In April, cherry blossoms drifted from the sky with a gentle breeze, forming a pink, verdant wave.
In this intoxicating warmth, two girls in dark blue uniform skirts ran quickly forward, treading on the pink petals covering the ground.
The tall ears on their heads and the tails gently swaying behind them as they ran revealed the identities of the two girls—
Uma Musume.
Amidst their even, slight panting, the girl with eye-catching brown hime-cut hair softly complained to the black-haired girl running in front of her:
"That's why I said, on the night before an important day, you should go to bed early!"
"I was just too nervous last night, I couldn't sleep at all!"
No sooner had the black-haired girl finished speaking than the two of them had already reached the gates of Tracen Academy.
Standing at the school entrance, they looked at the distant building with the silver horseshoe emblem, and a look of incomparable excitement appeared on both their exquisite, youthful faces.
"The day is finally here, Diamond."
Kitasan Black, with shoulder-length black hair and a white highlight on her forehead, said to her friend beside her.
"Mm, let's do our best together, Kita." Satono Diamond nodded gently.
"Like Teio."
"Like McQueen."
The two spoke almost in unison, then ran into the campus side by side.
--
Today was the entrance ceremony for Tracen Academy, Japan's highest-level Uma Musume training institution.
From today, Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond would be members of Tracen Academy, studying and training there.
After listening to the opening speech by Symboli Rudolf, the first undefeated legendary Triple Crown Uma Musume in Japanese history, known as the "Emperor" and the Chairwoman of Tracen Academy, Satono Diamond also gave a speech as the freshman representative to all new students.
After the opening ceremony, the two went out to look for their idols, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen.
"I don't know where Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen are either."
Tamamo Cross, with long red and blue hair ribbons tied to her head, replied to their inquiry with a puzzled expression.
Kitasan Black's face was full of regret upon hearing Tamamo Cross's words. She leaned her face close to Satono Diamond's ear and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Diamond, even if we're going to ask, we should ask an older Horse Girl. She looks even younger than us."
"Hey! I heard what you said! I'm your senior! I'm just short!" Tamamo Cross also loudly corrected them in a Kansai accent.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. Then, do you know where their Trainer-san is?" Kitasan Black asked softly, her expression a little awkward.
"Huh? You're looking for her? Why?"
Tamamo Cross's face showed a strange expression upon hearing Kitasan Black's words. She looked around, leaned forward slightly, and lowered her voice.
"Let me tell you, that person is quite strange. You'd best not get close to her. You'll understand after you've been here for a while."
"It's fine, Senior. You just need to tell us where Miss Sakura is. We want to join Teio and McQueen's team."
"I see... She should be in an interview right now. If you want to find her, you can wait for her in the Chairwoman's office."
"Ch-Chairwoman? Why go to the Chairwoman's office?" Satono Diamond's tone became a bit surprised upon hearing Tamamo Cross's words.
"I don't know why either, but she seems to have a good relationship with the Chairwoman. She'll probably go report to the Chairwoman after her interview, otherwise, you two might not find her."
Tamamo Cross put on a feigned smile, gently scratched her cheek with her finger, and said to the two with a bit of embarrassment.
--
In the auditorium where the entrance ceremony had just concluded, a group of reporters held microphones and cameras, aiming them at the tall, black-haired, and seemingly quite young Trainer on stage, continuously asking various questions.
"Miss Sakura, could you please share your experience of training the Triple Crown Horse Girl Tokai Teio, as a first-time Trainer?"
"For the Triple Crown, talent, effort, and luck are all indispensable. This is all thanks to Teio's hard work." Trainer Sakura Bakushin O on stage replied softly with a smile.
"Miss Sakura, regarding Miss Mejiro McQueen, who was the first in Japan to achieve consecutive Tenno Sho victories, and even three consecutive Spring Tenno Sho victories, plus the Spring and Autumn Tenno Sho victories last year, what kind of effort did you put in?"
