January 15th marked Silence Suzuka's return to Central Tracen Academy.
Early that morning, Shuta An arrived at the training grounds ahead of schedule. When he stopped at the edge of the field, the vast grounds were still completely empty.
"Looks like I'm the first one here today," the young man muttered. He slipped his phone out of his pocket, intending to kill ti by skimming the news.
He wasn't an Uma Musu, and coming this early wasn't for exercise. Today was the day he would begin testing jiro Dober and Tokai Teio, laying the groundwork for how their training would be structured going forward.
"Suzuka will land in Tokyo after ten, and she should reach the Academy around noon," he planned silently. "If the morning tests wrap up smoothly, I can call her and have lunch together. A proper welco."
With his schedule settled, Shuta An scrolled through the morning headlines.
"Housing prices are still falling. The stock market remains sluggish. Even after last year's bubble burst, there's still no sign of recovery…" He shook his head faintly. "But none of that really concerns the Twinkle Series. If anything, tis like these only push more people to watch races and vent their stress."
He paused, then let out a quiet breath.
"Feels no different from the Dream World." He dismissed the thought with a small shake of his head. "How others live isn't my concern. As long as the Twinkle Series thrives, that's enough. I just need to be responsible for the Uma Musu on my team."
With that, he filtered his reading to news related only to racing. There was nothing particularly notable dostically, so he shifted his attention overseas.
"Europe's quiet this year. The URA associations over there are playing it safe, no major reforms planned." His gaze narrowed as a familiar photograph filled his screen. "But North Arica—"
The image of Miesque stared back at him.
"Yesterday, Miss Miesque, Executive Director of Breeders' Cup Series LLC, announced that this year's Breeders' Cup—held at Hollywood Park Racetrack in early November—will be expanded from one day to two. All originally scheduled races will be moved to the second day, while six additional races will be held on the first day. The total number of races will increase from eight to fourteen."
"Six races in one go?" Shuta An couldn't help but exclaim. "That's bold. The financial burden alone must be enormous."
He scrolled further—and his eyes lit up.
"All first-day races are limited to debut-year entries."
Though the races were capped at Listed level due to the new format, one glance at the prize money was enough for him to decide.
"If possible, Dober has to challenge this."
The winner's purse was 610,000 US dollars—only slightly less than what Oguri Cap had earned from the Arlington Million.
"It's a sha it's only a Listed race," he murmured, "but with this level of prize money, the competition won't be weak. And no matter what, it's still the Breeders' Cup. If Dober wins, it'll be historic. She can absolutely handle a race like this."
The thought stirred a trace of regret.
"What a pity about the UAE…" Shuta An sighed inwardly. "It's only their first edition this year, yet they've already designated several races as graded stakes. Even if only the Dubai World Cup is G1, it still feels oddly aggressive. If they poured in more money, could they even promote the Dubai Turf to G1? If Suzuka won that, it'd be her second G1 title."
He wanted Silence Suzuka to accumulate as many G1 victories as possible. That alone would ease the pressure she carried. In his eyes, her optimal race distance was simply too unusual—Japan offered her very few suitable stages.
"Still can't shorten it to a mile—" he muttered. "With Suzuka's traits, she probably can't beat Taiki Shuttle. And overseas, mile specialists are everywhere. If only there were more G1 races at 1800 ters—"
Lost in thought, Shuta An suddenly noticed two figures approaching.
jiro Dober and Tokai Teio had arrived together.
What surprised him even more was their reaction. Both Uma Musu flushed slightly when they noticed how early their Trainer had already arrived.
"Did we co too late?" Tokai Teio whispered to jiro Dober. "Trainer looks like he's been waiting here forever."
jiro Dober didn't respond. She only grumbled internally.
"If I ca any earlier, I wouldn't have slept at all—"
Knowing today marked the start of testing, she had spent an absurd amount of ti in front of her dormitory mirror the night before. There was simply no way she could have arrived earlier than this.
Shuta Trainer put his phone away and looked at the two of them, nodding in satisfaction.
"Good. Teio and Dober are the earliest Uma Musu here today," he said calmly. "You both know what today is about—we discussed it ten days ago."
"Yes!"
"Yes, yes!"
They nodded repeatedly.
"Then let's begin with warm-ups," Shuta An instructed. "After that, the two of you will pair up and do a slow-paced lap."
jiro Dober and Tokai Teio exchanged a glance, then split off in opposite directions, each heading to a spot they preferred for warming up.
Shuta An watched their retreating backs in silence.
"I may need to add another training item," he calculated quietly. "Tokai Teio and jiro Dober have to understand that they're teammates. It's one thing if they're rely civil off the track—but going their separate ways during training won't do."
No solution ca to him imdiately.
Oguri Cap and Berno Light had been close from the start; that had never required intervention. Silence Suzuka had initially been resisted by Berno Light, but her natural warmth had already smoothed things over.
jiro Dober and Tokai Teio were different.
They had both earned recognition from their seniors—but between them, there remained a faint, undeniable distance.
"I'll need to think this through," Shuta An reminded himself quietly.
The morning training itself was unremarkable, except that in addition to their regular routine, Shuta An had the two of them run a standard-pace, 1000-ter chase on a freshly watered turf track.
After observing their performance, the young man raised an eyebrow, the conclusion settling quickly in his mind.
