Symboli Sirius's whereabouts were as elusive as ever. After running alongside Kagura and finishing their cooldown massage in the morning, she had vanished without a trace, just like usual. Even the maids at home had no clue where she'd wandered off to.
Thus, Kagura spent her whole day idly drifting around the Symboli estate. Speed-sama, who usually disliked seeing children laze about, seemed strangely delighted and said nothing. Occasionally, she'd sneakily peer at Kagura from some corner she believed hidden, quietly observing her before returning to her own business. Her oddly clumsy spying baffled even the household maids.
Of course, Kagura had easily noticed Speed-sama's awkward peeping, but she didn't intend to expose her. It wasn't like Speed-sama was up to anything bad anyway. Right now, Kagura was more concerned with today's notification regarding Rudolf Ojou-sama's upcoming race schedule.
Unsurprisingly, Trainer Tojo, always prioritizing the students' health, had selected the public race scheduled for later this month. Currently, she was seeking Kagura's final input. If Kagura confirmed her approval, Rudolf's schedule would be finalized, and Tojo-san would officially announce it.
——If it were me, I'd just sweep both that Asahi-something Cup and the Hopeful Stakes after it. That's the sort of thing a true ruler of the era should achieve!
Eclipse-san, races aren't something to joke about… Two consecutive G1 races in her debut year—and so close together! Even with Ojou-sama's talent, that would put enormous strain on her body!
——Hmm… Perhaps Rudolf can't handle it, but at the very least, that's the standard I expect from you. Remember this clearly.
Huh?! How can you say something like that? Even Ojou-sama can't handle it, so I…I definitely couldn't either!
——I never speak carelessly, silly child. I guarantee this only because you truly have such potential. If you're still unsure, simply don't slack off on your training. Your talent is unmatched—if you're willing to invest your time and effort, it will respond to you in kind.
Kagura felt the familiar sensation of Eclipse-san gently patting her head. It seemed she truly had faith in Kagura's abilities.
Up to now, Kagura herself had shown no signs of entering her honkaku (maturation), nor was she particularly eager to debut. Despite Eclipse-san's tasking her with eventually winning races, Eclipse-san wasn't pressing her urgently to enter the track yet. Thus, Kagura hadn't really given it much thought, believing it best to let things unfold naturally.
…
Once Rudolf Ojou-sama's race schedule became public, many Uma Musume who had already heard about Rudolf's terrifying strength chose to withdraw or avoid confronting her directly. Originally, online speculation suggested Rudolf would join the battle of young champions at the Asahi Cup, so these other Uma Musume had chosen the public race precisely to avoid her. Now that Rudolf had chased them here, of course they hurriedly backed away from this hopeless match.
[Honestly, in a certain sense, I really dislike Symboli Rudolf. Being from the same generation as her means you're doomed never to win anything.]
Aside from these complaints by fellow Uma Musume, Kagura noticed similar remarks while browsing the anonymous Tracen Academy forum Trainer Tojo had shared with her earlier. The people who genuinely understood Rudolf's frightening strength mostly gathered among trainers and Tracen insiders, and the evaluations these insiders gave were universally high.
[The strongest racing Uma Musume, backed by Central Tracen's best Support Uma, and trained by one of Tracen's top trainers—just looking at it is enough to fill you with despair!]
"The best, huh…"
Kagura finally understood where Trainer Minamizaka's earlier nickname for her had originated. This forum alone was probably responsible for 80% of it.
Scrolling further into this mysterious forum, Kagura noticed a section that required a student ID to enter. Curious, she registered an account with her student credentials and logged in.
It looks normal enough…
Once inside, Kagura briefly skimmed through the posts. Unlike the previous open boards, the messages here were clearly posted by students. At first glance, nothing seemed particularly outrageous—just an ordinary mutual-help forum.
[Help! My trainer keeps missing all my signals. Any experienced senpai willing to give some pointers?]
"Huh?"
——?
