I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

The naiveté in his eyes is visibly fading day by day, his once silly antics are becoming endearing, and even his academic performance is improving; he's been failing fewer exams lately...

Does growing hair increase intelligence?

Shinji Kitahara had a joking thought flash through his mind, then laughed and dismissed it.

After finishing with the special week and Oguri Hat's winning outfit, Kitahara Shinji, as usual, went to the backyard with the elderly horse girl to chat about everyday things.

Just as they finished their conversation, a familiar knock sounded at the door, followed by two small footsteps entering the backyard.

Shinji Kitahara's heart skipped a beat. He turned around and saw that it was indeed Genko Kita and Hikari Satomi who had arrived.

However, to his relief, he learned from the ensuing conversation that the two men had not come specifically to wait for him.

Northern Black Horseman gets along well with the elderly horse girl, so he usually visits her on Saturdays and Sundays when school is out, while Satomi Hikari comes with her as a bound piece of equipment.

More importantly, Shinji Kitahara discovered that despite having met him many times, Kozumi Satomi still seemed to be quite wary and distant towards him, and this wariness had not diminished despite their repeated meetings.

While it wasn't to the point of disgust, it certainly wasn't close either, perfectly meeting his safety standards, so naturally he wasn't too worried.

Then, as the conversation went on, Satomi Kozumi steered the topic to the match, mentioning that he and Kita Genko had 'coincidentally' watched the basic match on Wednesday...

If Satomi Mitsuzo had acted very close to Kitahara Shinji from the beginning, Kitahara Shinji would probably be questioning the extent of Satomi Mitsuzo's "just right" behavior now.

The problem is that Satomi Mitsuzumi's attitude towards him was not very good from the beginning.

Moreover, even when the match from that day was mentioned afterward, she showed no interest in Shinji Kitahara whatsoever, nor did she mention joining his team in the future.

She simply offered him a polite congratulation, and then mentioned that Northern Black Steed seemed to have become a fan of the racehorse girl named East Sea Emperor, so she might continue to follow information about his team in the future.

Shinji Kitahara was not surprised by this.

After all, if things went according to the normal timeline, the Northern Black Steed would have become a fan of the Eastern Sea Emperor.

What Satomi Kozo said was all logical, and he didn't show any particularly unusual behavior.

So although he initially had some doubts about Satomi Kozo's "coincidence," as the conversation progressed and Satomi Kozo's steady performance improved, those doubts gradually dissipated.

After chatting about everyday matters, Shinji Kitahara took his leave.

The elderly horse woman got up and saw him out, leaving only Northern Black Horse and Satomi Hikari in the courtyard.

Then......

"Little Diamond, what's wrong? You seem so happy..."

Northern Genko looked at Satomi Hikari with a puzzled expression.

Satomi Hikari smiled and shook his head, not answering her question. He then looked in the direction Kitahara Shinji had left, a strange glint in his eyes.

This time, I said a lot...

Next time, I'll still bring some homemade snacks in Xiao Bei's name...

......

the other side.

After leaving the elderly horse girl's clothing store, Shinji Kitahara and his group returned to the Treson headquarters without incident.

We went back to school, chatted, ate in the cafeteria, and then parted ways.

Shinji Kitahara returned to his dormitory, turned on his computer, and began preparing to design a running plan for Ms. Kusa.

Last Friday, during the lunch break in the activity room, he talked to Ms. Cao about designing the running method.

Of course, while it's said to be about designing the running method, it's actually mainly about the week or so of being rendered useless.

And that's where the problem lies.

When Oguri Hat was crippled, it was Kitahara Shinji and her classmates who took care of her. During the special week when she was crippled, it was Kusa-san and Silent Suzuka who took turns caring for her. It didn't seem like a big deal...

But the problem is that Ms. Cao has no friends.

Special Week is one example; she's on the same team and would definitely be willing to take care of Ms. Grass, and Ms. Grass would even be quite happy to be taken care of by her...

But do you expect a simpleton to take care of people?

Although Zhou's hair has grown a bit longer now and he's lost some of his goofy charm, he's still essentially the same foodie goofball who always does some eccentric things in his daily life.

Even Ms. Cao herself had to admit that if she were really handed over to Special Week, then during the period of her being rendered useless, she would definitely have an accident, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

The second candidate is Ms. Grass's roommate, a horse girl named Divine Eagle.

She was also very willing to take care of Ms. Cao, but Ms. Cao showed even stronger resistance than Zhou had.

"Well, how should I put it, Shenying's personality is probably even more 'lively' than Special Zhou's..."

Ms. Cao put it very tactfully.

As mentioned before, Ms. Grass is not very good at getting along with those cheerful and outgoing horse girls, and her roommate, Dracula, is one of them, and she is quite 'lively' at that.

Simply put, Shenying is a hot-blooded idiot who rarely thinks about anything else. Sometimes his behavior is even more outrageous than Special Zhou's, and sometimes it can even be described as courting death.

For example, because she loves spicy food, when Grass Fly was demonstrating his cooking skills to her, he secretly squeezed a whole bottle of devil hot sauce into the pot without closing the kitchen door, filling the whole room with the smell of spiciness and oil, and even made the flowers that Ms. Grass grow wilted.

—Afterwards, he was chased by Ms. Kusa, who was carrying a naginata, for a full half hour and almost died in the street.

Despite the many unpleasant things that happened, Ms. Grass did not dislike Dracula and even regarded her as one of her few friends.

But friends are friends, so it's best to avoid offering to take care of them.

Ms. Cao wasn't worried about being harmed by her while she was in a crippled state, but rather that once she recovered, she might lose control and end up slashing her with a knife...

