After touring the Mombetsu Racecourse stands, Shuta An and Silence Suzuka finally stepped outside. Stretching his arms, Shuta An suggested with a relaxed smile, "How about breakfast here? My treat."
"I appreciate your kindness, Shuta-kun," the chestnut-haired Horse Girl replied gently, shaking her head. "But Sachiko nee-san's inn provides breakfast. Wouldn't it be wiser to save the money?"
Realizing his oversight, Shuta An thought wryly, If Silence Suzuka's appetite is anything like Oguri Cap's, then that would have been a serious financial mistake.
He rubbed his cheeks awkwardly. "Right, then please, Silence—"
"You don't have to call me by my full name." Silence Suzuka's smile carried a hint of warmth as she interrupted him.
"Then please, Miss Suzuka, lead the way," Shuta An corrected himself promptly.
"Okay," she said, her smile widening before she turned and began jogging.
Without hesitation, Shuta An followed.
At the inn, Oguri Cap had already woken, washed up, and prepared for her morning exercise. She initially intended to run laps around the inn to warm up, but upon noticing the Central Uma Musumes doing the same, she hesitated. For reasons she couldn't clearly explain, she decided against it. Instead, she took a quiet walk, eventually reaching a small public park about two kilometres away.
"I'll just do some light warm-ups here, then head back for breakfast," she murmured to herself.
With Berno Light still fast asleep in their guest room, Oguri Cap had no training partner. She settled for basic drills, quickly finishing her solo routine.
"But come to think of it," she wondered aloud, "is the Trainer still asleep too? Has he gone lazy just because it's summer vacation? Normally, back at the Academy, he'd always wake before me." Her curiosity lingered as she began walking back to the inn.
Meanwhile, Shuta An and Silence Suzuka were running side by side along the quiet Hokkaido road. Their conversation stayed light—about Kasamatsu, Hokkaido, and trivial local matters. Shuta An deliberately avoided any mention of Central Tracen Academy.
He had no desire to offend Tojo Hana—there was no need, and besides, they would all be staying at the same inn for two months. If tension arose now, it would only make things awkward later. More importantly, he was hoping Tojo Hana would agree to let one of her Uma Musumes train with Oguri Cap for a few serious chase sessions.
'Of course, that's only if her team has a good dirt-track runner. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth the trouble.' he thought
His encounter with Silence Suzuka that morning had been purely accidental. Still, cultivating goodwill with her wasn't just because she was beautiful—there were strategic reasons as well.
'This inn is run by her relatives,' he reasoned. 'Tojo Hana's team probably came here on Suzuka's suggestion. That means she holds a special place in Tojo Hana's heart. Building rapport with her might make negotiations easier later.'
In short, while his motives included genuine friendliness, most of his thinking revolved around preparing Oguri Cap for the upcoming Hokkaido Shimbun Hai (G3).
They were nearly back at the inn when a familiar voice called out, laced with suspicion.
"Trainer, this is...?"
Turning toward the sound, Shuta An saw Oguri Cap standing by the roadside, brows knitted. Silence Suzuka also stopped, glancing back.
"This is Oguri Cap, the Uma Musume I'm in charge of," Shuta An said, gesturing toward her. "Oguri, good morning~ This Central Uma Musume happened to share my running route today, so we headed back together."
At his explanation, Oguri Cap's mood lightened, though her expression remained composed. "I see... I just finished my morning run too. I was about to head back for breakfast."
"What about Berno?" Shuta An asked, scanning around. "Didn't she come with you?"
"She was still asleep when I left," Oguri Cap replied, scratching her head. "Since she's no longer a Racegirl, I didn't wake her up. Trainer, let's go back together."
"Mm," Shuta An agreed.
Silence Suzuka said nothing, but her eyes studied Oguri Cap carefully. What she saw surprised her: 'She doesn't feel weaker than the dirt-track Uma Musumes at Central. In fact... she seems stronger.'
Still, she hid her surprise and smiled faintly. 'It makes sense. If she were mediocre, Shuta-kun wouldn't have gone to such lengths for a local girl.'
She gave Oguri Cap a polite nod. Oguri returned it quietly. Caught between them, Shuta An suddenly felt the pressure of invisible tension.
He slowed his pace and shifted beside Oguri Cap. "Although I know you dislike it, Oguri Cap, swimming remains your main training focus for now," he said.
Oguri Cap's expression instantly darkened.
Noticing her reaction, Shuta An continued firmly, "At least until Thursday, you'll be training at the swimming pool near the hotel."
"I'll do my best," Oguri Cap replied, her tone serious, resolute.
"In return," Shuta An added with a grin, "after Thursday, I'll arrange dirt training sessions."
At that, Oguri Cap's face brightened.
Silence Suzuka, watching from ahead, couldn't help but envy her. How nice... to just trust your Trainer and focus on running.
She sighed softly. I wish I could do the same.
After breakfast, Shuta An returned to the guest room with Oguri Cap. Berno Light had just woken and was preparing for breakfast. Seated on the tatami with his notebook and pen, Shuta An said, "My morning run ended at Mombetsu Racecourse. I wanted to verify the information I'd compiled."
