By the time Kitahara Sota returned to the clubroom, nearly an hour and a half had passed.
Hearing the door open, Tokai Teio was the first to look up, her nose wrinkling slightly in displeasure.
“Trainer-san, you’re so slow! What took you so long—wait, what happened to your arm?”
Following Tokai Teio’s words, everyone’s gazes immediately settled on his oddly twisted left arm.
“Oh, this? I just tripped on my way back,” he said, forcing a smile. He placed the two bags on the floor and was about to continue when suddenly his collar was grabbed.
“Trainer, I want the truth.”
Tokai Teio held his collar tightly, her expression frighteningly grim.
“Or do you think an Uma Musume’s sense of smell is just for show?”
Aside from the faint scent of washed-off blood emanating from his injured arm, there was also the unmistakable scent of another unfamiliar Uma Musume.
Not only that, Kitahara’s appearance was noticeably disheveled. The jacket he wore when leaving was now torn in several places, smeared with dirt—far more battered than a simple fall could explain.
Given Kitahara’s poor lying skills and his failure to properly hide certain details, even someone as innocent as Special Week could tell he was lying, let alone Tokai Teio.
Kitahara hesitated, throwing a pleading glance toward Eclipse for help.
Only to find her expression even more terrifying than Tokai Teio’s. She didn’t approach directly, but her icy gaze delivered a single, clear command.
Speak.
Left with no choice, Kitahara had to recount the entire incident truthfully.
Except for the part where he’d defeated his attacker—he instead claimed he’d been running away when she accidentally knocked herself out after hitting her head, thus letting him escape.
Apart from Eclipse, none of the others doubted his story.
In their eyes, a human defeating an Uma Musume was about as plausible as an ant biting an elephant to death. Although his explanation was somewhat ridiculous, it was still the most logical scenario.
“What about that Uma Musume?” Tokai Teio asked, her tone noticeably colder than usual, a shadow darkening her features. “Why did she attack you?”
“I have no idea either,” Kitahara shook his head helplessly. “Anyway, I handed her over to the Chairwoman. She said she’d handle the rest, so I came back.”
“The Chairwoman can sometimes be too lenient. You should’ve taken her to the Prez instead.”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly at that moment,” Kitahara said hastily. “Besides, I just had a fight with Rudolf-san yesterday—I wasn’t exactly eager to see her again.”
Remembering Rudolf instantly reminded him of the earlier rumors. He involuntarily shrank his neck, feeling anxious all over again.
“Anyway, it’s already over. Don’t worry—look, I brought everything back! UNO, Monopoly, even Flying Chess, you name it.”
Despite his reassurances, even Special Week no longer felt in the mood for games after what had happened.
Following Tokai Teio, she and Oguri Cap rushed to ask him anxiously if he was truly alright, if he needed to visit the infirmary, or whether he should rest for the afternoon.
As for Eclipse, she stood silently by the wall, quietly observing. Only after everyone else finished fussing did she finally step forward.
“You’ve gotten careless recently,” she said.
The others didn’t understand her words, but Kitahara did. He chuckled bitterly.
“Come on, my opponent was an Uma Musume. When that kick came at me, I thought I was done for—look, she even ripped my suit jacket open.”
He pointed to the cheap jacket now ragged from his evasive movements, a helpless expression on his face.
But Eclipse refused to buy it.
“Once you’re healed, we’re resuming your previous training. In fact, I’m raising the intensity by half.”
“Half?” Kitahara blurted out in shock. “Besides, I’m working now! Where would I even find the time—”
“But you have time to spend all day scrolling on your phone?”
Kitahara’s voice faltered.
“Alright, fine.”
He sighed in defeat, about to negotiate with Eclipse about the intensity, when he suddenly felt warmth against his hand.
Surprised, he looked up to see something exceedingly rare—an expression of genuine worry on Eclipse’s face.
“I… don’t want to lose you,” she murmured softly, gripping his hand tighter than usual.
“If this isn’t safe, let’s just go home. At least there I can—”
“Eclipse.”
Kitahara sighed softly, gently touching her cheek.
“I’m fine. She clearly held back a lot and didn’t intend to cause serious harm. Besides, the Chairwoman promised me she’d quickly investigate the matter thoroughly.”
Truthfully, had his attacker not underestimated him or genuinely wished to harm him, the fight wouldn’t have dragged on as it had.
