Although Shinji had previously refused all sorts of monetary temptations from the horse girls under his name, that didn't mean he disliked money.
On the contrary, because he needed to save up to support Eclipse in the future and to repay his debt to the old horse girl, he had a very urgent desire for money. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to be Tokai Teio's charge.
But the problem was, Teio, Tachyon, and Digital were all children who had not yet graduated, and they were the horse girls he was responsible for. He couldn't have any designs on their money. Otherwise, once he started down that path, a person's desires could burst forth like a flood, and it would be hard to say what might happen.
And, most importantly, he had great confidence in his lack of willpower, so it was even more impossible for him to start down that path.
But if the other party was the Chairwoman and Tazuna, then it was perfectly fine.
Money is everything in the world of adults.
He had come to Tracen for money, and he wasn't ashamed to show it. He wanted to stand tall and earn his money fair and square. What's wrong with that?
And faced with his request, the Chairwoman's side agreed very readily. After all, although Tracen was lacking in many things—like trainers, complete trainers, and trainers with sturdy and intact pelvises—the one thing it did not lack was money.
Horse girl racing itself was the largest industry in this world, with a terrifying ability to attract money. And Tracen was located at the very core of these industries. How could it possibly be short on cash?
And so, the deal was happily struck. He then left the Chairwoman's office with a box of money, beaming with joy. From beginning to end, he had not exchanged a single word with Symboli Rudolf.
So what was the point of her coming?
He was very curious. But because the other party was Symboli Rudolf, he didn't dare to ask too much. After the deal was done, he quickly slipped away.
As for the reason she had come?
The matter of horse girl hunting concerned the entire Tracen Academy, especially the students. Of course, she would be concerned. Especially since she had heard that the Chairwoman's side had found an expert on the matter. Although she wasn't on good terms with the Chairwoman, she had still come, and had even thought of a bunch of questions before coming, just waiting to ask them after the meeting.
Then why hadn't she asked?
Because after he and the Chairwoman had talked, a bigger question had overshadowed all the others.
As the student council president, she of course also hated those horse girl hunters and had even used the power of the Symboli family to review the relevant case files from the URA.
But the problem was, in those files, she had never seen his name even once.
She didn't suspect the Chairwoman or think that she was colluding with him to act against her. Because her conflict with the Chairwoman was for a special reason, she was sure that the other party would not lie to her on a matter concerning the entirety of the horse girls.
So, why was his name not on her case file?
Especially since, during this period, because he was Teio's exclusive trainer, although there had been no direct contact, Rudolf had paid a sufficient amount of attention and investigation to him.
And then, she discovered the 'resistance'.
During the simple investigation before, because the scope was small and the matter was urgent, she hadn't noticed this problem. But when the scope was expanded and the investigation wanted to go deeper, the 'resistance' became so obvious.
And in this process, she also remembered why she had a sense of familiarity with this name.
Because she had seen this name before.
A few years ago, when she had not yet become the 'Emperor', and could even be said to be still a young girl.
Once, the door to the office of her grandmother, the current head of the Symboli family, Speed Symboli, was not closed. She had sneaked in to look at some documents, and then had glimpsed this name inside.
Logically speaking, such a small matter should not be worth remembering for too long. But the problem was, her peeking that time was discovered, and then she had received a severe beating, so the memory was particularly clear.
Speed Symboli, even in the Symboli family, was famous for her violent temper. Her personality was extremely stubborn and arbitrary, and she did not allow anyone to question any of her decisions. She was a complete tyrant.
But the problem was, with such a personality, not only was she not denounced in the Symboli family, but she was instead hailed as the most outstanding head of the family and was highly respected. Because this was the family style of the Symboli family.
Cold, decisive, cruel, stubborn, arbitrary... These words, which seemed like flaws to outsiders, were the most excellent qualities in the eyes of the Symboli family, or rather, the main Symboli family.
As someone from the Symboli family, Rudolf was naturally influenced by this family style. In fact, when she was a child, her temper was even worse than Speed Symboli's in some aspects, and she was beaten for it not infrequently.
And after she grew up a little, although she began to become more sensible with age and her temper began to restrain, her relationship with that old woman, Speed Symboli, had not improved in the slightest.
Then, she had come to Tracen, and was slowly healed by the environment here, eventually becoming who she was today. Although even today, there were still many students who would say behind her back that she sometimes looked a little scary, only she herself and some extremely close people knew how much softer the current her was compared to the 'Emperor' of the past.
However, these were unrelated to the matter she was puzzled about now.
Returning to the student council room, Rudolf tapped her index finger lightly on the desk, her pupils gradually deepening.
Shinji Kitahara, the Symboli family, the resistance...
It seems that, at some point, she had been shrouded in an invisible net.
...
