The Trainer With Little Time Left Just Wants to Live [2]

Back again, huh… Tracen Academy.

Once the train pulled in, Kitano arrived at the gates of Central Tracen Academy in his wheelchair, with Nakayama Festa’s help. Looking up at the Umamusume academy he had visited who knew how many times before, he could not help but feel a little emotional.

Unlike most transmigrators, Kitano had run into obstacle after obstacle every time he tried to enter Tracen Academy. The reason had already been explained: his physical test results were unacceptable, making it almost impossible for him to obtain a Central Trainer license through normal channels. Worse still, he had to sign an agreement with an Umamusume before the relationship counted as her being in his care. Otherwise, no matter how many races an Umamusume won, it would not affect his lifespan at all.

That meant Kitano had one more difficult task than other Trainers—first earning Tracen’s approval and obtaining a Trainer license.

“Good thing we don’t need to deal with that hassle anymore.” Nakayama Festa pushed the wheelchair from behind as she spoke to Kitano in her usual flat tone. “Today’s enrollment season. You and I are going to the chairwoman’s office later. Aneki already gave them a heads-up, and the chairwoman knows about you too.”

“When we get there, don’t say anything. I’ll handle it. I’ll just insist that if I can’t have you, I won’t run. I’m sure the chairwoman won’t make things hard for you.”

Yes. A few years ago, after the head of the Gold Family, Stay Gold, had forcibly picked up the still-university-student and sickly Kitano and dragged him home, Kitano had somehow, once again, become the in-house Trainer for the Gold Family’s Umamusume.

What? Why “once again”? Because Stay Gold had once been one of the Umamusume in Kitano’s care in a previous loop. And in that loop, Stay Gold had done something very similar: she had dragged the sickly Kitano into becoming her Trainer without asking, for much the same reason as Nakayama Festa. She, too, had believed that someone as all-in as Kitano could bring out her potential.

This made Kitano mutter to himself somewhat in this loop, wondering whether the Gold Family had some strange inherited requirement for Trainers. Otherwise, why would both Stay Gold and Nakayama Festa latch onto him and refuse to let go?

In any case, although Stay Gold’s racing record as an Umamusume had not been particularly good in either Kitano’s previous loop or this current one, for some reason, Stay Gold seemed to have quite a few connections—or perhaps the Gold Family had some special persuasion techniques. Either way, in the loop with Stay Gold, Kitano had faced the least resistance when obtaining his license.

“All right. Let’s go in.”

Without another word, Nakayama Festa pushed Kitano into the academy grounds. Behind them, an elegant, tall Umamusume in Tracen Academy’s uniform, surrounded by several new students, noticed Nakayama Festa as she passed by.

“Sirius-senpai? Is something wrong?”

“—Nothing. I just thought I saw someone I knew.”

Sirius narrowed her eyes slightly, watching Nakayama Festa push the wheelchair with interest—or rather, watching the person sitting in the wheelchair Festa was pushing.

Although Nakayama Festa had only just enrolled, Sirius had actually known her fairly well even before this. Sirius had always found Nakayama Festa’s “gambler” nature very much to her taste, so for this enrollment season, she had spoken to the student council in advance and arranged for Nakayama Festa to be her roommate.

Sirius knew Nakayama Festa’s personality. That was exactly why she was interested in someone Festa cared so much about. After all… even Sirius, whose personality was similar to Nakayama Festa’s, had very few people close to her. The fact that Festa had someone that intimate around her was genuinely intriguing.

“He doesn’t look like one of her elders… I heard from the President not long ago that the Gold Family had recommended a Trainer here. The President didn’t seem very fond of that kind of backdoor arrangement.”

“Could that be him?”

Nakayama Festa had no idea that Kitano, the person she had just been muttering no normal person would ever be interested in, had already caught the attention of someone completely unexpected the moment she entered the school.

She took Kitano along the path toward the student council, walking slowly. Festa kept her pace steady, and because it was enrollment season, the thing she and Kitano saw most along the way was Trainers of all kinds within Tracen Academy beginning their recruitment activities.

Every year, when the new students enrolled, Tracen’s Trainers and Umamusume were at their most active. New Trainers all hoped to seize the chance to find a few promising seedlings and work toward raising Umamusume who could win graded races. Many new Trainers had only just started the job and did not have even one trainee, so they cast their nets wide and recruited Umamusume without the slightest concern that they might be taking on too many.

However, those veteran Trainers who had already produced graded-race winners, even G1-winning Umamusume… were much more cautious in this regard.

Or rather, with the Umamusume around them—each already in their Senior Year now—watching every passing new Umamusume like predators eyeing prey, they had no choice but to treat the matter cautiously.

There were even a few veterans who, upon seeing new Trainers not far away recklessly recruiting several new Umamusume at once, cast them looks of pity, lamenting that yet another clueless youngster had made the same mistake they all had back then.