“But…”
“It’ll be alright,” he assured her earnestly. “From now on, I won’t move alone until it’s safe—either I’ll stay with you all or hang around other trainers. Either way, I won’t give anyone another chance.”
He met Eclipse’s eyes firmly.
“Trust me, okay?”
“…Mm.”
After a long silence, Eclipse finally nodded, her usual expression gradually returning.
“I understand.”
She stepped back, but her eyes now held a trace of cold resolve.
Though their voices were hushed, preventing the others from clearly hearing, everyone still noticed their intimate gestures.
But no one found it strange. They were already aware of the special bond between Eclipse and Kitahara.
If someone as precious as family had nearly been killed, it would be stranger if Eclipse showed no reaction at all.
An attack from an Uma Musume was no laughing matter for humans, especially a clearly malicious assault like this.
Even without intent to kill, one misstep or accident could easily leave a human severely injured or even dead on the spot.
Unaware of what actually transpired, they couldn’t know the torn clothes were due to Kitahara’s evasive movements, nor that the dirt came from him dropping his jacket on the ground himself.
All they saw was Kitahara’s sorry state, drawing their own conclusions based on the damage and wounds they saw. They assumed things were far worse than he’d admitted, fueling their worries further.
Nearby, observing the closeness between Eclipse and Kitahara, Tokai Teio felt a pang of envy. A flicker of unfamiliar emotion stirred briefly within her, quickly suppressed by another thought.
If she got hurt, the Prez would surely worry about her just like this.
The remainder of their break passed with continuous questions and concern for Kitahara.
Later that afternoon, under unanimous insistence, Kitahara was escorted to Tracen’s infirmary for examination.
Only after the school doctor repeatedly assured everyone he was fine and simply needed rest did they reluctantly leave, returning to their own activities.
Yet, strangely, Eclipse, who should’ve returned to class, didn’t head toward the school building. Instead, she turned decisively toward the Chairwoman’s office.
Meanwhile, Tokai Teio, who should have been heading toward the training grounds, took the opposite direction—toward the student council office.
Unaware of the movements outside, Kitahara, after everyone left, rolled up his sleeve to examine his injuries carefully.
The four orange drinks he’d consumed earlier were recovery potions from his system inventory.
Though labeled as stamina potions, their actual effects included rapid physical healing, particularly effective when applied quickly. Thankfully, he’d promptly treated himself. Despite his arm’s still twisted appearance and some frightening external swelling, internally—especially the crucial bones—everything was mostly fine.
However, he refrained from further potions now.
After all, someone was watching, and others had already seen the extent of his injuries.
He couldn’t exactly conjure a potion from thin air, instantly heal himself in front of everyone, then casually claim he was just joking around earlier.
Considering this, he opted to recover naturally, taking the opportunity to experience Tracen’s medical facilities firsthand.
“You’re very lucky. Clearly, she didn’t intend to seriously hurt you,” the doctor said after examining his arm, reaching for some ointment. “Your bones aren’t broken. I’ll apply this ointment, and if you rest here today to stabilize the injury, it should fully heal within a week.”
“Thank you.” Kitahara bowed gratefully. As the doctor applied the ointment, he suddenly remembered something.
“Um…will the treatment here be covered?”
He asked cautiously.
Having only worked four days, he hadn’t even gotten his first paycheck. On top of that, he’d just spent a considerable sum buying games for the girls. He had no extra money for medical bills.
Seeing his cautious expression, the doctor couldn’t help but chuckle, replying gently:
“No worries. Medical treatment at Tracen is completely free. Being a trainer is high-risk work, so injuries are common. We have comprehensive medical support, so relax.”
“Ah…that’s great.”
He nodded in relief. After seeing the doctor off, he lay back on the bed, relieved.
Finally, he had another legitimate reason to slack off. Life was good.
He was about to pull out his phone and check the trainers’ forum for amusing posts when his expression suddenly froze.
Wait…hadn’t he forgotten something incredibly important?
Recalling his earlier conversation, Kitahara’s face gradually paled, a cold sweat breaking across his forehead.
He…seemed to have forgotten to negotiate with Eclipse about that 50% increase in training intensity.
He was doomed.
—
This is a fan translation of 人在特雷森，专职摆烂 by 多功能复读机 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!
Reader discussion
0 Comments
Be the first reader to share a thought about this chapter.