He had solved his financial problems and successfully avoided having a relationship with that super dangerous species, Rudolf. This was a huge win!
On the way back, Shinji's face was full of joy.
As for the Black Forest mission?
Forget about the Chairwoman taking the initiative to ask, if he had known earlier that Black Forest was related to horse girl hunting, he would have taken the initiative to get involved even if the Chairwoman had stopped him.
He wasn't hot-tempered. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was a coward. He usually preferred to settle things peacefully and didn't have a "three strikes and you're out" principle.
But the problem was, that was a full sixty-four times.
They weren't hunting horse girls; they were completely hunting him, right?
Since they had already gone to such lengths, it would be a bit rude of him not to respond at all.
As for how to respond specifically...
To be honest, his temper wasn't bad, and he had no ambitions in his heart. He was quite the go-with-the-flow type. He would be very content if he could just live the rest of his life peacefully. Even if it was a bit rotten, it was fine, as long as it was safe and stable. Of course, it would be even more perfect if he had a home to go back to.
But the problem is, as long as horse girl hunting continued to exist, as long as those masterminds behind the scenes had not disappeared, even if he finished these three years in Tracen and had enough money to live, his future life would probably not be very stable.
He could slack off, but if he was lying motionless in a gutter, and someone insisted on coming over to step on him a couple of times, then he wouldn't mind pulling the other party down to drown.
So even just for himself, he had to do something.
But that was a matter for the future.
For now...
Holding the box in his arms and feeling the heavy weight in his hands, a genuine smile appeared on his face.
Although he hadn't gotten an advance on his salary, with this amount, it was not only enough for him to order a new set of clothes, but the extra money was even enough to treat the little ones on his team to a meal.
Of course, forget about high-end, even a slightly expensive restaurant was out of the question. At most, it would be an affordable restaurant. Otherwise, forget this box of money, even if he sold himself, it wouldn't be enough to feed those three big eaters.
But that was enough.
The clothes to be used for Digital's race, the racing silks for Special Week and Oguri, and the ones for Digital and Grass Wonder that would be ready next week if there were no accidents...
The AA consumption at the trainer's team-building event, the drinks he brought for the little rascals after training every day, and all sorts of unavoidable daily expenses...
His previously advanced salary had already been used up, and even the compensation from the Black Forest incident was stretched thin. Plus these new expenses, the remaining money would at most last for another week.
So, in fact, even without his previous exchange with Digital, he was already planning to apply for an advance on his salary from the Chairwoman's office.
He just hadn't expected Black Forest to show up halfway, not only providing him with information related to horse girl hunting but also directly helping him get a large sum of money.
And if you think about it carefully, it seems that since he had joined Tracen, although on the surface Black Forest seemed to be targeting him, in reality, they had been helping him all along.
At the beginning of the school year, they had taken the initiative to help him tarnish his reputation. After discovering that he was short on money, they had immediately sent someone to attack him to get compensation, and for fear that he wouldn't get the money, they had sent a simpleton over, and by the way, also provided all sorts of information...
And after that, seeing that Eclipse was in a bad mood because of the Black Forest attack, they had specially sent sandbags for her to vent on. And even now, when he was in his most difficult financial situation, they had directly sacrificed the entire organization to get him this box of money...
Although he knew this was not their intention, with such a factual basis, it was hard for him to have any ill feelings towards Black Forest. Especially after hearing the Chairwoman's account, and knowing that the entire Black Forest, both humans and horse girls, were all simpletons who had been fooled, and that so far they hadn't even caused any real harm, he couldn't help but feel a trace of sympathy for them.
They were having such a hard time.
However, sympathy is one thing, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with Tracen's punishment for them. After all, whether human or horse girl, whether adult or minor, the point that one has to bear the consequences for one's actions will not change. In fact, he even felt that Tracen's punishment was a bit light.
But that wasn't a problem he should be concerned about. What he should be concerned about was what he was going to do next.
For example, how was he going to deal with the Black Forest matter next?
To be honest, although he had directly taken on the task, in reality, he still hadn't figured out how to start the investigation.
It wasn't because he had no experience in this area and didn't know what to do. On the contrary, in the past years, he had tried to investigate the horse girl hunters more than once, especially the force behind them. His experience in this area was even richer than that of the URA's special investigators.
But it was precisely because he was experienced that he knew even more clearly how difficult it was to investigate those things hidden in the background.
He and that senior horse girl had both tried to get information out of the horse girl hunters' mouths, wanting to find out who their financial backer was, but the answer they got was that they didn't know either.
Some people had received anonymous phone calls, some had received anonymous letters, and some had even gotten information that popped up while Browse the web... The other party had never met with them, and the ways of giving the deposit were also varied. Some had directly airdropped cash, some had transferred money through an anonymous account, and some had even given it out through a lottery...
