After saying goodbye to Maruzensky, Sakuraba Ryo headed straight back to Hokkaido.
Before leaving Central, though, he took care of a few loose ends first.
Kitahara Jo told him that, going forward, he planned to have Oguri Cap run in two G2 races to keep her in racing condition while preparing for the Tenno Sho Autumn in October.
The moment Sakuraba heard that, his whole world seemed to go gray.
At this point, there was hardly anything left to say about two G2 races.
Oguri Cap would probably just go out there and win them...
Ughhh!
Damn it!
I refuse to accept this!
Why are you winning again?!
Human joy and sorrow were, indeed, not shared.
Right now, Sakuraba felt like he was about to spiral into depression, but there was no way he could actually go and stop Oguri Cap and Kitahara.
He couldn't exactly run up to them and say they weren't allowed to win.
That would make him a complete lunatic!
The Tenno Sho Autumn...
Sakuraba had even gone out of his way to look up the prize money...
One hundred fifty million...
He should never have checked.
The moment he saw that number, something in his chest twitched.
Sure, it was a little less than the Japanese Derby's two hundred million, but it was still an enormous sum!
If Oguri Cap won that race too...
Ugh...
The road ahead is nothing but darkness.
Come on, Central's Umamusume!
Can't you get it together?!
Take Oguri Cap down at the Tenno Sho Autumn!
Damn it!
Damn it all!
Sakuraba ground his teeth in silence, but in the end, he could only accept reality.
Still, he pulled himself together almost immediately.
He had already identified the true source of his suffering.
It was all because he wasn't losing money fast enough! That was why he was so worried about all the prize money Oguri Cap was bringing in!
A new money-losing plan had to be put on the table immediately!
He had to lose money faster than Oguri Cap and the others could earn it!
As an investor, this was the one thing he absolutely could not bow his head over!
"Just focus on your races. I'll cover the rear for you."
That was what Sakuraba said to Kitahara and Oguri Cap.
Goddammit.
When two sides meet on a narrow road, the braver one wins!
I refuse to believe I can't lose money faster than you can earn it!
Once he had settled things on Oguri Cap's side, a message came in on his phone.
He lowered his head and checked it, only to find that Tamamo Cross wanted to talk to him about her plans for upcoming races.
But by now, he had already steeled his resolve again. No matter what he did, he wouldn't regret it!
So Sakuraba picked up his phone. Without even reading what Tamamo Cross wanted to say next, he typed out a reply at once.
"Tamamo, go do what you think is right! I'll support you all the way!"
Good!
That had some force behind it!
Now he just had to ride that momentum all the way back to Hokkaido and start a brand-new money-losing enterprise!
Thinking that, Sakuraba stuffed his phone into his pocket and boarded the plane back to Hokkaido.
What he didn't know was that, on the other end of the phone, Tamamo Cross was looking at the words on her screen with a smile curling at her lips.
"Go do what I think is right, huh? And you'll support me all the way..."
"Hmph..."
"Then I'd better do this properly~"
Tamamo Cross looked at the planning board on the wall with Takarazuka Kinen written across it in big letters, and a meaningful smile spread across her face.
...
Once he returned to Nishikino Academy in Hokkaido, Sakuraba threw himself into figuring out how to invest in the school in a way that would lose him even more money.
The cafeteria menu was upgraded, with all ingredients replaced by premium ones...
The student dorms, already better than average to begin with, went through another round of improvements...
He hired a whole bunch of professional Trainers who looked impressive at a glance to work at the academy...
Money was flying out in every direction, and Sakuraba's assets were shrinking at high speed, but his mood was exceptionally bright.
Under the painstaking brilliance of his plans, more than half of the money Oguri Cap had won in the Derby had already been spent in this short span of time!
It's only a hundred million yen. I'll spend every last bit of it if it kills me!
Keeping up that momentum, Sakuraba successfully achieved the glorious feat of emptying out his savings by the middle of June!
