A few seconds after Oguri Cap caught the two little horse girls—
"Are, are you two okay? Did you fall and hurt yourselves?" A panicked voice came from inside the wall, and in the next instant, a green figure appeared on top of it.
"Haa… haa… haa… O–Oguri… those two kids, they're not… not hurt, right?" Dozens of meters away along the wall, Belno Light was running over, panting heavily as she asked.
"Haa… haa… haa… O–Ogu… Oguri Cap… you…" Even farther behind, Kitahara could hardly string his words together, he was so out of breath.
"Whew—mm, they should be fine."
Despite having just sprinted at full speed, Oguri Cap only took one deep breath before her breathing returned to normal.
Looking down at the two little horse girls in her arms, she smiled and set them gently on the ground. "You two didn't get hurt, right?"
The two small horse girls were clearly shaken, stunned for a few seconds after being placed on the ground, then nodded together.
"Ah… we're okay! I didn't get hurt! Thank you, big sister!"
"I–I'm fine too, th–thank you, big sister…"
They thanked her in unison.
Oguri Cap smiled again and nodded, just about to say something when she suddenly felt a light breeze by her side, as if something had landed.
She instinctively turned her head and saw that the green figure she had noticed earlier had just landed beside her.
"Thank you so much! If not for you, these two children might have been hurt!"
Her face full of lingering fear, the green figure clasped her hands together and then bowed deeply to Oguri Cap. "Though it's rather presumptuous, for the children's sake, please allow me to take them to the infirmary for a checkup…"
"Oh, and those two over there are your friends? If it's convenient, could the three of you come along with me?" She straightened up, looking at Belno Light and Kitahara as they arrived one after another.
Oguri Cap didn't reply. Instead, she pressed her lips together, staring blankly at the green figure in front of her.
What is this… this feeling…
From the other woman she felt a strange, indescribable aura. She couldn't put it into words.
So fast… but not like an Uma Musume… so strange…
That was all she could think.
By now, Belno Light had caught up.
"Th–thank goodness… those two kids are fine, I'm so relieved…" Although her talent wasn't top-tier, she was still an Uma Musume; after catching her breath for a few moments, she could already speak normally.
But Kitahara didn't have that kind of stamina. He was gasping for quite a while before his foggy brain cleared enough to form some words.
"Haa… haa… Miss… Miss Tazuna… first… take them… to the infirmary…"
"I… haa… haa… know the Academy… we'll… come later…"
The green figure who had come down from the wall was of course Tazuna Hayakawa, secretary to the chairman of Tracen Academy Central.
She was a little surprised that this unfamiliar young man recognized her right away. But, concerned about the children's condition, she didn't dwell on it. She stepped forward and took one of the little girls in each hand.
The two little ones clearly knew that climbing the wall was not only dangerous but also against school rules, and they obviously recognized Tazuna's identity, because they shrank their heads, pursed their lips, and said nothing, looking terrified.
"Since this gentleman knows the way to the infirmary, I'll take them there first."Without hesitation, Tazuna turned around with the two little ones in tow. "I'll notify security. You three can head straight to the infirmary afterward."
After she left, Kitahara took a bit of time to steady his breathing, then recalled the layout of Tracen Central and took the lead toward the main gate.
"Come on, let's go check on them."
On the way, they discussed what had just happened.
"That was so close… good thing we happened to be there to save those kids," Belno Light said with lingering fear. "If we hadn't been, they might have been hurt."
Kitahara thought for a moment. "Not necessarily."
"That Miss Tazuna is the chairman's secretary. She wouldn't just ignore two little kids. She probably noticed them earlier but kept quiet so as not to scare them, planning to step in once they got down the wall safely."
"After all, with your physique as horse girls, climbing a wall isn't a big problem—even if they're still young."
Oguri Cap and Belno Light froze. Oguri in particular drooped her long ears forward after a while.
That was the Uma Musume's sign of being downhearted. In the game, when a horse girl ran a race in the "Absolutely No Motivation" state, that was exactly how she looked—slumped and lifeless.
"…Then, did I do something wrong? If I hadn't run so loudly, they wouldn't have panicked and fallen…" Oguri Cap blamed herself.
"Uh… I don't think that's fair," Belno Light quickly comforted her. "No matter what, you were just trying to help! How could that be wrong?"
Then she deliberately changed the subject:
"Anyway, I wonder how those two kids are doing now… Oh right, Oguri, when you caught them, did you ask their names?"
"Their names… I don't think so. I didn't get the chance." Oguri Cap shook her head and looked at Kitahara. "Do you know, Kitahara?"
…Maybe.
Following Belno Light's words, Kitahara recalled their appearances and outfits. Something about them felt familiar, and he had a vague guess.
But if they were really those two horse girls, they should have been in their adolescent, fully-developed forms according to the original story. Now, however, they looked like little lolis. He wasn't entirely sure.
"…Not too sure," Kitahara said after some hesitation, shrugging. "We'll know once we ask at the infirmary."
When the three arrived at the infirmary, they happened to run into Tazuna leading the two small horse girls out.
Without hesitation, Kitahara hurriedly confirmed their appearances and outfits again.
The one who had been lying on top of the wall had pretty chestnut short hair, long ears and tail of the same color, two golden earrings on her right ear, two emerald-green ones on her left, and a tiny pink crown on her head.
The one who had been dangling had light-brown hair, but with a striking pale pink-white streak in her bangs, and a quirky pale pink-white ahoge sticking up like a "?".
…If you ignored their loli bodies and just looked at their faces, then sure enough, the two were…
While Kitahara was still thinking, Tazuna spoke softly.
"You three came, I see… please wait here a moment while I escort these two back to their dormitory."
"Say goodbye to Uncle and the two big sisters now, TM Opera O, Meisho Doto."
Sure enough—it was TM Opera O and Meisho Doto!
(End of Chapter)