After the Tokai Cherry Blossom Prize, Shuta An didn't stay for the final race at Nagoya Racecourse. Instead, he took Oguri Cap and Berno Light straight back to the Academy.
"Today's main event has already ended; there's nothing worth watching in the next B-group race," he explained when Berno Light asked.
Oguri Cap remained silent. Since hearing Waido Seiko's declaration to challenge Central, she had been deep in thought, her head slightly lowered.
Shuta An noticed but wasn't surprised. In fact, this was precisely the reaction he had hoped for—if Oguri Cap had acted as carefree as Berno Light, he would have been concerned.
As he started the car, he muttered, "After seeing the stronger ones in Tokai, Oguri Cap should now understand how much effort she must put in."
"Without a goal, you can never climb the mountain."
Given Shuta An's expectations for her, having Fujimasa March—Mr. Kitahara's trainee—as Oguri Cap's benchmark was a bit cruel. After all, setting a talented local Uma Musume against another whose goal was to defeat Central made for a harsh rivalry. In his mind, it would have been better to let an unfamiliar Uma Musume from Central serve as her goal.
Upon returning to the Academy, after sending Oguri Cap and Berno Light back to class, Shuta An headed slowly toward his office.
As expected, Mr. Kitahara and several other trainers were waiting at the door.
"An-san, someone saw you driving out with your Uma Musume during lunch break. What were you doing?" one of them asked immediately.
"Nothing much." Shuta An waved a hand dismissively. "I just took them to Nagoya to watch the Tokai Cherry Blossom Prize."
"Tokai Cherry Blossom Prize?" Mr. Kitahara frowned. "Is that really alright?"
"What's the problem?" Shuta An raised an eyebrow. "It's just an SP1-level race."
"But for Kasamatsu's Uma Musume, races like that are far beyond their reach," another trainer interjected. "Letting them see something so far out of their league—"
"What does that have to do with my team?" Shuta An cut in. "I've said it before—Oguri Cap and I are going to challenge Central. If even an SP1-level Uma Musume makes her lose her resolve, that only proves she still lacks something—"
He tapped his temple. "—up here. And I'll have to fix that myself."
Poor Berno Light was once again forgotten by the other trainers, though Shuta An hadn't overlooked her.
"As for the other Uma Musume under my charge," he continued, "she told me that, given her lack of talent, she plans to switch to support work after trying one debut race."
"So An-san's team already has a logistics member chosen?"
Mr. Kitahara smiled ruefully. "I was thinking if I can't keep training in the future, I'd ask to join your team in logistics."
"Then I wouldn't have a place for you either." Shuta An smirked. "As long as Mr. Kitahara works hard, there's no way he won't keep going."
"Hah!" Mr. Kitahara laughed.
For the rest of April, Shuta An brought Oguri Cap and Berno Light to Kasamatsu Tracen Academy six days a week for regular training—two high-intensity sessions and three light warm-ups.
On the remaining day, he took them to a shrine near the Academy.
The first time they arrived, Oguri Cap stood at the base of the hill, staring up at the Torii gate at the top.
Is the Trainer bringing us here to make a wish?
Berno Light voiced the question aloud.
"A wish?" Shuta An smiled. "If you want to, I won't stop you. But that's not the main reason we're here."
His tone grew serious. "The training facilities at the Academy are outdated—not just here at Kasamatsu, but even in Central."
The two girls looked puzzled.
"But it can't be helped," Shuta An continued. "Japan's training systems for the Twinkle Series are simply behind. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to this country."
The missing facility, he explained, was the Slope Road.
"I don't understand these academies," he said, gesturing to the incline ahead. "Some Central racecourses have extreme slopes built right into their terrain. Why not replicate them for training?"
He pointed behind him. "There's no Slope Road at Kasamatsu, so I've spent the past searching for a substitute—and testing them myself. This is the best result."
It was an uphill path, not stairs—flat but steep enough to challenge, and safer too.
"Other than the Academy's own setup, this is the most suitable alternative." He smiled with clear satisfaction.
"So we're running on this?" Oguri Cap asked, pointing. "It looks much harder than the training ground."
"It is," Shuta An admitted. "So today, your training time will be shorter than usual. And since it's your first time, you can take it easy—twenty seconds per 1F (200 meters) will do."
But neither of the Uma Musume had any intention of going that slowly.
The two exchanged glances, nodded, and began their warm-up exercises.
Shuta An sat to the side, notebook in hand, stopwatch ready.
Although manual timing was imprecise and tedious, he could only make do.
"Let's see how well you adapt to slope training, Oguri Cap," he murmured.
If she showed weakness on the slope, he would eliminate Kyoto and Nakayama Racecourses from their future plans—Yodo's slope and Nakayama's uphill final stretch were no joke.