"Arrogant?"
After hearing Seja's assessment, Overtake Trap instinctively glanced at her friend's eyes. Seja immediately blushed. If anyone was going to talk about arrogance, then after winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe undefeated, Seja herself had been arrogant beyond measure.
Coming from her, the word sounded more than a little ridiculous.
"If she's gone there already… then even if we're not running in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, you'd better not let your guard down. She's a horse girl with a lot of potential."
At Shinji's warning, Seja only shrugged.
She was not afraid.
In the first mock race of the year, she had crushed the runner-up—a horse girl in blazing form who had won two G1s in the past two years—by nearly ten lengths, shocking the entire academy.
With blessing piled atop blessing, her strength had become terrifying. She had every reason to be confident.
Seeing the way Seja looked now, Shinji said nothing more. Confidence was a good thing. If she kept winning and kept believing in herself, then in Shinji's view, Seja might gradually become one of Europe's legendary horse girls.
With that, he withdrew his gaze, checked the time in his head, and figured that since Seja was already here, they might as well make good use of the week and a bit remaining before the race.
He had been worrying about finding a suitable training partner, only for one to practically deliver herself to his doorstep. That alone put him in a good mood.
He turned and continued walking. Narita Brian and Overtake Trap hurried after him, while Seja trailed closely behind.
"Where are you going? I know you're done training already—want to go out and have some fun together?"
One could tell from that alone that she still had not really gone sightseeing since arriving. Shinji smiled faintly. It was no wonder Seja's trainer had set her on the path he had. For someone this playful, if she had been relying on effort alone, there was no way her future would be as brilliant and carefree as it was now.
"We're going to get a massage," Overtake Trap said softly, pressing her lips together.
"A massage?"
Seja blinked, then immediately caught on. Her face lit up.
"Then I'm going too."
As she spoke, she even hiked up her lovely little skirt just a bit. She bent one knee, drawing her calf back toward the rear of her thigh, which only made the slim line of her lower leg and the soft curve above it stand out all the more.
One had to admit, the academy uniforms overseas were genuinely well designed. They were full of a girl's youthful charm, yet also showed off the alluring side a horse girl had as an idol.
"Perfect. Then Shinji can touch my legs too and see whether they're really completely fine now."
The moment she said that, Seja suddenly felt a chill from behind. Turning around, she met Overtake Trap's eyes—dark, heavy, and unmistakably warning her off.
The message in those eyes could not have been clearer: absolutely not.
"…"
Seja broke out in a cold sweat and instantly realized she had gotten carried away. She had forgotten a very important detail.
[Negative Energy +100]
She dropped her skirt at once, and the smooth, pale expanse of her thigh vanished from sight.
The system clicked its tongue.
Shinji averted his gaze so naturally it almost looked innocent, but Overtake Trap had noticed all the same, and her cheeks puffed out.
In truth, there was nothing wrong with the conversation itself. If the horse girl consented and trusted her trainer's professional judgment, then feeling the condition of her legs really was one of the best ways for a trainer to assess a horse girl.
The problem was that, unlike others, the foreign racers who had once spent day after day around Shinji and Overtake Trap knew far too much.
Back then, Overtake Trap had been giving him those almost sticky, yearning looks even while eating. How could Seja not know that?
Seja stuck out her tongue apologetically at Overtake Trap, and Overtake Trap rolled her eyes at her.
Only then did the group step into the recovery room.
The place was filled with all kinds of dazzling décor. None of it had anything to do with physical recovery, but simply looking at it felt luxurious.
Seja's eyes filled with envy and delight. Even in France—at one of Europe's premier horse girl academies—something like this probably did not exist.
It reminded Shinji that, as another region that had once lagged behind and been considered weak in horse racing, Saudi Arabia might not be far from making a major impact on the international stage either.
"Man, if only the student council back at our academy could build a recovery room like this."
Seja let out a helpless sigh. Even if the student council president at the French academy approved a project like this now, by the time it was finished, it would have nothing to do with her anymore.
