Just as Akihara Tōru was immersing himself in the joy of victory, that familiar voice rang out in his mind once again.
[Through friendship training with Haru Urara, Triangle Laurel's attributes have increased.]
[Triangle Laurel's Speed increased!]
[Triangle Laurel's Power increased!]
[Triangle Laurel learned the skill "Overtaking Stance"!]
["Overtaking Stance": When a horse girl is in the rear half of the pack during the final stretch, she will assume an overtaking posture, increasing her acceleration.]
So, just as expected, Triangle Laurel could gain stats too.
Tōru thought it over in silence.
Judging from the way it had triggered these past few times, the cooldown for friendship training was probably one month?
And within one month, it could trigger twice?
Each friendship training boost was roughly equal to about half a month of Urara's normal training gains.
In other words, this cheat ability effectively doubled his horse girl's training efficiency?
And once skill acquisition and aptitude improvement were factored in, the actual effect was far greater than merely doubling.
So even if he didn't go out of his way to search for horse girls who had appeared in the anime, he was already holding a surefire path to victory in his hands.
As he reached that conclusion, even the way Tōru looked at Triangle Laurel softened.
He had already made up his mind.
Once Urara won her debut race and he advanced to F-rank as a trainer, if this tsundere horse girl still hadn't changed her mind by then, he would sign a contract with her.
After all, letting a horse girl with this much talent remain nothing more than a nominally affiliated horse girl would be far too wasteful.
As for her feelings...
Well, what did girls this age really understand?
Triangle Laurel was still just a student.
A young horse girl who had only just entered Tracen, full of dreams about the future.
At that age, how many people could truly tell the difference between fondness, liking, and love?
Maybe it was only because he happened to be the first trainer she had ever cared about.
Maybe it was only because being rejected had stimulated her competitive instincts.
Maybe it was only because a young heart was too quick to mistake a momentary flutter for some grand emotion.
Something at that level—
was still nowhere near what could be called love.
That was what Tōru told himself.
He didn't let himself think any deeper about it.
Nor did he want to.
So—
it would be better this way.
Triangle Laurel was a good horse girl.
She had ability, talent, pride, and that stubborn refusal to give up.
Once she truly matured, once she saw more of the world—
she would naturally realize that her current feelings were just a tiny episode along the road of growing up.
Besides, the relationship between trainer and horse girl shouldn't be mixed up with all that messy nonsense to begin with.
Tōru wasn't some master of adolescent emotions, but with the mind-reading system at his disposal, taking care of her feelings shouldn't be a problem, right?
He could just take it slowly when the time came.
With that thought, he turned his gaze toward the area near the finish line.
Triangle Laurel was standing there, breathing hard, her expression impossibly complicated.
Those beautiful jade-green eyes shimmered with moisture, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.
Her hands clutched at her skirt so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, her whole body trembling faintly.
Though Triangle Laurel said nothing, the stream of thoughts pouring from her almost drowned him.
[Why… why did I lose…]
[I worked so hard…]
[I gave everything I had for this race…]
[But… but that trainer… he never looked at me at all…]
[From beginning to end… his eyes were only on that Urara…]
[If… if I were his horse girl…]
[Would he look at me like that too…]
[Would he also shout for me when I was at my limit…]
[Would he also open his arms and catch me when I crossed the finish line…]
As expected, even after seeing the bond between him and Urara—
this horse girl still hadn't even considered giving up.
Tōru let out a sigh.
He gently set Urara down after she had regained some strength, making sure she could stand steadily before walking toward Triangle Laurel.
Originally, he had intended to properly comfort the horse girl who had just lost.
After all, she had helped him out. Urara had successfully triggered friendship training thanks to her.
And he had also come to understand that with a personality like hers, trying to keep his distance might only make her sink deeper.
It would probably be better to just keep her around for now. Once they got more familiar and the filter shattered, she would surely realize how ridiculous her thoughts had been.
However—
before he could even reach her, the golden-haired horse girl lifted her head.
Their eyes met.
Tōru saw the redness around Triangle Laurel's eyes, and the tears trembling at the edges.
He opened his mouth, about to say something—
"Don't look at me like that!"
Triangle Laurel suddenly shouted, her voice so sharp it felt as though the air itself had shuddered.
"I'm not pathetic!"
The next instant, she spun around and bolted toward the training ground exit.
Her sweat-soaked uniform looked a little disheveled in the sunlight, her golden twin-tails whipping wildly in the wind.
She ran so fast that Tōru didn't even have time to say anything.
Fast enough that it barely seemed possible for a horse girl who had just gone into a speed drop from exhaustion during the race.
All she left behind was a rapidly shrinking figure and the faint sound of a few lingering sobs in the air.
"..."
Tōru stood frozen in place, still half-open-mouthed.
Wait.
He hadn't said anything yet?
Not a single word had made it out of his mouth.
How had this Miss Triangle managed to imagine an entire dramatic scenario all by herself and then run off crying before anyone even spoke?
Tōru stared blankly in the direction where Triangle Laurel had disappeared, his head full of question marks.
He had only intended to say something conventional like, "You ran really well today," just to comfort her a bit.
And yet before he could even get the words out, she had already run away?
What kind of situation even was this?
"Trainer?"
Urara had somehow come up beside him at some point, tilting her head as she looked in the direction Triangle Laurel had fled.
"Triangle Laurel... ran away again?"
"Yeah."
Tōru nodded, finally lowering the jaw he had unconsciously left hanging open.
"I didn't even get a chance to say anything."
"Huh? She ran away without you saying anything?"
Urara blinked, her face full of confusion.
"Then why did she run?"
"Who knows."
Tōru scratched his head and let out a long sigh.
Even with a mind-reading system, girls' thoughts were still as impossible to understand as ever.
He hadn't even been given the chance to speak—how was he supposed to take care of her emotions like that?
That just wasn't fair!
In the end, all he could do was tell Urara earnestly:
"Urara, remember this. Whatever happens, don't grow up to become this kind of horse girl."
"Hm? Okay!"
And Urara, only half understanding, simply nodded anyway.
-------
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