I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

"Alright, you've all heard the first twenty-four rules, and you can find them on the forum. If you haven't memorized them, just search for them when you get back..."

"But what we're going to talk about next is something you can't find anywhere, but you have to follow, which is arguably the most crucial rule of all."

As they spoke, the veteran trainers' gazes turned serious, and many of them turned to Kiryuin Aoi with complicated expressions, making her scalp tingle.

Then the veteran trainers spoke again, their words tinged with pity.

"The Twenty-Fifth Rule of Teresen: Do not approach Trainer Kitahara."

"No matter what happens, even if it violates the above rules or school regulations, please keep a certain distance from Kitahara trainers and never be overly intimate with them, especially trainers of the opposite sex."

"Otherwise, there will be consequences at your own risk."

Chapter 236: The Classic Triple Crown

Although the veteran trainers, out of good intentions, repeatedly reminded and emphasized the danger posed by Shinji Kitahara.

Unfortunately, Kiryuin Aoi never listened to what they said until the very end.

The reason she didn't listen was simple: ever since Kiryuin Aoi arrived in Tereson, she'd noticed something was off about everything.

Even setting aside the inexplicable hostility, the chaotic rules and the pale-faced, eccentric trainers scattered throughout the campus were enough to confuse and unsettle her.

In this situation, the only person around her who can be considered normal is Kitahara-senpai.

But now, those veteran trainers are telling her to stay away from Shinji Kitahara...

Compared to those old trainers who seemed off no matter what, and who always spoke in riddles and kept secrets, Kiryuin Aoi felt that Kitahara-senpai was more trustworthy.

Therefore, in the days that followed, most of the other new trainers, especially those of the opposite sex, heeded the advice of the veteran trainers and did not try to get too close to Shinji Kitahara.

However, Kiryuin Aoi, due to her distrust of others, basically only maintained contact with Kitahara Shinji. Although she didn't get too close, their relationship did gradually become closer.

For some reason, as their contact gradually became closer, Kiryuin Aoi felt that there seemed to be more and more hostile looks directed at her from within the school.

It's just weird.

Then, amidst Kiryuin Aoi's confusion, time passed once more.

Since school started in mid-January, and since horse racing events are usually concentrated in April, no one in Shinji Kitahara's team participated in any races; they were mostly catching up on their schoolwork.

After all, besides training and racing, Saima Musume is also a student receiving an education, and she can't neglect her basic studies.

In the latter half of last year, they were mostly busy with competitions. Now that they have more time, they naturally need to balance their studies.

As for the competition in the shadows, although Shinji Kitahara already had enough gunpowder fuses, it was precisely because of these many fuses that a more stable balance was formed.

No matter who tries to make a move, just like Sirius and Rudolph currently restraining each other in the student council, they will eventually be interfered with and stopped by others.

However, most of the female horse riders were unable to take any action due to mutual restraint.

However, a very small number of them, due to their special circumstances, are excluded from the scope of the security measures and thus constantly try to sneak away when others cannot see them.

For example, Sunday is peaceful.

As the only spirit among all the horse girls, her inherent invisibility became the best aid for her to sneak away.

While others were still interfering with and pulling at each other, she only needed to avoid the sight of the tea table to go and harass Kitahara Shinji at any time.

Although most of the time, Shinji Kitahara would dismiss her with a look of disgust, she still managed to win over him with her thick skin and relentless attacks.

She gradually made Kitahara Shinji get used to her various behaviors, and the number of times he pushed her away began to decrease—although it could also be simply because he became numb and later became too lazy to push her away.

In short, during this peaceful period, Sunday Ningjing made considerable progress in the matter of the lowly daughter running away; in terms of speed of progress alone, she could even be considered the best.

And where there is a first, there will naturally be a second.

Similar to Sunday's tranquility, the second-ranked sneaker was able to sneak out largely because others ignored her.

However, unlike Sunday's tranquility, others cannot see Sunday's tranquility because it is not physically visible.

The reason this runaway was ignored was largely because no one considered her a rival.

After all, her name is Alice Digital, and she's a notorious pervert in the academy.

Because of his reputation and his restraint when others are around, even now, few of the female characters in the anime "Alice Digital" know that he has feelings for Shinji Kitahara.

