With the end of the races, Shinji's life returned to its peaceful daily routine.
Get up, get dressed, wash up, go to the cafeteria with Eclipse, and after eating, go to the training grounds together.
He wasn't worried that others would misunderstand his relationship with her because of this. Eclipse had occasionally waited for him outside his door before he went out in the past and then moved with him.
As for the scent on his body, that was even less of a problem.
The two of them had barely been apart since they were young, and his body had long been marinated in her scent. Plus, she was around him almost every day, and would sneak into his dorm whenever she had nothing to do. The scents on their bodies were always mixed together, and others were already used to it.
Then, after arriving at the training grounds, he greeted the little ones as usual, took out his phone as usual, and prepared to slack off as usual.
But not long after he started slacking, he noticed that the training grounds today seemed a little different from usual.
First was the strangeness from outside the team.
Because his team's composition was peculiar, and there were many strange people in it, including himself, he often received gazes from all directions, and he had long been used to it.
But today, the gazes coming from all sides were much more numerous than usual. Even some teams that were training had paused to rest after seeing them start training, and then turned their gazes towards them.
And it didn't take long for him to figure out why there were so many gazes today.
Because just last night, on the Tracen campus forum, an ID called [Agnes Digital Inc.] had posted a video post, the content of which was a compilation of the three Maiden races from yesterday.
Tachyon's was not worth mentioning. A four-length gap, and the opponents' level was not very good. It was the normal level of an elite horse girl within Tracen, so it didn't cause much discussion.
Teio's popularity was slightly higher. After all, she had already been receiving a lot of attention, and she had pulled a full eight-length gap on the basis of there being a not-so-weak horse girl. Such a performance was enough to shatter the previous doubts about her. Plus her performance on the winner's stage, it further proved that her strength was not only reflected on the racecourse, but also in other aspects. She had gained a lot of fans at once.
It's just that she wasn't the one with the highest discussion rate.
Nine lengths, and at one point, even a fifteen-length gap.
After Teio's clip ended, the black shadow rushed out of the starting gate, proving that saying with concrete action.
One horse leads, ten thousand horses are without light.
When filming others, even for Teio who had pulled an eight-length gap, you could still vaguely see the shadow of the second place in the end.
But with Eclipse, after the race entered the middle stage, although you could tell that the camera owner had tried their best to widen the range, they still couldn't even capture the corner of the second place's clothes. The entire frame was just her alone.
Although in the end, she couldn't hold on until the end, and even because of a serious loss of speed, the people behind her greatly shortened the gap, the terrifying speed of her initial burst, and the final nine-length gap were enough to shake people's hearts.
Eclipse.
The moment this name appeared, it caused quite a stir on the Tracen campus forum. You could see related discussion posts from time to time.
And after a night of fermentation, people found that her terrifying aspect seemed to be not just her extraordinary explosive power and speed.
A transfer student, who never trains, and whose trainer is that Shinji Kitahara...
If you followed the normal world line, this kind of strength, coupled with the name Eclipse, would be enough for people to associate it with many things. But the problem is, in this world, for some reason, the name Eclipse had been erased from history, so no matter how hard people tried, they couldn't recall anything. At most, they would feel a sense of déjà vu, but it would basically be dismissed as an illusion.
And so, Eclipse became a supernova who had suddenly appeared in the eyes of others. Plus her strange behavior, it made the scope of discussion further expand, and gradually attracted more and more attention.
And, it wasn't just her. He was also implicated.
Tokai Teio, Eclipse.
A new trainer who had just joined Tracen not long ago, and already had two supernovas under his command. It was hard not to be noticed.
Some people had even started to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the two based on the video content online, and had even argued or quarreled over it. In the end, two factions, the "Teio-blowers" and the "Eclipse-blowers," had even been formed.
And, not just online. Offline, Teio herself was very curious about who was stronger between her and Eclipse. After the race, she had tried to ask her out for a friendly match within the team after some time.
And then she was flatly refused by Eclipse.
However, although the gazes from outside the team had increased a lot, in reality, he didn't care much. After all, his skin was already thick. It didn't matter if he was looked at a few more times. He had even started to think in his mind about how to find a way to ruin his own reputation to reduce the probability of other horse girls paying attention to him.
