The mediocre trainer doesn't want to reopen

"After all, Saint King treats Trainer Jun differently." On the side, Shanxin also slowly stopped. She and Emperor have been debuting for a few months recently, and the results are pretty good.

The talent of the Emperor of the East China Sea is indeed the best in the team. From his debut in January to the end of April, excluding the debut match, the Emperor of the East China Sea has achieved a good result of four wins in four games, including three OP wins and one GIII win.

Shanxin's results were not as good as those of the East Sea Emperor, but he also had a record of two wins in two games, one pre-op game and one giii game, in addition to his debut game.

After all, Shanxin's escape tactics consume much more physical strength than the East China Sea Emperor's, and it takes a longer time to recover before the next game. Naturally, he does not have as many wins as the East China Sea Emperor. However, such success in the rookie period has basically made Shanxin qualified to challenge the Classic Triple Crown.

In this situation, if it were any other trainer, they would definitely take great care of and obey the two rising stars under their command. However, in Kitano's case, their performance can be considered impressive, but it cannot be said to be unique.

After all, Cao Shang Fei and Qing Yun Tian Kong both won the Limited GI Championship during their rookie season. With the achievements of these two predecessors, the status of the Emperor and Shanxin teams can only be suppressed before they win the GI Championship.

——Of course, there is definitely no situation in Kitano's team where seniors bully juniors. This kind of competitive spirit is just an idea that every Uma Musume will have. Whoever wins more gi will be a more important member of the team. This is common sense.

But... the reason why the emperor is dissatisfied is that the Holy King is not the victorious horse girl. Even though she is his senior and has a good relationship with his trainer-san, they have been spending too much time together recently!

"Sheng Wang has just come out of his dark days. We'd better not disrupt the atmosphere between Trainer-kun and Sheng Wang."

Shanxin was also holding the emperor's shoulders, helping him with the flexibility test she was very good at. At the same time, she said to the emperor who was a little upset, "Sheng Wang is still in the classic year recently, so it's normal for him to receive more attention from the trainer. What's more, Sheng Wang and the trainer have an agreement to win the Japanese Derby."

"And after losing to Xing-chan at the Gaoyue Shoku... you saw it, didn't you, Emperor? How Sheng-wang-san performed..."

"Wow... Indeed, I've never seen Sheng Wang-san so upset. She usually has a good temper."

As Shanxin spoke, the Emperor nodded in approval. The Gaoyue Award had just concluded, and the Saint King's aura's reaction had truly sent the entire team into a state of panic. Not only did she display a profound fear of failure, but what shocked everyone the most was her slapping of Kitano.

This incident shocked the entire team and almost caused a conflict within the team. Fortunately, Kitano stopped it in time and said that this was not the Holy King's intention, but just a reaction to her self-protection due to the collapse of her psychological defenses.

After this incident, Kitano spent a few days to let the Holy King slowly recover. This incident made everyone happy, but it also caused some minor disagreements because they were together almost all the time.

Among them, the one with the biggest objection was not the emperor, nor was it Luduo Yuyu and Mejiro Aldan, who had an equally good relationship with Kitano and were about to get engaged, but Qingyun Tiankong, who was in the same classic year as the Holy King.

Yes, Xingjiang finally had the courage to express her own opinion - although not in front of Kitano and Shengwang, but now Xingjiang seemed to have made up her mind, and was finally able to express her jealousy towards Kitano for being so worried about Shengwang alone.

Although Kitano knew all this, he really didn't have time to pay attention to Xingjiang for the time being... What he had to make sure of was the condition of the Holy King. Before he was sure that the Holy King's "heartache" would not affect the subsequent competition and life, Kitano really didn't have the extra energy to focus on other things.

And Xingjiang happened to understand this, so she just complained verbally, just like the current emperor.

……

"So, are you feeling better lately?"

Elsewhere, the Holy King, who had returned to training today, also completed today's training tasks under Kitano's watchful gaze. Kitano didn't immediately judge the Holy King's training performance. Instead, he asked a question that would surprise the others: "Is that shadow still bothering you? Or... is it undermining your self-confidence?"

"Not lately... She seems to only appear when you're not around."

As for the "shadow" that Kitano called, it was undoubtedly the one that would appear when the Holy King Halo was on the field. It was exactly the same as her own figure, but it seemed to be a "phantom" closer to her previous self.