The fact that she knew all that was due to Aili Digital's self-disclosure and subsequent silence allowed her to achieve psychological invisibility.

However, if it were simply a matter of nobody noticing, it wouldn't be enough to place Aili Digital second on the leak list.

After all, as mentioned before, unlike other horse girls, Alice Digital is quite restrained when facing Shinji Kitahara, and can even be described as very obedient.

If no other factors are involved, she certainly won't give up getting close to Shinji Kitahara, but she wouldn't necessarily sneak off like that.

But the problem is that at the end of last year, Alice Digital learned some unsettling news from a horse girl who was all white except for her pink eyes.

Subsequently, in order to protect Shinji Kitahara, AIRE Digital also took some actions.

To this day, some progress has been made, such as getting Shinji Kitahara used to being around her, and even occasionally giving her some 'rewards' in private.

To have achieved this level is quite an accomplishment compared to other horse girls, and if it weren't for that news, I would have been satisfied with just this.

Unfortunately, according to the information provided by the pure white horse girl, this level of 'intimacy' is completely insufficient to guarantee Kitahara Shinji's safety.

Therefore, even though the current rate of early release has exceeded the initial expectations, Aili Digital has no intention of stopping at all. Not only does it want to continue to accelerate, but it is also preparing to drag others into early release as well.

Take, for example, the current inside position of the three sneaky moves.

As one of the very few horse girls who had already confessed their feelings to Shinji Kitahara, after getting through the initial period of embarrassment, Nachi became increasingly skilled at sneaking away.

Previously, due to surveillance from various parties, the sneak-out operation in Neqia was somewhat difficult.

But ever since Ali Digital found her, revealed her situation, and shared information from Pure White Horse Girl, Necha's sneak-out operation has gradually gone smoothly with Ali Digital's help.

While the extent of her sneaking out can't compare to the two mentioned above, it's still quite impressive compared to other female horses.

As for the female horse riders after Necha, although they also sneaked away to varying degrees during this period, the extent was negligible.

Shinji Kitahara was completely unaware of all of this.

After what he considered a peaceful January, Shinji Kitahara not only didn't realize it, but looking at the calendar on the wall that was gradually thinning, and thinking about how close he was to his retirement and escape, he even felt a little happy.

Clock in at work, slack off after get off work, occasionally work overtime to mentor new employees, and do things you enjoy in your free time, instead of focusing all your attention on your girlfriend. Keep a healthy distance...

This is what a proper trainer's life should be like.

As for those who confessed to him?

Kids are prone to acting impulsively; it's normal for them to do so.

Once they're a little older and their minds clear up, they'll realize it's just students liking a good teacher, and has nothing to do with romantic feelings or anything like that...

"Do you even know what 'love' is?"

A black rice dumpling suddenly asked a question.

Shinji Kitahara was taken aback, then fell into deep thought.

To be honest, although he always says that others don't understand emotions, when he really thinks about it carefully, Shinji Kitahara realizes that he doesn't really understand this kind of thing either.

After all, since his transmigration, although he has met quite a few women, he has never had any romantic relationship with any of them. His resume in this regard is, to put it mildly, a blank slate.

As for what happened before the time travel...

Before he transmigrated, he had never been in a relationship, let alone lived to his tenth birthday, so he certainly had no romantic experience.

Even though he wasn't very confident in his own understanding of love, Shinji Kitahara thought for a moment and worried that he might answer "I don't know."

The eclipse might just say something like, "Let me teach you what 'love' really means," and then press him down to start jumping.

So, after thinking for a while, Shinji Kitahara reluctantly spoke up.

"Love, well, that's not that complicated. It's just... well, you know... companionship, dependence, riding horses and stuff like that... something like that?"

Shinji Kitahara's voice grew softer and softer as he spoke, and his confidence gradually waned.

Fortunately, just as Kitahara Shinji was at a loss for what to do next, a figure pushed open the door to his dormitory, giving him a chance to change the subject.

"Miss Junchuan? What brings you here? Has Suzuko gotten into trouble again?"

"She's definitely come up with some new tricks, selling drugs that supposedly 'enhance relationships,' which have now led to nearly a dozen trainers going missing..."

