“You two, enough.”
Seeing Oguri look like she might lunge at any second, I forced the words out. It was obvious they weren’t trying to attack me—they were trying to provoke Oguri.
“Tell me what you want. And stop bullying Oguri.”
I patted Oguri’s shoulder to calm her down as she radiated danger.
“What we want? Well, since we haven’t found common ground, I’m not sure what you’d call it, but I want to make a contract with you, Mortarion-kun. That’s all.”
Tachyon spoke as if she had rehearsed the line in advance. Fine Motion let out a long sigh.
“I have several goals, but I want to contract with you too. For now, that should be enough.”
Fine Motion, too, and Tachyon too, were being completely unreasonable.
“I don’t know about Fine Motion, but you should know better, Tachyon. What kind of team can a newbie even run? And besides, with just Oguri alone, I can barely...”
“I plan to race starting next year, and I believe Fine-kun is also going full force next year. In any case, our race paths are different. Fine-kun will go for the Triple Tiara, and I’ll take the Classic Triple Crown route. By senior year, we can split spring and autumn, or perhaps flip a coin and head overseas. That wouldn’t be bad either.”
What was she even talking about?
“Tachyon, aren’t you talking way too casually about the Triple Crown challenge and the Triple Tiara? Those things are...”
“Mortarion-kun, do you think I can’t do it?”
Tachyon asked back. There was no emotion in her eyes. She wasn’t talking about ambition. She wasn’t talking about a dream. She was simply reciting the result. That was how it felt to me.
“What about you, Fine-kun?”
“You think I’d be swayed by that kind of provocation...? Tachyon-san, you really are an annoying woman. Tch. Trainer, I’ll give you the same answer.”
Tachyon was famous. The upperclassmen talked about her potential, and even the academy had taken notice. I really did think she might actually be able to do it.
Fine Motion, though...
“Trainer, you look like you don’t trust what I’m saying. Well, it’d be fun too if you ended up bawling your eyes out and apologizing, saying, ‘Your Majesty, this body’s eyes were mistaken.’”
At the absurdly confident sight of the two of them, I let out a long sigh.
“I’m planning to take responsibility for Oguri. If there’s someone else, I won’t be able to focus on Oguri. And if a newbie tries to manage two or three Uma Musume, everyone will say I’m ruining the girls’ lives.”
“Low self-esteem is a serious problem too.”
“Don’t say it like that, Fine-kun. He’s still in his newbie days.”
At my answer, the two of them reacted with obvious indifference.
“Oguri-kun. Do you really think someone who can only run can protect Mortarion-kun to the end? In a situation where you don’t even know who else is involved?”
“I’ll protect him. That’s all.”
I cut into Tachyon and Oguri’s conversation.
“Calm down, both of you. Tachyon, I have no intention of contracting with you.”
“Really?”
She asked it back. I thought of Agnes Tachyon’s data. There were malicious evaluations of her personality, but even so, her race data alone was enough to make trainers shiver.
If you asked whether I wanted to contract with her, the answer was obviously yes. Most trainers who already had an assigned Uma Musume would probably switch to a team format just to contract with her.
For some trainers, it wouldn’t be strange at all to break off their current contract and rush straight in. Agnes Tachyon was practically a guaranteed success, a jewel in human form.
“I made a promise with Oguri.”
“Trainer!”
Oguri raised her voice, moved by the words.
“Hmm... so if you can handle me as well as Oguri-kun, then you’d like to contract with me too?”
“If I’m being honest, yes.”
Tachyon let out a small laugh, as if pleased with my answer.
“Why, nothing about me?”
Fine Motion suddenly cut into the conversation.
“Fine, I’ve never seen your race data. I have no idea whether you can produce results in the races you dream of, or whether you even have the potential.”
“I can vouch for Fine Motion. She’s a first-class Uma Musume.”
Tachyon said that with certainty.
“Tachyon-san. Why...?”
“Didn’t I say it? I consider you part of my support team.”
At Tachyon’s answer, Fine Motion let out another long sigh.
“I understand your determination to take on Oguri-senpai. Then I’ll recommend people who can help as a sub-trainer. There are a few who’ve contracted with the Irish royal family, and if I call them, they’ll come right away. If you get their help, it’ll be much easier to support Oguri-senpai’s training. What do you think?”
“...What are you talking about?”
At my question, Tachyon burst out laughing. Then she took a brown envelope from her chest and held it out to me.
“We seem to have gotten carried away talking among ourselves and left you out. Inside is material that details my training menu, current condition, body balance, and so on. Read it carefully at home and decide.”
