Regardless of what was happening in the student council office of Central Tracen Academy.
After Yugi brought Berno Light back to the academy, he asked the chestnut-haired Uma Musume to deliver the newly purchased shoes and horseshoes to Oguri Cap.
Then he returned to his office, planning to tidy up his desk and leave early.
This relaxed attitude was rare even at Kasamatsu Tracen Academy — other trainers, even when they had nothing urgent to do, would dutifully stay at their desks until official closing time.
Only the young man, with the chairman’s special permission, could be so carefree.
“No races coming up.
Next week we can switch into summer vacation mode,” Yugi mused to himself, humming a light tune as he walked briskly toward his office.
“Then I’ll take Oguri Cap and Berno Light to Hokkaido.
I’ll give Oguri Cap special training, visit her mother, and finally aim for victory in the Hokkaido Yushun Himba… As long as we achieve that last goal, this summer vacation will be perfect.”
At least, the current Yugi couldn’t think of anything else he needed to do during the summer break… But when he reached the door and saw his friend pacing back and forth outside his office, he couldn’t help muttering, “Why is Kitahara-san standing here again?”
Unable to guess the reason, Yugi walked up and greeted his friend casually.
“Kitahara-san, good afternoon.
What brings you here?
Looking for a chat?”
“Good afternoon, Yugi-san.
I heard a rumor in the academy, so I came to find you,” Kitahara-san said, skipping the small talk and stating his purpose directly.
“What rumor?” A confused Yugi tilted his head.
“It’s not the rumor about me and Berno Light going on a date, is it?
I was just with her, picking out spare running shoes and horseshoes for Oguri Cap.”
He and Berno Light had only known each other for less than two months; how could the academy’s gossip already jump to dating?
Yugi thought to himself.
“It’s not like that,” Kitahara-san waved his hands quickly.
“The rumor in the academy is that Oguri Cap will be transferring to Central very soon…”
“Huh?
I haven’t even heard such news.
Where did people in the academy hear it?” Yugi’s eyes widened at the unexpected rumor.
“Would someone so talented really be content to stay in Kasamatsu?”
“Uh—” Kitahara-san’s mouth twitched.
He followed the same line of thought and retorted, “Then the Oguri Cap you’re training isn’t…”
“I haven’t heard anything about that,” Yugi shook his head, denying it again.
“What if Central Tracen Academy extends an invitation?
What will you do, Yugi-san?
Will you stop her?” Kitahara-san pressed.
He hoped his friend would prepare for every possibility early.
He had imagined himself in the same situation and knew that if Fujimasa March were recruited by Central, he would be heartbroken enough to question whether he even wanted to keep being a trainer.
“Then I’ll follow her,” Yugi answered without hesitation, his tone completely calm.
Kitahara-san rolled his eyes helplessly and muttered “I knew it” to himself before reminding his friend aloud, “Yugi-san, don’t forget that Central trainers need to pass an exam, and there’s only one chance each year in June.
This year’s exam is already over, so the next chance is a full year from now.”
“…”
Yugi fell silent.
Of course he knew that anyone wanting to become a Central trainer in Japan had to pass the exam, but he had never planned to enter Central Tracen Academy through that route.
He had always believed he would earn a recommendation from the “Emperor” after achieving big results.
“Must I take an exam?
Is there no other way?” He frowned and asked his friend.
Kitahara-san guessed what Yugi was thinking and gave him the harsh truth with a bitter smile.
“Since the Japan URA Association was founded, there has never been a single exception.
Anyone who wants to become a Central trainer must pass the Central exam, which is held only once a year.”
Yugi was not arrogant enough to believe he would be the first “exception” in history.
He had long outgrown that kind of thinking.
His friend’s answer made his heart tighten.
“Before June next year, if Central extends an olive branch to Oguri Cap…”
If Oguri Cap were being trained by any other local trainer, moving to Central would definitely benefit her future greatly.
But Oguri Cap’s current trainer was Yugi.
In the past six months or so, he had gained a deep understanding of the trainer standards in Japan.
