A few days passed after the visit to the elderly horse girl's clothing store, and time moved into early July.
According to Tracen Academy's schedule, the first semester would end in late July. The summer training camp wasn't part of the official curriculum but an extra activity. At other schools, summer camps were usually held as vacation activities, but at Tracen, being an athletic academy, it was blended with regular training time.
As mentioned before, the theoretical vacation time at Tracen was quite generous. Excluding the summer training camp, the summer break could last from late July until school started again in October, with all the time in between for students to use freely. If you counted the summer camp as part of the vacation, you could leave school in early July and have a full three months of leisure time.
But, that was just in theory.
In reality, despite the three-month vacation, very few trainers and their horse girls actually separated. The training facilities and cafeterias operated as usual. The intense competition was one reason, of course.
Another reason was that this period was when many horse girls officially stepped onto the racetrack. Starting from July, various OP-class and Graded Stakes races opened up to first-year debutantes. It was their time to shine, so slacking off was out of the question.
Even for the horse girls who hadn't debuted yet, this time was crucial. According to Tracen's rules, by the second semester, horse girls planning to debut the following year could run their debut races. The earlier they ran and the better their results, the easier it was to find a good exclusive trainer, start training and building rapport earlier, and thus perform better in future races.
As for Shinji Kitahara's team, while he didn't intend to join the rat race, he still had things to do. He had scheduled a mid-distance OP-class race for Agnes Tachyon in August as a warm-up and to accumulate some points for future competitions. There was a G3 mid-distance race suitable for her around the same time, but the problem was that Tokai Teio had already decided to participate in that one.
Shinji didn't particularly care about teammates competing against each other; they could choose their own paths. The issue was that, without his direct intervention, Agnes Tachyon's condition would only improve so much by August. Before then, she would struggle even to train properly, let alone go all out. She would be no match for Tokai Teio, so he had to schedule them separately.
On the other hand, Nice Nature, thanks to his strengthening, had placed first in both her debut and her previous qualifying race. She was eligible to participate in Graded Stakes races and was scheduled for a mid-distance G3 race in early September.
As for Nice Nature's current ability as a racehorse... how to describe it?
Because she focused too much on her debuffing skills and neglected her own improvement, she had won several races but never dominated. She also had her share of upsets. However, while Nature couldn't guarantee a first-place finish for herself, if she wanted to prevent someone else from getting first, she could absolutely do it.
After all, she was a monster Shinji had spent a full two months creating. The aura she emanated was enough to instill fear in horse girls with weaker wills. When she got serious and focused her interference on a single person, a horse girl with a weaker will might not even finish the race. Even those with strong wills, after persevering through a race against her, reported experiencing various levels of hallucinations, in addition to the usual mental instability and increased stamina consumption. Some even suffered from poor form in their training for nearly half a month afterward.
That's why Shinji didn't put Nice Nature and Tokai Teio in the same race. Otherwise, Tokai Teio's dream of an undefeated Triple Crown might be crushed before it even began.
As for Eclipse...
"Just run casually."
Yes, she was still her consistently stable self.
With Agnes Digital, she was half a trainer herself and didn't need much of his involvement in her races. Since she was a second-year and wouldn't clash with her teammates, and she wasn't too focused on winning, her attitude was similar to Eclipse's—she planned to just run casually.
—But what kind of "casual run" wins a G1 championship?!
Besides the debuted girls, the debut races for Oguri Cap, Special Week, and Grass Wonder also needed to be planned. They were all aiming to debut next year, so getting their debut races done early would leave more preparation time for the remaining races.
So, even though Shinji didn't want to get caught up in Tracen's vicious cycle of competition, he probably wouldn't be able to separate from his horse girls during the break.
And, thinking about it, even if he did separate from them, he didn't really have anywhere else to go. He would most likely end up staying in his dorm, unable to leave Tracen. After all, if he left Tracen's buffet-style cafeteria, he would have to pay for Eclipse's food himself.
However, the races were a long-term plan. The immediate task was restarting the Black Forest.
No, saying he was busy wasn't quite right.
