Tap, tap, tap. Someone knocked on Kazuma Nakagaki's door. The visitor seemed a bit rushed; even the sound of the knocking carried a hint of fluster.
Kazuma climbed out of bed and stretched—he wasn't actually sleeping, as it was only 7:30 PM. It was just that after arranging Oguri's training schedule and race calendar, he had nothing else to do. He had returned home early to lie down and rest, while simultaneously waiting for the visitor he expected would show up—the one behind the current knocking.
"Coming," the man muttered. He slid into his slippers, walked to the door, opened it, and stepped back.
However, the visitor standing at the door wasn't in a hurry to enter. Or rather, she hadn't fully recovered from her fluster. She gave a light cough, followed by a dry laugh, and pointed at the door to Kazuma's room.
"Ahaha... Trainer, you changed the lock."
The Emperor—Symboli Rudolf—no, at this moment, it was likely Luna, who spoke.
"Yeah," Kazuma nodded. "I heard from the security guard downstairs a few days ago that the dormitory keys are fairly easy to duplicate. I felt there was a risk of personal items being leaked, so I changed it."
After sending Oguri Cap back to Tracen, and before the afternoon training began, Kazuma had moved at lightning speed to find a craftsman to swap the lock. He upgraded from an old-fashioned key lock to a smart lock with voice and fingerprint recognition, specifically to guard against those "little thieves" who had duplicated his keys.
Of course, if brute force were used, such a lock wouldn't stop a Horse Girl. It might not even withstand a heavy blow from Kazuma himself. Therefore, he had specifically asked the merchant to set a "deadlock" function upon tampering—if someone tried to force their way in, the only option left would be to tear the door down.
"Guh." Rudolf lowered her head slightly. For a fleeting moment, her expression turned into one of grievance and frustration. But it was immediately replaced by shame, finally settling back into a peaceful mask, as if nothing had happened.
"Then... can I still come in?" Rudolf asked with an awkward, tentative probe.
Kazuma felt that the word "still" was used very effectively. It seemed to say nothing, yet it confessed everything.
"Don't be a stranger. Just don't bring any 'gifts' next time."
Kazuma's reply was equally loaded with subtext. Catching the meaning, Rudolf shrank back slightly and gave another light cough before stepping into Kazuma's home.
"It's been a while since I last visited," Rudolf said as she walked toward the sofa. She rested her hand on the armrest and asked Kazuma cautiously, "Um. May I sit down?"
"Why wouldn't you?"
Kazuma shrugged, then sat down on the opposite sofa and began brewing tea. Unlike the high-end tea leaves Rudolf prepared in the Student Council room, his home only had common... which is to say, cheap tea. But entertaining a guest isn't about the guest's status, but about what the host can provide. Thus, he felt no embarrassment, efficiently pouring a cup of black tea for both Rudolf and himself.
"Mm... Trainer, did you do a deep clean these past two days?" Rudolf asked after taking a small sip.
"Well—I think Luna is smart enough to guess whether I did or not," Kazuma replied, in no hurry to drink.
Translated into human speech: As if you wouldn't know.
Hearing the implication, Rudolf leaned back against the sofa... or rather, she curled into it, entirely lacking the majesty of the "Emperor" she displayed daily. She first put on a small, pleading face, which immediately shifted into shame and grievance.
"I'm sorry..." the Horse Girl said.
"I have to admit—to be able to plant these things in my house without me knowing, you're quite impressive, Luna."
As Kazuma spoke, he pulled several of Oguri Cap's "trophies" from the storage cabinet under the coffee table and tossed them onto the glass surface. They were now completely non-functional—Kazuma had stripped all the wiring for safety, leaving behind nothing but empty shells.
"Again, I am so sorry..." Luna whispered, head bowed. "Actually, it wasn't that hard... These batteries last for over six months. I installed them once when Trainer was about to return at the beginning of the year, and I swapped them again at the end of May just before you came back from overseas."
