Having trained real horses, why are we now training racehorse girls after time-traveling?

Sure enough, Zhen Jiling was the easiest to manage. She was both healing and wouldn't refuse training, plus she was adorable. She was a hundred times easier to handle than any Golden Master or Dongshang Reform.

"Huh?!"

However, for no apparent reason, as Chi Tian was thinking this, he suddenly shuddered involuntarily and subconsciously looked in one direction, but he couldn't catch any figure.

"Onii-chan, what's wrong?" Maki was enjoying Ikezoe's touch when Ikezoe suddenly stopped, leaving Maki somewhat confused.

"...It's nothing, probably just a side effect of being a master goldsmith." Chi Tian hesitated for a moment, then looked away and smiled slightly as he said, "The place where that guy kicked me this morning is still aching."

"Seriously, Onii-chan, now that I'm with Karen-chan, my eyes can only be focused on Karen-chan, okay? Don't think about other Uma Musume girls~" Makoto pouted cutely, pretending to be angry, and said, "Otherwise, Karen-chan will be angry."

Ah, even when she's angry, she's still adorable. That was Ikezoe's thought at that moment, and then her mind involuntarily drifted to the image of the Golden Master when he was angry...

...As expected, there are significant differences between racehorse girls, and generalizations cannot be made.

Meanwhile, out of Ikezoe's sight, a patch of grass rustled, and the masked Golden Master slowly emerged from it, ignoring the puzzled looks from the surrounding racehorse girls, and left as if nothing had happened.

The GIII race in Hakodate in July, 1200 meters, on grass...

Recalling these keywords, the Gold Master made a decision in his heart at this moment, a decision to fulfill his previous words.

She wanted to prove that she could win even without a trainer, and she wanted to show that annoying guy named Kenichi Ikezoe the true skill of a Gold Master!

……

Unlike the commotion at Ikezoe's place, training at Wada and Ima's place proceeded smoothly. The brief disturbance at Treson Academy did not affect their training, nor did it disrupt the practice of Nutao and McQueen.

"Hahaha……"

"Is that all? Is it over?"

Another lap ended, and Megumi McQueen, dressed in sportswear, was panting heavily and almost collapsed on the ground. However, she gritted her teeth and persevered. She looked at Ima Ryou, who was holding a timer, and asked:

"Trainer Jinlang, how did I do? With this kind of weight... I feel much more tired than usual."

"This is a method of losing weight while building strength." Jin Lang nodded, first noting down McQueen's results, and then adding:

"Results are not important; what matters is progress each time. This method of increasing the load while running is very effective for your training, but it also puts a lot of strain on your body."

"Therefore, this method only allows for four days of training per week. On the other three days, your training will return to normal. This way, we can ensure that no accidents will occur."

"I... I can keep going." McQueen was slightly surprised to hear this. Her whole body was sore, but she wasn't new to dieting, so she knew this was proof of its effectiveness. She immediately said, "Please allow me to train like this for a week, please!"

“No.” However, when this topic came up, the usually mild-mannered Jin Lang replied with a rather serious expression: “My training arrangements have their reasons, Miss McQueen. Don’t joke about your career.”

"Also, don't let me see you training so intensely in private—Golden Ship, could you help me supervise Miss McQueen?"

“Absolutely no problem, old man!” Goldship, who had been running alongside the whole way without any burden, didn’t even catch his breath. He grinned and gave Jinlang an awkward salute, indicating that he would keep a close eye on McQueen.

This undoubtedly extinguished McQueen's last chance. McQueen's horse ears drooped listlessly, clearly in a low mood. All of this was observed by Jin Lang, but the old man offered no explanation.

"Ha ha……"

At that very moment, another figure, who had arrived late, finally ran up to the group. It was none other than the famous general, Nu Tao.

However, it seems that the veteran swimmer, Nu Tao, is in far worse shape than McQueen. McQueen's weight loss program has been ongoing, leading to a reliance on high-intensity training. Nu Tao, on the other hand, has been relatively lax since his debut, making it even more difficult for him to resume high-intensity training now.

However, she was certainly not weak either. The reason she was so tired was because she ran an extra lap on her own.

"Hold on, I made it through." Nu Tao was also completely exhausted, but he still raised his fist to show that he had persevered.

"Ah, trainer, I, I made it through, ah... Oyster..." But soon, after reaching the finish line, Nutao also collapsed limply.

"Raging waves?!"

The sudden exhaustion of Nutao startled Hetian, who was following closely behind. When Nutao spontaneously ran an extra lap, Hetian sensed something was wrong and followed him the whole way. After all, Nutao was already quite exhausted, and if he ran another lap, Hetian was afraid that Nutao would collapse somewhere and wouldn't be able to get up.

