The September sky was clear and the air crisp, the harsh heat of August now mostly a memory in Japan.
It was also time for the new semester at Tracen Academy.
The city of Kochi wasn't far from Tracen Academy; truth be told, the whole of Japan wasn't very big. To put it in anime terms, Japan was basically just a village.
Barbatos and Urara traveled together on the train headed for Tracen Academy.
An Uma Musume's full-speed sprint could outpace a car, but no sensible Uma Musume would choose to run such a long distance.
The two of them leaned against their seats, watching the scenery fly past outside.
It wasn't as if Barbatos had never been on a train before. In her previous life, squeezing into crowded subways and watching videos of Japanese trains were common occurrences.
But the local Japanese scenery felt novel to her. She'd never traveled abroad in her past life, and in this one, she'd never left Kochi City.
She wondered what the real Akihabara was actually like.
"Mom, look, those two big sisters are Uma Musume!" a little girl nearby exclaimed delightedly. Uma Musume existed all over the world, but they were far fewer in number than humans.
In a city like Kochi, all the Uma Musume combined probably numbered less than thirty. It was only at the "Japan Central Uma Musume Academy"—the "Central Tracen Academy" they were headed to—that you could see Uma Musume everywhere.
Besides the central Tracen Academy, Japan had fifteen local Tracen branch academies.
Those with exceptional talent or outstanding achievements from these branches could also become part of Central Tracen Academy, whether as Uma Musume or as trainers.
Hearing the voice, Barbatos turned to look at the little girl who had spoken. She looked about five or six years old, not yet in elementary school. "Well, hello there."
"Hello, big sister! Are you Uma Musume who run on TV too?"
The girl's mother also looked over with curiosity. If League of Legends was popular worldwide, then the popularity of Uma Musume was probably just a notch higher.
While esports were mostly confined to the younger generation, Uma Musume races had been a tradition for countless years, continuing to this day. It was common to see G-series races broadcast on big screens right out on the street.
Of course, both League and Uma Musume were in different fields, so a real comparison wasn't quite fair.
Urara, charmed by the cute little girl, reached out to play with her. She was about to explain that she and 'B-chan' weren't on TV yet—they'd need to find a trainer at Tracen and run their debut race first for that.
"Yep, we're the Uma Musume you see on TV," Barbatos said, cutting in. She winked at Urara. "If you see us racing someday, remember to secretly use your mom's phone to vote for us, okay?"
"Okay!" the little girl nodded enthusiastically. Her mother covered her mouth with a light laugh.
The mother knew these two Uma Musume hadn't appeared on TV before, but most people taking this train at this time of year were heading to join Central Tracen Academy. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before they would see them on screen.
After chatting with the girl and her mother for a while, they watched them get off at their stop.
"Will we have our own fans one day too?" Urara mused, already dreaming of life after her debut.
"Fans? That little girl back there is already your second fan! She'll definitely cheer for you in your races."
Urara tilted her head, confused. "Second? Then who was the first?"
Barbatos seized the moment to launch into an exaggerated impression of a star-struck fan. "Oh, please, could I get your autograph and a photo? I've watched every single one of your races, and I've recorded all your winning moments and victory live performances!"
They were already keyed up about starting their new life at Tracen, so even though the train ride spanned more than a dozen stops, they didn't feel the least bit tired.
Laughing and joking, they arrived at the station in Tokyo's Fuchu city closest to Tracen Academy.
A quick beep from her IC card at the gate, and Barbatos was through, still not quite used to relying on the card.
She remembered how back in her day, you just scanned a QR code with your phone to ride the subway. Japan's train system was a bit different from China's in that regard.
People here rarely even took their phones out on the train. No calls, and you'd certainly never hear someone blasting TikTok videos—not that Japan had TikTok anyway.
Exiting the station, they found themselves facing a huge shopping district. Among the steady stream of pedestrians, they could make out two or three pairs of Uma Musume walking together.
From the snippets of conversation they caught, they seemed to be talking about races.
"Oh, that's right! There's a Twinkle Series race today," Urara said, brimming with her usual energy. "An Uma Musume from [Team Rigil] is competing, and the track isn't far from here. Should we go watch?"
Kochi did host local races, but they were on a different scale compared to the Twinkle Series. Plus, one of the participants this time was a member of [Team Rigil], Tracen's strongest team.
"Would that be... Silence Suzuka?"
"Yep! Silence Suzuka has been really famous lately, winning so many races. People online are saying she's a world-class Uma Musume!"
"But we have to report to Tracen today. If we go watch the race, we'll be late on the very first day of school."
World-class... Barbatos had to admit, she wanted to see for herself.
It was different from watching a broadcast. Being there in person let you truly gauge the gap between yourself and the competitor. She wanted to see just how far she was from a world-class Uma Musume, to start researching her future MSI opponents early.
(T/N: MSI Stands for mid season international for League)
Oh, wait, no—her future racing opponents.
She was bound to face Silence Suzuka on the track eventually. But based on the race broadcasts she'd seen of Silence Suzuka before...
She had a feeling this Uma Musume wasn't overwhelmingly strong. Sure, she was stronger than Barbatos was now, but not by some insane margin.
From what she'd gathered watching those broadcasts, Silence Suzuka usually turned on the power in the latter half of the race, defeating other Uma Musume with her astonishing speed.
She was strong, no doubt, but not strong enough to make Barbatos despair. Maybe, just maybe, she herself was already halfway to being world-class?
It wasn't just wishful thinking. This confidence came from the new champions that had appeared on her system interface.
"You're right. We'd better head to the academy to report first. We still have to unpack in our dorms later."
"I hope I get assigned to the same dorm room as you, B-chan!"
"Even if we're not in the same room, we'll probably be in the same class. And even if we're not in the same class, we can still join the same team."
"B-chan, have you already decided which team you want to join?" Urara asked.
After their conversation about teams at the restaurant that day, Barbatos had looked into the several teams within Tracen and had already settled on a target.
Just as she was about to answer, she spotted an Uma Musume lounging lazily in the shade of a tree, fishing.
There were certainly more Uma Musume around near Tracen Academy; they'd already passed several on their way.
"I'm planning to join Canopus."
"Word is they don't have many strict training requirements, and the trainer seems pretty easy-going. It sounds like a good fit for me to just take it easy."
She stated this with utter conviction as she and Urara walked past the fishing Uma Musume.
Unbeknownst to her, the Uma Musume's ears twitched, and she glanced sideways at their retreating figures.
"Canopus?"
--+--
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.