After saying goodbye to Dr. Kokobu, Kitahara contacted Oguri Cap and Belno Light.
"Hello? Mr. Kitahara? Oguri's mouth is stuffed with food so she can't talk. If you've got something to say, you can just tell me instead… Ah, right, are you done with your business over there? How did the examination go?"
Even just through the phone, Kitahara could clearly hear the excitement in Belno Light's voice, which made him smile unconsciously:
"You've already been playing around Harajuku for two or three days, and you're still this energetic, huh?"
On the other side of the line, she sounded embarrassed."Ah… It's just that I'd never been to such a fun place before, so it feels really energizing!"
"And besides, once everyone knew we were coming to Tokyo, Norn Ace and the others kept saying over and over that if we came, we had to go to Harajuku. They went on and on about how fun it was, how much good food there was! Oguri and I had been wanting to come for ages!"
"Oh, right, right! Mr. Kitahara, have you eaten yet? Do you want to come over to Harajuku for some food?" Belno Light's voice grew more and more excited:
"Let me tell you, Oguri's already eaten her way through all the street stalls and restaurants around here! We know exactly which ones are good and which ones aren't!"
"So no matter what Mr. Kitahara wants to eat, or what kind of flavor you like, we can take you to the right place!"
… Harajuku's eateries and restaurants… there must be at least five hundred, if not a thousand…
In just two or three days… you ate through them all?!
Oguri Cap, since when did you secretly unlock the 'Competitive Eater' skill?!
Though he already knew Oguri could eat, her appetite never failed to either amaze or terrify people. Right now, Kitahara couldn't help but grumble inwardly.
"…I've already eaten, no need to go to Harajuku just for that. Or maybe tomorrow you two can take me there."
Rubbing his forehead speechlessly, Kitahara added:
"Are you planning to keep eating? If so, I'll just head back to the hotel and wait for you… Just remember to come back early."
He wasn't worried about any danger in letting two horse girls wander around Harajuku on their own.
In this world, everyone adored Uma Musume, and there had never been any incidents of people trying to harm them. In addition, plenty of public security jobs were filled by Uma Musumes themselves—their physical abilities alone were enough to guarantee public safety.
In fact, this world's average level of safety was much higher than that of his previous world.
Not to mention, Oguri Cap herself was a top-tier Uma Musume carrying the "Emperor's Engine" in her chest, and even seemingly gentle, adorable Belno Light possessed power on par with a "hero from the epics, able to lift mountains." Unless someone had completely lost their mind, no one would dare to mess with them.
However, while Kitahara was completely at ease letting them play freely, the two on the other end of the line had different thoughts.
"Kitahara, I just finished eating."
It was Oguri's voice this time.
"You said the checkup results were important, right? Even if you said the reasoning was complicated and that you'd handle it, both Light and I want to share the burden with you."
"So we won't play anymore today. Let's meet up and hear about the results first."
Such considerate, reliable Uma Musume… Truly, Oguri Cap was a beginner's best friend.
The Cap Gatekeeper.
Sighing with gratitude, Kitahara decided not to argue.
"Alright, then I'll come find you…"
But midway, he changed his mind."No—actually, why don't you two take the subway to me? Come to the hotel entrance, and then we'll ride the subway over to Central Tracen Academy for a walk."
This time, Belno Light's surprised voice came through:
"Eh? But it's already kind of late, isn't it? If we go to Central Tracen Academy this late, won't we be unable to get in?"
Kitahara didn't think that was quite accurate.
It was already after dinner, a little past six o'clock, but hardly what he'd call "late."
Besides, Musaka Ginjiro had given him plenty of Central Academy contacts, like the chairwoman's secretary, Tazuna Hayakawa. If he really wanted to go inside, arranging that would be no problem at all.
But Kitahara wasn't in a hurry to enter just yet.
"I never said we'd go inside," he explained with a smile.
"You two must've eaten a ton, right? I just thought we could walk around a bit, help with digestion."
"And strolling a few laps around Central Tracen Academy sounds like the perfect after-meal exercise route, doesn't it?"
"You've both been playing for two or three days already—it's about time to come take a look at the place. No time like the present. If we go see it at night, you might get so excited that tomorrow you'll insist on going inside, and stop thinking about playing around elsewhere."
Kitahara guessed that plenty of horse girls would still be training in the evening or at night over there—extra practice sessions and all.
So once Oguri and Light felt that atmosphere, they'd probably be drawn in, maybe even demand to enter first thing the next day.
And why was he so sure there would be late-night training?
Heh—where do you think the whole "night owl tendency" came from, if not Tracen Academy?
But as it turned out, all his explanation was unnecessary.
"Oh oh! We're going to Central? Great! I've been wanting to see it for ages! We've already eaten through everything here anyway—we can just eat it all again before leaving, but first let's go see Central!"
"Wait for us there, Kitahara, we'll come right away!"
Excited, Oguri hung up the phone in a hurry.
About an hour later, outside Central Tracen Academy.
"Whoa…!"
"Waaah…!"
Staring at the scene before them, Oguri Cap and Belno Light couldn't hold back their awe.
And it was no wonder—compared to this, Kasamatsu Tracen Academy was utterly shabby.
Back there, both the classrooms and dormitories were just a few-story blocks, with peeling paint on the walls giving off an air of bleakness.
But here… even the front administrative building alone was several stories tall, styled like a palace tower, topped with a clocktower reminiscent of a medieval European church. Beneath the ornate bronze bell of the tower gleamed a radiant horseshoe-shaped school crest.
The entire building radiated a sense of dignity, grandeur, and brilliance that made one instinctively straighten up in awe.
Kitahara smiled and gave them some timely explanations:
"Central Tracen Academy really is much more advanced than our little provincial one."
"What you see here is the administrative building."
"Further in lies the central courtyard, then the academic buildings, and behind those are the training grounds. If I'm not mistaken, they've got every kind of training track imaginable—multiple of each, even."
"On top of that, there's a library, cafeteria, gym, infirmary, and even a research institute, which Kasamatsu doesn't have at all. And both the scale and professionalism of the staff here are leagues above what we had back home."
"So, the two of you—don't you feel like you have to work hard to make it here?"
(End of Chapter)