It wasn't that they hadn't made any other progress. In fact, a few times, they had almost tracked down the 'buyers'. But without exception, after they were discovered, before they could make any further moves, those 'buyers' would commit suicide. And it was a very well-disguised suicide. If it weren't for that senior horse girl being very experienced in this area, they might have been deceived.
—Wait a minute, by the way, why is she so experienced in this kind of thing?
However, although those 'buyers' had all committed suicide, even if a person is dead, some traces will not disappear. And through those traces, he and the senior horse girl had deduced the operational structure behind the horse girl hunters.
Horse girl hunters, an intermediary market, and buyers.
That's it. Yes, it's that simple.
Among them, the hunters were responsible for capturing, the buyers were responsible for paying, and the intermediary market served as a bridge between the two, charging a part of the handling fee in the middle.
And the most important part among them was that 'intermediary market' that sounded the most ordinary. Because both the hunters and the buyers were all contacted by them unilaterally. It could be said that they were the culprits of all these incidents.
They called themselves the 'Black Market,' but that senior horse girl had searched almost all the black markets in JP and had not been able to find their existence.
It's not that black markets are completely without taboos. In this world where gods really exist, even in the black market, there are very few who dare to get involved in horse girl-related things, let alone horse girl hunting, which is an absolute taboo.
As for the URA and Tracen's side, because they had not had much contact with horse girl hunting, the information they had found was not even as much as what he had found himself. In fact, to this day, they still thought that the 'buyers' were the root of all evil.
This was enough to show that this matter was not simple. In fact, according to his and the senior horse girl's guess, the reason for this situation was very likely because there were people from the 'Black Market' within the URA and Tracen.
So he had not chosen to share information with the Chairwoman and Tazuna, and had never told the URA about this situation. Because even if they had nothing to do with this matter, it was not impossible that the walls had ears.
However, although the situation seemed very bad, he was not worried. Because the more they hid, the more it meant they were afraid of being exposed to the sun. And, if their power was really great, then no matter how they hid, it was impossible for them not to leave any clues. The fact that he and that senior horse girl had not been able to find them until now just showed that their numbers were definitely not large, and their power and energy would not be great. They could only operate in this way.
So, although the investigation would be very troublesome, the threat of these people was actually not that great.
And every time he thought of this, a doubt would arise in his heart.
So what on earth are the Three Goddesses doing?
Logically speaking, aren't gods supposed to be omniscient and omnipotent? At the very least, finding a few people who don't even dare to show their faces and striking them down with some divine punishment should be possible, right?
If they couldn't even do this, how could they have the nerve to call themselves goddesses? They might as well be called the three wastes...
He fell into deep thought and did not notice Eclipse behind him, who seemed to be reaching out to block something.
However, he didn't dwell on this matter for long. After all, it was impossible for him to have any connection with the Three Goddesses. Plus their embarrassing performance so far, even if there was a connection, he felt that relying on them was not as good as relying on Eclipse and himself.
Thinking this, he returned to the vicinity of his dorm.
Just as he was preparing to put this box of money away first and then go to prepare for the investigation of the Black Forest matter, just as he got close to his dorm, he noticed a somewhat familiar red-haired horse girl徘徊 (páihuái - wandering/lingering) in front of his door.
She stood in front of his dorm, looking very conflicted.
One moment she would raise her arm as if she wanted to knock, the next she would sigh and lower it. One moment she would turn around as if she wanted to leave, but after walking a few steps, she would turn back.
After discovering that horse girl, he also slowly stopped his steps, his expression gradually becoming complicated.
Why is she here...
The one who had appeared in front of him was also an acquaintance of his, and a very familiar one at that.
That's right, it was that 'test subject' who had suffered from his demonic claws for the sake of his nursing care research.
Or rather, the victim.
He had actually known for a long time that she was in the main Tracen campus. And it had been a month now, and his name had been pinned on the Tracen forum so many times. She would know.
But the problem is, he had never thought that she would take the initiative to come and find him.
The reason was also very simple. Tachyon had been so repulsed by him after being kneaded just once, and the other party, as his test subject at the time, had endured nearly two months of continuous torture.
After the experiment was over, she had never spoken to him again. Occasionally, when they met on the street, a clear fear would appear in her eyes, and she would even be refused at the door if he took the initiative to find her.
And to be honest, because of what he had done to her, he also didn't really want to see her, because it always felt very awkward.
So, after thinking for a moment, he began to retreat with the box, wanting to go back after she had left.
But he had only taken one step back when Eclipse behind him started walking. Under his gaze, she walked step by step to the side of the red-haired horse girl and greeted her.
"Long time no see, Nature."
"Are you looking for that idiot over there?"
-------
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