After reviewing all of Silence Suzuka’s stats, Kenji ran a preliminary training plan through his head.
As expected, stamina was the biggest priority, followed by power.
As for intelligence… well, just explaining things to her like this was already boosting it.
Normally, a Front-Running style didn’t require insane strength.
At the very front, you wouldn’t collide with other runners, and there was no need to squeeze through packs or break formations.
But Runaway was different.
Strength tied directly into explosive power too.
Suzuka needed to take an early lead at maximum speed right from the start and shake off her rivals immediately.
So strength training couldn’t be skipped either.
At minimum, it had to reach a C+, otherwise she’d likely fail to grab first place at the start… Though even if her raw power was lacking, there were other ways to compensate.
On that front, Kenji already had a plan.
Next up: stamina.
That one didn’t need much explanation.
Without it, running a Runaway from start to finish was impossible.
Especially for someone like Suzuka, who’d go all out from the gun and hold top speed until the wire.
Her stamina absolutely needed to be at least a B, or she’d face disaster in the final stretch, slowing down and getting caught by late chargers.
If her stamina ran dry at that point, she’d have no choice but to rely on pure Guts… which was brutal on her ankles.
Judging from this, Suzuka had probably been leaning on her abnormally high Guts all along, gritting her teeth and pushing through until the end just to win her debut race.
That alone must’ve made her previous Trainer realize she’d be injured within a few races if she kept running like that.
An Uma Musume’s legs were basically consumables.
Kenji didn’t want his charge’s legs ruined after just two races either.
Now, he needed to explain all of this to Suzuka, and outline how to avoid injury in the first place.
“First, we need to understand why your previous Trainer was worried about your career longevity.”
“Uh… is it because I push myself too hard?”
“Close, but not specific enough.”
Kenji nodded and shook his head at the same time, then pointed directly at Suzuka’s left foot.
“The real problem lies with this left foot of yours.”
“My left foot?
What’s wrong with it… Trainer-san, could you take another look?”
Only now did Suzuka realize she hadn’t put her socks back on yet.
But… maybe that was fine.
Let the Trainer examine it carefully.
If he could spot hidden risks, all the better.
So despite feeling shy, Suzuka swallowed her embarrassment and extended her foot toward Kenji once more.
“Y-You can use your hands to check too…”
“Oh, perfect.
That’ll let you see the problem even more clearly.”
Without hesitation, Kenji took both of Silence Suzuka’s feet in his hands, pressing them together.
“…!”
Suzuka covered her mouth with both hands, biting back a sound so hard she nearly squeaked.
The most precious part of an Uma Musume, her feet, were now completely under the Trainer’s control.
Technically, with Suzuka’s strength, she could easily break free anytime.
But right now, it felt like her feet were locked in shackles, as if someone had grabbed hold of her very “life root.”
Strangely enough… it didn’t feel unpleasant at all.
Not even uncomfortable… In fact, her heart was racing… This felt completely different from when Dr.
Anshinzawa checked her in the infirmary… (TL: Well she’s a quack, and not even a doctor)
“Suzuka, your dominant foot is the left one, right?”
“Ah, um… yes!
Trainer-san can tell that just by looking?”
“I’m a professional, of course I can.
And I also noticed your left foot is exactly 0.5 centimeters longer than your right.”
This wasn’t System-provided info either; Kenji had spotted it through sharp observation alone.
As a legitimate Trainer, with an Uma Musume’s feet laid out in front of him, he’d be useless if he couldn’t notice something like that.
Though honestly, very few Trainers could do this level of detail.
Kenji didn’t realize this was a unique talent of his yet.
On a related note, this same skill applied to bust measurements too, so with just one glance, he could tell an Uma Musume’s cup size.
For example, Silence Suzuka was an AA.
“Eh?!
N-No way…”
She had no idea her left foot was actually longer than her right.
“No wonder… whenever I run, my left foot always feels like it’s pressing against the shoe…”
“Your current shoes don’t fit properly.
Looks like we’ll need to get a custom pair made for you in different sizes.
Even a 0.5 centimeter difference is impossible to ignore for an ultra-high-speed runner.”
“Understood!
I’ll go buy new shoes right away!”
Suzuka loved collecting shoes, so even the footwear that matched her victory outfit (the special race suit worn during G1 events) was a pair of mismatched black-and-white shoes.
She’d bought multiple identical pairs of racing shoes, and her family had even added extra pocket money specifically for shoe shopping.
Kenji nodded.
He almost offered to buy her a new pair himself to boost her affection and make her more obedient, but then remembered he was broke.
Uma Musume racing shoes were usually custom-made and ridiculously expensive.
With his salary, he couldn’t afford even half a shoe, even the cheap ones.
Although the Uma Coins shop seemed to sell racing shoes for Uma Musume, they were just as pricey.
The cheapest started at several hundred Uma Coins.
Not only was Kenji broke, but even if he could afford it, he didn’t want to spend his limited coins on something that barely affected race win rates.
Plus, he had no idea if the shop’s shoes allowed custom sizing, so he’d leave it for now.
“Also… Suzuka, you seem better suited for counter-clockwise tracks.”
One of Suzuka’s innate skills was [Counter-Clockwise ○], meaning she was naturally stronger on counter-clockwise circuits.
Caught with another of her ‘bad habits,’ Suzuka felt that familiar ticklish sensation of being seen through, and replied with a flushed face:
“Y-Yes… um, this is kind of embarrassing to admit, but sometimes in the dorm I unconsciously walk in circles counter-clockwise… Special Week and Oguri-san have teased me about it…”
“Special Week?”
“Ah, she’s my roommate.
Her name is Special Week.
She has a grand ambition to become Japan’s number one Uma Musume.”
“Oh?
Japan’s number one Uma Musume, huh.
Big dreams.”
Kenji did know of this Special Week.
Wasn’t she the one printed on the app icon for the Uma Musume mobile game?
And wasn’t she also the main heroine of the anime’s first season?
Unfortunately, Kenji hadn’t watched the anime and had no idea what kind of person Special Week actually was.
But since she was a protagonist, she probably had that strong female lead aura, right?
Wonder if he’d ever get the chance to recruit her into his stable later on.
Even though he was still a rookie Trainer and couldn’t recruit Uma Musume without academy approval or assignment, as long as he delivered results with Suzuka, the academy would surely relax its restrictions over time?
There was no reason not to let a capable Trainer lead more horses!
And since she was Suzuka’s roommate, that meant proximity advantage!
Kenji hadn’t even officially started training Suzuka yet and was already eating from his bowl while eyeing the pot, guilty of greed.
What he didn’t know yet was just how much he was playing with fire…