Koichi's situation wasn't looking good

Aoe Ranch, Stable One.

"So many horses."

By the time Koichi Sasaki arrived, the racehorses were already awake and had finished breakfast.

The Stablehands were grooming them.

Above each stall were the Racehorse's name and information about its parents.

There really were a lot of descendants of famous horses here.

Stable No. 1 alone housed more than forty racehorses. Each was worth at least tens of millions, with the more expensive ones worth hundreds of millions.

That was certainly an enormous fortune.

Unfortunately, none of it had anything to do with him.

"You're here early, Sasaki."

Hitachi Yosuke, who was grooming Golden Masterpiece, turned his head and saw a handsome young man standing at the entrance.

He hadn't expected Sasaki to be so diligent.

The other riders were still washing up at this hour, yet he had come straight to the stables.

"Good morning, Mr. Hitachi. It's my first day on the job, so I came a little early."

Koichi rubbed the back of his head and smiled.

In truth, the main reason was that he knew nothing about Aoe Ranch, and the place was simply enormous.

If he got lost, it would take him at least half an hour to find his actual destination.

Since today was his first official day at work, he naturally needed to make a good impression.

"Want to join in? Asho is in a pretty good mood today."

Hitachi Yosuke nodded in approval.

Compared with those reckless rookie jockeys, this partner of his was clearly much more to his liking.

"No problem."

Under Golden Masterpiece's distrustful gaze, Koichi rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Neigh-

Golden Masterpiece shook its head, then finally gave up on the idea of biting Koichi.

Even the horse itself didn't quite understand why it had decided to give up.

But whenever Sasaki appeared nearby, it felt at ease.

"Sasaki, make sure you're careful around Trainer Kudo from now on."

"Because of what happened yesterday?"

"Of course. He wouldn't dare say anything to the young lady, but we're a different story."

"Understood. I'll keep that in mind."

Koichi nodded.

It seemed his senior had heard something.

If possible, he would certainly be willing to ease the tension between them. After all, the man had watched Golden Masterpiece grow up.

There hadn't been any major conflict between the two of them before, either.

Neigh-

Suddenly, Golden Masterpiece glared at Hitachi Yosuke.

Be gentler!

"Haha, sorry, Masterpiece."

Hitachi Yosuke glanced at the hair on his brush and gave a slightly embarrassed laugh.

He had been so caught up in chatting with his junior that he really had gotten a little heavy-handed.

Fortunately, Masterpiece hadn't kicked him just now. That was already showing him considerable mercy; otherwise, he really would have embarrassed himself in front of his junior.

At that moment, Hitachi Yosuke had no idea this was because of Koichi Sasaki's skill.

"That coat and tail really are beautiful."

As Koichi brushed the horse's coat, he studied his future partner.

He had heard grooming a horse was a good way to build a bond, which was also why he was willing to do a Stablehand's work.

Golden Masterpiece wasn't just powerful in terms of ability; its looks were impressive, too.

Winning over a following of racing fans in the future would certainly be no problem.

"Of course! Masterpiece is famous for being handsome here in Stable One!"

As a Stablehand, Hitachi Yosuke said this with pride.

Though its temper was also the worst of the lot.

Not one of the forty-odd racehorses here had escaped being intimidated by Golden Masterpiece.

Even when it couldn't necessarily win a fight, it always had to try scaring the other horse first.

After finishing the grooming, Koichi took Golden Masterpiece out for morning training.

"Uncle?"

"That old rascal Kudo didn't give you a training plan, did he?"

Ayumu Kusakawa was about to step forward, but the sight of Golden Masterpiece made him reconsider.

"No. I only saw him once yesterday, over at the training grounds."

Koichi nodded.

They hadn't even added each other on LINE, and he hadn't seen the man at all that morning.

"Here's a plan I got from another horse trainer. Just follow this for now."

Ayumu Kusakawa sent over what he had prepared in advance through LINE.

Sure enough, it had been worth preparing a backup.

Yesterday, he had sensed that the old rascal was planning to make trouble for his nephew. He hadn't expected something like this to happen today.

"Uncle, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Koichi rolled his eyes.

After all, Golden Masterpiece was one of the racehorses under Trainer Kudo's care.

Just a moment ago, he really hadn't known what to train.

His original plan had been to go to the training grounds and copy whatever the others were doing.

Having a horse-training schedule now would certainly make things much easier.

"It's fine. These are just basic training exercises for ordinary racehorses. Follow this, and nobody can fault you."

Ayumu Kusakawa gave him a reassuring look.

Naturally, he wouldn't let Koichi do anything the other man could pick holes in.

"Thanks, Uncle. I'll be off, then."

Koichi glanced at his phone, then waved.

It looked like he would have to ask the senior Stablehand when he returned, to see whether he knew Golden Masterpiece's training schedule.

Of course, he thought the chances of that were pretty slim.

Neigh-

Golden Masterpiece had already grown impatient with waiting.

Once given the signal, it immediately broke into a light trot.

"Off you go. Do your best today."

Ayumu Kusakawa smiled and waved.

As a low-level supervisor, he naturally didn't dare pick a fight with a racehorse trainer. Doing this much for Koichi was already his limit.

Only after Koichi left did he remember that he hadn't asked what he wanted his racing silks to look like.

Every rider's racing silks had a different style and pattern, making it easier for spectators to spot their favorite jockey.

I'll find someone to put together a few designs for him first.

He could bring it up when they had lunch together.

This would count as a gift from him as Koichi's uncle.

Neigh-!

"Asho, let's go this way."

Seeing a racehorse up ahead, Koichi decisively chose to take a detour.

He didn't want anything to go wrong on his first day at work, and he didn't know any of the jockeys here.

He just needed to keep a low profile and train diligently.

Snort-

Golden Masterpiece snorted, then followed Koichi's lead in another direction.

I'll let you off today!

The rider ahead glanced back at Koichi, then went straight toward the training grounds.

Looks like I'm really not welcome here.

Koichi Sasaki could sense that his situation wasn't looking very good.

After all, they worked at the same ranch. A simple greeting wouldn't have taken much time.

Forget it. Let it go.

Training hard and winning races were what mattered most!

(End of chapter)