He exhaled. "Unfortunately, it was accurate."
Oguri Cap's expression turned cautious. "Trainer...?"
"The Mombetsu course favors frontrunners," he explained. "The outer gate is the best, but that's luck. Since this is an 1800-meter dirt race, charging forward blindly like at Kasamatsu won't work."
He clenched his fist. "So I'm asking you to adopt an aggressive pace-chaser tactic. No matter which gate you draw, push forward immediately after the start. Stay close to the lead horse."
Oguri Cap nodded. "I felt during my debut that running behind someone made things easier. I thought it was just my imagination."
"It wasn't," Shuta An said. He then explained "slipstream" and the aerodynamics behind it in simple terms. Oguri Cap's eyes widened with understanding. She had always done it instinctively—but now, she understood why.
After discussing training adjustments, Shuta An outlined the benefits of swimming: improving stamina and lung capacity, with water resistance strengthening muscles differently from land training. The Biratori pool, fortunately, was equipped with specialized facilities for Uma Musume athletes.
It all came down to money—and thanks to selling his family home, Shuta An had enough to spare. Still, with the yen's recent appreciation—one U.S. dollar now worth only 120 yen compared to 250 two years prior—he had decided not to convert all his dollars.
'Better to hold onto them', he thought. 'No way those American capitalists are being generous out of goodwill.'
Thus, with careful budgeting, he could let Oguri Cap eat well while still saving for training needs.
Later that morning, he instructed Berno Light and Oguri Cap to prepare for the pool.
"What about you, Trainer?" Berno Light asked.
"I'm going to soak in the hot spring," Shuta An declared.
"How cunning!" Berno Light cried. Even Oguri Cap pouted.
"Anyway, be back by lunchtime," Shuta An said, ignoring their protests.
After they left, he prepared his own bath.
The hot spring's heat stung at first, making him gasp and leap up, but soon he eased back down, leaning against the bamboo wall and gazing at the clear Hokkaido sky.
"Coming here for summer was the right call," he murmured.
Then—water rippled on the other side of the wall. The adjacent bath had a new guest. Given the inn's current occupancy, the odds were clear—it had to be a Central Uma Musume. And judging by the faint sigh that followed... Silence Suzuka.
He froze.
"Trainer told me to rest again," her voice drifted through the steam. "But I only did light training this morning... Everyone else is working hard, and only I was told to rest. What does he plan for me?"
Her tone softened, tinged with sadness. "It's almost been a year since I joined the team, yet I still don't feel like I belong."
On his side of the wall, Shuta An remained silent, his thoughts turning critical. 'To let an Uma Musume feel so alienated after a year—Miss Tojo Hana truly is a talent.'
But he had no intention of prying or poaching. Silence Suzuka belonged to Central; he was just a local Trainer. He waited until he heard her leave before exiting the bath himself.
"Still," he murmured as he dried off, "it's hard not to wonder what sort of talents Tojo Hana values over Silence Suzuka."
Later, at the inn's lobby, Shuta An ordered a can of milk from Miss Sachiko.
"Prices have been rising," she complained. "Miss Tojo was saying some Trainers at the Academy have made so much money on stocks that they're quitting entirely."
Shuta An smiled wryly. "For them, it's just a job. If they can make more elsewhere, of course they'll leave."
Miss Sachiko tilted her head. "And if you made a fortune, Shuta-kun?"
"That's impossible," he said flatly. "I don't know the first thing about the stock market. I only train Uma Musume."
His gaze softened as he added, "I've been around them since I was a child. This is what I was born to do."
Sachiko smiled fondly. "You really do love your work. If you bring Uma Musumes for another training camp in the future, let me know. I'll reserve rooms for you."
"Thank you, Miss Sachiko," he said, finishing his milk in one gulp. "The quality here really is excellent. Hokkaido deserves its reputation."
She laughed. "It's from our own ranch. They're planning to import the latest foreign equipment soon—cheaper now that the yen's stronger."
Shuta An nodded thoughtfully. The economic shift was changing more than milk prices—it was reshaping the entire country. That afternoon, reading the Sapporo newspaper, he noticed a new announcement: the Hokkaido branch of URA would begin offering subsidies to Uma Musumes joining local exchange races starting in August.
"One-point-seven million yen per participant... Hokkaido really is generous," he muttered.
"It's not just Hokkaido," came a familiar voice.
He looked up to see Tojo Hana, now in casual clothes, taking the seat opposite him. "It's Japan as a whole. Everyone's getting rich. These days, even a pig could profit just by buying stocks."
Shuta An chuckled. "Then I must be worse than a pig—I've never once set foot in a stock exchange."
Tojo Hana smiled, amusement flickering in her eyes. "That's actually reassuring."
If he could have seen her attribute panel, he would have noticed her favorability rising rapidly.
"For me," Shuta An said, "extra money is better spent improving training conditions. Turning it into unstable digits on a screen doesn't interest me."
"That's right." Tojo Hana nodded approvingly. "A local Trainer like you is rare. Why don't you come to Central?"
Shuta An blinked—of all things, he hadn't expected himself to be scouted before Oguri Cap.