"H-What are you doing?"
Seeing Agnes Tachyon crouched by the door, staring at her and deliberately making strange noises, Daiwa Scarlet instinctively took a step back and clutched the bath towel over her chest, afraid it might slip off.
Still, considering that Tachyon had always treated her pretty well and had never really done anything bad to her, Daiwa quickly suppressed her "unnecessary" tension and asked, "Senior Tachyon, are you hungry?"
Tachyon's self-care skills were abysmal, and this was America, a totally unfamiliar place. Maybe she was hungry, and this was her awkward way of trying to get attention.
Honestly, compared with the way Tachyon used to go around begging for food at Central Tracen, this behavior was downright respectable.
At the moment, the best you could say was that she was acting weird. Back then, she had been outright absurd.
But Agnes Tachyon said nothing. She simply kept staring.
Even Daiwa Scarlet, who had been looking after her for ages, felt baffled. Left with no choice, she tried soothing her newly and suspiciously strange senior first.
"Then I'll call room service and have them bring you a late-night snack."
As she spoke, Daiwa Scarlet turned to go to the phone, only for Agnes Tachyon to grab her by the wrist.
Wearing a smile full of unmistakable delight, Tachyon said, "Daiwa, you were really happy when you were snuggling with Xingyun just now, weren't you? For a moment there, didn't you think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to start horse-jumping right then and there? Hmm~?"
She said something terrifying in a tone of gleeful amusement.
The girl had not even debuted yet, and this lunatic was already fast-forwarding all the way to horse-jumping?
Daiwa Scarlet was scared half to death. Her crimson eyes went round as saucers, and her gaze fluttered like a startled sparrow, darting helplessly from place to place.
At the same time, a flush of red rose utterly against her will from deep inside her chest, sweeping up her long pale neck and across her delicate cheeks, leaving great swaths of fair skin feeling burning hot.
"Senior Tachyon! Wh-what are you even saying?!"
Daiwa Scarlet clenched her fists and jerked her head away, refusing to look at her. She raised her voice sharply, as if sheer volume could cover up her panic.
But how could that fool Agnes Tachyon?
More than that, the end of her sentence was already trembling ever so adorably. No matter how hard she tried to deny or conceal it now, it was too late.
She had already exposed herself.
Tachyon deliberately raised an eyebrow and put on a baffled expression. "Isn't that fine? It's not as if I said you couldn't. If you really found true love, I'd be happy for you. Frankly, I'd rather you be decisive than end up regretting it later."
As she spoke, she patted Daiwa Scarlet on the shoulder, her grin gradually becoming almost normal, as if to say: Go on, my child. Mother supports you.
Then, the next instant, her expression turned teasing again. Leaning close to Daiwa Scarlet's ear, she murmured softly, "You know, there are an awful lot of horse girls around Xingyun. And on top of that, she's being aggressively poached by a bunch of American Triple Crown winners. If you don't put in a little effort…"
Was Tachyon really as supportive as she sounded?
About half and half.
On the one hand, she had always been very laissez-faire about Daiwa Scarlet's views on romance. As long as Daiwa herself liked it, Tachyon had no objection.
On the other hand, she desperately wanted to research Xingyun Liuge. In every possible sense.
After being force-fed that strange medicine straight from Xingyun's hand, Agnes Tachyon had lain there for a while—then discovered that her back no longer ached, her legs no longer hurt, and it was as if the discomfort in her leg had never existed in the first place.
One dose. Just one dose, and the worsening pain in her leg was gone.
That went beyond pharmacology, beyond biology, beyond science itself. It was practically fantasy.
But the medicine had already been drained dry by Xingyun, and even the small amount that had spilled outside had evaporated completely. Even if Tachyon wanted to study it, she had nothing left to study.
To a researcher, there was probably no pain in this world greater than that.
Given how gentle Xingyun seemed to be with Daiwa Scarlet, Tachyon immediately came up with a wonderfully crooked scheme:
You admire Xingyun. I'm deeply interested in Xingyun. We're on the same side. So why not join forces, win Xingyun over, and solve all our problems at once?
Agnes Tachyon's hands were already itching. She wanted to study Xingyun from every angle. Sweat, saliva, hair, nail clippings—she wanted all of it.
What could possibly be a better way to obtain those precious research materials than getting close enough to touch her?
In fact, if Xingyun had not abruptly poured medicine down her throat, and if Daiwa Scarlet had not appeared when she did, Tachyon had every intention of using "a physical examination" as an excuse to touch Xingyun's feet.
Possibly even lick them.
Xingyun Liuge's body proportions already seemed suspiciously close to the golden ratio. That alone would have been enough to drive any researcher mad with curiosity.
Still, that was not the real point.
The real point was her legs.
The legs that gave Xingyun the power to pursue the very limit of speed.
For that alone, full-spectrum research was necessary. Who knew? She might even uncover the reason Xingyun could wield multiple domains.
All right, that last part was just Agnes Tachyon fantasizing.
She had not even fully figured out her own half-baked domain yet, so how could she possibly unravel Xingyun's secrets that easily?
Which was precisely why she was pushing Daiwa Scarlet so hard now: For my sake, go win Xingyun over already and get her to cooperate with my research.
If Xingyun cooperated, Tachyon's progress would advance by leaps and bounds.
"As thanks for always taking care of me, I'll help you with this."
Agnes Tachyon placed both hands on Daiwa Scarlet's shoulders, looking unusually serious.
"Uh? Ah… um… thanks?"
Daiwa Scarlet was thoroughly confused by now. She had no idea what to say anymore, so thanking her first seemed like the safest option.
And then, the very next second, Tachyon darted behind her and shoved.
"Why wait for another day? We start right now!"
"Hah?!"
Daiwa Scarlet nearly lost it. "At least let me put some clothes on!"
What, she was supposed to march off in the middle of the night to see Xingyun wearing nothing but a bath towel?
Was this supposed to be horse-jumping? Or horse-jumping? Or horse-jumping?!
But Agnes Tachyon gave her no chance at all. She just shoved Daiwa Scarlet forward without another word.
And with that, Daiwa Scarlet finally saw through Tachyon's "plan," and the selfish motive behind it.
This woman was not helping her at all. She just wanted to use her as a bridge to get closer to Xingyun and find an opening for research.
So Daiwa Scarlet flatly rejected Agnes Tachyon's wicked scheme and immediately began struggling against her, refusing to let Tachyon "assist" no matter what.
Yes, she admired Xingyun Liuge.
But how could she possibly use Agnes Tachyon's ulterior motives as an excuse to horse-jump Xingyun?
If she did something like that, then what would her admiration even mean?
A horse girl's feelings were supposed to be pure.
How could something so calculating be mixed into them?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter225)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 195
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 225
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 210
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 35
After Maxing Out Every Class 35
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