As for other friends, I felt embarrassed to bother those I wasn't close enough to, and those I was close enough to might not be available. After thinking it over, I still couldn't find a suitable candidate.

Then, just as the two were agonizing over this, an unexpected voice broke in.

"Then let me do it."

The Eclipse, which had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this, Hibiki Kusakami and Shinji Kitahara exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

What's going on? Did the sun rise in the west today? And the solar eclipse isn't happening?

"...What do you take me for?"

"...Satellites orbiting the Kitahara trainer?"

"...Air that moves and eats a lot?"

The solar eclipse paused for a moment.

"Then you should find someone else."

"No, no, no, eclipse, I was wrong, eclipse."

Shinji Kitahara grabbed Eclipse's sleeve, and then together with Ms. Kusa, they pleaded with her for a while before she agreed to take care of Ms. Kusa again. Then they withdrew and disappeared.

So that was settled.

Then, time continued to pass.

After finishing writing down Ms. Grass's plan, it was already evening. Kitahara Shinji browsed the forums and news for a while before concluding his day's activities.

Then, the sun rose and the moon set, and Sunday arrived.

For once, no horse girls bothered him; instead, the trainers were discussing a team-building activity.

Shinji Kitahara, wanting to build good relationships with his colleagues, did not refuse.

Although it's called team building, it's actually more like a roast session. Basically, the trainers get together to eat and drink, and then roast each other or use the guise of roasting to show off their own roles.

Shinji Kitahara didn't say much, because the news about Wednesday's basic match had already spread throughout the trainers' group. If he stood out too much, he might attract hatred. He just ate something and chatted with others about trivial things.

Then, during this process, he saw Koyaichi slumped on the table looking utterly hopeless, Futo Daichi with an extra dose of blood pressure medication beside him, Higashimori Yosuke who seemed to have some new wounds on his body, and Nishiguchi Hideki sighing and complaining that his fat horse had gained weight again...

How miserable.

Shinji Kitahara couldn't help but sigh.

Fortunately, the people in his team are all quite easy to manage. They can just give him a plan and then leave him to his own devices. They've even learned to keep their distance now, which is fantastic.

After the team building activity ended, Shinji Kitahara chatted with the other trainers for a while before returning to his dormitory. Just as he was about to rest, his phone suddenly vibrated.

He initially thought it was a message from the solar eclipse or the elderly Ma Niang, but when he took out his phone, he found it was from the chairman.

Could it be that they're cutting his salary because they see him slacking off all the time...?

Shinji Kitahara clicked on the message with a guilty conscience.

Then, his expression gradually darkened.

Horse Girl Hunting...

He's already at Tressen headquarters, so why are these guys still following him like ghosts?

--------

Chapter 73: Security Maxed Out

The fourth week ended peacefully as the moon set and the sun rose.

Then, the fifth week begins.

The routine is to get up, wash up, eat, and then go to the training ground.

But this time, Shinji Kitahara didn't take out his phone and start slacking off as usual. His expression and demeanor were also different from before, with a more serious and solemn look in his eyes, which was very obvious.

"Trainer, what's wrong?"

Although he had already made up his mind to keep his distance from trainer Sang, seeing him like this, the East Sea Emperor couldn't help but worry and came closer.

Today, faced with the East Sea Emperor's initiative to approach him, Kitahara Shinji did not avoid or open up as he usually did; he simply shook his head slightly.

"It's nothing, the chairman just said he wanted to talk to me about something this afternoon."

"...Does this concern me?"

"No, she just wanted to ask me about some small things from my past. Don't worry."

Faced with Kitahara Shinji's answer, not only the Emperor of the East Sea, but even Special Zhou and Oguri Hat didn't believe it.

Even so, when pressed by the female horse trainers, Shinji Kitahara did not say what it was about, only that it was his own private matter and told them to focus on their training.

After coaxing the still-confused horse girls back to the training field, Shinji Kitahara found Hibiki and handed her the three running patterns he had previously designed, but...

"I'm sorry, although the running technique is ready, I'm afraid I won't be able to let you practice this week because I might need to take care of some things on my end."

Shinji Kitahara looked apologetic.

Grasshopper nodded in understanding, then realized something and frowned slightly.

"Trainer Kitahara, is what you're talking about related to what the chairman wanted to discuss with you this afternoon?"

"...I'd say so."

"Do you need my help?"

Grasshopper looked at him with a serious expression.

"In terms of martial arts... I mean, in terms of guarding, I do have some experience."

"Need not."

Being assigned by the student council to serve as a bodyguard, even though he has only recently begun to become a full-fledged member, Grasshopper's combat prowess is beyond doubt.

The problem is that the things we're going to talk about in the afternoon aren't something that a kid like Cao Shangfei, who hasn't even left school yet, should understand, let alone participate in.

So Shinji Kitahara refused her offer without even thinking about it, and said that he might be going out for a while, so he would ask her to help look after the team with Alice Digital.

Grasshopper did not refuse his request, but still said that he could come to her if he needed anything.

Shinji Kitahara did not refuse, after all, it's always good to be prepared.

After talking with Ms. Cao, he briefly explained some key points of his newly designed three running methods to her, and then taught her some methods for practicing in advance.

Although it won't have a significant effect, it can at least slightly reduce and shorten the degree and duration of the "disuse" phase during formal training, which is better than doing nothing at all.

After instructing Ms. Kusa, Shinji Kitahara thought for a moment and then went to Aili Digital.

The school year in Tressen started in mid-April, and now four weeks have passed, making it mid-May. There are less than three weeks left until the G1 event scheduled for early June by Ali Digital.