I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

Shinji Kitahara didn't go into too much detail about his past, mainly focusing on this incident, and he didn't directly tell them about the existence of the 'black market' or Kazuya Hisato's identity.

But that's enough.

After listening to Shinji Kitahara's account, the other three all showed different expressions.

Sirius, the symbol of the eyebrows, raised his eyebrows, and besides anger, his gaze toward Kitahara Shinji became increasingly interested.

"Does the president know about these things?"

"I know, and she's helped me a lot in the past. I even met that 'mole' (a nickname for Hisadou Kazuya) through her help..."

"Is this so..."

Sirius nodded and said nothing more.

Super Small Bay, on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to things like traitors or attacks; instead, they focused more on Shinji Kitahara's blood-soaked clothes.

She held him in her arms, her eyes filled with worry, as if she cared for him even more.

As for Maru Zenki, since she was driving, Kitahara Shinji couldn't see her expression clearly, and she didn't say anything, quietly driving Kitahara Shinji home.

Upon seeing Kitahara Shinji return in such a state, Eclipse's gaze subtly changed.

Although after hearing that Kitahara Shinji was driving himself and had overused his strength, causing him to end up in this state, and that it had nothing to do with anyone else.

Her expression relaxed slightly, but the sharpness in her eyes remained, and the terrifying aura she exuded put considerable pressure on Sirius Symbol and Maru Zensky.

After returning the horse, the three horse girls chatted with Kitahara Shinji for a while and even ordered takeout. They didn't leave until it was getting late.

However, as he was leaving, Shinji Kitahara suddenly remembered something and spoke to Yoshiki Maru somewhat embarrassedly.

"Um, Ms. Maruzen, as you know, my girls had a lot of competitions last month, so my expenses were a bit high. Also, the prize money for several competitions hasn't come through yet due to various circumstances, so I'm a little short on cash..."

"I'm not trying to renege on my debt, I just want to ask you to postpone it a bit. Please take a breakdown of the damages first, and I'll definitely pay you back as soon as I get the money..."

Upon hearing Kitahara Shinji's words, Maru Zenji basically wanted to refuse.

After all, it was only a minor injury, and it was done to prevent that kind of thing from happening, so she didn't think Shinji Kitahara needed any compensation.

If properly publicized, those 'damages' could even be used as a form of honor, like the scars of a veteran.

But just as she was about to refuse, she seemed to remember something, her voice paused slightly, and then she nodded in agreement to Kitahara Shinji's request. She then drove away with the Sirius symbol.

After watching the two leave, Shinji Kitahara breathed a sigh of relief. He was thinking of exchanging information with Eclipse and also arranging a meeting with Kazuya Kudo tomorrow to discuss the details.

But before he could turn around, he suddenly paused, as if remembering something.

Wait, he remembered that when they came back, there were four people in the car, including himself...

So even if he stayed, there should have been three people leaving, but now there are only two...

In that instant, a terrifying possibility came to mind, and Shinji Kitahara's hair stood on end.

Wait, could it be...?

Turning his head stiffly like a machine, Shinji Kitahara saw Super Bay sitting quietly on his sofa, one hand supporting his cheek, looking at him with concern.

"Hey, Xiaohaiwan, curfew is almost up, you should head back to the academy..."

"I've taken leave."

As he spoke, Super Little Bay stood up and silently walked to him.

He was actually a head shorter than Shinji Kitahara, and even had to look up at him.

But inexplicably, the moment she stood in front of him, Shinji Kitahara felt that he was the shorter one.

Faced with the super-small bay exuding a strong aura of 'maternal demon,' even if Shinji Kitahara were a blockhead, he couldn't possibly fail to realize what she was planning to do.

"Um, Little Bay, I—"

Shinji Kitahara tried to struggle.

Unfortunately, it was of no use.

Chapter 199: I Don't Trust Those Fools

Although Shinji Kitahara was prepared for disaster after his rebellion failed, things did not turn out as he had anticipated.

There are two reasons.

