Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 271 There is no misfortune at all (1w)

Although many preparations have been made for the Thanksgiving Festival, Kitahara's main subsequent work is still focused on preparing for the Chrysanthemum Viewing Festival.

From the perspective of the Eisei Club, whether as a newly established team less than a year ago or as a unique club in Japan, the battle for the classic triple crown is an extremely crucial one.

In terms of quantity, there are tens of thousands of Uma Musume in Japan, which is not a small number.

There are quite a few events overall, with more than 20 large stadiums with people and dozens of small and medium-sized stadiums, with a total of more than games held each year.

But there aren’t that many events in the entire Shining Series.

According to the arrangement of the Japanese URA Association, competitions will be held every Saturday and Sunday at central venues such as Tokyo, Hanshin and Kyoto.

If there is a holiday on Friday or Monday, a three-day tournament may be scheduled.

Generally, there are ten to twelve matches per match day, with an average of two to five matches per venue, for a total of eight match days.

By this calculation, there will be a total of thirty-six central-level competitions held each year, with a maximum of 288 competition days.

If there were twelve races on every match day, there would be at most 3,000 big prizes a year.

Among these high-prize events, there are very few G1 events, only about twenty or so.

Therefore, a large number of horse girls will never be able to step into the G1 arena in their entire lives.

In fact, less than 1% of the teams can win G.

As every horse girl can only participate in the classic triple crown once in her lifetime, it would be even better if she can participate and win the competition.

For this reason, if the Eternal Club can win the classic triple crown in the year of its establishment, it will have immeasurable significance for its future development.

Especially after having won the first two titles.

Kitahara himself also hopes to win the final battle, no matter which of his horse girls wins.

Therefore, in terms of work arrangements, preparations for the Chrysanthemum Admiring Competition take priority over the "Obstacle Relay Race" and the "Youth Version of Japan Cup".

Some arrangements for the last two games are also part of preparations for the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Competition.

This day, on the training ground.

"From your current physical data, training conditions, and past performances, among the three of you, Xiao Haiwan has a greater advantage in adaptability to the Chrysanthemum Appreciation."

In front of his three horse girls, Kitahara didn't hold back and said directly: "You should be more aware of the advantage of endurance."

“The endurance level of the Little Bay is at the top of this generation, which is an undoubted advantage for long-distance races up to 3,000 meters.”

"In addition to this, there is her unique on-court instinct."

"Through training and competition, you should be very aware of her ability."

He looked at Oguruma and Aldan.

The two horse girls were looking sideways at the small bay as they listened to Kitahara's explanation.

Their eyes and expressions showed envy and admiration, but more importantly, a desire to try.

Xiao Haiwan himself, with his usual meek smile on his face, touched the side of his face as if he was a little embarrassed.

As Kitahara said, the endurance of the Super Bay is unique in this generation.

In terms of competition, she is currently the only horse girl who dares to start a long-distance sprint at the end of the race or even in the middle, regardless of the loss of endurance.

This is also the key to her many victories and a tactic unique to her.

The same is true for training.

Even when facing Tamamono Juji and Inari Ichi, who have excellent long-distance adaptability, more experience and more mature physical development, Xiao Haiwan can rely on this tactic to not lose the upper hand.

Of course, there is a difference between "physical maturity" and "stature maturity". If it is the latter, then Super Xiaohai is far ahead of his two predecessors.

It’s not that Oguruma and the others can’t use such tactics.

But even if they use this kind of tactics, their opponents must be inferior to them in terms of endurance.

Also, their starting sprint distance is not as long as the cove.

This will result in them not being as comfortable using the same tactics.

Similarly, the tactics that Oguri and Aldan are good at are not very applicable to Xiaohaiwan.

This is why the three horse girls were not too surprised or embarrassed after hearing about Little Bay’s strength.

But not being surprised or embarrassed does not mean taking it lightly.

So when they heard Kitahara continue to speak, the three horse girls glanced at him again.

"Many times when faced with situations such as team obstruction or congestion, Oguri would often choose to overtake in the outer lane, or rush out by relying on the ability to switch positions and break through."

Kitahara continued:
"Aldan calmly analyzed the best route and subsequent changes in the situation, and predicted the appropriate time to rush out in advance."

“But the cove is different.”

“She can find the right route just by instinct.”

Kitahara was about to continue speaking when suddenly, Oguruma spoke thoughtfully.

"If it's intuition..."

