The mediocre trainer doesn't want to reopen

A good opera singer is just as Kitano said, whether she wins or loses, she will laugh confidently, as if her defeat has become a success - this makes the "arrogant" shell she built to cover up her timidity and anxiety become stronger time and time again.

It was as if she had really become the "overlord" that Kitano mentioned. She had been calling herself this since Kitano set this goal for good opera. Over time, she always felt that she had really become the "overlord."

And it was not until now that good opera finally came to its senses... that the simple self was not a "tyrant" at all.

The title of "The Overlord of the End of the Century" requires the joint efforts of her and her trainer to achieve such a title.

"Be more confident, Good Opera. 'The King of the Century' wouldn't shed tears in front of others." Kitano patted Good Opera's shoulder and said softly, "You've done well this time. Everyone will remember this Arima Memorial, a symbol of the transition between eras. You almost surpassed this era."

"Ah."

Under Kitano's gentle comfort, Good Opera nodded heavily. When Kitano saw that Good Opera's emotions had stabilized and wanted to end their hug, he found that Good Opera's hand did not let go at all.

"Good opera?"

"A bully doesn't shed tears, but the one in front of you right now is not a bully, trainer."

"Just let me lean on you for a while, be a little upset for a while, trust me."

"From now on... I won't shed tears anymore. From now on, we won't lose a single game again."

You and I, if we move forward hand in hand, we will become even stronger than we are now! Good Opera believed this, and it was not until today that she completely understood that her trainer was not a trainer who could only help her with logistics.

And from that day on, when Good Opera was asked the same question by those people, she would answer with a more confident and determined tone: "If you think my trainer is a burden to Overlord—then unfortunately, your vision is not very good. You don't understand my trainer at all."

"He is the Overlord's best subject, and also my, the Overlord's, only subject! This will never change!"

Chapter 247: Memory fragments of a good opera: The crazy person

Her three-year career as a horse racing girl was like a dream for Good Opera. She had experienced downfall, glory, regret and unwillingness, but in the end, Good Opera brought a decent end to her career.

At the final Arima Kinen, Good Opera handed over the final stage to the new generation, and chose its own way of ending with a dignified result, ending with the fourth place.

Interestingly, the fifth-place finisher was Good Opera's old rival from the ancient horse year, the renowned Raging Wave. In the final race, Good Opera ceded the stage to a new generation, but still managed to emerge victorious over its old rival, dethroning its throne in the most dignified manner.

And just as she, and Kitano, had hoped, the title "End of the Century Overlord" resounded throughout Japan over the past two years. Even if no one, including good opera, understood the meaning of this title Kitano was so persistent in using, it was certainly cool enough, and that was enough.

At this time, Good Opera, with the cooperation of Kitano, achieved a record of 25 wins in 14 games, 7 GI wins, 7 runner-up places, 4 third places, and a 25% hit rate in 100 games, which made her firmly establish her position as the "End of the Century Overlord".

At the same time, the bounty for Good Opera broke the highest record in Japan and even the world. The bounty of more than 19 billion yen made countless new generation of horse racing girls afraid, and no one dared to challenge it.

Faced with such impressive results and records, the achievements brought by Good Opera have made it the "End of the Century Overlord" symbolized by rivaling the "Emperor" Ludo. Everyone understands that Good Opera's position as a legendary Uma Musume is a sure thing.

But there were some problems on this issue... In the second year after announcing its suspension of participation in the competition, Good Opera was not selected as a Hall of Fame Uma Musume for various reasons.

"To be considered a Hall of Fame-level Uma Musume, not only do we need to receive votes from fans, but we also need a certain percentage of votes from fellow Uma Musume fans. Only when both percentages are met can a character be named a Hall of Fame-level Uma Musume."

"The fan vote for Good Opera is definitely qualified, but... unfortunately, your vote within the Uma Musume community did not meet JRA standards."

"This matter... my personal understanding... well... I hope you won't be anxious. After all, Good Opera is always full of confidence after every competition, whether she wins or loses. For more people to challenge her... not all Uma Musume will necessarily accept or understand her."

——This passage was the information Kitano got from Surukawa Tezuna, saying that this was the explanation of JRA.

After hearing this, Kitano understood that this was pure nonsense. The fact that a good opera could not be rated as a legendary Uma Musume was entirely a matter of a word from the JRA top management - after all, this selection criteria was not open to the public at all, and the level of the data was entirely a matter of their words.

