"Welcome, Kagura. You've finally arrived."
Following Mejiro Ramonu into the hall, Kagura saw Old Mejiro already standing by the entrance, apparently waiting for quite a while. She had expected Old Mejiro to wait seated, so seeing the family head personally welcoming her at the door left Kagura feeling slightly nervous.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Family Head-sama. I'll be imposing upon you for the next few days."
Kagura hurriedly bowed in return. With Old Mejiro's enthusiasm already at this level, maintaining her usual calm demeanor would feel impolite.
"Oh child, don't speak like that. I'm more than delighted to have you stay with us. You've always been helping our family's children; we finally have a chance to do something for you this time, so please don't stand on ceremony."
"It's nothing at all; this is simply part of the agreement between Family Head-sama and myself. There's no need to thank me so formally. I'm merely a maid and don't deserve such generous gratitude."
"Oh my…"
Seeing how modest Kagura remained even now, Old Mejiro inwardly raised her estimation of this child once again. Although Kagura was still young, she had already grasped one of the most important adult skills—how to comfortably interact with others, keeping everyone satisfied while preserving her own etiquette and dignity.
This child seems rather fond of McQueen, and McQueen also appears very attached to her. Perhaps in the future, we could encourage McQueen to spend more time with Kagura?
Of course, there was undoubtedly some family-minded calculation involved, but even setting that aside, maintaining good relations with Kagura was absolutely beneficial for McQueen herself. After all, if something happened at far-off Tracen, Kagura would definitely be the first one on the scene. Her professional capabilities were exceptionally reliable—even officially recognized by Tracen Academy—making her a truly top-class assistant.
Shifting her gaze from Kagura to Ardan beside her, Old Mejiro noticed Ardan's condition had improved even further from two weeks ago. Compared to her thin, pale state when she first returned home, her cheeks were now rosy and delicate, almost tempting one to pinch them. With deep satisfaction, Old Mejiro reached out and gently squeezed Ardan's cheek. Ardan tilted her head slightly in embarrassment but didn't dodge her grandmother's hand. Seeing this, Old Mejiro beamed happily and glanced gratefully toward Kagura, who responded simply with a quiet smile and a nod.
Just what kind of incredible luck did Ardan have to meet both Wudi-san and Kagura-chan…
Up until now, Ardan had encountered two very important people. One was her junior, Wudi-san, who had cared for her in Huaguo; the other was Inari Kagura, also her junior, looking after her at Tracen. Honestly, for someone as frail as Ardan to coincidentally encounter two such exceptionally kind and attentive girls, she must have truly extraordinary luck.
"Grandmother, catching up can wait. Let's first bring Kagura-san inside. She hasn't eaten breakfast yet."
Seeing her grandmother about to launch into another long speech, Mejiro Ramonu coughed softly, gently reminding Old Mejiro to keep her greetings brief.
Old Mejiro immediately snapped out of it. Having recently learned Kagura hadn't eaten breakfast, she certainly couldn't neglect such an important guest on such a basic issue. She quickly took Kagura's hand and led her inside, while Kagura's luggage was left with the butler to be brought to the room already prepared for her.
This visit felt different from last time—Kagura's immediate impression was simply that there were more people. During her previous visit, she'd met only Mejiro Ramonu, McQueen, and Ardan. But today, when entering the dining area, Kagura saw several additional young Uma Musume sitting at the table, all curiously watching her.
Did the Mejiro family always have this many children? Compared to them, the Symboli household seems really empty…
Looking at the little herd of Uma Musume here—including McQueen—then thinking about the Symboli household, where, aside from the maids, only Speed-sama herself ever roamed around, Kagura felt rather puzzled. Both were large, prestigious families—so why did Symboli have so few children compared to Mejiro?
…
Not long after Kagura sat down, she saw Mejiro family servants rolling breakfast carts into the hall.
The cooking skills of the Mejiro household's servants were quite decent—at least, Kagura judged them worthy of a solid seven or eight out of ten. She felt very satisfied after finishing the meal.
"By the way, Little McQueen, I noticed there were quite a few new Uma Musume at your place this time. Are all of them from your family?"
After breakfast, Ardan returned to her room to unpack, while Kagura took a walk toward the Mejiro family's grassy fields. McQueen, as expected, stuck close beside her.
Having seen something that piqued her curiosity earlier in the hall, Kagura took this chance to ask Mejiro McQueen, a member of the family herself, if she knew anything about it.
"Yes, although I'm not exactly sure about their details either. I only met everyone recently, so I haven't gotten to know them well yet. But I heard they're all a little older than me—my older sisters, apparently."
"Oh…older sisters, huh? Your family really has a lot of children. Do you know their names?"
"Palmer, Bright, Ryan, Dober… I think those were the names?"
Counting on her fingers, McQueen carefully listed each child's name, looking rather unsure of herself. Clearly, she wasn't very familiar with these newly arrived sisters.
This made Kagura even more curious about the Mejiro family's structure. Clearly, these children hadn't previously lived in the main Tokyo estate. Even McQueen herself hadn't lived here until recently. That meant, until now, only Ardan and Ramonu were permanently at the main Mejiro house, while these other children must have come from branch families.
"Hmm?"
As their conversation continued, Kagura, ever sharp-sensed, suddenly noticed something. Her ears twitched slightly as she quickly turned her gaze toward the distant entrance connecting the mansion to the grass fields.
There, she saw a small group of young Uma Musume holding tree branches, hiding sneakily near the entrance and peeking in her direction.
Huh? Aren't those the same Uma Musume I saw earlier in the hall? Why have they all come out here?
Realizing Kagura had spotted them, Ardan awkwardly poked her head out from the entrance too, smiling apologetically. Apparently, Ardan had brought this group of little ones along.
"What's the matter, Ardan-sama?"
"Oh, nothing much. I just told these children at home that Kagura-nee had arrived today, and they all suddenly insisted on coming out to meet you."
Ardan herself wasn't exactly sure what had happened either. She guessed Old Mejiro had often spoken highly of Kagura at home, filling the kids with curiosity about who this amazing person was.
Kagura nodded slowly, glancing first at Ardan, then at the cluster of young Uma Musume crowded around her. After pondering for a brief moment, she finally spoke with a gentle smile:
"If you're all that curious, then how about joining me for a little walk?"