She touched her chin, "I should have it too, right?"

"When I'm playing, I can feel the whole situation of the game, and then I can often find the right opportunity all at once."

"This should also be considered intuition, right, Kitahara?"

Now, it was Super Cove and Mejiro Aldan's turn to look at Oguruma.

After spending a long time together, the three horse girls have a good understanding of each other's strengths and are very envious of each other.

"Xiaoli, that's not intuition."

Xiao Haiwan smiled and explained: "Didn't Beiyuan say that before?"

"Your ability is a unique 'perspective'."

"During the game, you can have a bird's-eye view of the entire stadium."

"With this kind of vision, it's not difficult for you to find the right sprint opportunity."

As she spoke, she rubbed her cheeks as if she was a little distressed.

"As for me and Aldan, we can't actually do that."

She glanced at Aldan Mebai, "Aldan achieves a similar effect through mental analysis."

“No matter how far the game goes, she will never lose her ability to think because of fatigue.”

"As for me, it's just a feeling, probably..."

She rubbed her cheek and thought about it.

"I think running like that should be fine. It's usually fine."

After expressing her feelings, she became distressed again.

"But Kitahara told me very early on that my ability would allow me to win by surprise in most situations."

"The problem is that in some cases, I would be judged as having a 'diagonal foul' if I used this method, and thus lose the score."

"So in order to make better use of this ability, I learned to improve my analytical skills like Aldan."

"In this way, the possibility of fouls should be much smaller."

“Is that so… eh?”

Nodding in understanding, Little Chestnut suddenly became curious, "Is it my illusion?"

"I feel like Xiaowan used to address Kitahara as a respectful name, right? Now he calls her by her name."

"Ah, this."

As if feeling embarrassed, Xiao Haiwan rubbed his cheek again, "We have known each other for such a long time, and I have troubled you for so long. Wouldn't it be a bit awkward if I continue to use honorifics? That's what I think."

"Besides, Xiaoli, you didn't use any honorifics from the beginning, did you? Oh, or rather, you seemed to be like that to everyone."

"This..."

Oguruma was a little embarrassed, "I always can't remember names and things like that. Even if I want to use honorifics, I don't know how to use them. And I can't remember honorifics and things like that."

"Oh, by the way, there is Aldan in the small bay, can you teach me when you have time?"

"Teaching honorifics? This... well, although I don't think there's any need to learn these, but when I think about it being Oguri..."

Xiao Haiwan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and couldn't help but look at Aldan beside him, "Looks like he wants to provide some help?"

Feeling the gaze, Aldan looked back and also found it a little funny.

"Bay and I will help you, Oguri."

Looking at Oguruma, Aldan smiled and nodded, "As for etiquette, I think I'm pretty good at it."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you!" Oguruma nodded gratefully.

While the three horse girls were talking about the little episode, Kitahara was secretly helpless.

Because Super Bay is prone to diagonal fouls when he relies solely on intuition to grab position, he knows very well why.

The culprit is not Xiaowan’s intuition, but the complex “parallel correspondence” of this world.

The situation of the little bay corresponds to the bad habits of the rider of the prototype horse.

That is the famous Takenori and his "slanting style".

Perhaps Taketoshi is not the one who has committed the most fouls due to diagonal running in the history of horse racing, but his diagonal running is definitely the most famous.

It first became famous because of the Arima Kinen in the super small bay.

In that race, Super Little Bay finished third, just behind Oguruma and Tamamo Cross.

However, during the subsequent review process, it was discovered that in the last 200 meters, in order to turn to the outside of the bell parade, she blocked Dylan Mejiro behind her.

This behavior violates the rules of the competition that one cannot block the progress of other players by walking diagonally.

In the end, because of this foul, Super Little Bay was disqualified and its results were cancelled. The third place was taken by Didu shooter.

In the first season of the anime, during the eating contest, Super Cove knocked the donuts into Oguruma's plate, referring to this contest.

In this game, although Wu Feng committed a diagonal foul while riding, it did not cause any serious danger.

The time when Mejiro McQueen watched the Emperor appreciate the autumn was different.

That time, also because of the diagonal riding, a major accident involving nine horses and nine jockeys was almost caused.

Before that race, after a summer rest, Mejiro McQueen won the Kyoto Grand Prix with a beautiful three and a half lengths, so the team decided to challenge the Spring and Autumn Emperor Spring Festival Championship.