After the Holy King and Kitano shared their memories that day, the Holy King told Kitano about this matter. After hearing about it, Kitano affectionately called the figure "Shadow".

Yes, the "shadow" of the Holy King's halo in the past - this was Kitano's judgment on this strange phenomenon happening to the Holy King.

Perhaps it was because of the Saint King's "heart disease" that this "shadow" of the past came into being. This figure also came from part of the Saint King's own thoughts, representing her pride, arrogance and determination that she had not yet abandoned... It's not to say that the current Saint King has none of these, it can only be said that in the long-term relationship with Kitano, the competitive Saint King has indeed dissipated a lot.

After all, in order to heal the Saint King's heartache, Kitano had to prevent him from recalling his past experiences as much as possible. Therefore, Kitano chose to use calmness to help the Saint King forget these nightmares... He wanted her to understand that her life was not only valuable on the court, but that she could become a better person.

And now, in this round, the nightmares and shadows of the past once again entangled the Holy King. Kitano thought that the Holy King, with his past experiences, could accept everything relatively calmly this time, but he did not expect... the backlash would be even more severe.

Even the "shadow" situation, which is a bit like schizophrenia, has appeared... Kitano is helpless, but in the world of Uma Musume, such a wonderful thing happening does not seem surprising - after all, in a world where Uma Musume can reach the ability of "domain" and even show it, it is easy to accept any supernatural things happening.

Kitano had encountered this situation before. Generally speaking, encountering some supernatural phenomena could be understood as the imminent breakthrough of this horse girl. As long as she could overcome this difficulty, she would likely have a breakthrough in her realm.

Moreover, this situation is different for every Uma Musume. Rudolph's "breakthrough" was reflected in the fact that after defeating Representative Chiaki, Rudolph gradually understood "victory" beyond the competition. After Kitano persuaded her for several days, her decadent state turned into a brand new one, which was undoubtedly a breakthrough in realm.

And what the Holy King embodies here is the "shadow" of the past... When Kitano thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a headache. He didn't have any good way to deal with the "shadow" of the Holy King's past.

"Speaking of which, Holy King, can you hear your shadow now? Can you communicate with her?"

"Of course you can, but why are you asking?"

The Holy King didn't know why Kitano brought this up, but he felt like he had some other agenda. Sure enough, Kitano nodded and said, "I'd like to try and talk to her... but I can't see her either. Could you, Holy King, convey my thoughts to me?"

"Let me give it a try."

The Holy King was silent for a while after hearing this, but finally decided to try to awaken the "shadow" in his heart. He slowly closed his eyes and tried to call out to his other self over and over again in his mind.

From Kitano's perspective, the Holy King's pupils soon opened again, and this time, the Holy King's originally chestnut eyes turned into a subtle pitch-black color when he opened his eyes again.

Soon, a familiar and long-lost aura of pride emanated from the Holy King. The Holy King raised his head slightly and looked at Kitano. His tone was very calm, yet with a hint of subtle awkwardness, as he asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Chapter 406: Is the “shadow” actually more honest than the real body?

"Are you the Holy King's 'shadow'? The one who not only surpassed the Holy King at the Gaoyue Sho, but actually beat Xing-chan?"

And Kitano also saw the "shadow" of the Holy King for the first time. He could now clearly feel that the current "Holy King" was obviously more like the one in the past, the arrogant and proud one before she met Kitano... but she seemed a little different.

At least, when Kitano knew the Holy King, even in the early days when it was the most difficult to get along with him, the Holy King did not show such strong aggressiveness as this "shadow"... But she seems to be a little afraid of him now?

Kitano didn't know how to evaluate his first impression of the "Holy King" in front of him. She looked like a Holy King, but not quite like one. In some crucial aspects, she was completely different from the real Holy King. For example, the gentleness that came from the heart... He didn't seem to feel that in "her"?

Even without Kitano's influence, the Holy King is still a Uma Musume with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She just isn't used to expressing her inner gentleness, but she is actually a truly gentle Uma Musume.

If we start from this point, just by meeting each other, Kitano can feel that the "shadow" of the Holy King in front of him is missing this side... Of course, it is too one-sided to determine the other person's character just by meeting each other.

