"Dorm 7, Barbatos. Dorm 23, Urara."
"Senpai, can we switch to be in the same dorm?" Urara asked.
The Uma Musume in front of her had a head of short black hair that gave off a somewhat spirited vibe. She'd introduced herself earlier as Fuji Kiseki, a pretty impressive racer with four wins and one G1 title under her belt from four starts.
At Tracen Academy, they didn't really use terms like 'senpai' or 'kouhai' based on school year. Here, it was all about when you had your debut race. Even an Uma Musume who enrolled earlier had to call another 'senpai' once that Uma Musume had raced.
Besides those like Barbatos who tested in, there were also Uma Musume who'd been studying here all along, with parents working at Tracen Academy.
Unlike humans, Uma Musume could reproduce not only with human males but also with each other. It was a real biological oddity.
So, it wasn't unheard of to meet an Uma Musume with two mothers who were both Uma Musume.
"Hmm?"
Fuji Kiseki drew out the sound after hearing Urara's request, then stated definitively, "You two are from the same place that tested into Tracen, right?"
"Yep, we're both from Kōchi City!"
"Well then, that makes it even more of a no-go, little fillies. It's a Tracen Academy rule."
"Is that so?"
Urara blinked, not so much discouraged as curious about why such a rule existed.
Barbatos's attention, however, wasn't on the conversation. She sneakily glanced at Fuji Kiseki's modest chest.
Little filly? This is what she calls a little filly?
'Look who's talking,' she thought. 'This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Though, Urara's are bigger than hers!'
(T/N: MC must be blind, cause Fuji Kiseki even as a window for her chest)
After mentally tossing off that casual jab, she took the dorm keys from Fuji Kiseki and prepared to leave.
"By the way, the other little filly for Dorm 7 has already arrived. Be sure to get along now."
Hearing that, Barbatos got a sense of déjà vu, like when she'd coaxed that little girl on the subway. It felt just a tiny bit awkward.
"Got it."
"B-chan, do you know why the academy doesn't let people from the same area room together?"
Urara was curious about this. While it was a shame they couldn't share a room, like B-chan said, they could always join the same team. But why have such a strange rule in the first place?
"Probably to prevent Uma Musume from the same region from forming cliques?" Barbatos speculated. "Think about it. If the two of us were roommates, we'd eat, sleep, and train together."
"That would mean less chance to interact with other Uma Musume. Not great for fostering connections and a competitive atmosphere among everyone at the academy."
"Would it, really?"
She looked at Urara and paused for two seconds. "Probably not."
She had a feeling that Urara, with her personality, could make friends anywhere she went.
"We're here."
Barbatos stopped outside the door and got ready to unlock it.
"Let's get our own rooms sorted first. We'll call later."
"Hehe, let's go meet our new roommates!" Urara said, full of energy, gazing at the door with curiosity about the other Musume already in Dorm 7.
"Could be a real powerhouse type, you know? The kind that's eight feet tall and eight feet wide," she joked with Urara, deliberately lowering her voice to avoid being overheard by the future roommate inside.
Urara's mouth opened slightly, her expression one of keen interest. "Are there really Musume like that?"
Truth be told, there probably weren't any Musume with that kind of build. Pretty much every Uma Musume was at the level of a beautiful girl. At least, she'd never seen one who was 'eight feet tall and wide.'
Holding her own curiosity about what her new roommate would be like, she inserted the key into the lock and turned it. The feeling was oddly similar to pulling on a gacha banner.
If the roommate inside turned out to be incompatible with her, her upcoming academy life might not be so pleasant.
The door swung open, but the room was empty of the roommate Fuji Kiseki had mentioned.
All she could see was one bed already made up with bedding and luggage, proof that the other girl had indeed moved in but was currently out.
"Already gone, huh? Guess I'll have to wait to see who it is."
"B-chan, I'll head to my dorm now. I'll call you later!"
"Okay, talk then."
Watching the figure jog away, she got the feeling Urara was off to 'pull her gacha,' eager to see what kind of Musume her own roommate would be.
But at this hour, most Musume probably hadn't even arrived at Tracen Academy yet.
Once Urara was out of sight, Barbatos opened her luggage and started unpacking her clothes and the bedding she'd brought from home.
Tracen did provide bedding, but both she and Urara had brought their own. You just slept better in your own familiar sheets.
It was to avoid 'lack of sleep' affecting her future ranked performance... wait, no, she meant her class attendance and training condition.
She glanced at the bedding on the other bed; clearly, it was personally owned too.
She quickly made her bed, stowed her clothes in the wardrobe—she hadn't brought much, just a couple of outfits for going out, since you couldn't very well always wear your uniform. The rest were mostly changes of underwear. On that point, Urara had brought quite a bit more clothing than she had.
She folded what needed folding and hung up some of the clothes.
The room itself was already clean. She didn't need to do any cleaning. Whether it was spotless to begin with or her unseen roommate had already tidied up, she didn't know.
With everything put away, she took out her fruit laptop, external keyboard, and mouse.
Considering it was a shared dorm, she'd specially bought a pair of headphones designed for Uma Musume. She just couldn't bring herself to play audio out loud in a two-person room.
She'd bought in-ear headphones. Headphones made for Musume were usually in-ear because of their different ear structure; over-ear models were extremely rare.
Putting on the headphones, she booted up the computer, connected to the dorm's built-in wifi, and got ready to log into League of Legends for a couple of ranked games.
Judging by the amount of clothes Urara brought, it would probably take her a while to fully unpack and contact her. Perfect time to grind some Blue Essence.
"This internet speed... is it powered by a tortoise?!"
Looking at the speed displayed on her screen, she could only be thankful she hadn't started a ranked game yet, or she'd risk getting reported.
"Feels like I need to go buy a mobile wifi hotspot. I think they sold them on that shopping street we passed earlier."
Thinking that Urara was probably still sorting her clothes, she decided not to invite her. The round trip from the dorms to the shopping street was pretty quick for an Uma Musume anyway.
She left Tracen Academy and ran back the way she came, heading for the shopping street.
She noticed that same Uma Musume was still fishing under the shade of the tree. She wondered how many the girl had caught by now.
Driven by a bit of curiosity, Barbatos ran over, intending to sneak a peek into the small bucket beside the angler.
Perhaps hearing the approach, the fishing Musume opened her slightly squinted eyes.
"You are... the slacker?"
"?"
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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.