Thanks to a certain someone chickening out, after finishing dinner, Kitahara Sota smoothly returned to campus, resuming his peaceful daily routine.
As for that certain chicken, despite being relentlessly berated by the voice inside her mind, she ultimately couldn't muster the courage to take any further steps. Docilely returning to school with Kitahara Sota, she dove straight into bed, buried herself beneath her blanket, curled into a little ball, and remained motionless for quite some time.
On the other hand, contrary to the gloomy chicken, Kitahara Sota was in exceptionally high spirits after returning to the academy.
[Domain], huh…
Although during his wandering days he'd met plenty of Uma Musume and heard countless rumors regarding [Domains], because most of those girls were either young or lacking natural talent, this was actually his first encounter with the real thing.
Coupled with his obsession with researching such phenomena, he hadn't even needed Eclipse's explanation to become intrigued as soon as he'd noticed Agnes Tachyon's abnormal state during her race from the stands. Only later, noticing she was unwell afterward, had he temporarily shelved his curiosity out of concern for her health.
But now, Tachyon's race had ended successfully. While he still had plenty of work on his plate, the previous week's intense preparations meant he could at least squeeze out enough free time to pursue his personal interests.
Thus, immediately after returning to his dorm, he opened his laptop and eagerly started researching everything available on [Domains].
But just as Agnes Tachyon had previously mentioned, though online rumors about [Domains] abounded, concrete information or credible data wasn't merely sparse—it was practically nonexistent.
The most reliable sources were interviews with Uma Musume who'd activated [Domains], but their accounts varied wildly, sometimes outright contradicting one another, making any reference virtually useless.
Even after Kitahara Sota utilized the high-level database access he'd obtained by previously assisting the Chairwoman and Hayakawa Tazuna with their troubles—searching through Tracen Academy's highly classified archives—the information he found was minimal.
Most of it was simple before-and-after data for Uma Musume who had activated [Domains], along with additional unreleased interview footage. But even that contained no mention of the three categories Eclipse had described.
Driven to desperation by his curiosity, he even tried asking Eclipse directly about [Domains]—since it was abundantly clear she knew a great deal. But just as he'd anticipated, Eclipse coldly ignored all of his questions on the matter.
Since Eclipse refused to answer, Kitahara Sota had no choice but to handle things himself.
Though for ordinary trainers, finding Uma Musume who'd opened [Domains] and persuading them to assist in research might've been challenging, Kitahara Sota had no shortage of potential subjects.
Aside from Tachyon—who, although recently opened her [Domain], had yet to master it and was currently unable to activate it at will—there were the student council's three famous elites.
Thanks to his good relationship with Symboli Rudolf, coupled with his frequent participation in resolving academy incidents, Kitahara Sota had grown rather close with the student council trio.
Symboli Rudolf went without saying. Narita Brian, owing to his frequent help with troublesome incidents and their shared inclination toward loafing around, had become quite friendly with him. As for Air Groove, despite her slight discomfort with men making their interactions fewer, she had slowly become accustomed to his presence, and their relationship could be considered fairly normal.
Additionally, because of his involvement in solving the Uma Musume Hunting incidents alongside Rudolf, he'd frequently visited the student council office, occasionally seeing Mejiro Palmer and Sirius Symboli. However, since his primary purpose had been visiting Rudolf and the other two, he'd barely spoken to Palmer and Sirius, merely being on casual terms with them.
After concluding he couldn't extract useful information from Eclipse and with Tachyon temporarily unable to reproduce her [Domain], Kitahara Sota naturally shifted his attention toward the academy's publicly recognized [Domain]-holders. Shortly thereafter, he found time to visit the student council room and openly explained his intentions.
The moment Narita Brian—dragged into paperwork by Rudolf due to the busy new semester—heard an opportunity to escape the office, her ears perked right up. She immediately volunteered to demonstrate her [Domain] at the training grounds… though she likely wouldn't be allowed to return afterward.
However, Narita Brian's escape plan was easily seen through and promptly shut down by Rudolf and Air Groove.
With Brian's plan foiled, but recognizing Kitahara Sota's earnest curiosity, the three council members explained what they knew about [Domains] while continuing their office work.
Then Kitahara Sota discovered their explanations were just as varied as the previously read interviews.
Firstly, Symboli Rudolf—the earliest among the trio to awaken her [Domain], doing so within her first year—explained her experience clearly.
Her [Domain] first activated during a race when she was in exceptionally poor condition due to external circumstances, nearly being overtaken by the runner-up. Right at that critical moment, a sense of unwillingness burst within her, and it felt as though chains inside her had broken. All her accumulated fatigue and confusion instantly vanished, replaced by an overwhelming surge of power and speed even beyond her peak state, along with a drastic increase in presence.
