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Sitting on the sun-warmed wooden steps of his porch, Leo tapped the screen of his smartphone, the glass cool beneath his fingers.
Leo: "Hello, could I trouble Special Week to contact Rudolf? I'd like to buy some animals from her."
The only channel Leo could currently use to contact the Uma Musume world was this 'Special Fat' girl who clearly harbored a deep love for secret late-night snacks. To find the Treyson Academy Student Council President, Symboli Rudolf, he had to rely on her as a middleman.
However, to his complete surprise, his screen vibrated wildly just seconds after sending the message.
(Username changed: Tokubetsu Sū -> Tokubetsu Kyou)
Tokubetsu Kyou: "No! Absolutely not! If you need anything, Shopkeeper, just tell me! You absolutely, absolutely cannot let the President know about this!"
Meanwhile, in the Treyson Academy cafeteria, Special Week had been happily holding a spoon piled high with curry in one hand and her phone in the other. Upon seeing Leo's message, she completely abandoned her meal. She kept the metal spoon clamped in her mouth and began typing frantically with both thumbs, her horse ears pinned flat against her head in sheer panic.
How could she possibly tell the terrifying Student Council President about this? This interdimensional shop was magical. When she first made a purchase, she was terrified the academy's strict diet enforcers would intercept the delivery package, so she had specifically requested 'confidential shipping.' To her absolute shock, the heavy crate of carrots had bypassed security entirely, materializing directly into her arms in her dorm room. It was a miracle the academy hadn't caught her.
Most importantly, those carrots labeled as 'Stardew Valley specialties' were not only incredibly delicious and crunchy, but eating them actually increased her running speed and stamina by a noticeable notch. When she first discovered this anomalous effect, she had panicked, fearing the carrots contained banned racing substances. She had secretly smuggled a few out of the academy for independent lab testing. The results showed no doping issues at all; scientifically, it was just a very, very decent carrot.
However, the real reason Special Week didn't want the President to know wasn't because of the magical speed-boosting properties. What she cared about with her life was protecting her secret snacking habit.
As active racing Uma Musume, they had to strictly control their weight. In the entire Treyson Academy, aside from that legendary Chestnut-haired Senior (Oguri Cap) who had the divine privilege to eat as much as she physically wanted, all active Uma Musume had to watch the scale with terror.
Special Week's weight was already hovering on the dangerous, razor-thin edge of acceptable limits. If her secret interdimensional snacking was discovered by Rudolf, she would instantly be dragged off and forced onto a hellish diet regimen.
Back on the porch, Leo stared at the frantic, typo-ridden text.
Leo: "...Alright, then can Special Week prepare some animals? Just the common ones like chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, pigs, and so on."
Though he didn't fully understand the life-or-death dietary stakes happening on the other side, seeing her screen name actively change to 'Tokubetsu Kyou' (Special Panic/Crazy) was enough of a red flag. Leo wisely gave up on contacting the serious President Rudolf through her.
Tokubetsu Kyou: "How many do you want, Shopkeeper? My family runs a farm; we have everything you're looking for."
Leo slapped his forehead. Oh right, I forgot. Special Week's stepmother's family owned a massive breeding farm out in the Hokkaido countryside. They had every standard farm animal imaginable; it was a perfect match.
It was actually much better not to go through Rudolf. From what Leo remembered of the anime, that person's personality was a bit too strict, formal, and overwhelmingly serious. Having grown accustomed to the chaotic, unhinged antics of everyone in Gensokyo, Leo—whose own integrity had mostly eroded into dust—really couldn't handle dealing with aggressively serious people anymore.
Leo: "Five pairs of each. Roughly how much will it cost?"
(Username changed: Tokubetsu Kyou -> Special Daze)
Special Daze: "Probably a few hundred thousand, but that's just small change. You can pay with carrots instead, Shopkeeper. I really like your carrots. If you want them now, I'll tell my mom. Just leave an address."
Leo choked on his own saliva, coughing loudly into the quiet morning air.
Small change?!
He opened his banking app. Since officially opening Leo Farm, after deducting Reimu's outrageous 'protection fees' and the 50,000G he had just paid Nitori for the assassination contract, he only had about 30,000G in disposable funds remaining.
He had foolishly assumed the prices for buying livestock from other worlds would mirror the Stardew game mechanics—where a cow was a flat 1,500G—and thought his current wallet would be more than enough. He now realized with a sinking stomach that currencies and inflation rates across different dimensions were absolutely not interchangeable.
