Although winning the Wakakoma Sho was a necessary condition for heading to Hokkaido to participate in the Hokkaido Yushun Championship, after browsing through the list of competitors, Zhou Tai'an began to think about how to win this Open-class race while conserving as much of Oguri Cap's energy as possible.
"Even though this race is important, there isn't a single Horse Girl in the lineup worth paying attention to," Zhou Tai'an said, shaking the printed entry list with a sigh. "The new generation of Horse Girls in Nagoya this year seems pretty average in terms of talent."
Even though Oguri Cap had never run a 1400-meter race before, Zhou Tai'an, with his Stat Viewer, knew she would have no problem.
"If her Mile Aptitude were low, I might hesitate a bit. But as things are, there's nothing to worry about," he thought, glancing at Oguri Cap's stats again.
In the dream world, Oguri Cap had maintained a racing frequency of once every two weeks. Before each race, Zhou Tai'an would hope to receive a reward other than Affinity for winning. However, fate had other plans. Perhaps because both races were just ordinary races at Kasamatsu, the post-race reward was simply a larger boost to Oguri Cap's Affinity than daily training provided.
Right now, Oguri Cap's Affinity had reached 180. But in Zhou Tai'an's view, the relationship between them had only grown slightly closer in the context of trainer and Horse Girl.
"I wonder what the max value is, and what will happen when it's reached," he muttered, dismissing the thought and closing the Stat Viewer.
…
Meanwhile, Oguri Cap, having finished her training for the day, took a bottle of sports drink purchased from outside the academy from Brand New Shine. Incidentally, this was an expense covered by Zhou Tai'an himself; Kasamatsu Tracen Academy didn't pay a dime.
"Thank you, Brand New Shine-chan." After thanking her, Oguri Cap twisted open the cap and downed the entire bottle in one go.
"Easy there, don't choke," Brand New Shine cautioned, while running a hand down Oguri Cap's back to help her catch her breath. "Don't be in such a rush. No one's going to steal it from you, Oguri."
"I'm fine. It's just—" Oguri Cap wiped away her sweat. "The Wakakoma Sho is next Thursday, but Trainer hasn't increased my training load."
"Why don't you just ask him directly?" Brand New Shine blinked. "I don't think Trainer would have any reason not to explain it to you, Oguri."
"I've seen other Horse Girls get brushed off when they ask their trainers questions," Oguri Cap lowered her head. "And Trainer's previous training plans have all been perfect. I just feel like it's not right to question him."
"But our trainer isn't the same as theirs," Brand New Shine's mouth twitched. "Just be brave and ask, Oguri. Trainer won't get angry."
"Then... I'll give it a try." Oguri Cap put down the bottle, rubbed her cheeks, and walked towards the side of the track.
After hearing Oguri Cap's question, Zhou Tai'an explained without a second thought, "Because it's not necessary."
Unlike him, the answer was short.
"But didn't you increase the training load for my debut race?" Oguri Cap pressed on. "And you told me this race is very important. It decides whether we can go to Hokkaido, right?"
"In your debut race, your strongest opponent was Fujimasa March," Zhou Tai'an said, handing the entry list for the Wakakoma Sho to Oguri Cap. "With all due respect, if Fujimasa March were to run this race, she would win it just the same."
"Are you saying these opponents aren't worth taking seriously, so I don't need to?" Although Oguri Cap took the list, she didn't look at it, instead continuing to stare straight at Zhou Tai'an.
"That's right." Being stared at by the cute Horse Girl, Zhou Tai'an swallowed hard and tried to remain calm. "I think it's better for you to get a good rest, Oguri Cap."
Hearing this, Oguri Cap took another step forward, getting closer.
It was now June, the beginning of summer. Even the breeze from the training track carried the sun's heat. But for Zhou Tai'an, the warmth of Oguri Cap's breath on his face was much hotter than the sun overhead. Even the scent of laundry detergent on her tracksuit seemed to become more vivid.
He took a step back, trying to escape Oguri Cap's presence, but he wouldn't back down verbally. "Are you dissatisfied with my arrangements, Oguri Cap?"
Oguri Cap remained silent, but her face was clearly written with "I don't like this explanation."
Zhou Tai'an could read this emotion from her expression—or rather, Oguri Cap was just not good at hiding her feelings.
"Hah—" He sighed, took another step back, and skillfully raised his hands in surrender. "Then you get a good rest today, Oguri Cap. We'll increase the intensity of our training tomorrow."
On such a small matter, Zhou Tai'an didn't want to go against Oguri Cap's wishes.
"If it were something important, I definitely wouldn't give in so easily," he thought, mentally regaining his ground after verbally conceding.
The next afternoon, after her warm-up, Oguri Cap ran a serious lap on the academy's training track in front of Zhou Tai'an.
He looked down at the split times he had recorded—
6F 83.0 - 67.9 - 52.8 - 37.6 - 23.8 - 11.7.
Putting aside the track conditions for a moment, just looking at the split times, Oguri Cap's data was comparable to some of the Central G1 Horse Girls. But Zhou Tai'an knew that training couldn't be evaluated that way.
First, Oguri Cap's attitude this time was extremely serious. You could say she was treating the training session like a real race.
Second—
He squatted down, pinched some of the dirt from the track, rubbed it between his fingers to feel the texture, and made an assessment: "The moisture content of the track feels quite high today."
The "dirt tracks" in Japan were, in essence, faster the higher their moisture content. One couldn't take the characters literally and assume that a track labeled "yielding" (不良, furyō) would be much slower for a Horse Girl than a "fast" (良, ryō) track.
Although Oguri Cap's data wasn't as astonishing after considering these two points, on second thought, it was too much to demand the level of a Central G1 Horse Girl from her, who belonged to Kasamatsu.
So Zhou Tai'an closed his notebook, looked up with a brilliant smile, and met the gaze of Oguri Cap, who was gulping down water. "The data is beautiful. Maintain this condition for next Thursday, and victory will be ours."
Oguri Cap raised a hand, signaling that she had heard him.
-------
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