One reason is that, thanks to the conversation between Shinji Kitahara and her, Super Little Bay has become more restrained in this regard, especially since Shinji Kitahara is indeed injured now.

Although it might seem like he was taking advantage of someone's misfortune, Super Little Bay wasn't someone who couldn't distinguish right from wrong, and he acted with considerable restraint.

The second reason is that this place is, after all, Shinji Kitahara's home, and it doesn't have the 'tools' needed for the Super Small Bay, so she can only take care of Shinji Kitahara within the normal range.

Of course, this "normal" refers to the normality based on a super small bay.

In short, under this relatively 'normal' care, Shinji Kitahara spent a night that could be described as reasonably peaceful.

The next day, he got up very early and called Hisato Kazuya before dawn to ask him to meet up.

Because the call was made so early, Hisato Kazuya's voice was noticeably muffled.

Hearing Kitahara Shinji's anxious voice, he assumed that Kitahara Shinji was anxious because of what happened yesterday, so he didn't think much of it, quickly made an appointment with him, and then hung up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Shinji Kitahara glanced at the still dark sky outside, and then quietly took another look at the state of Super Bay.

Hmm, good. Still sleeping. Leave a note and get out of here.

With that in mind, Shinji Kitahara tiptoed through the preparations before leaving home. After leaving a note for Super Little Bay on the table, he and Eclipse tiptoed out the door to the agreed meeting place.

Upon arriving at the location, Shinji Kitahara saw Kazuya Hisadou and, without further ado, got straight to the point.

"what is going on?"

Hisato Kazuya didn't hesitate and spoke directly.

"It was the work of the 'black market'—or at least some of them."

Because he had already been caught red-handed by Kitahara Shinji during their phone call yesterday, Hisadou Kazuya was no longer so careful and directly told Kitahara Shinji what he knew.

Just as the black market was behind the horse hunting incident, the tanker truck attack was also orchestrated by black market members.

As Jiutang had previously stated, the people in the black market are a diverse bunch, and even a veteran like himself doesn't know much about them, let alone their motives.

Just yesterday, as usual, Kazuya Hisato was contacting his 'buyer', who now contacts him weekly, while also checking various information on the black market and investigating the situation.

A black market member belonging to his team suddenly sent him the coordinates and then explained the situation to him.

“In the black market, it’s not just me who doesn’t know the identities of others, but others don’t either. While this makes my investigation more difficult, it also prevents others from discovering me or the identities of my team members.”

"Then, without knowing the identity of that person—forgive me for not telling you who he is—a team approached him, wanting him to help plan an event."

"Because he had already done this with me a few times, he naturally assumed that this was also a sting operation, so he readily participated."

"Because that group of people were very cautious, even though he joined the team, he was still a newcomer and they didn't trust him much. They only told him what to do, without telling him the whole plan, so he didn't notice anything wrong during the process."

"But until the very end, when the plan was about to succeed, perhaps because they felt they had it in the bag, one of them let slip the details and contacted me immediately, and then I contacted you."

Was it done by people in the black market...?

Shinji Kitahara nodded, his brows gradually furrowing.

"Do you know what their motives and purposes are in doing this?"

"do not know."

Hisato Kazuya shook his head.

"Although there is no clear evidence that the plan failed because of an inside job, they haven't contacted my people since then."

"However, although I don't know their specific motives, I'm at least certain that they didn't do this for money or any other benefit."

"Because I investigated that team a long time ago, although I didn't have a concrete understanding of their identities."

"But through details in some ordinary conversations, I can basically confirm that they are not short of money, nor do they have any need for it, and..."

After a pause, Hisadou Kazuya's expression gradually became subtle.

"You might not believe it, but based on my observation, the members of that team... all seem to really like Ma Niang."

"...Are you kidding me?"

"No."

Hisato Kazuya shook his head, his expression becoming increasingly subtle.

"I know this might sound a bit strange, and even I was startled when I came to this conclusion, wondering if I'd lost my mind, but..."

Hisato Kazuya took out his phone, opened a file, and showed it to Kitahara Shinji.

