It had been more than ten days since she was driven out of the Tokai Family home.
If Tokai Shizen hadn't been so lucky as to be discovered by the director of that orphanage, she and her child might have frozen to death in the gradually dropping temperatures.
As for why the director of that orphanage, which was within the Tokai Family's sphere of influence and funded by them, chose to take in Tokai Shizen for a period of time...
Tokai Shizen couldn't understand, but there was no need to.
She currently had no energy to explore the truth.
So, during these ten-odd days, Tokai Shizen worked as much as possible in her free time.
Most of the work at the orphanage was hourly, so Tokai Shizen could earn a little money every day.
Not much, about a thousand yen.
It was quite low for the average daily wage in Japan.
But considering that she had been living and eating there for these past few days, and the orphanage itself was struggling financially...
It was not unacceptable.
For Tokai Shizen, staying in this orphanage was quite good, but, as mentioned before, this was an orphanage partly funded and supported by the Tokai Family.
There were many orphaned Uma Musume in this orphanage.
And if any of these Uma Musume showed good talent, the Tokai Family would adopt them.
It was precisely because of this that the Tokai Family would come here to inspect regularly to check on operations, which was why Tokai Shizen had not chosen to come here before.
She didn't think the people here would take her in.
But saying those things was meaningless.
Because for Tokai Nature, who had already arrived in Tokyo, those things were not important.
She had to plan her next life.
First of all, with her daughter, she could only choose from a limited number of part-time jobs.
Secondly, her education... Tokai Nature's education was not high, at least not to the extent that she could easily find a job.
Then, because she didn't have a mobile phone, she couldn't check online job postings.
Finally, Tokai Nature didn't have much money, only about a few thousand yen, considering the prices in Tokyo.
Even if she chose to live in an internet cafe, Tokai Nature could probably only support herself for ten days? Maybe less?
However, if she had internet access, perhaps the most basic job problem could be alleviated somewhat... but... looking at the baby in her arms, Tokai Nature just sighed.
If it were just herself, even so, she might be able to survive in Tokyo, but if she had her daughter with her, then... "I can only choose to work in family-run restaurants or similar places."
Most jobs don't allow a person to bring a newborn baby to work.
So only that option remained.
But before that, she had to find an internet cafe first.
The trouble brought about by not having a mobile phone was considerable, first of all, there was no portable electronic map, and the paper maps or the maps designed on the streets in the city to prevent tourists from getting lost had no store markings at all.
So, Tokai Nature could only walk aimlessly throughout the city.
Finally, until the snowy night, Tokai Nature had not found the destination she was looking for.
This was to be expected, after all, Tokyo is one of the world's largest megacities, and the complexity of the urban area was something Tokai Nature had never experienced.
So, it was only natural that she would gain nothing in this city.
In fact, she had unknowingly run into a residential area.
But she couldn't get out of the residential area.
After all, she didn't have a map.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Maruzensky, as an old JK who hasn't graduated from Tracen since the Showa era, her real age has always been a topic of discussion at Tracen Academy, although the topic isn't very popular, it can indeed be considered one of Tracen's unsolved mysteries.
Maruzensky doesn't care about those discussions.
Because she spends most of her time dealing with matters in the Student Council, and then finding a chance to sneak out and race.
Today was another day for her to go out racing, but because Tracen Academy doesn't have a dedicated garage, Maruzensky's cars are parked off-campus.
And Maruzensky, under certain circumstances, doesn't return to the Tracen Academy dormitory, so she bought a house outside.
And that's why she's currently walking on the road to her house.
After walking around a corner, Maruzensky saw the Uma Musume squatting outside the fence of the house she bought, holding a child.
Looking at her, Maruzensky stopped.
At this point in time, Rudolph Symboli was still a scumbag, and the protection of Uma Musume's rights was not in place, and the official organization seemed to turn a blind eye to this.
So, with Shinzan not around, and the free CB freely letting herself go, Maruzensky can be considered the only conscience in the Tracen Student Council, although not much.
But even so, Maruzensky wouldn't randomly take in a stranger.
But if it was a Uma Musume, then that would be a different story.
Uma Musume don't have that many bad intentions, at most they just have a bad personality or a bad way of doing things.
Moreover, judging from the fact that she was holding a child.
Could it be that a country Uma Musume was tricked into coming to Tokyo?
Because she guessed such a possibility.
So Maruzensky walked towards her.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The sparse footsteps gradually approached, which made Tokai Nature raise her head.
A Uma Musume was approaching her, because she was not within the scope of the street lamp light, so Tokai Nature couldn't see her face clearly.
But when she walked under the street lamp, Tokai Nature recognized her.
Maruzensky, known as the Red Sports Car.
Looking at her, Tokai Nature was very puzzled as to why she would approach her.
"Are you alone?"
A polite question, without using any dead language, this is probably Maruzensky's attitude towards people she meets for the first time.
"...Yes."
Tokai Nature didn't know why she asked this question, but even if she wanted to do something, she couldn't resist.
After all, her sickly condition made her body weaker than ordinary Uma Musume.
Although she was still much stronger than humans, compared to Uma Musume, she could only say that giving up resistance would be better.
Moreover, there weren't that many surveillance cameras on the streets of the residential area, so even if something really happened, Tokai Nature could only consider herself unlucky.
And seemingly noticing Tokai Nature's wary and then relaxed appearance.
Maruzensky didn't continue to approach, she just looked at her and asked a question.
"Don't you have a place to live?"
"Yes."
The same response, but much faster than before, it seemed that she had completely let down her guard.
"Would you like to stay at my house?"
Directly asking the most important question.
Faced with her question, Tokai Nature didn't respond.
She just looked at Maruzensky.
The two of them stared at each other under the street lamp.
Finally, Maruzensky broke the silence: "It's just a sudden act of kindness, so, do you want to come?"
Hearing such an explanation, Tokai Nature didn't hesitate this time.
Because in a few seconds,
She figured out one thing.
That is, if it was just herself, she wouldn't need to consider so much.
And the most important reason was that she couldn't outrun her, nor could she beat her.
So,
Tokai Nature, holding her child, nodded.
"Yes."