Although Mr. C.B. had originally planned to pick a buffet, Okino successfully stopped her.
His reasoning was that Umamusume buffets were absurdly expensive, and with C.B. and Sunset’s appetites, there was no way they could eat enough to make it worth the price. Buffets near the academy set their prices on the assumption that one quarter of an Oguri Cap was enough to keep them from losing money.
Mr. C.B. compared Oguri Cap’s appetite to her own and decisively gave up on donating money to the restaurant.
In the end, they decided to provide for themselves through their own labor. Carrying the ingredients the shopping street had given them, they all headed over to Okino’s place.
Naturally, Okino, who had no human rights here, was in charge of cooking. In any case, as long as he was not treating them to a meal, Okino’s cash flow still had room to maneuver, so he did not protest.
Sunset originally wanted to help Okino, but C.B., who had no intention of letting Okino have an easy time, forcibly dragged her out of the kitchen.
Fortunately, while Okino himself was not especially reliable, the cooking skills he had developed after years of living on his own were decent. Even though he was working alone, a feast with special effectiveness against Umamusume was soon complete.
On the principle that every bite left uneaten was a loss, C.B. led Sunset in eating and drinking with abandon. By the time the meal was over, every ingredient the shopping street had given Okino had been wiped out.
…
“Ah… my ingredients…”
Ignoring Okino’s gloomy expression, the fully fed Mr. C.B. began calling Sunset over to play video games.
Back when she was still in the Twinkle Series, C.B. had often run over to Okino’s place to play games. Now that she had more free time, she was even worse. After all, she had no roommate. She used to have Rudolf, but Rudolf was both bad and boring at games, and she also liked getting stuck on a loss and refusing to give up. C.B. could not play with her at all. The only one left who could play with her was Okino.
“Hehe, so it really was hidden here?” C.B. very skillfully pulled a game cartridge out of the box beside the TV. “Whoa, it’s the newest game. I was just thinking of buying this a couple days ago! And you said you had no money, Trainer!”
“…Please don’t tell Hana. If she finds out I borrowed money from her to buy games, I’m dead.”
“Understood. Betraying a gaming buddy is the one thing I’d never do!”
C.B. nodded with considerable understanding. Going broke for games? What of it? That was faith!
“Sunset, hurry over. The three of us can play together! Oh, right, Okino, hurry up and get another controller.”
“I don’t have that many controllers at home. Normally, you’re the only one who ever comes over.”
Faced with C.B.’s demand, Okino scratched his head in distress. Controllers cost money too!
“Huh? Boring. Then you can get lost. Sunset can play with me.”
Abandoning Okino without a shred of mercy, C.B. turned around and dragged Sunset down from where she was still lying on the sofa.
“I really can’t eat anymore—” Sunset was still in the dazed state that came after eating her fill. On top of that, the aftereffects of training seemed to have caught up with her, leaving her whole body soft and limp.
“Come on, Sunset, wake up—”
After C.B. patted her on the head, Sunset finally recovered from dinner. But then, looking at the game console, she immediately ran into trouble.
“But I’ve basically never played anything like this—” If she dragged them down, that would be humiliating. And if she was too bad, C.B.-san would look down on her, right—
C.B., on the other hand, was full of confidence.
“It’s fine. I’ll teach you! As long as you’re not like Rudolf, I can definitely teach you well enough to soar!”
Since C.B. had said that much, Sunset could only nod and pick up the controller.
…
“Ah, we lost again…”
Looking at the huge defeat displayed on the TV screen, Mr. C.B.’s gaze began to wander.
“I’m sorry, C.B.-san…”
After teaching Sunset the basic buttons, C.B. had taken her into the simplest mode for a trial run.
This time, the game C.B. had chosen was a two-player team-based competitive game. But since it was the easiest mode, C.B. could win even if she took it on alone. That was why she had been confident she could teach Sunset.
However, she seemed to have underestimated Sunset’s “combat power.”
Although Sunset was not skilled at the game, her character always somehow managed to bump into C.B.’s character at the most crucial moments and cancel C.B.’s skill. There was even one wave where they could have made a desperate comeback, only for Sunset’s character to get stuck right on top of C.B.’s, leaving C.B. unable to move as she watched herself slowly get worn down by the AI on the spot.
“Ah…”
This seemed to be a character even harder to deal with than Symboli Rudolf. Only then did Mr. C.B. realize something was wrong.
“This game might not be very suitable for beginners. Let’s switch to something simpler!”
But it seemed far too late to pull out now.
“No! C.B.-san, I think I’ve grasped the trick! One more time. Let’s try one more time. This time, I definitely won’t hold you back!”
Sunset stared fixedly at the screen and spoke with great seriousness.
Seeing where this was headed, C.B. hurriedly sent a look for help toward Okino, who had been standing behind them the whole time, trying not to laugh.
Hey, Okino, hurry up and think of something!
I can’t do anything about this. Didn’t you bring it on yourself?
You’ve betrayed the revolution!
Heh. Good luck.
Seeing Okino’s schadenfreude-filled expression, C.B. had no choice but to steel herself and start another battle. This time, as long as I can carry them, everything will be fine! C.B. thought.
…
Although they still lost the dozen or so matches after that, there was no disappointment on Sunset’s face.
They had lost, but she had trained her skills. This time, C.B.-san had already taken off one third of the enemy’s health. If they kept this up, they would win sooner or later!
But was C.B.-san not in very good condition? Sunset seemed to hear C.B.-san muttering under her breath.
“We lost again… I’m such a fool, really. I only knew it was hard to win with a beginner. I didn’t know we could lose on easy difficulty too…”
What was C.B.-san saying? Sunset could not hear clearly at all. Forget it, hurry up and continue. Today, she would absolutely win a round and make C.B.-san see her in a new light!
With that conviction, Sunset dragged C.B.-san onward to “sweep the battlefield.”
…
In the end, worried that the two Umamusume would be sleep-deprived tomorrow, Okino drove them out of his house early. For this, C.B. was deeply grateful.
“In the end, we still didn’t win…”
“Ahaha, yeah…”
On the way home, Sunset spoke to C.B.-san with some regret.
However, C.B.-san did not seem to be in very good condition. Maybe she was sleepy because it was so late.
“What a shame. Let’s try again next time!”
“Mm—huh? No, no, I’ve been pretty busy lately too. If we want to play games together again, it’ll probably have to be a long time from now. Hahaha…”
As if she had only just come back to herself, C.B. gestured in a slight panic as she spoke to Sunset.
“Is that so? Then there’s nothing we can do…” Although she was a little disappointed to be refused by C.B.-san, Sunset immediately cheered herself back up. “Someday, I’ll definitely win together with C.B.-san!”
“Haha, I hope that day comes…”
Though it felt like there was not much hope of that.
This is a fan translation of 迫于生计，赛马娘登上赛场！ by 扶风三尺 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!
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