Chapter 26
Three days later, early in the morning on the academy practice track, Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black finally met the horse girl with the twin tails... or rather, the triple-tail style.
(T/N: Just want to say this is a terrible joke that cause me to shiver)
The moment Kitasan Black saw her, she dashed forward with a big grin and threw her arms around the newcomer.
"Daiwa-senpai! Long time no see!"
"You're a little late, Kita-chan. Did you oversleep again?"
Daiwa Scarlet returned the hug with a warm, nostalgic smile.
"No way! I'm a properly debuted horse girl now, so I don't sleep in like I used to!"
"I watched your debut race. It was really impressive... you've grown a lot, Kita-chan."
"Hehe, thank you, senpai... Oh right! I haven't introduced you yet!"
Kitasan Black let go, then excitedly grabbed Yasui Makoto's sleeve and pulled him closer.
"This is my trainer, Yasui Makoto! I only won my debut race because of him!"
"I've already heard plenty about this trainer of yours."
Daiwa Scarlet gave Kitasan Black a small nod and smiled, then turned to Yasui Makoto and offered her hand with calm confidence.
"Nice to meet you, Trainer Yasui. I'm Daiwa Scarlet. Please take care of me."
"Nice to meet you too. Please take care of me."
After shaking hands with Daiwa Scarlet, Yasui Makoto glanced at Kitasan Black and smiled gently.
"Kita-chan might have exaggerated a bit. I won't deny that I put a lot of thought into the training plan I made for her.
"But winning that race also took her own hard work and talent. So I'd say we won that victory together."
Daiwa Scarlet smiled with clear approval and looked at Kitasan Black.
"Kita-chan, your trainer is really excellent."
"Hehe, I think so too!"
Kitasan Black scratched the back of her head with a silly grin, then immediately bounced on her toes with excitement.
"So... can we start the paired run now? I'm totally ready, Daiwa-senpai!"
"You're still as impatient as ever... Hold on a second, Kita-chan."
Daiwa Scarlet shook her head with a soft laugh, then turned to Yasui Makoto with a more serious expression.
"I have a few questions I'd like to ask you, Trainer Yasui. Is that all right?"
Both Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black blinked in surprise, but Yasui Makoto nodded.
"Go ahead, Daiwa Scarlet. I'll answer anything I can."
Without any extra pleasantries, Daiwa Scarlet continued.
"Before I came here, I checked Kitasan Black's race schedule.
"Satsuki Sho in April, Spring Stakes in March, and a conditional race this month."
"Thanks to the debut win, she already has nearly ten thousand fans."
"But that's still far from the one hundred thousand needed for the Satsuki Sho minimum, and quite a bit short of the fifty thousand for the Spring Stakes."
(T/N: back again, just want to say that this was a terrible system and stupid)
"It might sound discouraging, but for a horse girl it's not impossible."
"So let me ask you this... hypothetically."
"If she doesn't win the conditional race, or doesn't make the top three in the Spring Stakes, and ends up without enough fans to enter the Satsuki Sho..."
"Have you considered that possibility, Trainer Yasui?"
Her tone was calm, yet there was a sharp, probing pressure behind the words.
Kitasan Black felt it immediately and looked a little flustered, her eyes darting nervously between Yasui Makoto and Daiwa Scarlet.
"Daiwa-senpai... and Trainer Yasui..."
"It's okay, Kita-chan."
Yasui Makoto gave his horse girl a reassuring glance, then turned back to Daiwa Scarlet with a grateful nod.
"That's a very sharp question, especially right after she just won her debut. Most people would probably avoid bringing it up to spare our feelings. But the fact that you asked anyway shows how much you really care about her.
Because like you said, there are more than ten runners in every race, but only one champion. Losing is never impossible for any horse girl. In fact, losing is the normal outcome."
A spark of approval and admiration flashed in Daiwa Scarlet's eyes.
As an experienced horse girl, she had seen far too many geniuses and ordinary talents over the years. She knew better than anyone that victory was rare and failure was common.
Many horse girls, talented or not, couldn't handle the pressure of defeat and never made it to the end.
It was fine that Kitasan Black didn't fully understand that yet, but if this young trainer didn't understand it either, she would have had to report it to her old friend Tokai Teio.
So far, Yasui Makoto's answer was quite satisfactory.
Still, she didn't say anything. She simply held his gaze, waiting.
Understanding what she wanted, Yasui Makoto answered steadily.
"It's simple. The Spring Stakes is called the Satsuki Sho preview because the top three finishers get automatic entry regardless of fan count. This year's Satsuki Sho is on April 19th... we still have two months.
That's more than enough time to add another OP-class race and replace the Spring Stakes with a slightly lower-intensity OP event if needed. With the debut win plus two OP races, the chances of getting into the Satsuki Sho are very high.
On top of that, I have some other supporting methods outside of racing, and..."
He smiled and gently patted Kitasan Black's shoulder.
"I don't have one hundred percent confidence in the Satsuki Sho, and the same goes for top three in the Spring Stakes. Those are proper graded races with strong opponents.
But I've compared the data of every possible OP-class race in the next two months. I don't think many of those opponents can beat Kita-chan.
And this is all worst-case planning. If even my worst-case scenario is acceptable to you, Daiwa Scarlet, then I can confidently say...
I don't believe Kita-chan will lose either of her next two races... not even the Spring Stakes."
Kitasan Black's eyes lit up with excitement, while a hint of surprise appeared in Daiwa Scarlet's gaze.
Before Agnes Tachyon's call, she had already looked into Kitasan Black's debut and heard about this ridiculously young trainer.
In her opinion, that debut race plan was nothing a rookie trainer could have come up with, let alone dared to try.
To have enough power and stamina yet deliberately skip the easy front-running strategy that usually wins debuts, risking being boxed in by placing her horse girl at the back of the pack to build adaptability for future races...
She had only seen that kind of tactic from a handful of veteran trainers.
Those were all well-known seniors in the industry. If they had planned that for Kitasan Black it would have been one thing, but for Yasui Makoto to have both the insight and the courage to do it... that made her pay close attention.
She was satisfied.
Not because his answer was flawless, but because his thorough consideration once again confirmed her first impression.
This trainer might look young, but his training philosophy and methods were unusually mature.
With a trainer like this, she felt genuinely happy for Kitasan Black... and decided she would follow his instructions completely for the paired run.
"I'm already looking forward to the paired run today... and to Kita-chan's next race."
Daiwa Scarlet didn't give direct praise. Instead she smiled, laced her fingers together, and cracked her knuckles with a soft pop.
"It's been a while since I've been on the track, but I still do regular training. A few paired runs with Kita-chan won't be any problem.
"So go ahead and give the orders, Trainer Yasui."
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