Under Toujou Hana's terrifying pressure, Kazuo could only sit alone in the corner after tidying up.
After dealing with all of Koji's belongings, Toujou Hana returned to the office and, as if ignoring Kazuo's presence, sat back down at her desk to review various documents.
This was sheer agony.
Staying here felt like sitting on pins and needles. Somewhat distracted, Kazuo couldn't help but recall everything that had happened.
Being challenged during the interview, being pranked by the old man after entering school, getting stuck with such a troublesome senior, and then having a mentor who was like a demoness.
A difficult road ahead... Although he thought this, it wasn't all unpleasant memories.
Xiao Hai Wan, Fine Motion, and Hayakawa-san... Meeting these girls was the only shining part of these memories.
Looking at the four-leaf clover handkerchief he took from his pocket, Kazuo couldn't help but relax.
His hand unconsciously touched the spot on his face where a band-aid was already placed.
"...Anyway, I need to find an opportunity to thank her properly later..."
What Kazuo didn't notice, however, was that although Toujou Hana was constantly flipping through the documents in her hands, her peripheral vision was actually observing Kazuo.
What displeased her, though, was that Kazuo was just sitting in the office, staring blankly. As his mentor, he wasn't coming to her to ask about relevant matters... Instead, he was just grinning foolishly at a handkerchief... *Sigh*...
How lazy! No experience, no professional knowledge or skill, and no ambition. I really don't understand why the academy's higher-ups want to recruit such a person to work here.
Thinking of this, Toujou Hana couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. She was the first to object to this decision, but the one who gave the special target was the honorary Trustee of this academy. No matter how much she disagreed, she could only keep her thoughts to herself.
What surprised her even more was that she would actually become this person's Class Advisor. She had been the most opposed when she learned of the decision after the interview, but when she found out from Trustee Yoshida that she would be responsible for Asama, she was equally astonished.
Old Man Yoshida Zenya himself pulled strings to get this kid into the academy, but now he was handing over the authority to guide him to her.
He even explicitly said, "If he shows qualities insufficient to be a Trainer, you can directly fire him during the performance review. This is the power I'm giving you."
This contradictory approach made Toujou Hana temporarily unable to guess what the old man was truly thinking.
It's even questionable whether a guy like him can endure hardship and diligently learn all the professional knowledge.
Toujou Hana secretly glanced at the dazed Kazuo, whispering to herself.
In her eyes, Kazuo had already become someone who engaged in speculation, lacked ambition, and only came to Tracen Academy purely out of interest.
And she despised such people the most.
At 2 PM, the Trainers, their seniors, also returned to the office.
The entire department became lively.
Everyone sat at their desks, looking through various documents, while Kazuo sat there alone, unsure of what to do.
"Yo! Newbie, why are you sitting in Koji's seat?"
At this moment, a man with a somewhat mature appearance, sitting at the desk next to him, spoke to him while holding a roster.
"Uh, yes. Ms. Tojo asked me to sit here."
Upon hearing that name, the man's expression subtly changed.
"Oh dear... Is that really how it is... That's quite a headache then."
"Uh... Did something happen?"
"Nothing, it's not something a newbie like you needs to concern yourself with, understood?"
The man seemed a bit wary, muttering only a couple of sentences before turning his chair, intending to continue flipping through the roster.
"Um, I wanted to ask, what are the seniors doing right now...?"
Compared to asking that demon woman, Kazuo felt that the man in front of him was easier to approach.
"Huh? You mean this? Everyone's just looking at the roster of this year's new students."
Although the man seemed a bit impatient, he still honestly answered Kazuo's question.
"Isn't today new student enrollment? We also need to start scouting for our team members from now on."
"Eh, it starts today? That fast?"
Kazuo couldn't help but be a little stunned.
"What silly things are you saying? There's competition not only among Uma Musume in the academy. The teams each of us manages are also a form of competition. If you don't plan early on how to strengthen your hand, you'll be left behind by other teams."
"Oh, I see..."
"Well, that's what I said, but everyone is just conducting investigations and circling the ones they're interested in and want to continue observing."
The man said this while tapping his head with the roster: "After all, for at least this month, our department actually isn't responsible for the specific work of new students."
"Eh... Why?"
"—I see you don't understand anything. After new students enroll, they first go through cultural classes with their Class Advisor, along with some basic physical training and various simulated training races. During this period, our department is only responsible for observation and record-keeping. Besides these new students, we are also responsible for the middle and high school students, planning races and developing personal training plans for the veteran members of these teams. For at least this month, our work focus is actually on the older students."
Saying this, he proudly lifted his head and smiled: "Well, that's the job of experienced Trainers. Newbie, you still need to work harder."
"Yes, thank you for the guidance." Kazuo could only honestly accept the lecture. After all, it was a workplace, and the relationship between seniors and juniors had to be clear. Not everyone was as informal as Koji. Of course, the man in front of him wasn't a bad person either; he answered all of Kazuo's questions. Compared to workplace bullying in a black-hearted company, this was already much better.
"Senior, so everyone has their own team to be responsible for? How many Uma Musume does one person's team usually manage?"
Kazuo was still very curious about this.
The senior rolled his eyes: "Newbie, do you even need to think about a question like that? Of course, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. The more skilled the Trainer, the more powerful Uma Musume they have in their team, and at the same time, the more people they are responsible for."
"Everyone in this department is capable. Senior Kitamura, who sits across from you, is responsible for eight Uma Musume, two of whom won first and second place in the Yasuda Kinen, respectively. Kobayashi, who is printing documents over there, is responsible for six Uma Musume, all of whom achieved good results in G1 races last year. Do you see the girl listening to music over there? Although Ms. Yusaka looks young, she has actually guided a generation of Uma Musume and is now responsible for five middle school Uma Musume. And Sasaki, our Assistant Group Leader, has guided over a hundred Uma Musume; he is the most senior in our department—"
That's so impressive, Kazuo was also stunned listening to it. So the old man sitting by the door was such an amazing person. This made Kazuo even more curious,
"What about our Group Leader?"
The person also paused slightly, then secretly glanced in that direction.
"The Group Leader, Ms. Tojo, is the undisputed ace Trainer of our academy. Currently, she is responsible for eighteen Uma Musume in her team."
Hiss—
He had already heard Koji talk about Tojo's prowess... but hearing the exact numbers only made it feel terrifying.
Ace Trainer... as the Emperor's Trainer?
Amidst his shock, Kazuo couldn't help but feel a little curious:
"Um, Senior, how many people are you responsible for now?"
Unexpectedly, the man stammered, "Nonsense, there's nothing to ask about! I don't like to show off."
[This is a lie]
In reality, Todo's career as a Trainer had only been one year. As a twenty-eight-year-old pseudo-uncle who failed the college entrance exam twice and took the Trainer qualification exam four times, his seniority in the department was actually only higher than Kazuo's.
Incidentally, he is currently only responsible for two Uma Musume and has not yet formed his own Team (the condition for forming a team is at least five members).
"Todo, you said one thing wrong."
At this moment, the bespectacled man sitting across from Kazuo said to himself without raising his head:
"It's not that the more skilled the Trainer, the more skilled the Uma Musume. Ultimately, we are just ordinary people. What we do is merely to achieve success together. If anything... the Uma Musume are the ones who depend on us. Understand?"
"Yes! Senior Kitamura's admonition is correct!"
The expressionless Kitamura slightly raised his head, briefly glancing at the bewildered Kazuo from above the partition, then casually lowered his head again and said:
"Slowly think about the relationship between these things, if you want to become an excellent Trainer—"
"Newbie."