"Hey, Norn. Norn? Norn!"
Rudy Lemo called out to her friend, but when she got no response at all, she had no choice but to raise her voice.
Norn Ace snapped back instinctively, "Why are you yelling so loud?!"
"Ah, no, I…"
Seeing Norn Ace flare up, Rudy Lemo instinctively shrank back a little.
"The main thing is, Norn's acting weird," Mini Lady said, thoroughly puzzled. "After that race, she's just been staring at her own hand and spacing out. Did that girl do something to her? She seems super suspicious. And the way Norn suddenly fell was weird too. Don't tell me she pulled some kind of trick?"
"That's not what happened!"
Norn Ace shouted the rebuttal. The moment the words left her mouth, her fair cheeks flushed bright red, as if she herself found it awkward and embarrassing to be defending her "enemy."
Then she awkwardly explained, "Ahem… I-I just messed up by accident, that's all. That girl, Xingyun Liuge, saved me. You can't go repaying kindness with hostility. That's all."
As she said this, Norn Ace turned her head away and hid her hand behind her back.
She had stumbled during the training race. If Xingyun Liuge had not turned back in time to save her, she might very well have died on the spot. She was not some immature horse girl. There was no way she was going to bare her teeth at the person who had saved her life.
The training race had naturally been interrupted because of the accident, but the result was already obvious.
Even though Xingyun Liuge had started late, she had still overtaken Norn Ace with ease. If the accident had not happened, she might very well have ended the race with a massive lead.
Thinking of that, Norn Ace let out a long sigh.
"That girl… Xingyun Liuge is so strong she's basically a monster. She's not the kind of horse girl someone like me can compare to. Come to think of it, she still doesn't have a trainer, right? Do you think Kawamura has a chance?"
A faint blush surfaced on Norn Ace's face, as though she were somehow embarrassed.
"A monster? Seriously? She's not, like, March-level strong, is she?"
"Huh? Kawamura? Norn, did you hit your head when you fell? Why would you want to be on the same team as a monster like that?"
Norn Ace unleashed a loud roar:
"S-Shut up!"
Meanwhile, on the other side…
After running that training race against Norn Ace, Xingyun Liuge's standing at Kasamatsu Tracen improved a tiny little bit.
Just a tiny little bit.
The horse girls here were mostly slackers. Whether Xingyun Liuge was genuinely strong or just another slacker like them, they did not really care. Trainer Kawamura, who had been there to watch, had certainly gotten excited for a moment—
but only for a moment.
There was no helping it. Chihaya Yui, who still did not have a horse girl under her charge, had a prior connection with Xingyun Liuge.
After all, Xingyun Liuge was the one Chihaya Yui had personally brought to Kasamatsu Tracen. The two had spoken many times, and Xingyun Liuge clearly liked Chihaya Yui. Even if someone else wanted to poach her away, there was nothing to poach.
When Xingyun Liuge specifically named her as her trainer, Chihaya Yui touched the back of her head in confusion, nearly fainting from the shock of such a blessing dropping right into her lap.
Even though the training race had only gone halfway, she could tell that Xingyun Liuge possessed the ability to utterly crush Norn Ace. She was at least the caliber of Fujimasa March—perhaps even stronger!
But she herself was only a newly graduated rookie.
Could she really shoulder a responsibility like that?
She could not help but ask outright,
"Someone like me… would I really be enough?"
Xingyun Liuge rose onto her toes so that her line of sight matched Chihaya Yui's, then placed both hands on her shoulders and answered in a tone that made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world:
"Trainer Chihaya is a good person, so don't say strange things like that. You need to have more confidence!"
It was not simply because her ordinary kindness had flared up.
If she had to put it into words, this was more like repaying a debt.
Xingyun Liuge had originally thought this world was something close to a utopia, where horse girls could enroll in their local Tracen Academy for free. But after talking with the elderly staff lady, she learned that there was no such special treatment here.
On the contrary, Tracen Academy's tuition was actually quite expensive.
That so-called "free admission" of hers only existed because someone else had been carrying the burden for her.
And that was exactly why Xingyun Liuge had chosen Chihaya Yui as her trainer.
This was a genuinely kind person in the most literal sense. Good people deserved good things to happen to them.
Since horse girl racing was highly profitable, and trainers could receive a share of the earnings, then naturally Xingyun Liuge was going to designate Chihaya Yui as her trainer.
After saying all that, Xingyun Liuge felt a tiny bit tired inside.
Before transmigrating, she had only been one meter fifty.
After transmigrating, she was still only one meter fifty.
So what had even been the point of transmigrating?
Back then she had been saddled with a debuff in the form of a special illness literally named after her, but now that it was gone, why was she still not growing any taller?
Was that really fair?
In a playful mood, Xingyun Liuge thought to herself:
Maybe I should save up and buy a Heartsteel?
Fortunately, she had not entered her full growth phase yet, so there was still room for her to grow.
She patted Chihaya Yui on the shoulder and urged,
"Instead of thinking about that, shouldn't you help me confirm the date of my debut race first?"
Kasamatsu Tracen was too small—so small that Xingyun Liuge could completely demolish Norn Ace without using a single skill. She wanted to debut as soon as possible, spam races, then buy equipment and roll for more champions.
It could not be helped.
She was a collector, after all.
Who could resist the achievement of collecting every single champion?
"Yes, then we… eh?"
Chihaya Yui instinctively started to agree, only to realize something was off.
They had not even started formal training yet, so how had things already skipped ahead to the debut race?
Even if Xingyun Liuge had great fundamentals and overwhelming raw ability, she could not just be thrown straight into competition like that. At the very least, they needed to determine her track compatibility and all her various stats.
Though Chihaya Yui was just a rookie trainer, she was extremely responsible when it came to dealing with people.
And so, as the sun began to set, the two of them returned to the training grounds.
Holding a stopwatch, Chihaya Yui explained,
"Most regional races are run on dirt, and the distances are usually pretty short. Xingyun Liuge, let's start by trying fourteen hundred meters. I want to see your full power."
Full power?
Did that mean she was supposed to pop Ghost and Flash?
Just kidding.
Xingyun Liuge knew Chihaya Yui wanted to get a feel for her baseline ability so she could tailor a training plan to her.
Xingyun Liuge personally felt that was unnecessary, but in order to give Chihaya Yui a greater sense of involvement, her expression turned serious.
She was willing to let Chihaya Yui see what her full power looked like with absolutely nothing activated.
Along with the girl's light shout, a wild gale erupted from flat ground!
Chihaya Yui instinctively raised an arm to shield her face from the flying dirt and sand. By the time she looked up again, Xingyun Liuge was already a hundred meters away.
Without thinking, she glanced at the stopwatch and gasped in amazement.
"Amazing!"
Norn Ace's start during the daytime race had looked excellent?
That was only because Xingyun Liuge had been far too casual. Even so, she had still caught up to Norn Ace effortlessly and overtaken her just as easily. That alone already said a great deal.
But what if Xingyun Liuge gave it her all from the very start?
Heh.
Chihaya Yui had only one thought:
This was a powerhouse who could conquer every direction and rampage across the entire racing world!
She had studied plenty of races, and in her judgment, Xingyun Liuge had already reached a level high enough to compete in major graded races!
As dust billowed across the ground, neither of the two girls noticed that, not far from the training field, a gray-haired girl had caught sight of that gallant figure running across the track.
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 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter100)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 60
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 50
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 50
The Way the Umamusume Look at 31
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 26
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