In the end, nothing else happened.
Even after sitting in the team lounge for an entire afternoon, they never saw that mysterious spirit again. The thing King Halo was convinced had been a ghost failed to reappear—but it still managed to scare two of the girls half to death.
Watching Urara, who had been called over, look exhausted yet still do her best to comfort King Halo, Terizumi Shinji shook his head. He felt King Halo's mentality still needed tempering. If getting startled like this could throw her off for so long, then if she ever got hit by some nasty red debuff skill in an actual race, wouldn't she just collapse on the spot?
His gaze shifted to Narita Brian as she left, only for him to realize that she, too, seemed badly shaken. Even her legs were trembling slightly.
"Sigh..."
Letting out a long breath, Shinji rubbed his temples in frustration.
After seeing off his three trainees, he sat alone at the desk, staring blankly at the monitor. As a trainer, he could freely browse the schedule and roster of all the academy's practice mock races.
He felt it would be better to first let King Halo get a sense of things through a mock race.
As for Narita Brian, that was even more necessary. Shinji felt he had to get a clear read on her current level first, then tailor her training more precisely based on how she performed. After all, her leg instability was not yet severe; with a reasonable amount of rest, it could recover. Shinji did not want to waste a precious Perfect Heal on something like that.
He stared at the mock race spreadsheet on the screen. The opponents for each race could be viewed directly, and Shinji felt the most important thing was choosing the right field for King Halo.
Unlike Offside Trap, who at the time had already reached the point of no return and could do nothing but keep charging forward, overcoming everything head-on no matter how hard it got…
King Halo still had the right to choose. She still had room to choose.
The Victoria Mile was not an especially difficult G1. It was well known as a race people used for adjustment or as a relatively gentle step back into top-level competition. Back when Shinji had been planning a G1 campaign for Sansho Drum, this race had actually been one of his preferred options.
So the mock race did not need to be too tough.
Most importantly, he needed to avoid Grass Wonder and Seiun Sky. Those two girls, both from the younger generation and both fond of entering mock races, were still opponents Shinji was not sure King Halo could beat in her current state.
Even though King Halo's temperament had been tempered to some extent, training and racing were two entirely different things. Shinji did not believe her tendency to get overly heated and lose herself in competition could be fixed through training alone. She would need a certain number of mock races as support.
"What a headache..."
He murmured to himself, scrolling down the screen, until his gaze fixed on a mock race scheduled for the middle of January. Shinji had really put in the work for this. To choose the right mock race for King Halo, he had crammed an enormous number of videos from recent generations' graded stakes races, memorizing nearly every horse girl he felt had any real ability.
This was different from Offside Trap's period, when all he had really needed to focus on was the trainee herself. King Halo and Narita Brian clearly could not walk the same path as Offside Trap. Teaching according to the individual was an unavoidable part of being a trainer.
[Hm? You're planning to have Narita Brian and King Halo run in the same mock race?]
The system's question came at just the right moment—that was exactly what Shinji had been struggling with.
On paper, Narita Brian's current ability was noticeably below King Halo's. The only thing working in her favor was her wealth of race experience, which could compensate somewhat for her lower overall stats.
[But stat gaps aren't something experience can just patch over that easily. Honestly, the difference between them right now doesn't look small at all.]
The system wasn't wrong.
If Shinji had been completely certain that King Halo's actual racing performance would not differ too much from her training form, then he might have chosen an even weaker field for Narita Brian and deliberately avoided putting her in the same race as King Halo.
The bigger concern was Narita Brian's pride. She had become sensitive lately, and that was not a good sign. Even if Shinji was deliberately trying to stir up her fighting spirit and make her more hard-edged again, whether someone was strong or weak was the most direct basis for confidence. It was not something he could fix with a few words or a few gestures.
If he chose opponents that were too weak, Narita Brian would not get an accurate sense of her own level.
If he chose opponents that were too strong, she would only sink deeper into self-doubt.
Racing performance itself was such a subjective thing. Finding that perfect balance of opposition to suit Narita Brian's needs was, frankly, a very difficult task.
Shinji pressed his lips together, then finally clicked on that mock race.
"Better to separate them. Let's reserve one for Halo first."
As he spoke, he pulled up the list of runners for that race. Most of the names meant nothing to him. Clearly, they were girls who had left no impression on him even after he had studied all the graded stakes races from the past two or three years.
Only one name made his mouse pause over it.
That was the entire reason he had selected this particular race.
The horse girl was called Erimo Dandy.
[What about her?]
The system sounded curious.
"She won the Oaks last year. I think she's the perfect opponent for King Halo."
His gaze drifted to another mock race in late January. Orchid, last year's winner of both the Oka Sho and the Shuka Sho, was entered in that one. But after watching some training footage released in November and December of last year, Shinji still preferred the first race.
The reason was simple: Erimo Dandy had maintained excellent form the entire time, while Orchid's condition seemed to have fallen off a cliff.
[What about Brian, then?]
"Brian isn't in a hurry. I think she can wait."
His eyes moved down to April. Starting her mock races around then seemed more appropriate.
He began entering King Halo's information into the registration form. Her application was approved much faster than Shinji had expected, making him rub his nose awkwardly.
He memorized every runner's name, then made up his mind that starting tomorrow afternoon, he would do his best to observe one or two of those horse girls each day in person, just to get a basic read on their condition and habits.
Racing habits could absolutely be used to devise targeted tactics—or at least targeted precautions. Shinji did not think it would necessarily be indispensable, but for King Halo's sake, this kind of preparation was still the proper thing to do.
He photographed the headshots from each girl's profile, then finally called it a day.
After spending the entire afternoon watching footage, Shinji felt like both his ears and his eyes had gone numb.
"That's it for today."
[Yeah, you can call it a day.]
If even the system acknowledged the workload, then Shinji figured that really did say something. Still, he shook his head.
This was everything he did for the sake of his trainees.
Since he had worked this hard for them, then tomorrow morning, they had better train properly.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 142)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter181)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter103)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter192)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 173
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 166
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 110
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 190
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 165
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 156
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 81
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 102
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 120
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 80
Uma Musume: I Want All 95
I Can Copy Unique Skills 84
Summoning an Evil God, but the 66
Supernatural Multiverse 83
My Harem Is Indescribable 75
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 81
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 75
Still playing traditional Honk 55
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 60
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 55
Checking In in Demon Slayer 60
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 65
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 35
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 35
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 39
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 58
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin