"Sakuraba-san, can you teach me how to run better?"
"Nope. I don't know the first thing about running!"
"Then can Sakuraba-san help plan my training?"
"Nope. That's a trainer's job."
By this point, even Oguri Cap—with her rather unrefined instincts—had started to realize that this man calling himself an investor seemed a little unreliable.
"...Um, then what can Sakuraba-san do?"
"Haha, now that's the right question!"
With a mysterious air of confidence on his face, Sakuraba Ryo thumped his chest and said to Oguri Cap,
"I may not know how to do any of that stuff you just mentioned, but I do have money!"
"Money...?"
Oguri Cap looked adorably blank.
"Looks like you don't really understand what money means for someone like you, so let me explain it properly."
Sakuraba cleared his throat before continuing.
"First of all, training for Umamusume is extremely expensive."
"Take your running shoes, for example. A good pair costs over twenty thousand yen, and during the kind of intense training you girls go through, they're basically consumables."
"Because Umamusume bodies are ridiculously strong, you go through running shoes ten times, even a hundred times faster than normal people. If the training intensity gets high enough, even a good pair won't last five days under your feet."
"Question: how much do you think you'd spend on replacing running shoes alone in a month?"
"Umm..." A troubled look appeared on Oguri Cap's face. Clearly, arithmetic was not her strong suit.
"At the very least, over a hundred thousand yen. And that's just for running shoes."
"Ohh..."
Oguri Cap wore an expression that said she sort of understood and sort of didn't. Sakuraba decided this explanation wasn't landing very well, so he switched tactics.
"Oguri Cap, what do you like?"
"Running... and eating!"
Mm-hm. As expected of the Umamusume I picked. Her desires are so simple it's almost funny.
But right now, I need to validate her.
"That's a good answer."
Smiling, Sakuraba gave her an example.
"If you have money, you can eat whatever you want—and as much of it as you want."
"Mm!"
Oguri Cap's eyes lit up instantly. Mention that, and she was wide awake.
"Really?"
"Of course it's true. If you accept my investment, I guarantee you'll be eating delicious food every meal, all you want!"
"All right!"
Oguri Cap looked excited, but the excitement faded almost as quickly as it came.
Even Oguri Cap knew good things didn't just fall out of the sky for no reason.
"Sakuraba-san is being so nice to me... what for?"
"Mm, excellent question!"
Sakuraba put on a serious expression and answered solemnly,
"Helping you is how I make my dream come true!"
That part, at least, really wasn't a lie.
If helping her lose money would help him rise again, wasn't that a kind of dream fulfillment too?
"Helping me... to make a dream come true..."
Oguri Cap looked into Sakuraba's eyes. In those black eyes, there was no lie—only genuine sincerity.
She still didn't fully understand everything he'd said about how money could do this and that, but she did understand one thing: Sakuraba truly did want to help her. He really was reaching out a hand.
So...
"Thank you for choosing to invest in me, Sakuraba-san."
And just like that, Oguri Cap accepted Sakuraba's offer.
...
"Eat! Go on, eat more!"
"Munch munch munch..."
After Oguri Cap agreed to accept his investment, Sakuraba decided to throw a small welcome celebration.
And if it was a celebration, then naturally, they couldn't hold it in the academy cafeteria.
So Sakuraba brought the girl to the shopping street near Kasamatsu Training Center Academy. There were plenty of little eateries along the street, and Sakuraba told Oguri Cap to just pick whichever one she wanted. His treat.
Oguri Cap chose a very unassuming little shop, but the smell drifting from inside was enticing enough that it was probably pretty good.
Well... if it's just a place like this, even treating her shouldn't cost that much, right...
What a shame. I was hoping I could spend a lot on food.
Seeing Oguri Cap choose such a modest restaurant, Sakuraba couldn't help but sigh at what an honest kid she was.
She really could have picked somewhere more expensive if she wanted.
She was awfully considerate.
But very soon, Sakuraba discarded that thought.