Agnes Digital was handling the technical and platform-building aspects, Grass Wonder was in charge of management and rule-making, and the Chief Director and Ms. Hayakawa were assisting with other issues. Although he occasionally helped them out, information technology wasn't his strong suit, and he was too soft-hearted for management, so he couldn't offer much help.
So, if he couldn't contribute much in these two main areas, what was he responsible for?
The answer was being the mascot... I mean, serving as the public face and leader of the Black Forest.
After all, no matter how good the platform, how advanced the technology, or how capable the manager, you still needed people to participate to actually establish the organization, right?
And because they had been "disciplined" once before, the original Black Forest horse girls were now somewhat resistant to the organization. This resistance peaked when they heard that the Black Forest had once targeted Shinji Kitahara. Even now that it was officially under Tracen's jurisdiction, not many were willing to respond.
But if the initiator was Shinji Kitahara, it was a different story.
Again, while Shinji Kitahara's reputation was almost zero at the main Tracen campus and in big cities, in the countryside and at various regional Tracen academies, his reputation, on a scale of one to one hundred, was probably a one hundred and twenty.
When his name was put forward, it didn't just improve the situation; it was a rallying cry that drew an overwhelming response.
But even as a mascot, his job wasn't as easy as it sounded.
First, there was Agnes Digital. She was already busy, and now she had to handle the Black Forest's situation, so her energy was definitely stretched thin. As it happened, Shinji had taken over some of her duties to help her out recently and was now quite proficient, so he could help share her burden.
In addition to the normal progress, Shinji also had to devote a lot of energy to monitoring Kazuya Kudo's movements to prevent him from pulling any tricks.
After a period of observation, Shinji did indeed discover his movements. It's just that the direction of his actions was a bit different from what he had expected.
Kazuya Kudo didn't try to sabotage or obstruct him in secret at all. Instead, he was very actively running around, using his connections to gain a lot of support for him outside of school and securing some channels for the new Black Forest to speak out and cooperate, giving the organization considerable power from the very beginning.
This was no simple feat. Because he went to lobby in person, if the Black Forest made any mistakes in the future, Kazuya Kudo himself would also suffer.
This behavior baffled Shinji. It felt even stranger that he would do this knowing full well that Shinji suspected and was investigating him.
But Shinji didn't dwell on it for too long. After all, he had been chasing the 'Black Market' for over a decade; a little more time wouldn't make a difference. He would just continue to wait. If Kazuya Kudo was really part of the 'Black Market', he would eventually slip up. And if he wasn't, Shinji wouldn't wrong an innocent man.
Meanwhile, the senior horse girl's investigation had run into a similar predicament.
According to the message from the senior horse girl, the people in the two portraits had been identified. One was a trainer at a regional Tracen, and the other was a member of a horse girl rights protection organization. Although neither of them was as outrageous as Kazuya Kudo, they were both recognized locally as people who loved horse girls, had no bad records, and had no abnormal expenses or income in private.
However, the senior horse girl did find some other information.
To put it simply, the regional trainer had once worked at the main Tracen campus. He wasn't demoted for any wrongdoing or lack of ability; he requested the transfer himself. According to the information the senior horse girl gathered, the reason he chose to go to a regional Tracen was that he felt the central Tracen was too dazzling, causing it to overlook the less talented horse girls in the regional areas. He wasn't trying to criticize the injustice of the world, and he knew he wasn't capable enough and didn't know how to change the status quo, so he just wanted to go there himself to help those children.
A very good person.
But the problem was, if you connected him with the birth of the Black Forest, especially with the current situation...
Shinji felt that the regional trainer might be the mastermind behind the Black Forest incident. And his plan hadn't failed; on the contrary, it was continuously advancing with his own hands. After all, wasn't what he was doing now pushing the situation in the direction that the regional trainer had hoped for?
But if that was the case, what role did Kazuya Kudo play in all this?
Especially since, according to the senior horse girl's investigation, the regional trainer and Kazuya Kudo were very good friends when they were at Tracen, and they still kept in touch to this day...
Perhaps Kazuya Kudo wasn't part of the 'Black Market', but was just cooperating with his friend's plan?
Or was the person from the horse girl rights protection organization the one from the 'Black Market', who was using both of them?
Or were all three of them from the 'Black Market', and perhaps the 'Black Market' was full of such people?
