After blessing Mr. C.B., Kuroha casually flicked his hand again and topped off the Power of Blessing on Symboli Rudolf as well.
After all, the tiny trial version he had given her in the student council office had already been completely used up during their walk to the public training ground.
That was also why, on the system panel just now,
the Emperor's stats had looked a little low.
As this purer Power of Blessing poured into her body without reservation,
the values on Symboli Rudolf's system panel in front of Kuroha instantly began soaring at breakneck speed.
Not only did her five core stats - speed, stamina, and the rest - jump from a little over 1000 straight up to the terrifying range of around 1300,
even the skill in her list that had dimmed with the passing of her peak and been marked unusable, Domain: Emperor of the Blazing Sun, burst into brilliant light at that very moment.
"..."
Feeling that power filling her body once again,
Symboli Rudolf stood by the track in silence, raised a hand, and clenched it hard several times. A complicated light flickered in her eyes, though it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
"Trainer, me next! It's my turn!"
Just then, Inari One eagerly rushed up in front of Kuroha, raising her hand high and loudly announcing herself.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not skipping you."
Kuroha smiled indulgently.
He reached out and ruffled her wonderfully soft hair with real force, rubbing until the girl happily squinted her eyes and showed off her two adorable little fangs.
Then the third dazzling stream of Power of Blessing was injected cleanly into Inari One's body.
Boom!
At the instant the light entered her body, the Edo-bred fox who was usually so noisy and restless underwent a complete transformation in presence.
She only took a single step forward.
Yet an endless, violently overbearing fighting spirit exploded out from her center and surged in all directions like a storm!
In that instant, she no longer looked like the lazy, playful little fox she was now.
It was as though she had returned to that Arima Kinen track that had once shaken the world,
the absolute tyrant who had single-handedly crushed countless top runners of her generation.
"Heh."
Inari One rolled her neck, producing a string of sharp cracking sounds.
She lifted her chin slightly, her face carrying a wild, aggressive, utterly overbearing grin. Her blazing gaze fixed on Kuroha as she declared loudly,
"Say it, Trainer. How do you want me to win?"
"..."
Hearing that unbelievably arrogant line, Symboli Rudolf, who was standing off to the side with her arms folded, could not help giving a dead-eyed stare.
'So this is how I used to talk...'
Usually, when she saw the younger girls making this kind of youthful declaration, she actually found it rather amusing.
After all, she had once been young too.
As a gate-runner who had forged a name like Emperor, she herself had naturally been arrogant beyond measure back then.
It was just that after retiring, she had gained perspective and gradually reined it in.
But now, being directly challenged like this, she felt she could finally understand how the people she had once provoked must have felt.
Mr. C.B., meanwhile, spread her hands and gave an extremely helpless smile.
Then the brown-haired girl quietly leaned close to Rudolf's ear and whispered,
"Don't mind it, don't mind it. Inari's just like that."
"The second she goes back into full peak-condition race mode, it's like her eyes are stuck up in the sky. She gets insanely cocky."
"But she's not like this normally. Usually, she's actually really cute."
Rudolf shot her a speechless sidelong glance.
The brown-haired girl was tugging at the little C.B. cap by her ear, grinning with obvious mischief.
It was clear she was using the fox as a stand-in to tease the Emperor.
Across from them,
Kuroha quietly looked at the three former top-tier Uma Musume before him, each of them radiating a frightening aura, with even visible currents of flowing light faintly coursing around their bodies, and nodded in satisfaction.
During this recent stretch of time, with so many things changing hands and shifting around, Kuroha had nearly forgotten something.
Back in the old days, Central Tracen Academy had genuinely once put on races where six Uma Musume with Domains competed in the same event,
fighting each other on the track in scenes of stunning grandeur.
But now, aside from the girls on his own Chasing Light team and Nice Nature from last year,
he could barely see any other Uma Musume using a Domain in official races.
Somehow,
the so-called Golden Generation of today seemed less "golden" in terms of absolute dominance than the generations of the past...
Was it because both Teio and McQueen were on his side?
Shaking his head, Kuroha dismissed the thought and calmly laid out the rules for this test run.
"Let's be clear first. This is only a test race. Absolutely no using Domains."
At the same time the expressions of the three girls in front of him all froze, he added softly,
"Once the start goes off, Inari and Chitose, the two of you run side by side at the very front."
"Rudolf, you stay behind them."
"You'll keep that formation and run a few laps together. We'll see how your stamina holds up."
"..."
The three Uma Musume looked at each other.
The tense atmosphere between them, which had been faintly bristling a moment ago, slowly faded away.
