WiseTL

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [147]

Under a certain someone’s bizarre maneuvers, this short dinner ended in a subtle, complicated atmosphere.

Even though Hayakawa Tazuna and Komata Hajime couldn’t stand each other—sparring fiercely in the middle, their clash sharp as needle against needle.

But now...

Looking at that man over there, completely oblivious to the undercurrents, flipping through a stack of documents in his hands while marveling to them about how “this izakaya is really cheap and tasty”—...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [146]

In truth, Komata Hajime didn’t know what was going on between Kitahara Sota and Hayakawa Tazuna.

And not only her—because their previous operation needed to be kept secret, the rest of Kitahara Sota’s team was in the same position as Komata.

They knew that Kitahara had been busy with something during the holiday, and that it seemed to involve the Chairwoman and Hayakawa-san.

But as for what exactly he was busy with, how things were going, or what their state was—on a...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [145]

After settling Grass Wonder’s matter, Kitahara Sota slipped back into his usual calm routine.

As for whatever followed on her side—he didn’t pay much attention.

In the end, that was between her and Special Week. Nothing to do with him.

And as a friend, as a trainer, he had already said what he could, done what he could. The rest was up to her.

Watching Grass Wonder rush straight to Spe-chan the moment she returned—taking advantage of Suzuka’s rare absence, Sp...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [144]

Some time later, Kitahara Sota’s dorm.

Because he felt this kind of thing wasn’t suitable to discuss in front of the others—

Kitahara thought it over, then used the excuse of “something Black Forest–related to handle,” and called Grass Wonder to his dorm.

Grass Wonder’s mood was visibly poor.

But when Kitahara came to find her, she still forced a strained smile.

When he told her there was work to do, she didn’t question or hesitate, just followed ...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [143]

Looking at Grass Wonder, slumped on the grass not far away, Kitahara Sota could sum up his feelings toward her in one phrase:

Pity her misfortune, rage at her incompetence.

That was the elegant way of putting it.

The plain way?

I gave you the chance, and you still blew it!

Same team. Already half-in a “deadweight” state. Kitahara constantly creating opportunities, constantly handing out assists…

Not to mention—July, August, those t...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [142]

No way.

When Kitahara Sota heard Manhattan Cafe’s words, he nearly blurted those two words out on the spot.

In truth, the reason the other Umas hadn’t gone for a straight confession was because they knew—once they asked this kind of question, the answer would be rejection.

And being rejected wasn’t the real issue.
The bigger problem was that the rejection would make this blockhead realize they harbored ulterior feelings.

That would instantl...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [141]

When the knocking sounded from outside, not only did Kitahara Sota jolt in surprise, even Agnes Tachyon’s movements froze for a moment.

But after that brief pause, she continued—more serious, more intent than before, working hard to leave Kitahara no chance to make a sound.

As for Kitahara—knowing full well how sharp Umas’ senses were, he understood that even if they stopped now, it was impossible to hide.

He thought a moment, then simply stopped struggling, ready to...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [140]

After sending off Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka—who, for some reason, had started acting strangely—Kitahara Sota returned to his dorm.

As for Vodka’s odd behavior, Kitahara didn’t think much of it.

After all, at the end of the day, it was just a game ID. What problem could that cause?

And lately, since he’d had some free time, he’d been playing that game again. His ranking had already climbed into the server’s top ten.

If Vodka also played ranked regularly, the...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [139]

One minute later, Kitahara Sota’s dorm.

Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka sat a little stiffly across from Kitahara.

Beside them, Agnes Tachyon held her head, eyes brimming with tears.

Just a moment ago—right after Tachyon had dropped that god-tier nonsense line—Kitahara had smacked her with a forehead flick so loud it could be heard several meters away.

She’d broken down in a second, clutching her head, teary-eyed, her expression pitiful.

After that, Kitahara let ...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [138]

Ten minutes later, Kitahara Sota’s dorm room.

Kitahara stared at the obedient little Oguri Cap sitting before him, the lingering sweetness still clinging between his lips and teeth, his face full of melancholy.

What the hell was that supposed to be.

On the other side, Eclipse sat quietly, expression calm. Only when her gaze swept past the two of them and the leftover pocky on the table did a flicker of curiosity show in her eyes.

