Umamusume: My Umamusume Is a Ghost! [17]

“Silence, want to go get something to eat?”

Kita’s voice came from behind her. Silence turned around. Ever since Kitasan Black had learned they were in the same cohort, she had come running over almost every day. Silence found it irritating that Kita kept seeking her out for one reason or another, but…

Silence recalled what Kita had once said:

“Trainer worries too much. Last time I told him I’d had a fight with a friend, he helped us make up. He kept running back and forth between us like an idiot… But that’s exactly what I like about him.”

Yes. From what Silence had learned, Sumikawa Rei cared deeply about the relationships between Umamusume. Whenever there was an argument, a falling-out, or any similar trouble, he would step in to mediate—even when they were not his trainees.

Through her inquiries, Silence had also learned more about him.

Rei had an exceptionally broad social circle at Tracen. Other Trainers generally interacted only with their own Umamusume, and only during training. Outside those hours, they barely crossed paths.

Rei was different. He spent nearly all his time with Umamusume.

In the morning, bored Umamusume would drop by to chat, eat snacks, or play games with him. At noon, some would invite him to eat with them. Afternoons were devoted to training. In the evenings, he would go shopping with Umamusume or accompany them during independent practice. Right up until he returned to his room for the night, Rei spent nearly his entire day around Umamusume.

That went far beyond the usual amount of contact between a Trainer and an Umamusume.

Not only that, but everyone Silence had asked seemed to think extremely highly of him. Whenever they spoke about Rei, a trace of pride crept into their expressions, as though anything involving him concerned them personally.

Silence had discreetly asked why they liked him so much. They all gave the same answer: they felt comfortable around him.

They said he gave them an inexplicable sense of ease and that they felt happy beside him. He was also good-looking, with a gentle, handsome face and an impressively built body. Most importantly, the Umamusume loved his personality.

Whenever spoiled and overbearing Umamusume ordered Rei around, he obediently did as they asked and told them whatever they wanted to hear. With timid Umamusume, he became their protector, always rushing to their side when they were bullied.

Silence had heard that bullying used to be common at Tracen. The teachers and other Trainers had no idea it was happening, so no one intervened. Rei was the one who discovered it and stepped in, which was why the more timid Umamusume were especially fond of him.

Even with the bullies themselves, he would stroke their heads and ask why they had done it. If they were angry or frustrated and needed to let off steam, he could help with that too.

Afterward, Rei had taken them to an amusement park specifically so they could have fun and get it all out of their systems. He had also told them they could come to him whenever they wanted. Now those girls were regular visitors to his room.

It could be said that Rei was the social glue holding Tracen together. He had not been at the academy for very long, yet he had already become close with a great many Umamusume. Every holiday, they would gather in his room for a party.

That was how completely he had blended in with the Umamusume.

Naturally, where there were people who liked him, there were also people who disliked him. But they did not dislike Rei because he was bad. They disliked him because he was good to everyone.

Some Umamusume were deeply unhappy about that. They believed he should be good only to them.

But that was not something Silence needed to consider.

Her biggest problem now was that she had no idea where to begin.

Had King Halo been the only one, it would have been easy. Threats, pressure, or temptation—one method or another would have made her leave Rei.

But Silence was not facing King Halo alone.

She was facing an entire crowd.

Nearly every Umamusume could become her rival, making the situation extremely difficult. Silence had once believed claiming someone would be easy. All she needed to do was identify a weakness or desire and exploit it.

It was only after meeting Rei—the man who kept all of Tracen running smoothly—that she realized how naive she had been.

King Halo had only gotten as far as she had because she had a head start. At this rate, it was merely a matter of time before the others caught up.

Far too many people had their eyes on Rei. Even among the Umamusume Silence had questioned, she could see the hunger they failed to conceal whenever they spoke about him.

She could not help wondering why they had restrained themselves for so long instead of making a move on him.

Were they waiting for something?

Silence did not know what they were waiting for, but that gave her an opportunity.

For now, King Halo was the only one who had crossed that unspoken line. Everyone else was still holding themselves back.

In other words, if Silence could appeal to his desires, she might be able to make the man hers.

From what she had seen, Rei truly was the person she needed most. The only problem was the number of obstacles standing in her way.

But exploiting his desires was only one part of it. Desire could not be all there was to him.

Silence had originally planned to attract his attention by appealing to his tastes. Yet after asking around, she discovered that Rei liked proud Umamusume, timid Umamusume, steady Umamusume, and aggressive Umamusume too!

He liked long hair and short hair, gray hair and red hair alike!

It seemed that as long as someone was an Umamusume, he liked her!

Silence might have lost her memories, but wasn’t it a little strange for one person’s sexual tastes to be this broad?

It was like liking any woman simply because she was a woman.

Was he really using his brain at all? Or had Rei’s behavior become abnormal because he had lost his memories?

In any case, Silence still had more investigating to do before she could get a handle on Rei’s tastes.

But one thing was certainly true: Rei wanted Umamusume to get along with one another.

As long as she seemed to get along with everyone else, he would not like her any less, and her chances of making him hers would improve.

Having reached that conclusion, Silence said to Kitasan Black, “All right. Let’s go together, Kita.”

The two of them headed toward the cafeteria, outwardly getting along perfectly well.

On the way, Kitasan Black asked, “By the way, where did Trainer go? Should we invite him too?”

“Trainer had something to discuss with Cafe, so I believe they went to the cafeteria ahead of us.”

“I see. Then maybe we’ll run into them inside.”

“That’s true… Hmm?”

As Silence passed a small grove in front of the cafeteria, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind one of the trees. Her ears pricked up instinctively, and she turned toward the sound.

“C-Cafe… right there. That’s… where the head is. Ahhh…”

“…”

T/N: SAJOFOFJKASFKAS

This is a fan translation of 赛马娘，我的马娘是幽灵 by 风与林 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!