Raising pigs is the same as raising Umamusume.
That was the core logic behind Sakuraba Ryo's great money-losing theory.
If he raised his Umamusume into a nice, fat little pig, what was there to fear about not losing money?
When you raise pigs, you can at least sell them when they're ready and recoup some of the cost. But how were you supposed to recoup anything from raising Umamusume?
It's pure ston— loss!
Seeing that Sakuraba absolutely refused to take any money, Oguri Cap quietly put her wallet away.
She looked at him with wide eyes and said in all seriousness, "I'll train hard and repay Sakuraba-san for investing in me!"
Actually, you don't have to train hard...
Sakuraba naturally didn't dare say that out loud.
As far as he knew, Umamusume, regardless of talent, were basically all good kids at heart.
If he said something as defeatist as that, they'd only reject it anyway. Better not say it from the start.
Besides, Oguri Cap was his lucky star for losing money. It would be bad if she started disliking him here.
"Then I'll look forward to it."
All he had to do here was drop a cool line like that.
Anyway, according to Mr. Kitahara, gray-haired Umamusume couldn't run fast. Even if she trained hard, she probably still wouldn't perform that well on the track.
Ah, the theory of talent.
...
"Sakuraba-san is really really nice..."
After discussing what they would do next with Sakuraba, Oguri Cap said goodbye to him and returned to her room in the academy dorms.
Calling it a dorm room, though, it looked more like a storage room right now, piled high with all sorts of spare supplies.
This hadn't originally been Oguri Cap's room. It was only because her roommate apparently hadn't finished packing yet that she had moved here.
At least, that was how she understood it.
"Mmm..."
Oguri Cap flopped down onto the soft bed, a satisfied smile on her face.
"Listening to Mom and enrolling in Tracen really was the right choice. I've met so many good people..."
"Sakuraba-san's been so kind to me. I really do have to work hard and repay his investment!"
In that somewhat cluttered little room, the gray-haired girl made up her mind.
...
The next day.
Sakuraba went to find the man he had met by the edge of the training grounds before: Kitahara Jo.
"You mean... you want to pay me to train an Umamusume?"
Kitahara Jo stared at the young man he had only met once, his face full of surprise. How had this gotten turned on him?
"That's right, Mr. Kitahara. I've already invested in an Umamusume, and right now I'm short a trainer who can teach her how to run. Would you be willing to help?"
Sakuraba smiled as he extended an olive branch to the trainer in front of him.
"Of course, you don't need to worry about salary. As an investor, I'll naturally offer you compensation to match."
"...Why me?"
Kitahara Jo looked baffled. He wasn't exactly a particularly famous Umamusume trainer in Kasamatsu. If someone were looking for a partner, he shouldn't have been the first choice.
An invitation that sounded this much like a scam really ought to be clarified first.
"Because among all the trainers in Kasamatsu, you're the one I liked the look of most, Kitahara."
That was a lie.
When Sakuraba was looking for a trainer, he had deliberately investigated the trainers employed at Kasamatsu Training Center Academy. Out of all of them, Kitahara Jo looked the most like a small fry.
Even though he had already spent years working as a trainer at the academy, he had never produced an Umamusume with notable results.
And then there was the worn-out air around him when Sakuraba had first met him.
Sakuraba had known right then that there was no one more suitable than him to be Oguri Cap's trainer!
A trainer this dispirited, with no results to his name, was probably not that capable.
Letting him train Oguri Cap was perfect.
Invest in an untalented Umamusume, then pair her with a trainer whose skill level was, at best, barely passable.
No matter how he looked at it, that combination screamed lost money.
Sakuraba felt he needed to think bigger. If he was going to lose money, he couldn't keep his sights fixed on Umamusume alone. Anything connected to Umamusume ought to be brought into the fold too.
And after confirming with the system that losing money by investing in a trainer also counted as part of the Umamusume field, Sakuraba had immediately come to find Kitahara.
His great money-losing enterprise couldn't be delayed!
"..."
The confusion on Kitahara Jo's face didn't go away. Clearly, Sakuraba's words hadn't moved him.
"Come on, Kitahara-san, don't overthink it. I simply want you to be the trainer for our team."
"As for salary... what do you think about 500,000 yen?"
"H-how much?"
The confusion vanished from Kitahara Jo's face in an instant, replaced by pure shock.
A normal salaried worker in Japan typically made around 200,000 to 300,000 yen a month.
Kasamatsu Tracen paid him roughly that much as well... while a monthly salary on the level of 500,000 yen was usually reserved for special positions, or veteran employees with years under their belt.
The conditions Sakuraba was offering were undeniably generous.
Seeing Kitahara Jo wavering, Sakuraba's lips curled upward. He feigned puzzlement and said,
"Is 500,000 not enough? Then how about 1,000,000?"
"No, no, no, no... five hundred thousand is enough. Five hundred thousand is enough!"
Kitahara Jo waved his hands frantically.
A million yen a month—Sakuraba might dare offer it, but he certainly didn't dare accept it!
He knew better than anyone what kind of trainer he was...
His friend Shibasaki thought highly of his ability as a trainer, and his senior Musaka Ginjirou also believed he had potential.
But the fact remained that after all these years, he still hadn't trained an Umamusume with actual results...
And now, at this awkward point in his life, a young man had suddenly appeared and offered him a salary this high...
"Kitahara-san, I believe in your ability. If it's you, then I'm sure you can take the Umamusume under me to even greater heights!"
Sakuraba's earnest words entered his ears and shook Kitahara Jo.
"You really mean that...?"
"Of course."
Sakuraba answered without hesitation, as if he truly believed it.
"...All right. I'll take the job."
Kitahara let out a sigh and accepted Sakuraba's offer.
Truth be told, compared to training someone else's Umamusume, he would much rather train one he had personally chosen himself.
But there was no helping it.
Sakuraba was offering too much.
And besides...
Without drawing attention to it, Kitahara glanced at the trusting look on Sakuraba's face, and his heart sank a little.
It had been a long time since anyone had trusted him like this.
If someone treated him with such sincerity, then naturally he had to answer with sincerity in return.
"Starting today, I'll be responsible for training your Umamusume!"
Hearing Kitahara's words, Sakuraba smiled.
Useful tool, get!
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T/N: woah calm down there ayanokouji jeez