"Ahem, anyway, do you understand? Teio is just a junior who admires me, not my daughter. Although there is indeed some blood relation, she is not my daughter!"
The Emperor lectured with a slight blush, while the instigator, at this moment, was clutching her nose bridge and glaring angrily at the other party.
Of course, a certain person thought the Emperor's blush was due to embarrassment from being told she had a daughter or something, but she didn't know that the way she was glaring was actually the reason for the Emperor's blush.
After all, she was indeed very cute.
"Yes, yes, our Miss Rudolph is still a pure maiden. (In a perfunctory tone)"
"Tsk, when did you start becoming so uncute?"
"Probably the day you told me your first bad joke?"
"That's the Emperor's humor!"
"Like Trainer Sato next door saying he didn't have enough sugar (satou) in his training room?"
"Isn't that interesting?"
"Ki-sho-nee was completely flustered at the time!"
If one were to say who Zero had the best relationship with in the Student Council Room, it would definitely be Hishi Amazon and Narita Brian. The three of them would often get together and run.
And if one were to say who Zero cared (pitied) for the most in the Student Council Room, it would be Air Groove.
Poor Air Groove, despite being crowned "Empress" and holding the position of Vice President in the Student Council, she had to face... the not-working-hard group (Hishi Amazon, Narita Brian, Maruzensky, Fuji Kiseki), the troublemaker (Maruzensky), the frequently missing person (Maruzensky), the energetic junior (Tokai Teio (though not a Student Council member)), the energetic senior (Maruzensky), and the President who occasionally pushed her work onto her to go out and play (though Air Groove was happy to help the Emperor). While dealing with these problem children, she also had to endure at least three "Emperor"-level bad jokes every day.
Once, she came to the Student Council Room and found Air Groove sleeping. Air Groove then woke up from a nightmare, and while she was still groggy from waking up, Zero asked her about the nightmare's content.
In that nightmare, everyone she knew had contracted "Emperor's Bad Joke Syndrome," and the whole world was telling bad jokes, which scared her so much that she woke up directly.
Look how scared the child was, she even developed a psychological shadow.
But then again, is Air Groove, who always understands the Emperor's bad jokes immediately, also quite good at them?
None of that matters. In short, for these reasons, every time she came to the Student Council Room, she often brought various desserts to greet her (of course, everyone else got some too), and it even seemed like she had made her a little fatter.
As for those desserts... they were from the Goddess Cult, made with ingredients provided by the Goddess, and she made them herself.
Things like candy carrots, of which only a few are produced in the whole world each year, and dream honey that can make any Uma Musume unable to resist. It made her almost think this was the world of a gourmet anime.
And it seemed they all had some special effects. Air Groove gaining weight was also a side effect of not being able to use these special effects properly. Although after this explanation, she quickly returned to her original perfect weight, she became extremely cautious about the sweets Zero brought her afterwards.
"So, her name is Tokai Teio, right?"
"Yes, senior! I'm a freshman this year!"
"Very spirited. By the way, is she also a candidate for the Student Council?" Zero's gaze turned to the Emperor.
"No, it's just that this child is very well-liked by everyone, so she's allowed to come over often."
Something was very off. Although the Emperor's personality had changed a lot compared to the original Emperor, Rudolph Symbol, who was looking at her child like an old father, seemed off no matter how Zero looked at her.
Compared to the Emperor, this child named Tokai Teio was just a bit shorter, a bit flatter in figure (though still had some), and had short hair. Perhaps a difference in temperament too?
If the Emperor was an old father now, this child was... emmmm... an unleashed husky?
Well, although she was a good child, her ability to make a fuss was probably not much different from a husky's.
"Oh my, I wonder why it's so lively. So Teio and Z-chan are here~"
A pair of hands from behind picked Zero up and placed her on her lap.
"Maruzensky senior, please don't do this = =" Zero turned her head to avoid a hand that casually ruffled her ear, saying helplessly.
Maruzensky, another "big" senior at Tracen Academy. It was said that the reason she was an Escape runner was because she was so fast that no matter how she ran, it always looked like an Escape. She was now actively trying to keep up with trends to reduce the generation gap between herself and the new generation of Uma Musume.
Of course, what she considered trendy were almost all things from the previous era().
By the way, her nickname Z-chan was taken from the first letter of Zero. Her fans also called her that.
In reality, she was a very good senior, warm-hearted, kind, and a little mischievous. For many, she was right in their strike zone, hailed as one of the "best choices for a partner." It's just that every time Zero met her, she always wanted to hug her and ruffle her ears. Super Creek, who was ranked first as "I want to be her dog (crossed out) daughter" and was so maternal that she treated her Trainer like a child, also treated her the same way.
