He gave a wry smile. "I tried to apply, but I failed. I only got the job at Kasamatsu because of a recommendation from the 'Emperor' at Central."
"You must be a trainer from overseas, Zhou-kun?" Tojo Hana's eyes flickered upon hearing his words. She slowly pushed up the glasses on her nose. "Then you shouldn't have had a problem getting an offer, right? The old men at the URA are dying for fresh blood to enter Central."
"I was forced to leave the West Coast right after finishing my internship," Zhou Tai'an shrugged. "So they probably suspected my abilities were insufficient."
Tojo Hana's mouth twitched. "Those guys..."
Regardless of whether Tojo Hana secretly agreed with the URA and Central Tracen Academy's judgment of his abilities, the fact that she showed this attitude was already a sign of friendliness.
Zhou Tai'an didn't continue the conversation on this topic. Instead, he shifted to her Horse Girls. "To be in charge of so many Horse Girls at such a young age, Tojo-san, you're truly accomplished. Much stronger than I am."
"I merely inherited the legacy of Team Rigil's previous trainer. Many of the girls in the team were recruited before he retired. In order not to disappoint them, I'm on edge every day as a trainer, terrified of making a mistake," Tojo Hana said with a grave tone.
Zhou Tai'an could sense a genuine tension in the young Central trainer before him.
He offered a soft reassurance, "But on the first day, you only needed one sentence to quiet them down, Tojo-san. That shows how much they respect and trust you."
After all, Horse Girls possessed superhuman strength. If they didn't obey their trainer, many trainers could only rely on things like school rules.
But this was Hokkaido, a long way from Tokyo. No matter how long the "Emperor's" reach was, she couldn't immediately punish a Horse Girl who broke the rules here.
"There are still some who give me a headache," Tojo Hana said with a bitter smile, looking as if she didn't want to continue.
Zhou Tai'an tactfully dropped the subject.
In the ensuing chat, he subtly probed and managed to learn a few things about Silent Suzuka from Tojo Hana.
The chestnut-haired Horse Girl was the first one Tojo Hana had personally scouted after taking over as Rigil's trainer.
Similar to Oguri Cap, Silent Suzuka also had a tendency to over-train. Tojo Hana was quite worried about this, so for this summer training camp, she planned to lower Silent Suzuka's training intensity. She also hoped to train her endurance during this time, to prevent her from going all-out and burning out in a great escape from the very start of a race. The goal was to have enough stamina left to maintain her speed in the final sprint.
Incidentally, the reason the young man had arranged for Oguri Cap to swim was similar—Oguri Cap disliked swimming, so she wouldn't over-train. She would most likely just complete the plan he set and be done with it.
As for what Tojo Hana said next, Zhou Tai'an also agreed. "For an 'escape' Horse Girl, learning to be patient and control the pace at the front is very important."
"Suzuka is very obedient and has followed my instructions. I believe everything will turn out for the best," Tojo Hana said, tilting her head up slightly—a look of confidence.
"There are still more than three years until her official debut in the Twinkle Series. I believe I can turn Silent Suzuka into an excellent 'escape' Horse Girl."
From her tone, it seemed Tojo Hana was quite pleased with herself.
Zhou Tai'an didn't comment on this, just politely echoed, "Three years... I believe you can polish Silent Suzuka into a new star of the Twinkle Series, Tojo-san."
"I will!" Tojo Hana clenched her fist. "I will prove that even without relying on my predecessor's legacy, Team Rigil will be the strongest team at Central!"
"I wish you success, Tojo-san," Zhou Tai'an said, filling a cup with barley tea, raising it, and giving her a toast.
At noon, Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine returned to the inn on time for lunch.
Zhou Tai'an hadn't waited for them, having already finished a plate of curry himself.
After his meal, he returned to their room, enjoying the cool air from the air conditioner.
Not long after, Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine, having finished their lunch, also returned.
Zhou Tai'an, sitting in the living room, tapped his foot on the floor, pushing his chair to face his team's Horse Girls. "Oguri Cap, go take a nap first. At 7 PM, you have to go out with me."
Although she didn't know what her trainer had planned, Oguri Cap knew that all she had to do was listen to him, so she nodded simply. "I understand."
Meanwhile, Brand New Shine also received her task for the afternoon.
Zhou Tai'an first went back to his room, found a messenger bag, and then returned to the living room to hand it to her.
"Inside is Canon's new single-lens reflex camera, the T80, which I bought in Nagoya for 130,000 yen before coming to Hokkaido. The film for it is also in here," he explained as he handed over the bag.
"This is too valuable... I'm afraid I'll break it..." Brand New Shine's hands were trembling as she took the bag.
"You know how to take pictures, right, Brand New Shine?" Zhou Tai'an asked, ignoring her hesitation.
"I know how to use a camera," Brand New Shine nodded. Although the camera in her hands was expensive, coming from a family that owned a sporting goods store, she was not unfamiliar with cameras.
"That's good," Zhou Tai'an said, reaching into his pocket, pulling out his wallet, and taking out two 10,000-yen bills and some change, handing it to her. "I need you to go now, Brand New Shine, to Monbetsu Tracen Academy and photograph their training grounds. Then on Friday, when you don't have to accompany Oguri Cap to the swimming pool, go there again. You don't need to photograph their training sessions; I just need to see the changes in the grounds."
"Okay, Trainer!" Brand New Shine didn't refuse the "funds" he gave her. "I'll be careful not to be discovered by the people at Monbetsu!"
"That doesn't matter. If you can, you can just take pictures of the training grounds when no Horse Girls are training. I don't think they would mind your actions then," Zhou Tai'an added another suggestion for his logistics Horse Girl.
"Hmm—" The more Brand New Shine listened, the more it made sense. She nodded thoughtfully. "Then I'll do as you say, Trainer!"
With that, she turned to leave.
Zhou Tai'an quickly called out to her, "The sun is strong outside. Make sure you put on sunscreen before you go."
"It's okay!" Brand New Shine shook her head. "I'm very resistant to the sun!"
With that, she left the room with a light step, the messenger bag on her back.
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