"Bliss…"
Half an hour later, Galileo—who had come today specifically to mooch a meal off Kagura—finally got her wish and got to eat lunch.
Watching Galileo wolf down her food outside, Kagura's mood, which had been wrecked earlier that morning, improved quite a bit too. At least something had gone right today.
"By the way, I saw Teacher Kagura running side by side with someone else out on the track just now. Was that someone you know?"
"No. Just some rude foreign tourist."
Kagura shook her head. Galileo could tell she had no desire to talk about what had happened that morning.
She knew Seattle Slew. Back when she was in Europe, she had met that American Triple Crown champion before, and she knew her temperament and her strength. So when she came to Tracen today and saw Kagura running side by side with Seattle, she had more or less guessed what was going on. And now that Kagura clearly did not want to bring it up, that only confirmed that the morning had not gone pleasantly.
What really caught Galileo's attention, though, was that Kagura—that little Umamusume—had actually beaten Seattle in that clash. True, Seattle lacked turf aptitude, but Galileo could tell Seattle had run seriously. In the end, she had only slipped up for an instant in that final contest of momentum, and Kagura had seized the chance to overtake her right before the finish line.
Looks like Mom was right after all… Teacher Kagura really is an exceptionally gifted Umamusume…
There were a lot of factors behind Seattle's defeat. If it came down to pure ability alone, Kagura might still not be Seattle's match for now. But even so, it was enough to prove Kagura's strength. One of the purposes of Galileo's visit had already been fulfilled. With Urban Sea's judgment now verified, it was time for her to think about what came next.
"I see… mm… Teacher Kagura, your cooking really is amazing. Back when I was taking breaks from work, I'd sometimes scroll through your videos, and every time I watched them my stomach would ache from hunger. Then I'd have no choice but to go back to work and calm myself down. Haha. Today I finally got the chance to taste your cooking for myself."
"Haha~ I'm glad you like it, Miss Galileo. Also, forcing yourself back into work like that all the time will do a number on your stomach in the long run. You should take care of yourself and get proper rest, or Ms. Ocean will worry."
"Got it… Teacher Kagura really is just like the fans say—you've totally got that mom vibe~"
"Oh, come on. You make me sound ancient. You big, strapping lot call a shorty like me 'mom,' and none of you think that's weird?"
Separated by the glass of the serving window, Kagura put on an angry face. It was such a cute look that anyone watching would want to squish her cheeks.
That said, Kagura had long since gotten used to her fans calling her that, and she did not dislike it herself.
"No, no. It's because everyone likes Teacher Kagura that they say it~ Oh, right, I heard from my mom that Teacher Kagura already made your debut around midyear, right? Do you have any races planned next?"
"Miss Galileo, trying to ask about another professional racer's schedule isn't a very nice thing to do, you know."
Kagura turned down the question with a smile. She had no intention of revealing her race plans to someone she barely knew. She personally did not think it was some huge secret, but it still counted as personal information, and what ought to be protected should be protected.
"Sorry, sorry. I wasn't trying to pry into Teacher Kagura's schedule. I just wanted to know whether Miss Kagura has any interest in going to Europe to develop there."
As she spoke, Galileo set down her spoon and chopsticks, leaned toward the Student Kitchen window, and pushed a business card through it.
Kagura took the card from inside and looked it over carefully. It was neatly covered front and back in English, but for her, both in the past and now, reading something like that was not a problem.
European Tracen student council president… Galileo?
After reading what was written on it, Kagura raised her brows in surprise. Having stayed at Central Tracen Academy for so long, she knew very well what kind of status a student council president held within a school. No wonder that fan named Urban Sea had kept asking whether she was interested in going abroad. So her child was the student council president over at European Tracen. With that kind of connection, it really would not be difficult to get someone in.
But putting the fan matter aside for the moment, Galileo's initiative here, however Kagura looked at it, felt very much like the legendary act of—
Is this poaching?
Kagura did not know what Galileo's real intentions were, but it was not unheard of for student council presidents to personally go out poaching talent. Rudolf herself would occasionally wander between schools in Tokyo scouting promising talent, and rumor had it that once she had more free time in the future, she planned to head farther afield and scout the branch schools too.
"If Teacher Kagura ever has the idea of coming to Europe, you can contact me anytime. I saw the match between Teacher Kagura and that foreign tourist this morning. To be honest, I know that foreign tourist. She's an extremely formidable Triple Crown professional racer from America. For Teacher Kagura to take a win off her at your age is more than enough to prove just how extraordinary your talent is."
"Your mother has contacted me several times too, asking whether I'd like to go to Europe. I'm honestly curious about the reason. What necessary connection is there between being talented and going to Europe?"
"Well… that isn't really something suited to discussing in a place like the Cafeteria. If Teacher Kagura really wants to know, then after I get back, we can talk through private messages."
"I see… I get the general idea. Thank you for the offer, Miss Galileo, but for the time being, I still haven't made arrangements related to going abroad, so… sorry."
Kagura's refusal did not surprise Galileo. After all, Kagura still knew nothing about their side of things. Galileo had no intention of giving up over this, either. Now that they had managed to meet, there would be plenty of chances in the future. There was no need to rush.
Of course, setting aside her mother's suggestion and the other factors for the moment, Galileo herself was also very interested in Kagura. Not only because of Kagura's great strength, but for another reason as well—when she arrived, she had actually noticed the ornament on Kagura's ear. Kagura wore her earring on her left ear, and in Galileo's experience over in Europe, Umamusume like that would often take the initiative to get close to her, or simply keep staring at her. She had run into quite a lot of that these past few days after coming to Japan as well. She could not say what the reason was, so in the end she could only chalk it up to some part of her own natural gifts. But Kagura seemed completely unaffected by that sort of thing.
What an unusual Umamusume… No wonder Mom is paying her so much attention.
...
——So this is the student council president of European Tracen? Interesting.
What is it? Are you interested in Galileo, Eclipse-san?
——A little… I can feel an interesting sort of presence coming off her. If I'm not mistaken, she's probably quite popular with other Umamusume in Europe.
Why do you think that?
——Just speaking from experience. No particular reason.
---
T/N: HEHEHE LEFT FEMALE LEFT EAR FEMALE!!!!!!! also remember, she's saying teacher kagura and not sensei because european! also miss not san because english!
hmmm so galileo is popular with female umas well left ornament ear umas
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