But besides that, he also wanted to complain a little.
So why do you have to bring me up when you're blowing smoke for the two of them?
Although these two were his charges in name, in reality, they had nothing to do with him. And forget about the race, these two had never even let him have a hand in their training, but they just had to associate their results with him.
On the contrary, Tachyon, whom he had actually been responsible for, was unanimously believed to have had mediocre results because she was a team horse girl and had not received his guidance.
Then you just wait until the problems with her body are fixed and see if she doesn't pull a large gap on you all.
He complained in his heart, and then no longer paid attention to the gazes from outside the team, turning his gaze to within the team.
When he had just arrived at the training grounds and was greeting them, he had actually already noticed some strangeness. But at that time, he had not paid it much mind. After all, they had just run a race yesterday, and a true dark horse like Eclipse had emerged from the team, so it was very normal for things to be a little different from before.
But as time gradually passed, he slowly found that the changes in the team after that Maiden race seemed to be even greater than he had expected.
The most obvious one was Tokai Teio.
For the past few days, she had always been wearing the set of racing silks that he had ordered for her to train. But today, she had changed into a set that looked similar in style, but with a different style of boots and no thigh-high socks.
Or to put it more simply, it was the set of racing silks from her normal world line.
According to the information he had learned from the conversation in the activity room later, this set of clothes was made for her by a racing silk designer invited by Rudolf's side from the Symboli family. It was said that they had started preparing for it two months ago.
As for the level, since it was brought out by Rudolf, it was of course not bad. Although the overall level was about the same as the one the old horse girl had rushed out in half a week, because it did not consider the protection of the legs, it was a little better in terms of running and other aspects.
He didn't pay too much attention to this matter either. After all, with racing silks, it was always the case that the horse girl would wear whichever one she liked. He had ordered the racing silks for her only out of his duty as a trainer.
And it wasn't as if her leg would definitely have a problem if she didn't wear the set he had ordered for her. It was just that the probability of a problem with his set would be much smaller. If she liked the current set, he didn't mind. After all, he didn't like to interfere with others' choices to begin with, let alone the fact that he had promised her at the beginning that he couldn't manage her in terms of training. He naturally wouldn't look for trouble for himself.
But the problem was, it wasn't just her racing silks that had changed, but also her attitude towards him. And the latter was what he was mainly concerned about.
In fact, after the Maiden race yesterday, her performance was clearly a little different from usual.
Forget him, the others in the team could also see it. But the problem was that it was right after the race, and everyone was basically still immersed in the shock brought by Eclipse. Their performance was basically a little different from usual, so no one cared.
But after a night's rest, and with the return to daily training, everyone had also slowly returned to their normal state. At most, they would take a few more glances at Eclipse during training or rest.
Teio was the same as the others in this regard, but in some other aspects, she was different.
For example, her attitude towards him.
Although on the surface, the way she got along with him looked no different from usual, he could clearly sense some differences from before.
The frequency of her taking the initiative to come and talk to him had decreased. Her standing position when they talked was a little farther than before, and she would no longer make some small, willful requests to him from time to time like before...
In general, she was deliberately keeping her distance from him, and was even actively alienating him.
If this were to happen to any other trainer, if their charge showed this kind of behavior, they would probably be so worried that they wouldn't be able to eat or sleep, and would rack their brains to find out the reason behind it.
And when it happened to him... he was also so worried that he couldn't eat or sleep, and he also really wanted to find out the reason behind it.
It's just that he couldn't eat or sleep because of ecstasy.
And he wanted to explore the reason behind it also because he wanted to know how he had successfully racked up her negative affection to the point where she took the initiative to keep her distance from him, and then he could continue his efforts in the future.
Was it because his slacking off behavior had finally made her unable to stand it? Or did some previous action of his happen to touch on her taboo? Or some other detailed reasons...
But it was none of them.
The reason she was deliberately keeping her distance from him was not because of him, but because of herself.
She was struggling.
Although she always referred to herself as his charge, in reality, she knew very well in her heart that in this entire team, she was actually the one who was the most unrelated to him.
And it wasn't just her. The others in the team were not blind either.
It had been nearly a month, and he had gone through almost everyone in the team, helping them formulate various plans and adjustments, but he had only missed the two charges.
