PLEASE DONT SKIP!!!
T/N: Please make sure to read my note bellow!
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Chapter 18
After removing Kitasan Black's racing shoes, Yasui Makoto did not put them back on right away. Instead, he turned them over and examined the soles for a moment.
The front of the soles gleamed with two crescent-shaped metal strips, the specialized horseshoes used for racing.
Because of their powerful leg strength, horse girls' shoes took enormous stress during training and races.
The horseshoes helped reduce wear and allowed the horse girls to perform at their full potential.
"Mhm, the horseshoe adjustment looks very good. Just remember to double-check it again before the race."
Satisfied, Yasui Makoto nodded, then looked up at Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond.
"Kita-chan, did you adjust these yourself, or was it Diamond-chan…"
He paused, suddenly surprised.
"Why are you two looking at me like that?"
In his eyes, both horse girls had flushed faces and looked extremely embarrassed.
Satono Diamond in particular had a strange look in her eyes along with her blush. Her gaze darted back and forth between him and Kitasan Black.
"I-it's nothing…"
Kitasan Black spoke in a strangely stiff voice, as if she had just snapped out of a daze.
Then, still sitting on the back of the motorcycle, she leaned forward in a very awkward posture and snatched her shoes back.
"I-I can put them on myself…"
While Kitasan Black put her shoes on with a red face, Satono Diamond spoke up in an equally strange tone.
"Kita-chan adjusted them herself. She spent a long time on it last night…"
"I see. That's very good."
Yasui Makoto nodded, then looked puzzled.
"So what exactly is going on with you two…"
"N-nothing at all! Ah, right, what I actually wanted to say…"
Before Yasui Makoto could finish, Satono Diamond waved her hands in a panic.
"Since Trainer Yasui came specifically to pick up Kita-chan, it's better if she goes to the racecourse with you.
I'll be fine. My older sister is also going to watch the races today, so I'll go with her.
Kita-chan, I'm going to find my sister now. I'll be cheering for you when your race starts!"
With that, she ran off as if she were escaping.
"Eh? Diamond-chan…"
Kitasan Black had just finished putting on her shoes. When she turned around and saw only her friend's back disappearing into the distance, she froze for a moment, bit her lower lip, and looked at Yasui Makoto.
"Trainer Yasui, should we…?"
"Should we what?"
"N-nothing… Oh right, Trainer Yasui, how should I run today?"
She asked vaguely, then quickly changed the subject when she saw Yasui Makoto looking at her.
Planning running tactics was obviously one of a trainer's most important duties, and Yasui Makoto already had everything prepared in his mind.
However, there were many other competitors and trainers around them right now.
Some of them were opponents in the upcoming race, so he could not discuss the plan here.
"No rush. We'll talk about it when we get to the racecourse."
"Oh… okay…"
Realizing the timing was not right, Kitasan Black replied softly and obediently followed Yasui Makoto toward the academy-arranged bus.
The atmosphere inside the bus was noticeably heavier than outside. Most of the horse girls and trainers were either watching race footage or sitting with their eyes closed in meditation. There was almost no conversation.
Affected by the mood, Kitasan Black sat quietly in her seat and watched race videos as well.
Yasui Makoto took out his tablet and reviewed the tactical plan he had prepared earlier.
Before they knew it, they had arrived at Tokyo Racecourse.
There were dedicated passages for participants and trainers, along with special rest lounges and private preparation rooms.
Today's twelve races started with the first one at 11:00. Before that, the horse girls would do track familiarization, warm-up, and the initial parade.
Because they had arrived early, the venue was still very quiet and not crowded.
Noticing this, Kitasan Black leaned against the window of the preparation room and looked out for a while before turning to Yasui Makoto in confusion.
"That's strange… Trainer Yasui, when I watch races on TV, there are always so many people here. Why does it feel like hardly anyone has come today?"
"The races you watch on TV are usually G1 or G2, or at least G3, right?"
While drawing and writing on the whiteboard in the preparation room, Yasui Makoto replied casually.
"Most of today's races are Pre-OP level. The three main events in the afternoon are the Risshun Sho, Shirafuji Kinen, and Crocus Kinen. Those are OP level.
So the crowd for this kind of race day is naturally smaller compared to G1 events.
But it's not that much smaller.
After all, this is Tokyo Racecourse. Even for Pre-OP races there are still quite a few spectators. Conservatively speaking…
By the time the races are about to start, there should be at least sixty or seventy thousand people. Nearly a hundred thousand is not impossible."
"So many people…" Kitasan Black said in surprise.
"You just said it felt empty, and now you're saying there will be that many… Didn't you say you always see lots of people when you watch races on TV?"
Yasui Makoto smiled at his horse girl's childish reaction, then his expression became serious.
"Alright, enough small talk. Fewer people means it's quieter, so we can focus on preparing the running tactics."
Hearing this, Kitasan Black perked up and hopped over from the window in two quick steps.
"Yes! I'm ready, Trainer Yasui!"
"Mhm, good spirit. Then let's start by looking at the details of today's race…"
Satisfied, Yasui Makoto nodded and pointed at the whiteboard covered in diagrams and text.
For Kitasan Black's debut race, he had done a lot of homework and gone through the data of every opponent who had pre-entered.
Since it was a debut race, all the other participants were rookies with no race experience, just like Kitasan Black, so only training data was available.
This data was publicly available on the platform, so both professionals and fans could see it and give evaluations and support based on the numbers and experience.
In terms of popularity, Kitasan Black was doing reasonably well. She ranked third among the dozen or so entrants in the race.
Ignoring emotional factors like personal preference, most rational comments suggested that Kitasan Black's top speed in training was not particularly impressive.
The final straight obviously required the highest speed, so those comments concluded that she would not have much of an advantage in the closing stages and would not find it easy to win.
Yasui Makoto did not deny that point, but he understood Kitasan Black far better than those commentators did.
"…Your stamina, power, and burst are all excellent. The 1,800-meter grass race should be no problem for you to finish.
You still have room to improve in areas like stamina management, power control, and maintaining burst, but racing is not decided by data alone.
Besides the numbers, I've also looked into your opponents a little.
Simply put, after the start, find an opponent you feel comfortable with and stay behind them. You can switch targets whenever you want.
But once you notice this range…"
After analyzing the course and opponents with Kitasan Black, Yasui Makoto pointed to a section of the track diagram on the whiteboard.
"From here, start accelerating and keep accelerating all the way to the finish.
Don't panic, just listen to me.
I know that for most horse girls, starting to accelerate from this distance would be pushing it, since there is still more than 300 meters to the finish line.
But Kita-chan, do you think you're an ordinary horse girl?
Or rather, can an ordinary horse girl achieve the kind of miraculous results that Tokai Teio did?"
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T/N: Heya~ A little update... actually just 1 chapter update since i messed up the order... who would think it's a good idea to rely on the webnovel countdown... ugh now i feel embarrassed giving you bad service... you know what, just for you, I'm going to upload the chapter 38 in advance, think of it as a compensation... again, SORRY!
(つ╥﹏╥)つ
Bonus chapters
200 Stones - 1 chapter
400 Stones - 2 chapter
600 Stones - 3 chapters
And so on~