After leaving Bright Sports, Kaito and Rice Shower continued to stroll around the Ichibangai Shopping District until evening, buying quite a few snacks for Rice Shower.
When it was time to part ways, Rice Shower stood at the crosswalk and bowed to Kaito.
“Thank you for helping Rice Shower so much today, Onii-san.
Rice Shower will do her best tomorrow too!” “Yeah, let’s both do our best.” Kaito waved goodbye to Rice Shower and watched her go, only to see her get stopped by three red lights in a row.
He couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.
Although her bad luck hadn’t changed, things were moving in a positive direction.
She had gotten her running shoes, gained some fans, and Rice Shower was becoming more confident by the day.
“Time to head back and prepare for next week’s work.” Kaito stretched his arms and left the bustling streets.
Back in his room, the rare moment of peace allowed Kaito’s brain to relax, and he finally remembered to check on one thing.
“System!” Displayed on the screen before him was the data on Rice Shower provided by the Scouting Eye.
The system updated every time he saw Rice Shower, and he could also bring it up to check even when she wasn’t around.
Although Kaito would usually use the system to check Rice Shower’s learning progress during daily training, she was just so cute that he often ended up just staring at her, forgetting to check the system information…
Because of that, Kaito simply saved checking the system for when he was alone.
He browsed the system page, and Rice Shower’s updated information appeared before his eyes.
[Status: Insecure, Timid, Resilient, Happy] “Oh, happy?
That’s great.
Taking Rice Shower out to play today actually worked.” [Skill Learning Progress: Straight Accel (100/100), Mountaineer (40/100)] Straight Accel was fully learned!
Kaito’s eyes lit up.
He understood that the system could only check the progress, and that the Straight Accel skill itself was mastered by Rice Shower through her own training.
But seeing a skill from the game actually mastered by his assigned girl still gave Kaito a sense of joy, a feeling that everything was truly connecting.
In addition, he also noticed the Mountaineer skill at 40/100.
This was a technique Rice Shower had gradually mastered during her mountain trail training outside of Tracen Academy.
No matter the race, the track was never completely flat.
When facing slopes, mastering climbing techniques like Mountaineer was incredibly useful.
Rice Shower was quite talented when it came to learning how to climb, having mastered nearly half of the Mountaineer technique in just a few short days.
“Decided then.
I’ll get Rice Shower’s climbing skills polished before the race.” Kaito murmured softly, then shifted his gaze downward.
On his desk, piled with various documents, a list of participants was laid out before him.
This was the roster of competitors for the Heather Stakes.
Kaito had spent last night studying this very list, which was why he hadn’t even had the time to check the system.
After all, a race ultimately came down to competing against opponents.
After Kaito’s research, there were four or five Uma Musume among the opponents that required attention, but only one of them posed a genuine threat to Rice Shower.
“Northern Rainbow.” (It exist, but it is not a Uma) Kaito was not familiar with that name, but he was very familiar with this girl’s Trainer.
Riko Kashimoto.
The very same Acting Chairwoman from the Make a New Track scenario in the game!
Kaito’s feelings were complicated.
Running into an acquaintance from the game was certainly a good thing, but this Riko Kashimoto had served as the Acting Chairwoman and the scenario boss in the game.
She was a thorough management extremist who would completely force arrangements on the Uma Musume’s training and daily life, eliminating all hidden dangers and accidents.
Her strength as a Trainer was undeniably powerful and flawless.
Although right now she was just a highly popular Trainer, her Northern Rainbow was undefeated with three wins in three career races.
Furthermore, she had won two of those races by a margin of more than two lengths, making her the undisputed first favorite for the Heather Stakes.
Kaito just felt a massive headache coming on.
“Why isn’t this girl participating in Graded Races?
Running a Condition Race is just complete overkill for her.” Even as he complained, he had already investigated the reason last night.
At this point in time, Riko was still somewhat immature, which had led to Northern Rainbow getting injured from overtraining.
She had only just recently recovered.
Riko had probably chosen the lower tier Heather Stakes out of caution.
Perhaps it was exactly after this incident that Riko grew into the personality of strictly controlling her Uma Musume and not allowing any accidents to happen.
However, Northern Rainbow’s participation was not good news for Kaito and Rice Shower.
“To forge strong iron, you need to be tough yourself.” Kaito murmured softly.
To defeat an opponent like this, it ultimately came down to improving Rice Shower’s own strength.
He wondered when Agnes Tachyon would finish making the heart rate monitor.
…
At eight in the morning, Kaito arrived promptly at the Tracen training grounds.
In the months approaching the end of the year, the weather was never too warm.
While wearing thick clothes himself, Kaito also made sure to remind Rice Shower to prepare for the cold.
Soon, Kaito arrived at the corner where they had agreed to train.
Normally, Rice Shower might have morning academic classes as an Uma Musume, but she had the privilege of focusing on training when a race was approaching.
However, the moment he arrived, Kaito heard Rice Shower crying out in distress.
“Eek!
P-please, don’t do that!” “Oh, come on, don’t be shy.
Just let me touch your legs for a bit~~~” The voice that followed Rice Shower belonged to a woman, and her incredibly obvious intentions immediately set off Kaito’s alarm bells.
A creep?!
He dashed out in a flash, only to see an Uma Musume crouching in front of a terrified, rabbit-like Rice Shower, seemingly trying to touch her legs.
Kaito immediately shielded Rice Shower behind him and sternly reprimanded the intruder.
“Don’t you dare touch my Rice Shower!” “Onii-san!” Seeing Kaito rush over, Rice Shower showed a relieved expression, as if she had been saved.
“Oh my, good morning, guinea pig-kun~” The intruder didn’t back away either.
Instead, she reached out to greet him with great interest, but her white lab coat sleeves were so long that her fingers couldn’t even poke out.
But she didn’t mind at all.
A pair of strange, highlight-less pupils were staring at him with a smile.
There was no doubt about those eyes.
“Tachyon-san?” Kaito looked surprised, not expecting the intruder to be Agnes Tachyon.
He then took a few steps back while still shielding Rice Shower.
Agnes Tachyon put on a pitiful expression, using her sleeve to wipe away non-existent tears.
“How heartless, guinea pig-kun.
You’re the man who promised to be my assistant, yet you’re neglecting me so much for another Uma Musume.
Boo hoo hoo…” “Any normal person would react like that after hearing what you just said, wouldn’t they?” Kaito sighed lightly.
“So, did you need something from me?
We agreed that the observation would only happen after the agreement was fulfilled, right?” “That’s right, so I’ve already finished it!” “What?!” Kaito was stunned.
He had been thinking about it just this morning, but only a few days had passed!
Agnes Tachyon had already built it?