Kitano could almost guess the reason behind this. It was simply because of the European racing girl's bloodline who loved opera that the JRA, which still had a "holding horse" policy in this round, deliberately made things difficult for her.

"Don't worry, good opera, I'll make sure you get everything that's yours."

Kitano only left such a promise for good opera, and in the following year, he made a lot of preparations.

First, he raised funds for many local horse racing girls academies in the name of Good Opera's trainer, and guided the remaining horse racing girls at the Tresin Academy, in order to increase the horse racing girls' voting support for Good Opera in the second year.

Although his teaching skills were somewhat lacking at the Trasen Academy, even after a wave of teaching and reinforcement from the Good Opera, teaching the local horse girls was a low-level job for a central trainer like Kitano, so he was certainly at ease.

In addition, Kitano also mobilized the power of Japanese netizens, created dozens of different small accounts, and constantly led the rhythm on major platforms. As a time traveler and a former keyboard warrior, Kitano's combat effectiveness when picking up the keyboard is completely different from the reality. He used various methods to try to unite Japanese netizens to denounce the behavior of JRA.

The effect was very good. Half a year later, the JRA headquarters was blocked and questioned by fans of Good Opera. Hundreds of fans wearing masks, sunglasses and sun hats asked JRA to make a public response to the fact that Good Opera did not select it as the "Hall of Fame Uma Musume", after all, the selection data was public.

This did have a significant impact on JRA, but soon, related events disappeared from the Japanese Internet overnight, and most of Kitano's dozens of small accounts were permanently banned, and the end was announced.

The rest was just a matter of time. Kitano and the JRA executives kept consuming more resources, while the chairman kept asking JRA about the incident and said he would do his best.

During that time, in Good Opera's memory, the trainer who was always inseparable from her had very few opportunities to meet her that year. Most of the time, they could only meet through video conversations.

As for Kitano's background, sometimes it was a hotel room, sometimes it was the dormitory of the Uma Musume Academy, or sometimes it was the situation where the local Uma Musumes were sticking to Kitano...but he was never by her side.

"Good opera? What's wrong? Are you feeling lonely?"

"As a tyrant, I will never be lonely, my subjects."

Lies. Good opera, of course, feels lonely, a loneliness that no amount of hanging out with a few close friends can alleviate. It requires the presence of certain people, but good opera can't do that.

She knew very well that everything Kitano did was for her. The only thing she could do now was not to cause trouble for Kitano. He was working hard for everything she deserved.

But... facing Kitano who did all these things for her every day, the line from the good opera that was stuck in her throat, "What I want most is for you to be by my side"... could not be said out loud.

She was a little worried that by saying this, she would be denying all the efforts Kitano had made for her over such a long time.

But she couldn't control herself and tried her best to convey her thoughts to Kitano... However, she lost the glory and confidence of the "King", and her true nature was exposed... just an ordinary chestnut-haired horse girl with a delicate and fragile heart.

She couldn't do it, she didn't know how to express her feelings to the person in front of her... The man in front of her was a dozen years older than her. Although he was still handsome and good at taking care of people, it was difficult to describe her feelings for this man.

He... took care of her like a father, listened to her like a brother, and was more like... a boyfriend who loved her. Orihime even complained about how close they were several times, saying that Kitano took care of her and "took care of Opera like he would take care of his lover."

And every time this happened, Narita nods with a heavy heart and says something like, "The way Opera classmate and Trainer Kitano get along is, how should I put it, quite impressive."

So, does she like Kitano?

If she wasn't facing Kitano's face at this moment, Good Opera would ask herself, she really likes this man... Although this kind of feeling seems to be a little different from the love between men and women, she does not deny that if she really is with Kitano... it's not that she doesn't want to.

But the question is...does her trainer like her?

Good Opera didn't know, or rather, she lacked confidence. While the title "Final Overlord" certainly catapulted her to the spotlight, Good Opera knew full well that everything she had was built under Kitano's watchful eye. In fact, Kitano was the one who had personally shaped her into the "Final Overlord." He knew everything about her all too well.

He knew the true face of Good Opera beneath her seemingly strong and confident shell, and he also knew that after stripping away her exaggerated movements, perfect singing voice, and gorgeous winning outfit, Good Opera was actually just an ordinary chestnut-haired horse girl. Everything about her was clearly known to that man.

But without the most confident shell… Good Opera is not confident that the man will fall in love with her.

There are so many people who are better than her...

Good Opera thought like this, facing Kitano on the other side of the screen, every time at this time just pursed his lips and said softly: "I'm fine... Trainer, please finish your work quickly and rest early."

