As Mr. C.B. had said earlier, Maruzensky was busy finishing up the last of her tasks.
The main task now was negotiating with Symboli Rudolf.
After all, Rudolf had promised that she'd agree to any conditions.
So Maruzensky placed a paper with several written terms in front of Rudolf.
Facing the document placed before her—Rudolf signed her name without so much as glancing at the contents.
Seeing Rudolf behave this way, Maruzensky froze for a moment. "Aren't you going to read it carefully?"
"No need." Symboli Rudolf paused briefly before continuing, "It's just matters related to Tokai Natural, along with a few conditions about me, isn't it?"
With that, Symboli Rudolf pushed the document back toward Maruzensky. "I'll keep my word."
Maruzensky studied Symboli Rudolf quietly.
Rudolf's expression didn't change much, and Maruzensky couldn't sense anything unusual either.
She'd spent too much time away from Rudolf—too long to notice subtle changes anymore.
Unable to read anything more from Rudolf's expression, Maruzensky stared for a few seconds before turning around.
She didn't believe Rudolf would break this signed agreement.
Thus, without further comment, she simply left the Student Council room.
After Maruzensky left, Rudolf once again sat alone.
Relaxing her posture, Rudolf leaned back in her chair with resignation filling her eyes.
"'First condition: Stay as far away from Tokai Natural as possible,' huh…"
She softly recited the first term of the agreement.
This condition didn't bother Rudolf much.
After all, if the following events unfolded as planned, she would indeed have to leave Tokyo, finding a place completely removed from any Uma Musume-related industries.
And due to bloodline protection rules, Uma Musume like Rudolf needed special permission to settle overseas long-term.
Which left Rudolf with only one place to go—
"Seems Okinawa's my only choice…"
Nominally part of Japan, Okinawa's geographic isolation meant it was politically precarious. Its limited land also meant no racecourses existed there.
With no racecourses, Okinawa's Uma population didn't even reach four digits.
The small Uma population naturally meant locals cared little for the Uma Musume industry. Even if they cared, there wasn't enough land to build racecourses anyway.
So, Okinawa was Rudolf's only viable option.
But Okinawa did have its advantages.
At least there, she wouldn't need to worry about being recognized.
After settling her destination, Rudolf turned her attention to another matter—an extremely important one.
She'd been Student Council President for many years now. In other words, Symboli Rudolf had long been the representative voice for Uma Musume.
Over these years, she'd effectively suppressed Shadai and similar groups, ensuring minimal harm to Uma Musume.
But now, if she handed the position over to Maruzensky and Mr. C.B.…
At that thought, Rudolf's expression subtly changed.
Clearly, she realized Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. might not be able to handle the responsibility.
After all, Rudolf had been representing Uma Musume for years. Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. hadn't been active in the Student Council for quite some time. Making them handle this suddenly…
Thinking this, Rudolf opened the drawer beside her.
Inside lay her withdrawal application from Tracen Academy.
Withdrawal applications were exceedingly rare in Tracen's history.
Even Symboli Speed, Northern Taste, and Above All hadn't officially graduated or withdrawn—according to records, they'd only remained in indefinite leave status.
Realizing the issues Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. might face, Symboli Rudolf took the withdrawal form from the drawer.
It wouldn't be safe to submit this now.
Thinking so, she crumpled the withdrawal application—already signed with her name—and stuffed it into her briefcase.
She'd need to burn it later and rewrite the withdrawal application into a long-term leave request instead.
After settling that, Symboli Rudolf stood up.
Since the Student Council had recruited new members, she grabbed her briefcase. "Time to prepare for retire—no, not retirement."
Stopping halfway, Rudolf realized she'd misspoken.
All her money would have to go toward supporting the Uma Musume injured in the Climax Series.
So even in Okinawa, Rudolf would still have to work herself to exhaustion.
Thinking this, Rudolf's expression remained unchanged.
It didn't matter—after all, no one in Okinawa would recognize her. She wouldn't need to concern herself with the Symboli Family's image, something she could never ignore in Tokyo.
Precisely because of that, she left the Student Council room, already contemplating what job she could take in Okinawa.
A short distance away from the room, Rudolf paused—remembering one last thing.
Reaching into her briefcase, she searched briefly before finding a key.
It was the key to Tracen Academy's old campus building.
Looking at the key, Rudolf silently stood for a few seconds before returning to the Student Council room.
She placed the key into the key locker, then left the room again without another glance.
...
After staying one day at the Tokai Family rehab base, Tokai Roman began thoroughly inspecting the entire facility.
As Symboli Sirius had assured her, the Symboli Family had indeed maintained this place diligently.
Therefore, the rehab base's condition remained basically unchanged from Roman's first inspection years ago—both facilities and infrastructure were the same.
Yet, this also confirmed once again that no one would ever buy this place; it was simply too remote.
Thinking this, Tokai Roman fell silent for over ten seconds before approaching the last room she had yet to inspect.
This was the one room Tokai Roman had never opened.
From its layout, the room was clearly located in the very center of the rehab base.
Considering what she knew from before—Tokai Roman could already guess the room's purpose.
The reason she'd never dared open it was precisely because she suspected what it had been used for.
Thinking that, Roman released her hand from the doorknob.
This door wasn't meant for her to open. It belonged to Tokai Natural.
Even though every memory here was painful for Natural...
This particular room was something only Natural had the right to open.
With that decision, Tokai Roman turned around.
Now, certain this place would never find a buyer, it was finally time for her to leave.
---
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