Chapter 2: The Briefing and the "yushun"
“. Therefore, whether it’s necessary to clean a stallion’s sheath still needs to be analyzed based on the actual situation.”
Clumsily operating the mouse, under the tense gaze of the silver-haired old man, the slide finally stopped lagging and successfully reached the end.
“As for the argument regarding the relationship between conception rate and cleaning frequency… at least from the data obtained so far, it does not hold true.”
Finally, the old man announced the end of the lecture with a series of hurried coughs.
Kitano exchanged business cards with the attendees, and the progress of his task steadily increased.
At a briefing for new stablemen and interns aspiring to work in horse care, he indeed met many people.
【Befriend fifty industry professionals: 46/50】
Unfortunately, he couldn't complete the task in one go.
However, this briefing was not in vain.
Aside from meeting many industry professionals, the content of the briefing itself also provided Kitano with many insights.
He also completed the ability training task along the way.
“You’ve worked hard, Senior Shibata.”
Tucking his notebook under his arm, he walked to the front of the stage in a few steps.
“Ah, Kitano-kun—”
Ryuichiro Shibata raised his head, a somewhat muffled sound coming from his throat.
“How about it? Would you consider coming to work for me? I can give you shares.”
After picking up the thermos next to him and taking several sips, Shibata continued with a smile.
Among industrial animal veterinarians, whose average age exceeds sixty, young people like Kitano are quite rare.
It was precisely because of this that he unhesitatingly agreed to the other party's request to participate in the briefing.
“At the very least, I’ll have to wait until I’ve paid off the clinic’s transfer fee.”
Kitano also smiled and shook his head.
“I’m afraid I won’t live to see that day.”
Shibata burst into laughter, but a hint of regret flashed in his eyes.
Soon, he patted Kitano’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go, let’s head back together.”
Their two clinics are less than five kilometers apart.
For seven practicing veterinarians, Niikappu Town, with a total population of less than five thousand, was a bit crowded.
However, Kitano's relationship with his colleagues could be described as harmonious.
It wasn’t because he possessed some unique charm or exceptional emotional intelligence capable of dispelling others' animosity.
Aside from Ryuichiro Shibata, who was already semi-retired, he was the only industrial animal veterinarian in the town.
And even Senior Shibata, strictly speaking, was only a small animal veterinarian, plus a horse specialist.
As of Reiwa 4, even including government civil servants, the total number of veterinary professionals in all of Hokkaido was just over three thousand.
Among them, those engaged in industrial animal treatment were a mere 252.
This means that on Hokkaido’s 83,460 km² of land, the average service area per industrial animal veterinarian exceeded 300 km².
The situation in areas outside Sapporo and Hakodate was even more grim.
From the very first day his clinic opened, Kitano lived a life of constant rushing.
But a veterinarian's work cannot be easily abandoned.
It had been over a week since he received the system.
That very day, he took his passbook to the convenience store in town.
Although a certain handling fee was required, using the ATM at the convenience store was much more convenient than going to a bank dozens or even hundreds of kilometers away.
The last page of his passbook showed an additional 50,000 yen balance.
The remitter was unknown.
While breathing a sigh of relief, Kitano vaguely sensed that his finances would become even tighter in the future.
Becoming a Central Horse Owner—while it was a beginner's task, the difficulty of achieving it was far from simple for him.
Even registering as a joint Horse Owner required at least 9 million yen in personal net income and a 10 million yen joint registration fee within the past two years.
So, he decided to start as a Local Horse Owner.
Many tasks on the list could be completed even as a Local Horse Owner.
And the registration requirements for a Local Horse Owner were much simpler.
To pass the Local Individual Horse Owner qualification review, one's recent personal net income must be at least 5 million yen.
Kitano's current revenue situation was sufficient to pass.
But even for a Local Horse Owner, the expenses were not small.
Initial horse purchase fees, monthly boarding fees ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 yen, annual expenses would be at least around 1 million yen.
The income from daily tasks became even more important.
Unfortunately, all of Monbetsu Racecourse's races this month were concentrated within a few short days.
If he wanted to complete as many viewing tasks as possible, he would most likely have to go to Obihiro, two hundred kilometers away.
As Hokkaido's only remaining Ban'ei Racecourse, there were many Ban'ei races held there.
After getting the system, he naturally slacked off and lived a life free from worries—
Such a thing does not exist.
Both the Local and Central Racing Associations are particularly diligent in their annual qualification reviews for registered Horse Owners.
If continuous losses occur, the Horse Owner's qualification may even be revoked.
And temporary income such as prize money from races and proceeds from selling stocks or real estate are not included in the income statistics.
So, light novels are indeed all lies.
Good things that come without effort can only be dreamed of.
After dropping Senior Shibata off at home, Kitano drove to his clinic.
For the original small animal clinic, the twelve-tatami area felt a bit cramped.
Kitano, however, had no such concerns.
When he worked, he often encountered situations that required house calls.
The clinic was merely a transit or resting point before the next house call.
Of course, occasionally there would be careless individuals who were too lazy to check the Veterinary Association's official website beforehand and came to him directly via Google Maps for small animal illnesses.
In such cases, Kitano was often not at the clinic.
Unsurprisingly, his clinic ranked first in Niikappu Town's veterinary evaluations on many platforms.
That was counting from the bottom.
Taking off his suit jacket and changing into more comfortable clothes, Kitano walked out of the lounge with the previous month's issue of "yushun."
A considerable amount of space was dedicated to introducing a racehorse named "Looking Ready to Win."
Among them, Kitano noticed the evaluation of the horse's physique by Tomoharu Tanaka, who was also a veterinarian.
“It is quite rare for a horse to make good use of its hindquarters and gluteal muscles. The movement that smoothly connects the hindquarters and forequarters should be the goal sought by Jockeys. I see.”
For a considerably long time before, he had not paid attention to the principles of a horse's power generation.
Many times, it's like this: you brush past knowledge again and again without realizing it.
Receiving the task completion prompt, he put down the magazine in his hand.
Although there were many emotional and exaggerated elements, he could indeed glean a lot of useful information from it.
Also, there was the reward after completing the task.
However, before he could claim the reward, his phone rang.
“Hello, Niikappu Town Industrial Animal Clinic.”
Two minutes later, a silver pickup truck sped away.
On the passenger seat was the heavy bag for house calls.