If Oguri Cap went to Central, she would get better living conditions, meet a group of Central Uma Musume, and train on far better-equipped tracks… But if he kept her by his side… He glanced at the attribute viewer, looking at Oguri Cap’s stats — especially the intimacy value, whose exact function was still unknown — and then thought about the training levels of Central versus local trainers.
Yugi made up his mind.
“I won’t let go,” he said firmly, not moving from his spot.
“No one is more suited to train Oguri Cap than me — not even Central’s trainers.
Besides, Oguri Cap is the only hope I’ve waited half a year for here.
No one can take her from me.
Not even Central’s ‘Emperor’ can.”
“But what if the other party promises that Oguri Cap will have better development prospects if she goes to Central…” Kitahara-san knew his friend’s personality and cautiously raised a very realistic possibility — similar things had happened many times in other regions.
Even recently, a Uma Musume who won the Tokai Sakura Sho had received an invitation from Central and then announced her intention to transfer.
“Central’s trainers can’t deliver on those promises — my training level is far stronger than theirs,” Yugi grinned.
Why should Oguri Cap, or I, believe that they can train her better than I can?
Just because of the word ‘Central’?”
Yugi instinctively reached for his chest pocket — the place where he used to keep his trainer ID back when he was at the West Coast Tracen Academy.
It wasn’t until he felt nothing there that he remembered he had already resigned.
“Central is indeed stronger than the local regions, and I admit I really want to go there,” he continued, ignoring the small slip.
His expression grew serious as he spoke to Kitahara-san.
“But the most suitable trainer for Oguri Cap is me, and the best place for her right now is here.”
“I will work with her step by step to shatter Central’s arrogance,” Yugi clenched his fists.
“Who says local Uma Musume can’t conquer the world?!”
At this moment, Yugi abandoned his earlier goal for Oguri Cap — simply “winning Central’s major races.”
“I want Oguri Cap to conquer all of Japan!” he told himself inwardly.
Neither Yugi nor Kitahara-san noticed a pair of gray Uma Musume ears twitching quietly at the corner of the corridor.
===
Although he now had a higher goal, Yugi was not yet ready to change his training plan for Oguri Cap.
Because before that, one thing needed to be clarified — what exactly constituted “conquering all of Japan”?
Was it to claim the honor of the generational peak, the Japanese Derby?
Was it to win the Arima Kinen, which all Japanese people watch every year?
Was it to achieve seven G1 victories, like the “Emperor”?
Was it to become the most popular Uma Musume of her generation?
Or other achievements?
Yugi himself didn’t have a definite answer, but in his heart there was an idea that seemed incredibly audacious at the moment.
“If Oguri Cap can win a G1 on Japanese soil, perhaps I can take her on an expedition to America once… If she wins, that would be a great feat that even the ‘Emperor’ Symboli Rudolf didn’t achieve.” Thinking of this, Yugi almost burst out laughing.
Although Symboli Rudolf’s failed expedition was objectively “not her fault,” thinking about the American media’s hype before the race and then the result of not even finishing in the top five, Yugi still found it hard to keep a straight face.
“If Symboli Rudolf were trained by me…” he muttered to himself, “I would never let her challenge an American turf race… To go a step further, at least not run the St.
Louis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita Park Racecourse.
Wouldn’t it be better to run the Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga, which is more suitable for a Uma Musume like her?”
With this in mind, Yugi was even more unwilling to let other trainers take over Oguri Cap.
“Letting those incompetent guys train her will only dim Oguri Cap’s future,” he mumbled, clenching his fists.
“Trainer?” Oguri Cap, having finished her warm-up, came before Yugi and softly called out, waking the distracted young man.
“What should I do next?”
Yugi looked up, squinting at the boundless clear sky.
He remembered the weather forecast he heard this morning and made a decision.
“Let’s go swimming in the pool.” He looked at Oguri Cap’s face.
“The academy’s swimming pool is open today.”
Swimming can exercise a Uma Musume’s cardiopulmonary capacity, and compared to running on the Slope Road, the load on her legs is very light.