With that, Tsuna sat down opposite Shinji Kitahara and looked up at him.

"However, I will go to the lab later to 'handle' this matter with her. You came to see Trainer Kitahara today for something else."

Something else?

Before Kitahara Shinji could even ask questions, Surugawa Tsuna pulled out his phone, opened a file, and showed the screen to Kitahara Shinji.

"This is it."

Shinji Kitahara took the phone with some confusion, and after browsing through it, his expression changed slightly.

This is......

"This is obvious, it was premeditated, someone is trying to smear you, Trainer Kitahara."

Surugawa Tessuna spoke directly.

Shinji Kitahara nodded, then continued browsing the remaining content on his phone.

What Surugawa Tsuna showed Kitahara Shinji was essentially the same as what Sirius had shown him during their blind date—basically, smear reports about him by the news media.

The difference is that, compared to the minor skirmishes at the beginning of the year, the people attacking him this time have increased in both influence and the quality of their articles.

Moreover, compared to the previous smears that were completely haphazard and obviously fabricated, the people attacking him this time were surprisingly consistent in their statements.

Seemingly knowing that he had no flaws in his trainer abilities, they didn't question his abilities at all, but instead focused their attacks on his character.

This is not to say that those people attacked him as having a very low character or any improper relationship with students in Treson. Rather, it is to say that he is an excessively harsh and unscrupulous trainer who will do anything to achieve good results and will not care about the wishes of the horse girls.

As for evidence, this group scoured the entire Treson forum, digging up all the comments he made about himself, and then pinned the blame for Silent Suzuka's broken bone on him. They even claimed that he wouldn't let the horse girls go home during the Lunar New Year, demanding that they all stay at the academy for extra training...

It's pretty outrageous.

Shinji Kitahara mentally scoffed, then browsed for a while and discovered some other things, not just his own.

For example, in one article, while the editor was attacking him, although he did not say it explicitly, he implied that 'Trexen knew about his actions, but cooperated with him in order to achieve results and maintain the status of Trussen headquarters' position'.

Moreover, this kind of article is not an isolated case. In the following reading, although most of the articles were purely attacks on him personally, a small number of them also involved Treson, implying, overtly or covertly, that Treson's superiors were cooperating with his actions.

Some even say that he wasn't actually a trainer at all, but rather that an entire team of trainers was behind the scenes, but Treson, in order to maintain his position, created all the credit for him, trying to artificially create a legendary trainer...

This is a bit troublesome...

Shinji Kitahara tapped the table lightly with his index finger as his gaze swept over the articles. When he reached the last few, his expression suddenly changed.

This is...

Seemingly noticing Kitahara Shinji's change, or perhaps simply out of curiosity, Eclipse leaned closer to see what Kitahara Shinji was looking at.

To Eclipse's surprise, just as she peeked out and before she could get close, Kitahara Shinji suddenly turned off the screen and handed the phone back to Surugawa Tezuna.

"Alright, Miss Junchuan, I have a general understanding of the situation. What's the chairman's opinion?"

"When I left, she was still angry in the chairman's office, wanting concrete decisions. I guess we'll have to wait until she calms down..."

Junkawa Tezuka put away his phone and looked at Kitahara Shinji before speaking.

"The main reason I came here is to inform you about this situation, Trainer Kitahara. I also wanted to ask you if you know who these people who attacked you are. If not, do you have any suspects...?"

"The suspect..."

Shinji Kitahara tapped his index finger a few times, recalling the information he had received earlier, before speaking.

"I do have some information about this, and I probably knew about it even earlier than you, Miss Junchuan. Sirius showed me something similar at the beginning of the year..."

"...Then why didn't you tell me and the chairman?"

"Because it's not necessary."

Shinji Kitahara shook his head.

"At that time, their offensive was still disorganized and had little impact; it didn't amount to much, and there was no need to report it..."

Recalling the articles he had just browsed, Shinji Kitahara paused, his expression gradually turning serious.

"As for now... Miss Junchuan, I'd like to ask you a favor."

"what's up?"

"I would like to ask Miss Junchuan, the chairman, and even the entire Treson not to interfere in this matter, and even less to try to explain or clear my name."

Shinji Kitahara said earnestly.