A few hundred thousand Yen really was nothing to active, top-tier Uma Musume; their prize earnings and sponsorships from a single major G1 race were far more than that. To a girl like Special Week, that physical cash wasn't nearly as valuable as the limited-supply, stat-boosting carrots in his shop.
Leo: "@Godolphin Arabian, how do I convert currency from another world? And how do I fill in the address?"
Ding. Godolphin Arabian: "If you're only buying this once, don't worry about the money. We'll pay for you. However, I'd like the girls from the academy to go to your place for summer training camp this summer. You cover the room and board for now, and we'll settle the bill when it's over."
Leo paused, reading the message twice. His behavior of buying exactly five breeding pairs of each animal was clearly a one-time, foundational deal. None of the Goddesses were short on worldly wealth, so they could effortlessly waive such a microscopic amount.
To them, building an interdimensional diplomatic relationship was what mattered most. In the cosmic eyes of the Three Goddesses, Leo, as a World Lord, was a being standing on their exact same divine tier; befriending him was the ultimate goal.
Special Daze: "Eh? Then my carrots..."
Leo: "Deal. Give me a head count, and I'll start building the dormitories here."
Only a complete fool wouldn't take a massive advantage when freely offered. Saving a bit of capital where he could was the best course of action. Building dormitories on his vast, empty farm wasn't a loss anyway, especially since someone else's divine credit card was paying for the materials. Even after the summer camp ended, those dorms could be repurposed for other things, or used to house Gensokyo guests. He was making an absolute killing.
After quickly agreeing on a delivery time for tomorrow morning, Leo accessed the shop's customer service backend. He generated a unique "50,000 off 0" coupon and sent it directly to Special Week's inbox, letting her pick whatever fresh produce she wanted from the shop for free. He had to thank her for connecting him, and a massive food coupon was the best possible gesture for a Horse Girl.
"What is Lord Leo doing?"
A soft voice murmured right by his ear. The faint, clean scent of forest air and floral shampoo drifted over him.
Ran Yakumo was leaning over his shoulder, peeking at the brightly lit phone screen. Since being officially allowed by Lady Yukari to stay at the farm, her actions had become noticeably bolder and much closer. Normally, the dignified Shikigami would never do something as rude as reading over someone's shoulder, but she had decided she needed to be far more proactive if she actually wanted to successfully pursue a man. Her fluffy tails swished gently behind her.
"Oh, I got in touch with someone from another world," Leo replied naturally, putting away his phone and leaning back slightly into her warmth. "Gensokyo doesn't have many animals, so I contacted them to buy some. The farm will be able to produce animal products soon."
He briefly explained the bizarre situation to Ran, detailing the interdimensional purchase and the upcoming Uma Musume summer training camp. Because the Great Youkai roaming his farm would definitely run into the horse girls, he wanted to give Ran a serious heads-up.
Leo really, really didn't trust the moral integrity of the ancient monsters in Gensokyo. He was terrified that someone like Yukari, Eirin, or Remilia might get scientifically curious and try to kidnap a few super-powered horse girls for 'research', which would instantly escalate into an interdimensional diplomatic war.
"I understand. I will mention it to Lady Yukari."
Ran instantly understood the grave implications behind Leo's warning. She knew the chaotic, unhinged nature of her own people better than anyone alive. After strictly warning Lady Yukari, she would also need to personally brief Reimu. Since Ran intended to court Leo and eventually marry him, she would naturally act as a good, capable helpmate and preemptively resolve these diplomatic troubles for him.
There were still a few months before summer, so Leo wasn't in a desperate hurry to build the massive dormitories just yet. Living his own daily life well was more important than anything.
However, the live animals he just bought were arriving tomorrow morning. He had to hurry and contract the construction of the livestock barns today.
Seeing Ran open a precise golden Gap to return to Gensokyo to hunt down Yukari, Leo stretched his legs and jogged out of the farm, heading straight toward the Kappa Heavy Industries office up on the mountain.
His boots hit the dirt path with a steady, rhythmic thud. It had to be said, his physical health had improved dramatically lately. He managed to run the entire way up the steep mountain path; though his chest heaved and he was a bit out of breath, he didn't feel like his lungs were collapsing or that he was dying, unlike his first week arriving in Stardew Valley.
It had been nearly a month since he commissioned the project, and Nitori Kawashiro's ambitious office was basically finished, with only the final aesthetic touches being applied by the Kappa workers.
Walking along the newly paved stone path of the agritainment resort, Leo looked around in awe. The crisp thwack of a bamboo shishi-odoshi echoing over a koi pond met his ears. He felt as if he had stepped directly into the elegant, historical Suzhou Gardens he had only ever seen in travel videos, feeling inexplicably peaceful and refined.