"So Tokai Teio's adaptability to wet turf completely surpasses jiro Dober's."
With that realization, his determination to keep jiro Dober away from European tracks only grew firr.
"Only Deauville and York are even runnable, and the race tempo there is completely different from Japan," he reasoned inwardly. "It's better to target Australia or North Arica once she's older. The turf in those regions suits jiro Dober far better than Europe ever could."
He didn't voice these thoughts aloud. Once the chase concluded, he simply announced that the morning training was over.
"Tomorrow, neither of you needs high-intensity work. Just light morning exercise," Shuta An said calmly. "On the 17th, I'll take both of you to the hospital for a full check-up. I'll pass the reports to a friend of mine—the sa one who handled Oguri Cap's treatnt twice—for analysis. Once that's done, I'll tell you my vision for your Twinkle Series careers."
The two Uma Musu nodded at once. "We understand!"
Though curiosity stirred strongly within them, Shuta An had made it clear that the answer would co later. jiro Dober was relatively composed—she had already heard fragnts here and there—but Tokai Teio found it much harder to suppress her anticipation. After all, this was the kind of thing that shaped the dreams she spun under her blanket at night.
After wrapping up training, Shuta An checked the ti and told the two of them to return to their dorms and freshen up. Silence Suzuka would be back shortly, and they would head to the restaurant he had reserved days ago to welco her ho. It would also serve as a small celebration for jiro Dober and Tokai Teio taking another step closer to their Twinkle Series debut.
"Okay!" The two Uma Musu agreed readily and trotted off the training grounds.
Shuta Trainer, anwhile, headed straight for the parking lot—the agreed eting point with Silence Suzuka. From there, he would drive them to Ippei Restaurant in Motoazabu, Minato Ward.
The chef there had studied diligently in Hong Kong during his youth. After returning to Tokyo, he hadn't rushed to open his own shop, instead continuing to hone his craft in renowned establishnts such as Akasaka Rikyu and Kirin-ken. Only recently, with land prices finally easing, had he decided the timing was right.
Like many high-end restaurants, Ippei offered omakase. Shuta An had been introduced to it by Maruzensky and had once dined there alone, finding the flavors genuinely authentic—no less impressive than what he'd eaten in Hong Kong the previous December. The only reason he hadn't brought Oguri Cap was simple: he feared that if he did, the restaurant might never let him through the door again.
This ti, he reserved a private room and ordered four omakase courses. It was just right—unless, of course, one of the three Uma Musu happened to be possessed by Oguri Cap.
"Considering their appetites, it should be fine…right?" he thought to himself.
When the three Uma Musu gathered at the parking lot, Shuta An motioned for them to get in. The car soon pulled away from the Academy.
"Actually, we still have classes this afternoon," Tokai Teio suddenly said.
"Then Teio should go back," jiro Dober imdiately replied before Shuta An could speak. "Schoolwork is important."
"No, no," Tokai Teio's mouth twitched. "I already asked for leave. It's just ho economics anyway—I'll be fine."
She pouted. "I don't even get why the Academy still has ho economics. Do we really need to learn that stuff?"
"Not everyone in middle school becos an Uma Musu," Silence Suzuka interjected gently. "So beco support staff, and so leave the Academy altogether. Not learning any life skills at all wouldn't be right."
"At the very least, it lets you take care of yourself," Shuta An added from the driver's seat. "Teio, you don't strictly need it—your future will definitely be on the tracks of the Twinkle Series and the Dream Trophy Series. But you need to understand sothing."
"You can't represent all Uma Musu," he continued evenly. "The scenery you'll see in your life—many others may never reach it."
"Because you're gifted to run, Teio, you need to understand the feelings of ordinary Uma Musu," the young man said. "If you stay self-centered, then aside from Team Sadalsuud—how many people will truly be able to stand beside you as friends?"
"I only need Trainer," Tokai Teio replied without hesitation.
"That's not right," Shuta An rejected her words calmly. "When we return to the Academy today, go find Miss Rudolf. Ask her about the Uma Musu nad Material."
"Material?" Silence Suzuka's eyes widened. "Wasn't she the Uma Musu who passed away in an accident on the track last autumn? I rember—she had just won a graded race, then collapsed after crossing the finish line. Even after being rushed to the hospital, she couldn't be saved." (Reading it here, I thought it was Twilight Song)
She drew a breath. "Honestly, even though there was no blood, many Uma Musu at the Academy had nightmares after watching that replay."
"Mm," Shuta An said quietly. "Teio, go ask Miss Rudolf about her."
His tone was calm, but all three Uma Musu sensed that being told specifically to speak with Symboli Rudolf ant there was sothing more to Material's story—sothing they didn't yet know.
What Shuta An didn't say was that he already knew the truth. It was sothing Berno Light had once confided to Symboli Rudolf, and later, on a quiet night, had whispered to him while resting in his arms.
In Shuta An's view, Symboli Rudolf didn't deserve to shoulder excessive guilt over Material's tragedy. If one tried to live up to everyone's expectations, then even the "Emperor" standing at the pinnacle of Central Tracen Academy would eventually be crushed beneath their weight.
And yet, he understood her all the sa.
If it were him, he would have engraved Material's na into his heart forever. After all, that was a childhood friend who had given her life simply to earn Symboli Rudolf's recognition.
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