Just as he was about to pop the champagne...
His bank account chimed again out of nowhere.
[Deposit received: 75,000,000 yen.]
"?"
Sakuraba's trembling finger tapped open the account. The moment he saw the new balance, his expression froze solid.
Th-this...
That's impossible!
I just spent all that money!
So why?!
Why is there more money again?!
Who was it?!
Who made money again?!
And right then, an announcement rang out across Nishikino Academy.
"Congratulations to Tamamo Cross, who hails from our very own Nishikino Academy, on winning the Takarazuka Kinen—!!"
?
Ah...
The Takarazuka Kinen!
A Central G1 race with prize money of one hundred fifty million, the same as the Tenno Sho Autumn...
So that was what you wanted to talk to me about in that message earlier? You wanted to run in this race?
Ughhh...
If I'd just looked at the message back then and told you not to run, you wouldn't have earned this money, would you?!
Sakuraba felt like he wasn't far from having a heart attack.
No, I can still fight this!
There had to be some way to spend this extra seventy-five million!
Pacing back and forth in his office, Sakuraba's mind spun furiously as he tried to calculate how to make that seventy-five million yen that had materialized out of nowhere "legitimately" vanish.
That was when someone knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The one who pushed the door open was Nishikino Academy's principal, a middle-aged man who always wore a neatly pressed suit and kept his hair perfectly combed.
He wore the same respectful expression as always, but there was a near-feverish gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Sakuraba-san."
The principal gave a slight bow, his voice brimming with excitement he could barely contain.
"Forgive the interruption. However, there is a major matter concerning the academy's future development that I must report to you immediately."
Something in Sakuraba's chest dropped.
His instincts told him at once that this "major matter" was almost certainly going to involve money.
Forcing himself to stay calm, he gestured for the principal to sit.
"Oh? What is it? Go on."
"It's like this, Sakuraba-san."
The principal straightened his back and placed both hands neatly on his knees.
"Thanks to your generous and farsighted continued investment, Nishikino Academy's facilities, faculty, and even student welfare have all reached heights never seen before! In this short span of time, we have gone from being a Regional Academy to becoming a highly watched Umamusume training institution!"
Sakuraba listened with twitching eyelids, his sense of foreboding growing heavier and heavier.
He forced a smile onto his face.
"Ah... is that so? That's the result of everyone working together."
Enough with the praise! Get to the point! Are we about to spend more money or not?!
"Exactly. And because of that..."
The principal shifted gears, lowering his voice a little, though somehow sounding even more fervent.
"I believe the academy has now reached a critical stage in its growth. It is time for us to set our sights on a broader world and carry out that even grander 'plan'!"
"Plan?"
Sakuraba blinked, utterly baffled.
Lately, his mind had been filled with nothing but how to lose money. What "grander plan"?
Why did he have absolutely no memory of it?
"What plan? I... I don't know what you mean."
The principal did not seem surprised by Sakuraba's apparent forgetfulness at all. Instead, he wore the expression of someone thinking, Just as I expected—sir is testing me again, and patiently explained:
"Sakuraba-san, you handle countless matters every day. Naturally, you cannot be expected to keep every implementation detail at the front of your mind. This 'plan' was drawn up precisely on the basis of the 'internationalization' and 'diversification' philosophy you previously advocated so strongly."
Internationalization? Diversification?
Sakuraba racked his brain, trying to recall the various "suggestions" he had casually tossed out before in pursuit of losing money.
It did seem like... at some point, somewhere, he really had said something offhand like, "We should give the academy a more international feel," hadn't he?
At the time, he had only thought that bringing in foreign things would probably cost more money...
He didn't dare show how lost he was, so he could only follow the principal's lead and probe carefully.
"Yes... the philosophy is fine. But this specific 'plan' you're talking about... what exactly is it?"
