Even though, after his resistance failed, Kitahara had already braced himself for disaster, what actually happened didn't unfold the way he'd expected.
There were two reasons.
One was that, thanks to the talk Kitahara had had with her before, Super Creek had reined herself in a bit on that front—especially since Kitahara really was injured right now.
It did feel a little like taking advantage of him, but Super Creek wasn't the type who couldn't tell what mattered. She was restrained in how she acted.
The second reason was that, well… this was Kitahara's home. There weren't any of the "tools" Super Creek needed, so all she could do was take care of him within a normal range.
Of course, that "normal" was "normal" by Super Creek standards.
Anyway, under this relatively "normal" care, Kitahara made it through a night that could barely be called peaceful.
Then the next morning, he got up absurdly early—so early it wasn't even light out—and called Kudou Kazuya, asking him to meet.
Because the call came at such an ungodly hour, Kudou Kazuya's voice was clearly still blurry with sleep.
Hearing the urgency in Kitahara's voice, he just assumed Kitahara was anxious because of yesterday's incident, didn't think too much of it, quickly set a time with him, and hung up.
After hanging up, Kitahara glanced at the sky outside—still dark—then quietly checked Super Creek's state.
Mm. Good. Still asleep. Leave a note and slip out, now.
Thinking that, Kitahara tiptoed through his preparations, left a note on the table for Super Creek, then took Eclipse and crept out the door, heading to the agreed meeting place.
The moment he arrived, he saw Kudou Kazuya. With no extra nonsense—he went straight to the point.
"So what the hell is going on?"
Kudou Kazuya didn't hesitate either.
"It was the Black Market's handiwork—at least, the handiwork of some people in it."
Since yesterday's call had already let Kitahara seize the handle, Kudou Kazuya wasn't being so careful anymore. He spoke directly, laying out what he knew.
Just like how there was a Black Market shadow behind the Uma Musume Hunting incidents, this fuel tanker attack also had Black Market members stirring the waters behind the scenes.
Kudou Kazuya had said before: the people in the Black Market were a mixed bag. Even someone like him—an old-guard figure—couldn't claim to know much. He didn't know their goals either.
And yesterday, while Kudou Kazuya was, as usual, both contacting the "buyer" who now called him once a week on a fixed schedule, and combing through all sorts of Black Market chatter to investigate—
A Black Market member under his team suddenly sent him those coordinates, then explained the situation.
"In the Black Market, it's not just me who doesn't know other people's identities—everyone's the same. It makes my investigation harder, sure, but it also means other people can't discover me, or the identities of my team members."
"Then, without knowing who that person is—sorry, I can't tell you who, exactly—a certain team approached him and wanted him to help plan an incident."
"Since he'd already worked with me a few times, he naturally assumed this was another sting operation. So he joined in pretty willingly."
"They were extremely cautious. Even after he joined, he was still a newcomer, so they didn't trust him much. They only told him what to do, not the full plan—so he didn't notice anything wrong during the process."
"But at the end, when the plan was about to succeed… maybe because they thought victory was guaranteed, someone let something slip. He learned the specifics, contacted me immediately, and then I contacted you."
So it was the Black Market…
Kitahara nodded, his brow gradually knitting.
"Then do you know their motive? What they wanted out of doing something like this?"
"I don't."
Kudou Kazuya shook his head.
"Even though there's no clear evidence that the plan failed because of a mole, after that, they never contacted my person again."
"But even if I don't know their exact motive, I can at least be sure of one thing: they weren't doing it for money or profit."
"Because I investigated that team a long time ago. Even though I never got a firm grip on their identities…"
"From little details in everyday conversation, I can basically confirm they aren't short on money, they don't need anything on that front, and…"
He paused, his expression turning increasingly subtle.
"This might sound unbelievable, but based on my observations… the members of that team… seem to really like Uma Musume."
"…Are you joking?"
"I'm not."
Kudou Kazuya shook his head, looking even more conflicted.
"I know it sounds strange. Even when I came to this conclusion, I scared myself—I wondered if I'd lost my mind, but…"
He pulled out his phone, opened a file, and showed it to Kitahara.
