...
"Bang—"
Upon returning to Tracen Academy, Urara couldn't wait to meet up with Special Week and the others, so she headed straight for the cafeteria.
Lucian still had matters to attend to, so he didn't follow along.
"Spe-chan, Seiun, Suzuka, Grass, Condor, I'm back!" Urara carried gifts as she approached the group. "These are the presents I promised to bring you."
"Thank you." x5
Special Week carefully stored her gift. "Urara, how did the race feel this time?"
"It felt amazing!"
"Looks like Urara has adjusted well." Silence Suzuka smiled, fiddling with her gift—a small deer figurine.
"Hehe, even though it kept raining in Kochi, Urara adapted really well and slept soundly at night too."
For some reason, Urara couldn't help but feel like bragging a little. But remembering Lucian's words, she decided against it.
"By the way, Urara-chan, is this your racing outfit?" Seiun Sky suddenly asked.
"Yup! Does it look too plain? After I win some prizes and get prize money, Urara will order a prettier one."
Whether it looked good or not, Urara already knew. To put it nicely, her racing outfit was simple; to put it bluntly, it was a bit shabby.
But she wasn't ashamed of it. Besides, Lucian had complimented her just the other day.
Seiun Sky waved her hand. "That's not what I meant. I was wondering why you rushed over without even changing out of your racing outfit?"
"Urara wanted to give you your gifts as soon as possible~ Anyway, I still have one more gift for Rice Shower. Gotta go now!"
"Alright, see you in the afternoon."
The group waved goodbye as Urara left.
After Urara was gone, Grass Wonder suddenly leaned in mysteriously. "Spe-chan, is Lucian-sensei opening a restaurant for the autumn festival?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
Silence Suzuka and Seiun Sky were also drawn into the conversation.
The three exchanged glances, each seeing the same confusion in the others' eyes. They were certain no one had leaked this information.
"Because my family mentioned it, so I wanted to confirm."
Grass Wonder was also a young lady from a wealthy family. Despite having tasted countless delicacies, her stomach had ultimately been conquered by Lucian's cooking.
She couldn't take it anymore... Just reminiscing about the flavors made her mouth water uncontrollably.
She propped her cheek with one hand to disguise the subtle movement of her throat.
"So that's how it is. Your family must've already reserved a spot, right?" Special Week asked.
"Not yet... To be precise, it's too competitive. I'm not sure if there's even a chance left."
"Wow, I had no idea Trainer-san was this famous."
"I only found out how renowned Trainer Lucian was after asking my family. Some foreigners are even planning trips to Japan just to eat his food." Grass Wonder sighed in frustration.
For once, Special Week didn't mention that they were also Lucian's guests.
She figured Lucian would already be busy for three full days. Adding more people would probably exhaust him further. If Grass Wonder came, El Condor Pasa might tag along too. What if the entire "Rigil" team showed up?
Seiun Sky and Silence Suzuka shared the same thought, which was why they stayed silent at first.
At the very least, Lucian should be the one to decide.
Unconsciously, the three horse girls had already started considering Lucian's well-being.
...
In the afternoon, the members of "Dream" gathered in the lounge.
Urara had just finished her race, and Lucian had intended to let her rest for half a day. To his surprise, she still showed up.
"Did you three slack off while I was gone these past two days?" Lucian glanced at Silence Suzuka, then at Special Week, before finally settling his gaze on Seiun Sky.
"Trainer... I feel attacked." Seiun Sky pouted, though she didn't actually mind the interaction.
During the short two days without Lucian, time had felt unbearably slow, and training had inexplicably become dull.
If it was like this now, how would she handle summer and winter breaks?
Silence Suzuka was fine since she had secretly video-called Lucian. Special Week, being her roommate, naturally joined in to chat too.
"Trainer-san, I followed your training plan properly!" Special Week declared earnestly.
"That's the spirit! Spe-chan, how about you become the captain of 'Dream' from now on?"
"Eh? Me? I'm not cut out for it..." Special Week waved her hands frantically. "Suzuka and Seiun are both more suited than me."
Urara frowned >_<. "Spe-chan, what about me?"
"Of course, Urara could do it too. As captain, you'd be in charge of hanging laundry, ordering water, recording data... all that stuff." Lucian nodded, already assigning tasks.
Urara immediately backtracked. "Spe-chan, you should be the captain."
"Alright, alright. Aside from training this afternoon, there's one more thing I need to discuss with everyone."
Lucian set aside the captaincy matter for now since his team hadn't met the required member count yet. "Three days from now, our team will undergo a second round of recruitment. After training, I'd appreciate it if everyone could help me put up the recruitment posters."
"Trainer, are we only recruiting one person again this time?" Special Week asked. "Last time, we only took in Seiun, and some horse girls thought it was too strict."
"Not this time. And we won't be doing such a simplistic test either."
This time, Lucian decided to conduct comprehensive evaluations for the trial participants.
True talent always shines, but a single race test couldn't guarantee that the winner was the only gem.
Besides... If Rice Shower joined, the set distance for the trial wouldn't suit her. If she lost but he still accepted her, wouldn't that invite gossip from other horse girls?
"Trainer, should I ask Grass-chan to participate?" Seiun Sky asked with a grin.
Silence Suzuka added, "Lucian-kun, I could also invite Daiwa Scarlet."
Lucian was baffled. He hadn't expected them to still remember this after so long. "Let's not. I'd rather not earn the wrath of Hana-nee and Nishizaki-senpai."
It wasn't easy to poach from Toujou Hana's team.
As for Nishizaki Ryo's side... better not push it now. If he took any more members, "Spica" might as well disband on the spot... Well, he could always poach later.
"Let's settle on this for now. I've already brought the posters over this morning, along with glue and brushes." Just as Lucian finished, Special Week raised her hand. "Spe-chan, go ahead."
"Trainer-san, maybe we could learn from Trainer Nishizaki Ryo... I have plenty of those burlap sacks."
Hiss... Now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea. But why didn't you say so earlier?
"Wait, Spe-chan, why do you have so many burlap sacks?"
"Th-They're for carrying carrots..."
Silence Suzuka had naturally seen Special Week's stockpile of sacks before.
But now, she found herself mentally measuring them.
Those sacks would be more than enough to fit a petite horse girl. But if it were Lucian... they might still be too small?