"At… at least ten?!"
Mizuno stared at the note in Maruzensky's hand, chills running down his spine.
Did that mean every time he went to the bathroom, he'd be filmed from every angle without a single blind spot?
Just how badly did Maruzensky want to see his body that she needed more than ten cameras in the bathroom?!
On the other side, Maruzensky—still hesitating whether to slide the note in—suddenly noticed the tightly shut door had opened by itself.
"Hm?"
She looked up to see the guy who'd kept himself bundled up from the start now tremblingly peering through the gap.
Maruzensky couldn't see Mizuno's eyes, but she could feel his gaze—fixed right on her hand.
[One camera in the bathroom is way too few. It wouldn't cover all the angles. You'd need at least ten.]
"Eh?!" Maruzensky jumped, hurriedly hiding the note for fear of scaring off her target.
After seeing Mizuno's message—[If I allowed you to put cameras in my home…]—she'd gotten so worked up she'd accidentally written down what she was really thinking!
Only afterward had Maruzensky realized that maybe you shouldn't reveal something that feral to another person…
If he knew she wanted to watch him showering, he'd definitely think she was a pervert!
She needed a more tactful way to coax—ahem, to guide—Mizuno, the little white rabbit hiding inside, into opening the door to let her—"definitely-not-a-big-bad-wolf her"—in.
But Maruzensky hadn't expected that before she could rephrase her message, Mizuno would suddenly open the door!
And now, hiding the note was pointless. Mizuno had already seen what she wrote and knew exactly what she really wanted.
"Uh… um…" Maruzensky watched Mizuno cautiously backing away, struggling to explain.
"Hi! Bye!"
Before Maruzensky could speak, Mizuno moved as if seeing a terrifying beast, hurriedly slamming the door shut.
At this point, Mizuno had updated Maruzensky's danger rating in his mind—from the usual [maybe safe, just keep an eye on her] to [extremely dangerous, do not engage]!
Because even Symboli Rudolf—who had long topped Mizuno's danger list—had never suggested installing cameras in a private space like the toilet!
Such a super-pervert move instantly reminded Mizuno of that recent, unpleasant incident when a darkened Broshi had locked him in a basement and monitored his every move…
As expected, proactively approaching an Umamusume influenced by Uma Mint was way too risky—especially one who knew his true identity.
As the saying goes: a gentleman doesn't stand under a crumbling wall, and Shang Yang doesn't pretend bravery before an Umamusume. (Smart people don't linger near danger; smart Trainers don't act brave around Umamusume.)
So after reassessing Maruzensky's threat, Mizuno chickened out without hesitation.
The original plan was fine—but it depended on circumstances. Treating a high-risk Umamusume as a little sister would be inviting the wolf into his home—and Mizuno wasn't about to do that!
So he decided to temporarily cut contact with Maruzensky. He'd speak face-to-face after finding a safer way to protect himself.
But even though Mizuno moved fast enough that a normal person couldn't react in time, Maruzensky's reaction was even quicker.
BAM!
Just as Mizuno was about to shut the door completely, a slender, pale hand shot out and jammed itself against the door's edge.
"?!" Mizuno's arm shook instantly. The doorknob felt stuck, as if embedded in a thick wall. No matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn't budge an inch.
Creeeak—
The rusty hinges let out a teeth-grinding screech as Maruzensky's brute strength forced the door open, wailing miserably like it could break at any moment.
"Wah!" Mizuno turned pale.
"Don't be scared! Listen while I argue—no! Listen while I explain!"
Outside, seeing how terrified Mizuno looked, Maruzensky panicked and rushed to explain, afraid Mizuno might misunderstand—like thinking she was some horrifying thirsty pervert…
But that was completely baseless! A teenage Umamusume wanting to see the opposite sex naked was totally normal—how could that count as perverted?!
In ancient times, when Umamusume reached puberty, they'd kidnap a human they liked and use them to vent their desires. It was only due to modern morality that this "tradition" gradually disappeared.
Besides, you judge people by actions, not thoughts. Maruzensky figured she was only imagining it—not actually doing it—so she couldn't possibly count as a thirsty pervert.
In fact, she was actively trying to protect Mizuno right now. Sure, her methods were a little extreme, but didn't her intentions alone prove she was a good Umamusume?
And if she was a good Umamusume, then forcibly protecting her target for his own safety was still within "normal" bounds, right?
Creeeak—
Mizuno watched helplessly as the one wooden door separating him from the outside world was effortlessly pried open by Maruzensky's strength like tearing open packaging paper.
Then he saw Maruzensky outside, half her body already visible from beneath the box, her gaze fixed on him like a starving wolf.
One hand braced on the ground, the other gripping the door, she breathed heavily—like a demon crawling from the earth, thirsting for the civilians' blood inside.
The scene was so terrifying it matched exactly the "Umamusume-eating-humans" scenarios Mizuno once imagined!
So, from Mizuno's perspective, was Maruzensky actually trying to explain?
No—she'd already tried a written request, lost patience, and was now forcing her way in!
"Ng!" Mizuno broke into a cold sweat, face corpse-white.
Because when an Umamusume lost patience and abandoned reasoning… it was terrifying.
Without moral restraint, they had no limits. With an Umamusume's strength, they could spin you until your world turned upside down—and no one could stop them.
Sure, afterward you could cry to others and seek "justice."
But by then, you'd already had an entire litter of foals with them, making it utterly meaningless.
That was why Mizuno always tried reasoning carefully with Umamusume without angering them.
It was Mizuno's—and humanity's—only hope against Umamusume.
But now Mizuno faced a big problem:
Had Maruzensky's patience finally run out?!
"What do I do?! What do I do?!" Seeing Maruzensky outside, looking like she wanted to "come in and have a long talk," Mizuno's pupils trembled violently. His desperate survival instincts kicked in, brain rapidly searching for a solution.
Experience taught him that successfully reasoning with Umamusume required using both carrot and stick—just like taming horses.
…Wait. He was taming horses.
Just… Umamusume.
Yeah. No real difference, honestly.
Mizuno figured Maruzensky had lost patience because he refused her request.
To bring her back to negotiations, he probably needed something sweet.
But what bargaining chip did he have—something to satisfy Maruzensky without putting himself in danger?
"Ugh…" Mizuno wracked his brain, and the only thing he could think of was the plan he'd rejected moments before.
Maybe Maruzensky's panic was from feeling mistrusted. Would closing the distance calm her down?
Originally, Mizuno wanted to think more carefully and confirm his judgment. But under these circumstances, calm thinking was impossible.
"Wah!" Looking at Maruzensky's increasingly obsessive eyes, Mizuno felt like he couldn't wait any longer!
"Cough… cough…" He swallowed his fear, cleared his throat, and asked Maruzensky at the door—who looked ready to pounce:
"Maruzensky… um… would you be willing… to be my little sister for a while?"
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T/N: SHES LIKE 60 YEARS OLDDDDD