"This document is a collection of their past statements and behavior, and a personality model I built and summarized from those statements and actions…"
"I won't deny there's a chance it's wrong. Those 'liking them' remarks could be an act."
"But look at these lines—this isn't stuff that someone who merely 'knows' Uma Musume can casually toss out. And these little details… ones they probably didn't even realize themselves…"
"If it's all fake—then even I, if I truly didn't like Uma Musume, couldn't possibly disguise it this perfectly…"
Honestly, Kudou Kazuya's competence lived up to his legendary trainer reputation.
Looking at that pile of records and analysis, even Kitahara could clearly feel—through the words and the model—how much those people liked Uma Musume.
Which made it even weirder.
Before, Kitahara had been thinking: what kind of person could do something as deranged as detonating a fuel tanker at an Uma Musume daycare?
Even if they weren't outright antisocial, they'd at least need some deep, hatred-level grudge against certain Uma Musume—something big enough to make them lose their minds—to do it.
But the information Kudou Kazuya provided said the opposite: those people weren't antisocial at all. They liked Uma Musume. Some of them had even carried out sting operations before.
And while Kitahara was thinking, his phone vibrated—Kamisato Daisuke's investigation results came through as well.
According to Kamisato Daisuke's findings, the woman driving was just a pawn who'd been used.
Just like the Uma Musume hunters who'd been lured into sting ops by the Black Market before, she'd been contacted unilaterally by Black Market people throughout the whole incident.
She couldn't provide anything valuable. Even the tanker had been hijacked by the Black Market first, then parked somewhere for her to come drive.
As for why she'd follow the Black Market's instructions and carry out something so insane…
"It's simple. A man she liked got taken by an Uma Musume."
On the other end of the call, Kamisato Daisuke sounded tired.
"You know how it is—young people, romance… they're, uh, kind of impulsive."
"From interviews with people around her, during the initial period after the breakup, she seemed pretty normal. But as time went on, maybe something triggered her—she started developing mental problems…"
"In fact, before she did this, she was already insane."
Kamisato Daisuke didn't know about the Black Market, so when he explained, he didn't mention it. This incident was categorized as an "accident" caused by a mentally ill person having an episode.
If he didn't have Kudou Kazuya's intel, Kitahara might've believed it really was an accident.
But after hearing Kudou Kazuya, and combining it with Kamisato Daisuke's words, Kitahara's brow slowly tightened.
Clean. Too clean…
URA, Tracen, the Metropolitan Police—such a major malicious incident, investigated jointly by all three—yet none of them noticed even the slightest thing off.
Even earlier holes—like how a single woman hijacked a tanker, where the explosives came from—after some investigation, all got "reasonable" explanations.
By now, what Kamisato Daisuke sent him had formed a complete logical loop.
No matter how you looked at it, this was just an accident caused by a lunatic snapping. No other forces at play, no further investigation necessary.
And according to what Kudou Kazuya added after Kitahara hung up on Kamisato—this team hadn't started yesterday.
In the past, they hadn't done anything this outrageous, but they had planned multiple Uma Musume Hunting incidents.
And unlike Kudou Kazuya—though there was no hard proof—from the wording and tone of their actions, Kudou Kazuya always felt they actually wanted the hunts to succeed.
Because on Kudou Kazuya's side, even if he planned hunts—the tasks he and other planners issued would include information like "ensure the target survives and remains physically intact," to guarantee the Uma Musume's safety.
But when that team planned hunts, they basically never added that line. And according to some rumors...
In a few hunts, they even explicitly mentioned needing certain organs, guiding the hunters to "collect on the spot." That was also the main source of Kitahara's impression that the Uma Musume hunters were kill-or-be-killed.
They like Uma Musume. They understand Uma Musume. And yet they keep planning these horrifying incidents…
"Are those people mentally ill too?"
At this point, that was the only explanation Kitahara could come up with.
"…I'm not sure."
Kudou Kazuya sighed. Seeing everything had been explained clearly enough, he didn't stay longer. After saying he'd continue investigating on his end, he stood up to leave.