“I think that Trainer seems pretty good, don’t you? He’s newly hired, and he doesn’t have any other trainees around him. If I team up with him, I should be able to focus on running, right?”

“Really? I like them a little more mature. They should have more experience, right?”

“All right, decided—Trainer over there! If you don’t mind, may I join your team?”

“Huh? Really? Then let’s go sign the agreement right—wait, what are you doing? Why are you dragging me?! Where are you taking me?!”

“…”

Nakayama Festa and Kitano watched with rather indifferent eyes as yet another Trainer, after recruiting a new Umamusume, was immediately dragged away by several of his trainees with dark expressions. As for where he was dragged off to… that was not important. What mattered was that, aside from pure new students who did not yet know the inside story, everyone knew what that Trainer was about to face.

“Another brave warrior has fallen.”

“I remember that next year, all the Umamusume on his team will be graduating, right? Wonder if he can make it through.”

“He definitely won’t be making it to the chairwoman’s meeting today. I don’t know if he’s carrying medicine on him either. Otherwise, he might not even get past this hurdle.”

“…These days, even with medicine, I can’t make it past the third round. And for that guy, it’s not going to end in just three rounds.”

Several veteran Trainers who knew one another spoke with sighs, or with the sorrow of those who knew exactly how it felt. As Nakayama Festa passed by and saw this scene, her expression did not change. She only said flatly to Kitano:

“…Boring. Don’t you think so, Kitano?”

“Hm?”

Kitano, who had been feeling sorrowful over Tracen’s increasingly severe “corporate culture,” immediately had his attention caught by Nakayama Festa’s words. Then he heard this relatively normal Umamusume of the Gold Family say:

“The relationship between a Trainer and an Umamusume isn’t supposed to be that shallow. A Trainer should draw out every bit of an Umamusume’s potential, and an Umamusume should have the resolve to wager everything on victory or defeat. That’s what a real trainee relationship is.”

“I’d heard things about Tracen Academy before… but I didn’t expect this many people to get the relationship between Trainer and trainee mixed up as soon as I enrolled.”

At this point, Nakayama Festa clicked her tongue in disdain and said to Kitano, “In the end, the relationship between a Trainer and an Umamusume shouldn’t develop in the direction of romance, right? How could that possibly help anyone beat other Umamusume?”

“…I really don’t want to say this, but you’re right, Festa.”

After a strange silence, Kitano voiced his agreement. He knew well enough what the situation was like at Tracen Academy, and he also understood the “dire straits” the Trainers found themselves in—but what did any of that have to do with him?

Kitano himself did not have long to live. Where would he find the time to think about such things? Besides, after so many loops, none of the Umamusume in his care in the few loops where Kitano had survived relatively long had ever shown any extraordinary feelings toward him.

As for the reason, Kitano knew it himself. He was a patient who did not have long to live, and every single time, he made that very clear to the Umamusume in his care. That behavior of his had, to a very large extent, cut off the possibility of any emotional entanglement between him and an Umamusume.

A normal Umamusume, one in the prime of her beautiful youth, would not place romantic feelings on a man who was about to die.

And Kitano could not have cared less, so long as the Umamusume in his care could win a few more races and let him live a few more years. It was the same old point—his own life was almost gone, so where would he have the time to bother with romance?

And now that Kitano had absolutely no desire to die yet again, he had summarized the lessons from all his past failures and made up his mind. In this loop, he would be a “cold and heartless” Trainer. Feelings? Trainer romance? Which of those was more important than staying alive?

Thus, Kitano chose to support Nakayama Festa’s view this time and stand with his soon-to-be trainee. Yet just as Kitano was thinking that, a voice suddenly came from the shade of the tree above them.

“I don’t really think so. Although I’m not too fond of how some kouhais do things these days, if an Umamusume and her Trainer can freely develop a romantic relationship, then surely they can also break through all kinds of obstacles and bring out even more of the Umamusume’s potential, right?”

“The power brought by free love is very strong, you know. As your senpai, I have plenty of say on that point~”

The moment that extraordinarily familiar woman’s voice rang out, Kitano’s expression went briefly dazed. Then, all at once, a dashing figure leapt down from a thick branch, revealing a body more graceful and healthy than most women’s. Her signature smile, gentle as a spring breeze, was enough to put anyone who saw it in a good mood.

And among those people was the absentminded Kitano. But Kitano was not drawn in by the Umamusume’s appearance. Rather, the instant countless thoughts surged into his mind, even his heartbeat sped up a little.

Kitano had to admit that what he had said earlier had been a little too absolute. Humans were not made of wood or stone; who could be without feeling? His reaction now was the best proof.

Mr. C.B.… It really has been a long time.

T/N: ooooooooooh mr. c.b. waowowwowoowowowowowza mr cb gonna be cbing on my burger

This is a fan translation of 时日无多的训练员只想活下去 by 许氏子谦 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!