The next morning, after grabbing breakfast at the cafeteria, Kenji headed straight to the Trainer Office Building to register Suzuka for her upcoming race.
For the past month, his life had been a straight line between the trainer dorms and the training room.
This was his first time stepping inside.
The building wasn’t just for trainers, it doubled as faculty offices too.
Teachers handling regular academic courses worked here, and the whole structure was connected to the main teaching block in the center.
Tracen’s instructors were all graduates from top-tier schools, responsible for teaching Uma Musume their general education subjects.
Unlike regular full-time middle and high schools, however, academic classes only ran in the morning.
Afternoons were reserved for training.
Midterms and finals still existed, too.
Fail those, and you’d be barred from racing.
It was clear Tracen wanted well-rounded Uma Musume, not just running machines.
At the end of the day, even if they were professional athletes, they were still high school girls.
As a side note, Uma Musume could go to university, and like national-level athletes, they got preferential treatment.
Almost none of them actually did, though.
If the goal was landing a good job, they were already “working” while at Tracen.
But even so-called work only lasted three years… Those three years were the absolute essence of what it meant to be an Uma Musume.
Lost in thought, Kenji stood in front of a floor directory map, hunting for race registration.
Maybe he should ask Miss Hayakawa?
He had her number from before…
Right then, a sharp voice cut through the air.
“What are you doing?”
Kenji turned around immediately and explained himself.
“Ah, um… I’m not some suspicious stranger!
I’m a new trainer…”
“Kenji?”
“Uh… yeah?”
She knows me?
The speaker was a woman in a black office lady suit with long curly hair.
Her sharp, upturned eyes and utterly cold expression made her look intimidating, and not exactly approachable.
“I’m Deputy Director Riko Kashimoto.
I’m also the head of this building.”
So this ice queen was Deputy Director Riko Kashimoto herself.
He’d heard she transferred over from URA (the Uma Musume Racing Association).
Honestly, compared to that lolicon granny, she looked more like a legitimate director anyway.
“You finally decided to show up.
I heard you were officially onboard over a month ago but never came by.”
“Uh… sorry about that.
I’ve been swamped with work…”
“I know.
I’m not scolding you.
Just saying, while working from the training room is fine, it’s better to come here occasionally.”
Riko crossed her arms and spoke bluntly.
“As long as you’re a Tracen trainer, your spot will be kept here.
Let me show it to you now.”
With that, she turned and walked up the stairs without waiting for him.
Kenji hurried after her.
On the second floor, they entered the trainer office, an open-plan space big enough to hold dozens of desks.
Riko stepped over to a coffee machine, pressed start, and pointed at the desk in front of it.
“This is your station.
You’re still a rookie, so you’ll be working here for now.
Once you reach senior trainer rank, you’ll get your own private office.”
“Understood.”
Kenji sat down and looked around.
The desk next to him was plastered with sticky notes filled with training tips… Wow.
Really dedicated.
“The seat beside you belongs to another new trainer who joined Central Tracen this year, Aoi Kiryuin.
You two are the only rookies.”
“She’s not here… In fact, it looks like nobody is…”
The massive trainer office was completely empty.
“It’s summer camp season.
Most trainers, including Kiryuin-san, are away with their charge Uma Musume at the camps.
I was there managing health checks too, but had to return early for urgent matters.”
“I see…”
“Please, drink up.”
Riko placed a freshly brewed coffee on the desk in front of him.
Kenji had assumed it was for her, didn’t expect she’d made one for him.
“Ah, thanks… Aren’t you having any?”
“I already had a cup this morning.
Two would keep me up at night.”
Deputy Director Riko… Judging by her expression and tone alone, you’d think she was completely cold.
But in reality, she was surprisingly soft on the inside, and quite talkative.
She must’ve spotted him looking lost and realized he didn’t know his way around, so she took the initiative to guide him herself.
“Recently, Trainer Hana Tojo came asking about Silence Suzuka’s development.”
Trainer Hana Tojo?
That must be the one who made Suzuka leave her team.
“So I’d like you to submit a catch-up report on her progress.”
“Uh…”
A report?
This is really starting to feel like corporate slave life…
Riko noticed his reluctance, but misread what he was worried about, so she assured him:
“Don’t worry.
I won’t leak your training plans to other trainers, that’d be unfair.
If you ever catch me trading intel, feel free to report me to URA.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about…”
Kenji was just trying to figure out how to write this report.
Because his training content included… making an Uma Musume practice spinning a pen counterclockwise?
Playing charades behind her back?
Or having her do squats on a yoga ball in a school swimsuit?
Uh.
If he wrote that down honestly, he’d probably be fired by the academy the next day.
“If you’re uncomfortable sharing details, just list the results.
I’ll relay them to Trainer Hana Tojo myself, it might ease her mind… She’s genuinely worried about Suzuka.”
In short: veteran trainers didn’t trust rookie Kenji and were scared he’d ruin Suzuka.
When Riko mentioned verifying results, Kenji raised his hand and asked:
“Instead of a written report, why not verify the training results directly through a race?
That’d be more straightforward.”
“What?”
Riko frowned.
She looked angry, but it was really just confusion.
Kenji didn’t realize that, so he nervously explained:
“Um… actually, I’m here to register Suzuka for her next race.”
“…You’ve already decided she’s competing in the next one?”
“Yes.
Her training phase has wrapped up for now.”
“…”
Kenji’s calm reply made Riko realize he wasn’t joking.
One and a half months.
That was how long he’d been at Central Tracen.
Not only had he arrived five months later than most rookie trainers, but many trainers started guiding promising Uma Musume way back in middle school.
In other words, every trainer had been mentoring rookies for over half a year already.
Silence Suzuka was undeniably talented, but in Riko’s eyes, she hadn’t fully cashed in on that potential yet.
And one and a half months… less than a hundred days… What could possibly be achieved in that time?
On top of that, Suzuka hadn’t even joined the summer camp’s intensive training…
Rookie Uma Musume only needed to clear their condition races during their first year.
From late June onward until year-end was mostly for building a fanbase.
For weaker runners, the academy sometimes extended deadlines, as long as they finished their condition races before graduation.
Only after clearing debut and condition races could they be recognized as “professional Uma Musume” and receive their diplomas.
Since those three condition races were win-or-nothing, most trainers waited until their charge was fully ready before entering, and used them to avoid clashing with insanely talented rivals.
The August condition race was the hardest tier, only booked by trainers who were extremely confident in their charges.
A reckless rookie… or genuinely skilled?
Kenji, which are you?