Chapter 22
Late at night, in the Student Council President's office at Tracen Academy, a computer sat on the desk.
On the screen was a grand singing and dancing stage performance. The one passionately singing in the center was a short black-haired horse girl.
Sitting in front of the screen, quietly watching the singing girl, was a petite, playful-looking brown-haired horse girl wearing plain glasses and sporting a distinctive white crescent-shaped bang on her forehead.
When the black-haired horse girl finished her song and bowed to thank the audience, the brown-haired girl pushed up her glasses and smiled softly.
"You've grown up, Kitasan…"
At that moment, the office door opened, and an elegant figure with long light-purple hair and matching long ears walked in.
"Teio, about the inspection schedule…"
The elegant figure spoke halfway, then shook her head with a helpless laugh.
"You're secretly imitating President Symboli again, aren't you, Teio?"
In an instant, the brown-haired horse girl behind the desk — or rather, the current Student Council President of Central Tracen Academy, Tokai Teio — blushed. She quickly took off her glasses.
"Hey! McQueen, didn't we agree you wouldn't tease me about this?"
"I'm not teasing you, it's just… pfft…"
The horse girl called McQueen couldn't hold it in and let out a small laugh. Then she waved her hand at the now even redder-faced Tokai Teio.
"Alright, there's no one else here. You don't have to work so hard to maintain that dignified image."
The horse girl named McQueen was the current Vice President of the Student Council, Mejiro McQueen.
As the highest-level academy in the industry, managing the most outstanding group of horse girls naturally required exceptional ability as an unspoken requirement.
The previous president, Symboli Rudolf, had been one of the absolute top horse girls. Tokai Teio, who succeeded her, had achievements that were no less impressive.
Similarly, every vice president had also been far from ordinary.
Past vice presidents such as "Super Sports Car" Maruzensky, "King Who Transcends Common Sense" Chiaki Representative, and the current "Famous Actress on the Grass" Mejiro McQueen were all top-tier horse girls.
Mejiro McQueen had been busy with off-campus affairs recently and had only returned to the academy in the last couple of days to assist Tokai Teio with racecourse inspection arrangements.
"Alright, I got it."
Tokai Teio did care quite a bit about her image in the eyes of the students.
Just as Kitasan Black idolized her, she had always looked up to her predecessor, Symboli Rudolf, as her own idol.
When working, she would unconsciously imitate her idol's demeanor, feeling that it made her appear more dignified.
However, she also understood her friend's gentle suggestion — that dignity wasn't something you could build just by wearing a pair of glasses.
So, acting like a sulky child for a moment, she took off her plain glasses, put on a serious expression, and turned the computer screen around.
"We can talk about the inspection later. Take a look at this first."
Mejiro McQueen's eyes flashed with curiosity as she walked over to the desk.
"This is… today's Winner's Stage at Tokyo Racecourse?"
"That's right. Now look at this."
After nodding, Tokai Teio walked over to Mejiro McQueen's side and clicked the mouse a few times.
A race appeared on the screen.
At first she was only curious, but after watching for a while, Mejiro McQueen's expression gradually became serious.
Two minutes later, she took the mouse from Tokai Teio's hand and quickly clicked through the screen.
"What a bold race strategy. It's been a long time since I've seen any horse girl run their debut race like this.
"Whose horse girl is this?
"Nase?
Kitahara?
Or is it Ms. Tojo, or Kuro numa…
"…Wait, who is Yasui Makoto?"
She opened the race details, stared at the name "Yasui Makoto," and froze for a moment before realization dawned on her.
"Oh, it's that youngest trainer in history, right? I remember now.
"But…"
She frowned slightly.
"At only 18 years old, how does he have such seasoned experience?
"Using something as important as a debut race purely for training — even some veteran trainers wouldn't dare do that.
"And the timing he chose for her acceleration was so precise…
"His horse girl must not be a complete rookie, otherwise how could she agree to such a bold tactic?"
Hearing this, Tokai Teio sneaked a small grin, then put on a serious face again.
"Just look for yourself. See? It's written right here."
Then, as she had hoped, she heard her friend's surprised and delighted exclamation.
"Kitasan?! She's already debuted?! So soon?! And she won on her first try?!"
"It's not really that soon, McQueen."
Tokai Teio shook her head with a smile, then said with emotion:
"But if I'm being honest… it does feel pretty fast.
"I often feel like it was only yesterday that the two of us finished that Tenno Sho (Spring).
"Then the next thing I know, those little ones who were watching us from the grandstands have all stepped onto the track themselves."
Deeply agreeing, Mejiro McQueen nodded.
"The last time I saw Kitasan was last year.
"After that, the only times I heard about her were when you mentioned helping her find a trainer.
"I never expected that in the blink of an eye, not only would she have an assigned trainer, but she would also complete her debut race in such a bold way.
"Time… really passes quickly."
After sharing another moment of感慨 with Mejiro McQueen, Tokai Teio regained her focus and opened several video files on the computer.
"Let's talk about Kitasan. McQueen, take a look at these videos."
"Alright."
Nodding, Mejiro McQueen pulled over a chair and sat down.
Tokai Teio did the same. The two horse girls focused intently on the videos playing on the screen.
The content of the videos was footage of Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black's training sessions. From the clarity, it was obviously academy surveillance footage.
After a while.
"McQueen, have you noticed anything about this trainer…?"
Hesitating slightly, Tokai Teio spoke while resting her chin on her hand.
Also resting her chin on her hand with her arms crossed, Mejiro McQueen nodded slightly.
"His training habits are completely different from what we usually see here. Rather than calling him a Japanese trainer, he feels more like…"
The two looked at each other and spoke at the same time: "Almost exactly like the ones from Europe and America."
Then, with a hint of excitement, Tokai Teio said:
"You really think the same as I do, McQueen."
"Of course. Anything you can notice, I can notice too."
Responding, Mejiro McQueen pondered:
"You're interested in this trainer's distinctive training philosophy, right?"
"Yeah. Both of us have experience facing overseas opponents. I even won the Japan Cup, but…"
Tokai Teio smiled, then added with a touch of self-mockery:
"As the years go by, I'm realizing more and more that if we had to do it again… I really couldn't say for sure that I would win."
Mejiro McQueen fell silent for a moment and sighed.
"There's nothing we can do about it. The gap between Japan and the world is just like that.
"Moreover…"
She hesitated.
"After last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Gold Ship, Orfevre, and Vega all expressed confidence in challenging it again.
"But the association chose a conservative approach…"
"They've always been like that. It's been that way since the president's time."
Suddenly interrupting McQueen, Tokai Teio shrugged, spread her hands, and smiled wryly as she looked at Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black on the screen.
"Never mind what they do.
"Right now, I only hope that Kitasan and Trainer Yasui…
"Can bring us something different."
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