After taking the photo, Barbatos set her phone aside and focused on her meal.
Playing with your phone during meals in Japan is somewhat disrespectful to your companions, so when in Rome, she chatted with Urara about teams and debut races after the school term started.
Uma Musume can't enter debut races alone; they must join a team and have their own trainer.
"The most famous and strongest team at the academy right now is [Team Rigil]. It has lots of powerful Uma Musume—want to join them, B-chan?"
"The strongest, huh? Teams like that probably have really high requirements."
"If it's you, B-chan, I'm sure you can get into [Rigil]."
Urara said with confidence. Having seen B-chan take down sixteen opponents today, she seemed no less impressive than Uma Musume who competed in G-series races.
Barbatos pondered for a moment. "Nah, I'll pass."
"If [Rigil] is the top team, they must have intense training schedules and strict trainers."
"In that case... it wouldn't be very convenient for slacking off, would it?"
It wasn't that she disliked running, but rather than getting stronger through training, she'd prefer leveling up by playing League of Legends. Who wouldn't love earning their power-ups through hard work and sweat? What's not to love about having a system?
Besides, there was another, more important reason.
As Urara said, [Rigil] was currently the strongest at Tracen Academy, so they surely had strict recruitment standards.
For her, even if joining now might be a bit difficult, by the time the school term actually started a month later, who knows how much Blue Essence she'd have saved up to buy new champions?
By then, getting into the so-called strongest team would be a piece of cake anytime. But what about Urara?
Urara, who was only slightly stronger than her without any system boosts—could she get into [Rigil]? Probably not likely.
For Barbatos, even without a top-tier trainer, she could still grow stronger rapidly. The main use of a trainer and a team was more about enabling her to enter races, not restricting her.
So why not find a small team with Urara and enjoy a pleasant school life together—playing games, going for runs?
Now that was the true school life.
That was true freedom!
The freedom of being "Barbatos"!
When she first started streaming, she'd been confused by chat comments until she later learned that her name and appearance resembled a certain bard from a game called Genshin Impact. With a cosplay outfit and little to no makeup, she could perfectly cosplay as that bard.
And the character Barbatos in Genshin Impact represented "freedom."
"I want to find a small, easygoing team. That way, even if I skip training, no one will bother me. Sounds much more fun, right?"
"A small team... let me think."
Urara seriously recalled the various teams at Tracen Academy, trying to remember which one would suit B-chan's slacking style.
Meanwhile.
In Barbatos's streaming group chat.
After posting the photo and her declaration, "I want Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles and Shaxian snacks," she hadn't checked the chat.
But that photo of Japanese food was being meticulously "dissected" and "analyzed" by her fans.
--+--
"What's so great about Lanzhou noodles and Shaxian snacks? Just come to China, I'll treat you to the 6-yuan [fill-in-the-blank] special."
"Hey, looks like someone's already eaten some of this food."
"Obviously, she clearly remembered to take the pic halfway through the meal."
"Previous poster, you're missing the point. Can't you tell this Japanese meal was clearly for two people? There's probably someone sitting across from the bard."
"Hey hey, maybe it's another cute girl across from the streamer?"
"Or some creepy old man. The bard hasn't streamed for two days, maybe... you know what I mean."
"I don't get it! (doge)"
"What if it's the Geo Archon sitting across from her?"
"Then better be careful. Maybe they'll both realize they can't pay the bill, and she won't want to wash dishes, so she'll come here to borrow money (laughing emoji)."
"Genshin obsessed fans, get out of the group chat!"
"...Didn't you guys see the streamer's earlier notice? She had an entrance exam today, that's why there was no stream. Probably celebrating after passing."
"Arrest the serious one."
"Arrest the one who arrests."
--+--
A flood of messages quickly scrolled up.
Over an hour later, when Barbatos finally checked her phone again, the earlier messages were long buried, and the conversation had veered completely off-track.
Luckily, she had no intention of scrolling back. She just glanced at the latest chatter.
Near the restaurant, there happened to be a large shopping mall. After finishing their meal, she and Urara decided to take a walk there.
For Uma Musume, shopping isn't as passion filled as it is for human girls. After all, once they enter Tracen Academy, they rarely get chances to change outfits. Their sweating during runs doesn't allow for wearing makeup either.
The main reason for coming to the mall was that she wanted to buy a laptop.
A laptop that could run League of Legends smoothly, handle 4K Blu-ray quality streams, and support running an accelerator simultaneously to reduce the high ping from playing the Chinese server version in Japan.
After learning that Blue Essence earned in the mobile version could only buy mobile champions, her plan to buy a PC for the desktop version to farm Essence became a priority.
When a 450 Essence Master Yi and a 5500 Essence Master Yi provide the exact same skills, the choice was obvious.
A desktop PC would probably cost under 100,000 yen, while a laptop could be half again or even more expensive.
But school started in less than a month. The dorm situation at Tracen was still uncertain—they only knew it was two per room, and she didn't know if she could choose to room with Urara.
Under these circumstances, buying a laptop seemed the best choice.
"What brand of computer are you looking for? Desktop or laptop?" a shop attendant asked.
"Laptop. I'll know the specifics when I see them."
When it came to PC specs for gaming, she could recite them in her sleep.
Guided by the attendant, they arrived at the laptop section. Prices ranged from 60,000 to 300,000 yen, covering most major brands from various countries.
She even spotted Chinese brands like Huawei and Hasee.
Brand-wise, any high-end model from these brands would meet her needs.
But to play up her patriotic persona, she glanced toward the Huawei laptops, then said to the attendant, "That one over there."
Her finger pointed squarely at the Apple MacBook Pro behind the 200,000-yen Huawei MateBook X Pro.
--+--
T/N: You sure this guy ain't a western man in disguise?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 1 Chapter Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.