Nice Nature was the name of the red-haired horse girl who had been persecuted by Shinji Kitahara. Because her name was a homophone for "Nice," she was usually called Neicha, just as he was used to calling Grass Wonder "Ms. Grass."
Similar to Special Week, she used to live in the countryside, and her family was not well-off. But unlike Special Week, her appetite was not that big, and she was famously obedient, sensible, and well-behaved.
Her academic performance was excellent, she was proficient in cooking and housework, had an easy-going personality, and was always ready to help others. She was very popular among the local elderly and aunties, the standard "other people's child."
But even so, the little Nice Nature had her own troubles.
And that was that she seemed to have an indissoluble bond with the number "three."
Her overall grades in school were always third. When she participated in the school sports festival, she was third in the horse girl group. Even a few times when she was encouraged by her friends to buy some small lottery items, after opening them, they were all three third prizes...
Generally speaking, people only remember the first place, and occasionally have an impression of the second. They rarely pay attention to the third.
But if you are always third, and third in everything, then it's different.
Because of her good personality and all-around skills, she was not only popular in the village but also in the school. Both horse girls and humans basically liked her very much, so they naturally paid attention to her situation.
But as they paid attention, they slowly discovered the strangeness of the situation.
Third, third, and still third.
In any project with a ranking that she participated in, the four big words "Nice Nature" were always written on the third place.
At first, everyone found it strange, but slowly, as time went on, the concept of her being in third place actually began to slowly evolve into common sense.
It was as if if you were to ask the locals what the highest peak in the world was, they would say Mount Everest.
If you asked about the second highest, most of them would not know.
And then if you asked about the third highest, they would answer "It's Neicha" without a second thought.
"Friendship first, competition second, Neicha third..."
"The first place in this exam is XX, the second place is OO, and Neicha is Neicha..."
"Ah, I won a prize! It's the Neicha prize..."
This was not a malicious title. In fact, to be able to get third place every time was already a very excellent existence in the eyes of an ordinary person, and the widespread use of the title also confirmed people's love for her.
But the problem is, Miss Neicha didn't want third. She also wanted first, and she had worked very hard for it.
But perhaps it was because of talent, perhaps it was because of luck, but no matter how hard she tried, she was always firmly in the third place.
In fact, later on, she herself began to slowly accept this setting and began to wonder if she would always be in third place for the rest of her life.
And it was at this time that Shinji arrived in her village.
As long as you hang three carrots in front of your door according to the standard, and then offer the corresponding sacrifices, you can realize any wish. Of course, on the premise that it is related to horse girls.
That's what her friends had told her.
She had not paid much attention to their words at first. After all, among girls of that age, there would always be some strange rumors circulating, like the seven wonders of the school. But these things were later proven to be just the product of them scaring themselves, or stories made up by adults to prevent them from doing something stupid. The precocious Miss Neicha was well aware of these.
And three...
But with more and more examples appearing around her, and even a horse girl whose leg had always been a problem and couldn't be cured even after going to the hospital had recovered, Miss Neicha was shaken.
She didn't actually know the specific situation of that rumor, nor did she know what sacrifices to offer. She had heard that it was like just treating him and the horse girl beside him to a meal.
With the thought of "it won't hurt to try," she hung three carrots in front of her door as required.
And then, he appeared as promised.
"What do you want?"
"I... want to be first."
What kind of request is this?
Although he was a little helpless and surprised, it was not particularly unexpected. Because at that time, for some reason, it seemed that many people had regarded him as something like a wish-granting machine, and the requests they made were all sorts of strange. In comparison, becoming first was only a conventional one.
Especially after a period of communication, he had recognized her, and he understood the meaning of her request even more.
But understanding is one thing, he still refused her request.
It wasn't that he didn't want to help her, but that he really didn't know how to help her.
He could solve the problems of horse girls, that's true, but her third place was already a conceptual problem. This was really not something a mortal like him could solve.
However, although he did not agree to help her solve the problem, he did not cut off contact with her afterwards. Because at that time, he was engrossed in the study of nursing care, and compared to other periods, he did not have enough time to personally solve problems for others and wander around looking for business.
So he thought of finding an assistant who had a stable personality, was reliable, and was also familiar with the local situation.
At that time, she just happened to meet these points, and she also happened to have nothing to do at that time, so she agreed to his invitation and began to move around in the village as his assistant.
There were no accidents during that time. It was just a very ordinary daily life.
No horse girl hunters, no unexpected events. It was just him and her working together, wandering around helping, and slowly getting to know each other while constantly solving the various problems of the horse girls in the village.
That was a rare peaceful time in his past wandering life. Everything was very normal and ordinary, and could even be said to completely meet his definition of a good life.
Work, earn rice, and after solving the problem of food and clothing, he would pinch Eclipse in his spare time, and study all sorts of interesting things...
However, although these aspects were all normal, after a period of development, he also noticed a small, minor abnormality compared to before.
And that was that the tacit understanding between him and her seemed to be improving at a terrifying speed.
He had not been without assistants in the past when he had wandered around. Even when he had gone to Special Week's side, she had, in a sense, acted as his assistant for a period of time.
But he had never seen anyone as compatible with him as her.
In fact, the reason he had chosen her as an assistant, besides the previously mentioned factors, was actually mainly to keep her by his side to see if he could help her break that third-place curse.
Although that was indeed an excessive request, after wandering for so many years, the excessive requests he had received and completed were not one or two, otherwise, people wouldn't have regarded him as a wish-granting machine. Especially when she had told him that wish, her eyes were like a drowning person grabbing at the last straw, shining with expectation.
So although he had refused, he still wanted to help her if he had the chance.
Actually, he hadn't expected her to be of much help at first. It was enough if she could help him simply collect information on those seeking help and show him the way like his other assistants.