No one would question the situation on Eclipse's side. After all, she didn't even train. He couldn't manage her even if he wanted to.
But what about Teio?
She was the one who claimed to be aiming for the Undefeated Triple Crown, but as a result, she had a super-daddy-level trainer like him by her side but didn't even look at him, and had never communicated with him about training matters. This was not normal no matter how you looked at it.
At first it was just confusion, then it was suspicion, and then with a step-by-step reasoning, the truth gradually came to light.
After all, the most famous thing about Rudolf was that she had won the Undefeated Triple Crown on her own. And as her little fan, it was not incomprehensible for Teio to want to replicate her situation back then.
Although the others' attitude towards her didn't change even after they knew the truth, the problem was that she knew very well in her heart that things were not so simple.
Although she was the most active one in the entire team, although she was his charge in name. But in reality, her connection with him was not even as good as a team horse girl. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was an outsider.
In the past, there was a more outsider Grass Wonder at the bottom, but as a result, now even Grass Wonder had officially joined the team, and she was still the same as before.
But what could she do?
She had already made a deal with him. He was just her trainer in name, and she was just his charge in name. The relationship between the two was just that.
She had no reason to get close to him. Her previous actions were all based on the logic, or rather, the excuse of "he was attacked because of her, so she should protect his safety."
And now, the problem on Black Forest's side had been solved, and security was no longer a concern. The academy had also compensated him for this matter. The logic of "protection" had begun to collapse.
And just yesterday, Eclipse had shown strength that was not inferior to hers. Plus, the other horse girls in the team were all performing exceptionally well. He didn't have to rely on her double share at all.
As for Tachyon, she was indeed very dangerous. But the problem was that Tachyon was his team horse girl, a person on the team. And she, Teio, although she was his charge in name, was actually an outsider.
An outsider being wary of matters within someone else's team, isn't that ridiculous?
When you strip away all the other messy things, the only connection between a trainer and a charge horse girl is training.
She had personally vetoed this possibility, which also meant that she had severed the main connection between her and him.
After smelling the scent on his hands, she had actually originally wanted to ask him some questions. But before the words could come out, she suddenly realized that she had no position or reason to question him about these things, because they had already agreed not to interfere with each other.
But if, if she could become his real charge...
At that time, such a thought had suddenly popped into her head.
But in the next second, this thought was suppressed by another.
To win the Undefeated Triple Crown on her own without relying on a trainer, to prove herself to President Rudolf... This was the oath she had made before entering the school, and also the reason she had been striving and working hard for until now.
For this goal, she had even quarreled with Rudolf's side and stubbornly chose him as her trainer just so she wouldn't be interfered with.
And if she denied this oath, it would be equivalent to denying all her actions and efforts so far.
So she could no longer get close to her Trainer-san.
Although the weights on both ends of the scale were not yet balanced, the weight of the oath was far greater than his weight.
But if she let the weight on the other side continue to increase, then no matter how big the gap was, it would one day be leveled, and even surpassed.
Moreover, this gap was not as big as she had imagined.
The moment she smelled the scent on his hands, the two ends of the scale had already swayed gently once.
She had to make a choice between them, but the problem was that she couldn't give up either side, so she fell into a struggle.
Taking a step back meant leaving her Trainer-san. Taking a step forward meant denying herself.
Teio couldn't make a decision, so she could only try her best to stay on this middle line.
As long as she won the Undefeated Triple Crown, she would have proven herself to President Rudolf, and then she could make a formal charge application to her Trainer-san. This way, she wouldn't have to give up either side...
That's what she thought.
But the problem was, it had only been a month, and the scale in her heart had already begun to sway gently.
And to achieve the Undefeated Triple Crown, she had to at least finish in October of her second year.
Could she really hold on until then?
She didn't know the answer to this question.
And she didn't want to know.
It's just that her steps in training gradually became heavier.
...
Meanwhile, Shinji, who was beaming with joy because of Teio's deliberate alienation and keeping her distance, had not been happy for long before another piece of good news followed.
After a day of training, he found that not only had Teio started to deliberately keep her distance from him, but another person's attitude towards him had also clearly changed.
And that was Agnes Tachyon.
She had also started to deliberately keep her distance from him.
It was a double blessing, I suppose.
-------
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