November, Hokkaido.
Hah-
Walking along the snow-covered road, Koichi Sasaki glanced ahead, then exhaled a cloud of warm breath.
It's freezing.
The snow country certainly lived up to its name. Fortunately, he handled the cold fairly well.
"I finally graduated."
Although he was only nineteen, he had successfully graduated from the horse racing academy in Tokyo.
As far as professions went, he was now a professional jockey.
However, he hadn't gone looking for work at any racing stables.
Of course.
He hadn't come back with that intention, either.
Why work for someone else when inheriting the family business was so much more comfortable?
As someone who had transmigrated into this world, he'd gotten a pretty decent start.
He had successfully graduated, and there was a medium-sized ranch back home waiting for him to inherit it.
Hokkaido might have been a little cold, but being a ranch owner free to do as he pleased sounded pretty good.
"Young Master Koichi! Young Master Koichi!"
Before long.
A girl with her hair in a ponytail came running toward him through the snow.
"I told you, stop calling me young master."
Despite his words, Koichi still gave her a light hug.
Looking at her slightly chubby cheeks made him want to pinch them.
They were childhood friends, after all.
The two of them had grown up together at Hokkai Ranch.
"Hehe, yes, young master. Oh, right. Young Master Koichi, there's something I need to tell you. Please brace yourself."
Miku Kuchiki spoke rather timidly.
The young master was definitely going to get angry when he found out.
Fortunately, the master had already made a run for it.
By now, he should already be aboard a flight overseas from Chitose Airport.
Koichi Sasaki instantly sensed something deeply ominous.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Don't tell me the old man did something weird again?"
The original owner of his body hadn't been on particularly good terms with the father Koichi had inherited.
In high school, his grades had been among the best, and his looks were good enough to make his entertainment debut.
Yet his ranch-owner father had sent him to a horse racing academy.
The two hadn't spoken for a long time because of it.
As long as he hadn't sold the ranch. Koichi was still waiting to get there and activate his system.
"Young master, you... ahem. It's really nothing much. The master just bought a racehorse."
Miku Kuchiki had almost praised him for being clever, but held herself back.
They really were father and son.
The young master had anticipated exactly what his father would do.
"Come on. We can talk while we walk."
Hearing that it was only a racehorse purchase, Koichi Sasaki breathed a sigh of relief.
Racehorse prices varied considerably.
Some horses attracted attention from the moment they were born, while others went to auction only to be taken home by their original owners.
He could accept a racehorse that cost a few million yen.
To him, buying a racehorse was a perfectly normal thing for a ranch owner to do.
Everyone had a dream, after all.
A single victory in the Sapporo Newcomer Race could bring in over seven million yen in prize money, never mind the higher-level races that came afterward.
"Mm, it's just that... this racehorse was a little expensive."
As she spoke, Miku Kuchiki's voice grew quieter and quieter.
"A little expensive?"
Koichi Sasaki's internal alarm bells rang louder and louder.
Just how much was 'a little'?
"So how much did the old man spend?"
Although theirs was a medium-sized ranch, the family really didn't have much cash on hand.
"Two... two..."
Miku Kuchiki lowered her head, twisting all ten fingers together.
The young master might already be ready to buy a plane ticket and hunt his father down.
"Twenty million?"
The corner of Koichi Sasaki's mouth twitched.
Twenty million yen could buy a decent secondhand apartment in Tokyo.
What a spendthrift!
"Young master, it was actually two hundred million..."
Miku Kuchiki corrected him in a small voice.
If it had only been twenty million, the master wouldn't have needed to run away without taking anything with him.
"How much?! I didn't catch that."
Koichi Sasaki, who had been walking ahead, abruptly stopped.
Two hundred million yen!
He really felt like coughing up blood.
That was an extra zero beyond the price he'd expected. Had the old man bought an offspring of the historically famous Special Week or something?
No matter how he looked at it, their family didn't have that kind of money.
"Young master, the master has already fled overseas..."
Miku Kuchiki felt that he was on the verge of exploding.
The stables at Hokkai Ranch.
Ding. Congratulations on successfully activating the system and acquiring the first racehorse of your life. Congratulations on receiving ten lottery draws. Congratulations on obtaining the Eye of Appraisal.
He had originally thought he would awaken a ranch system, but it turned out to be a jockey system instead.
Was he really going to have to return to his trained profession?
"Gold Ship?"
Koichi Sasaki stared at the pedigree certificate in bewilderment.
It seemed this world was somewhat different from the one he knew.
After Miku Kuchiki explained everything, he finally understood what had happened.
After watching Golden Masterpiece easily take first place in Hakodate, his old man had started looking through the horse market for a sibling of Golden Masterpiece.
That was how he had found Gold Ship, who was just about to go up for auction.
The two-hundred-million price tag really made him feel like coughing up blood.
Fortunately, given Gold Ship's future achievements, earning those two hundred million back would be fairly easy.
However, Ship wasn't even two yet and couldn't enter the newcomer races for two-year-olds.
Neigh, neigh-
Gold Ship, whose coat was still gray, was happily eating his compound feed.
Another happy day.
"Good boy-"
Miku Kuchiki was extremely fond of this little gray horse.
If Gold Ship won races in the future, she would receive a considerable bonus as well.
Of course, she still hoped Ship would stay safe and sound.
"Young master, you're not going to sell Ship, are you?"
"Even if I wanted to sell him now, nobody would pay two hundred million yen for him, would they? I'd only be taking a loss."
Koichi Sasaki shook his head with a bitter smile.
As someone who had transmigrated here, he had considerable confidence in Ship's future.
This gray horse would one day become a powerhouse who racked up 1.4 billion yen in prize money.
Gray horses were also rather unusual: their coats gradually turned white as they aged.
He could certainly tell the difference between two hundred million and 1.4 billion.
He just had to raise this fellow until he turned two first.
Chomp-
Koichi Sasaki had barely reached out to pet Gold Ship before a bite drove his hand back.
Naturally, Gold Ship was still wary of strangers.
"Ship, the young master is your owner. Be nicer to him."
Miku Kuchiki sounded a little angry.
How Ship lived from now on would be entirely up to the young master.
Hmph-
Gold Ship snorted softly, then turned his head aside.
As an adorable little horse, he certainly wasn't at fault.
Although Gold Ship was only a year old, the bloodline he had inherited from his maternal grandfather already made him far bigger than other horses his age.
That also gave him plenty of confidence to act up.
"It's fine. Let's leave it at that for now. I need to think carefully about what to do next."
Koichi was quite familiar with the Gold Ship Family's temperament.
Compared with the jockeys tormented by the Gold Ship Family, he'd gotten off lightly.
Gold Ship Age: one year old Coat: Gray Coat Strengths: turf, long distances. Type: closer
"Then get some rest, young master. I'll call you when dinner is ready."
After taking both a plane and a train, the young master really was exhausted today.
"Mm. See you tonight."
Koichi Sasaki waved and headed toward his room.
He was indeed a little tired.
Fortunately, he was mentally resilient enough. Otherwise, his old man really might have made him cough up blood in anger.
The most pressing issue now was the debt his old man had run up.
There was no way the ranch's available funds could cover it. His father could only have borrowed that much by using their ranch as collateral.
I'm a new author. Please support me.
Some details will be adjusted slightly in this parallel world. It's for the sake of the plot, after all...
(End of chapter)
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