After appointing Belno Light as his vanguard in the art of losing money, Sakuraba Ryo got stopped again somewhere on campus.
"...So what exactly are you three trying to do here?"
Sakuraba raised a brow as he looked at the familiar trio in front of him.
"What's with that look? Are you really that unhappy to see us?" Rudy Lemono pouted.
"Norn's got something she wants to say to you," Mini the Lady added with a snicker.
Behind her, Norn Ace stepped forward, her lips pressed tight.
"Here."
"...?"
Sakuraba stared at the two tickets Norn Ace held out to him, completely baffled.
"They're discount coupons for my family's dance studio. You can take that girl over there sometime."
A dance studio?
Come to think of it, Kitahara really hadn't done much training with Oguri Cap in that area.
After an Umamusume wins a race, there's usually a post-race concert called a Winning Live.
The winner stands in the center position and shows off her singing and dancing, drawing in huge numbers of fans.
"Why are you giving me this?"
The coupons actually were useful to him, but what Sakuraba found strange was why Norn Ace was suddenly being nice enough to hand them over...
"What happened before... that was on me."
Norn Ace mumbled it so quietly and awkwardly that it barely came out.
"Huh? It was too quiet. I didn't catch that. Mind saying it again?"
"Tch."
Norn Ace bit her lip, shot him a vicious glare, then raised her voice.
"What happened before—when I blocked your way and said your judgment sucked—that was my fault! Oguri Cap really does have skill! This is my apology, okay?! Happy now?!"
Oh? Why's she getting so worked up?
Seeing the tips of Norn Ace's ears turning red, Sakuraba couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
"I appreciate the thought, but you should take the coupons back."
"Hah?"
If Norn Ace had offered him something else, he might actually have accepted it.
But dance studio coupons?
No way.
Absolutely not.
From the moment the Loss System awakened, he and anything discount-related had become fundamentally incompatible.
What were coupons, anyway? He could just pay full price and sign Oguri Cap up for dance lessons himself!
Wouldn't that be an even bigger loss?
When it came to losing money, every detail mattered. Of course he was going to make sure this money got lost too.
"You...!"
Norn Ace gritted her teeth.
She'd struggled with this apology for ages before finally working up the nerve, and she'd spent just as long thinking over what kind of peace offering to bring.
And yet—Sakuraba wasn't accepting it!
What a petty man!
I seriously—
"I know you're in a hurry, but don't be in a hurry just yet!"
Before the girl could blow up, Sakuraba smoothly put his remarkable talent for controlling the atmosphere on full display.
"Compared to coupons as an apology, there's something else I need your help with~"
"...?"
...
"This is what you wanted me to do?"
Standing in front of the foot-massage parlor Sakuraba was preparing to open, Norn Ace's mouth twitched.
"Well, you see, I just opened a new shop, and I happen to be short on staff~ If you really want to apologize, then work here as one of my employees for a week or so~"
"Of course, I'll be paying you normal wages during that time too~"
Holding several sets of employee uniforms in his arms, Sakuraba smiled brightly.
"A foot-massage parlor... Just so we're clear, I'm not doing any weird services."
After thinking it over, Norn Ace finally took the uniform from his hands.
But Rudy Lemono and Mini the Lady immediately stopped her.
"Whoa, whoa, Norn, you're really gonna work under this guy...?"
"Doesn't this place look super sketchy? What kind of normal person opens a place like this at a school...? Something like this belongs in Kabukicho!"
"Yeah, exactly! Norn, think this through!"
But Norn Ace only rolled her eyes at them.
"Obviously I know that. But Rudy, Mini, think about it. If this were really some weird shady place, there's no way the principal would've allowed it to open on campus."
"Besides, it's only for a week. I get paid just for being an employee, and he's willing to do that. Why wouldn't I say yes to a deal like this? And the way you two are talking makes it sound like I was the only one involved in what happened before. You're both coming with me."
The gyaru girl mercilessly snatched the remaining uniforms from Sakuraba's hands and stuffed them into the other two girls' arms.
"No way, I have to do it too...?"
"Please spare me..."
Sakuraba chose that exact moment to chime in.
"Come on, don't look so reluctant. The two of you will be getting normal pay too, of course~"
"Oh, come on... I don't wanna work~"
"Please spare me..."
Rudy Lemono and Mini the Lady both sounded like they were begging for mercy.
"60,000 yen for the week, though~"
Sakuraba added with a pleasant smile.
"I always knew this job was my true calling."
Rudy Lemono silently accepted the uniform.
"Please do not spare me."
Mini the Lady snapped to attention.
"What the hell... you two..."
Seeing her two friends switch sides that fast, even Norn Ace couldn't stop her mouth from twitching.
"Norn, there's nothing we can do. This is 60,000 yen for one week! You can't make that kind of money from a normal part-time job!" Rudy Lemono said seriously, with Mini the Lady nodding right beside her.
"Exactly! It's not every day some big sap—uh, I mean, some kindhearted person offers us a job like this. Naturally we have a duty to accept it. We can't just waste his goodwill~"
"You two, honestly..."
For the first time, Norn Ace truly understood just how unreliable her two best friends were.
Then she turned to Sakuraba and said, "Anyway, that's how it is. The three of us will be working at your shop for the time being. If anything goes wrong, we leave whenever we want. No problem with that, right?"
"Of course not~"
Sakuraba grinned.
Now the shop finally had a full staff. That would make everything much easier from here on out~
The foot-massage parlor money-losing plan was officially on track!
Then tomorrow, they'd open for business!
Kasamatsu Training Center Academy EXCLUSIVEEE foot-massage parlour!
Startooo~!
"Oh, right."
Still basking in his beautiful fantasy, Sakuraba suddenly remembered something and turned to the three of them.
"While you're working here, you have to call me Boss. Stop calling me 'that guy' all the time!"
"I'm your superior now, so let me hear you say it—Boss!"
The three Umamusume instantly went dead-eyed.
Was this man getting a little too full of himself?
"No way—!"
The three of them shouted in perfect unison.
"Subordinates are not allowed to talk back to their boss!"
"NO WAY—!"
---
T/N: i did some research... ITS WINNING LIVE AHHHHHHHHHHH IVE BEEN WRONG THIS ENTIRE TIMEEEEEEEEEEE
norn ace... is kinda a baddy