Overrun and Narita Brian both stared blankly at the crowd of horse girls standing before them. Overrun, in particular, darkened slightly the moment she spotted the familiar Twin Turbo.
Just as she had expected, the instant Twin Turbo saw her arrive, she rushed straight over, pointed at Overrun, and brazenly declared that today she was absolutely going to beat her.
Overrun had no interest in responding to Twin Turbo's overconfidence. That mare had never once beaten her before. Besides, Overrun herself had improved by leaps and bounds lately, and she refused to believe Twin Turbo could possibly have progressed faster than she had.
So she turned instead to Terumi Shinji at her side. There was something in his expression, but she couldn't make it out. She knew King Halo's performance in the practice race had been poor, so over the past two days she hadn't asked much about it. On the one hand, she didn't want to worsen Shinji's mood. On the other, she didn't want to hurt King Halo either.
She knew how sensitive that girl was. She had once cried and run off right in front of Overrun's eyes.
Now that they were teammates, Overrun had no desire to make things harder for her junior.
"They're not here to race against you two," Shinji said. "They're here to help King Halo."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Minamizaka, who stood among the group of horse girls. Shinji had specifically invited Minamizaka over with his team, Canopus.
As far as Halo's performances in training went, Shinji was already fairly satisfied. Since her problems only really surfaced once she was on an actual track, then at the very least he needed to simulate all sorts of race situations for her in practice. Once she built up enough experience dealing with different tactical setups, she would be able to devote more of her attention to staying calm and steady.
His eyes landed on King Halo. She had her lips pressed together, looking somewhat tense. Even if this was just training, the presence of another trainer meant she wanted to win this simulation beautifully. She didn't want her trainer to lose face.
Looking at the four members of Canopus, King Halo calmed the breathing that had begun to speed up, forced herself to relax, and then stepped forward.
"I'll be counting on you."
Shinji and Minamizaka had already started discussing tactics. Shinji's plan was for Minamizaka to set up targeted formations. Four horse girls were enough for Minamizaka to run through a wide variety of tactical concepts. Twin Turbo, who excelled at taking the lead. Ikuno Dictus, who could confront Halo head-on. Machikane Tannhauser, who specialized in rhythm and pace control. And Yilai Zhengming, who would be entering her Classic year this year, brimming with fighting spirit.
Each had her own distinct style and strengths. Using them together to create tactical pressure around King Halo would surely force all kinds of thoughts through her head.
And learning how to pick the single best path to victory from within all that interference was exactly what Halo needed to figure out.
Watching Twin Turbo all but vibrating with excitement, Shinji found her rather cute in her own way.
At the same time, he felt a little regret. Minamizaka's team was still too small. Otherwise, he could have borrowed even more horse girls to help train Halo. Compared with teams like Spica or Rigil, a team like Minamizaka's, whose schedule didn't clash with Shinji's own, was both feasible and ideal.
He tilted his head slightly, leaned toward Minamizaka's ear, and asked, "How's that invitation going on your end?"
"No clue what the other side is thinking, but Twin Turbo's still giving it her all."
Minamizaka answered jokingly. Shinji shook his head and sighed. At this rate, he might have to ask even more horse girls for help after they'd trained a bit longer.
His gaze shifted to his own two other trainees. Borrowing some horse girls from Brian's generation might not be a bad idea either, he thought. With that, he took his place at the start line and pulled out his notebook.
Having finished explaining the tactics, Minamizaka came to stand beside him. The moment he saw the notebook in Shinji's hands, packed full of dense handwriting, he couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
It really was no wonder this young trainer had led Overrun to such brilliant results. Minamizaka even found himself thinking that perhaps he ought to learn a thing or two from this junior—if only to stop his own girls' improvement from being so slow.
After warming up, the five horse girls lined up before Shinji. Twin Turbo still kept glancing at the others now and then. Shinji, however, had no intention of wasting even a single training opportunity, so the moment Twin Turbo's eyes returned to the front, he dropped his arm sharply.
The five girls launched at once.
Twin Turbo immediately took the lead. Ikuno Dictus and Machikane Tannhauser formed a simple pincer from the front and the outside, while Yilai Zhengming lurked at the rear, waiting for an opening.
It was a very straightforward tactic, but also a highly effective one. King Halo found herself boxed in the middle.
She didn't panic. She knew perfectly well that this was a race simulation, and that every horse girl here was treating victory as the goal.
Which meant the two horse girls beside and ahead of her could not possibly afford to focus only on trapping her while allowing Twin Turbo a free escape. They had to consider Twin Turbo's pace and adjust their own plans accordingly.
Seeing Twin Turbo already five lengths ahead, King Halo forced down the rising agitation in her chest and began recalling all the pacing work from her usual training.
In a sense, it felt strangely fresh. In real races, most horse girls tried to keep their attention completely focused. King Halo, by contrast, found that she could actually split off a portion of her attention.
This was an experiment for her. But for the moment, it didn't seem to be going badly.
The five horse girls cleared the first thousand meters quickly, and Shinji gave the faintest nod. Up to this point, Halo had remained fairly composed. But if she continued to do nothing except remain "calm," then it would stop being composure.
It would become hesitation.
Shinji's gaze remained fixed on King Halo. Before entering the third and fourth turns, she would need to find her own chance. If not, the time and space left for her final drive would be too limited, and things could easily turn into a repeat of her previous practice race.
King Halo clearly understood that as well. So before they entered the turn, she abruptly changed pace, using the curvature of the track itself to sling her body outward.
She may have swung a little too far—so far that even Ikuno Dictus hadn't expected it. But it was obvious how deeply she remembered being boxed in. She would rather move all the way out into the fourth lane than risk another trap and miss her clean line down the stretch.
It wasn't a bad choice. But for her to make that choice also meant that King Halo had absolute faith in her own class.
And from a certain angle, Shinji liked that kind of confidence.
Her body faltered for just an instant, but once the fourth turn was halfway over, she broke through with force. The four horse girls on the inside no longer had much ability to stop her, Twin Turbo up ahead was already beginning to show signs of slowing, and King Halo's momentum only grew fiercer.
In Shinji's vision, the figure of his trainee seemed to swell larger and larger. The light that flashed in Halo's eyes was unmistakable, and Shinji finally let out a little of the tension he'd been holding.
The truth was, he had always been worried about her state of mind.
"Looks like ordinary tactics won't be enough to pin her down," Minamizaka remarked.
There was no frustration in his voice. He knew exactly where his own girls stood in terms of ability, so there was nothing to be upset about.
"Then let's try more," Shinji replied.
As he spoke, he saw King Halo rush past them and begin to slow.
He did not close the notebook in his hands. Shinji had already spotted several problems in the way Halo had run, and before the second simulation began, he intended to make them clear to her.
Her large, watery eyes blinked, looking at Shinji like an earnest honors student waiting for instruction.
"For the second run," he began, "pay close attention to your posture again. Right now, I actually don't think you need to keep yourself quite so far back and upright. Instead, let yourself..."
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 147)
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 (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
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 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
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 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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