The last time this was achieved was by Tamamo Cross, and that was the first time, and no racehorse has been able to do this since.

And in this challenge, Mejiro McQueen’s rider is the same as Arima Kinen’s who committed the diagonal foul in Super Cove, and that’s Takeyutaka.

Then, as if he had seen it before, Wu Feng rode his horse diagonally again.

The consequences of this diagonal movement were very serious.

First of all, it almost caused a major accident.

The point where you go diagonally is the final bend.

The Emperor's Autumn Viewing Race is held at the Tokyo Stadium, with the final turn at a distance of 529.9 meters from the finish line.

In order to gain a good position in the next long straight line, the force and position competition in the final turn will be very intense.

This location is an uphill section with a height difference of 2.1 meters, which further intensifies the intensity of the actual competition.

It was at this position that the six groups of opponents on the inside had to move inwards in the face of Taketoshi and Mejiro McQueen coming diagonally.

There was no way to avoid it. At that time, Mejiro McQueen weighed 498 kilograms, ranking fourth among the 4 racehorses.

Moreover, this horse is well-known as a long-distance champion, and its sprint distance is much longer than other racehorses.

Other racehorses usually start sprinting about 200 meters before the finish line, but this one entered the sprint state after passing the final turn, further increasing its speed based on 60 kilometers per hour.

In this state, Mejiro McQueen can be said to be a heavy tank.

During the race, Mejiro McQueen, in "heavy tank" form, moved sideways for nearly four horse lengths, and the six groups of opponents on the inside naturally could not avoid him.

The space on the inner track is limited, which forces the two innermost groups of opponents to slow down like braking.

The slowdown also resulted in a group of runners behind being unable to avoid the situation in time.

In addition, the contestants who dodged to the inside had no choice but to collide with each other. By the time Mejiro McQueen and Taketoyo came in second, the field behind was already in chaos and several horses were almost thrown to the ground with their riders.

This is the most terrifying thing about horse racing accidents.

If a horse falls at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, its legs are very likely to be broken.

The structure of the horse's body requires four legs to maintain balance. If any leg is broken, the balance will be broken.

Even if the other three legs are intact, long-term imbalance will cause it to gradually become sick.

The inability to walk or run will lead to physical diseases, which means that fractures are a form of chronic death for horses.

For riders, horse racing accidents are also very scary things. It is not impossible for them to fall to death or become disabled.

There is also the danger of the racehorse's nearly half-ton body pressing down on you and being trampled by the subsequent horses' hooves.

The biggest blessing in this Emperor's autumn viewing event was that the participating horses and riders were all G1 grade.

After Wu Feng's slanting caused the accident in the race, the affected horses and riders managed to avoid the most dangerous possibility with their strength and experience.

Even the group that nearly fell managed to regain their balance in a very short time and even completed the race.

But the accident happened after all, and the culprit was criticized by his peers and punished by the association.

After the race, as soon as the contestants returned to the inspection room, one of Taketoshi's opponents in the race, senior rider Yukio Okabe, who was also Ludor's symbolic former rider, pointed at the junior's nose and started scolding him on the spot.

Afterwards, the association confirmed the foul and dangerousness through video recording and sentenced Take Feng to a fine and suspension.

Even Mejiro McQueen was implicated.

In this race, Mejiro McQueen was originally the first to cross the finish line.

But because of the diagonal foul and the accident, the first place was directly demoted to the 18th from the bottom.

This is also the first case in Japanese horse racing history where a horse was demoted from first to last.

This situation was reflected in the first season of the original anime and the OVA, where Mejiro McQueen, as a horse racing girl, ran sideways and lost the score.

Due to some unexplainable rules of the parallel world, everything that happens to the racehorses seems to be reflected in the racehorse girls in this world.

During previous contacts, Kitahara discovered long ago that both Super Cove and Mejiro McQueen had the habit of walking diagonally during training.

To this end, he spent a lot of time and energy adjusting their situation.

Xiao Haiwan is easy to deal with. This child has always been very obedient. After a few reminders, she will pay attention during training and competitions.

So far, such situations have almost never occurred in her training, and she has never committed a diagonal foul in a game.

It was Mejiro McQueen who gave Kitahara a headache at first.

He had not been in contact with this horse girl for as long as he had trained Xiao Wan, and originally thought that it would be difficult to adjust her condition in a short period of time.

But then he found a way that worked well.

