The bet, third day.
The main training field of Tracen Academy was bathed in sunlight with a clear sky.
Unlike the indoor training fields from the previous day, which were permeated with an atmosphere of repression and technology, today's air was charged with gunpowder and the cruel emotion of an imminent public execution.
The expression of Kiryuin Aoi was as solemn as an academic about to defend their thesis for the Nobel Prize.
She held a stopwatch in one hand and a data tablet in the other, standing cold by the finish line like a statue of judgment day.
Behind her was Kaito's "luxurious" harem group.
They had been specially "invited" by Kiryuin under the pompous pretext of "jointly witnessing the absolute impartiality of this bet"
But everyone knew that Kiryuin's true intention was to make them witness firsthand how the man they trusted would suffer a crushing and total defeat before the "scientific barrier" she had erected.
On the track, Narita Taishin was warming up alone.
Her attitude had undergone a subtle and inexplicable change.
She was still taciturn and solitary, but the sadness and self-denial in her eyes had disappeared.
In its place was an introverted sharpness, like an unsheathed and meticulously polished blade.
All eyes were fixed on the field.
Centered on the girl who was about to show her "results".
And as for the other protagonist of this bet, Kaito, who remained on the sidelines with an expression so calm that it seemed he had simply gone out for a walk.
"Mr. Kaito"
Before the race began, Kiryuin Aoi approached Kaito for the last time.
She spoke with a condescending tone, as if the result were already decided:
"I am very curious, in just two days, what kind of 'miracle' could you work on her using your flowery and deceptive 'metaphysics'?"
Kaito didn't even look at her.
His gaze rested gently on the lone wolf, black and alert, following the trail.
Then, he answered calmly:
"I never work miracles, Miss Kiryuin"
"I am simply a locksmith who picks locks"
"All I do is release the fierce beasts that were already caged"
His response was light and ethereal, yet full of philosophy.
This caused an inexplicable moment of palpitation in Kiryuin.
She discovered that she could no longer look at him with the same absolute and unconditional contempt she had felt two days ago.
"Beep—!"
The starting shot of the simulated race rang out clearly under the bright sky!
Narita Taishin, like a black bullet repressed for too long, instantly burst from the starting line!
Kiryuin instinctively lowered her head and glanced at the stopwatch in her hand.
In the next second, her pupils, which had always been as steady as precision instruments, contracted violently!
"0.12 seconds!"
Narita Taishin's initial reaction speed was actually 0.08 seconds faster than her best historical record!
What kind of concept was this?
In the world of Umas, this level of improvement in the initial phase was something only a "god" could achieve!
"An accident... It must be simply an accidental peak performance..."
She muttered to herself, trying to comfort her already wavering heart with the most powerless word in science: "accident".
Meanwhile, her "support team" behind her...
Gold City mocked with disdain.
"Hmph, she finally looks like a champion"
TM Opera O commented elegantly.
"Although she is still light years away from the magnificent start of this protagonist, which is like the beginning of an opera, at least she has escaped the realm of those mediocre extras"
Their conversation seemed to revolve around the evaluation of Narita Taishin.
But in reality, every word was the most blatant form of boasting directed at Kiryuin Aoi.
[Do you see it? Our man is that incredible!]
The race entered the intermediate phase.
Narita Taishin's running style remained her specialty: the constant "End Closer".
However, it is completely different from her previous running style, which was full of struggle and self-doubt.
Today, her rhythm was full of unshakable confidence and a sense of explosive power.
Every push seemed to proclaim her existence to the entire world!
Meanwhile, Kiryuin Aoi stared in despair at the tablet showing real-time data in her hand.
Her face paled visibly at an accelerated rate.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!!"
On the screen, Narita Taishin's heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, stride frequency, and power output... every single piece of data had completely surpassed the safest "scientific training model" she had previously established!
Based on this intensity, and according to her theory, Narita Taishin's body should have completely collapsed due to the excessive accumulation of lactic acid before entering the final stretch.
"No... Impossible... This data... It must be wrong! Her body will collapse! It has to!"
Her voice began to tremble violently and uncontrollably.
