"A deal with no downside..."
Tamamo Cross looked utterly shaken.
The terms Sakuraba Ryo had offered her were incredibly tempting.
Three million yen. If she agreed to sign with him, she would get that money.
It was nowhere near enough to save her former school outright, but it would clearly ease the immediate crisis.
At the very least, it would buy Tamamo Cross more chances to earn prize money herself.
Damn it...!
Looking at it that way, didn't that mean there was only one possible answer?
"Why?!"
Tamamo Cross's gaze sharpened as she stared at Sakuraba.
"Why pick me to invest in? What do you even stand to gain from investing in me?"
Yes—Tamamo Cross needed to know why.
She wasn't stupid. She knew perfectly well that there's no such thing as a free lunch
This man named Sakuraba had approached her with a very clear purpose in mind. He had even thoroughly investigated her background...
His target was obviously her.
And that was exactly why Tamamo Cross needed to know the reason.
She didn't believe she was worth the kind of trouble someone would go to in order to invest in her...
And yet this guy in front of her had shown up at the exact moment she needed money most.
That was enough to make anyone suspect ulterior motives.
Hearing Tamamo Cross's question, Sakuraba understood at once.
Yeah. If he were in her position, he wouldn't agree to some strange man who had appeared out of nowhere claiming he wanted to invest in him either.
But as long as he gave her a convincing enough reason, then this investment might not fail after all.
The corners of Sakuraba's lips curled upward.
"Of course. Just as you suspect, my purpose in investing isn't pure."
"After all, I don't intend to spend a mere three million yen on you and call it a day."
"So once you agree, we'll sign an agreement first..."
"What I want in return for my investment is half of your future prize money from wins!"
"I'm not investing in who you are now. I'm investing in your future."
"..."
Tamamo Cross was speechless.
She hadn't expected Sakuraba to say something like that...
He was investing in her future...?
Did this guy really believe that strongly that she would win in the future?
Honestly, if Tamamo Cross were in Sakuraba's position, she would absolutely never choose an Umamusume like herself to invest in...
Just getting through her debut had already taken her this long...
But once Sakuraba openly said that what he wanted was her prize money, Tamamo Cross actually felt her guard lower quite a bit.
Compared to a deal where the other side wanted nothing at all, a straightforward money deal like this was much easier to accept.
The former left you owing a favor; the latter was just a business transaction.
In that case...
"I'm in!"
Tamamo Cross held out her hand to Sakuraba.
With a faint smile, Sakuraba took the girl's hand.
The contract was sealed!
From today on, you're another star of losing money!
...
After signing the agreement with Tamamo Cross, Sakuraba promptly transferred the full three million yen to her.
Then he happily headed back to Kasamatsu.
For Sakuraba, one of the biggest reasons for signing Tamamo Cross was Nishikino Academy.
When a school declares bankruptcy, reviving it takes an enormous amount of money!
That was not the sort of hole you could plug with just a few million yen.
If you wanted to bring a school back to life, it would cost tens of millions at the very least.
If Tamamo Cross really intended to shoulder the burden of rebuilding that school by herself, then the money she would need would absolutely be a bottomless pit.
Which meant that once Sakuraba had signed Tamamo Cross, any loss goal short of the tens-of-millions range would no longer be much pressure for him at all.
Just look at it—he had already blown three million yen the moment he signed Tamamo Cross. As for how much more he would have to invest later, Sakuraba didn't even dare imagine it!
This felt incredible.
Getting returns like this from one simple trip to Tokyo—this was practically the most cost-effective investment Sakuraba could imagine.
This month's loss goal was only eight million yen, and signing a single Umamusume had already burned through this much.
Amazing! Absolutely amazing!
As long as Tamamo Cross didn't win any races afterward, then his investment would be a rock-solid loss.
"Tens of millions in losses... it's just too beautiful~"
I'm high as a kite right now!
He had only just returned to Kasamatsu when Kitahara contacted him.
"Sakuraba-san, tomorrow is Oguri-san's debut race. Please make sure to come watch."
"Oguri's debut race, huh..."
Now that he thought about it, Kitahara had mentioned last month that he planned to have Oguri debut this month.
Counting the days, the timing was about right.
Well, it's only a debut race. How much money could that possibly make...?
Sakuraba shrugged and figured he could spare some time to go take a look tomorrow.
That carefree mood lasted right up until he foolishly searched the debut race prize money on his phone...
"H-How much??"
"Eight hundred thousand yen??"
Sakuraba stared at the number on the screen in utter disbelief.
He had assumed that even if someone won a debut race, they would only make a few tens of thousands of yen at most.
What do you mean first place in a debut race pays eight hundred thousand in prize money?
Are you kidding me?
After all, the contract he had signed with Oguri Cap was actually pretty similar to the one he had with Tamamo Cross.
As long as Oguri Cap won, Sakuraba would receive half of her winner's prize money.
But even half of that was still four hundred thousand yen!
No way! My KPI!
"This is bad!"
Sakuraba immediately ran to the team activity room on campus and found Kitahara.
"Kitahara-san! Show me the list of opponents in Oguri's debut race!"
"Huh? O-Okay..."
Seeing Sakuraba burst through the door in such a panic, Kitahara was nearly startled out of his skin—and at the same time, he couldn't help feeling a little touched.
All he had done was tell Sakuraba-san that Oguri was entering her debut race, and Sakuraba-san had rushed over this anxiously to check on her.
Sakuraba really did care about Oguri.
"Sakuraba-san, here's the entry list for Oguri-san's debut race..."
Sakuraba snatched the race sheet from Kitahara's hand and asked,
"Kitahara-san, are there any opponents in here who are especially worth watching...?"
"Especially worth watching..." Kitahara thought for a moment. "You mean Fujimasa March, right?"
"Fujimasa March?"
Hearing that unexpected name, Sakuraba was taken aback. He lowered his head to look and, sure enough, found Fujimasa March's name on the entry list.
Ohhh!
Thank god, it's March-dono! We're saved!
Kasamatsu Training Center Academy's strongest rising star, Fujimasa March!
If it's you, then you can definitely stop Oguri Cap, right?!
"Bwahahaha..."
"BWAHAHAHA—!"
"I-I-I'VE WON...!!"
Sakuraba burst into wild laughter in the activity room, leaving Kitahara staring at him in bewilderment.
What a lunatic.
---
T/N: YES!!! MARCH-DONO CAN ABSOLUTELY WIN AGAINST OGURI! HAHAHAHAHAHA