...
Two weeks before the Japan Cup, foreign horse girls began arriving in Japan one after another.
Due to differences in track conditions, it was necessary for them to arrive early to familiarize themselves. It was also essential to gather information on their opponents.
The intelligence war quietly began amid what appeared to be peaceful daily life.
Another week passed like this.
...
"Dream" lounge.
Matikane Tannhauser, now in lecturer mode, stood beside the blackboard holding a ruler.
She cleared her throat and lightly tapped the ruler against the edge of the blackboard, drawing everyone's attention.
Matikane Tannhauser deliberately lowered her voice, though she couldn't quite create the tense atmosphere she was aiming for. "Ahem, ahem, ahem. First, let me introduce the information I've collected to everyone."
She glanced toward Lucian. "Trainer, if I say anything wrong, please correct me."
"Alright, alright~" Lucian didn't even bother lifting his eyelids. He casually picked up the water cup beside him, took a slow sip, and answered lazily.
From his understanding of Matikane Tannhauser, this "lecturer's" "intelligence gathering" would almost certainly veer off course and turn into a full-blown "derailment" session.
But with only one week left until the official race, the team didn't need to be tense every single second.
Letting Special Week relax and liven up the mood through this kind of thing during her intense preparations wasn't a bad idea at all.
"Then, I'll begin." Matikane Tannhauser flipped through her notebook and wrote the name of the first horse girl on the blackboard.
"First! The horse girl from Sweden—Astrid!"
"She is known as—'The Ice Crystal Valkyrie of the North'!"
The first few pieces of information were introduced quite properly.
But then...
"Her height is estimated around 170 cm, with shining golden long hair. What's most special is the faint blue scar on her forehead, said to have been left during an extreme skiing accident."
Matikane Tannhauser paused, turned to the next page of her notebook, and continued in a gossip-sharing tone:
"She likes cross-country and skiing. Her catchphrase is 'The goal is the finish line on the other side of the horizon.' She likes mangoes, strawberries, lychees..."
"That's all for this one for now. Does anyone have questions?"
Meisho Doto (in deep thought): "Looks like Spe-chan-senpai is in danger. (●⁰ꈊ⁰● |||)."
"I have a question." Twin Turbo raised her hand, swinging her energetic arms back and forth. "Teacher Tannhauser, her title is so long. Can we just call her 'Golden Pudding'?"
Matikane Tannhauser: "Reason?"
Twin Turbo: "Because I think Dragon Country's little puddings are really delicious."
"Soga~ I think so too." Matikane Tannhauser wrote "Golden Pudding" in Japanese on the blackboard.
"I have a question too!" Haru Urara waved her hand. "Is skiing really fun?"
Matikane Tannhauser rubbed her chin, eyes sparkling. "Next big team-building event, let's go skiing!"
Haru Urara raised both hands and feet in approval. "Yes! I support it!"
"Calm down, calm down desu." Matikane Tannhauser tapped the blackboard a few more times. "Spe-chan, do you have any questions?"
Special Week: "No, just... does she not eat carrots? Only fruit?"
Matikane Tannhauser: "I didn't look into that. I'll collect more information later."
...
Ines Fujin nudged Lucian with her elbow. Lucian just shook his head, then started playing on his phone, looking like someone who had completely "given up treatment."
Exactly as expected. Since there was no real training scheduled today anyway, let them chat... though these few were taking it unusually seriously, as if they were genuinely doing pre-race analysis.
...
Seeing that Lucian didn't interrupt, Matikane Tannhauser grew even more confident and enthusiastic. "Ahem, that Trainer classmate over there, please respect your teacher and put away your phone."
The world had turned upside down.
Ines Fujin couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing with a "pfft."
Lucian licked the corner of his mouth—he was genuinely amused to the point of being exasperated.
He licked his lips again. That smile was filled with helplessness and a trace of indulgent amusement. Then he tossed his phone aside. "Teacher Tannhauser, please continue."
Matikane Tannhauser nodded in satisfaction and moved on to the second horse girl.
"Second! The horse girl from Spain—Sergio! She is known as—'The Undefeated Warrior'."
"She has vivid red hair that's very easy to spot, like it's burning. Eyes sharp like an eagle, and a very tall, imposing build."
"According to the information I gathered, she is passionately obsessed with bullfighting, seeing it as the ultimate expression of courage and skill. Her winning outfit even has a roaring bull head embroidered on it."
"Her catchphrase is 'Come on, let me see your resolve—let me see your limit!'"
Matikane Tannhauser glanced at her notebook again, as if confirming she hadn't missed anything. "That's all for now. Mina, any questions?"
This time no one raised their hand. Instead, they started chattering freely from their seats.
Meisho Doto: "Golden Pudding-chan and Spe-chan-senpai are in danger now! (●⁰ꈊ⁰● |||)"
Twin Turbo: "The name's too hard to say! Let's just call her 'Cow-chan'."
Lucian couldn't listen anymore and couldn't help but roast: "Why not just call her 'Red Bull'?"
(Red Bull and Pudding, pay me.)
Matikane Tannhauser hammered it down and wrote "Red Bull" in Japanese on the blackboard. "Good! That's settled! Trainer's advice is indeed important!"
Lucian's mouth twitched. He silently facepalmed: "...-_-"
Ines Fujin covered her mouth, but her shoulders were still trembling slightly, and laughter kept leaking out.
...
Nice Nature also joined this impromptu comedy, speaking seriously: "Question: Teacher Tannhauser said 'eyes sharp like an eagle'—why are her eyes the same as Senior El Condor Pasa's?"
Seiun Sky: "Question: Don't bulls go crazy when they see red? But she has red hair—doesn't that mean in Spain she'd get chased around the streets by bulls every day?"
Matikane Tannhauser answered one by one: "It's like an eagle, not related to Senior El Condor Pasa... You can see how much she loves bullfighting."
Finally, Matikane Tannhauser turned her gaze back to the protagonist, Special Week. "Spe-chan, any questions?"
"Emmmm..." Special Week's brain was working hard, as if the teacher had called on her in class. "Does... does she eat carrots?"
"She probably... does. I'll collect more information later."
...