Kitajima Saburou quietly nodded to himself.
As a top-tier professional in the music industry, he'd seen countless ambitious newcors, including many genuinely talented prodigies.
While one song alone might not fully reflect Yasui Makoto's potential, the sheer quality of Uchiage Hanabi was more than enough to demonstrate the young man's remarkable talent.
Typically, people with such gifts easily succumbed to arrogance or short-sighted greed.
Yet the young man before him remained completely unmoved, steadfast in his own priorities—a rare quality indeed.
Admittedly, Kitajima felt a twinge of regret.
Had Yasui not beco a trainer, his potential in music under Kitajima's ntorship would have quickly propelled him into a highly coveted industry star with boundless possibilities.
However, that fleeting regret was swiftly overshadowed by a more selfish, joyful thought.
Ever since becoming enamored with the Twinkle Series, he'd sponsored close to a hundred Uma Musu, with results that could only be described as diocre at best.
Now, his beloved granddaughter had debuted as an Uma Musu and claid three consecutive victories—including a G2-grade race like the Spring Stakes.
Of all the Uma Musu he'd previously supported—hundreds of races, combined—there had only been two graded victories, neither of them G1, and only a single G2.
Seeing Kitasan Black's success had him almost giddy with pride. If not for his family's objections, he would've publicly announced at a concert or another grand occasion, "Such an amazing Uma Musu is my granddaughter!"
As for how far Kitasan could go, he had no expertise in training and thus couldn't speculate.
But as long as she was guided by the young man in front of him, that mattered far more than nurturing so musical genius—his granddaughter's future was paramount.
With these thoughts in mind, Kitajima replied decisively:
"Very well. I'll arrange soone to handle this matter. And again, thank you, Trainer Yasui, for your trust."
Pausing briefly, he voiced a new concern:
"Speaking of which, I've been closely following Kita-chan's races. Forgive for prying, but after our previous eting, I noticed you haven't contacted Ohno Shoji yet. Is there so issue preventing that?"
"As I understand it, training expenses are quite significant. Kita-chan herself often ntions the high cost of running shoes, sothing like one pair per week. Are you truly under no financial pressure? Please, don't hesitate to tell if there is."
Yasui Makoto hesitated briefly.
Kitajima Saburou wasn't wrong. Training Uma Musu was undeniably expensive.
Take running shoes, for example.
With current technology, specialized Uma Musu footwear—if worn by humans—would easily last years without noticeable wear.
But given an Uma Musu's incredible strength, a single pair was typically destroyed within two to three weeks of training, even with horseshoes for reinforcent.
Kitasan Black, whose power exceeded even that of many Uma Musu, consud shoes at an even faster rate—exactly as Kitajima ntioned, one pair per week.
Considering each pair cost roughly between 50,000 and 80,000 yen, Kitasan's monthly shoe expenses alone hovered around 200,000 yen.
Horseshoes were another significant cost.
A pair typically lasted one or two months and cost between 4,000 to 6,000 yen, though higher-grade alloys could reach 8,000 to 10,000 yen per pair.
But training requirents and surfaces varied greatly, aning several types of horseshoes were always needed, replaced frequently as an Uma Musu developed.
Currently, Kitasan Black was entering her honkaku-ka stage—a period of rapid competitive maturation—necessitating horseshoe replacents every two weeks, thus considerably increasing costs.
Adding uniforms, nutrition supplents, and training equipnt, competing in the Twinkle Series was undoubtedly an expensive endeavor—no different from any other high-level sport.
This was precisely what Yasui wanted to discuss with Kitajima.
It wasn't purely about money—due to his savings, part-ti jobs before coming to Tokyo, trainer's stipend, and recent prize earnings, Yasui wasn't under significant financial stress.
The main issue was bureaucracy. Trainers had to request approval from Tracen Academy for equipnt purchases to qualify for subsidies.
While the approval itself wasn't difficult, Kitasan Black's enormous rate of consumption ant frequently filing docunts. Filling out endless "running shoe purchase applications" alone wasted considerable ti.
Having considered this, Yasui spoke frankly to Kitajima:
"To be honest, I'm not hesitant about accepting help."
"The Academy provides monthly subsidies covering Kita-chan's regular needs like running shoes, horseshoes, and sportswear. Combined with my own resources—previous savings, stipends, and race prizes—I don't currently face financial difficulties."
"What I really need help with, however, is personnel to handle tedious paperwork like filling out applications."
"That way, I can focus entirely on training Kita-chan."
"I see…" Kitajima nodded thoughtfully, his eyes brightening with approval.
"I've heard of Trainer Yasui's dedication during your school days."
"But since this involves Kita-chan's training, there's no reason you should spend your own money."
"Here's what we'll do—I'll arrange for soone to et with you later. From now on, all expenses beyond Academy subsidies will be handled entirely by Ohno Shoji."
"And as for submitting docunts to the student council, my assistants can handle that as well."
Yasui felt imdiate relief.
He didn't know if other industries were similar, but as a trainer, he constantly found himself bogged down by trivialities beyond training and racing itself.
These tasks felt needlessly ti-consuming, and he'd often wondered how other trainers managed them.
Now that Kitajima had proactively offered assistance, there was no reason to decline. Moreover, this solution perfectly matched what he'd discussed in a phone call just last night, making him want to see if Kitajima could help with that too.
"In that case, I'll gladly accept your offer. Thank you very much, Kitajima-sensei."
...
Following their conversation, Kitajima Saburou led Yasui through the residence, proudly showing off various priceless collectibles.
In this life, Yasui had grown up under modest circumstances, never leaving his hotown before arriving in Tokyo, thus having limited exposure to such luxury.
Still, thanks to his mories from his past life, he felt he handled the situation gracefully enough.
anwhile, Yasui silently pondered Kitasan Black's future training plans.
It was clear her current training thods required optimization.
Uma Musu, strongly group-oriented by nature, couldn't fully reveal their potential when running alone.
Trainers usually needed either several official races or practice sessions involving multiple Uma Musu to accurately assess their abilities.
Only after this initial assessnt could trainers confidently set training schedules, racing strategies, and tactics tailored to each Uma Musu.
However, because of Yasui's past-life knowledge, Kitasan had skipped this step entirely.
Before her debut, he'd already decided her optimal training thods, racing style, and tactical approach.
Thus, her first two victories had been almost inevitable.
But her third victory—the recent Spring Stakes—clearly hadn't been so easy.
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