Her attitude was extremely sincere, confessing everything directly, which was outside Kazuma's expectations.
"And the purpose?"
"It was just... when I had nothing to do... um. To see what Trainer does at home," Luna said, looking quite aggrieved. But after saying this, she seemed to remember something; her expression snapped back to that of "Symboli Rudolf," and she coughed, looking like she had just come up with a justification.
"But—during this time, Trainer was rarely home. You were abroad in the first half of the year, and in the second half, you were so busy with races that you often stayed overnight in the team prep room, didn't you? I didn't actually steal much personal privacy!" Rudolf nodded, her expression confident and flat, though her tone betrayed a hint of hopefulness.
Kazuma had to admit... she was right. But those words were mere sophistry.
"The moment you installed those things, you had already impacted my privacy. Don't try to argue your way out of it."
Kazuma spread his hands. He truly wasn't that bothered by it. Rather than anger or frustration, he felt a simple sense of helplessness. If Rudolf had just honestly admitted it, it would have been fine, but her attempts to rationalize it actually caused him more irritation.
"Arguing... speaking of which, isn't Trainer the one being more cunning?"
Rudolf sighed again, pressing her brow as she too became exasperated.
"How am I—" Well, maybe I am.
"To handle someone's feelings with such ambiguity, doesn't Trainer think he is also in the wrong?"
Rudolf—or rather, the Horse Girl who had reverted to Luna—kept a close eye on Kazuma's reaction as she spoke. The latter was left speechless for a moment before nodding.
"True. Then I apologize as well."
"Instead of an apology, what about another answer?"
"I can't give an answer, so I can only apologize," Kazuma shrugged. "Of course, Luna, if you insist on an answer right now, then my answer can only be—"
"Then you'd better not say it." Luna puffed out her cheeks, surprisingly like a pouting little girl. This was how Rudolf relieved her daily stress—through more direct emotional expression. But Kazuma hadn't experienced this in several years.
However, having just said that, the Horse Girl, dissatisfied with the outcome, twitched her ears and questioned her trainer.
"In the end, why can't you answer now?"
Wait... the topic of surveillance was just skipped like that? The man raised an eyebrow. Whatever, the devices were dismantled anyway, and he'd just have to be careful from now on. He really was quite indifferent to it.
As for the answer to her question... Because my boss has a grand goal that prevents me from doing so. While Kazuma thought this, what came out was a different kind of excuse.
"Because the status is inappropriate."
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The Unhinged Trainer
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"What's inappropriate about it?"
"I am a trainer, and you are a student."
"But at Tracen, many graduated students have developed relationships with their trainers—"
"You said it yourself: those are graduated students." Kazuma immediately seized the point of contention, clarified his lie, and interrupted Rudolf before she could continue.
"So, may I ask, Miss Luna, have you graduated yet?"
Tracen does not force Horse Girls to graduate—in other words, even if they finish their coursework, they can stay at the school if they wish. Even Horse Girls who have left the Twinkle Series might still compete in events like the Dream Cup. Continuing to provide support is also part of Tracen's work. That's why there are Horse Girls who don't quite look like students still wearing the school uniform...
Furthermore, Rudolf was unlikely to graduate easily. At the height of her Twinkle Series career, she was still in middle school; now, she had only progressed to the high school division.
Hearing Kazuma say this, Luna could only take a deep breath and slowly exhale, adjusting her mood. Clearly, the adjustment wasn't very effective, as she immediately frowned, pouted, and asked in a coaxing tone.
"But surely there's no problem with just confirming our feelings?"
"There's a huge problem."
Kazuma realized he was becoming increasingly adept at lying. The experience of having to deal with the Goddess while talking to others had made him more familiar with communication—though he still couldn't bring himself to enjoy socializing, he could handle it perfectly well, perhaps even skillfully.
"Words have power. Once they are spoken, they become fixed in the subconscious. So you shouldn't say them so lightly. Now is not the time for an answer."
