Chapter 4
Hearing Tokai Teio's request, Kitasan Black looked at Yasui Makoto in shock.
"Ehh—?! You want Mr. Yasui to train me? That…"
Yasui Makoto didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked thoughtfully at Tokai Teio.
After a moment of eye contact, Tokai Teio turned to Kitasan Black.
"What? You think it won't work?"
"Don't let his age fool you — Trainer Yasui is an extremely capable trainer.
"Passing the Central Trainer exam at only 18 years old is something that has never happened before…
"No, it's something no one would have even imagined possible. It's as unlikely as three horses crossing the finish line at exactly the same time in a G1 race.
"With that kind of ability, he will definitely be able to bring out your full talent and potential."
"My talent… and potential?"
Kitasan Black bit her lip, lowered her head, and clenched her fists on her knees.
"But many trainers have said that aside from my strength, everything else about me is just average…
"With my level of talent, it's hard for me to achieve much in anything beyond short-distance races…
"If Mr. Yasui is so amazing, then maybe I'll just…"
"Would you like to become my assigned horse girl?"
"I'm willing, but… Eh?! Ehhh?!"
She answered instinctively, then immediately realized it was Yasui Makoto who had asked. Her ears twitched wildly as she stared at him in surprise.
Even Tokai Teio looked at him with surprise.
"Then it seems there's no problem."
Yasui Makoto nodded toward Tokai Teio and said:
"I'm confident I can train Kitasan Black well. She has already agreed, so I'll leave the follow-up procedures to you, President.
"However, there's one thing I'd like to ask.
"As you said, President, I've been looking for a suitable horse girl these past few months.
"But the ones I thought were suitable didn't believe I had the ability to guide them yet.
"Many senior trainers also told me I should start as an assistant, learn honestly for a few years, and only then consider coaching independently.
"So, why does President Teio believe that I can properly train Kitasan Black?"
Kitasan Black, who still hadn't fully recovered from the shock, also turned to look at Tokai Teio.
"Well… heh…"
Tokai Teio let out a low chuckle, then suddenly lifted her head and raised her chin proudly.
"Because I believe that Kitasan, just like me, is not a horse girl who can be bound by boring things like conventions and common sense.
"And likewise, you are not an ordinary trainer.
"If you want to create a miracle, shouldn't you throw away all conventions and common sense?
"Don't you agree?"
"Emperor-senpai…"
Kitasan Black's eyes sparkled with admiration and longing as she clasped her hands together, her ears trembling with emotion.
Yasui Makoto secretly nodded.
Tokai Teio's words perfectly matched the impression he had of her.
She had won the Satsuki Sho and Japanese Derby undefeated.
She suffered multiple fractures throughout her career but kept coming back. A full year before her retirement race, she hadn't competed at all, yet she miraculously defeated a field of peak-condition opponents to win the championship in a perfect farewell.
Her career truly deserved to be called a "miracle."
It was no surprise that a horse girl like her wouldn't play by the rules.
In fact, horse girls like her were born to break conventions and common sense.
From his memories, he realized that Kitasan Black was also that kind of horse girl.
Extreme stunts were a type of extreme sport, and trick riding was part of it. In his previous life, he had learned a bit about horse racing.
For some reason, many horse girls in this world had names that matched his previous world — Tokai Teio being one of them.
So was Kitasan Black.
From what he remembered, the horse named Kitasan Black in his old world had quite an outstanding racing record.
If there was some correspondence between the two worlds, then from a metaphysical point of view, this world's Kitasan Black should also become very strong in the future.
The corresponding part, however, was that both versions of Kitasan Black were not highly regarded before and during the early stages of their careers.
In the other world, it was because of mediocre bloodlines. In this world, it seemed to be due to her apparent "average" talent.
Yasui Makoto wasn't a jockey or trainer in his past life, so he didn't know exactly how the other Kitasan Black went from being underestimated to becoming a champion.
But he roughly understood why no one in this world believed in her yet — because unlike him, they didn't have the "answer key" in advance.
Of course, knowing the answer without knowing the process was useless.
If he had been asked to train horses in his previous life, he would have wasted even the best ones.
This world was different. He trusted everything he had quietly accumulated over more than ten years.
He knew the data of past, current, and soon-to-debut horse girls well, and he also had a decent understanding of Kitasan Black's situation.
First was her outstanding strength.
During enrollment physicals, horse girls were tested in grip strength, pushing power, and leg strength. Kitasan Black's numbers ranked near the top in all of them.
Second was her physical resilience.
Just like human athletes, horse girl races and training were intense, making injuries common.
Yet aside from minor colds, Kitasan Black had almost no history of serious illness or injury. Her medical records were extremely clean — a rarity among horse girls.
Finally, her instantaneous explosive power.
This had been clearly demonstrated both when she saved the child and when she accidentally ripped the door handle and panel off.
With these foundations, plus his own guidance, Yasui Makoto was confident he could help Kitasan Black achieve results equal to — or even far surpassing — her counterpart in the parallel world.
With that thought, he nodded and said:
"As expected of the 'Miraculous Emperor.' Then I'll try to create a new miracle together with Kitasan Black…
"No — together with Kitasan."
He turned to Kitasan Black, who looked both expectant and nervous.
"Is it okay if I call you that?"
"Yes! Of course it's okay!"
Kitasan Black stood up excitedly and bowed deeply.
"Then from now on, please take care of me, Mr. Yasui—"
Thud!
"Ouch!"
Yasui Makoto glanced at the violently shaking table, then at Kitasan Black, who was clutching her forehead with tears in the corners of her eyes. He sighed inwardly.
It seemed that in addition to her poor control over her strength, this clumsy personality… would also need some work.
Seeing that both of them had agreed to her request, Tokai Teio unconsciously smiled.
Just then, the waitress brought over their drinks. After thanking her, Tokai Teio placed the coffee in front of Yasui Makoto and the honey special in front of Kitasan Black. She then raised her own extra-honey drink high with a smile.
"Perfect. Then, to celebrate Trainer Yasui finding his first horse girl and Kitasan finding her trainer — cheers!"
"Ohhh! Cheers!"
A little flustered but mostly overjoyed, Kitasan Black quickly raised her honey drink as well.
Yasui Makoto smiled and slightly lifted his coffee.
...
That evening, in a single-person apartment building — Yasui Makoto's room.
"Trainer, these are the documents the President asked me to bring over. Is there anything else you need?"