Kasamatsu Tracen Academy — Training Grounds.
Oguri Cap sprinted down the track at an astonishing speed, while her trainer, Kitahara, watched her form and logged data.
Just then, a slightly gravelly voice sounded behind him.
"Yo, Kitahara. So that's your horse girl?"
"Hm?" Kitahara turned at the familiar voice—and saw a short, middle-aged man in sunglasses, carrying himself in a way that made him look oddly like a yakuza, waving at him.
"Uncle Roku?"
"It's Rokuhira!" the man snapped, smacking Kitahara's back in annoyance.
Rokuhira Ginjirō.
A veteran trainer from Central. Kitahara's uncle. Back when Kitahara had hit rock bottom and started throwing his life away, it was this man who dragged him back and pushed him into becoming a horse-girl trainer.
You could say he was Kitahara's guide onto this road.
Rokuhira stared at Oguri Cap running the course, eyes thoughtful.
"So this is the star you found out in the sticks?"
"Yeah! Oguri's insane—Kasamatsu doesn't have anyone stronger than her!"
"Is that so?" Rokuhira asked, then his expression hardened as he looked Kitahara dead in the eye. "Then what's your next target?"
"The Tokai Derby, of course! That's why I'm planning to enter Oguri in the Chukyo Cup this month. My boss knows about it too."
"Boss?" Rokuhira frowned. "Since when do you have a boss?"
Kitahara scratched his cheek. "Well… strictly speaking, Oguri wasn't discovered by me. My boss did. He pays me a salary and has me train her."
"So… you're basically a hired hand."
"Uh…"
Rokuhira waved it off. "Whatever. You're grown—do what you want."
Then his tone shifted.
"But I've got advice. If your goal is the Tokai Derby, don't enter the Chukyo Cup next."
"Eh? Why?" Kitahara froze. He hadn't expected his uncle to tell him not to race.
"Just do what I said." Rokuhira patted his shoulder and walked away, looking completely uninterested in explaining.
Watching his uncle's back as he left, Kitahara muttered to himself.
"If we're aiming for the Tokai Derby, building popularity at the Chukyo Cup is the obvious move… Why wouldn't he want us to enter…?"
Kitahara couldn't make sense of it.
— — —
Central Tracen Academy.
Student Council Office.
In the largest executive chair sat the legendary horse girl known as—
The Emperor, Symboli Rudolf.
Her flaxen hair spilled casually down her back, a white streak cutting through her bangs. Even in her uniform, she radiated the aura of someone born to stand above others.
But right now, Rudolf wasn't trying to "act like an emperor." She was simply frowning at the documents in her hands, troubled.
Lately, she'd been busy.
Inspecting racetracks all over the country, checking venue conditions, and handling the endless pile of Central Tracen's administrative mess—it had her spinning like a top with no time to stop.
Next, she still had to go inspect Chukyo Racecourse.
"President, this is for you."
A girl with the same flaxen hair as Rudolf's handed her a file.
"This is…?" Rudolf accepted it, puzzled.
"Someone… is advertising a foot-washing massage parlor inside Central Tracen…?"
Rudolf's eyebrow twitched.
"Why would anyone promote something like that on campus…?"
"I heard it's the expensive kind," Maruzensky added, tapping a finger to her lips as she recalled the rumors spreading around school. "And you have to make reservations… Apparently quite a few girls even take leave just to go."
"And the owner's a handsome guy, too."
"Uh… where's this place?" Rudolf asked.
"Kasamatsu."
"Kasamatsu?" Rudolf repeated, interest sparking. "So it's a shop out in the provinces, but it gets advertised all the way here at Central Tracen…?"
Opening a foot-massage place connected to a Tracen academy was already something only a certain kind of person would do.
And the business strategy was so bizarre it was almost comedic.
What kind of lunatic ran a place like this?
She wanted to see him for herself.
"Kasamatsu," Rudolf murmured. "Sounds like it's worth a visit."
"Oh, right—lately I've also heard there's a real monster of a newbie in the provinces," Maruzensky said, clapping her hands as something came to her. "Also in Kasamatsu."
"You mean Oguri Cap?" Rudolf asked.
"Yep~ That kid's apparently pretty famous out there." Maruzensky smiled. "And you're going to Chukyo Cup inspections anyway—honestly, President, you also want to watch her race, don't you?"
Rudolf gently set the file down on the desk, her gaze calm and deep.
She leaned back in her chair, fingertips lightly tapping the tabletop as though weighing a decision.
"A local horse girl causing that much commotion in a place like Kasamatsu—enough for rumors to reach Central… that alone is unusual," she murmured, her voice carrying a seriousness that couldn't be ignored.
She looked out the window, as if she could see, across all that distance, the figure running on a provincial track.
"If she's truly as talented as the rumors claim, then she shouldn't be buried in the provinces."
A faint smile touched Rudolf's lips.
"Central is the stage where she can truly shine."
She stood and walked to the window, eyes steady.
"When she enters the Chukyo Cup, I'll judge her strength personally. If she's the real thing…" She paused, decision sharpening in her tone. "Then we bring her to Central."
Maruzensky laughed softly. "So the President is going to start 'recruiting' again?"
Rudolf didn't turn around. She only replied coolly—
"Talent shouldn't be limited by geography. Central needs the strongest horse girls—no matter where they come from."
Then she added, almost to herself:
"A sudden rising star, and a bizarre foot-washing parlor…"
"This Kasamatsu… really is a strange place."
-------
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