Uma Musume: Why Do We, Horse Trainers, Still Have To Train Uma Musume? Chapter 3 3: Ikezoe's Hellish Journey Begins Yet Again

So ti later, in the Student Council's office room, Air Groove questioned Symboli Rudolf's previous instruction toward the three new Trainers,

"President, why are you letting the new Trainers tour Tracen Academy by themselves? Tracen Academy is incredibly large, and it's easy for newcors to get lost. At a ti like this, shouldn't we have Teio guide the new Trainers?" (T/N: THREE FRACTURES!!!)

"You're right, Air Groove. Normally, I would have Teio show new students or new Trainers around, but this ti I didn't. But I do have my reasons."

Symboli Rudolf smiled slightly at her words and said to Air Groove, "These three Trainers... are quite special. Compared to the new Trainers I've t, they feel much more mature and independent."

"We've all seen their files, Air Groove. What's your assessnt of the three new Trainers?"

"They're all very good. To be able to pass the Central Trainer Qualification Exam at such a young age and be directly assigned to our academy, they are undoubtedly outstanding," Air Groove replied honestly, not knowing why Symboli Rudolf had suddenly asked this.

"I also looked at their test scores and the answers to many open-ended questions. They all have very distinct characteristics."

"Oh? Tell what you think about them," Symboli Rudolf asked curiously, not expecting Air Groove's level of interest in the new Trainers to be even greater than her own—and more ticulous.

"Trainer Ikezoe and Trainer Wada's scores were more focused toward their judgnt on the racetrack, and on coordination and training with Uma Musu. That is to say, they are better at helping their Uma Musu perform better on the racecourse.

"Additionally, Trainer Ikezoe's tactics are clearly more aggressive, while Trainer Wada's are relatively more conservative, and he excels at situations where an Uma Musu is being targeted, which is very rare." (T/N: T.M. Opera O and Wada were targeted quite a lot, to the point where other jockeys ford an encirclent to block them.)

Clearly, Air Groove had a very high opinion of Wada and Ikezoe, and before Symboli Rudolf could speak, Air Groove continued to add,

"And Trainer Imanami... I'm ashad to say, his answers were so perfect that even soone as strict as myself couldn't find any flaws. His written performance was absolutely perfect, and when facing various open-ended questions, his answers were also impeccable. He is truly a top-tier Trainer."

"Honestly, if he didn't look so young, I would have thought these were the answers of so seventy- or eighty-year-old veteran Trainer."

"—Therefore, Air Groove, in the face of three such excellent new Trainers, we should give them so freedom to experience the atmosphere of Tracen Academy, so they can be more bold in choosing their Uma Musu."

It was only then that Symboli Rudolf nodded and stated her true thoughts. "They are all excellent Trainers with their own specialized abilities. I believe their judgnt will not disappoint us."

"...As expected of the President, you noticed their capabilities early on," Air Groove couldn't help but exclaim, seemingly understanding at this mont why Symboli Rudolf was the President and she was the Vice President.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Hmm? Co in," Symboli Rudolf instinctively replied to the knocking sound, and soon the door opened, and soone who had just left earlier walked in.

"President."

"—Trainer Wada, what's wrong? Are you lost?"

The person who ca was none other than Wada Ryuji. However, facing Symboli Rudolf's question, Wada shook his head, walked forward, and said with a particularly serious and solemn expression,

"No. I want to inquire about a person, or rather... the na of an Uma Musu."

"Oh? You've already found an Uma Musu you wish to train so quickly?" Symboli Rudolf imdiately perked up and asked with interest, while Air Groove imdiately handed a student file to the President, who quickly flipped through it while asking,

"Don't worry, Trainer Wada. The Student Council has files on every single Tracen Academy student. If you have an Uma Musu in mind, please tell her na, and I can look her up for you imdiately."

Facing Symboli Rudolf's action of flipping through the files, Wada's mouth parted slightly. His lips trembled a bit, and his tone, unable to hide his excitent and anticipation, asked word by word,

"I want to know... if Tracen Academy has an Uma Musu nad 'T.M. Opera O'."

"..."

However, as soon as Wada said this, Symboli Rudolf's hand, which was flipping through the docunts, stopped. The next mont, both she and Air Groove looked at Wada with surprised expressions, their eyes flickering with an inexplicable, strange look...

"Well then, Ikezoe-kun, you can take your ti looking here. I'm going to the training ground to check."

"Alright, Imanami-senpai. I don't know where Wada-kun ran off to, so I'll look for a suitable Uma Musu here."

And while that was happening within Tracen Academy, Ikezoe bid farewell to Imanami, who was heading to the training ground to look for an Uma Musu. Looking at the magnificent and spacious academy before him, which would soon beco his workplace, he felt an extraordinary sense of exhilaration.

This would be his future work environnt... not an office space, but a school. Was he becoming a teacher guiding students?

"Trainer... It sounds a whole lot easier than my previous job as a Jockey. At least I don't have to deal with problematic racehorses or worry about suddenly getting kicked into the hospital by an irritated racehorse."