"I'm not a 'shadow', so you can just give me a first-class title as you please?"

The "Holy King" clearly possessed a pride and arrogance ingrained in her bones. Upon hearing Kitano address her in that way, she immediately spoke with great dissatisfaction, "I am myself. She and I are the same. We are both part of this body. I am merely another form of her consciousness."

"But I can still control this body, very freely—I can even be stronger than hers. If I had become the master of this body, the outcome of the last Gaoyue Sho would have been completely different."

"But you can't do that, right? Otherwise, you could have taken over the Holy King's body during the Gaoyue Awards instead of turning into a phantom and irritating her."

Kitano also pointed out the predicament of the "Saint King" at the moment. As expected, the moment Kitano said this, the "Saint King"'s expression quickly darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye. However, he still maintained his composure and said, "Hmph, it's just a small predicament. As a first-class person, I will not stop because of such a situation."

"I just couldn't stand it. We're both me, but I couldn't resist winning without a fight, as if I could just give it to someone else at any moment."

When this was mentioned, "Holy King Halo" showed some anger. It was obvious that in this Gaoyue Award, "he" had lost to Qingyun Tiankong again. He had obviously grasped enough opportunities, and even his strength was stronger than before, but he still could not break through his limitations in the Gaoyue Award.

So when she appeared at that time, it was to stimulate "herself" to make rapid progress, and to let "herself" put aside her worries and go all out. However, the performance of the other her was obviously unsatisfactory, and even her performance after the game was over was the same.

"Losing the game actually awakened the fears of the past. This behavior is really shameful. I can't believe that she and I are the same person..."

The "Holy King" covered her cheeks with her hands, looking very incredulous, and a little disappointed in her. No matter what, she looked down on the current display of the Holy King's aura.

"I actually think the Holy King was quite brave." Kitano, faced with the Holy King's accusations against his alter ego, felt he should speak up for the Holy King. He said, "She was already shaking uncontrollably when she entered the arena, yet she insisted on continuing. Honestly, I'm much more timid than the Holy King. I was planning to stop the match immediately."

"She's already tried to face her nightmare on her own. From that point of view, I think she's grown a lot... Now the only thing left is how to win."

"You're trying to save her face." Upon hearing this, the Saint King Halo rolled his eyes, somewhat dismissive of Kitano's words. However, Kitano replied in a serious tone, "I'm also trying to save you. You said it yourself, you and the Saint King are one, so I'm also speaking for you."

"Don't even think about conquering me, you bastard. I won't fall for it."

However, Kitano's meaning seemed to have been distorted by the "Holy King", and it seemed that the "Holy King" himself had a strong resistance to Kitano. The reason... was very simple. She herself said that she and the Holy King were "the same person".

The same person naturally possessed the same memories. Therefore, the "Holy King Halo" clearly knew everything about the Holy King and Kitano, and was also well aware that "it" was very fond of... no, rather, it was extremely in love with Kitano, even to the point of being willing to die for him.

And this… in fact, the “Saint King Halo” itself was also like this. However, she behaved differently from the Saint King Halo. She didn’t express her love words or feelings openly like the current Saint King. At least she still had a sense of shame, and she didn’t intend to make herself the “weak party”.

Therefore, the "Holy King" was on high alert against Kitano's attacks, not intending to reveal even a little bit of his excessive emotions - otherwise, he would be exactly the same as another self!

With this thought in mind, the "Holy King" did not show any good face to Kitano at all. However, her tail, which was wagging slightly and happily, seemed to reveal her true mood at this moment.

"So, you asked the other me to call me out just to please me? And then ask me not to harass her again? If that's the case, then I might have to disappoint you."

"I won't leave willingly until I've trained someone to be a top-tier being who isn't afraid of the competition and won't be defeated by the nightmares of the past. So during this time, I will definitely be her 'shadow' and 'torture' her. This is something she must face."

Having said this, the Holy King turned his gaze towards Kitano and asked with a somewhat skeptical look, "You're not that stupid. You think you can convince me to change my mind, right?"

"If that's the case, then maybe I really am that stupid."

But at this moment Kitano did not hide her thoughts at all. Now Kitano knew the purpose of the "Holy King", and in a sense she felt relieved. Fortunately, as a human being, the "Holy King" at least did not intend to harm her. She just could not accept the current weakness of the Holy King, so she kept provoking her.