"Her ability to quickly adapt to the Tenno Sho (Autumn)'s middle-distance races after excelling in her preferred long-distance races is inseparable from her arduous efforts. My own role was minimal."
"You're too modest." The reporter smiled.
"Miss Mejiro McQueen also won the Arima Kinen at the end of the year, right after the Tenno Sho (Autumn). Many fans call her the 'Strongest Long-Distance Horse Girl'. Miss Sakura, what do you think of this title?"
"McQueen certainly has dominance in long-distance races, but she's far from the strongest. At most, she's among the top contenders of her generation."
"Also, you've also earned the title of 'Youngest Genius Trainer'. Trainers with such achievements, let alone newcomers, even veteran Trainers don't have them. What do you think of this?"
"I guess I was lucky. As soon as I joined Tracen Academy, I met Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen, two genius Horse Girl."
"Miss Sakura, and..."
...On stage, the "Youngest Genius Trainer" Sakura Bakushin O calmly answered the questions from countless reporters.
Although she essentially answered every reporter's question, she actually didn't reveal a single bit of information to them.
Sakura Bakushin O's answers to the reporters, in summary, were actually one sentence:
"It's all because the Horse Girl are geniuses; it has nothing to do with me."
Half an hour passed, and the reporters finally gave up their attack on this Trainer who would only answer questions with a serene smile and two repetitive phrases.
Sakura Bakushin O smiled as she watched the group of disappointed reporters leave, then turned to look at the campus filled with cherry blossom trees, seeing many unfamiliar, youthful faces. She murmured to herself:
"New Horse Girl have arrived... Speaking of which, Teio and McQueen's two little fangirls should also join my team, right? I wonder what their 'Nurturing Difficulty' is?"
She muttered to herself as she quickly walked towards Chairwoman Akikawa's office.
Sakura Bakushin O's appearance naturally attracted the attention of many Horse Girl in the academy.
Some senior Horse Girl, who were showing their newly enrolled juniors around, couldn't help but pause when they noticed Sakura Bakushin O walking by quickly, reaching out to protect their juniors with vigilant eyes.
It was as if this Trainer, who didn't seem much older than them, would abduct their juniors at any moment.
However, today, Sakura Bakushin O clearly had no intention of playing with them.
She simply had a slight curve to her lips, staring straight ahead into the air.
Many Horse Girl followed Sakura Bakushin O's gaze, but saw nothing there.
What appeared before Sakura Bakushin O's eyes was a translucent interface that no one else could see.
The interface showed the words [Task Completed] and [System Level Up].
"The recent reporter interview finally filled the last bit of experience points for me. After three years, the system has finally leveled up again..."
As Sakura Bakushin O rejoiced inwardly, she had already arrived at Chairwoman Akikawa's office in the blink of an eye.
"Speaking of which, after this system upgrade, I can check Horse Girl's basic information without physical contact. That's pretty good."
After gently knocking on the door and receiving a response from inside, Sakura Bakushin O pushed open Chairwoman Akikawa's office door.
Today, Chairwoman Akikawa's office was a bit crowded; to be precise, there were two more adorable Horse Girl.
The moment Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond, the two newly enrolled Little Horse Girl, appeared in her field of vision, translucent system interfaces appeared above their heads.
[Kitasan Black: Nurturing Difficulty (B+)]
[Satono Diamond: Nurturing Difficulty (A)]
The higher the nurturing difficulty level, the easier it is to nurture this Horse Girl.
However, correspondingly, the points obtained from nurturing them will also decrease.
The appearance of these two little ones was within Sakura Bakushin O's expectations. She had already met these two little fangirls when she was training Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen.
Whenever Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen participated in a race, these two Little Horse Girl could always be seen.
Sakura Bakushin O's gaze slowly shifted, and when it landed on the "older girl" with orange hair and white highlights sitting behind the desk, she suddenly froze.
Because she discovered that...
A translucent system interface also appeared above the forehead of Chairwoman Akikawa, whom she had known for a long time and was very close to.
[Akikawa Yayoi: Nurturing Difficulty (C)]
--