Ikezoe was in an exceptionally good mood. Few people knew that Ikezoe initially did not aim to be a jockey. Or rather, although he later beca an excellent jockey designated by the JRA, ever since the racehorses he rode were ones with terrible temperants, he had been hovering on the brink of "wanting to resign" and "about to die."

It all started with Dream Journey, didn't it? That ill-tempered and irritable racehorse really gave Ikezoe a hard ti back then. However, ever since Ikezoe's riding allowed the racehorse to show its abilities relatively stably, his life underwent a huge change.

More and more racehorse owners entrusted him with riding those ill-tempered racehorses, saying things like, "If you can get this child to win a championship on the racecourse, I'll be grateful to you for the rest of my life," and then sending him to suffer. This included, but was not limited to, top Japanese racehorses like Orfevre.

But even though Ikezoe had once ridden a top-tier racehorse like Orfevre, which made all of Japan boil with excitent, this ti Ikezoe did not want to experience the sa life as he did before he transmigrated.

Therefore, this ti Ikezoe made up his mind: he would absolutely not train any more ill-tempered Uma Musu! He wanted to change his life after transmigration! He was going to slack off!

"Well then, I'll just find a few gentle and cute Uma Musu to be my trainees and coast through the days. That way, I can get paid, and they can run a few OP or GIII races to accumulate prize money. Winning a few GII races would also be enough to give the students sothing to show for being an Uma Musu."

"Oh, right, I wonder if Curren Chan is also at this school. Would a gentle racehorse like Curren Chan beco very cute after becoming an Uma Musu?"

Ikezoe couldn't help but begin to fantasize about his wonderful future life, free of being kicked by horses, as he scanned the passing Uma Musu at Tracen Academy, looking for which cute Uma Musu he should choose as his trainee.

"Slap!"

"—Hey, old man, you look a bit suspicious. How about you co with ?"

Old man? Ikezoe shivered all over when he heard the muffled female voice behind him, his expression rather peculiar. He didn't look that old, did he?

Although he did look a bit old before he transmigrated, after transmigrating, not only did he beco younger, but he also looked much more handso, just like a college student. He shouldn't be associated with the word "old man" at all, right?

But even so, Ikezoe still smiled awkwardly and turned around to explain,

"Uh, you've misunderstood. I'm a new Trainer, and I'm choosing an Uma Musu to be my first trainee. I'm not a pervert."

"Huh? A new Trainer? How co I haven't heard of it?"

Ikezoe turned his head only to find a girl dressed in a Tracen Academy uniform, with sowhat wild-looking orange-yellow hair and wearing a mask, dressed like a delinquent, staring at him with an unfriendly and suspicious gaze. (T/N: Orfevre's old design)

What Ikezoe found eerie was that even though it was his first ti seeing this girl, upon seeing the color of her hair and her expression, he felt a strange sense of familiarity and instinctively wanted to run away!

This feeling... it was like... "—Orfevre?" Ikezoe blurted out unconsciously.

"Huh? You know ?"

The delinquent girl, called "Orfevre," looked at the man in front of her with a strange expression, as he had recognized her at a glance.

Orfevre also felt a strange sensation looking at Ikezoe. Normally, she wasn't particularly social and was even sowhat afraid of others paying attention to her.

But when facing this man in front of her, she lost all fear. Instead, she felt a sudden surge of annoyance and wanted to kick him. "Are you really a new Trainer?" Orfevre suppressed her urge to kick him, but her tone was still not good.

As for Ikezoe, after receiving Orfevre's definite confirmation of her identity, his face imdiately turned pale. He smiled awkwardly while quickly putting distance between himself and Orfevre, saying nervously,

"U-uh, um, I have sothing to do. I need to go now. Uh, Miss Orfevre, please don't mind—"

With that, Ikezoe turned around and ran as if being chased by a fate worse than death. Watching Ikezoe run away from her, Orfevre's aura suddenly changed, and her eyes beca incredibly fierce! (T/N: Running away from an Uma Musu? Truly foolish...)

"You stop right there!"

At this mont, as if awakening so hidden instinct in her body, Orfevre dashed forward, aid at the fleeing Ikezoe's back, and delivered a powerful flying kick!

"Bang!"

"You really are a pervert, aren't you! I'll capture you and kick you out!" The mont Orfevre kicked Ikezoe to the ground, she imdiately restrained all his limbs. Ikezoe, who was surprisingly unhard after a kick of that magnitude, could not resist the strength of an Uma Musu and was quickly subdued.

And at this mont, Ikezoe, kicked to the ground by Orfevre, had already begun shedding tears—tears of "nostalgia."

"This pain—this kick, without a doubt, it is Orfevre's..."

"Soone save ... I don't want to train ill-tempered racehorses anymore, let live my life safely..."

Ikezoe, on his first day as a Trainer at Tracen Academy, had already begun developing the desire to resign.

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And with that, Orfevre is introduced! If you didn't read my review, the original author wrote this fic before so of the Umas were officially introduced into the ga, so so Umas' personalities and appearances might not match their official ga counterparts.

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If you spot any errors, feel free to comnt about it, and I will fix it as soon as I can.