"...Well, I guess that's not a problem."
Although Inari One still looked thoroughly confused,
out of absolute trust in her trainer, she only hesitated for a moment before stretching slightly and bending at the waist.
"Oh, come on..."
But beside her, Mr. C.B. shivered involuntarily.
The girl turned her head around in stiff, mechanical fashion.
And right behind her, Symboli Rudolf now looked like a demon king walking out of hell itself,
wearing a dark expression and red eyes as she stared at her close friend at point-blank range.
"All right. Enough staring."
Kuroha turned away in satisfaction, walked toward the edge of the field, and loudly announced, "Everyone on the track. Get ready to start!"
...
Three minutes later.
The race was over.
On the bench beside the finish line, Kuroha sat upright, writing something down while organizing his thoughts.
And on the patch of grass not far away, the artistic direction around the three girls who had just finished the test run looked more than a little strange.
"P-President... Y-you...!"
Even though she had just run several laps, with sweat all over her body, displaying the astonishing stamina of the long-distance tyrant who had defeated Super Creek more than once back in the day,
Inari One was now red-faced as she stared at Symboli Rudolf in utter disbelief.
And beside her,
Mr. C.B., who was normally carefree and overflowing with sunshine and enthusiasm, had completely gone full emo.
She lay limp on the grass like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.
"...It's not like I wanted to be like that. Is this really my fault?"
Being accused so directly by a junior, even Symboli Rudolf felt a trace of embarrassment at that moment...
Back on the racetrack in the past, she had also used those "red skills" to interfere with opponents.
But those were basically just support tactics to set up her final burst, and she had been fairly restrained about it.
When had she ever done anything like what she had just done?
Since victory did not matter here, she had no need whatsoever to worry about mental or physical expenditure, and could just hurl every debuff she had all at once without restraint,
tossing around the two girls in front, who were forbidden by the rules from using Domains to fight back, however she pleased.
Fluster. Dominator. Glare from All Sides...
Cut speed, cut stamina, cut burst...
She had been having the time of her life.
"Ahem..."
The moment she thought back to the rather questionable enjoyment she had felt on the track just now,
Symboli Rudolf's cheeks flushed faintly red, and she hurriedly coughed twice in guilt, looking away.
At that moment, Kuroha, who had been some distance away, finally finished sorting out his thoughts.
He closed his notebook, stood up, and waved to Rudolf, signaling for her to come over.
Once Symboli Rudolf walked up, Kuroha spoke without preamble.
"Luna, I'll talk to Hayakawa Tazuna later. For the next while, I'll help coordinate some of the student council work with you."
Rudolf immediately understood and asked softly, "And in return, I'll be responsible for teaching your trainee how to train?"
"No. Rice Shower's training is not something you need to handle directly."
Kuroha shook his head and voiced his real request.
"You only need to pass on your practical experience to her at the right times."
He paused, then asked in return,
"But you're still busy with the Classic Triple Crown arrangements right now, so there's no rush. We'll start after Teio's Satsuki Sho is over."
Kuroha had thought this proposal through carefully.
Symboli Rudolf was, after all, an Uma Musume, not a professional trainer.
Even if she had once ruled Central as the champion of an entire generation, she was still somewhat lacking when it came to things like designing a systematic training plan.
So,
all Kuroha needed from her was guidance for Rice Shower in terms of understanding and experience with red skills.
That way it would not take up too much of Rudolf's time, yet would still achieve the desired result.
After all, Rice Shower was not like Nice Nature, a purely specialized gate-runner.
She was not someone who relied entirely on Demonic Talent.
Rice Shower herself possessed the astonishing natural talent of a top-tier Uma Musume.
For her, red skills
were simply one extra tactical tool in races.
And this also conveniently filled in one of Kuroha's own blind spots.
Hearing that, Symboli Rudolf lowered her head and thought it over for a while. Finding the arrangement perfectly reasonable, she agreed readily.
"That's no problem. Leave it to me."
"Then it's settled."
Kuroha smiled and made it final. Then, as if recalling something, he looked warmly at Rudolf and extended an invitation.
"Oh, right. Teio's Satsuki Sho is in a few days. Since you'll be free by then, want to come watch it together?"
"When have I ever missed one of Teio's Satsuki Sho races?"
Rudolf rolled her eyes.
Then, looking at Kuroha's smiling face, she could not help covering her mouth and laughing softly herself.
"Don't worry. When it comes to Teio's race, I'm looking forward to it more than anyone. See you there."
"Good. See you there."
(End of Chapter)
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