The prime years of the Flash Series would have already passed her by.
It was basically like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet and trying to eat your money's worth. Seja's current mindset was exactly that—she wanted to try every single machine in here. Otherwise, it would just feel like a huge waste.
"So your student council handles all this stuff over there?" Narita Brian asked curiously.
Seja nodded without thinking.
"Isn't it like that everywhere? If the student council doesn't manage it, then who does?"
"Shouldn't this kind of thing need approval from the board?" Brian said.
"Really…?"
Seja tilted her head, clearly wanting to deny it, but since she was not in the student council and did not actually know how such things worked, she ended up sounding uncertain.
"We don't really hear much about the board over there. They probably just handle the funding…"
After saying that, she noticed Brian had fallen into thought, so she immediately abandoned the topic and dashed off toward one of the machines.
She had no intention of wasting time on things she found boring, or on horse girls she was not familiar with.
Seeing her fumble around with a machine for ages without figuring out what it did, Shinji could not help laughing.
He led Overtake Trap and the still-thoughtful Narita Brian toward a machine on the other side. This one helped with leg recovery, circulating water to cool the legs quickly while also using the current itself to massage and condition them.
"Our academy really doesn't have anything like this."
Honestly, Shinji felt tempted.
He had already decided that once they got back, he was going to apply for another room—something bigger—just to install equipment like this.
After all, whether it was the room or the machines, with the academy backing Polaris, resources were the least of his worries.
Besides, it was not as though he was constantly abusing academy support and making endless demands. He only asked when he genuinely believed something was worth having.
He watched Overtake Trap remove her shoes and socks and step in with her bare, pale feet. Then, all of a sudden, a thought struck him.
"This pool is used by everyone, right? Won't the water be kind of dirty?"
[Negative Energy +90]
Overtake Trap's expression froze.
She did not even know how to describe what she was feeling. She was both mortified by the implication that her feet were dirty right now and, at the same time, unable to deny that Shinji's concern made sense, which only made her even more uncomfortable.
Narita Brian, who had only gotten one shoe halfway off, immediately shoved it back on.
"This kind of thing is supposed to be used right after training, right?"
Seja, who had followed them over, unexpectedly came to Overtake Trap's defense.
"And besides, if it's public-use equipment, then given how they do things here, there should definitely be a filtration system or something. It's not like they'd let it turn into what you said."
At that, Overtake Trap's face turned bright red.
She had half a mind to climb right back out, but then realized—
They had not brought any towels.
Looking at Shinji, she suddenly felt that a man as careful as him should never have let her step in so casually without knowing there were towels ready, even if he had not known this machine was here in advance.
The whole process had felt suspiciously smooth and natural. The more she thought about it, the more Overtake Trap felt there was a real chance Shinji had done it on purpose.
[Negative Energy +50]
"You've got a point."
Shinji nodded. Looking at Seja's earnest face while the system's prompt chimed in his ear, a flicker of light passed through his eyes.
His gaze shifted to Overtake Trap's legs just above the waterline. The depth of the pool came right up to her knees.
"I'm going back to get towels. You can stay in there a little longer. There's a chair over there—have someone bring it over and you can sit down."
With that, Shinji carefully stepped around Overtake Trap's shoes and headed for the door. That path alone wrung another twenty points of negative energy out of her, which only deepened the smile on his face.
"Xiao Yue, just wait here for me. Brian, you can use that machine first to ease the fatigue in your waist and hips…"
His figure gradually disappeared through the doorway.
Overtake Trap stared at the shoes and socks she had taken off, left there in plain sight beside the machine. Her socks were faintly marked with sand, making them look rather less than elegant, and that only made her feel more embarrassed.
Ahhh…
The screams echoing in her heart rose and fell in waves, and one by one they turned into the steady stream of prompts ringing in Shinji's ears, filling up his emotion-energy panel.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter222)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
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
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 190
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 Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 215
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 200
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 61
Checking In in Demon Slayer 65
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
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