And judging from the results, her stimulation had a very good effect. During the Gaoyue Award Ceremony, the Holy King truly gave his all for the first time. His competitive spirit was not a problem at all, and his performance could be said to be the best ever.

It's a pity that her judgment was wrong. Otherwise, the Holy King's strength at that time should have been on par with Xingjiang. If the Holy King could control his own rhythm and sprint in the last 600 meters, it would be hard to say who would win or lose in this Gaoyue Award.

But if the "Holy King" did not exist, Kitano had doubts about whether the Holy King himself could exert his full strength given his current condition - therefore, Kitano thought about it and came to a conclusion.

If the "Holy King Halo" continues to exist, it may not be a bad thing. On the contrary, for the Holy King, this may be a rare opportunity.

After figuring this out, Kitano adjusted his mindset and spoke to the "Saint King" in front of him, "No matter what, even if you and she are the same person, I will not allow you to continue to intimidate the Saint King... Of course, I'm not threatening you, but begging you not to provoke the Saint King at this time."

"However, I very much support your attempt to 'stimulate' the Holy King from another perspective...especially in terms of competition and training."

"Your strength is indeed greater than that of the Holy King. I cannot deny this. The Holy King said that you were able to defeat Gao Yue and Xing Jiang during the Gao Yue Award. This also proves that your strength is indeed greater than your original form."

"But you don't seem to want to occupy the Holy King's body to win the competition. Otherwise, you could have done so during the Gaoyue Award Ceremony, and even humiliated the Holy King with a victory. But you still didn't do it."

Kitano spoke like this, and the "Holy King" was slightly startled by Kitano's words, subconsciously turning his gaze towards him. At this moment, Kitano also showed a somewhat kind smile and said softly, "So, I hope you can train the Holy King, especially in the recent training. Perhaps you can become the one who makes the Holy King... no, make you, win the Japanese Derby."

"I've already given the Holy King everything I can teach him, but I still can't help him break through himself. So I hope that Miss Saint King Halo, a top-notch lady, can provide me with some valuable help."

Kitano was referring to the "Holy King" before him. He knew that, despite the "Holy King" always claiming they were one, Kitano had to treat them as two separate individuals—because of their subordinate relationship. Clearly, even though the Holy King had ceded control of his body to her, he could always reclaim it.

Otherwise, during the Gaoyue Awards, the "Holy King" could forcibly occupy the Holy King's body and consciousness and completely replace her. Given the Holy King's particularly competitive side, Kitano didn't find it strange that she would do something like this to win the Gaoyue Awards, but she didn't do it.

Therefore, at this time, admitting that her "shadow" is stronger than the "real body" and hoping that she can provide help to the "real body" is the greatest recognition of her, and it is also Kitano's hope to please the "Holy King" in this way.

"The only first-rate thing about you is probably your sweet talk."

As expected, after hearing Kitano's words, "Holy King Halo" turned around slightly. She did not refuse or agree, but the tail wagging behind her had exposed her true intention.

"Whatever. Anyway, I just want to take this opportunity to torture my other self. I'll be thankful if you don't stop me."

"Then I'll take it as your agreement."

Upon hearing this, Kitano breathed a sigh of relief. Now, all the roads had been paved for the Saint King. It all depended on how she would proceed...

Chapter 407: In fact, the Holy King had long wanted to jump to Beiye

Kitano had temporarily resolved the issue of the Holy King's halo. However, Kitano now needed to familiarize the Holy King with her own tactics, and this task would be completed by Shadow.

Because according to the description of the Holy King, Kitano knew that "Shadow"'s strength was much higher than the Holy King. This superiority did not lie in how much stronger "Shadow"'s hard power was than the Holy King, but in her judgment of her own abilities and her performance, which were indeed stronger than the Holy King.

Kitano mentioned before that the biggest problem of the Holy King is that she does not have a strong fighting spirit. Although she has the strength, it is a question whether she can exert 60% to 70% of her strength in a game, because the Holy King has the problem of "habitually restraining her strength."

This flaw is actually quite similar to Rudolph's symbol of "unsurpassable one-length." However, the difference is that Rudolph can control the outcome to a single length because her strength surpasses that of most other horse girls competing in the same race. With absolute confidence in victory, Rudolph can now conserve her energy and achieve victory with minimal physical exertion.