That is, if Mejiro McQueen accidentally walks sideways during training, his dessert share for that week will be reduced.

For this young lady who loves sweets so much, this punishment is still fatal.

As a result, after just a few training sessions, her sideways movements became less and less frequent.

Adjustments to potential competition risks like these, combined with the perseverance training that he had previously discussed with Oguruma and the others, are also Kitahara's main idea in preparing for the Chrysanthemum Viewing Competition.

"You can talk about honorifics and such during breaks or training breaks. You don't need to worry about them at other times. At most, you just need to be careful when you're interviewed."

With a brief sentence, Kitahara signaled the horse racing ladies to look at him, and pointed in the direction of the training ground.

"Xiao Haiwan, you just mentioned the analytical ability. As for Xiao Limao and Aldan, some of the problems you two have will be the focus of adjustments in the future."

"The specific adjustment method is to use ball training before and after the Thanksgiving Festival to improve perseverance."

"So, for Teju Zhou, Shen Ying and the others, as well as the new junior, it's okay for them to treat the Thanksgiving Festival as a joke."

"You three have to take this very seriously."

"I will also give instructions to Xiaoyu and Inari later."

As for perseverance, you can train with the help of ball sports, and feel the physical recovery brought about by changes in exercise in different intensities when practicing basketball, dodgeball and other projects.

All of this was taught to Oguruma and the others in advance.

Hearing Kitahara's order, the three horse girls turned to look at the training ground.

The training ground of Central Tresen College is very large. In addition to the part in the middle used as a runway, there are many other fields around it.

There was a large lawn near the audience seats, on which the younger horse racing girls from the Eternal Club were practicing dodgeball.

The training was in the form of a competition, with the two horse girls, led by Tamamo Cross and Inari Ichi, as captains respectively, trying their best to dodge the balls thrown by the other side.

Oguruma and the others basically knew all the horse racing ladies who participated in the training competition.

The only person I wasn't familiar with was a petite horse racing girl.

She is about the same height as Tamamo Cross, with short pink hair, pink eyes, a white bow earring on her left ear, and a pink and white sportswear.

Compared to other horse girls of the same age, she didn't seem to be that good at dodging the balls flying from the opposite side. She was often hit by the balls and then had to go to the side and wait for the next opportunity to play.

Regardless of whether she was hit by the ball or had to leave the court early to wait, there was no sign of depression on her face.

Instead, he always had a happy and joyful smile on his face.

"That child, what was his name?"

Looking at the competition on the training ground, Ogurumao touched his head and looked worried.

"It's called Haru Ulala, a very cute and nice name. Don't call her the wrong name later, Xiaoli."

Knowing well that his companion was not very good at remembering names, Super Xiaohaiwan reminded him with a smile, then turned to look at Kitahara thoughtfully.

"I heard that you, Kitahara, asked Sister Junko and Sister Xiaochun to go to Kochi Prefecture to find that child."

"If she can attract so much attention from you, Kitahara, she must be a very powerful and talented horse girl, right?"

"Oh! Is that so?"

Xiaolimao's eyes lit up, "Then I should be able to try running side by side with her later, right?" She looked at Kitahara eagerly.

“…Forget it for now.”

All of a sudden, Kitahara's expression became strange, "Her strength... is a bit complicated."

"I'll explain it to you in detail when I get a chance."

"Anyway, whether it's to help Haru Ulala get along well with you guys and Tejuu and the others."

"Or should I talk about the perseverance training that will follow."

"Before the Chrysanthemum Appreciation, and in all subsequent training, you must train with her in the same manner as before."

"do you understand?"

During the Daily Crown, Kitahara did instruct Junko Hosoe and Tsubaki Akashi, entrusting them to go to Hokkaido and Shikoku respectively to search for Haru Ulala.

The two juniors were very efficient and got results almost on the same day.

As Kitahara guessed, Haruurala was still a child in Hokkaido and used the nickname "Mary Jane".

Later, because she was much smaller than other horse girls of the same age and had a very timid personality, they wanted to give her a cuter and more leisurely name, so they changed "Mary Jane" to "Haru Ulala".

"Chun Ulala" means "sunny spring".

After changing her name, although her physique is still smaller than other horse girls of the same age, Haru Ulala's personality has indeed become more cheerful.

It was also because of the name change that Kitahara was unable to find this horse girl when he first focused his attention on Hokkaido.

The idea of ​​specifically looking for this horse girl was simple.

