Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [73]

Kitajima Saburou quietly nodded to himself.

As a top-tier professional in the music industry, he’d seen countless ambitious newcomers, including many genuinely talented prodigies.

While one song alone might not fully reflect Yasui Makoto’s potential, the sheer quality of Uchiage Hanabi was more than enough to demonstrate the young man’s remarkable talent.

Typically, people with such gifts easily succumbed to arrogance or short-sighted greed.

Yet the young man before him remained completely unmoved, steadfast in his own priorities—a rare quality indeed.

Admittedly, Kitajima felt a twinge of regret.

Had Yasui not become a trainer, his potential in music under Kitajima’s mentorship would have quickly propelled him into a highly coveted industry star with boundless possibilities.

However, that fleeting regret was swiftly overshadowed by a more selfish, joyful thought.

Ever since becoming enamored with the Twinkle Series, he’d sponsored close to a hundred Uma Musume, with results that could only be described as mediocre at best.

Now, his beloved granddaughter had debuted as an Uma Musume and claimed three consecutive victories—including a G2-grade race like the Spring Stakes.

Of all the Uma Musume he’d previously supported—hundreds of races, combined—there had only been two graded victories, neither of them G1, and only a single G2.

Seeing Kitasan Black’s success had him almost giddy with pride. If not for his family’s objections, he would’ve publicly announced at a concert or another grand occasion, “Such an amazing Uma Musume is my granddaughter!”

As for how far Kitasan could go, he had no expertise in training and thus couldn’t speculate.

But as long as she was guided by the young man in front of him, that mattered far more than nurturing some musical genius—his granddaughter’s future was paramount.

With these thoughts in mind, Kitajima replied decisively:

“Very well. I’ll arrange someone to handle this matter. And again, thank you, Trainer Yasui, for your trust.”

Pausing briefly, he voiced a new concern:

“Speaking of which, I’ve been closely following Kita-chan’s races. Forgive me for prying, but after our previous meeting, I noticed you haven’t contacted Ohno Shoji yet. Is there some issue preventing that?”

“As I understand it, training expenses are quite significant. Kita-chan herself often mentions the high cost of running shoes, something like one pair per week. Are you truly under no financial pressure? Please, don’t hesitate to tell me if there is.”

Yasui Makoto hesitated briefly.

Kitajima Saburou wasn’t wrong. Training Uma Musume was undeniably expensive.

Take running shoes, for example.

With current technology, specialized Uma Musume footwear—if worn by humans—would easily last years without noticeable wear.

But given an Uma Musume’s incredible strength, a single pair was typically destroyed within two to three weeks of training, even with horseshoes for reinforcement.

Kitasan Black, whose power exceeded even that of many Uma Musume, consumed shoes at an even faster rate—exactly as Kitajima mentioned, one pair per week.

Considering each pair cost roughly between 50,000 and 80,000 yen, Kitasan’s monthly shoe expenses alone hovered around 200,000 yen.

Horseshoes were another significant cost.

A pair typically lasted one or two months and cost between 4,000 to 6,000 yen, though higher-grade alloys could reach 8,000 to 10,000 yen per pair.

But training requirements and surfaces varied greatly, meaning several types of horseshoes were always needed, replaced frequently as an Uma Musume developed.

Currently, Kitasan Black was entering her honkaku-ka stage—a period of rapid competitive maturation—necessitating horseshoe replacements every two weeks, thus considerably increasing costs.

Adding uniforms, nutrition supplements, and training equipment, competing in the Twinkle Series was undoubtedly an expensive endeavor—no different from any other high-level sport.

This was precisely what Yasui wanted to discuss with Kitajima.

It wasn’t purely about money—due to his savings, part-time jobs before coming to Tokyo, trainer’s stipend, and recent prize earnings, Yasui wasn’t under significant financial stress.

The main issue was bureaucracy. Trainers had to request approval from Tracen Academy for equipment purchases to qualify for subsidies.

While the approval itself wasn’t difficult, Kitasan Black’s enormous rate of consumption meant frequently filing documents. Filling out endless “running shoe purchase applications” alone wasted considerable time.

Having considered this, Yasui spoke frankly to Kitajima:

“To be honest, I’m not hesitant about accepting help.”

“The Academy provides monthly subsidies covering Kita-chan’s regular needs like running shoes, horseshoes, and sportswear. Combined with my own resources—previous savings, stipends, and race prizes—I don’t currently face financial difficulties.”

“What I really need help with, however, is personnel to handle tedious paperwork like filling out applications.”

“That way, I can focus entirely on training Kita-chan.”

“I see…” Kitajima nodded thoughtfully, his eyes brightening with approval.

“I’ve heard of Trainer Yasui’s dedication during your school days.”

“But since this involves Kita-chan’s training, there’s no reason you should spend your own money.”

“Here’s what we’ll do—I’ll arrange for someone to meet with you later. From now on, all expenses beyond Academy subsidies will be handled entirely by Ohno Shoji.”

“And as for submitting documents to the student council, my assistants can handle that as well.”

Yasui felt immediate relief.

He didn’t know if other industries were similar, but as a trainer, he constantly found himself bogged down by trivialities beyond training and racing itself.

These tasks felt needlessly time-consuming, and he’d often wondered how other trainers managed them.

Now that Kitajima had proactively offered assistance, there was no reason to decline. Moreover, this solution perfectly matched what he’d discussed in a phone call just last night, making him want to see if Kitajima could help with that too.

“In that case, I’ll gladly accept your offer. Thank you very much, Kitajima-sensei.”

…

Following their conversation, Kitajima Saburou led Yasui through the residence, proudly showing off various priceless collectibles.

In this life, Yasui had grown up under modest circumstances, never leaving his hometown before arriving in Tokyo, thus having limited exposure to such luxury.

Still, thanks to his memories from his past life, he felt he handled the situation gracefully enough.

Meanwhile, Yasui silently pondered Kitasan Black’s future training plans.

It was clear her current training methods required optimization.

Uma Musume, strongly group-oriented by nature, couldn’t fully reveal their potential when running alone.

Trainers usually needed either several official races or practice sessions involving multiple Uma Musume to accurately assess their abilities.

Only after this initial assessment could trainers confidently set training schedules, racing strategies, and tactics tailored to each Uma Musume.

However, because of Yasui’s past-life knowledge, Kitasan had skipped this step entirely.

Before her debut, he’d already decided her optimal training methods, racing style, and tactical approach.

Thus, her first two victories had been almost inevitable.

But her third victory—the recent Spring Stakes—clearly hadn’t been so easy.

—

This is a fan translation of 赛马娘：从被撞飞十米开始 by 百升飞上天 All 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!