With Darley around, Fujiwara Chiya could clearly feel the pressure on him easing quite a bit.
Under her guidance, the uma musume were all very obedient.
So obedient, in fact, that Fujiwara Chiya was not used to it.
The team he had spent so much effort subduing had been trained by Darley with such ease. She had even tamed Shirayuki along with them. That was not normal.
Of course, there was something even more abnormal.
Fujiwara Chiya raised his head and looked at the seat beside him.
Darley was resting her cheek on one hand, watching him with a bright smile.
She had maintained that posture for a full twenty minutes now.
She did nothing else.
She just stared at him.
Fujiwara Chiya felt like his shadow was about to be branded into her eyes.
Generally speaking, would a man and woman who had just met stare at each other like this? Even if he was thick-skinned enough not to care, being watched for this long made him feel like her gaze was sanding down his face.
Don't tell me you've fallen for me?
Fujiwara Chiya really could not understand what about him was worth looking at. The other party did not even try to hide it.
"Um… Darley, would you like something to drink?"
Fujiwara Chiya spoke up to break the awkwardness.
If she kept staring, he was going to develop some kind of problem from it. If she had no work to do, she could at least look at her phone. What kind of employee spent her free time staring at her superior?
"As long as it's sweet, I like it."
"I'll add a few sugar cubes to your coffee."
Fujiwara Chiya stood up, trying to shift her attention elsewhere.
"Trainer, do you have a girlfriend?"
Darley suddenly asked a question that made Fujiwara Chiya's thoughts twist sideways.
"I… guess I do."
"Is she an uma musume?"
How was he supposed to answer that?
If he said it out loud, would that not be admitting that he was dating an uma musume?
As a trainer, he absolutely could not let that matter get out.
"She is an uma musume, right?"
Darley smiled.
"There's no need to be nervous, Trainer. Dating an uma musume is quite normal, isn't it? Everyone is so cute, so it's only natural to like them. I only wanted to chat with Trainer casually. I have no intention of telling anyone else about this."
Even so, this was not something he should be discussing with someone he had just met, right?
And I'm still your superior.
Fujiwara Chiya placed the coffee he had prepared in front of Darley and asked,
"What do you want to talk about?"
Having a topic was better than letting her keep staring at him.
If they did not talk, this person might really stare at him all day.
"Do you know about bloodline theory?"
"Bloodline?"
"There is such a concept among uma musume. The faster an uma musume runs, the better her bloodline is considered, and the more talented her children are likely to be."
"Are you saying that an uma musume's achievements are decided from birth?"
"No. Bloodline does not represent everything. Even if their birth is not noble, they can still achieve astonishing results through later effort. Many uma musume I've seen are like that."
Fujiwara Chiya nodded.
If she had said that talent was everything, then Fujiwara Chiya would have had to give her a proper lecture. Still, Darley was not wrong either. Uma musume whose mothers had strong records often had children who also achieved impressive results.
That was why the idea of bloodline existed among uma musume.
Excellent people had excellent genes.
"Of course, aside from bloodline, there are also some uma musume born with extraordinary talent. Trainer, do you know the reason?"
Fujiwara Chiya shook his head.
"It is the blessing of the Three Goddesses. While every baby is still an embryo, they receive the goddesses' blessing. Children who receive that blessing become uma musume. And if the goddesses are in a good mood at the time, those children may receive additional talent."
"Mood, huh…"
This was already the second time Fujiwara Chiya had heard that word.
It felt like, as long as the Three Goddesses were in a good mood, they could do anything. Human common sense could not bind these whimsical deities at all. Not only that, they could also make people completely unaware of their existence. Last time, Fujiwara Chiya had experienced that deeply enough that it almost made him doubt his own life.
"The Three Goddesses only bless girls, because only girls can become uma musume."
Fujiwara Chiya understood that point.
After all, there were no male uma musume in this world.
Besides, they were called uma musume. How could they be male?
As for himself, he could barely be considered someone who had slipped through a loophole.
But why was Darley suddenly telling him this?
Was she trying to discuss the origin of uma musume with him?
Her next words immediately denied that thought.
"Do you know, Trainer? The Three Goddesses' blessing is a blessing upon the soul. The body is changed through the soul. It is not that the Three Goddesses directly alter the body."
This was the first time Fujiwara Chiya had heard that.
Blessing the soul…
The soul?
Fujiwara Chiya vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
If that was the case, then what did he count as?
Had his soul been blessed too?
As if seeing through Fujiwara Chiya's thoughts, Darley curved her lips.
"Speaking of which, I saw your training, Trainer. Your running speed has already reached the level of a newly enrolled uma musume. That far exceeds the limits of what a human can achieve. Your flesh is no longer purely human. A part of you has become uma musume."
"I… became an uma musume?"
"That's right. Right now, half of what flows within you is the blood of an uma musume."
"How is that possible? And how do you even know that?"
"My father is an expert who specializes in this field. They studied why a human and another human can give birth to an uma musume, and eventually came to this conclusion."
"Isn't it genetics?"
"It's not that simple."
Darley shook her head.
"Genes are only one part of it. The decision lies with the Three Goddesses. Applying the theory from earlier, Trainer's soul has very likely also received the Three Goddesses' blessing."
Fujiwara Chiya narrowed his eyes.
Why would the Three Goddesses bless him for no reason?
No.
Fujiwara Chiya quickly realized something.
They had not blessed him.
They had blessed Shirayuki.
Because his soul and Shirayuki's soul were connected, the blessing had indirectly reached him as well.
The reason he had become like this was purely an accident.
Perhaps even the Three Goddesses had not realized that they had injected the blood of an uma musume into a man's body.
"And that brings us back to bloodline theory, Trainer."
Darley spoke.
"An uma musume's talent is usually determined by the mother's genes. If the mother's results are excellent, then the child's results will most likely be excellent as well. It has almost nothing to do with the human father."
"But…"
Darley's tone shifted.
"If the father also possesses uma musume genes, then what exactly would happen to the child created by those two? I suddenly thought of this question by chance."
Darley stood up and walked in front of him.
"Although it was an unintentional thought, I really am curious. Just how exceptional would the child of Trainer and an uma musume be?"
Fujiwara Chiya's cheek twitched.
He felt that the way Darley was looking at him was exactly like she was looking at a breeding stallion.