It was completely unexpected that Raging Waves didn't exhaust himself until the very end, considering that he was carrying the same weight as McQueen.

He Tian immediately stepped forward and hugged Nu Tao's body. Nu Tao's body, plus the weight, was quite a burden for He Tian. Fortunately, McQueen, Jin Lang, and Golden Ship, who were still able to stand, also immediately came forward to help support Nu Tao's body.

"This silly child... if you can't take it anymore, just say so. Why do you have to exhaust yourself like this..." Wada asked with a troubled expression after supporting Nutao.

"Woo..." However, the dazed raging waves seemed to still be conscious, and answered in a low voice:

"Because I...don't want to betray the trainer's trust..."

"I... I dragged the trainer down, and the trainer still encouraged me so much... I..."

However, even though Nu Tao was so exhausted he could barely speak, Wada understood what was meant. Wada and Jinlang exchanged a glance, and finally, it was Old Master Jinlang who smiled and said:

"It seems, Wada, the child you chose is going to give us a pleasant surprise."

Wada remained silent for a while upon hearing this, looking at the seemingly sleeping Nutao in his arms. This child, who was once a formidable opponent when he was leading good operas, had now become his beloved horse girl's offspring, and he felt somewhat complicated.

However, in the end, He Tian still managed to hide these emotions and whispered into the ear of the horse Nu Tao:

"We will win, Raging Waves, I believe in you."

"..."

Nu Tao did not answer He Tian's words, but a smile seemed to appear on her lips in her sleep, turning into a slight upturned smile like a cat's.

Chapter Twenty-Three: You're the Only One Who Believes in Me

"Ugh... It's so dark..."

She didn't know how much time had passed when the famous general Nu Tao woke up from her sleep in a daze. She had no idea how long she had slept, but she felt that every part of her body was sore and aching, and even getting out of bed was a bit difficult.

She clearly remembered that she had fainted while running in the afternoon, and now... Mingjiang Nutao glanced at the darkness outside blocked by the curtains... Obviously, it was already past midnight.

Had he slept from the afternoon until evening...? The mind of the famous general, Fu Tao, belatedly cleared, and he almost instantly sat up in bed, muttering to himself with a hint of groan:

"Then, that means I... I missed an afternoon of training... Waaah..."

Thinking of this, even the renowned athlete Nu Tao couldn't help but wail. She had no idea that even if she hadn't run that extra lap, her high-intensity training would have been stopped by Jin Lang and He Tian. All she knew was that she was very weak, not only weak but also very fat. If she didn't continue training, she was afraid she wouldn't even be able to outrun McQueen, who hadn't even participated in his debut race...

In reality, it would definitely be difficult for Megumi McQueen to outrun Roughs under the same load conditions. After all, Roughs is a racehorse who won her debut race, and there is still a gap between her and McQueen, who didn't even participate in her debut race. Moreover, the weight McQueen needs to lose is no less than Roughs's.

But Nu Tao was completely unaware of these things. She was extremely insecure and almost considered herself the weakest among the generals. She knew that she was reckless and extremely insecure, which made her prone to timidity and retreat when performing.

Unless it's a situation with an absolute advantage, the kind where even Nu Tao herself knows she can win—her debut battle was just like that, taking first place almost without any waves, which even Nu Tao herself found unbelievable, to the point that she felt she had simply encountered the "least prestigious" episode.

Missing an afternoon of training was even more serious for Nutao. She was determined to lose weight and win for her trainer. As a racehorse girl, she needed to work twice as hard...

"Ugh... my shoulders and body are so sore..." The waves of soreness coming from his body seemed to be protesting, making Nu Tao want to retreat.

However, when Nu Tao thought of her trainer, He Tian, ​​and the goal he had told her, she stopped herself from retreating.

"No—I need to continue training."

"It's still possible... As long as I can make it to the evening training session and catch up on the part I missed in the afternoon..."

Otherwise, it would be impossible to win over a good opera student, and if I didn't do this, I would have to betray the trainer's trust in me...

Thinking this, Nu Tao forced herself to get out of bed in Tresson's infirmary, despite the intense discomfort she felt. She set aside her weighted sneakers and other burdens.

However, at that moment, a sound from the door of the infirmary made Nu Tao subconsciously stop what he was doing. Almost like a thief caught doing something wrong, Nu Tao immediately put down what he was doing and returned to the hospital bed to lie down obediently, as if nothing had happened.

"Click".

The door to the infirmary opened in response, and soon, under a burst of light, Nu Tao was able to see who had entered.

"Trainer... what are you doing here?"

"You're my designated racehorse girl, right? You collapsed during training. If I, as your trainer, don't stay with you the whole time, wouldn't I be using my designated racehorse girl as a expendable resource?"

