If possible, Shinji truly did not want to lose his temper with his three girls.
The problem was that his three trainees seemed determined not to let him keep his composure. They practically begged him to blow up at them at least once.
Are they all masochists or something?
[Hard to say.]
Shinji's mouth twitched. He nearly got tilted into a rage by the system alone, but he forced himself to refocus on the three horse girls in front of him.
It was exactly six in the morning.
If he hadn't taken pity on the fact that they had all stayed up late into the night because of the New Year celebration, they would have been assembled at four-thirty as usual.
Looking at the three glaringly obvious sets of dark circles under their eyes, Shinji drew in a long breath.
"What on earth were you all doing last night?!"
His roar made even the horse girls who had come to watch training shrink their necks.
By now, Shinji had become fairly well-known around the academy. Whether as the trainer of a full team or as the trainer of the Autumn Triple Crown winner Offside Trap, his name was one of the hottest among trainers lately.
Of course, not all of that fame was good fame. Just like the girls who had flinched at his shout—quite a few people were a little scared of him.
Shinji, however, couldn't have cared less. He fixed his gaze on Offside Trap, his voice sharp and severe.
"You. Tell me. What were you doing last night?"
Offside Trap looked aggrieved. She couldn't understand why Shinji, who had been so teasingly suggestive in such a proper, restrained way last night, was now being this harsh.
At the time, she had thought she understood what he meant. That was exactly why she had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
"You what? If this is what you're like every time you stay up late, then forget holidays, forget celebrations. You can stop attending any of them. Put all your focus on training. Understood?"
Shinji was exasperated. King Halo and Narita Brian were one thing—but Offside Trap, the girl who had been with him the longest, was still making such a basic mistake. He found it genuinely hard to accept.
"Okaaay…"
With her ears drooping, Offside Trap answered in a small, wilted voice, sounding almost choked up.
Shinji felt no sympathy at all.
He was not joking. If this was her condition every time she stayed up late, then yes—she could forget about ever enjoying another event or festival.
Then his eyes shifted to King Halo.
The moment she met his gaze, she spoke first.
"I'm sorry, Trainer. I won't make this mistake again."
Then, after a brief pause, she added:
"No matter what day it is, from now on I'll prioritize training and racing. I'll make sure I'm always in proper condition."
The determination in her voice made Offside Trap whip her head around in shock.
She could not understand how King Halo had changed this much in such a short time.
[Shinji.]
"Hmm?"
[I should explain something. When Halo Crest evolved, she was apparently having nightmares the whole time. Her poor condition this morning is understandable. She went back last night, cleaned up, and went straight to sleep.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Shinji gently patted King Halo on the shoulder.
His tone softened at once, making all three girls widen their eyes in astonishment.
Offside Trap was incredulous. King Halo looked stunned by the sudden tenderness. Narita Brian simply did not understand what had just happened.
"Remember to get proper rest from now on."
[Negative emotion +90]
Offside Trap found this completely unacceptable.
Why was Shinji so blatantly biased toward King Halo?
They were both sleep-deprived. And she had only just come off an Arima Kinen victory.
She thought it was perfectly reasonable to still be keyed up after winning a G1 race—to stay too excited to sleep until exhaustion finally caught up with her.
A rising sense of urgency gripped her.
She suddenly realized King Halo was far more troublesome than she had initially thought. The girl's seriousness, discipline, and self-control were on an entirely different level from before. It was practically as if she had become a different horse girl altogether.
I have to be even more disciplined. I can't let her outdo me.
With that thought, Offside Trap looked at King Halo's profile, and a spark of competitiveness flared in her chest.
She would never let King Halo catch up to her.
Shinji's gaze moved on to Narita Brian.
Seeing the tension on her face, he was reminded again that he still had not bought a rune for her.
Just as he had originally planned, he still felt it would be better to wait for Narita Brian's blessing to arrive before selecting the corresponding rune. That was why he had held off.
"And what about you?"
"Last night, when I got back…"
Narita Brian glanced at Offside Trap, then stopped herself.
In the end, she did not say what had really happened.
The lesson her same-generation friends had taught her with their actions had kept her awake the whole night.
It was the first time Narita Brian had ever realized that insomnia could be even worse than nightmares.
At least in nightmares, even when she kept finishing dead last, she could still comfort herself with the thought that it was only a nightmare, that Mr. Shinji would lead her back to the top.
But the agony of sleeplessness—the self-inflicted mental spiral, the soul grinding itself down—had left her staring helplessly at the moon outside her window, trying to imagine sunlight in the cold glow.
Even so, Narita Brian did not want to bring up last night again.
She had already understood what those confrontations meant. Better to pretend none of it had ever happened.
"When I got back… I just couldn't fall asleep."
Her voice was soft, but the answer carried a certain stubbornness—like a student quietly confessing, I didn't do my homework last night.
Shinji scratched his hair and smiled.
Looking at the three girls in front of him, he wore a remarkably pleasant expression.
"Well, fine. Sleep-deprived is sleep-deprived. It's not really a big deal. After all, the one who'll suffer isn't me."
At his words, a bitter taste spread in Offside Trap's mouth.
She had experienced this personally: the worse her condition was, the harsher Shinji's training became. She had never expected to be subjected to that punishment again so soon after triumphantly winning the Arima Kinen.
King Halo and Narita Brian, though unfamiliar with that kind of suffering, could tell something catastrophic was about to happen just by seeing even Offside Trap—the one they viewed as iron-legged—go pale.
"Your legs still haven't fully recovered, so your training will go in a different direction from theirs. Just wait a bit while I sort theirs out…"
As he said this, Shinji stepped in front of Offside Trap and King Halo.
Both girls stared fixedly at his mouth, terrified that some horrifying words were about to come out.
Naturally, he intended to satisfy them.
Shinji licked his slightly dry lips.
The two girls before him could not be punished in exactly the same way. Offside Trap, blessed by the Lord of Dominion bond, could simply be punished with a heavier workload. King Halo, lacking that advantage, could not.
Which meant…
If he thought about it carefully, the only option was to raise the difficulty.
A sharp gleam flashed in Shinji's eyes.
Perfect.
He had been wanting to see exactly how far King Halo's current willpower and body could go.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 142)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter181)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter103)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter192)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 173
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 166
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 110
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 190
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 165
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 156
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 81
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 102
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 120
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 80
Uma Musume: I Want All 95
I Can Copy Unique Skills 84
Summoning an Evil God, but the 66
Supernatural Multiverse 83
My Harem Is Indescribable 75
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 81
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 75
Still playing traditional Honk 55
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 60
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 55
Checking In in Demon Slayer 60
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 65
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 35
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 35
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 39
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 58
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