If Uma Musume didn’t have to run, Yugi believed that swimming was more effective than Slope Road training.
But in the face of Yugi’s instruction, Oguri Cap — who had never shown any resistance — for the first time revealed a reluctant expression.
“You don’t want to go to the swimming pool?” Yugi captured the details of her expression and asked.
“I’m not very good at swimming…” Oguri Cap explained in a low voice.
“I’ve never been good at it since I was little, and I never went into the water when I was back home.
I always stayed on the beach.”
Yugi truly hadn’t expected that a gray Uma Musume whose hometown was in Hokkaido wouldn’t know how to swim.
This new discovery truly surprised him.
But Yugi couldn’t just let Oguri Cap continue to run laps during her recovery training.
After much thought, he came up with a good idea.
“The academy has kickboards.
It would be good for Oguri Cap to hold a kickboard and go around the pool a few times,” Yugi suggested a compromise.
“Hmm… alright.” Oguri Cap was sure she couldn’t avoid going to the swimming pool today.
Although the swimming pool was open, it was full of Uma Musume, so it was a “restricted area” for male trainers.
Even under the guise of “guidance training,” male trainers could not enter the swimming pool — they couldn’t even watch from the side.
Because even though Oguri Cap had just said she couldn’t swim, Yugi could only let Berno Light look after her.
He himself couldn’t go in.
“It would be great if there was a private swimming pool,” Yugi stayed by the training ground, muttering to himself.
“Then I could observe Oguri Cap’s training status carefully.”
He swore to heaven that he had no other intentions.
Meanwhile, at the swimming pool, Oguri Cap was floating on her back, holding the kickboard Yugi had given her.
“Oguri, you can’t just float like that!
It won’t have any training effect!” Berno Light was quite helpless.
Oguri Cap also heard her friend’s call, so her legs began to randomly splash water in the pool, moving in clumsy circles.
Berno Light, also wearing the academy’s uniform swimsuit, covered her face, unable to bear watching her friend’s “pathetic” posture.
“I say, Berno Light…” Norn Ace, who also planned to cool off at the swimming pool, couldn’t help but complain when she saw this scene.
Instead of just watching, why don’t you go down and help her improve her posture?”
“Oh, you’re right,” Berno Light, realizing this idea only after being prompted, jumped into the water and easily swam to Oguri Cap’s side, beginning to correct the gray Uma Musume’s incorrect swimming posture.
Even for backstroke, because she was holding a kickboard, it wasn’t difficult for Oguri Cap to correct her posture.
After a few minutes, Oguri Cap, who obediently followed Berno Light’s instructions, finally looked less clumsy.
“Thanks, Norn!” Berno Light wiped the water that Oguri Cap’s earlier splashing had gotten on her face and loudly thanked Norn Ace on the shore.
“Don’t mention it.” Norn Ace waved her hand and turned her head away.
“It’s just that I’m going into the water later, and I don’t want to be splashed too badly by Oguri Cap.”
“Hmm…” Oguri Cap, holding the kickboard, heard Norn Ace’s teasing and pouted, but she had no confidence to retort.
After several rounds of struggling in the swimming pool, Oguri Cap, still holding the kickboard, came to the shore, climbed onto the edge of the pool, and after sitting down steadily, she spoke to Berno Light, who had also gotten out of the pool.
“It seems someone wants me to go to Central.”
“Huh?!” Berno Light was startled and almost fell back into the water.
“Has someone invited Oguri?”
“No, I heard it from Fujimasa March,” Oguri Cap shook her head.
“But according to her, Trainer doesn’t seem to want me to go to Central.”
“Then does Oguri want to go to Central?” Berno Light bit her lip, asking cautiously.
“If you go to Central, you can compete against stronger opponents.”
“But I’d have to leave Berno Light-chan and Trainer, right?” Oguri Cap pointed this out.
“Yes, but if Oguri goes to Central, it’s fine to leave me,” Berno Light bit her lip.
She had only considered Oguri Cap’s retirement before, and had never thought about the possibility of her friend being scouted by Central Tracen Academy.