"But Trainer, right now—" Here, Luna paused, turning her head slightly before continuing. "It's just... guh. You and your new trainee, you and Oguri are getting along so harmoniously."
Isn't that normal? Kazuma thought. Though he did have to be careful and find a way to stop it from going too far. Also... So Luna actually does get jealous...
"Don't you and Oguri get along harmoniously too?"
"That's not the same thing." Luna looked up and glared at Kazuma, huffing.
How did the tables turn? Now I'm the one being lectured... Kazuma thought, sighing. "It's just—anyway, I'm not considering those things right now. Not with you, and not with Oguri."
"Doesn't it feel cunning to say it's 'the same'? I was the one who contracted with Trainer first." Luna, speaking her mind like a child, was as aggressive as a child who had found a winning point. Faced with this development, Kazuma could only check the time on his phone—it was about time.
"By the way." He abruptly changed the subject. "Luna, you don't live in the Horse Girl dorms, right?"
"That's true, but don't change the subject."
"Do you live alone?"
"Yes. I usually live off-campus, and go home during holidays if I'm not busy—so I said, Trainer, don't change the subject!"
Kazuma listened and nodded. "That's good."
"G?" Hearing him say that, the Horse Girl was momentarily stunned, and then her face suddenly turned bright red. "Wait, G?"
"Don't you feel sleepy?" It wasn't until he asked this that the Horse Girl noticed something, her face turning even redder.
"Trainer, you put something in the tea—" By the time she said this, Luna's tongue was starting to trip. The rest of her sentence turned into a mumble. At the same time, the Horse Girl's body began to soften, swaying weakly.
The records said Horse Girls have a high resistance to drugs. So Kazuma had specifically increased the dosage... this was retaliation. Because he just happened to remember, it was a punishment directed at the Rudolf of another timeline, and at the Rudolf who secretly installed surveillance equipment.
"Goodnight." As he lightly waved his hand, the Horse Girl finally succumbed to the effects of the medicine, falling back onto the sofa.
"You really have some nerve, little lamb..." Unbeknownst to him, the Darley Arabian had appeared behind the man, sighing as she massaged her neck.
"What? She could drug me, why can't I do it back?" Kazuma curled his lip. He stood up, lifted the completely unconscious Rudolf from the sofa, and prepared to head to the bedroom.
"Wait, you're not actually going to—" The Goddess seemed a bit anxious. Even though she hadn't blinked when Kazuma faced similar situations before...
"That's different!" Darley pouted, having read Kazuma's thoughts.
"How is it different—" Kazuma shot back. "But don't worry... I don't plan on committing a crime in this world, no matter what... I won't do anything. The Student Council must be very busy with the Fan Festival lately—I'm just letting her get some good rest."
"And you still drugged her..." After hearing Kazuma's words, Darley froze for a moment, then massaged her neck and sighed, giving Kazuma a universal middle-finger salute.
"Are you impotent? How can you be so gutless!!" The Goddess shouted, then vanished.
"Are you telling me to do something or to do nothing!!"
Kazuma could only snap back at the empty air.
"Trainer, you bastard, how can you do nothing at all!"
Of course, the Rudolf who woke up the next day was grabbing Kazuma by his collar on the sofa, shouting in a rage.
"I truly do like—no, I should say I love Trainer."
Rudolf placed her hand over her heart, speaking from her soul.
But these words didn't exactly shock the audience. If anyone was shocked, it was only Oguri Cap, who was being toyed with by Darley; she stiffened for a brief moment. Feeling Oguri freeze, Darley gently moved to hug Oguri's head, using her arms to shield Oguri's eyes and block her ears.
"Eh?"
Seeing that no one seemed to have much of a reaction, it was Rudolf's turn to be confused.
"I can understand Trainer... but my elder sisters, why do you all act as if you already knew?"
After all, you've been calling them 'big sister' so happily since the start... aren't you just aiming to be their sister-in-law? Kazuma sighed internally, rubbing his temples, feeling deeply helpless.