Was Oguri Cap considerate?
At least when it came to eating, she didn't seem inclined to hold back.
When Oguri Cap finished two rice bowls, Sakuraba didn't think much of it.
When she devoured five rice bowls in a row and then moved on to ramen, Sakuraba's brow began to furrow.
And by the time the stack of ramen bowls had grown taller than Sakuraba's head, the only thing left in both Sakuraba's heart and the chef's was reverence.
As the saying goes, a hearty appetite is a blessing.
Then Oguri Cap's blessings were probably enough to make Mount Fuji erupt.
The more Oguri Cap ate, the more excited Sakuraba became!
Who would've thought that food alone would cost him this much money? This was an unexpected boon!
By the time Oguri Cap was finally full, the dishes on the table had piled up like a mountain.
And when it came time to pay, Sakuraba was positively beaming.
That one meal had cost him fifty thousand yen. Hell yes!
In other words, as long as Oguri Cap kept up this appetite, even without counting breakfast, he'd be spending a steady three million yen a month on food alone.
His loss target for the month was only five million yen. Just like that, he'd already found a way to clear sixty percent of it.
Still...
This girl can really eat...
Without drawing attention to it, Sakuraba glanced at Oguri Cap's slightly rounded belly. Her appetite was probably nine, maybe ten times his own...
And yet the girl still looked as though she wanted more, which made him feel that even when it came to eating, there was such a thing as a difference in talent.
Umamusume really are incredible.
"U-um...!"
After they left the shop, Oguri Cap spoke up hesitantly beside him.
"Please let me pay part of the bill...!"
It seemed Oguri Cap had realized after the meal that she'd gotten a little too carried away with her eating and might have looked like she was taking advantage of him, so she hurriedly offered to split the cost.
But there was no way Sakuraba could allow that. This was his lossI!
How could money he'd already spent possibly come back?
"It's fine. I can afford this much. Honestly, seeing you eat so happily made me happy too."
"Mm..."
"Next time, just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll take you there!"
Sakuraba thumped his chest as he said it.
A miracle being who could burn through fifty thousand yen in one meal—if he took her to somewhere just a little fancier, wouldn't he lose even more money?
"I can just eat in the cafeteria... I won't keep troubling you all the time, Sakuraba-san."
"?"
The moment Sakuraba heard that, alarm bells went off in his head.
If Oguri Cap ate at the school cafeteria, how was he supposed to lose money?
No!
He couldn't let that damned school cafeteria ruin his grand money-losing scheme!
So Sakuraba's mind spun, and he placed a hand on Oguri Cap's shoulder, speaking earnestly.
"Oguri Cap, don't worry about my wallet. As an investor, if I can't even cover this little bit of money, can I really call myself a qualified investor?"
"From now on, I'll provide your lunch and dinner! I guarantee you'll eat better than anyone else at the academy!"
"But..."
"No buts! On my honor as an investor, I swear I'll fatten you up all nice and plump!"
"Huh?"
Oguri Cap felt like there was something a little odd about what Sakuraba had said, but for the moment, she couldn't quite put her finger on what.
"If you want to repay me, then repay me with the results of your training!"
Hands on his hips, Sakuraba grinned.
In truth, Sakuraba's proposal was a trap.
As long as Oguri Cap accepted, he was fully confident he could use money to feed her into a nice, plump little piglet.
Gray-haired Umamusume already couldn't run fast to begin with. And if he raised her into a little pig on top of that, then once Oguri Cap started racing, she probably wouldn't even be able to earn prize money for placing.
Wouldn't that mean Sakuraba would lose even more money?
If you don't profit, that's a loss!
Perfect!
Sakuraba decided to call this plan the Tracen Pig-Raising Project!
---
T/N: more like powerhouse raising project... i mean what who said that? huh? im not saying that because he's actually giving oguri cap the food sh eneeds thats shes gonna be even stronger than before no sirr!
this oguri cap seems def like a loser! who will make our mc gain a lot of money!
a honey roast pig!