For one brief, spine-chilling second, Kitano Ryuuichi almost wondered if T.M.
Opera O remembered him.
If he weren’t absolutely certain this was a fresh loop, and if the current Opera O didn’t look completely clueless about him, her sudden proposal of a “royal race” would have felt far too calculated.
Almost like she had set the whole thing up just so she could leap onto the track herself and flatten a bunch of rookies.
Because Kitano knew exactly how strong T.M.
Opera O was.
True, during her Classic Year, she had not yet reached her peak.
And yes, a much bigger problem had been Kitano himself.
Back then, he had taken the training methods he learned from Symboli Rudolf and slapped them onto Opera O like a cheap copy-paste job, completely wrecking her rhythm in the process.
That had been… Well.
One of his more spectacular failures.
But in terms of raw ability, T.M.
Opera O had always been absurdly powerful.
Among every Uma Musume Kitano had ever trained, her base strength easily ranked in the top three.
In terms of achievements, she stood only behind Symboli Rudolf.
Though personally, Kitano felt that while Rudolf’s undefeated Triple Crown was undeniably dazzling, Opera O’s record prize money, her status as the first Autumn Triple Crown winner, and her undefeated year were achievements on the same level.
Japan simply treated the undefeated Triple Crown as something sacred.
So, with great reluctance, Kitano gave Rudolf the edge.
Barely.
Besides, both Opera O and Rudolf had learned how to win very early on.
Neither of them had ever needed much guidance from Kitano.
But in Kitano’s eyes, Opera O had one advantage Rudolf lacked.
Stability.
Ridiculous stability.
Out of every Uma Musume he had ever trained, Opera O was easily the easiest to handle.
Even more than Rudolf.
She did not fuss over venues.
She did not complain about track conditions.
She had no strange quirks that needed managing.
As long as she stood on the track, she aimed straight for victory.
In other words, as long as Kitano was not there feeding her nonsense instructions, as long as Opera O found the tactics that suited her, and as long as she had not been worn down by an overloaded schedule, her appearance on the track basically meant victory was already within reach.
Even Symboli Rudolf herself could not guarantee she would beat Opera O in a head-to-head race.
And since this so-called “royal race” had been Opera O’s own suggestion, Kitano had every reason to suspect she was not simply trying to watch the chaos unfold.
She probably wanted in.
“Hmm… That idea has merit.” Unexpectedly, after hearing Opera O’s proposal, Air Groove actually began considering it seriously.
In Air Groove’s eyes, T.M.
Opera O clearly had the potential to become a future student council candidate.
Unfortunately, her bizarre thought process and catastrophically troublesome personality had forced Air Groove to abandon that idea.
Opera O did not usually cause trouble for the student council.
Not directly, at least.
But every year, when the student council collected student opinions, Opera O would submit some enormous, glittering, painfully dramatic essay.
And they had no choice but to read the whole thing.
Carefully reviewing every student’s opinion was part of the student council’s duty, after all.
The problem was that Opera O’s suggestions were usually things like, “A grander, more magnificent stage!” or “Let my heroic figure be sung across the world!” In short, nonsense.
So Air Groove and the others had long since filed T.M.
Opera O under: not a normal person.
This time, however, her proposal was surprisingly practical.
More than that, it struck exactly where Air Groove wanted.
Finding a suitable first trainee for Trainer Kitano Ryuuichi.
At first, Air Groove had been firmly on King Halo’s side.
She believed King Halo was the obvious choice for Kitano.
But after Mihono Bourbon appeared, Air Groove realized something.
Kitano was going to be popular.
Very popular.
In that case, why not use the position of his first trainee as motivation?
Let the undeclared Uma Musume of the academy train seriously, compete seriously, and strive for the honor of becoming his “first knight.” That would raise the new students’ enthusiasm toward training and racing.
It could also improve their overall strength.
Most importantly, whoever met the conditions and won would undoubtedly be one of the best among the new students.
