The moment she got off the plane, Overtake Trap finally felt liberated.
She had no idea how Terumi Shinji, a trainer for horse girls, knew so much about airplanes. By the end of his explanation, her head was spinning.
It was the first time she had ever found his broad learning troublesome. While explaining things to her, he had somehow even managed to relate it all back to racing and training, speaking with such perfect logic that she had no way to escape and could only sit there and listen to the whole thing.
By the time they boarded the return flight, Overtake Trap had already made up her mind: she was never again going to let Terumi Shinji sit beside her and look at the scenery.
She had every reason to believe he had deliberately used that method just so she would never drag him into it again.
By the time they left the airport and arrived at the hotel arranged by Dubai, it was already nighttime. It was not quite bedtime yet, but the long journey had taken its toll. Though they had been able to nap here and there, being curled up in such a cramped space for so long still left them exhausted.
Sleepiness was already creeping over Overtake Trap, and she had no interest in exploring the place where she would be living for the next two or three weeks.
Only then did it suddenly occur to her to ask how the hotel rooms had been arranged.
Looking at Terumi Shinji, who seemed utterly at ease, a certain hopeful fantasy rose in her heart. Dubai was famous for its ridiculous wealth—maybe they had been given a huge suite, with extra rooms inside, so that she and Shinji could stay together.
At first it was only wishful thinking.
But when Terumi Shinji followed them all the way to the door of one room, that fantasy instantly flared into ecstatic hope.
"You're staying with us?" Saint Halo asked.
Overtake Trap stared fixedly at Shinji's face, unwilling to miss even the slightest change in his expression.
"Yeah."
At his answer, Overtake Trap swallowed hard, then quickly turned her gaze away toward the door that had just been opened.
She was afraid Shinji might see an expression on her face that was far from ladylike, and she knew she would not be able to suppress it, so she simply looked elsewhere.
Saint Halo immediately flushed crimson. Narita Brian, having already guessed the suite likely had separate rooms inside, managed to stay calm. Saint Halo, however, had already gripped the hem of her clothes, too embarrassed to meet Shinji's eyes.
She thought this was far too much. Even if he was already a trainer she had acknowledged, they could not just live together like this.
Terumi Shinji, meanwhile, completely failed to notice the strange reactions from Overtake Trap and Saint Halo. After sitting in the middle seat on the plane the entire time, unable even to stretch his legs without care, his thoughts were already fixed on the bed he had yet to meet. Pulling his suitcase behind him, he headed inside first.
The first things to catch his eye were the decorative pieces placed on both sides. The luxurious atmosphere announced itself from the moment they stepped in; the dazzling furnishings everywhere made Shinji feel as though he had broadened his horizons.
There was a spacious living room, and a floor-to-ceiling window that offered a clear view of the outside. Dubai's nightscape was a mesmerizing sea of gold, and standing by that window felt like looking out over an ocean made of light, shimmering and flowing.
Several doors stood open on either side of the living room—clearly their bedrooms.
Shinji had never been picky about food or lodging, so he chose the room that looked smallest without hesitation.
Behind him, Saint Halo finally understood the layout of the place, and the embarrassment she had felt earlier only deepened into something even more overpowering. Her face looked almost wet with color, and the tip of her tongue darted nervously over her lips, leaving them moist and glossy.
"Get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow we start adapting to the track."
As soon as Shinji brought the topic back to business, all three girls' expressions changed. They had not expected his schedule to be this tight. They had only just arrived and had not even gotten familiar with the surroundings yet; all of them had assumed they would at least get one day to wander around.
[Negative Energy +20]
[Negative Energy +30]
[Negative Energy +25]
Listening to the system notifications in his ear, Terumi Shinji's lips curled upward, his smile taking on a more unrestrained air.
"Trap, you came here to race. You absolutely cannot slack off. As for Halo and Brian, even if you're not competing, you're still both a long way from your goals. My training focus will definitely be mainly on Trap, but there'll be plenty of horse girls here during the event. Especially you, Halo—you should take the initiative to interact with them, spar, and learn from them. Right now, what you need most is more experience. Especially in real races, you have to maintain your focus and stay calm."
The girls' expressions immediately sobered.
They could all hear the seriousness in Shinji's tone, and they all understood that what he was saying was correct. Each of them had their own goal. If they had not all been carrying firm convictions in their hearts, the three of them would never have ended up in the same team under the same trainer.
Only then, with the door still open behind them, did they realize they needed to hurry up, wash up, and sleep. Their trainer was not the kind of man who would delay training just because they had their own reasons.
Overtake Trap went to shut the door. Just as her hand touched the knob, the door opposite theirs opened as well.
It seemed to be a room of the exact same type, though from the brief glimpse Overtake Trap caught, it looked like only one horse girl was staying there. Or perhaps others were inside, but the living room seemed mostly empty.
"Overtake Trap?"
The horse girl at the other door had been wearing a lazy expression, but the moment she recognized Trap's face, she blurted out the name in surprise. Startled by hearing her own name, Trap looked at the little flag painted on the girl's cheek.
It was the French flag, oddly conspicuous against her pale skin. And the moment Trap saw it, she immediately remembered the entry list Terumi Shinji had shown her before they came.
It had not been the final list for the Dubai Sheema Classic, but there were already several names on it that were more or less confirmed.
One of them was the horse girl standing before her now—a racer with very little chance of actually threatening Overtake Trap in this race.
Trap tilted her head slightly, then waved once in acknowledgment.
The girl opposite clearly wanted to say something more, but Trap reacted quickly and shut the door.
She knew she would not understand what the other girl was saying. And if they started trying to communicate, it would only mean troubling Terumi Shinji, who was already obviously tired.
Trap had no wish to trouble him. If it only cost her time, she did not mind. But if it meant using Shinji's time—his time to rest, at that—then she knew exactly what she ought to do.
Staring at the now-closed door across from them, Ligonglao frowned. She heard footsteps behind her and turned, meeting the eyes of her trainer.
The unkempt beard on his face made Ligonglao inwardly sigh, exasperated as always by how sloppy he looked, but she still pointed toward the opposite room.
"Overtake Trap. Just like Shijiaji said—she looks kind of small."
"To have even Shijiaji calling her small, hm."
The laugh squeezed from the man's throat sounded as though he had just heard something absurdly funny, enough to make his belly jiggle.
"But she doesn't look all that pressured."
At that, her trainer's face abruptly turned serious as he looked at her. Ligonglao, thinking there might be something wrong with her own appearance, quickly adjusted her nightdress.
"Don't say things like that. She's the kind of top-tier horse girl who fought her way out of the Japan Cup. Even if you go all out, you still might not be able to compete with her."
Hearing her trainer lavish praise on someone else, Ligonglao puffed out her cheeks. As if she did not already know how strong Overtake Trap was—she had heard all about it from Shijiaji. Who needed him saying it too?
Undermining your own and boosting the enemy's morale.
Annoyed, the horse girl let out a heavy huff and headed off toward her room, leaving the big bearded man momentarily dumbfounded before he gave a bitter laugh.
He realized belatedly that he had said the wrong thing.
His eyes drifted toward the tightly shut door across the hall.
More than anything, he wanted to be able to see what Overtake Trap was really like beyond that door—
a horse girl from a place he had never thought much about before,
a true world-class racer.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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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
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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 Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
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 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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