Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 247 The lead horse is—

A week after the summer auction ended, on the second day of the Saga expedition.

After finishing their morning work, everyone at Mejiro Ranch, including Kitano, looked exhausted and listless.

By the time we finished our slightly late breakfast, the sunlight coming through the window had become quite strong.

However, the air conditioner seems to be making less noise than it did a few days ago.

Ah, autumn is coming, isn't it?

As I was relaxing, feeling the texture of the tatami mat with the soles of my buttocks and feet and looking at a magazine, Zepp suddenly struck up a conversation with me.

The page on the paper happened to contain a vision for the autumn battlefront.

"If it's autumn, it won't be until November."

So he started speaking without even looking up.

I was referring to the season.

The German sighed and showed the weather forecast information on his screen.

"The temperature has been dropping these past few days."

"It really seems to be true!"

"Isn't that kind of thing normal?"

"After all, this is San Shi."

Apart from Kikuchi, the reactions from the two employees who joined last fall were also very lukewarm.

"Isn't that a bit too early—"

After putting down his phone, Zep expressed almost the exact same sentiment as last year.

Summer in Hokkaido is very short.

Mejiro Ranch, nestled against the hills, quickly takes on the feel of autumn as soon as September arrives.

"So, does that mean we'll have to start sweeping up fallen leaves again?"

Rachel Ho sighed as if she had suddenly realized something.

"Preparations for the armature also need to begin."

With his fingers interlaced, Kitano stretched and yawned, then squinted and drank the rest of the instant clam soup in his bowl.

Then he frowned slightly in disapproval.

Sure enough, there's a reason why discounted items aren't selling.

Silently noting down the clam chowder brand, Kitano swiped out his phone's memo app.

The item for "[Taming]" was moved to the afternoon.

The horses will be delivered within ten days, starting from the day after the auction concludes.

This refers to the formal handover procedure.

An auction only signifies the establishment of a sales contract; the transaction is not yet truly complete.

Those who choose to hand over the horse on the spot, like him, are usually only a minority among horse owners.

Meanwhile, in Nishiken, they were busy delivering the horses for the auction.

Because it's a ranch run by just the father and daughter, although they haven't sold many horses, this task still takes a considerable amount of time.

"Let's talk about horseshoes this afternoon. We can take a look together when Mr. Ogawa arrives."

Kitano called out to the hoof trimmer who was getting up while yawning.

"It's fine on my end."

Zep shrugged indifferently.

"Yes, everyone is a very well-behaved child."

Rachel Ho nodded in agreement.

"Well, I guess so."

He coughed a few times as if he had choked, and Asayama's previously poker-card-like expression became somewhat subtle.

Even Hiramahama, who is widely regarded by everyone on the ranch as having a difficult temper, is not to the point of being completely helpless.

Not to mention—

Because of his stupidity, his thoughts are surprisingly easy to understand.

"However, Huibin can be quite frightening when he gets angry."

It is said that some exceptionally gifted horses can stand upright on their hind legs, and some can even walk a distance in a similar posture.

On his very first day at Mejiro Ranch, Teruhama displayed the talent he inherited from his parents.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a curse.

"Peppermints would have been fine." "That's true, though—"

Asahi was speechless.

"Eating too much sugar will cause cavities."

Like a childcare worker explaining something to children, Kikuchi pushed up his half-rimmed glasses.

"If it were a horse, it would probably be laminitis."

With that, Kitano closed the magazine in his hand.

"Wow! Is it that serious?"

The others looked at them with surprise.

"If it's just an occasional reward, then it's not really related to beer."

As a result, the gazes that had been drawn to them immediately disappeared.

"However, linking training and rewards too closely doesn't seem like a good thing."

"Don't worry, don't worry, at least Huibang won't find out—"

The next moment, laughter came from the other end of the closed paper door on the left side of the corridor.

The electronic clock on the wall showed the time as "9:47," and that was how the morning on the ranch ended.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the intense heat subsided slightly.

After completing the subsidy procedures at the agricultural cooperative, the sky suddenly turned gloomy on the way back to the ranch.

The forecast this morning indicated a 60% chance of rain, which is hardly unexpected.

Despite not having an umbrella or any rain protection, the car did not speed up.

Holding onto the Daoist belief that "if it's a heavy rain, it won't last long; a light drizzle won't matter," they proceeded unhurriedly along the route back to Sanshi.

That being said, the weather remained stuck at the moment before it rained.

After passing Mino and the bridge, the heavy, leaden sky finally began to drop raindrops.

"That's true."

He hurriedly put the things into his pocket and looked up at the sky through the glass window.

It's practically a twisted sense of humor, like "I'm going to soak you in the rain."

That's what I said, but I still really didn't want to get wet in the rain.

So he pushed open the car door and rushed into the lounge just before the torrential rain began to pour down.

There were two pairs of shoes that weren't unfamiliar, placed in front of the entryway.

As the paper door was opened, the rustling sound from outside was replaced by voices.

As expected from the shoes in the entryway, Ogawa's two men were sitting at a low table talking to the company members.

"Looks like we made it in time, Kitano-kun."

Setting down his teacup, Ogawa Takeshi greeted him with a smile.

Good afternoon, Kitano-kun.

Seeing him enter the room, Kanna Ogawa also looked up and spoke.

"We were just talking about Hirahama—"

For some reason, Rachel Ho, wearing the same glasses as Kikuchi, raised her hand formally like a student.

"You can't make fun of that child on purpose."

Kitano plopped down in the empty seat next to Ogawa Takeshi and shook his head helplessly.

"No, Representative Ogawa made a very interesting suggestion."

"It's nothing serious. Besides, this method was created by that kid Sheng. I'm just learning it on the spot."

Next, Ogawa Takeshi put forward a theory that seemed somewhat familiar.

"First Horse Development?"

After listening, a look of curiosity appeared in Kitano's eyes.

I feel like I heard Professor Yamazaki say something similar back in college.

However, because it is not closely related to the main job of a veterinarian, its existence is not particularly memorable.

"Besides, hasn't Hikihama-chan already changed a bit under Toba-nee's guidance?"

Upon hearing this, Kitano couldn't help but silently mutter a complaint to himself—

"If this is the kind of change, please spare me."

(End of this chapter)