First of all, Kitahara believes that the 113 consecutive defeats of Haruulala in the parallel world are most likely due to problems with training methods.

Maybe this isn’t the case with racehorses, but it’s not necessarily the case with racehorse girls.

In the game, Chunulala's adaptability is in mud and short distances and miles.

There is little adaptability to grass and long distances.

If she were to run a long-distance grass race, her speed would probably be less than half of her level on clay.

In the development gameplay, horse girls have "target competitions". If you want to develop them successfully, you must participate in the corresponding competitions and achieve the required ranking.

The last target race of Spring Ulala is the Arima Kinen, which is a long-distance grass race.

There is no ranking requirement, just participate.

Generally speaking, 99% of the players who participate in this event will get the last place.

However, there are indeed players who have managed to make Haru Ulala, which has no adaptability to mud and long distances, beat Arima Kinen through repeated attempts.

The situations in the Uma Musume game also have certain counterparts in this world, and Kitahara has already experienced this.

So, he wanted to give it a try, maybe through his own training, he could give Haru Ulala the opportunity to participate in events like the Arima Kinen.

As for the goal of the Arima Memorial Championship, let’s not consider it for now.

After all, judging by the timeline and age, when Haru Ulala was able to participate in the Arima Kinen, those championships in history were not won easily.

Flying on the Grass, Good Opera, Manchester Tea House, Auspicious Omen, Desert Hero, Sincere Call.

It’s even hard to say whether they can grab the second place, after all, the runners-up of the Arima Kinen include Special Week, Raging Waves, Dancing City and Big Shock.

Therefore, the specific arrangements of the whole idea will have to wait until Chun Ulala is actually trained for a period of time before they can be determined.

In addition to the idea of ​​training, another consideration is Chun Ulala's physical fitness and race walking habits.

Before meeting this horse girl, Kitahara had always guessed that she might have a unique talent for perseverance.

The reason for making this judgment is not only that Haru Ulala's perseverance attribute and bonus in the original work are indeed very high.

Also because he has participated in 113 games in his career and has almost no injuries.

Generally speaking, most racehorses are unable to run so many races, and the same goes for horse girls.

So assuming there are some innate or institutional reasons, then through physical examinations and training observations of Chun Ulala, perhaps some research directions can be discovered.

Although the current contact time is still short, some positive conclusions have been reached through some basic wind tunnel tests, parachute sprint training, and physical examinations by Kyoko Miyamura.

Chun Ulala's metabolic level, cardiovascular system, and muscular nervous system are relatively outstanding, slightly higher than the average level of horse girls of the same age.

These physiological characteristics are related to perseverance.

Generally speaking, during relatively slow running, lactic acid is cleared from the muscles at the same rate as it is produced.

As the speed increases, the body relies more on anaerobic glycolysis, and the clearance rate of lactic acid converted from pyruvate is likely to be slower than the production rate, which leads to the accumulation of lactic acid in the body.

A better metabolic level can speed up the elimination of lactic acid and have a stronger ability to buffer and neutralize acidic substances in the body.

The cardiovascular system affects blood output and blood flow to the muscles.

The amount of venous blood returning to the heart, the heart's ability to contract, the strength of the left ventricular muscle and the size of the left atrial heart, and aortic blood pressure all influence how efficiently blood can deliver oxygen to the muscles.

With a stronger cardiovascular system, the basis of blood output will be sufficiently guaranteed, the blood flow to the muscles will increase accordingly, and the oxygen supply will be more sufficient.

The muscular nervous system is similar to the cardiovascular system.

Everything about the body's movement requires the central nervous system and motor nerves to transmit biological and chemical signals.

An excellent motor nervous system will have better transmission efficiency. In the same signal transmission work of the same number of motor units, the neurons will have to work relatively less, making them less prone to fatigue and easier to recover.

Of course, being excellent in these aspects does not mean that Chun Ulala runs very fast.

In fact, in the small training test two days ago, she came in last as expected by Kitahara.

Her post-match recovery speed is not as fast as that of her predecessors like Oguruma who have undergone long-term professional training.

But compared to other horse girls of the same age like Tokugawa Shuu and Good Opera, her recovery speed is not much different.

You should know that even before their debut, Tezuka and the others had studied and trained at Umamusume Elementary School in Tokyo.

Especially the Emperor of the East Sea and Mejiro McQueen, who started learning in Tokyo.