I glanced at the documents Tachyon had given me. I hadn’t even read them in detail, but my first thought was simply: incredible. It was so complete that I wondered whether I could ever produce this level of detailed analysis and evaluation myself. Even a quick glance gave me that impression.
“With this, you won’t need to worry much about my training, and then once there’s room in Oguri-kun’s training, I can hand Fine-kun over to you right away.”
“Who made this?”
“I did. I thought it wouldn’t be bad to become a trainer after graduating, you see. I added a little extra based on the materials made by someone I respect.”
What kind of material had she used as reference? Just a little more, I thought. Just a little more. But I couldn’t stop reading. It was suffocatingly perfect. Full of confidence. It was the kind of thing that made you feel as though doubting whether the data was right, or whether the evaluation was right, was itself the wrong thought.
“...I don’t know.”
My conclusion was simple. Talking about this in front of Oguri was not right. If I was going to become her assigned trainer, I needed to respect her opinion as much as possible.
“What do you think, Oguri-kun?”
“I dislike it.”
Oguri gave the same calm answer.
“Trainer would probably stay up all night for your sake every day. Isn’t he someone who sleeps a lot? Yet he keeps staying up all night, staggering around with bloodshot eyes, coming to tell you about the training menu. He must have pushed himself until he collapsed more than once.”
At Tachyon’s words, Oguri only pressed her lips together.
“He’d suddenly say he was taking a vacation, then end up being rushed to the hospital and coming back after several days on an IV drip. Haven’t you heard things like, ‘It’ll be fine from now on,’ ‘You can do better,’ ‘I’ll do my best,’ ‘Hang in there,’ ‘Just focus on training’? Haven’t you, Oguri-senpai?”
At Fine Motion’s words, Oguri let out a small groan.
“No, both of you. Aren’t you taking this way too far? No matter how you look at it, being a trainer isn’t a job where you get worked to death like that. Oguri. Why are you looking at me like that?”
Oguri said nothing.
“Mortarion-kun is...”
“Trainer is...”
“Because that’s the kind of person he is.”
Agnes Tachyon and Fine Motion spoke at the same time. Both of them thought far too highly of me. It was almost suffocating.
“I understand Oguri-kun’s greed, but do you really think that’s the right choice for Mortarion-kun?”
“Oguri-senpai, we’re making you a very, very good offer right now. You do understand that this is an offer made for the Trainer’s sake, yes?”
“I... I...”
I patted Oguri’s back. She looked at me with confused eyes. What path was there for Oguri? What path was there for Oguri to move forward while working together with a rookie trainer like me?
“Fine Motion.”
“Yes, Trainer.”
“For Oguri’s sake... I want to receive support.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
She smiled faintly and clapped lightly.
“Tachyon.”
“Yes, Mortarion-kun.”
“This material is really... amazing. I admit that. But I won’t believe it until I verify it myself.”
“Of course verification is necessary. I like how careful you are.”
As a newbie, I had my limits. But if I had help, I could give Oguri the best possible result. That was my conclusion: do what I could for the girl who believed in me.
“I want to do my best for Oguri. If I have to contract with both of you to do that, I’m willing to, but Oguri’s opinion matters most.”
If Oguri said no, I would respect her decision.
“Oguri, what do you think?”
Oguri bit her lip hard. I waited for her answer. If Oguri disliked it, I wouldn’t do it. I added that much and squeezed the back of her hand.
“If it’s for Trainer... if you think that’s what’s right... I’ll accept it.”
“Oguri, I’ll follow your opinion. Don’t decide for my sake—decide for yours. Do you really mean that?”
I said it again, sensing something off in her answer.
“Because... it would be the path for me.”
Heavy. After closing and opening her eyes, she looked at me with those unwavering eyes.
I let out a long sigh and signed the contract with the extremely heavy fountain pen Fine Motion had handed me.
“Fine, I signed. But how are you planning to get permission from Ms. Tazuna or the Chairman? If I get rejected, I’ll consider all of this void and just contract with Oguri.”
“Don’t worry about that. What matters to me is Mortarion-kun’s consent. Keep this safely and submit it next year. Or else...”
Tachyon glanced at Fine Motion, who was sitting beside her.
“Well, it’s not a difficult task, so I’ll take Tachyon-san’s paperwork with me. Trainer just needs to submit Oguri-senpai’s contract.”
Fine Motion snatched two of the documents from the stack in front of me and hummed under her breath as she looked at the contract I had signed.
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