Ten minutes earlier—in Kit...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [137]

After finishing with the Uma Musume hunter incident, Kitahara Sota returned to the academy.

His original thought was: hand the captured hunters to Tracen, let Kudou Kazuya chase down the buyers behind them. None of that had anything more to do with him. Which meant he could finally spend the rest of his break slacking off in peace.

But reality turned out differently.
Even though those matters played out just as he expected, bringing him no further trouble—in other places he h...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [136]

If time could be turned back to that exact moment when Eclipse held her back—and if Hayakawa Tazuna were given another chance to choose, then she would, without the slightest hesitation, step away.
Even if Kitahara Sota personally invited her, she would never, ever get into his car.

But time cannot be rewound.
There are no ifs in this world.

So now, Hayakawa Tazuna could only sit stiffly in Kitahara Sota’s car, clutching the handrail with all her strength, face ...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [135]

With the little nighttime episode over, time began flowing once again.

Kitahara Sota didn’t think much about it.

In his view, he had only handed Super Creek her Racing Outfits, given her a few reminders, and chatted a little along the way. Nothing worth remembering.

So he never noticed that, after that incident, the air inside his dorm had started to fill with the scent of gunpowder.

For now, Creek hadn’t yet found an excuse to step in. So the war remained in prepa...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [134]

For Kitahara Sota, finding Nice Nature suddenly living in his dorm was no surprise at all.

Because in fact—already a few days ago, the day after her race—she had moved in. With his reluctant consent.

As for how...

Because Kitahara had agreed to her request, and Nice Nature wanted to act quickly, before anyone else noticed and joined forces against her, she had, the day after the race, after training, snuck straight to his dorm and begun tidying it.

That day, she ha...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [133]

I have a friend.

Kitahara Sota glanced at the Chairwoman’s face—at best, the face of a middle-schooler—and gave a small nod.

Mm. A classic excuse.

Though he very much wanted to reply with, “There’s no one else here.” Or, “This friend you speak of... could it be yourself?” A reenactment of a classic scene.

But considering the Chairwoman was his boss, and the one holding his salary in her tiny hands, he decided against courting ...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [132]

LINE.

Kitahara Sota truly hadn’t expected Nice Nature to make that request.

To be fair, he knew it didn’t count as excessive at all—in fact, it was almost humble.

After all, they’d spent a whole semester together. Even ignoring his role as trainer, even ignoring their earlier ties, purely on the level of semester-long friendship—it was long past time to add each other on LINE.

Among Tracen’s trainers and girls, adding LINE immediately after signing a contra...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [131]

After leaving the dorm, Kitahara Sota walked off with an easy heart, heading toward the meeting point he’d set with Nice Nature.

As for handing over his dorm key to Hayakawa Tazuna?

To be honest—if it were any other Uma Musume, the moment he even considered giving them his key, even if they weren’t one of his own girls, he’d hesitate.

Because sure, he’d probably get the key back in the end.

But would it come back... alone? Or with a little something extra—l...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [130]

The next day, early morning.

Hayakawa Tazuna, for the first time in what felt like forever, was not woken by her alarm.

The last time she’d slept until she naturally woke—she could no longer remember.

Even by the most conservative guess, at least half a year had passed.

And before, even when she did wake naturally, it was always after grinding herself through endless work, collapsing only in exhaustion.

And waking from that kind of sleep—far from comfortabl...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [129]

Inviting a woman to his dorm at night, and even reminding her to prepare for an overnight stay...

If it had been anyone else saying that, Hayakawa Tazuna would probably have smiled sweetly, restrained him on the spot, and marched him off to the police station under charges of harassment.

But the one who said it was Kitahara Sota.

That log named Kitahara Sota—the finest-quality block of wood in all of Tracen.

Already, thanks to urban legends, his name carried...

Slacking Professionally at Tracen [128]

Hayakawa Tazuna’s condition right now is very bad.

It’s been said before: as the Chairwoman’s only assistant, her workload was never small to begin with.

And with the flood of new students transferring in, her workload has only been piling higher and higher.

Then, in just these past two weeks, that already-heavy workload stacked together with the mess new transfers brought, then stacked again with the sudden explosion of duties before vacation, and finally stacked once...