"This is today's training plan."
At the training grounds, Fujiwara Chiya stood in front of Rice Shower, Mejiro Dober, and Fujiwara Shirayuki as he handed the plan to the three of them.
"Tactical training… I don't think we've ever done anything like this before," Dober said.
Looking at the bold, deeply pressed handwriting on the page, she could practically imagine how much effort the trainer had put into writing it.
"That's right. This kind of training is mainly for actual races. For undebuted runners like you, its usefulness is limited. Normally, it would be more practical to focus on stamina. But if you can understand what's written here, you may be able to suppress your opponents during a race and stop them from performing at their best. That would raise your chances of winning."
"I see…"
Dober lightly touched her chin.
Whether it was ability or strategy, both were part of racing. If it could raise her chances of winning, then she had no reason to reject it.
"Alright, follow what's written there. You three, go warm up first."
"Yes."
After they left, Chiya looked down at the copy of the plan still in his own hand.
Next up…
"Trainer."
Hearing a voice, Chiya turned around, only to meet a pair of dull crimson eyes.
"Agnes Tachyon…"
He frowned slightly.
"I'm still in the middle of training. If you were going to show up, you could at least pick a better time."
"Sorry. There's something I wanted to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
Tachyon stepped over to the side.
"Yesterday, one of the instructors pulled me aside and lectured me."
"For skipping practice?"
"For skipping practice."
"…Wait, don't tell me you skipped again to come here."
"Well, yes."
"No, seriously, go back and train properly…"
Chiya made a pained expression.
"I'm already used to skipping."
"Did you come to Tracen just so you could skip training?"
"No."
Tachyon shook her head.
"But training was never my real purpose to begin with."
"Hm? Then what was?"
"Experiments."
It was somehow both unexpected and exactly what he should have expected.
"I came to Tracen because I thought the Uma Musume here could provide me with a rich set of experimental data."
"…What exactly are you researching?"
He had heard her say "experiment" over and over again, but from everyone else's point of view, she mostly just caused trouble. There were barely any visible results.
Well, the affection glasses counted as one.
Other than that?
"I'm researching how to make Uma Musume run faster."
"Isn't that just training?"
At his words, Tachyon paused for a moment.
"Yes, that is the simplest and most direct method. But I'm trying to find a possibility beyond that."
"A possibility…?"
"I've heard that when an Uma Musume breaks through a certain limit, she enters a strange state. In that state, her body can draw out unimaginable power. I've been searching for a way to push someone past that threshold."
"And did you find it?"
"No. I have no leads at all. I've tried all sorts of methods, but…"
In the end, all of them came to nothing.
"And the glasses were part of that research too?"
"No. I made those to kill time when I was stuck. You can't keep pushing the same experiment forever. Sometimes your ideas just hit a dead end."
That, at least, sounded reasonable.
"So then, why did you come to me?"
"The instructors have been watching me too closely lately, and it's getting in the way of my work. So I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to become my trainer. If that happens, then your free time becomes my free time too. It lines up nicely."
After hearing that, Chiya froze for a full three seconds.
"…What?"
She wants me to become her trainer? Is this some kind of joke?
"Wait. Don't tell me your plan is to sign under me, dump everything on me, leave the instructors behind, and then keep doing whatever you want while I take the blame."
"My, you figured it out."
"I'm not agreeing to that."
Chiya rejected her on the spot.
Tachyon scratched her head.
"If I join you, it won't be all bad for you either."
"What can you do?"
"Do you have your stopwatch?"
"Of course."
"Then time me."
Tachyon stepped onto the training track.
Still confused, Chiya followed after her with the stopwatch.
Once she was ready, Tachyon looked at him. He understood immediately and raised his hand, then brought it down.
"Go!"
The moment he gave the signal, Tachyon shot forward.
She accelerated so quickly that Chiya froze for half a second before pressing the stopwatch.
She cut across the track like a blade through grass. With each passing moment, her speed rose even further. Sweat slipped down her cheeks, glittering in the sunlight.
After completing a full lap, Tachyon came to a stop at the finish line.
At the same moment, Chiya stopped the timer.
Looking at the time, he muttered in disbelief.
"She's… 1.3 seconds faster than the average."
Was that really the level an undebuted Uma Musume could produce?
According to her, she skipped practice all the time.
So how was she this fast?
Tachyon's speed even surpassed Rice and Shirayuki.
"Well?"
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Tachyon walked back over.
"My time was pretty good, wasn't it?"
"It was incredible."
Chiya answered honestly.
"If you can run at that speed, then why don't you train seriously? If you kept improving, you could absolutely become an amazing Uma Musume."
"Keep improving…"
For some reason, her expression dimmed slightly.
"I came to Tracen to experiment. Even if I improve, it would only be in order to help someone else improve."
Then she looked up at him again.
"So, Trainer, what do you think? Is my ability enough to catch your interest?"
It was.
After seeing her run, Chiya was tempted.
Her personality was a mess, yes, but her ability was undeniably real. The reason only bad rumors surrounded her was probably because she never raced.
If she entered practice races or event races, people would definitely notice her potential.
But that was not why she wanted to sign with him.
She wanted a contract not to train, but to make experimentation easier.
That left him deeply conflicted.
"I need time to think."
"Of course. Just let me know once you've made up your mind."
With that, Tachyon turned to leave.
"Wait…"
Chiya called out to her.
She stopped.
"You're not going to threaten me?"
"What do you mean?"
"That matter."
At that, Tachyon lightly shook her head.
"Trainer Chiya, I told you before, didn't I? Aside from experiments, I won't force you to do anything. As for the contract, you can accept or refuse. Even if you refuse, I won't do anything to you."
She gave a small wave and walked away.
Chiya remained where he was, staring blankly at the back of that strange, solitary girl until she disappeared from sight.