But right before he left, Kitahara—still sitting there—suddenly thought of something and spoke.
"Trainer Kudou. If I want to join the Black Market, what do I do?"
Kudou Kazuya's steps paused.
Of course he knew Kitahara wanted to get in and investigate further. And having someone this reliable as a partner, he'd welcome it—but…
"I'd love to say yes, but you can't."
"What do you mean, I can't?"
Kitahara looked at him, confused.
"Are your recruitment standards super strict? Or am I too well-known on your side? Then I'll just change my name and disguise myself—"
"No. That's not the issue."
Kudou Kazuya paused, choosing his words carefully.
"Actually, if we're talking about the conditions to join the Black Market, you fit better than any of us. Even… no, never mind. But I can tell you clearly: you can't join the Black Market."
"Hey. Don't cut your sentence in half like that."
Even though Kitahara was extremely pissed off by this riddle-speaker behavior—
For some reason, no matter how he pressed, Kudou Kazuya didn't say another word. And he left soon after.
After Kudou Kazuya left, Kitahara didn't keep fixating on it.
It was obvious Kudou Kazuya was hiding a secret.
But based on what he'd done so far, at least when it came to preventing disasters, they were allies on the same side—and Kudou Kazuya didn't seem to have ill intent toward him. Kitahara was willing to believe him.
But the problem was: if he believed him, then how the hell did you explain those lunatics' behavior? How could they act with that level of madness and still leave not a single handle to grab?
For that to happen, either every member of that team was monstrously intelligent, every plan flawless, every action smooth, leaving not even a trace—or…
"There's a mole."
Kitahara sighed.
And not some low-level mole, either. It might even be among the people who'd already been in contact with him.
Just like that, after finishing with Kudou Kazuya, Kitahara returned home with a sigh.
And the moment he pushed the door open—after seeing what was inside—he froze.
Super Creek, Sirius Symboli, and Maruzensky were sitting in his living room together, looking like they'd been chatting happily.
When he opened the door, the conversation stopped instantly, and three gazes all locked onto him at once.
"Super Creek… don't you have class today…?"
Unlike yesterday's day off, today was a proper school day. Kitahara had run out early precisely because he thought Super Creek had to go to class—he wanted to come back after she left.
But now…
"I took leave."
Super Creek rested her cheek on one hand and smiled.
Th-this…
Looking at the completely undisguised look in her eyes, Kitahara felt his scalp go numb. He hurriedly shifted his gaze to the other two.
"Um… not to be rude, but what brings you two here…"
"Didn't we agree we'd help you with 'experiments,' Trainer Kitahara?"
Sirius Symboli leaned back against the sofa, expression serious.
"And this morning, I received the investigation report from the Metropolitan Police. They said it was just an accident caused by a mentally ill person having an episode. The explanation looks pretty reasonable…"
"Uh, and what's wrong with that…"
Kitahara tried to play dumb.
It was obviously useless.
"Stop playing dumb. If it really were an 'accident,' how could you possibly have known in advance?"
Sirius Symboli's gaze sharpened, and there was a thin edge of anger in her words.
"The Metropolitan Police being useless isn't new. I didn't expect them to find anything. But I didn't think URA and Tracen could be muddled to this extent…"
Seeing the look on Kitahara's face, Sirius Symboli shot him a slanting glance.
"Relax. I'm not an idiot. I didn't refute their conclusion, and I didn't show any sign that I knew extra information. I kept your secret too…"
Hearing that Sirius Symboli hadn't leaked anything, Kitahara let out a breath of relief.
Based on what he and Kudou Kazuya suspected, there should be their people inside URA, Tracen, and even the Metropolitan Police. If Sirius Symboli had actually spoken up, it might've alerted them.
But before he could relax too much, Sirius Symboli spoke again.
"However, as payment for keeping it secret, I want you to help me with something."
"…What?"
"It's simple."
Sirius Symboli stood, walked up to Kitahara, lifted her chin to look up at him, and spoke each word clearly.
"I don't trust those idiots."
"I'm counting myself in on this investigation."