"I always feel that today's good opera is very gentle. Don't worry, I will be back soon."

But that day, Kitano's answer was different for the first time. Kitano smiled gently and said softly to Good Opera: "Soon you will get everything you deserve. Don't worry, I will do it right away."

……

And in the second year after Good Opera suspended all related competitions, finally, as Kitano said, Good Opera qualified for the "Japan Central Hall Uma Musume" recognized and personally awarded by JRA that year.

That day was definitely the happiest day for Good Opera. She held high the certificate with the stamp of approval from JRA. This meant that not only would she be recorded in the history of Japanese horse girls in the future, but also that she was now the student council president of Tresen Academy for two terms, a symbol of the same status as Shenzan and Luduo.

In other words, she had almost secured a reservation for the next student union president of Tresen College—of course, this was only possible if Luduo symbolically announced his withdrawal, otherwise it would definitely not be her turn.

After that, two pieces of news were announced one after another. One was that JRA revised the selection criteria for the Hall of Fame-level Uma Musume. In the future, the relevant selection criteria will be calculated based on the support ratio of the two groups of fans and Uma Musume, and the scores will be made public.

Undoubtedly, this is the result of Kitano, the horse racing girls who united because of him, and Japanese netizens. Faced with such pressure, even JRA had to choose to compromise.

But the next piece of news made Good Opera feel very uneasy.

Due to the excellence of the opera and the fact that she was Kitano's first horse girl, she achieved such an achievement. JRA specially allowed Kitano to go to France for further studies to make adequate preparations for the future Japanese horse girl sprint for the Arc de Triomphe.

This means that good opera will be separated from Kitano again, and this separation... will last for three years.

And Good Opera could never have imagined that the moment she separated from her trainer... would be their final farewell.

She never waited for Kitano to come back.

Three years passed and another three years went by, until one day, it seemed that Surukawa Tetsuna could no longer bear the fact that no one knew anything about Good Opera, and she found Good Opera and revealed to her the news she knew.

"Good opera... You should just forget about Trainer Kitano. He... can't come back."

"No one has told you this news... Although not many people know about it, no one has the heart to tell you, but I really can't help it."

"Don't wait for Trainer Kitano anymore... He's dead. He committed suicide in Paris. He was driven to death by the environment there."

"!!" At that moment, Good Opera would never know how hideous her expression was. Before she could question him, Sumikawa Tezuna shook his head bitterly and whispered, "He doesn't know anyone there... He doesn't even speak French. JRA didn't even arrange a decent translator for him. He's completely unfamiliar with the place, and furthering his studies in Paris is a complete cover-up, an impossible task given to him by JRA."

"He... offended all the JRA executives, and JRA wouldn't let him come back. He's been driven crazy by the environment in Paris."

"So, forget about him, good opera... I'm sorry, the chairman and I... we've tried our best, but nothing can be changed."

Chapter 248: Memory fragments of a good opera: Touched by the waiting of the three goddesses

It's really easy to drive someone crazy with the environment. For students in school, all it takes is a tacit agreement in a school bullying campaign. It only takes a few people repeatedly bullying a weak child, while the others pretend not to see anything. Over time, it can easily kill a young child.

It might not be difficult to drive an adult crazy with their environment. Adults are more likely to bear the pressures of life, but if the pressures come quickly and violently, they can cause an adult to collapse instantly, leading to even greater tragedy.

The root of all this was sown the day Kitano argued repeatedly with the top management of JRA over the selection of Good Opera for the Hall of Fame-level Uma Musume, and finally lost his patience and angrily scolded all the top management of JRA.

Good Opera was unaware of this. She had been well protected by Kitano from the beginning, and was completely unaware of these dark events. And these so-called "dark events" were just the daily routine of the trainers.

The trainer's responsibility is to support the horse girls so that they can run smoothly on the track. The efforts and things that need to be done behind the scenes are often beyond the understanding of the horse girls... Especially for the pure horse girls who were born in ordinary families and have never been exposed to class differences since childhood. The adult world... or in other words, the adult human society, is beyond their understanding.

Horse girls are pure. They cannot imagine how complicated the rules governing the human world are. They don't know how many involvements and discussions are involved just because they are about to step onto the field. This is all a necessary part of a trainer's job.

Of course, most trainers are also unable to reach such a high level. Often only when they reach a certain height will some things become clear - and for Kitano, this is his second time being involved with JRA, and the last time, he had someone to support him, Ludo Symbol.

