Lucian slowly descended the staircase.
His classes had already been scheduled, but not for today, so there was no need to hurry.
At that moment, the previously quiet school building suddenly grew noisy as horse girls dressed in blue-and-white JK uniforms began pouring out of their classrooms.
"Class is over I wonder what to eat at the cafeteria later..."
"I should start preparing for my debut race. I hope I can get good results."
...
The further down he went, the more horse girls Lucian encountered.
Among them were several familiar faces, but since they didn't know him, it would be awkward to greet them out of the blue.
"Excuse me, coming through."
Lucian kept his head down as he walked, feeling slightly nervous under the increasing number of gazes directed at him.
Everyone was quite curious about this new face.
After returning to the dorm, Lucian let out a sigh of relief and immediately began reviewing the stack of documents.
...
The overall curriculum at Tracen Academy wasn't complicated.
In the mornings, the horse girls studied general academic subjects.
In the afternoons, they attended race-related lectures, Victory Live performances (which will be explained later), sports nutrition classes, basic training sessions, and other courses centered around competitions.
Training was divided into two types:
One was for horse girls who had signed with a trainer they would join the team formed by that trainer and undergo specialized training.
The other was for those without a trainer they would receive uniform training from the academy's instructors.
The former was generally more tailored, but not all horse girls could join a team. They first had to pass the trainer's evaluation.
For example, Toujou Hana's "Rigil" team mostly consisted of well-known horse girls, making it the undisputed strongest team in the academy.
After lunch, Lucian headed back to the clubroom.
He wasn't late, but by then, Toujou Hana was already organizing training on the field.
Just as Lucian was about to approach, Toujou Hana noticed him out of the corner of her eye.
"Hana-nee, am I late?"
"No, they've only just started training."
Following Toujou Hana's gaze, Lucian's attention was drawn to a fleeting figure.
The girl's running posture was elegant, her speed astonishing her arms and legs moving so fast they left afterimages.
Kicking up dust as she dashed, she looked like a dragon skimming the earth.
Her vibrant orange hair was highly distinctive, so Lucian recognized her at a glance "The Otherworldly Frontrunner," Silence Suzuka.
However, at this point, she hadn't yet earned that title and was still relatively unremarkable in terms of achievements.
(Note: After her debut race, Silence Suzuka performed poorly and fell into a slump, suffering six consecutive losses in major races that year.)
As for the other horse girls, most were warming up with light jogs. Many of them had already won numerous major races and weren't participating in too many competitions afterward.
"Lucian-kun." Toujou Hana's call snapped him out of his thoughts. "I won't gather them for introductions now. I'll introduce you to them after training ends."
"Understood. I'll go prepare the towels and sports drinks they'll need."
Back in France, Lucian had also worked as an assistant trainer, so he naturally knew what he should do.
He believed that horse girls only needed to focus on running their hardest and competing—everything else outside the races should be handled by the trainer.
At that thought, a certain unbearable memory made Lucian's heart tremble, and he clenched his fists.
Yes... he had to do this right.
"Good, I'll leave it to you." Toujou Hana nodded in approval.
...
After moving the supplies to the designated spot, Lucian quietly observed Toujou Hana's training methods.
Having coached so many outstanding horse girls, she naturally had her own unique approach.
However, Lucian also noticed that she was extremely strict during training, demanding that all horse girls follow her methods precisely.
"Next, Air Groove." Toujou Hana reset the stopwatch and called out.
A short-haired, brown-haired horse girl with an imposing aura stepped up to the starting line.
...
"Next, Hishi Amazon."
A dark-skinned horse girl arrived at the starting line, grinning at the track ahead and revealing her small fangs.
...
Lucian remembered that the "Rigil" team in the anime had nine members.
But since the story hadn't fully begun yet, Silence Suzuka hadn't left the team, El Condor Pasa hadn't joined yet, and Grass Wonder was absent due to injury recovery.
Lucian stood near the finish line, providing supplies to the resting horse girls while briefly introducing himself.
After who-knows-how-many laps, the orange-haired figure finally approached him, panting.
"Here, a sports drink."
Silence Suzuka had been walking with her head down, catching her breath, when the drink suddenly entered her field of vision.
"Th... thank you."
Around strangers, Silence Suzuka was somewhat reserved. After a brief word of thanks, she accepted the drink Lucian handed to her.
"Lucian, your temporary assistant trainer." He smiled and gave a simple introduction.
"Nice to meet you, Trainer-san. I'm Silence Suzuka."
The boy's handsome face and bright, cheerful demeanor made it easy to leave a good impression.
Silence Suzuka's personality was naturally shy and introverted, so when she met Lucian's gaze, she couldn't help but feel flustered and quickly looked away.
Silence Suzuka...
Silence Suzuka...
Lucian also worried that being overly enthusiastic might make the girl uncomfortable, so after handing her the towel and drink, he moved on to the next team member.
But his goal was clear he wanted to recruit Silence Suzuka into his own team.
Ding! Harem member no, team member +1!
It wasn't exactly poaching from Toujou Hana, right? After all, Silence Suzuka would eventually leave "Rigil" due to not adapting well to the training style.
According to the anime's progression, she would later join another team, "Spica."
Well, this could be considered a preemptive strike.