Recently, Fujiwara Chiya had changed his training model. Since someone had thrown a difficult problem at him, he could no longer train as leisurely as before. Conveniently, Fujiwara Chiya had recently received the Excellent Trainer commendation, which meant he could have Tracen reimburse his training expenses.
Originally, he had thought the reimbursement process would be troublesome. Who would have expected Director Akikawa to simply say, "How much? I'll give it to you."
He showed Director the online price, and she directly transferred the money to Fujiwara Chiya's salary card. She did not even notify the Student Council.
Isn't this process way too casual? This doesn't feel like reimbursement at all. It feels more like she's giving me pocket money.
Still, there was nothing wrong with a simple process. Fujiwara Chiya bought the equipment that very day.
"Today, we're going to train outside. Not at Tracen."
"The suburbs?" the Uma Musume asked in confusion.
"You'll understand once we get there." Fujiwara Chiya deliberately kept them in suspense.
He had only recently heard about it from a senior. Apparently, outside Tracen, there was a privately owned piece of land, and the area was not small.
Riding his bicycle and leading his Uma Musume, Fujiwara Chiya arrived at a grass field in Adachi. This place had originally been planned as a golf course, but later, Tracen had purchased it and turned it into a training ground. Very few people knew about this place, and Uma Musume training generally would not go out of its way to come all the way here.
All he could say was that this was yet another masterpiece born from one of Director Akikawa's sudden whims.
Looking at the vast, empty field that stretched on endlessly and carried a wild, untamed atmosphere, Fujiwara Chiya could not help sighing at how strong Tracen's financial power truly was. More accurately, it was Central's financial power. In this era where racing was a national passion, Central could be said to rule everything with one hand. As long as something had a price tag, there was nothing they could not buy.
"There's actually a place like this?" Gold Ship and the others widened their eyes, their voices filled with surprise.
"Trainer, is all of this Tracen's land?"
"That's right. Past the hill over there, including that forest, all of it belongs to Tracen."
"Awesome! So awesome!" Gold Ship immediately broke into a run.
This field showed no signs of artificial maintenance. The grass grew naturally, and the trees had not been trimmed. When Director Akikawa bought it, she had specifically requested that nothing be touched, allowing the place to remain as it originally was.
European training was similar. They would find a stretch of deserted wilderness, casually surround it with fences, and then let Uma Musume run inside. Untended rough ground was actually better for strengthening an Uma Musume.
However, over there, the land was vast and sparsely populated. Finding a large stretch of land suitable for training was easy. Japan was different. Every patch of land was precious. Either you spent an enormous amount of money to buy a plot, or you made do with concrete tracks.
While the Uma Musume were attracted by the surrounding scenery, Fujiwara Chiya put down his huge backpack and pulled out two stacks of yellow-orange parachutes.
"Onii-sama, what are those?" Rice Shower stood on tiptoe and walked over to Fujiwara Chiya's side, her tail swaying with obvious interest.
Somehow, with everyone coming here together, it felt a little like an outing.
"Speed and stamina training."
"It feels different from the training we did before."
"You could call it level five training. The highest difficulty tier. But I think all of you have the ability to handle it." Fujiwara Chiya patted her head.
"T-the highest… Understood! Rice won't let Onii-sama's expectations down. Is there anything Rice can help with?"
"Help me open these bags."
"Uwah, Trainer, what are you doing?"
Matikane Fukukitaru also walked over at that moment, together with Meisho Doto.
"P-p-parachutes!? Are we going bungee jumping?" Meisho Doto bent forward, her face full of fear. For other people, it might be an extreme sport. For her, it would be a death wish.
"Bungee jumping?" Mejiro Dober, who had also approached, perked up her ears. "I didn't know Tracen had a private plane."
This isn't the Mejiro family. Where would we get something like that?
Agnes Tachyon's ears stood up. She looked at the parachutes, listened to the sound of wind blowing through the leaves, and suddenly understood. "It seems today's training content won't be simple."
"Exactly. Tall trees catch the wind." Fujiwara Chiya smiled. "All right, we'll start with Shirayuki and have her demonstrate today's training."
As he spoke, the white-haired girl walked up to Fujiwara Chiya and tied the parachute's ropes around her body. As the wind filled the parachute, everyone finally understood what the training was.
"You're going to run against the wind while tied to parachutes! Aim to reach half of your normal speed!"
"What!?"
This was a European training method Fujiwara Chiya had just learned. It was somewhat similar to dragging mining cart tyres, but while the parachute pulled backward, it also produced upward force. That meant the Uma Musume had to make full contact with the ground with everything they had. It trained stamina while also refining acceleration posture, killing two birds with one stone.
The drawback was that it needed wind. A normal training ground was too open, and the wind generated there was not enough to fully catch the parachute. Here, however, there were hills, trees, and a large grass field. It was an excellent environment for wind resistance. That was why Fujiwara Chiya had chosen this place as the training ground.
"Now, start training in pairs. Everyone else, tie on the ropes too!"
"Trainer, why do we have to tie them on as well?" Gold Ship raised her hand.
"To stop you from flying away, obviously!" Fujiwara Chiya reminded them seriously. A sudden strange gust of wind might blow both the Uma Musume and parachute into the air. Although the parachute meant they probably would not be injured if they fell, anything that could be avoided should be avoided.
"I see…" Gold Ship looked at the rope around her waist, her imagination already running wild.
"Shirayuki and Doto will start first. The rest of you follow them at a slow jog."
"Yes!"
Feeling the force around her waist, Shirayuki quickened her pace. A gust of wind blew toward her, and in an instant, it felt as if her body had been grabbed by an invisible hand and dragged backward.
So strong!
It was completely different from dragging tyres. This feeling of being forcefully pulled was as if she would be yanked off the ground the moment she made the slightest mistake. Shirayuki had no choice but to bend forward with all her strength.
Fujiwara Chiya looked at the stopwatch in his hand. Shirayuki's speed had fallen to one third of her usual pace.
Quite slow…
He had heard from a senior that European Uma Musume could reach half their normal speed, sometimes even higher. As for that genius Uma Musume, Treve, she had even reached two thirds of her normal speed.
Of course, differences in wind strength would create deviations. But one thing was certain. Shirayuki's ability still had a considerable gap compared to hers.
There's less than half a year left. Can we really make up the difference?
Fujiwara Chiya once again felt a sense of urgency. At that moment, he heard a voice from above.
"I did it! I did it!"
What the hell?
Fujiwara Chiya raised his head. Then he saw Gold Ship hanging from a parachute a full ten metres above the ground, fluttering happily in the wind.
"Trainer, I've finally ascended to immortality!"
"Pull her down for me!"