plan to marry thirty Uma Musume. Are you trying to ascend to heaven on an auspicious day?"

"What? That wasn't a lie either?"

And had he misheard one of those lines?

Could I really...

Recalling some of the blatantly improper claims in the book, such as "one against ten without fatigue," Zhou Yuang felt his scalp go numb.

"Worried that you'd fool around, we copied a version and sent it over. Remember to keep yourself in check and don't neglect your daily routine."

"Stop, stop! You know what kind of person I am best! I'm not some delinquent!"

I'm not the kind of scumbag Trainer who would harbor bad thoughts about Uma Musume!

Zhou Yuang felt as if he had been watching a livestream and suddenly been spoiled about something unbelievable... provided Silence Suzuka was in the Livestream Room. If she were, her state of mind would probably be about the same as his.

After exchanging a few more words of concern with his parents, Zhou Yuang hung up.

After learning about his true ancestry, Zhou Yuang looked at the books left behind by his direct ancestor.

It wasn't that he wanted anything improper. He was merely curious about how to maintain his health.

Zhou Yuang opened one and examined it carefully.

Setting aside the erotic material, it also contained all kinds of nourishing medicines and knowledge about maintaining one's health.

Using this knowledge, even an ordinary person's pelvis and kidneys wouldn't run into problems.

Excellent knowledge. It would definitely come in handy next time!

Strange Knowledge +50, Intelligence +3.

After finishing the books, Zhou Yuang put them all away. What if one of his Uma Musume came here and found them?

They would definitely say he wasn't a respectable person!

And then...

"Start the radio, start the radio."

So what if his ancestors were awesome? That had nothing to do with him.

Zhou Yuang immediately turned on the radio, intending to continue his part-time job.

After all, Oguri Cap was an Uma Musume with an enormous appetite. His Trainer's salary wasn't enough to fill her stomach, so every bit of money he could earn mattered.

He cleared his throat and switched to a gentle tone of voice, his entire bearing changing with it.

Zhou Yuang turned on his radio show.

"Welcome to Uma Late-Night Relationship Radio. I'm your relationship counselor, Mr. Z."

Alone in her dormitory, Silence Suzuka turned on her device and began listening to her favorite radio show.

It had suddenly gone on air several years ago, solving all kinds of relationship problems between Uma Musume and Trainers while also sharing stories about Uma Musume and Trainers striving to improve themselves.

Whenever she heard that gentle voice, Silence Suzuka felt at ease.

The voice was gentle yet knowledgeable. Anyone could tell that its owner was a mature big brother who knew how to talk to people.

It was just a pity that Silence Suzuka now liked another voice.

Although AT's voice was flippant and careless, it still made Silence Suzuka feel at ease.

If she had a choice, Silence Suzuka would certainly want AT to speak to her in Mr. Z's voice... but that sort of thought...

I really shouldn't be thinking that. It would be too disrespectful to both of them.

The sensible girl was not greedy. She simply did not know that both of them were Zhou Yuang's aliases.

"Once upon a time, there was a Little Uma Musume. She began helping her family with their work at a very young age. One day, she needed to cross a river..."

Before every broadcast, Zhou Yuang would always tell an uplifting story or share some anecdote related to horses.

Although they were not thrilling or dangerous stories, the gentle voice and subject matter attracted many Uma Musume and Trainers.

Even Zhou Yuang himself had not expected the Uma Musume and Trainers of this world to like this sort of thing so much.