Lu Jue slowly walked down the stairs.
His classes were already arranged, but not for today, so there was no rush.
Just then, the previously quiet teaching building suddenly became noisy as Uma Musume in blue and white JK uniforms emerged from their classrooms.
"Class dismissed! I wonder what I should eat at the cafeteria later~"
"I need to prepare for my debut race. I hope to get a good result."
...
The further down he went, the more Uma Musume Lu Jue saw.
There were a few familiar faces among them, but they didn't know him, and approaching them directly would be a bit presumptuous.
"Excuse me, coming through."
Lu Jue looked down at the path, feeling a little nervous, as more and more gazes fell upon him.
Everyone was quite curious about this new face.
After returning to his dorm, Lu Jue breathed a sigh of relief, then began to look through the stack of documents.
...
The overall curriculum at Teresen Academy was not complicated.
In the mornings, Uma Musume studied general academic subjects.
In the afternoons, they would have race lectures, Victory Stages (which would be further introduced later), sports nutrition, basic training, and so on, with the lessons centered around racing.
There were two types of training.
One type was for Uma Musume who had signed with a Trainer; they would join the team founded by that Trainer for training.
The other type was for Uma Musume who had not signed with a Trainer; they would undergo unified training by the Academy's instructors.
The former was generally more targeted, but not all Uma Musume could join a team; the prerequisite was passing the Trainer's assessment.
For example, Tojo Hana's "Rigil" team mostly consisted of famous Uma Musume, truly the strongest in the Academy.
After lunch, Lu Jue went to the activity room again.
He wasn't late, but Tojo Hana was already organizing training at the training ground.
Lu Jue was about to go over when Tojo Hana caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye.
"Sister Hua, am I late?"
"No, they just started training too."
Lu Jue followed Tojo Hana's gaze, and a rapidly fleeting figure caught his attention.
The girl's running posture was elegant, and her speed was incredibly fast, her arms and legs moving so quickly they left afterimages.
Kicking up dust as she went, she was like a flying dragon skimming the ground.
Her long orange hair was quite distinctive, so Lu Jue recognized her at a glance—"The Leader of Another Dimension," Silent Suzuka.
However, at present, she had not yet received this title, and her performance was mediocre, with no special achievements.
(Knowledge: After the New Horse Race, Silent Suzuka's performance was unsatisfactory, and she fell into a slump, suffering 6 consecutive defeats in major graded races throughout the year.)
As for the other Uma Musume, most were doing light warm-up runs. Most of them had already won many major races and had not participated in too many events afterward.
"Xiao Lu." Tojo Hana's call brought Lu Jue back to his senses. "I won't gather them now. I'll introduce you to them after training ends."
"No problem. I'll go prepare the towels and sports drinks they'll need now."
When he was in France, Lu Jue had also worked as an assistant Trainer, so he naturally knew what he should do.
He believed that Uma Musume only needed to focus on running with all their might and competing to win. As for other matters outside the racecourse, the Trainer should handle them.
Thinking of this, a certain unbearable memory made Lu Jue's heart tremble, and he immediately clenched his fists.
Yes, he must... do it well.
"Good, I'm counting on you." Tojo Hana nodded in approval.
...
After moving the supplies to the designated location, Lu Jue quietly began to study Tojo Hana's training methods.
Being able to guide so many excellent Uma Musume, Tojo Hana naturally had her own set of training methods.
However, Lu Jue also noticed that she was quite serious during training and required all Uma Musume to train according to her methods.
"Next, Air Groove." Tojo Hana reset the stopwatch and called out.
Then, an imperious Uma Musume with short brown hair walked to the starting line.
...
"Next, Rhombus Amazon."
A brown-skinned Uma Musume came to the starting line. She grinned at the path ahead, revealing her small fangs.
...
Lu Jue remembered that the "Rigil" team in the anime had 9 members.
(Below, back row left → right): El Condor Pasa, Grass Wonder, Fuji Kiseki, Air Groove, Rudolph Symboli, Maruzensky, Taiki Shuttle, Agnes Digital. (Front row left → right): Rhombus Amazon, Narita Brian.
(Brief introduction of team members, no need to memorize)
Front (Left): Rhombus Amazon; Front (Right): Narita Brian
But the story had not yet begun. Silent Suzuka had not yet left the team, El Condor Pasa had not yet joined, and Grass Wonder was absent due to injury and rest.
Lu Jue stood in the finish area, providing what the resting Uma Musume needed and introducing himself.
And after an unknown number of laps, that orange figure also walked towards him, panting.
"Here, sports drink."
Silent Suzuka was walking with her head down, panting, when a drink suddenly appeared in her field of vision. "Tha... thank you."
Silent Suzuka seemed a little reserved with strangers. After a simple thank you, she took the drink Lu Jue offered.
"Lu Jue, your temporary assistant Trainer." Lu Jue smiled, briefly introducing himself.
"Hello, Trainer-san, my name is Silent Suzuka."
The young man's handsome face and bright, cheerful demeanor easily left a good impression.
Silent Suzuka's personality was already somewhat shy and introverted, so when her eyes met Lu Jue's, she became flustered unconsciously and quickly shifted her gaze away.
Silent Suzuka
Silent Suzuka
Lu Jue was also afraid that excessive enthusiasm would bother the girl, so after handing Silent Suzuka the towel and drink, he turned to the next team member.
But his goal was clear: to recruit Silent Suzuka into his own team.
Ding! Harem... no, team member count increased by one!
It wouldn't count as poaching Tojo Hana's corner, right? Anyway, Silent Suzuka would eventually leave "Rigil" because she couldn't adapt to the training methods.
According to the anime, she would eventually choose to join another team, "Spica."
Hmm, this should be considered a snatch.