Over the past five months, Sakuraba Ryo had diligently hit his loss KPI every single month.
And that KPI had been rising steadily.
It had started at 5 million yen. Now he had to lose 20 million yen a month.
Only five months had passed between those two figures.
As for the extra rewards the system gave him, they were still the same old two things: improved physical ability and increased attractiveness to Umamusume.
By now, Sakuraba Ryo didn't look particularly muscular on the surface, but in terms of actual strength, he was far stronger than the average person.
And maybe because his attractiveness to Umamusume had been raised a few too many times, he had recently started to feel that the way Norn Ace looked at him in his foot-massage parlor was a little strange.
Meh, it was probably just his imagination.
After all, whenever Oguri Cap looked at him, her gaze was always as clear and pure as ever.
So it probably wasn't a big deal.
As for the foot-massage parlor, for some reason, a batch of Umamusume from Tokyo had recently started making special trips all the way to Kasamatsu just to try it out, causing business there to surge and leaving Sakuraba Ryo miserable for quite a while.
I never advertised my shop in Tokyo, did I? Where the hell is all this organic hype coming from?
Since he had no idea what was causing it, Sakuraba Ryo didn't have any especially good way to deal with the situation either.
But that wasn't why he had come to see Tamamo Cross today.
It was for something else.
"Tamamo, come to Hokkaido with me."
"Huh?"
Tamamo Cross, who had been quietly devouring ramen beside him, froze.
"Why do you suddenly want to go to Hokkaido?"
"To check out the school I invested in, obviously." Sakuraba Ryo gave her a look that said, Why would you even ask that? "I mean, I've already spent almost 20 million yen on you, Tamamo, and you've pretty much handed all that money over to the academy. Isn't it normal for me to want to take a look?"
"Then let's go."
Tamamo Cross was as decisive as ever. If Sakuraba Ryo wanted to go, then they'd go.
...
Taking two days off from the academy and going back home for a look wasn't exactly difficult.
Sakuraba Ryo's reason for going to Nishikino Academy was actually very simple: he wanted to confirm whether the money Tamamo had handed over had really been used to improve the academy.
Sure, the money had basically cost him nothing, considering it came from the system.
But part of it had also come from the prize money Oguri Cap had earned. If that money hadn't been used, as he and Tamamo had hoped, to improve the school, and had instead been embezzled by someone lining their own pockets, then that would be infuriating.
A parasite like that deserved a vicious haymaker from a fist strengthened by the system!
Once they decided to go, they went.
Neither of them was the type to drag things out. The moment they settled on Hokkaido, they bought plane tickets and headed off that very day.
On the flight, Tamamo Cross even showed Sakuraba Ryo some old photos of what Nishikino Academy used to look like.
"They're still using classrooms this rundown...?"
"And this school building looks pretty old too."
"Whoa, that training ground is tiny..."
No students, no facilities, no money, no teachers...
Sakuraba Ryo flipped through the old school photos Tamamo had handed him one by one. Heh. This place looked dead as hell. No wonder they said it was going bankrupt.
"Well... the main problem was poor management. And it was a minor regional Academy, too, without ever producing any especially famous Umamusume. So in the end, bankruptcy was naturally where it was headed," Tamamo Cross said with a melancholy look.
"If not for your financial support, Nishikino Academy probably would've been finished a long time ago."
"Hehe. Are you starting to feel a little grateful to me?"
"I am." Tamamo Cross spoke with complete honesty. "Even now, I still have no idea what goes on inside your head... but I really am grateful to you."
"Well..."
Faced with such a direct expression of thanks from the girl, Sakuraba Ryo looked away guiltily.
His original motives for helping Tamamo Cross hadn't exactly been pure...
...
"This is...?!"
Tamamo Cross rubbed her eyes. Sakuraba Ryo reflexively pulled out his phone, brought up the old photo of the run-down school building, and looked up again—
"Holy shit..."
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Where was the old school building from the photo, with its peeling walls and broken windows?
In its place stood a brand-new three-story academic building, done in a modern pale gray and off-white design, with broad glass windows reflecting Hokkaido's blue sky.
The school gate had been replaced with a low-key but elegant wrought-iron one, and beside it hung a brand-new bronze school plaque—
Nishikino Academy.
Beyond it, the muddy dirt field had been transformed into a neatly laid grass track, and there was even a small fountain in the center.
Near the training grounds stood several sets of professional obstacle-training equipment and shaded pavilions for resting, all ringed with greenery, giving the whole place the air of an elite sports academy.
"Huh?"
Tamamo Cross stared in utter disbelief, her voice trembling.
Where the hell did we end up?
Is this still Nishikino?
Looking at the campus, now completely transformed, Sakuraba Ryo froze for a second before the corners of his mouth began to lift on their own.
With his hands in his pockets, he strolled forward at an easy pace, his gaze sweeping over the brand-new school building, the professional grass track, and the tasteful fountain and pavilions. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became, until he finally let out a quiet laugh.
"Not bad, Tamamo. Just look at how this money got spent..."
He turned to Tamamo Cross, who was still standing there in a daze, unable to hide the pleasure in his tone.
"Looks like that 20 million really was used here down to the last yen."
He had originally worried that the funds might have been diverted somewhere else, and had even been prepared to start throwing punches.
But now, the groundbreaking transformation before his eyes, and the way every detail screamed that the money really had made it here, was the best proof he could have asked for.
"This turned out even better than I imagined." Sakuraba Ryo stroked his chin, eyes gleaming. "Looks like Nishikino Academy... no, the new Nishikino Academy might actually be able to make something of itself."
It seemed that his investment not only hadn't gone down the drain—it might even have... accidentally landed on a dark horse?
And just like that, an idea popped into his head.
Since he had already poured so much money into Nishikino Academy, why not just become one of its shareholders outright?
Investing in a single Umamusume was an investment. Investing in an entire academy was still an investment too, wasn't it?
Damn!
Wouldn't that be an even better way to spend money?
It was only a regional academy. Even after investing in it, how much of a splash could it really make? In the end, there was no way it could compare to Tracen Academy in Central!
This was basically a guaranteed-profit move!
What, was he somehow going to lead a regional academy into overtaking Tracen Academy?
There was no way things would ever turn out like that. Ha ha.
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T/N: KPI is key performance indicator its what investors use youre welcome, i learned investor stuff oh and restricted races, are basically races with set conditions u need to have to even enter, but yeah its below open class races so dont bother remembering