A good while later, Hayakawa Tazuna, dressed in her usual green uniform, stood guard at the school gate—one of her many duties.
Although most of Tracen Academy's Uma Musume and Trainers preferred to stay in the dorms, it was inevitable that some children and staff would be out doing things and couldn't make it back. Therefore, every morning, Hayakawa Tazuna would wait there for those who returned late.
'Whelp, it seems like none of the children stayed outside of school yesterday, so today's looking like a very ordinary day,' Tazuna thought to herself, lamenting that Tracen's days were becoming more peaceful.
The last time a relatively big thing happened was when those three exceptionally talented Trainers joined their academy about a few months ago. Now, Tracen Academy had finally returned to its former tranquility, and Hayakawa Tazuna even felt a little bored. After all, there hadn't been anything big enough for the need to employ some of the fun stuff they had at their disposal like their special forces.
Although there were always "the strongest" worthy of attention every year, relatively speaking, nothing out of the ordinary had been happening for a long time. (T/N: Gojo: You called?)
The last time the school was so lively was during the "Gray Monster," Oguri Cap's era, wasn't it? Hayakawa Tazuna thought so. "The children at the school are becoming better and better. I wonder if we'll see a Classic Triple Crown Uma Musume this year~"
Hayakawa Tazuna murmured with a smile. She was very optimistic about the Uma Musume in the current generation. She even felt that they might completely dominate the Japanese scene for the next few years.
"Well, it's about time to close the school gate."
Tazuna checked the time and walked forward to re-close the iron gate, but at that moment, a taxi happened to pull up slowly right at the entrance of Tracen Academy. Hayakawa Tazuna paused slightly, and at this moment, a valiant woman stepped out of the taxi. She had shoulder-length short hair, but strangely, most of her hair was purple, with the two bangs at the back being brownish-black.
The woman didn't look old, probably around 27 or 28, an age where her mature charm was just beginning to show. Her sharp suit gave her the aura of a sophisticated business lady, with her oozing a feeling of competency, confidence, and maturity which completely contradicted her apparent age. And when the newcomer got out of the car, even Tazuna was slightly stunned. She clearly hadn't expected to see the other person, to see... this Trainer who could once be called the pride of Tracen Academy.
"—It's been a long time, Tazuna-san."
The woman, upon seeing Hayakawa Tazuna, naturally smiled and said, "It's been several years, and you haven't changed a bit."
"...You too," Tazuna, though slightly startled by the newcomer, quickly returned a natural smile, one with a hint of relief. She then pulled open the school gate again and said to the woman: "Then come in quickly. Ah, should I say, welcome back?"
"I haven't resigned, but I don't plan to return either. It's just that that old car-addict desperately begged me to help a newcomer here; I'm just coming back to Tracen to take a look."
The woman shook her head upon hearing this, but after stepping into Tracen Academy and seeing the incredibly familiar scenes before her, she felt quite nostalgic. "Tracen Academy... even after so many years... it really hasn't changed a bit."
"...You can't let the President hear that, or she might think she hasn't done enough work," Tazuna chuckled awkwardly upon hearing this. She then led the woman into the school, introducing things to her along the way: "Tracen Academy has made many changes over the past few years, and many facilities have been renovated..."
"—Except for the accommodation facilities for training camps, right? President Rudolf is always so stubborn about such strange things," the woman replied with a slight smile. "Despite it being such a dilapidated place, she always insists it adds soul to the school."
"So, I've heard that the top three Trainers from this year's Central Trainer Qualification Exam all joined Tracen? That's quite rare; I thought at least one of them would get recruited by Shadai."
"So you heard about it too? Are you perhaps returning this time to bully your juniors?" Tazuna said in a joking manner, but then she met the woman's exceptionally serious and solemn expression, and her own expression involuntarily stiffened slightly.
No, it can't be, can it? One of the big Trainers from back then... was she really provoked by those three and is planning a comeback? This... Tazuna couldn't say it was a bad thing. After all, the entirety of Tracen Academy was well aware of this Trainer's abilities. Even Hana Toujou, the Trainer of Tracen's strongest team, had to pay some respect to this genius Trainer when she was still active in the Uma Musume scene.
Unfortunately, after some events, she chose to temporarily set aside her duties as a Trainer and instead began to pursue higher education about foreign races. Everyone thought her next step was to become an international Trainer, but there had been no movement from her for a long time. Thus, this former rising star faded from the public mind, which was undeniably regrettable, but what did her return now signify?
"So, what exactly are you back for this time...?"
"I said, I came at the request of that car-addict, but I might also just be looking around. After all, even if it's a request from a senior like her, I need to see if that person is truly worthy of my personal guidance."
The woman said this, then suddenly thought of something and pulled a staff ID from her pocket, hanging it around her neck—this was a staff ID that Tracen Academy personally issued to every Trainer, representing the Trainer's official identification and rank at Tracen Academy. Trainers also have ranks; the initial C-rank means you only have the qualification to train Uma Musume, but most can only stay at local academies, studying to undergo tests for higher-level qualifications.
Reaching A-rank meant that you already have the qualification to be a Central Trainer, but even that doesn't mean anything unless your Uma Musume manages to achieve something amazing; without any records, it was just a paper proving that you are a Trainer officially recognized by the URA.
But this woman's staff ID had her name clearly written on it—"Fumino Nase"—along with her other personal information... gender, date of employment, date of birth, and so on... and finally, the prominently printed, golden "A+" rank.
Incidentally, Hana Toujou's qualification certificate is "S" rank, and she is currently the only "S" rank Trainer in all of Tracen Academy, the highest rank currently awarded by URA.
"Alright then, thank you, Tazuna-san. I need to find a Trainer by the name of 'Wada Ryuji.' If I remember correctly, he is one of the three Trainers from Team Miracle and one of his Uma Musume is also the current most favored one to win this year's Classic Triple Crown, right?"
"I'm quite interested in him. Can you take me to meet him?"
..."Ach—choo—!"
Currently, Wada, who was supervising Meisho Doto and T.M. Opera O's training on the training ground, suddenly let out a violent, unprovoked sneeze, which knocked his stopwatch and training plan book to the ground. But even so, Wada didn't immediately pick up his equipment and, instead, looked around with lingering fear. He suddenly felt that an unprecedented misfortune had just befallen him just now.
"What's going on... This feeling... is like when I first got encircled? Why do I feel like someone is targeting me?"
Wada didn't know why he had this premonition, but he felt very worried at this moment... as if an imminent apocalypse was about to descend upon him, and he was powerless, like a bird with clipped wings unable to fly away...
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Cinderella Gray's cast is here, 133 fucking chapter later!
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.