But soon, he found that he seemed to have underestimated her ability in this aspect.
Except for the first day when their cooperation was not very good because of unfamiliarity, from the second day onwards, the tacit understanding between the two began to improve at an extremely bizarre speed.
Things that he had to explain to other assistants several times or even dozens of times before, with her, it was once and done.
In the past, for some more complicated and tedious work, when he gave it to his assistants to do, even after explaining it dozens of times, it might not work, and in the end, he would most likely have to step in himself to finish it.
And with her, although at the beginning he still had to remind her a few more times, as her proficiency increased, she also gradually started to get it done in one go, and her speed and completion rate were also far superior to his previous assistants.
And, because the various uncles and aunties in her hometown were very fond of her, and even saw her as their own child, she was extremely trusted there and could help him avoid a lot of trouble.
And for the same reason, she was also very willing to help those horse girls solve their problems, and her work enthusiasm was directly maxed out. Even some problems that some horse girls had not originally planned to ask him to solve, she could discover and persuade them.
While her work enthusiasm was maxed out and she was working hard, she also greatly increased his number of clients, allowing him to make a fortune at an unprecedented efficiency—in terms of grain.
As they cooperated later, he even once had the thought of taking her as an apprentice and taking her around to scavenge for grain.
But in the end, it was just a thought, and he didn't say it out loud. He just said that she was really the best assistant he had ever had.
The best?
She found it hard to describe her feelings when she heard this evaluation.
The best, also meant one着 (yī zháo - first place).
And looking at the happy, and even a little silly, smile on his face, you could clearly tell that it was by no means an empty word of comfort.
And it wasn't just this evaluation. For her own performance during this period, she actually had a rough estimate in her heart. Although there was not much to compare with, she could also sense that her cooperation with him could definitely be called excellent.
In other words, this was a well-deserved first place.
And what she didn't know at that time was that this first place was just the beginning.
Slowly, as her cooperation with him increased, she learned more and more knowledge and skills. Especially seeing her extraordinary talent in this area, he also slowly became interested and often taught her some things under the pretext of solving problems. When he had free time, he would even give her special lessons.
For a teacher, there is nothing more interesting than teaching a talented student.
And with the growth of her knowledge and skills, although she was still third in all sorts of rankings, outside the rankings, her number of "first places" began to increase.
Her understanding of all aspects of horse girls, her ability to help others solve problems, her popularity in her hometown, and even the new nickname the children on the street had for her, "Big Sis Neicha"...
"Big Sis" in a sense is also a first place.
Although her ranking still hadn't changed at all, her mentality had slowly changed. She had gradually started to not care as much about those "third places" as before.
Because regardless of the ranking, she already had her own first place.
But he didn't know what was on her mind, and he probably wouldn't agree with her view even if he did. Because in his eyes, a first place had to be a first place on the leaderboard. Everything else was self-deception.
So, in the end, after having solved almost all the problems of the horse girls in the town, he finally turned his gaze to her and proposed the idea of a nursing care experiment, thinking of using it to enhance her strength as a racehorse.
Although he was indeed a little carried away at the time, he was not yet to the point of forcibly tricking those around him to help him complete his experiment.
He explained everything to her from beginning to end and asked her to consider it carefully.
She didn't think it was a big deal. Because at that time, her relationship with Eclipse was also not bad, and he often taught her some things during the nursing care sessions, so she often watched his nursing work.
And she saw that although Eclipse would sometimes blush a little, she generally didn't react much, at most she would just hum softly a few times. She thought to herself, what's the big deal?
And then, she knew how ridiculous it was that Eclipse could only have that kind of reaction.
Can't take it, really can't take it.
Even though he had gone as easy as possible, every time during the nursing care, she still had to stuff a towel in her mouth to barely keep from making strange noises. And after it was over, her whole body would go limp, and she wouldn't be able to use much strength for nearly half an hour.
Nothing unspeakable would happen. It was just the feeling of her whole body relaxing.
And it wasn't just her. In fact, he himself had also personally tried the techniques of those top-level nursing masters when he was studying, and he had also cried out in comfort, and had cried out very frankly, without the slightest bit of embarrassment.
Because those amazing nursing masters could really make you hum. And after it was over, because of the circulation of qi and blood, your whole body would feel hot, and because of the relaxation of your body, there would also be a period of weakness.
These were all very normal things. It's just that the effect on his side was a little more obvious.
In short, after a considerable period of torture, just as Miss Neicha felt that she was about to go down a strange path and never return, the nursing work was finally completed.
Looking at the monster he had created with his own hands, he was very shocked in his heart.
But he was also a little happy, thinking to himself, with such a gloomy skill set, you can't possibly get third place every time again, right?
And just as he was about to share this joy with her, he found that she had already begun to reject and even fear him.
Ah, right. After enduring such a long period of torture, it's normal for her to be like this.
He sighed. After completing this final commission, he last checked the village and, after confirming that there were no problems, he prepared to leave.
He had originally wanted to go and say goodbye to her, but the other party didn't even open the door. In the end, he could only say a word through the door, and then left without knowing if the other party had heard him.
It's just that he didn't know that not long after he left, she, who had finally managed to calm down a little, mustered up her courage, walked out of her house, went to the shop where she had once drawn three third prizes, and bought a lottery ticket.
First prize.
She didn't know that before she came in, all the lottery tickets in that prize pool had been temporarily replaced with first prize tickets. She just happily looked at the first place in her hand and rushed out without even having time to redeem the prize, wanting to share it with someone.
It's just that when she arrived, there was nothing there.
In the empty room, the first-place lottery ticket slipped from her hand and fell into a puddle of water.
The words on it were soaked and gradually faded, no longer redeemable.
The first place she had finally obtained had just disappeared like that.
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