In this comparison, Chun Ulala does have a talent for perseverance.

She simply hadn't received more comprehensive and professional training, so she couldn't run fast enough.

In the simple simulations by Kitahara and Komiyama, if the distance of the training match was extended to a very long distance, such as more than 42.195 meters, or simply the kilometers of a marathon were used as the race course.

The results will show that Chun Ulala's winning rate is actually higher than many of her companions.

These brief tests, of course, thoroughly proved Kitahara's judgment.

According to Kyoko Miyamura, further detailed physical examinations are needed to provide more evidence.

For example, cell composition testing can confirm the level of mitochondrial enzymes in Chun Ulala.

This is also an indicator related to sustained exercise and recovery, that is, perseverance.

Mitochondrial enzymes can control the rate of ATP production through catalytic effects, and this rate basically determines the maximum oxygen uptake of muscles.

The maximum oxygen uptake is the most reference indicator of aerobic exercise.

Therefore, the analysis results obtained so far can more or less prove that Kitahara's idea is correct.

Then, adding this special training content of the field, referring to the "synchronization rate training" that Oguruma and the others had previously conducted with Good Opera, it would definitely be a good choice to train more with Haru Ulala in order to improve the level of perseverance.

Kitahara actually briefly mentioned this complex and professional idea to Oguruma and the others.

However, for these horse racing girls, it makes no difference whether the principle is explained or not.

Even though they didn't know the purpose, they all believed that Kitahara's training arrangements were for their improvement.

So when they heard Kitahara's question, Ogurumao and the others agreed in unison, and then waited for Kitahara to give them some details before heading in the direction where the dodgeball training was still taking place.

And on the training side.

Snapped!
"Oh my, I got hit again~"

Once again failing to dodge the ball flying from the opposite side, Chun Ulala scratched her head with a bright smile and walked out of the court without any frustration at all.

As she walked, she waved happily towards the venue.

"Everyone, keep going! I'll cheer you on!"

After a few days of getting along, especially because of Haruurala's outgoing and cheerful personality, Tamamo Cross, Inari Ichi, Tebuki Zhou, and Good Opera all became familiar with this new companion.

Hearing her voice, all the horse racing girls agreed with a smile and continued their training.

Only Mi Yu, who had just stood next to Chun Wulala, hesitated for a moment and stared at Chun Wulala's back as she left.

"Oh my, how embarrassing! I'm the first one to be eliminated this time~"

She spoke with regret, but her tone and expression did not show any regret at all. She stood beside the court, patted her cheeks, and waved her fists.

"Okay! Next time, you must be more serious and work harder. You can't get eliminated right at the start!"

"In that case... Oh right! Let's have some energy-boosting food. I was probably hit because I wasn't paying enough attention before!"

"Let me think... Hey? It seems like there's a carrot popsicle store in the school cafeteria here. I can go buy one to perk up!"

"As expected of a Central College, there's no popsicle store at Kochi Tressen College... huh?"

Just as she was about to start walking towards the college cafeteria, Chun Ulala was suddenly stunned, then started laughing happily.

"Hey, Miyu-chan, are you eliminated too? How about we go buy some carrot popsicles together?"

The person walking towards this side in Chun Ulala's sight was Mi Yu.

"Ah... No, no need, I'm not very thirsty, nor very hungry..."

As if frightened by something, Mi Yu was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hands and began to hesitate.

"Well, that... maybe I'm a little talkative, but..."

She bit her lip and said, "It's already autumn, and the weather is getting a little cold."

"If I eat more popsicles, I might get a stomach upset..."

"B-but I'm not saying no, it's just..."

After talking for a long time without any response, she suddenly lowered her head in panic and covered her face as if combing her bangs.

"Uh...Ulala-chan, just pretend I didn't say anything..."

Chun Ulala became confused.

"Eh? But I heard it all..."

She quickly became cheerful again, "Well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I think what Miyu-chan said is right!"

"Then no carrot popsicles!"

"Let's go buy some dessert!"

"Shall we go together?"

She extended another invitation to Mi Yu.

"No! I can't let Urara-chan become unhappy..."

Suddenly, the sound of rice bathing became louder, which scared Chun Ulala.

Soon, Mi Yu became panicked.

“S-Sorry, Mi-mi, it’s not, it’s not…”

After hesitating for a long time, she suddenly fumbled in her pocket in a panic.

"Yes, yes, this is for you to eat..."

