"Trainer, I got found out!"
Gold Ship shoved the notebook and stopwatch into Fujiwara Chiya's arms all at once, then turned around and cried out, "Careful, she's coming!"
Who?
A pink-haired Uma Musume wearing a fedora walked over angrily. Her cold pink eyes looked at Fujiwara Chiya like knives.
It was Kyoei March. Her expression was honestly rather scary.
What happened to her?
"You're the one who told Gold Ship to bother me."
"Bother… Um, I only asked her to watch you."
"Awful!"
"?"
She glared viciously at Fujiwara Chiya, cursed him once, then quickly walked away.
Gold Ship let out a long breath and slipped out from behind Fujiwara Chiya.
"Gold Ship, didn't I ask you to record her training data?"
"Yep."
"Then why is she that angry? What did you do to her?"
"That's a long story."
"Make it short."
"Then listen carefully, Trainer. At the time, I was recording everything with great enthusiasm, but then that girl suddenly glared over from far away like she'd opened her heavenly eye. It scared me stiff. A gentleman does not stand beneath a dangerous wall, so I ran away right then. But the more I ran, the more it felt wrong. How could the great Gold Ship-sama be scared off by a little filly? Where is justice? Where is the law? So I turned back around. The best way to overcome fear is to face fear!"
Fujiwara Chiya's expression began to change.
"So I kept following beside her, really close, and completed the task Trainer gave me at the same time."
As she spoke, Gold Ship took out her phone and opened a video.
Inside the video was Kyoei March.
"What exactly are you trying to do!?"
"I am Trainer's spy! You have already been added to our assassination list!"
"Hah!?"
"Just you wait. Every move you make is under my surveillance. Everyone targeted by our trainer ends up becoming part of his harem!"
"Haaaah!?"
In the video, Kyoei March showed an utterly absurd expression, exactly like Fujiwara Chiya's current face. He snatched Gold Ship's phone and deleted the video.
"I worked so hard to record that."
"Gold Ship, you little brat, you're causing trouble in my name!"
"What do you mean causing trouble? She already noticed you before you left."
"That still doesn't mean she had to get that angry."
"Trainer, do you know Schrödinger's cat? Before we open the box, everything is unknown. I couldn't be sure whether she was angry or not."
"So?"
"So I opened the box. Once I made her angry, the quantum state became a superposed state. This is all because of human curiosity."
"Get out of here already!"
Fujiwara Chiya almost lost his breath. "You've completely ruined my reputation!"
"Reputation… Is that important for a harem?"
"What?"
"Think carefully, Trainer. I used your reputation in exchange for an opportunity to communicate. Under normal circumstances, you and Kyoei March would never have any way to talk. You'd have no connection at all. But I created a thread between the two of you. In the future, you can use this incident as a topic, chat with her, increase her affection, and finally pull her into your arms. When you calculate it like that, didn't you make a huge profit?"
"What kind of person do you think I am?"
"The horse king who has something going on with everyone."
"I…"
After holding it in for a long time, Fujiwara Chiya finally forced out, "You're impossible."
He felt like spending one minute with Gold Ship shaved ten years off his life.
Perhaps deciding that she had joked enough, Gold Ship patted Fujiwara Chiya on the shoulder.
"It's fine, it's fine. How can you go onto the racecourse without making enemies? The strong must properly humiliate the weak. Once you get onto the track and crush that girl completely, she'll become obedient. Believe in Shirayuki. She can do it."
This Gold Ship was actually trying to torture both of his bodies at once.
Have you already discovered my secret and are doing this on purpose?
Fujiwara Chiya looked at her suspiciously.
"W-what…? Don't tell me, Trainer, you want to add me to your harem too!?"
My God.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible." Fujiwara Chiya immediately denied it. "Even if the great Dao itself were destroyed, I still wouldn't choose you."
"What do you mean? What's wrong with me?"
"If I didn't know you, you'd be fine. Once I got to know you, you stopped resembling a normal person."
"That's so mean. Wait…"
Gold Ship pinched her chin. "If I'd be fine before you knew me, does that mean Trainer was charmed by me the first time we met?"
Gold Ship raised her head and nudged Fujiwara Chiya with her elbow.
"You should've said so earlier, Trainer. If you give me that PS5 in your room, I'll agree to go on a date with you for a day. How about it? Pretty good deal, right?"
Your abacus is clacking so loudly I can hear it.
However, Fujiwara Chiya could not imagine what kind of hellish scene a date with Ship would be. Could that really even be called a date?
"Not interested."
"You're wasting a rare chance to raise my affection level, Trainer."
"Your asking price is too high. Letting you play with it once is about the limit."
"That works too."
Gold Ship suddenly became a cheap woman.
After saying that, Fujiwara Chiya finally realized he had been dragged off-topic by Gold Ship.
"Stop changing the subject. We're talking about training right now!"
"You promised to lend it to me once, and I'll go on a date with you for a day." Gold Ship wagged her finger. "I already recorded the training for you. The first ten sets of data are definitely accurate. After that, Kyoei March started going berserk, so the timing got all messy."
"The first ten sets, huh… That's good enough."
Gold Ship would always do what she had agreed to do. Whether she did it well was another matter. That was probably the only reliable thing among all her unreliability.
Fujiwara Chiya planned to go back and study their race data, then adjust the training plan. Things were going to get busy for a while.
"Don't forget our promise, Trainer," Gold Ship shouted before leaving.
What? She isn't actually taking that seriously, is she?
On the other side, Shirayuki and Tokai Teio were jogging together when they passed Kyoei March, who had just returned. Her fair, pretty face was full of frustration. Clearly, Gold Ship had angered her quite badly.
Too scary. Better pretend I don't know anything.
"Shirayuki, what are you looking at?"
"Pink hair…"
"Pink hair? That girl?" Tokai Teio ran beside Shirayuki. "She looks strong, but she definitely isn't as good as the great Tokai Teio-sama! So look at me, not her!"
"Sorry, Trainer. Something happened just now."
Kyoei March walked up to Nase Hideto and steadied her breathing. Being photographed by Gold Ship alone would not have made her that angry. The main reason was that Gold Ship had been noisy and disruptive, interfering with her training.
Hearing her voice, Nase Hideto lowered his newspaper. He looked at her calmly, as if he had not noticed the conflict between Kyoei March and Gold Ship at all.
"Your concentration isn't there."
Nase Hideto's first sentence made Kyoei March's breathing stop.
"If something like that can disturb your thoughts, then you still need much more training before you can reach the zone."
"…Yes."
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(A/n: I have uploaded a new story translation.)