“Then forget it.” Oguri Cap lay down by the pool, looking up at the summer sky above the pool.
“Trainer has so many expectations for me.
If I went to Central by myself, it would feel like betraying him.”
===
When the swimming training ended, Berno Light, who had changed back into her academy uniform, found Yugi spacing out by the training ground.
“Trainer,” she said directly, “is someone from Central trying to poach Oguri?”
“Not yet.” Yugi, having come back to his senses, shook his head.
“But I expect it will be soon.”
In his prediction, as long as she won the Hokkaido Yushun Himba, there was a high probability that the olive branch from Central Tracen Academy would extend.
Even if Central remained unmoved after the local exchange stakes at the end of August, by the time Oguri Cap’s debut year was about to end, Central Tracen Academy would definitely send an invitation to her, given her excellent performance.
It might even not wait until the end of August.
A cloud named “Symboli Rudolf” floated in Yugi’s heart.
“After all, my coming to Kasamatsu was recommended by that ‘Emperor,’ so I imagine she would also pay attention to me from time to time.”
As long as Symboli Rudolf’s gaze turned to Kasamatsu, it would be impossible to overlook Oguri Cap, who was shining brightly in the Tokai region at that time.
And when the “Emperor’s” attention fell on Oguri Cap, Yugi could imagine what she would do with just a wiggle of his toes.
In other words—
“I’m not facing a trainer from ‘Central,’ but Symboli Rudolf.” After realizing this, the gloom in Yugi’s heart grew heavier.
Yugi tried his best not to think about these things.
To achieve this, he decided to use these few days to resolve the team’s accommodation issues during the summer vacation.
“Give myself something to do, so I don’t keep overthinking this.”
Of course, Yugi also didn’t forget to register Oguri Cap for races.
With the prize money earned from one debut race and one OP race, Oguri Cap’s inclusion in the Hokkaido Yushun Himba entry list was practically a certainty.
Normally, for a local exchange stakes like the Hokkaido Yushun Himba, Hokkaido would reserve 7 fixed spots, with the remaining 9 spots allocated to other regions.
But the reality is that the Uma Musume who choose to go on an expedition to Hokkaido are basically only from Central, and for a major stakes like the Hokkaido Yushun Himba, which does not allow Central Uma Musume to register, it has always been a competition within the Hokkaido region itself.
The so-called “7 spots” limit has been treated as a dead letter in the absence of Uma Musume from other regions registering.
Do Uma Musume from other regions not want to try?
The winning prize money for the Hokkaido Yushun Himba is 25 million yen, which is a high amount even for a G3 stakes in other regions.
But to win this race, one must arrive in Hokkaido early to prepare.
For local Uma Musume, the cost of such an expedition is difficult for their teams to bear.
After all, an expedition can cost over a million yen, and if they don’t make it into the top five, it’s a huge loss.
Local trainers are not very able to bear such sunk costs — because Tracen Academy in various local regions does not reimburse part of the expedition expenses like Central does.
Yugi sat at his desk, flipping through the latest edition of the yellow pages from the Hokkaido region this year, combined with a detailed map, diligently searching for suitable accommodation.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a little far from Monbetsu Racecourse.
The main thing is that it must have its own training ground, and preferably a hot spring and a swimming pool.” His requirements for accommodation were not low — after all, Yugi was going to take Oguri Cap and Berno Light to Hokkaido for two months, so he couldn’t be too stingy with accommodation.
If he chose a terrible living environment to save on budget, affecting Oguri Cap’s condition and consequently leading to losing the race, that would truly be losing the watermelon for a sesame seed.
Yugi naturally understood this calculation.
Even though he only received nearly 1 million yen in commission from Oguri Cap and Berno Light’s prize money, the young man still unhesitatingly took out his savings to maximize the expedition budget.
“The Hokkaido Yushun Himba is just a stop on the way to my and Oguri Cap’s dream.
There’s no need to be stingy here.”
200 Stones – 1 chapter
400 Stones – 2 chapter
600 Stones – 3 chapters
And so on