"This document is a collection of their previous statements and actions, along with a personality model constructed and summarized based on these statements and actions..."

"I don't deny that this thing may be wrong, and those likes may be fake."

"But look at these remarks. These aren't things that just anyone who knows Ma Niang would say casually. And there are details that they probably haven't even noticed themselves..."

"If this is really an act, then even I, if I truly disliked Ma Niang, couldn't possibly fake it so perfectly..."

It must be said that Kazuya Hisadou's ability to act is entirely worthy of his title as a legendary trainer.

Looking at the pile of records and analyses in his hands, even Shinji Kitahara could clearly sense the people's affection for Uma Musume through those comments and analyses.

But that makes it even stranger.

Previously, Shinji Kitahara was still pondering what kind of person could do something as heinous as detonating an oil tanker at a mama's daycare.

Even if they aren't antisocial, they must at least have some deep-seated hatred towards certain women that would make them lose their minds and do something like this.

However, according to information provided by Hisadou Kazuya, those people were not only antisocial, but also quite fond of horse girls, and many of them had even engaged in entrapment.

Just as Kitahara Shinji was pondering this, his phone vibrated, and the results of Kamisato Daisuke's investigation were sent to him.

According to the investigation conducted by Daisuke Kamisato, the woman driving the car was merely a pawn being used.

Like the horse hunters who were previously entrapped in the black market, she was contacted unilaterally by people from the black market throughout the entire incident.

Not only could she not provide any valuable information, but the tanker truck was even stolen by people on the black market and parked there for her to drive.

As for why she would follow the black market's orders and carry out such a heinous plan...

"It's simple, her man was stolen by Ma Niang."

On the other end of the phone, Daisuke Kamisato sounded somewhat helpless.

"You know, young people are always, well, a bit impulsive when it comes to love..."

"According to interviews with people around her, she behaved relatively normally in the immediate aftermath of the breakup, but as time went on, she may have experienced some kind of trauma, and she began to have some mental health issues..."

"In fact, she was already insane before she did this."

Daisuke Kamisato was unaware of the black market situation, so when he explained the matter to Shinji Kitahara, he didn't mention the black market. This incident was also classified as an accident caused by a mental patient's episode.

Without the information from Hisato Kazuya, Kitahara Shinji might have truly thought it was an accident.

But after listening to Kazuya Hisato's explanation, and combining it with Daisuke Kamisato's words, Shinji Kitahara's brows gradually furrowed.

Wow, it's so clean...

URA, Treson, and the Metropolitan Police Department—such a serious and heinous incident, with all three parties patrolling together, yet not a single thing seemed amiss.

Even the previous loopholes, such as how a weak woman like her hijacked the car and where she got the explosives, have been given seemingly reasonable explanations after a period of investigation.

Even now, the information that Daisuke Kamisato sent him has formed a logical closed loop.

From any perspective, this was simply an accident caused by a mentally ill patient going insane; there was no other force or factor interfering, and there was no need for further investigation.

Furthermore, according to information provided by Hisadou Kazuya after he hung up on Kamisato Daisuke, this team wasn't actually doing this for the first time.

In the past, although they had not done anything as outrageous as this, they had planned several horse hunting expeditions.

Moreover, unlike Hisadou Kazuya, although there is no clear evidence, Hisadou Kazuya always felt from the words of their actions that they actually hoped the horse girl's hunt would be successful.

Because, as for Hisadou Kazuya, although he also planned the horse girl hunt.

However, the tasks he and the other team planners provided always included information such as 'guaranteeing the survivors and keeping them intact' to ensure the safety of the horse girls.

However, when that team planned the horse hunt, they basically didn't include this clause, according to some rumors.

During some horse girl hunts, they even specifically mentioned the need for certain organs of the horse girls, inducing the horse girl hunters to "take the goods" on the spot. This is also the main source of Kitahara Shinji's impression that horse girl hunters were indifferent to life and death.

He likes and understands Uma Musume, yet he's been plotting this horrific event all along...

"Do those people also have mental illnesses?"