He Tian answered without hesitation, completely oblivious to the slight surprise in Nu Tao's tone, and also unaware of Nu Tao's subtle movements before he entered. He only noticed the small fruit basket in He Tian's hand and said to Nu Tao:

"This fruit basket was sent by your roommate, Kongkong Jingu, and everyone else. They all knew you fainted, and they originally wanted to send you a lot of tonics, but Mr. Jinlang and I declined them and chose this instead."

"Want some? If you feel like you can't lift your arm, I can help you now."

"Well, that..." Nu Tao's cheeks flushed slightly, as if she was embarrassed. She had never experienced being cared for like this before, and she was about to refuse.

However, for some reason, his arms, which he had initially managed to get up despite the soreness, now felt as heavy as lead, making it impossible for Nu Tao to lift them. After much deliberation, Nu Tao, unable to hide his flushed cheeks, slightly concealed them with the blanket and said in a soft, sheep-like voice:

"Thank you so much, ma'am..."

……

Hetian sat beside Nutao's bed, peeling the fruit with a small knife and cutting it into small pieces for Nutao to eat. With Hetian's help, Nutao successfully sat up in bed again, watching Hetian's actions quietly and somewhat nervously.

"Senior Jinlang and I did not accept those tonics." At this moment, Wada suddenly raised his head and asked Nutao, "Nuttao, do you know why?"

"Because...because you're afraid I'll get fat again..." Nu Tao guessed cautiously; that was all she could think of.

"That's one aspect. On the other hand, Mr. Jinlang and I are more worried that because of the supplements, you will feel energetic again and continue to overdraw your physical strength to train."

He Tian finished processing the entire apple, then stuck a toothpick into the apple slices and brought it to Nu Tao's lips, saying:

"Your performance today surprised both me and Senior Jinlang. It's the first time we've ever seen someone, except during races or horse races, actually faint from training."

"It wasn't easy to carry you to the infirmary. If it weren't for the Golden Ship, it would have been very difficult for me, Senior Jinlang, and McQueen, who was also almost exhausted, to carry you over."

"Ugh..." Upon hearing this, Nu Tao's cheeks flushed slightly. After eating the apple that He Tian handed him, he quickly recalled the scene of being laboriously carried to the infirmary by Golden Ship, Jin Lang, and He Tian...

Thinking about this, Nu Tao felt powerless and ashamed. His aching legs even showed slight signs of twitching, as if he wanted to dig a hole out of the bed and crawl into it...

However, Wada, who was naturally shy and timid, didn't have any expectations about Nutao's reaction. He simply upheld his duty as a trainer and whispered a reminder:

"This kind of thing must not be allowed to happen again next time. It was too strenuous for several of us to lift you. Tomorrow will be a normal training day. You are not allowed to do any weight training on your own."

"I... I just didn't want to let the trainer down..." Upon hearing this, Nu Tao's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stated his position:

"After all, trainer, you said that I absolutely have to beat Opera-class in the Daily Cup two months from now..."

"—You must win, but only if you don't collapse before the Daily Cup begins."

Wada shook his head. Before he came, Senior Jinlang had talked to him a lot and shared a lot of things he needed to pay attention to in his upcoming training. But what impressed Wada the most was Senior Jinlang's last piece of advice.

"For racehorse girls, the scariest thing is not losing a race, but being unable to continue running on the track. And for us trainers, the scariest thing is not encountering all sorts of difficult racehorse girls, but watching the babes we've watched grow up eventually fade away like the setting sun."

Wada muttered to himself, repeating the words that Imai-senpai had told him. He understood the feelings Imai-senpai was expressing because... he had also witnessed such a scene.

Now, however, he is training the racehorse girl he once considered a rival, with the aim of winning over the racehorse girl he favors, which is somewhat ridiculous—but this does not mean that Wada is completely indifferent to the famous racehorse Noto.

Strictly speaking, Wada should dislike, or even hate, the great Nyutō, because the Good Opera ultimately stopped at only seven titles, the same as Rudolf's, partly because Nyutō's triumphant rise at the Takarazuka Memorial ended the Good Opera's six-game winning streak at GI.

Given that he is a rider and has a team, it's not surprising that Hetian might truly hate the famous general Nutao. Such things are common in Shetai. The fierce competition and deep animosity between various teams or ranches all stem from this. Few people can put aside such personal grudges, especially when it involves interests.

But Wada didn't do that. Not only Wada, but neither Imanami nor Ikezoe did that, because they are no longer the same as before. They are now trainers who are watching these children work hard, fight hard, and give everything for victory.

Moreover, Hotan has also seen that the famous general Nutao is now working hard to realize his dream. How can he hate such a child?

“Nu Tao, I hope you win, but I hope even more that you can continue running. So, never overdraw your racing career and do things beyond your capabilities. These things will not be worth the loss.”