The clues were increasing, but so were the questions.
But before Shinji could think more deeply about these situations, the senior horse girl, after finishing her report, immediately started a second topic.
"How are your preparations for the blind date coming along?"
"Well..."
Hearing this topic, Shinji's face turned green.
Kazuya Kudo, the Black Forest, the regional trainer—none of that mattered anymore. The most important thing was to fudge his way through this. Otherwise, forget about investigations; he might not even have a future.
Then, very strangely, the senior horse girl, who usually hated being contradicted, was unusually kind on this topic and easily agreed to postpone the blind date.
But it was only postponed. Not going was absolutely impossible.
After finally dealing with the senior horse girl, Shinji was in no mood to work or investigate anything. After settling Eclipse in the dorm, he went out alone to an izakaya outside the Tracen campus that was popular among trainers.
He wasn't trying to drown his sorrows in alcohol. In fact, he never drank. He just wanted to clear his head and get something to eat. And the prices at this izakaya were not low. If he brought Eclipse along, he would probably go bankrupt on the spot.
What he didn't expect was that as soon as he entered, he ran into a familiar, usually frowning face.
Hayakawa Tazuna.
She sat alone in a secluded corner of the izakaya, with some food and low-alcohol drinks in front of her, looking distressed.
And as luck would have it, when Shinji arrived, all the tables were already occupied. If he wanted a seat, he had to share a table. And besides Hayakawa Tazuna, although there were other trainers Shinji knew, some had their horse girls with them, and others he barely knew. In the end, he had no choice but to sit at Hayakawa Tazuna's table.
"Trainer Kitahara?"
"Yes, it's me, Ms. Hayakawa. May I sit here?"
"Of course."
Hayakawa Tazuna smiled and nodded, then started chatting with Shinji. And as they chatted, the conversation naturally turned to the gloom on Shinji's face.
"Sigh, an elder arranged a blind date for me, but Ms. Hayakawa, you know how terrible a thing a blind date is at Tracen..."
Shinji was just trying to vent.
But to his surprise, after he finished speaking, Hayakawa Tazuna's expression also changed.
Vaguely realizing something, Shinji blinked.
"Ms. Hayakawa, don't tell me you too..."
"...Sigh."
Hayakawa Tazuna sighed, confirming Shinji's guess.
Although he was stunned by Hayakawa Tazuna's confirmation, after coming to his senses, Shinji realized that it wasn't strange at all. After all, Hayakawa Tazuna had been working at Tracen for many years but was still single. According to rumors, she had been single since birth and had never even had a boyfriend. She was now a "leftover woman" of advanced age; it would be strange if her family wasn't anxious.
And it wasn't just her family. The Chief Director and even the students on campus were anxious for her. Because if the "Green Devil" also got married, wouldn't the risk of them getting caught when they took trainers to the basement be greatly reduced? And they believed that with the nourishment of love, this menopausal old woman would no longer be so rigid, and the probability of her locking them in the confinement room would also be greatly reduced.
Even many trainers, although not supportive, hoped that Ms. Hayakawa could find a suitable partner. After all, she had worked hard at Tracen for so many years and had helped countless trainers. She couldn't really let all her beautiful youthful years be thrown away here, right?
But unlike Shinji, Hayakawa Tazuna wasn't being forced into a blind date, just constantly being pushed to get married. Coupled with the fact that she was already a bit irritable from too much work recently, being pushed repeatedly made her lose all motivation to work overtime. So she just threw her work to others and came out alone to clear her head.
Thus, the two kindred spirits looked at each other, and after a while, a series of sighs could be heard.
But before they could sigh for long, another voice rang out.
"Trainer Kitahara? Ms. Hayakawa? What are you doing here?"
A disguised Symboli Rudolph had also entered the shop. Seeing the two of them, she sat down at their table, half curious and half because there were no other seats, and started chatting.
And as they chatted, the conversation naturally turned to the sighs of the two just now, and then...
"Um, President Rudolph, don't tell me you too..."
Shinji Kitahara and Hayakawa Tazuna blinked.
Symboli Rudolph, however, lowered her head and silently ate the food in front of her without answering.
But the resentment emanating from her body gradually increased.
-------
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