Ikezoe had a dream, one he once dreamt of when he first transmigrated into this world— to change his tragic fate in his original world.
If he had no choice but to become a Trainer, he would then only train those with kind and gentle temperaments; how they looked or how talented they were didn't matter.
He would train them to win some graded races, become an A-rank Trainer, then live as an ordinary Trainer, content with his lot.
If he was lucky enough to meet a few talented Uma Musume, he would then work hard to unleash their talents and let them run on the GI stage.
Even if they didn't necessarily win, he was fine with it, all he cared about was that they tried.
Plus, the feeling of being adored by cute girls was quite nice.
Unfortunately, this dream of his was completely shattered when he later met Orfevre.
Even after Ikezoe managed to recruit Curren Chan, who was practically an angel in his eyes, he still had no delusions on what the future had in store for him.
After all, Ikezoe did not believe that the three of them happening to meet Uma Musumes close to them on their first day in Tracen to be a coincidence at all.
He was sure that some kind of force like fate or God must've played a part in this.
And now, the scene before him furthered Ikezoe's conjectures:
Sweep Tosho, a Racehorse whom Ikezoe both loved and hated.
She was a mare that ran incredibly fast and was also easy to control when racing, she was basically everything a Jockey could ask for.
Yet, for Ikezoe, Sweep Tosho was a little tormentor no less troublesome than Orfevre.
As for why... well, you can see why very clearly here: Sweep Tosho absolutely HATED training.
Not only that, she also absolutely despised the starting gates, requiring extensive efforts to even get her to start the race.
As her former Jockey, Ikezoe no longer even wanted to complain about it anymore.
He was done with her. He truly felt like he had had enough.
Ikezoe had even heard that her daughter had inherited this trait... just how stubborn must this horse be for something like this to be passed on?!
But no matter what, once he made up his mind, Ikezoe would do his best to complete the task.
Even when facing insurmountable odds like these, since he had willingly accepted to do it, he would do anything to finish it, even if it meant becoming more stubborn than Sweep Tosho.
And so, in the cold winter of Japan, not long after Christmas, a grown ass man and a young Uma Musume just sat on the freezing ground, staring into each other's soul, wide-eyed.
"…Ummm, hey, you, you good?"
Finally, after an entire hour of silence, Sweep Tosho, looking at the pale and shivering Ikezoe, couldn't help but speak up,
"If you can't stand it just leave, don't just sit here like you're brain dead! You're gonna get sick like this!"
"Alright then, if little Miss Tosho over here is willing to train, then I can go back to my dormitory right away and enjoy the heating as well as some hot coffee."
The shivering Ikezoe, who, despite clearly not being able to handle the cold, responded with a smile.
Unfortunately, Sweep Tosho simply turned her head away ungraciously, pouting and stubbornly saying:
"Yada! I don't wanna train."
"And why is that?"
Ikezoe smiled helplessly, but he was also quite curious.
After all, back then, Sweep Tosho was a horse and couldn't speak. But now, Ikezoe could finally find out the reason why she disliked training so much.
"Training is also for your own sake, you know? Even if you dislike doing it, you should at least try to meet the minimum quota. Why do you hate it so much?"
"Hate is hate! I hate Tracen Academy's training requirements! I hate being forced to do something I don't want to! Hate, hate, hate! It's unfair! It's inhumane!"
At the mention of this, Sweep Tosho seemed to have endless words.
Although there were no Student Council members around, she spoke as if her words were the truth of the world.
"Training should depend on mood! MY mood!"
"If I wanna train, then I'll train! If I don't wanna train, then I just don't wanna train! Why force me?!"
"You know, my Grandmother once said that if a witch tries to cast magic when her emotions are unstable, the backlash would be terrifying!"
"—Besides, I'm a witch! Grandmother always said that as long as I win races, I can learn magic. So, I don't need all that training crap to win races, I just need to use magic!"
"So NO TRAINING! I don't wanna do it."
'Okay, very energetic, and truly incomprehensible as expected.'
For some reason, though Ikezoe couldn't understand Sweep Tosho's line of reasoning at all, he felt a strange sense of relief.
Just then, Curren Chan had returned to his side, holding two cups of hot cocoa.
She handed one to Ikezoe, speaking softly with a hint of concern:
"Onii-chan, here, hot chocolate to warm yourself up."
