...
Just past nine in the evening, Nishizaki Ryo came to urge his own team's Uma Musume to head back.
"Let's go, let's go. There's still training tomorrow, and we shouldn't disturb the members of 'Dream' either."
Nishizaki Ryo yawned, fatigue clear on his face. He called toward the figures still playing happily in the corner: "Kan-kan, Ship... Daiwa, hurry up, hurry up, stop playing."
"Got it~"
"Coming, coming."
...
Compared to Nishizaki Ryo's reluctant compromise, the members of the "Rigil" team were all very sensible. Toujou Hana merely gave a look with her eyes, and the team members rose one after another.
"Trainer Lucian, thank you for the hospitality. Let's exchange more when we have the chance." Symboli Rudolf bid farewell in a friendly manner.
When Air Groove passed by Lucian's side, her brows and eyes lifted slightly as she whispered a reminder: "Pay attention to the content of the exchanges, Trainer Lucian. Some topics, if talked about too much, won't end well."
Lucian only smiled and said nothing.
"Trainer Lucian, thank you for the treat!" Taiki Shuttle waved her hand.
Grass Wonder pointed at the plate of candies on the table and said without any politeness: "Trainer Lucian, can I take these with me?"
"These candies are too delicious." Grass Wonder also looked a little embarrassed. "But I won't take them for free."
Lucian did not quite understand the meaning of "not for free" in Grass Wonder's last sentence. He simply waved his hand generously. "Take them, take them~ No need to be polite with me."
...
After both teams left, the room remained lively.
Lucian looked at this group of his own Uma Musume who showed no sign of sleepiness and sighed helplessly. "You all should go to sleep soon too, right? It's past nine. Lie down and you'll just drift off by ten."
To set an example, Lucian first took the Dango from Meisho Doto's arms. "No more playing for Doto."
Meisho Doto's horse ears stood straight up. She clearly did not react at once. "Eh....(´-﹏-`;), got it."
Lucian lifted the little Dango and lowered his voice, speaking as if casually: "Mm. Listen to Mya-ku-sama's words, and only then will Mya-ku-sama give you a reward."
Meisho Doto: o((⊙﹏⊙))o
"I'll… go to sleep right away, desu—!"
Lucian felt he had already found the remote that controlled Meisho Doto. Watching her back as she ran out of the room, he was very satisfied.
"Then what about you, Spe-chan?"
Special Week sat beside Tokai Teio holding a notebook. The pages were filled with dense writing that recorded the "gambling techniques" Tokai Teio had taught her.
"Spe-chan??!" Lucian raised his volume a little.
"Mm!? Trainer-san." Special Week finally heard Lucian's call and lifted her head as if waking from a dream. "I'll go wash up right away!"
"Did you lose a lot of carrots again today?"
"No." Special Week shook her head, eyes sparkling with excitement. "The games we originally lost, Teio just won them all back! We're reviewing them now."
"If only you were this serious during exams." Lucian's gaze turned to Tokai Teio, who sat looking proud and silent. "Teio, discuss it with Spe-chan again tomorrow."
"Got it~ Trainer." Tokai Teio's tone overflowed with pride. "Tonight I even defeated the Chairman and Golden Ship. 'Dream' is the strongest!"
Lucian loved hearing those words. He even felt a little regret that Nishizaki Ryo had already left and could not hear this inspiring declaration. It would have been even better if she had repeated it a few more times right in front of Nishizaki Ryo.
Next, Lucian urged Haru Urara and Twin Turbo as well. After driving these relatively "rebellious" ones back, the remaining members in the room all stood up on their own, said good night, and returned to their rooms.
With a soft "pa," the lights went out.
Only a few night lamps remained in the corridor, casting warm yellow halos. The evening breeze brushed through the gaps in the forest leaves and made soft rustling sounds.
The first night of the training camp quietly passed in that peaceful and warm atmosphere.
Yet in the middle of the night, the figure of Ines Fujin slipped into Lucian's room with the wind to keep the appointment.
