"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Belno much lately. Norn, do you know where she's gone?"
At that moment, Sakuraba Ryo was bored out of his mind in the foot-massage parlor in Kasamatsu. Realizing he really had not seen Belno Light in quite a while, he turned and asked Norn Ace, the shop's bargain-hire girl.
"Belno?"
Sitting there slacking off on her phone, Norn glanced at Sakuraba Ryo and sighed.
"I think she said she went to Tokyo to expand the business."
"Expand the business?"
Sakuraba Ryo blinked, looking a little puzzled.
"What business? I don't remember assigning her anything like that."
"No idea. Anyway, she's been going back and forth to Tokyo all the time these past few months. As for what she's actually been busy with, I don't know."
After saying that, Norn rolled her eyes.
"Besides, isn't keeping track of your employees supposed to be your job as the boss? Asking where Belno's gone now is way too late!"
"Uh…"
Sakuraba Ryo scratched his head awkwardly.
"You can't really blame me for that. Belno turns in her monthly reports right on time, and I've got other investment projects to deal with too…"
"But aren't you slacking off most of the time anyway?"
Norn Ace found the gap in Sakuraba Ryo's defense with perfect precision and struck.
It was super effective.
Wow, this little troublemaker's got quite the sharp tongue…
Sakuraba Ryo broke out in a cold sweat.
"I do work properly too, you know!"
"Sure, sure…"
Norn Ace lowered her head again and casually went back to playing on her phone.
Then, as if asking offhandedly, she tossed a question at Sakuraba Ryo.
"Lately… hasn't March been coming here a little too often?"
"Too often…? It's not that bad, is it? Is three or four times a month really that much?"
"Did you forget what we charge here?"
"Uh… but she doesn't come for foot massages every single time. It's not like she spends that much on every visit."
"That's still outrageous, okay…"
Norn Ace stared at Sakuraba Ryo, her eyes full of a wounded resentment he could not make sense of.
"No normal person comes to a foot-massage parlor three or four times a month!"
"Maybe she just likes coming here."
"And besides, March has been losing to Oguri Cap nonstop lately. She probably needs me to cheer her up a little."
Sakuraba Ryo said it with complete indifference.
From his perspective, Fujimasa March had basically been crashing into Oguri in race after race lately. She just genuinely could not beat Oguri Cap, so she kept ending up in second place… in a rough stretch like that, choosing to come here and unwind seemed perfectly reasonable.
That answer nearly drove Norn insane.
She was one step away from blurting out that March clearly had feelings for him.
Because yes, no normal person would keep coming to a place like this three or four times every month.
Especially not with how absurdly expensive Sakuraba Ryo's shop was.
And yet Fujimasa March still came that often… which obviously meant she was after something else.
And Norn Ace had the distinct feeling that with every extra visit March made, the way she looked at Sakuraba Ryo got a little more off each time…
Only Sakuraba Ryo, idiot that he was, had no idea he was being targeted. He just kept giving her massages like a fool!
At this rate, he was going to get eaten alive!
Of course, with Norn Ace's personality, there was no way she was going to spell any of that out so directly.
If Sakuraba Ryo did not understand how to keep his distance—then she, his qualified and excellent employee, would help him do it.
Well… it was not like this was entirely his fault. He really had been born with a face that lured people in…
Norn Ace snuck another glance at Sakuraba Ryo's face.
Over the past six months, that subtle, inexplicably attractive aura around him had only grown stronger.
It was the kind of presence that made people want to lean on him without even thinking about it… like a blanket fresh from the sun, the kind that made you want to press your cheek against it.
Warm and soft and faintly fragrant…
Sometimes Norn Ace could not help grumbling to herself: where in the world had Sakuraba Ryo picked up this succubus energy from?
She had never felt anything remotely like it from anyone else…
Sakuraba Ryo was special.
So wasn't it only natural for her to be the one to protect him~?
"Oh, right. Just so you know in advance, Oguri's heading to Central after the New Year."
"Huh?"
Now it was Norn Ace's turn to panic a little.
"If she's going to Central, then what about you? What about this shop?"
"Oh, that's what you're worried about…"
Sakuraba Ryo shrugged.
"It's just Oguri and Kitahara going to Central. As for me, uh… I'll probably stay in Kasamatsu a while longer, then head over to Hokkaido. I've got investment projects there I need to deal with too."
"As for this shop in Kasamatsu, I figure it'll be fine with Belno around, so you don't need to worry too much. Your pay and everything will still come as normal. While we're at it, tell Rudy and Mini too, since they're not here right now."
"That is not what I care about!"
Norn Ace glared hard at Sakuraba Ryo, then asked,
"After you go to Hokkaido, are you coming back?"
"Uh…"
Sakuraba Ryo blinked. Even though he had no idea what Norn Ace was getting at, he still answered,
"Yeah, I'll come back and check on the shop once in a while. Just not that often."
"Is that so?"
Hearing that, Norn placed her phone in Sakuraba Ryo's hand.
"This is…?"
Looking at the screen she had handed him, Sakuraba Ryo saw that it was open to the memo app.
"Your address." Norn Ace smiled at him. "When I get the chance, I'm thinking of taking a trip to Hokkaido or something, so asking for the address where you'll be staying isn't a problem, right~?"
"The place I'll be staying…? Don't tell me you're planning to look me up during your vacation?"
Sakuraba Ryo's mouth twitched.
What kind of employee went on vacation and still wanted to run into their boss?
What kind of logic was that? You're traveling, and you still plan on chasing me down?
And you even want my address…
What, exactly?
Are you planning to come assassinate me in person?
No, wait…
If Norn really wanted to take me out, couldn't she just do it right here in the shop?
Uh.
Even with a body enhanced by the System, it probably still couldn't take a serious punch from an Umamusume… right?
"The address is fine, I guess. But are you really going to come find me during your trip?"
Sakuraba Ryo entered the place where he would be staying at Nishikino Academy into Norn's phone, then asked.
"What, I can't save a little on travel expenses?"
"Uh, you need to save even that? I'm pretty sure I don't pay you badly…"
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, when I come crash at your place then, you'd better not turn me away!"
"All right… I guess?"
Sakuraba Ryo sighed and accepted Norn Ace's proposal.
"Heh~ heh~"
Looking at the address now on her phone, Norn Ace was suddenly in an exceptionally good mood.
"Hm… why is this another academy's address?"
"You've invested in other Umamusume besides us too?"
"Yep."
"She's in Hokkaido too?"
"No, not really. She races in Central more often, so she's usually active around Tokyo."
"Then between her and Oguri, who's stronger?"
Uh…
Sakuraba Ryo thought about it.
At the moment, he really could not say for sure how big the gap in ability between Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross was.
Tamamo Cross had gone on a long losing streak, but recently she had won a G2 graded race. You could definitely call that impressive.
Oguri Cap, meanwhile, had not lost once since her debut… and every race she entered, she won in overwhelming fashion.
It was honestly hard to say who was stronger.
If he had to pick…
"Tamamo's probably a little stronger than Oguri."
"I see…"
While Sakuraba Ryo answered Norn Ace's questions honestly, he failed to notice something.
Every time he revealed even a little more familiarity with Tamamo while talking about her, the fingers Norn Ace had resting on her phone's virtual keyboard pressed down harder.
She was probably… angry. Probably.
---
T/N: hmmmmmmmmm yeah but you can't be too sure you know. you know how girls like norns are, it seems like theyre angrty but theyre not but blah blahb lha im sure shes fineeeeeeee
heh she IS fineeeeeeeee asf
lowkey which she was a playable uma i'd play her everyday teehee umapyoi~! umapyoi~!
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