As a top-tier rational scientist, for the first time she began to doubt the "reality" she observed.
At that precise moment, the "Minister of Technology", Agnes Tachyon, slowly adjusted her glasses.
She dealt the death blow to Kiryuin with a tone that sounded as if she felt pity for a primitive person.
"The data is not wrong, Miss Kiryuin"
"The problem lies in your theoretical model, which is ridiculously obsolete and continues to be based on the idea of 'mortals'"
"Before a true 'miracle'..."
"Sometimes, 'science' needs to learn to 'shut up'"
"The final 200-meter stretch!"
Narita Taishin not only did not run out of energy!
Instead, she activated a second and even more terrifying burst of acceleration!
Her way of running was no longer simply a race for victory!
It was an acceptance and transcendence of her own limits, a wild dance on the razor's edge, at the limit of the extreme!
Kiryuin Aoi's mind was now completely blank.
What she saw was no longer the gloomy, doubt-ridden, and struggle-filled Narita Taishin she knew.
Instead, it was a King of Lone Wolves, freed from all constraints called "reason" and "reality", galloping wildly under the starry sky!
That vitality, powerful enough to cause tremors, so beautiful it was suffocating, and pure to the extreme!
It completely shattered every formula, every theory, everything she knew about science in her mind.
"Clatter—!"
A sharp sound.
The expensive tablet she held in her hand, containing the record of her countless efforts, slipped from her hands.
It crashed violently against the ground.
The screen shattered.
Just like her fragile and completely collapsed worldview at that moment.
Narita Taishin crossed the finish line alone, with an insurmountable lead!
The gigantic electronic timer next to the finish line finally showed a terrifying number that made Kiryuin and all the members of the harem group behind her gasp in unison.
It was faster than her best historical mark by... 1.5 seconds!!!
In the world of Umas, this was not considered an improvement.
This was called "evolution"!
After crossing the finish line, Narita Taishin did not immediately collapse from exhaustion, as had happened on previous occasions.
She simply continued running slowly, regulating her breathing.
When she passed by Kaito, she stopped.
She did not speak.
She only gave him a deep look.
That single bright eye, no longer veiled by sadness, contained gratitude, trust, and an absolute submission, fitting for a "Wolf King" toward her "Alpha Wolf"
Then, she walked slowly toward her trainer, who was already completely distressed.
By the training field.
Kiryuin Aoi watched as Narita Taishin, reborn, approached her.
Then she looked at the man nearby, who still maintained a calm expression, as if he had simply performed a trivial task.
He did not congratulate Taishin on her victory, nor did he question the incredible stopwatch.
Instead, under everyone's gaze.
Step by step, like a sleepwalker, she approached Kaito.
She raised her head.
The eyes that had always been full of pride, reason, and contempt no longer retained any of their former brilliance.
In their place was a pure yearning for the unknown truth: a broken, almost bewildered look.
With a hoarse, trembling, and almost inaudible voice, she formulated the question that represented the most complete "submission" of her identity as a convinced scientist.
"You..."
"How exactly...?"
"Did you do it?"
Kaito contemplated the proud and distinguished beauty before him, whose faith had completely collapsed.
He offered a kind smile, which even denoted a hint of compassion.
He did not answer directly.
Instead, he responded with a question:
"Miss Kiryuin"
"Do you still believe now...?"
"that some things 'science'... is incapable of explaining"
This question plunged her into irreversible reflection.
She knew it from today.
Her training philosophy, her life, and even her own identity... would change completely before the god-like man in front of her.
Meanwhile, not far away.
Once again, an "emergency cabinet meeting" of Kaito's harem group discreetly resumed.
TM Opera O, fanning herself, showed an expression of unprecedented seriousness.
"Ladies, we face a new and more severe challenge"
"This Kiryuin might well use the pretext of 'academic exchange' to monopolize much of our chief rehabilitation therapist's valuable private time!"
"We must immediately formulate effective countermeasures!"
A higher-level and more complex battlefield, centered on the academic exchange between "science" and "metaphysics" and the priority between "treatment" and "monopoly", was about to rise at Tracen Academy.