However, this habit isn't a good one, because until you reach the finish line, the winner isn't decided. How do you know that the horsegirls behind you won't suddenly burst out and overtake you? Wouldn't that make you feel awkward?

Because of this, Kitano spent a lot of time trying to get Rudolph to change his bad habit of not respecting his opponents and potentially causing him to fail. Unfortunately, whether Kitano and Rudolph had a bad relationship or later, this habit could not be successfully corrected.

But if Rudolph's bad habit can only be said to make Kitano helpless, then the Holy King Halo has a similar habit, which gives Kitano a headache.

Because on the one hand, the strength of the Holy King Halo is far inferior to Rudolph. Her dominance on the court is far less than that of Rudolph, but she has a bad habit of "holding back" which is even more serious than Rudolph on the court. This is very bad.

Furthermore, Rudolph only slowed down his power when crossing the finish line, believing victory was certain. However, the Saint King's aura was different; her performance in a match depended largely on her own judgment at the outset.

If everything goes in her favor at the beginning of the game, the Holy King who feels that he can win the game will perform well and have the confidence to win the game, and thus perform better.

However, if the start is not smooth, such as the offensive route is blocked, or being squeezed to the outermost lane, or any other situation, the Holy King will lose confidence due to the bad start, and losing confidence will lead to losing the fighting spirit, which will lead to the Holy King not being able to exert his full strength at the beginning.

Therefore, a very delicate situation arose. If the Saint King had a bad start, then she might have won the game if she had fought hard, but she herself lost the game because she didn't want to win. Often, when she judged that her chances of winning were slim, she had already lost confidence in herself.

The reason why the Holy King has been able to win all the way until now is because her level at the beginning was indeed very high among the same period. Except for a few people who are strong enough to compete with her, almost no one can make the Holy King lose confidence.

But in the GI arena, the situation is very different. Everyone is a horse girl of almost the same level, and no one is much worse than anyone else. In such an environment, everyone has their own methods and may not follow your tactical arrangements. This makes it even more difficult for the Holy King to win.

The original full strength might only be able to be exerted to 60-70%, and even at the last moment, because of the lack of strength, the opportunity to counterattack would be missed. This made the Saint King's chances of victory even smaller.

But now, Kitano has found a good way to stimulate the Holy King to exert his full combat power, and that is this "shadow".

Kitano can guarantee that the Holy King would never want to lose to his own "shadow" - otherwise, the Holy King would not have been so focused on the game during the Gaoyue Sho.

And what Kitano knows now is that "Shadow" is stronger than the Holy King, and his judgment and concentration on the field are more sophisticated than the Holy King.

She is like an "ideal Saint King who always performs normally", which is the level that the Saint King can achieve in theory. Therefore, Kitano wants her to train the Saint King and hone the Saint King's judgment, so that the Saint King will have a chance to win the Japanese Derby.

Of course, Kitano also specifically warned the Holy King's "shadow" not to bring up the past again. Kitano finally managed to calm the Holy King down; he didn't want him to collapse again.

However, in fact, Kitano does not need to worry about this problem at all, because the Holy King and the "Shadow" are one and the same, their memories are the same, and the person that the Holy King likes, the "Shadow" will of course also like.

Therefore, the Holy King, who has stepped out of the shadow of the past and can look directly at his past, is no longer afraid of the haze of the past... and the same is naturally true of the "shadow" of today.

Thus, an extremely dramatic scene took place... The competition between the Holy King and the "Shadow" had been going on since the Gaoyue Award ended and the Holy King's aura broke free from the shadow of the past.

"Ha ha……"

"Looks like you've lost again, my other self."

On the training ground, Saint King Halo panted, his hands on his knees. At that moment, the "Saint King," transformed into a slightly transparent shadow, slowly approached Saint King Halo. With a touch of triumphant pride and a look of disdain for himself, he said, "Your speed isn't good enough. You'd have a hard time even winning the Gaoyue Sho. The Japanese Derby is 400 meters longer than the Gaoyue Sho, and it's one of the closest middle-distance races to a long distance."

"This running posture is not worthy of a first-class posture. If you really can't do it, why not really hand over the initiative of your body to me, the real first-class one, in the Japanese derby."

"Don't even think about it!"