"This 'Digestive Tablet' contract, honestly, Kitahara, you and Oguri Cap just need to sign it directly and it's settled."
Thinking for a moment, Konan Tomomi picked up several other documents.
"And then there are these."
"These are the weighted training gear and matching parachute devices we designed earlier for Oguri Cap and the others."
"A few days ago, I specifically went to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and other areas to investigate. This kind of training equipment is still rare, but thanks to recent race results and the training data you provided, it's already enough to prove that these devices work excellently."
"More importantly, the race reports on Oguri Cap and the others are big news right now. I'm planning to take advantage of this wave of publicity — speed up trademark registration, set up production lines, and start promotion and pre-orders ahead of time to seize this part of the market."
Kitahara had no objections to this.
He'd also taken some time to do a brief market survey — especially regarding trainers. Through Komiyama and Tōbara, he clearly understood that at present, in Japan, no one was treating full-body weighted training or parachute sprints as a regular training method.
Most trainers still used lead-filled horseshoes for weight training. Sprint practice was repetitive short-distance sprints, or hill training.
The limitations and effectiveness of those methods were clearly different compared to weighted gear and parachute sprints.
Since no one else was doing it and the market was still wide open, if they didn't grab the opportunity now, there'd be nothing left to regret later.
"No problem at all. The only pity is that I don't have much time to spare — I'll have to trouble you with all these procedures, Konan-neesan."
Kitahara had always lived by "trust those you use; don't use those you doubt." He had already decided to hand over all the business matters to Konan Tomomi, only keeping the final say himself.
But Konan Tomomi didn't agree immediately.
"The paperwork itself isn't the issue, but I'd like to change the approach."
She pulled out another set of documents, different from before.
"These are drafts for trademark registration, patent filings, and corporate naming permissions — have a look, Kitahara."
A little surprised, Kitahara took the papers and began reading carefully.
Konan Tomomi explained:
"Combining what you gave me before, I think our next stage of development shouldn't stay limited to Kasamatsu anymore. We should consider expanding into Tokyo."
Kitahara paused mid-page and looked up.
"Tokyo?"
"Yes — Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, even the whole of Japan."
The middle-aged woman's eyes gleamed with ambition.
"It's already obvious, Kitahara — you're an exceptionally talented… no, a genius trainer."
"And you're different from other trainers. You're not planning to fight alone — you're building a team."
"That means more and more people like Kyoko, Komiyama, Tōra — talented people — will gather around you. The team will gain more and more outstanding horse girls."
"You're right — our industry's core is horse girls. If this team's future is bright, we can afford to set our sights even farther ahead."
"I'd like to reorganize, using our current sports store, factory, and some commercial loans as a foundation — create a brand-new company, step out of Kasamatsu, and move into Japan's major cities."
"And this company — I got inspired by the deal with Rakushō Pharmaceuticals — I want to name it Oguri Cap."
Konan Tomomi's words didn't cause much stir in Kitahara's heart.
He'd already planned to grow the business beyond Kasamatsu — to all of Japan, even the world.
The horse-girl industry's core is horse girls themselves. To achieve great results, training, recovery, and care all have to keep up — and that's a field of massive expenses.
For example, the running shoes Oguri Cap and the others had worn out in just the past six months already weighed hundreds of kilograms if piled up.
Each pair of those shoes wasn't cheap — all specialized, the cheapest still costing nearly half a month's base salary for a local trainer like him. If it weren't for prize money, subsidies, and later sponsorships, he would've run out of money for shoes long ago — Oguri Cap and the others would've been running barefoot in races.
And that's just the shoes. Add on nutrition, medicinal supplements, weighted gear, medical diagnostics… none of this was something a single local trainer could sustain.
And that was just for Oguri Cap, Light, plus Tamamo Cross and Inari One who'd only been around a month or so. Long-term, with even more horse girls to come, without a business foundation, nothing else mattered.
So Kitahara had already considered all this, had even written it in his plan — he wasn't surprised at all by Konan Tomomi's ambitions.
He only had some objections to the company name.
"Oguri Cap… it's not quite right. I mean using only Oguri Cap's name."
Saying this, he glanced to the side.
Oguri Cap was happily devouring a giant cream puff, her mouth smeared with white cream.
"Hmm? Bwehh, whaff youf call me?"
Tilting her head, she looked confused.
Chuckling, Kitahara casually grabbed a napkin and wiped the cream from her lips, smiling softly.
"Want more? If it's not enough, I'll order some."
"Naw, ish good… eat a bit, don't be hungry, eat again at lunch," Oguri Cap declined politely.
Kitahara smiled again, then turned back to Konan Tomomi.
"Right now, under my name, it's not just Oguri Cap — there's Light, and Creek as well."
"Once we're in the Central circuit, Tamamo Cross and Inari One will join the team too."
"If we name the company after Oguri Cap alone, it feels a bit too biased."
Konan Tomomi hesitated.
"That's… true…"
She thought for a while.
"I didn't think that through. I only considered our side — Oguri Cap is very famous now, using her name would bring good returns…"
"Do you have any suggestions, then? For the company name?"
Kitahara pondered briefly.
"I agree with forming a company — and even if we don't use Oguri Cap's name for the company, we should still register her name as a trademark."
"And come to think of it, with Oguri Cap's current fan count, we can already apply to the URA Association to produce official merchandise, right?"
Konan Tomomi's eyes lit up.
"Yes, more than enough. I've already started working on it."
"We already have design drafts for Oguri Cap plush dolls, and production lines are being prepared. Once URA approves, we can start manufacturing immediately."
Merchandise for horse girls was an extremely important revenue stream.
In another world, back in the early '90s, just Oguri Cap plush toys alone generated ¥2.5 billion in revenue, with over three million units sold in the full plush series — easily one of the best-selling product lines.
In the manga, as a popular figure, Oguri Cap's endorsement fees alone would bring in several million yen periodically — without that income, her appetite would've been completely unaffordable.
"That's good. Also, pay attention to applying for Light's and Creek's merchandise rights too — they'll be famous soon as well."
After reminding her, seeing Konan Tomomi's surprised but delighted expression, Kitahara thought again for a moment.
"As for the company name…"
Suddenly, a memory flashed across his mind.
"Let's call it Kawawan."
He looked at Oguri Cap, still munching with cream all over her lips, chuckled, and grabbed another napkin.
"Kawawan Park is Kasamatsu's most famous park. If our company really becomes famous one day, then Kasamatsu will be famous too, right?"
He explained it like that — but in his heart, he kept recalling:
"...Sorry, Trainer-san, even though Mom told me to talk to you more today, if it's alright, I'd like to go home and eat first."
That was the scene of the very first time he saw Oguri Cap run.
And the place — was right there, by the riverbank at Kawawan Park.
…In the end, I am playing favorites.
(End of Chapter)