"Trainer Chiya, I brought Roppei's training notes."
The next day, Oguri Cap came to the office as promised.
"Did he agree to this? He won't find out and beat me to death with his cane, right?"
"They were originally for Belno Light to use. I borrowed them from her. Oh, right, Belno Light is my assistant trainer. Trainer Chiya probably hasn't met her yet."
"I've heard you mention her."
Fujiwara Chiya opened the notebook. Aside from Musaka Ginjirō's firm, powerful handwriting, there were also neat, delicate notes written by a girl along the margins.
Should I recruit a few assistant trainers too?
Usually, once someone became an intermediate trainer, they could find assistant trainers to help out. Senior trainers even had three to five assistant trainers assisting them from the side.
Fujiwara Chiya also wanted someone nearby to share the pressure. After all, both he and Shirayuki were busy. There had to be someone handling things, and he could not keep bothering his colleagues.
He should recruit one.
He had the qualifications now anyway. And if he suggested it to the Director, there was a high chance she would not refuse.
Agnes Tachyon had said the Director had special circumstances that prevented her from telling him about the past. Fujiwara Chiya also felt that made sense. He would not ask too much. Knowing the relationship between him and the Director was enough.
That said, the two of them were not blood-related, right?
It should be the kind of older sister and younger brother relationship by adoption or familiarity.
That damn old man.
He never told me anything!
Fujiwara Chiya decided that when he went home during the break, he would interrogate his father properly. If that did not work, then they could simply have a father-son brawl. He would make that unserious old man explain everything.
Putting the notebook away, Fujiwara Chiya nodded to Oguri Cap.
"I'll try to finish reading these notes quickly. It should be fine if I make a photocopy, right?"
"It's fine, as long as Trainer doesn't tell anyone… That's what Belno Light told me."
You're making it sound like I'm a thief.
No, wait.
For a scholar, how can this be called stealing?
"Oguri, go back and tell Belno Light that this is called borrowing without permission. Scholarly borrowing. Understand?"
"Okay."
After seeing Oguri Cap off, Fujiwara Chiya wrote his requirements on a sheet of paper, then handed it to the Student Council.
"Trainer Chiya wants an assistant trainer?"
"That's right. I'm a little too busy now. I need someone to help out, record times, and assist with instructions."
Rudolf looked at his recruitment requirements.
"That should be fine. But is 'no assistant trainer license required' serious? In that case, all sorts of unrelated people could come in."
"Because I can't really teach them much right now anyway. And the license can be supplemented later, right?"
"It can. However, whether trainer or assistant trainer, they still need to undergo a psychological evaluation. This is to prevent anyone from coming here with improper intentions. You know this is an uma musume academy. If unrelated people enter too easily, problems can easily occur. If you don't want them to go through the psychological evaluation, then you need to add one condition: uma musume only."
"That's fine."
"Then I'll post the recruitment notice on Tracen's official website."
"Don't we need to inform the Director?"
"The Director already said that if you need help, you can contact the Student Council directly. You don't need to go through her."
"I see…"
He had not paid much attention before, but now Fujiwara Chiya realized that Akikawa Yayoi had always been taking care of him.
"President Rudolf, do you know what the Director likes?"
"The Director?"
Rudolf folded her arms.
"Conveyor belt sushi, I suppose. The Director once said she wanted to remodel the cafeteria counter into a conveyor belt sushi setup."
"Oh… Did it happen in the end?"
"Of course not. The Student Council could not possibly invest a large sum of money into something like that."
What a pity.
If Shirayuki had been in her current position back then, even if she had to risk her life, she would have made sure the Director's proposal passed.
"If someone applies, the Student Council will conduct the interview first. After they pass the interview, we'll send them to your office. If Trainer agrees as well, then have her sign the contract."
Fujiwara Chiya thanked her and left the room.
With this, the problem of insufficient manpower would be solved. Besides, he had already set the recruitment conditions quite low. Basically, as long as the applicant was an adult uma musume, she could pass. As for the Student Council interview, Fujiwara Chiya guessed it was probably to filter out uma musume who had no intention of working properly and only wanted to come over for the salary.
President Rudolf's eye for people was no joke. When Fujiwara Chiya had first stood in front of her, it had felt as though she could see through him completely.
Then there was the Director.
Thinking back carefully, the Director's punishments toward him were never particularly severe. Instead, they had a feeling of "punishing for the sake of punishing." If he had truly angered the Director, she would have directly deducted his pay.
On the other hand, the rewards she gave were quite generous. Fujiwara Chiya realized that the things she casually handed to him were all worth six figures. They were already quite expensive. He had simply been too foolish to realize it before.
Fujiwara Chiya wanted to repay her a little, to thank her for silently taking care of him all this time.
Conveyor belt sushi.
Although he could not make it spin, he could make sushi at home. Back when Shirayuki was doing her lady training, she had learned plenty of cooking.
By the afternoon, Fujiwara Chiya was training with his uma musume as usual. Seeing this, the surrounding trainers all stopped to watch. At this moment, the level of attention Fujiwara Chiya drew was even more exaggerated than when Rudolf raced.
"It feels like Onii-sama has become the protagonist of the world!"
Rice Shower followed behind Fujiwara Chiya and said excitedly.
Please.
Really, please don't say that…
The humiliation of being watched by his colleagues made Fujiwara Chiya want to die. One after another, they asked whether the Director had performed human modification on him.
If Fujiwara Chiya had not discovered that Shirayuki's growth speed had clearly increased, he would never have wanted to be watched like some alien creature.
Agnes Tachyon had been right.
When the two of them trained at the same time, it really did increase training efficiency. It was not true fatigue, but rather making the muscles feel fatigue, thereby helping them grow faster.
Chiya's sense of fatigue was transmitted to Shirayuki's side. She panted heavily, her clothes soaked through with sweat. When the juniors around her smelled it, the infatuation in their eyes grew even stronger. They took out handkerchiefs one after another, all wanting to help Shirayuki wipe her sweat.
Ring, ring, ring!
His phone rang.
Fujiwara Chiya took a deep breath and answered the call. Rudolf's voice came through.
"Trainer Chiya, someone has already submitted a résumé. She wants to become your assistant trainer."
"So fast? Didn't we just post it?"
"Yes. The moment it was posted, she submitted her résumé. We arranged to meet this afternoon, and she has already passed the Student Council interview. She is currently heading toward your office."
"All right. I'll go over now."
After saying that, Fujiwara Chiya rushed to the office without even wiping his sweat.
When he opened the door, Fujiwara Chiya saw the person who had applied to become his assistant trainer.
She had fiery red hair like blazing flames, snow-white skin, and wore a dark blue casual outfit. A hat rested on her head.
"Good afternoon, Trainer."
Emerald-green eyes looked at Fujiwara Chiya.
"My name is Darley. I'm here to apply as your assistant trainer."