The next morning.
A new beginning.
Although a lot had happened last night—events that would have caused 'lack of sleep' for anyone else—for him, they brought an unparalleled sense of peace.
He had obtained the SSR-level life-saving talisman, 'Symboli Rudolf's Disgust.' He had also clarified things with Tokai Teio and strengthened her conviction not to be managed by him. He had even been caught up in an online smear campaign because of her.
Due to the recent series of events, he had felt that his future of slacking off was bleak, and he was hurtling towards a basement, a shattered pelvis, or even being drawn and quartered by five horses. But these events, appearing just when he was at his wit's end on his path of laziness, were a silver lining. They had successfully brought down his rising reputation and given him hope to slack off once again.
As for the pressure from all sides? That was nothing to worry about. The only one who could exert direct physical pressure on him was Symboli Rudolf. Apart from her, others could at most howl online or point fingers at him from behind.
And the best way to deal with this kind of pressure... was, of course, to slack off.
As long as he was lazy enough, the pressure was useless against him!
He got dressed, washed up, went out, had breakfast at the cafeteria, and then went to the training grounds.
Tokai Teio was already practicing there. She smiled and greeted him when she saw him.
"Good morning, Trainer-san."
"Good morning, Tokai Teio."
Although he felt her way of addressing him was slightly different from before, Shinji didn't pay too much attention to the details. After all, he had already slacked off this much, angered her favorite President Rudolf last night, and repeatedly emphasized their purely monetary relationship. He had perfectly avoided all options that could increase her affection for him. How could he possibly fail?
How can you lose when you're this far ahead?
So, a change in address was just a change in address. He was already slacking off, why care about such trivial details?
As usual, he found a spot, pretended to be supervising the training, and opened his phone, Browse through the videos and books he had cached earlier.
In the midst of his usual routine, time quietly passed. The sun began to rise higher, and Eclipse, Special Week, and Oguri Cap arrived at the training grounds one after another.
As usual, Eclipse didn't train. She just stood by Shinji's side, staring into space. Special Week and Oguri Cap greeted Shinji and then threw themselves into their training.
Perhaps because of the commotion on the forum yesterday, Shinji clearly felt that more eyes were on him today than yesterday while he was slacking off.
But what did that have to do with him, who was already in full slacker mode?
As long as he was lazy enough, no rumor or slander could hurt him. In a way, these gazes and words could even serve as his protective coloration, preventing dangerous horse girls from targeting him, which was actually a good thing.
But speaking of the forum incident...
Shinji's finger, which was swiping across his phone screen, paused for a moment.
Symboli Rudolf had said that someone had deliberately stirred things up on the forum yesterday, which was why the situation had blown up. But he couldn't remember offending anyone, and the only one who might have a grudge, Rudolf, didn't need to resort to such methods.
If he had to say, the peeping tom horse girl he had scared off could be considered an enemy. But from the moment she started to flee until she disappeared, she hadn't looked back once. Just as he hadn't had a chance to remember her face, she couldn't possibly know what he looked like.
Perhaps it was some crazed Tokai Teio fan who didn't like him, or some trainer who was friendly on the surface but secretly jealous? Both were possible.
Because there was too little confirmed information at the moment, he couldn't deduce the other party's identity. After thinking for a while, he went back to Browse his phone.
Oh well, no use thinking about it. Better to just keep slacking.
If the other party was really targeting him, they would definitely make another move. And if it was just a one-time impulse, then they wouldn't pose any further threat to him.
With this thought in mind, the morning passed in a haze of laziness.
After lunch, he went to the team's clubroom as usual, planning to browse his phone for a bit before heading to the training grounds. But today, just as he took out his phone, before he could even unlock the screen, a small hand snatched it away.
"Trainer-san, staring at your phone all the time is bad for your eyes."
Tokai Teio had appeared in front of him at some point, holding his phone between two fingers and dangling it back and forth.
Shinji was taken aback and was about to ask Teio to give him his phone back. But before he could speak, he heard Oguri Cap speak up first.
"Trainer Kitahara, I think Teio is right. You are indeed a bit too addicted to the virtual world."
"Shinji-san, if you keep this up, you'll become a good-for-nothing," Special Week added, dealing the final blow.
Isolated and helpless, Shinji was silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to Eclipse.
She was silent for a moment, then delivered the final blow.
"Since you've formed a team, you should at least take some responsibility, right?"
You have the nerve to say that!