She took out a small bag from her pocket, bent down, held the bag in both hands, and stretched it out.

"Hey? Is this... marshmallow?"

Chun Ulala subconsciously took the bag and looked at it. She was a little surprised, but soon became happy.

"Wow! Thank you so much, thank you Miyu-chan for treating me to candy!" Without any hesitation, she opened the package and ate a piece of marshmallow.

"Mmm! So sweet, thank you Miyu-chan!" she thanked again.

"No, you're welcome..."

After being thanked, Mi Yu was not happy, but seemed a little sad, and lowered his head again.

"Because...I just scared Ulala-chan."

"And...Ulala-chan, I guess it's because of me that she's always the first one to be eliminated..."

Chun Ulala, who was stuffing marshmallows into her mouth, was stunned.

"Hey? Is that why Miyu-chan is the first to be eliminated?"

"Um……"

Mi Yu lowered his head even lower, and placed his index fingers on his chest, his fingertips moving back and forth constantly.

"Because... my position is right next to Haru Ulala-chan..."

"And... the rice bath will bring misfortune to everyone..."

“So, Urara-chan is very happy and wants to play with everyone, but she is always the first to be eliminated…”

"It's all because of the rice bath..."

Chun Ulala tilted her head and her ears twitched.

Suddenly he patted Mi Yu's shoulder happily.

"Haha, how could that be possible!"

Smiling, looking at Mi Yu who looked up in surprise, Chun Ulala said happily, "It's okay! Mi Yu-chan, you think too much!"

"I am very weak."

"When I was in Kochi, I always came in last in training competitions."

"So, although I don't know why, the principal, teachers, and my parents in Kochi are all very happy that I came to Central Tresen College."

"But, I knew it before I played dodgeball this time..."

Confidence flashed in her big pink eyes, and she gave a thumbs up to Mi Yu, who had a dazed look on his face.

"I'm probably going to lose anyway!"

……ah?

Mi Yu had no idea whether Chun Ulala was telling the truth or a lie.

However, those shining eyes and the cute face that was happy and calm made her involuntarily believe that these were really what Chun Ulala was thinking.

"……real……"

"You're so strong, Ulala-chan..."

"very nice……"

"So, what should I do... to be as strong as you..."

Unable to help, Mi Yu murmured to himself in a very low voice.

"Huh? Did Miyu-chan say anything just now?" Chun Ulala was so happy that she didn't hear what Miyu said.

"No, it's nothing... um, that..."

Not wanting Chun Ulala to notice his thoughts, Mi Yu waved his hands repeatedly and tried to change the subject.

"Oh, that's right..."

She pulled another bag of marshmallows out of her pocket, "I see Ulala-chan has finished hers, do you want another bag?"

"Hey? No thanks, thank you for the marshmallows, I'll treat you to something delicious later."

After expressing gratitude again and patting her chest, Chun Ulala suddenly wondered, "Miyu-chan has so many marshmallows. Do you like marshmallows?"

"Um……"

Mi Yu nodded, her cheeks slightly reddened, "When I was little, I would always cry, and my parents would buy me cotton candy..."

"I feel like marshmallows are fluffy and cute..."

“It’s also very sweet…”

"And if you eat marshmallows, you won't cry..."

"And the candy apples too..."

"So, marshmallows and apple candies remind me of many childhood memories, so I like them very much..."

"U-Um, it seems like Ulala-chan likes carrot popsicles?"

She changed the subject again, "Is it also because of some important memories?"

"Ah? No."

Shaking her head happily, Chun Ulala said with a smile: "Because I like to eat, I like to eat it very much."

"Ah, I mean carrot popsicles. I just like them so I want to eat them."

Giving an extremely simple reason and not noticing the surprise on Mi Yu's face, Chun Ulala was about to walk towards the trash can with the empty marshmallow bag in her hand, when she was suddenly stunned.

"Wow! Miyu-chan, look, look!"

Just like Mi Yu just did, Chun Ulala held the packaging bag in both hands and presented it to Mi Yu like a treasure.

“I won the prize!”

"Although it was given to me by Miyu-chan, since I opened it, it means that both Miyu-chan and I are lucky!"

"So, Miyu-chan won't make anyone unhappy at all."

"Didn't Ulala win the lottery?"

"Hehe, if I win the prize, I'll be even happier today!"

"Thank you, Miyu-chan, thank you for the marshmallows!"

(End of this chapter)