At first, Rudolf could only re-enter this state by recalling that near-defeat scenario, specifically in the last moments of subsequent races. But gradually, with practice, she became able to enter the [Domain] from the very start of a race, immediately boosting her strength and speed while also intimidating her competitors.
However, according to Rudolf, although this [Domain] was potent, its energy consumption was equally enormous. If activated at the race's start, she'd never have enough stamina left to finish even a short-distance event. Thus, despite mastering the ability, she typically reserved her [Domain] for decisive final stretches and avoided using it unless absolutely necessary—after all, it was tiring, wasn't it?
Furthermore, according to both Rudolf and audience descriptions, whenever she activated her [Domain], her body seemed cloaked in delicate, crackling blue lightning. Yet no recordings or broadcasts could ever capture that phenomenon.
Eventually, it became a legend: something only those present could witness, the Emperor's divine majesty—significantly raising ticket prices whenever she raced.
After explaining this, Rudolf raised a hand, focused briefly to enter the state, and showed him the bluish electric arcs surrounding her palm.
"See, just like this."
Kitahara Sota stared curiously at the blue lightning crackling in Rudolf's hand, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"So…you probably never have to worry about your phone running out of battery, right?"
Instant silence filled the student council room.
That's your takeaway from this?
The other three stared at Kitahara Sota with subtly complicated gazes.
Though momentarily speechless, Rudolf quickly regained composure and patiently explained.
"Trainer Kitahara, your thought processes sometimes truly baffle me."
"But unfortunately, you've guessed wrong this time. These sparks aren't real electricity. They're more like an aurora—purely visual illusions. They look impressive, but neither I nor others can feel them physically. Go ahead, touch them yourself if you doubt."
Rudolf extended her hand encouragingly.
After a moment's hesitation, Kitahara Sota carefully reached toward the lightning. Seeing his cautious, wary movements, Rudolf mischievously moved her hand slightly forward, making a playful "zap" sound.
Observing his startled expression, Rudolf smiled subtly, explaining, "See? Nothing happened. It's merely an illusion, like auroras—"
Rudolf's words abruptly stopped.
The other two, sensing something off, glanced over, their eyes widening.
Right before their eyes, Kitahara Sota was curiously examining the "lightning" he'd caught in his hand, gently rubbing it between his fingers.
Hmm? This texture feels oddly familiar…
As he thought this, Kitahara lifted his other hand, gently squeezing the captured "spark."
Illusory, ethereal, utterly devoid of temperature…
Almost identical to the sensation he'd felt previously touching Sunday Silence and that mysterious white-haired Uma Musume…
Simultaneously, as Kitahara fiddled with the spark, Rudolf experienced a bizarre sensation—like someone gently tugging and stroking the ends of her hair. Soon afterward, her [Domain] dispersed, and the spark vanished from Kitahara's hands.
A strange silence settled over the council room.
The three girls' gazes upon Kitahara Sota had now become even stranger.
Rudolf tried entering her [Domain] again as an experiment, letting Air Groove and Narita Brian attempt to touch it, but both failed, further deepening their perplexed stares toward Kitahara—as if observing some peculiar new species.
Yet Kitahara Sota himself barely noticed their looks.
From the moment the spark vanished, he'd been lost deep in thought.
According to all the interviews he'd studied, despite vast contradictions, one commonality remained:
Uma Musume activated [Domains] only after reaching a certain strength threshold, triggered by strong emotions during pivotal moments. Coupled with Sunday Silence's presence and that strikingly familiar texture…
He rubbed his chin, his gaze turning solemn.
[Domains]… Could they possibly relate to the Uma Musume's very souls?
After pondering this, Kitahara Sota looked up, asking Air Groove and Narita Brian about their Domains.
Their responses matched his expectations—similar conditions had sparked their [Domains]. But with no new insights, Kitahara thanked them and left, heading directly to the training grounds.
There, he found Sunday Silence standing near Manhattan Cafe.
Seeing him approach, Sunday smiled mischievously, preparing to tease him. But before she could speak, he grasped her shoulders firmly, whispering seriously:
"I might've found a way to let others see you."
Sunday's body stiffened slightly.
"...Really?"
"Really." Kitahara nodded solemnly. Without waiting further, he gently pressed her against a nearby wall, staring intently into her eyes.
"So, hold still and let me touch you properly."
Sunday Silence: "…?"
Is there some connection between these two things?