Hearing her words, Shinji almost roared in his heart.
Does this woman have no shame? Who was the one who secretly put this team together? Who was the one who, after becoming his charge, told him not to manage her at all, leaving him with nothing to do but browse his phone? Doesn't she have any self-awareness?
Perhaps his gaze was too direct, because after meeting his eyes for a moment, Eclipse looked away.
Forget it.
He retracted his gaze and looked at the girls helplessly.
"Alright, spit it out. What do you want me to do?"
For them to be so united all of a sudden, they must have some purpose.
"It's not really a purpose," Teio said, sitting back down in her seat, resting her cheek on her hand and looking at him sideways. "It's just that the team has been established for three days, but you, Trainer-san, still just play on your phone all day, only caring about your own business, not acting like a trainer at all. Isn't that a bit much?"
Don't you have any idea why I'm not acting like a trainer?
Shinji glared at Tokai Teio with the same look he had given Eclipse earlier.
Teio, knowing she was in the wrong, guiltily averted her gaze and coughed twice.
"Anyway, I think our team can't continue to be this decadent. We have to do something."
"Like what?" Shinji asked, narrowing his eyes.
Teio began to count on her fingers. "Like holding some intra-team competitions to get to know each other better, preparing some fun games for everyone to play together, or going out to eat together... No, let's forget that last one."
What she mentioned were common relaxation and team-building methods for other teams, but obviously, the last one was not applicable to their team—because Shinji might really be eaten into bankruptcy by them.
To be honest, Shinji really didn't want to do any of these things. If it were just Eclipse and Tokai Teio, he would most likely refuse the proposal without hesitation. He knew Eclipse had no interest in such things. And as for Teio, he wanted to avoid any event that could possibly increase her affection for him.
The problem was, besides those two, there were two other well-behaved (but giant-eating) children sitting pitifully nearby, looking at him with expectant eyes, which made it impossible for him to refuse them heartlessly.
Kids are kids, they naturally love to play. And they're already so obedient during training. After giving them the training plan, they've barely caused him any trouble. It would be a bit unreasonable not to give them some reward.
Besides, helping horse girls relax, have fun, and adjust their moods was part of a trainer's duty. He had just been avoiding it because he was worried about accidentally raising someone's affection and increasing the risk of a shattered pelvis.
But now that he had been called out, he couldn't keep running away.
After a long silence, Shinji sighed and nodded. "Fine."
However, although he had agreed to Teio's proposal, Shinji couldn't help but complain in his heart.
By the way, we clearly agreed not to interfere with each other, but why are you so enthusiastic about participating in team matters, Teio?
Don't tell me you really think of me as a trainer? We just have a pure, monetary relationship. And I just emphasized that last night, and you agreed.
Shinji complained wildly in his heart but didn't dare to say it out loud. After all, many strange fanfics and heavy-track scenarios started with a trainer's careless, death-courting remark. He would not follow in the footsteps of his predecessors.
"Let's get some fun games then. I'll go buy them now," he said, about to get up.
"Shouldn't we organize an intra-team competition first to get to know each other better? I see other teams doing that," Teio suggested, earning a scornful look from Shinji.
"Your full-fledged development is almost complete, and you're the hottest new star. But Special Week and Oguri Cap have just started. You have the nerve to compete with them?"
"It's just a friendly match..." Teio paused, her gaze sweeping over a certain black-haired horse girl who was quietly staring into space nearby, a strange emotion flashing in her eyes. "What about Miss Eclipse? She's not just starting her full-fledged development, is she?"
"Then you can go discuss it with her yourself."
He couldn't be bothered to organize any intra-team competition, and Eclipse probably wouldn't agree anyway, but he was too lazy to explain. He'd just let Teio try for herself. She would understand after she hit a wall.
After saying that, Shinji left the clubroom.
But in the next second, he suddenly returned, poking his head back in and looking at the room suspiciously.
"Wait a minute, when did you all get so close?"
They had barely interacted before, and in the training room, they were all on their own phones. But today, they were suddenly so united, and their coordination was so smooth, it was as if they had planned it all in advance.
This question made everyone in the room fall silent for a few seconds. They looked at each other, and finally, the more honest Oguri Cap spoke up.
"Um, Trainer-san, we created a chat group on the first day the team was formed. We usually communicate on our phones..."
"...Why don't I know about this?"
Oguri Cap answered honestly, "Miss Eclipse said you wouldn't join even if we invited you, so we didn't."
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