She had been so eager to know that morning, but once she entered Lucian's room she was no longer in such a hurry. She kissed him and held him for a long while first. Soft lips pressed and parted again and again. Her warm breath brushed his cheek. Her full breasts pushed gently against his chest through the thin fabric of her nightclothes, the soft weight of them shifting with every small movement. Quiet, breathy sounds escaped her throat whenever their mouths met more deeply.
Only after that did she pull Lucian fully into her arms and ask:
"Otouto, can you tell me all those things now?"
"Yes, Ines-nee. Don't be nervous. I'm a little out of breath." Lucian discovered that Ines Fujin always liked to wrap her arms around his neck from above.
After a while the embrace grew a bit stifling. The softness felt wonderful, yet it was not very breathable.
Ines Fujin shifted outward a little and loosened her hands. "Alright. Go ahead and speak."
"Mm..... Seiun, Suzuka, Urara, Bailey, Spe-chan, Teio... and then you." Lucian confessed everything in rough order all at once.
"Besides Seiun and Suzuka... them?" Even Ines Fujin, who had already prepared herself, fell silent for a moment. "But they are all... Uma Musume."
"Then I'm not an ordinary person either.... Ines-nee isn't unfamiliar with that." Once the words left his mouth, his heart felt much lighter. Lucian pressed his cheek closer again and adjusted to a more comfortable position.
The feeling of often embracing others, and occasionally being held in someone's arms, was truly nice. "Mm... can't accept it?"
"I need a little time to ease into it. This morning I was still a bit confrontational with Suzuka.... I got jealous." Ines Fujin gently stroked Lucian's hair. "But then I felt that with otouto being so outstanding, it seems normal again."
Lucian knew that morning's conversation had not been simple. Having walked through a field of flowers, he had of course also learned how to catch the scent of them.
"Thank you, Ines-nee."
Not "I'm sorry," but "Thank you."
When he had accepted Silence Suzuka and Seiun Sky at the same time, Lucian had already decided he would not be awkward about this matter. He would simply be straightforward.
Yet Ines Fujin was far more understanding than he had imagined. It would be a lie to say he did not feel heartache for her.
So of course Lucian chose to love her properly in his own way. "Ines-nee, stay here and sleep tonight."
"But tomorrow we still have to....."
"Leave it to the alarm clock. Right now I want to hear the midnight alarm." Lucian slightly tightened his hold on Ines Fujin's slender waist that could be spanned by one hand.
Under that force her nightclothes slowly pulled tight, the fabric sinking into the soft curves of her breasts and the narrow dip of her waist, revealing the delicate lines and full, rounded shape she had kept hidden in the night.
...
In the following week, the training of "Dream" continued in an orderly fashion under Lucian's arrangements.
"Bee—" The sharp whistle cut cleanly through the Uma Musume's sweet dreams.
In the end, the boy who had once slain the dragon became the evil dragon himself.
Lucian finally understood the refreshing satisfaction of those high-school dormitory days when the supervisor woke everyone with a single whistle.
By now the Uma Musume had developed a conditioned reflex under his training. The moment the first whistle sounded, even if their eyes remained closed they would sit up at once like rising corpses.
Their bodies woke before their minds, so after Lucian turned around he did not leave immediately. He simply crossed his arms and waited quietly.
Soon a series of soft "tap-tap" sounds came from inside. A few clever ones had thought he was gone and had lain back down to sleep.
Lucian picked up the whistle and blew it again. "Bee—"
Watching those Uma Musume who had just lain down once more "startle upright from their deathbeds," Lucian could not help smiling.
"Urara-chan, if you secretly lie down again..." He paused halfway through the sentence.
Threats such as "I'll make you run five extra laps" or "I'll confiscate today's onigiri" had already lost their effect on Haru Urara.
There were still other threats he could use, of course, but it was not convenient to speak them aloud in front of everyone.
Haru Urara wore pink checkered pajamas. The hat on her head had flopped softly to one side, matching the listless tilt of her body.
Her eyes opened only a thin slit. She waved a small hand weakly in the air, then let it drop. Her pink little mouth mumbled: "Trainer, hug~~~ A hug and I can get up~"
...