Tracen Academy Training Grounds.
Twin Turbo and others had just finished a lap on the turf track.
It was a rare day off for Team Canopus—no rest or strategy meetings in sight. Instead, they had chosen to join Barbatos and Seiun Sky, who were preparing for their debut races, for a running practice.
"Have Barbatos-senpai and the others still not arrived?"
Matikanetannhauser, panting heavily as she prepared for another lap, found it a bit odd.
Standing nearby, Minamizaka had a slightly bad feeling. "They might have run into something. You all keep training—focus on getting ready for your debut races as soon as possible."
Compared to usual, whenever a team member was about to debut, Twin Turbo and the others would finally agree to train together instead of holding meetings.
But now, glancing at the message from Barbatos on his phone, he couldn't help but worry.
Barbatos: Seiun Sky ran into a little situation. As her roommate, I have to help sort it out. Won't make it to today's training—requesting leave.
Minamizaka: Understood. Let me know if you need any help.
He really hoped Seiun Sky wasn't injured or anything. If she were, her debut race might be postponed for a long time. Then again, delaying a debut wasn't the end of the world—the real concern was that injuries could affect an Uma Musume's entire career.
Waving over Urara, who was training on the dirt track, he asked, "Do you know what happened with Seiun Sky?"
Urara, still catching her breath from her exercises, didn't think much of the question. "No idea! Didn't Sei-chan go fishing?"
She'd been invited to join that morning, but Urara had declined due to training.
"..."
Minamizaka hesitated, words caught in his throat. After a long silence, he finally managed, "And Barbatos?"
"Didn't she go fishing with Sei-chan?"
Minamizaka facepalmed, feeling both exasperated and relieved.
So, "helping sort it out" actually meant going fishing? And they'd skipped practice for it!
Better to pretend he didn't know... At least Seiun Sky was fine. Skipping running practice right before their debut races—only those two would pull something like that.
--+--
By the small river outside Tracen Academy, the leaves had begun to tinge with yellow and brown.
Seiun Sky sat under the large tree where she'd first met Barbatos, fishing rod in hand.
She'd originally planned to find a better spot, but as an experienced angler, she needed to prove to her roommate that her fishing technique wasn't the problem.
A parabolic arc cut through the air as Barbatos swung her rod, sending the baited hook flying into the river with a sharp 'whish'.
It had to be said—Uma Musume were far stronger than humans. Barbatos wondered if those specialized in strength could even lift cars with their bare hands. No more worrying about being blocked in by other vehicles when parking.
"You scared all my fish away."
Barbatos sat down cross-legged beside her, stating matter-of-factly, "Fish only have seven seconds of memory. They'll be back after that."
This was her first time fishing.
Originally, after skipping practice, she'd planned to either stay in the dorm or go outside to play League of Legends and farm some Blue Essence.
But ever since arriving in this world, it seemed like all she'd been doing was playing League.
Watching the Blue Essence counter rise in her system interface was incredibly motivating, true. But perhaps it was time to experience other things, to get a taste of campus life—which is how she ended up here fishing with Seiun Sky.
It was also a chance to potentially start live-streaming outdoors with her face showing. Streaming from the dorm with a camera wasn't ideal, especially since she didn't have a room to herself.
An autumn breeze swept by, rippling the river's surface and scattering more withered leaves.
Yesterday, under Minamizaka's direction, she and Seiun Sky had done a basic simulation of their respective debut race tracks. Races for rookie-level Uma Musume were straightforward—just flat ground to run on.
Unlike some courses in the G-series that included slopes, where many Uma Musume lost momentum.
After confirming they understood all the details and there was nothing particularly tricky to watch for, they embarked on their first slacking-off adventure since joining Canopus.
Her debut race was now just 6 days away. The Nojikiku Stakes, a beginner-level event, would be held at Hanshin Racecourse, one of Japan's four major racecourses.
Located in the bustling Hanshin area—also called Osaka—she figured she could explore Osaka after the race and bring back some local specialties for El Condor Pasa and the others.
Osaka Castle sounded like a place worth visiting just from the name alone.
Now that Minamizaka had submitted her registration, she could already find her popularity poll ranking on the official website—though for debut races, these polls weren't very prominent.
For newly-debuted Uma Musume, fans often voted based on first impressions, so a pretty face could easily land the #1 popularity spot right out of the gate.
But before starting her stream, Barbatos glanced at her motionless bobber on the water and recalled losing to Seiun Sky during her first practice race. Now was the time for revenge!
"Hey, want to make a bet? Let's see who catches more fish!"
Seiun Sky gave her a lazy sidelong glance. "What are we betting this time?"
Winning last time had been nice—getting her hair dried for her was a pretty good deal. And now Barbatos was challenging her skills as a seasoned angler!
"If I win..."
She thought for a moment but couldn't come up with a good stake.
Bets between roommates couldn't be too serious—that could strain their relationship. So far, living with Seiun Sky had been great: she could stream freely in their room, and they could slack off together.
Wait—no, this was about mentally preparing for her debut race. How could what Barbatos was doing be considered slacking off?
She settled on something simple. "If I win, you have to cheer for me at my debut race as loud as you can. If I lose, I'll dry your hair for another week?"
At the words "dry your hair," Seiun Sky's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.
"If you lose, you cheer for me at my debut race as loud as you can, then."
"Uh... sure. But just so you know, I'm not going to lose when it comes to fishing."
Originally, she hadn't planned to attend Seiun Sky's debut race at all—maybe catch it on stream at most.
Since Seiun Sky was debuting 13 days later, she'd be traveling to Hanshin with Minamizaka and Barbatos to check out the venue beforehand. But for Seiun's actual race at Nakayama Racecourse, Barbatos wouldn't need to go cheer her on.
Tracen Academy was in Tokyo. For small teams like theirs, when races were in Tokyo, the whole team usually showed up to support. But for races elsewhere, common sense dictated that only the trainer would accompany the runner.
Still, she felt confident about beating Seiun Sky at fishing—especially since Seiun had come up empty-handed last time.
Just then, the bobber on the water suddenly twitched. Seiun Sky lifted her rod with a practiced flick, and a fish flew out of the river.
Barbatos: "..."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters 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.