The principal's eyes lit up at once. Leaning forward slightly, he looked like a man unveiling a secret project that had been brewing for ages.
"My idea is that Nishikino Academy should officially establish an 'International Student Special Class'!"
"An international student class?" Sakuraba repeated.
"That's right!"
The principal nodded vigorously, his tone full of anticipation.
"A special class dedicated to recruiting promising Umamusume students from overseas! We can offer the most generous scholarships, the best training environment, and the most comfortable accommodations in order to attract talent from all over the world! This would not only greatly enhance our academy's international reputation and influence, but also encourage the exchange and integration of different training philosophies and racing cultures, opening entirely new horizons for our local Umamusume as well! Is this not exactly the future you envisioned?"
The more he spoke, the more excited the principal became, as though he could already see a magnificent scene of Umamusume from all over the world racing side by side on Nishikino Academy's track.
And Sakuraba...
As Sakuraba listened to phrases like "the most generous scholarships," "the best training environment," and "the most comfortable accommodations," his heart began hammering wildly in his chest.
But this time, it was not because a heart attack was coming on.
After a moment of blankness, his brain started spinning at top speed.
Recruit foreign Umamusume?
Give them top-tier treatment?
Th-this...
Wasn't this a brand-new, perfectly justified, and grand-sounding way to burn money?!
Throw that seventy-five million—no, even more money—into this "international class"!
Build a new dorm for international students? Buy even more expensive imported training equipment?
Hire experts fluent in multiple languages and foreign training systems?
And then there were those "most generous scholarships," which already sounded ruinously expensive just from the name alone!
Spend money!
Spend huge amounts of money, openly and legitimately!
And not just once, either—this would be an ongoing, long-term investment with no profit in sight anytime soon!
Holy shit!
Principal, you're a genius!
Sure, the part about "enhancing international reputation" did sound faintly dangerous. What if it became too successful and attracted even more investment or top-tier applicants instead...?
But right now, this looked like the perfect chance to quickly burn through that unexpected windfall and open up a stable new front for long-term losses!
Thinking of how Tamamo Cross's victory had nearly killed his grand loss-making campaign halfway through, Sakuraba took a deep breath, and resolve returned to his eyes.
Meeting the principal's expectant gaze, he slowly rose to his feet, planted both hands on the desk, and let a smile spread across his face—a smile the principal naturally interpreted as the expression of a man whose far-reaching plan had been perfectly understood.
"Excellent!"
Sakuraba's voice came down like a hammer blow, carrying the reckless boldness of someone who had thrown caution to the wind.
"Principal, your idea aligns with mine exactly!"
"I think this 'International Student Special Class' has tremendous potential!"
"Begin preparations immediately! Don't worry about the budget—use the highest standard across the board! We must establish our 'international class' brand in the shortest time possible!"
"We're going to make sure every promising Umamusume in the world knows that if they come to Nishikino Academy, we offer the very best!"
At those words, the principal was so moved he practically sprang to his feet and bowed.
"Yes! Sakuraba-san! I will not fail your trust. I'll push this forward with everything I have!"
Watching the principal leave the office bursting with motivation, Sakuraba slowly sank back into his chair and wiped at the cold sweat that wasn't actually there on his forehead.
So, the Takarazuka Kinen prize money, huh?
Tamamo Cross's little surprise, huh?
It seemed... the war between losing money and making money was far from over.
But this time, he might have found yet another new "route."
And yet, for some reason, the moment he thought of the phrase "promising Umamusume from all over the world," a strange chill brushed the back of his neck.
He shook his head and threw off the ominous premonition.
The most urgent thing right now was to throw that seventy-five million yen—and any other surprise windfalls that might show up in the future—straight into this bottomless pit that already sounded so wonderfully expensive.
"International class..."
Sakuraba muttered the words under his breath, a smile tinged with both determination and unease curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Please don't disappoint me."
---
T/N: HES GONNA BURN SO MUCH MONEYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
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