Chapter 125.
To his surprise, as Shuta An was driving toward Central Tracen Academy, his phone buzzed with a LINE message from Agnes Tachyon:
"No problem. My experiment for today hasn't finalized yet. Have you arrived at the academy? Come directly to my laboratory."
"Okay."
Shuta immediately typed back.
After parking his car, he hurried to the faculty office just long enough to swipe his ID card and offer a brief, distracted greeting to Kitahara before immediately turning to leave for Tachyon's occupied classroom.
"Ann-san is in an awful hurry." Kitahara scratched his head, watching his friend's retreating back with profound confusion. "I don't get it. I didn't think he had any work tasks scheduled this early that required that kind of hustle, right?"
Kitahara couldn't have dreamed in a million years that Shuta An was rushing to a private appointment with an Uma Musume outside of Team Sadalsuud.
Although Agnes Tachyon hadn't fully developed her racing parameters yet, and had yet to participate in any formal internal selection races, she was already an incredibly famous—or perhaps infamous—presence within the walls of Central Tracen Academy.
On one hand, she operated as a rogue pharmacist, providing the Uma Musumes of the academy with various mysterious, glowing potions—all of which were, remarkably, entirely legal and compliant with URA doping regulations.
On the other hand, although Tachyon had never formally run a public race, many elite Uma Musumes, including Tokai Teio, who had interacted with her on multiple occasions, privately acknowledged a chilling truth: if Agnes Tachyon ever actually decided to run, her sheer speed would be terrifying.
In short, Agnes Tachyon was a celebrated, chaotic, and profoundly mysterious anomaly at Central Tracen.
When Shuta An stepped into her laboratory, his nose immediately wrinkled, slightly unaccustomed to the sharp, sterile scent of chemical disinfectant permeating the air. Agnes Tachyon, wearing an oversized, perpetually loose white lab coat, swayed slightly as she stood up, looking for all the world as if she had just rolled out of bed.
"It looks like I've disturbed your rest?"
Shuta asked, observing the bleary-eyed Uma Musume.
"It is of no consequence."
Tachyon waved her hand dismissively. Because the sleeves of her lab coat were far too long, her hand remained completely hidden, but the sweeping gesture conveyed her meaning perfectly.
She tilted her head, her sharp, analytical eyes meeting the young man's gaze for a long moment before she spoke again.
"You would not seek me out without a highly specific variable requiring calculation, Trainer Shuta. Have you encountered an anomaly you cannot resolve?"
"I do, in fact, have some profound doubts regarding a certain phenomenon."
Shuta shrugged, readily admitting his ignorance and getting straight to the point.
"I would like to ask you, Miss Agnes Tachyon... exactly how much theoretical or practical data do you possess regarding supernatural entities?"
Initially, Tachyon had been in a state of lazy, half-awake apathy; she hadn't expected the acclaimed Trainer Shuta to ask a question that would genuinely challenge her intellect.
But the moment the word 'supernatural' left his lips, she instantly perked up. Thinking immediately of her closest friend, Tachyon's eyes gleamed with manic, scientific curiosity.
"Fascinating! Did Trainer Shuta actually encounter an unobservable entity?"
"Sort of?"
Shuta replied vaguely. He was strictly bound by the rules of the system and could not reveal the existence of the attribute viewer or his dimensional travel, so he had to obfuscate the truth.
"If your data is that anecdotal... it would be statistically inappropriate for me to formulate a hypothesis."
Tachyon said, turning around and meandering back toward her floor bed to retrieve her phone.
"However, I can facilitate contact with an individual far more suited to answer your inquiries. Please, wait here for a moment."
"Alright. I apologize for the trouble, Miss Agnes Tachyon."
Shuta bowed slightly and took a seat on the worn laboratory sofa.
Resting on the coffee table in front of him were several bottles of water that appeared completely sealed and unopened. However, fully aware of the terrifying rumors surrounding Tachyon's 'refreshments,' Shuta An, a man who placed a premium on his biological health, absolutely refused to touch them.
Tachyon tapped rapidly on her phone screen. She glanced back at the young Trainer, who was sitting rigidly on the sofa, and flashed a slightly unnerving grin.
"The water on the table is perfectly safe for human consumption. I haven't synthesized any additives into those specific bottles. After all, when guests visit my sanctuary, I cannot force them to consume the hyper-sugared black tea I require for my own metabolic functions."
Tachyon kindly pointed out.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not thirsty."
Shuta politely, but firmly, declined.
He was well aware of the horrific urban legend regarding Trainer Nishizaki Ryu. According to the academy grapevine, Ryu had once accidentally consumed a "normal" bottle of water in this very lab, resulting in a terrifying, hours-long localized biological enhancement. If Tachyon hadn't hurriedly synthesized an antidote upon discovering the error, Ryu might have had to bid a permanent, tragic farewell to his future happiness.
Ten minutes later, a soft, hesitant knock echoed through the room. Shuta looked up.
"Oh, the door is unlocked. You may enter, my guinea pi—ah, I mean, Cafe."
Tachyon called out, correcting herself with a helpless sigh.
"Excuse me..."