But this time... he didn't. He was just a "lucky guy" with no power or influence. Facing the JRA's difficulties, Kitano wanted to reason with them, but in the end, he exploded in silence.

"Holding horses is simply the worst policy you've ever implemented! If—Ahhh! If I had noticed this back then, I would have definitely changed everything! What purpose does this stupid policy serve other than exposing your narrow-mindedness?"

"To prevent foreign horse girls from taking away the Japanese horse girls' living space? Putting aside the fact that good operas aren't what you call 'holding horses,' even if they were—can this method really make the Japanese horse girls stronger?! You're just kidding yourself!"

"Rotten! You're all rotten! What future can Uma Musume have with people like you around?!"

"It's all because of scumbags like you! They deserve it for not being able to beat the Arc de Triomphe for so many years! You're the only ones leading Uma Musume in Japan who are deceiving their own selves? Even the bounties are inflated!"

That day, Kitano scolded all the senior executives of JRA, and even exposed the truth that everyone in JRA had known but had never torn.

Tezuna Sugawa and the chairman, who witnessed this scene, couldn't even pull Kitano back. If Tezuna Sugawa hadn't covered Kitano's mouth, it would have been a question whether Kitano could walk out of the JRA door.

But Kitano was not wrong. He just repeated what JRA had done, but even so, they felt it was a huge insult.

The fact is, Kitano fought for everything she deserved for the good opera, but... she made herself a thorn in the side of JRA.

Therefore, when Kitano was almost unable to refuse to go to Paris, JRA did not provide Kitano with any assistance. There was no translator, no familiar people, and no Uma Musume. Apart from a sum of money every month, Kitano did not know anyone in Paris.

In an unfamiliar environment, Kitano couldn't even speak English very well before he traveled through time. And you asked him to start from scratch and learn French by himself without anyone to guide him in France... This alone was enough to make Kitano feel that it was impossible.

But here, he had no familiar people, no familiar places, and it was even difficult to find someone with whom he could have a normal conversation.

What made him feel even more miserable was that he couldn't go back. Before the three-year period was completed, the JRA would not allow him to return to Japan, or even go to other countries.

And a year and a half later, Kitano, overwhelmed by the pressure, finally went "crazy".

"You can be so arrogant, but you can only be arrogant for this round. Next time, you will disappear from this world."

"This week, you won't see me anymore, and next week—I won't see you anymore! You bastards who are ruining Uma Musume!"

"This will be a pure world. There may always be dark corners, but a world where all horse girls are happy will never be impossible as long as you are here!"

"Goodbye, bastards, you succeeded in killing me this time!"

These were Kitano's final, "mad" words. Afterward, he vanished in Paris. No one could find him, and there were no reports of him jumping off a train or a building. He vanished without a trace.

After fully realizing the seriousness of the matter, JRA searched for people in Paris for a whole year, but because they did not arrange anyone to keep an eye on Kitano from the beginning, and there was a language barrier, and no one in the academy knew Kitano, they completely chose to give up.

Everyone thought that Kitano had committed suicide, and as a trainer who was unfamiliar with Paris, no one had any impression of him, even though he had been there for a full year and a half.

Everyone thought Kitano was dead... except one person who didn't believe it.

She was still waiting, waiting for her trainer to return, and she believed that her trainer would definitely come back.

So, three years passed, and another three years passed. The good opera waited for who knows how many three years. During this time, the only things that could help her record everything were those diaries.

Ever since Good Opera learned that Kitano had died, she had felt a strong sense of dizziness that was constantly depriving her of her memories and feelings. However, Good Opera, who was waiting for Kitano's return, did not want this feeling to take away her beautiful memories of Kitano.

All she could do was record what happened each day, and her thoughts about her trainer each day... day after day, year after year.

That day, Good Opera opened her diary again... She had forgotten how many new diaries this was, but she clearly recorded the current time on it.

"Trainer...time flies. Seventeen years have passed since you left me. Why haven't you come back to me yet?"

"I've learned to cook for myself recently... Although my cooking isn't as delicious as yours, it's not that bad anymore. Can you come back and try it?"

"I clearly have a strong premonition that this year will be the day you come back to see me. This feeling is stronger than any other time before. Why haven't you come back yet?"

"I'm still waiting for you. I wonder if you're still waiting for me. I want to believe you're still here. I can feel it. You're still by my side."

"Will I be able to see you soon?"

After finishing all this, Good Opera also flipped through the diaries he had written, as if he was an old man recalling his youth, reminiscing about the past.