By the way, Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross, who were from the same era as her, also liked to seek out Zero. No other reason, they just craved her... food.
Suddenly, Zero felt like a mother with multiple daughters.
Phooey, phooey, what mother? She was only 17!
That being said, it seems people can get married at 16 in Japan?
By the way, if you look at the people mentioned at the top, Maruzensky was mentioned multiple times because she was indeed one of the problem students in the Student Council Room.
Actually, every Uma Musume had quite a personality, though to Zero, they all seemed so strange no matter how she looked at them.
"By the way, where are the others?"
"Amazon, Brian, and Fuji Kiseki are currently deciding who's treating dinner tonight by running. Air Groove is helping the Trainer with some documents at Rigil. Everyone else is here."
"Oh, Teio, your friend seems to be looking for you. It looks like something's up." Maruzensky suddenly remembered something, and while speaking, she used her free hand to grab Zero's tail. As Zero stiffened, her other hand successfully got its way and began to ruffle Zero's small head and ears.
"Eh? McQueen? I'll go check!" Teio also felt that the current situation was not suitable for her, who was not yet an adult, to stay and watch, so she went down the stairs.
"President, I'm leaving! Goodbye!"
"Mm, welcome back anytime." The Emperor also smiled and echoed her.
"Then it's time to talk about serious matters."
"Zero, how is your body recovering?"
"I told you there's no problem at all, and there's no talk of how it's recovering."
"You also understand that when you return to the racecourse soon, you'll have to make some statements, and it's also a good opportunity for you to help record some things."
"? What things?"
"It's actually still in the conceptual stage, but you should be notified later. It's a VTR related to the introduction of Tracen Academy. As the most popular Uma Musume and a current student, you'll definitely have to appear in a few shots."
"I see. It's fine anyway. As long as it doesn't affect my race schedule and training arrangements, I don't mind." Ignoring the sensations from her ears and the top of her head, Zero thought for a moment and agreed.
"That's good. You'll be notified separately then. By the way, what are your arrangements? You should know that because of you, the Association has specifically issued a rule prohibiting continuous runs more than three times."
Every time this was mentioned, Zero's teeth would itch.
The Association also had nothing better to do, which meant she had many fewer trophies she could collect (Association: Is it my fault?).
"If nothing unexpected happens, it's the Spring Triple Crown. I'll also participate in the Victoria Mile and Yasuda Kinen in between. Three consecutive runs are still fine anyway. After the training camp, I'll participate in the Sprinters Stakes again, followed by the Autumn Triple Crown. I won't participate in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Champions Cup, but I'll participate in the JBC Classic once in between to get another trophy. Then, after the Arima Kinen, I plan to participate in the Dream Cup."
"You've reduced quite a few races in the second half of the year. Are you feeling tired?"
"How could that be? It's simply because the trophy designs haven't changed."
"But you're quite merciless, as if you're sure to win all those races."
"I said the same thing about my year's plan at the beginning of last year, President."
"Heh, are you provoking me?" A hint of fighting spirit also appeared on the Emperor's face.
"What do you think, Emperor?" Zero's face also showed the same expression.
"Alright, alright, your challenge can wait until the Dream Cup. There should still be a lot to do, right?" Maruzensky skillfully ruffled the hair in her arms.
"Next, I plan to buy a house outside and use it as a training base for the team. And senior, if you touch the back of my neck again, I'm going to get angry, okay?" She was already used to the other person ruffling her, and besides, their technique was quite good, so even being ruffled was comfortable.
Of course, Super Creek's was the most comfortable; her front armor was truly... amazing.
"Cough, sorry, I didn't notice." Maruzensky, realizing she had touched Zero's sensitive spot, quickly apologized.
"You said you want to buy a house as a base?" The Emperor was quite curious.
"Of course, because the training room is too small! And advanced training equipment has to be used at the gym, so it's better to just set it all up at home."
Although buying such a piece of land in Tokyo, where land is incredibly expensive, was troublesome, it was really nothing for Zero now.
Not to mention anything else, just the bloody bandages she used to wrap her head after hitting it in her debut race were bought for a hefty sum (though she personally took those bandages back and threw them into the incinerator). And her current assets included an entire mountain in her Hometown. If it weren't a bit far and the team members still had to attend classes, her Hometown would be a very complete training base.
Although those training grounds on that mountain were a bit anti-Uma Musume().
In short, buying such a place in Tokyo was absolutely no problem for her.
"I see. I'll ask my family about it. I remember they have some properties." The Emperor pondered for a while and also supported Zero's idea.
"Can it be free?"
"At most, a ten percent discount."
"Tsk."