The door slowly pushed open, and a tall Uma Musume with incredibly long, flowing black hair stepped into the laboratory. Her voice was incredibly low and soft, carrying an air of perpetual melancholy and low energy.
Coincidentally, Shuta An recognized the girl. He stood up and offered a polite, professional bow.
"Good morning, Miss Manhattan Cafe."
He genuinely hadn't expected Tachyon to summon her as a consultant. Shuta was aware of the rumors circulating the academy regarding Manhattan Cafe and her unseen companion, but he had always logically categorized the entity as a psychological coping mechanism—an 'imaginary friend' born from isolation.
But if Tachyon, a girl utterly devoted to the scientific method, called her here to explain the supernatural—could the rumors actually be true? Can Manhattan Cafe genuinely communicate with spectral entities?
Shuta mused internally, his worldview fracturing slightly.
"Good morning... Trainer Shuta."
Manhattan Cafe replied softly, turning to look at the young man. But the moment her eyes locked onto him, she completely froze.
"You feel... incredibly familiar?"
Manhattan Cafe suddenly murmured, her gaze drifting away from Shuta and focusing on the empty air directly beside him. She fell into a bizarre state of talking to herself.
"Have you two... crossed paths before?"
"Huh?"
Shuta's mouth opened slightly. He was completely lost; she clearly wasn't addressing him.
"You are... very good... racing partners? So... he can... be trusted?"
Manhattan Cafe's eyes briefly lost their focus, her voice dropping to a whisper as she conversed with the void.
Tachyon, looking completely unfazed by the terrifying display, grinned and offered a casual explanation.
"Cafe frequently exhibits this behavior. She is currently communicating with an entity that exists outside the visible spectrum of light."
Seeing Shuta staring in profound, logical doubt, Tachyon waved her hand enthusiastically.
"I have conducted rigorous empirical testing! I have verified that immediately after her 'friend' departs her immediate vicinity, Cafe's overall body mass drops by a statistically significant margin."
Tachyon didn't specify exactly how much weight was lost, and Shuta was far too terrified to ask.
"That is... certainly quite the anomaly."
Shuta muttered, his mouth twitching as he struggled to find an appropriate response.
At that moment, Manhattan Cafe snapped back to reality. Realizing she had been talking to thin air in front of a respected Trainer, she lowered her head awkwardly, her voice dropping to an embarrassed whisper.
"What... what was your inquiry, Trainer Shuta?"
Fortunately, Shuta's hearing was incredibly sharp, otherwise he would have missed the question entirely. He quickly reiterated his confusion regarding the existence of supernatural phenomena.
Manhattan Cafe didn't hesitate.
"Yes. They absolutely exist. My friend is living—or rather, existing—proof."
"Unfortunately, we lack the ocular capability to perceive them. And we certainly cannot replicate that specific extraction experiment again, can we? Your friend exhibited severe, lingering distress for quite some time after our last attempt."
Tachyon sighed helplessly, a rare look of regret crossing her face. She turned to Cafe.
"Is there any known methodology that would allow Trainer Shuta to perceive your companion?"
"I... I don't know..."
Manhattan Cafe hung her head in deep frustration. If she possessed the thaumaturgical knowledge to force her friend into the visible spectrum, she would have done so years ago.
Shuta An remained silent. He focused his mind, channeling the conceptual authority granted by the system reward he had unlocked that very morning. He stared directly at the empty space hovering just behind Manhattan Cafe, concentrating his perception.
And then, his eyes widened in absolute shock.
"I see it!"
"Eh?!"
Both Manhattan Cafe and Agnes Tachyon exclaimed in unison, genuinely startled.
And the 'friend' standing directly behind Manhattan Cafe also widened her ethereal eyes, locking her gaze perfectly with Shuta An's.
"I actually see it." Shuta repeated, a profound thrill of excitement bleeding into his voice as the laws of physics shattered before him. "Thank you, Miss Cafe. You have completely resolved my doubts!"
(Damn, in what form? Sunday Silence "waking world" was in the academy right? In what form would the Sunday Silence in the "dream world" appear in his eyes?)
"You... you can really see her?!"
Manhattan Cafe covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with shock. This was the very first time in her life she had met another living human who possessed the visual capability to perceive her spectral companion.
"This is... truly, statistically incredible."
Tachyon muttered, her scientific worldview racing to accommodate the new variable. Why would the most famous Trainer in the academy suddenly manifest the ability to perceive the supernatural?
At that exact moment, Shuta An finally processed the unique, overwhelming aura radiating from the entity standing behind Cafe. He instantly understood exactly why Cafe had been talking to herself earlier, and why the entity had recognized him.
It's the unmistakable aura of Sunday Silence. The exact same aura from the Dream World!
Shuta made the absolute judgment in his mind. He offered a warm, incredibly familiar smile and waved at the phantom.
"Hello, Sunday Silence. It's been a while."
Manhattan Cafe felt every single hair on her body stand on end. The phantom's True Name was an absolute secret. Not even Cafe herself knew the entity's identity.
Is... is this the true, terrifying power of an elite Trainer?
Manhattan Cafe thought, her mind completely blown.