Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Ten Meters Chapter 49: Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Ten Meters [49]

Over an hour later.

"Aw, co on, McQueen, don't be so impatient! I told you I'd hand it over after half an hour. I promise I won't go back on my word!"

"You said exactly the sa thing half an hour ago, Teio…" jiro McQueen sighed, smiling with gentle exasperation at her friend, who still clung stubbornly to the drone's remote controller. After another wistful glance at the controller, she shook her head lightly and looked thoughtfully at the tablet on the desk.

A cable connected the tablet to the remote in Tokai Teio's hands.

The remote itself was about the size of a brick, featuring an antenna on top, with control sticks, buttons, and indicator lights arranged at the front. Most of the back was occupied by a display screen.

On the screen were clear, high-definition aerial views: blue-tiled roofs, European-style red-brick buildings, paved avenues, shaded paths, bright classrooms, and lush training grounds…

It was a bird's-eye view of Tracen Academy.

The tablet showed the sa images. As Tokai Teio enthusiastically manipulated the controls, both screens swiftly shifted from one scene to another at remarkable speed.

"It's amazing. Who'd have thought sothing so small could fly this fast?"

jiro McQueen marveled at the images before turning toward Yasui Makoto.

"If I'm not mistaken...the drone's current speed is around 60 kiloters per hour?"

Without waiting for Yasui's confirmation, Teio answered proudly—her eyes never leaving the screen—as if boasting about a beloved new toy:

"You're right, McQueen! I set the speed to exactly 60 km/h!"

"Yasui-san ntioned it can even hit up to 72 km/h at top speed, though not even the final spurt in a G1 race reaches that speed. For training, 60 is more than enough."

"Hehe, you'll see when you play with it yourself!"

jiro McQueen sighed again, resigned but affectionate. Having known Teio for so long, she easily recognized the childish pride in her friend's voice.

But she quickly returned her attention to the drone, intently observing the tablet's feed.

From the mont she saw Yasui demonstrate the drone, McQueen had imdiately grasped its significance.

High-quality video recordings were essential for both training and race analysis. Reviewing such footage allowed trainers and Uma Musu alike to identify countless problems and optimize future strategies.

Currently, there were mainly three filming thods: multiple caras at racecourses, surveillance cara footage, and trainers filming by themselves—either following the Uma Musu or fixed-point filming.

Each had pros and cons:

Multiple professional caras were excellent, but aside from publicly broadcast footage, race recordings were usually kept by the URA Association and the academy, requiring tedious applications to access.

Surveillance cara footage had wide coverage but even more difficult access, often with poor resolution.

Self-recording was common, but trainers couldn't keep pace with Uma Musu unless another Uma Musu assisted. Otherwise, stationary shots were limited. Uma Musu running with caras resulted in shaky, unreliable footage.

However, drone filming combined all these advantages while sidestepping every shortcoming.

According to Yasui, once the flight routes were set, using even three drones simultaneously to film continuously would produce recordings far superior to any existing thod.

Thinking about this, jiro McQueen glanced expectantly toward Yasui Makoto.

"Yasui-san, since you already had this idea in mind, have you been filming Kitasan's training these days? Could I perhaps see so footage?"

Tokai Teio, despite being engrossed in piloting the drone, also turned to Yasui, equally intrigued. As a similarly gifted and experienced Uma Musu, she shared her friend's keen understanding.

Holding tightly to the remote, she still maintained her awareness as student council president.

"That's right! You only ntioned it to last night, but this morning, Yasui-san, did you manage to film Kitasan?"

Earlier, while Tokai Teio enjoyed flying the drone, Yasui hadn't interrupted her. He wanted both presidents to personally experience the advantages of drone filming, ensuring the next conversation flowed smoothly.

Now, seeing both leaders broach the main topic, Yasui didn't hide the truth:

"Not yet. The drone has a few issues still—that's partly why I ca here to speak with you two."

"Issues?" The two presidents spoke simultaneously.

Teio hesitated briefly before handing the controller to McQueen.

"McQueen, you bring the drone back—I'll discuss things with Yasui-san first."

"Oh...so you finally rember at a ti like this, hmm?" jiro McQueen playfully grumbled, though she accepted the remote without complaint, carefully following Yasui's earlier demonstration.

"The most noticeable issue is noise," Yasui began, gesturing toward the tablet's image. "You can't hear it on the screen because of the built-in noise cancellation. But I'm sure you both heard it during takeoff—it's honestly pretty loud. In fact, if it flies too close, you'll constantly hear that buzzing sound. Your hearing is exceptionally sensitive; unless we resolve that, training could be disrupted."

"There's also the software issue. Strictly speaking, this drone is still a prototype. By a stroke of luck, I managed to acquire it—well, not exactly buy it. The inventor wanted soone to test it practically, so they provided it to ."

"That ans the cara movent, image processing, intelligent avoidance functions…all still require fine-tuning."

"Lastly," Yasui paused briefly, unhesitant in addressing the issue, "privacy."

Tokai Teio paused, quickly catching on.

"True. With a device like this, you could film almost anything with ease. The academy is full of girls—not only students, but also teachers and trainers. Even a minor misunderstanding could escalate quickly."

She furrowed her brow thoughtfully. "Let think…"

Seeing her reaction, Yasui remained quiet. He had so preliminary ideas, but knowing Tokai Teio's reputation for efficiency, perhaps she'd co up with an even better solution. He waited patiently, watching her expression carefully.

Before Tokai Teio could respond, jiro McQueen's confused voice interrupted:

"Hm? Isn't that Kita-chan? Why is she acting so strange…?"

Instantly, Yasui and Tokai Teio's attention was drawn to the screen.

On both the tablet and remote display, they clearly saw the image jiro McQueen had described—a black-haired girl acting rather suspiciously.

It was currently break ti. Students chatted casually in the hallways or strolled onto the sports fields, relaxing with friends.

Yet the black-haired girl in the footage wasn't chatting or relaxing.

Instead, Kitasan Black stood furtively hidden among the bushes near the sports field, awkwardly holding two leafy branches, clearly trying—and utterly failing—to blend inconspicuously into the greenery.