Both Kagura's and Eclipse-san's minds filled simultaneously with question marks. Kagura had just begun thinking this was a serious mutual-assistance forum…
Because this forum also supported anonymous posting, such suspicious threads were typically posted without any identifiers, making it impossible for Kagura to figure out who wrote them. Yet, below that thread, other Uma Musume seriously offered advice on how to capture the heart of their oblivious trainers.
Your trainers are working hard for your sake! Please don't think about stuff like that during racing season!
Kagura internally retorted, utterly baffled. Trainers spent every day working overtime, desperately assisting their spoiled princesses—and meanwhile, these little ladies were busy figuring out how to seduce them…
——Well, isn't that kinda cute?
Absolutely not!
Closing that thread, Kagura scrolled further and noticed another post from a few days ago, which caught her attention.
[Requesting help! Does anyone from the support department have Inari Kagura's contact info?]
This thread was also anonymously posted. The title alone made Kagura curious enough to click.
[Midterms are approaching fast. I never paid attention in class, and I'm terrified of failing again! Please, can someone help me contact Kagura-san? If I fail again, that'll make three subjects in a row! I don't want to retake every single class!]
…I can't exactly guarantee a pass, you know?
A palpable sense of desperation radiated from the post. Clearly, the poster was urgently hoping to find Kagura's help.
[I suggest you start reviewing seriously now. Kagura-san is a top student who doesn't even need to attend classes. She usually has work to do, rarely shows up in class, and doesn't talk much. It seems difficult to approach her.]
[Kagura-san isn't that unapproachable, right? Last time I asked her for help, she just straight-up gave me a complete set of her notes! It took me half a day to go through them, and I easily got over eighty points on my midterm!]
[Hey, can the student above please let me copy those notes?! I'm begging you, I'll do anything!]
[Count me in too! I'll also do anything!]
[Fine. Tomorrow at noon, by the big tree in the courtyard. I'll bring the notes.]
Kagura felt strangely conflicted. It was true she rarely attended class, but last time she had gone, a classmate had approached her with a question. Kagura, in a hurry to finish a training plan for Nice Nature at the time, had simply handed over her full notes. She had an electronic copy anyway, so she figured she could always just reprint them whenever necessary.
Oh, so that's why so many people were crowding by the tree in the courtyard that day.
Now it made sense why she'd noticed a huge group of students clustered around the courtyard tree last week. She'd initially assumed some race had ended disastrously. Turned out they were just a bunch of desperate classmates exchanging hopes for passing their exams.
She began typing something, hesitated, then deleted it. It had already been several days, and clearly, they'd resolved the issue themselves. There was no point in interfering further.
Scrolling further, Kagura found another thread:
[Who's the adorable girl always cooking in the student kitchen at the cafeteria? Does anyone know her name?]
[Post details]:
[Every time I go to the cafeteria lately, I see her cooking. The food smells so delicious! I really want to try some, but she probably doesn't cook for just anyone, right?]
[Hello, fellow student. That's first-year support student Inari Kagura. She's currently the dedicated Support Uma for the Student Council President and is considered Tracen Academy's finest student in the support department.]
A single reply beneath it sounded very official. This thread was quite old, apparently one of the earliest mentions of her Kagura found on the forum. Clearly, her "best support student" nickname originated right here. But because Kagura rarely used this forum, and all responses were anonymous, she had no idea who was behind these posts.
So Tracen has a forum like this… I just learned something new today.
Feeling as if she'd opened a door into an unfamiliar new world, Kagura silently made a mental note to keep a closer eye on this forum. She certainly wouldn't want to miss any big gossip from her school.
——Seems you're pretty famous at your school, huh? Hardly ever attending class, but your reputation as a genius still spreads easily enough.
I think it's exactly because I rarely attend, plus our support department is tiny to begin with…
Although Kagura occasionally wanted to attend class, she genuinely had no time due to work. Even during downtime, there were usually no classes to attend anyway.
But thinking about these trivial matters wouldn't help right now. Kagura's greater worry was how much trouble awaited her tomorrow when she returned to school. She'd been away for a few days—hopefully nothing had gone terribly wrong.
I really hope nothing big happened…