"...Ikezoe, here's a blanket, cover yourself."
Orfevre, who had also walked over with Curren Chan, gave Ikezoe a blanket, though she did so in a nonchalant manner.
"Ah, thanks you two, you really saved me."
Ikezoe took the hot cocoa with one hand and tightened the blanket around him, immediately feeling much more comfortable, and the chill in his body dispersing.
However, Curren Chan and Orfevre's sole concern for Ikezoe brought out the dissatisfaction of Sweep Tosho, who was also enduring the cold with Ikezoe.
The little witch stared at the hot cocoa in Ikezoe's hand and said, very displeased:
"Hey, I want hot choccy too! I'm so cold!"
"Hehe, that won't do, Tosho. This is a special privilege only for Onii-chan~"
"And, you aren't a member of our team right now~"
Curren Chan, hearing this, smiled at Sweep Tosho:
"Also, the only reason why we're in this situation in the first place is because of you."
"So how about it? If you go train, then I'll give you this hot chocolate righttt~ here."
"Eh? How can this be?!"
Sweep Tosho exploded upon hearing this, immediately standing up in dissatisfaction.
"You're cheating! Your cheeaatiiingggg!!!"
"Hmph! Whatever, I didn't want your hot choccy anyways, I'll just go buy one myself!"
"—Too bad, I won't allow it, unless you think you can outrun me that is."
At this moment, Orfevre suddenly spoke, moving in front of Sweep Tosho.
Usually, Orfevre never had a physical advantage against someone else.
But, in front of the small Sweep Tosho, she was both intimidating, AND capable of backing that intimidation up.
Wearing a mask, her eyes looking fierce, she spoke in a low tone:
"Kiddo, have you heard of me? ... No? Then I'll tell you. I am the Golden Tyrant."
"Do you think a weak sauce like you who barely even trains can escape me?"
"If you think you can do it, then feel free to try. Just don't cry when I catch you."
However, when Orfevre said this, feigning fierceness, it instantly scared Sweep Tosho, causing her to back up several steps and fall down on her back.
"Oh my, Orfevre, don't scare Sweep Tosho like that. She's still a child."
Curren Chan, as if it had been premeditated, stepped foward to play the good cop with a smile.
However, in reality, both Curren Chan and Orfevre were still quite angry at Sweep Tosho.
In fact, if Curren Chan had known this would happen, she would've never asked Fuji Kiseki to call Ikezoe.
But now, because of this random unruly kid who refused to train, their weak human Trainer was forced to endure the cold wind like this.
The only difference was that while Curren Chan was angry, she wouldn't show it, and was more concerned about Ikezoe's condition instead.
And Orfevre, though she didn't explicitly show she was angry, her brutish manners clearly showed it.
After all, she was preparing for one of the most important years of her career, her Classic Year; how could she make Ikezoe waste so much time like this?!
—This was actually what made Orfevre the most angry.
Of course, seeing Ikezoe go through such misery also made her uncomfortable, especially when it wasn't for her sake.
But, just as Sweep Tosho plopped back onto the ground, Ikezoe immediately sensed something and went into full alert mode.
"Orfevre, don't do that! Quickly, Curren Cha—!"
"U- ueee... ueee..."
However, by the time Ikezoe tried to act, it was already too late.
As tears began to well up from the little witch's eyes, a wail, as loud as a jet engine, bursted out like an endless stream.
"Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh—!!!!!"
"Y- you guys are meanies! Y- yo- you ganged up to bully m- me! Waaaaaaaahhhhhh—!!!"
It happened!
Ikezoe's most feared situation finally happened!
At this moment, when the miserable cries of this young witch rang out, the nightmare had become irreversible.
This deafening cry immediately filled the ears of the three, reverberating through their brains, making their heads throb with pain.
Even Ikezoe was helpless in this situation.
He could deal with an angry little witch, but a crying little witch? Yeah, he's done for.
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Sweep Tosho: Hate! Let me tell you how much I've come to hate training since I began to live in this academy! There are at least more than ten pages in my book! If the word 'hate training' was written on allllll~ of those pages it would not equal one one-hundred-hundred-hundred-hundred... hundred of the hate I feel for training right now! I hate training! I hate it!
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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.