And she would be an Uma Musume willing to cooperate with Kitano Ryuuichi.
After all, if a girl had no interest in Kitano to begin with, why would she enter a race openly framed as a competition for the position of his first trainee?
This would also prevent most senior-division Uma Musume from jumping in just to bully the freshmen.
Most of them already had trainers of their own.
There was no way they would dissolve a deep, long-standing partnership just for a new trainer.
So the participants would naturally be middle-school division Uma Musume without trainers.
And whether they chose Kitano because they wanted the title of first trainee, or because they were drawn to his reputation as a genius trainer, one thing was certain.
They had ambition.
Through this race, the student council might even discover promising Uma Musume they had previously overlooked.
A perfect screening method.
One move, multiple benefits.
Practically genius.
“Opera O, this is a surprisingly good proposal,” Air Groove said, visibly pleased.
“I never expected you to come up with something this clever.” “Then let us do this.
We will hold a friendly race with the position of Trainer Kitano’s trainee at stake.
Any Uma Musume who wishes to participate may sign up.” She turned toward the cafeteria.
“Let this race become a special opportunity for Tracen Academy’s new students.
Whether you have training or racing experience or not, so long as you have the will to run, you may enter.” The moment Air Groove finished speaking, the cafeteria erupted.
The noise crashed over them like a shockwave.
For a second, it almost felt as if the floor itself were shaking.
The countless Uma Musume who had gathered around the cafeteria just to enjoy the drama suddenly found a prize dropping straight from the sky into their laps.
“If I win, I can become that genius trainer’s trainee?!
I’m in!
I’m absolutely in!” “Count me in too!
He’s a genius trainer and he’s handsome!
I’m going to be first!” “Looks like I’d better start training seriously.
No more slacking off.” “C-Can I really enter too?
I’m just… kind of average…” In an instant, every Uma Musume tempted by the proposal turned her eyes toward Kitano Ryuuichi.
Their gazes were hungry.
Very hungry.
Kitano suddenly felt like a cut of meat tossed onto a chopping board in front of a pack of starving beasts.
At this rate, he might be devoured in the next second.
Possibly literally.
Wait.
Isn’t this whole thing supposed to be about me?
So why does it feel like I’m the only person here with absolutely no say in it?
“New data target updated,” Mihono Bourbon said, her voice calm yet strangely fired up.
“Objective: win the friendly race.” She nodded solemnly, as if she had already entered full competition mode.
King Halo tossed her hair with a huff.
“Hmph.
Honestly, what a bother.
It is not as though I am stepping onto the track for that man’s sake or anything.
However, a first-rate Uma Musume never runs from a challenge.” Then she turned toward Mihono Bourbon with a proud, provocative smile.
“You may prepare yourself to be crushed by the first-rate me, Mihono Bourbon-san!
Ohohohoho!” After formally declaring war on Mihono Bourbon, King Halo laughed with tremendous satisfaction.
Then, like a peacock spreading its feathers, she proudly strode out of the cafeteria.
A little while later, however, once she was safely away from the scene, King Halo suddenly stopped.
“…Huh?” She blinked.
“What did I come here to do again?” Slowly, King Halo realized something was wrong.
Very wrong.
At first, she had been challenging Kitano Ryuuichi.
So why had it suddenly turned into her racing against a crowd of second-rate Uma Musume?
And the prize was the position of that man’s first trainee?
Did that mean if she proved herself first-rate and won, she would have to become his trainee?
But if she lost… She had already issued her challenge.
She had also accepted Mihono Bourbon’s challenge.
If she lost now, would that not mean admitting she was not first-rate?
“Waaaaah!!
Why did it turn out like this?!” King Halo finally realized, far too late, that she had walked straight into a trap.
Her face flushed bright red.
She clutched her head, ears twitching in a panic, completely at a loss.
Was she supposed to win this race?
Or lose it?
Either way, why did it feel like she was the only one taking damage here?!