"Night-blooming cereus, huh…"

Once he had the key information, Mizuno didn't linger. He found an excuse, then left the Uma dorm together with Rudolf.

The moment he stepped outside, he pulled out his phone, searching online about the cereus.

He didn't know much about flowers—let alone this one. At best, he knew the saying "as fleeting as a cereus bloom", that though the flower blossoms beautifully, it lasts only a moment.

After scrolling through enough articles, he finally understood why people said so.

The night-blooming cereus wasn't especially hard to grow. As long as you kept the right conditions, it could survive until it bloomed.

But—its growth period was absurdly long. From seed to flower took at least three years. And it only bloomed at night, lasting about four hours before wilting. To see it bloom again, you'd have to wait half a year.

And the Empress's wish was: "to raise a cereus herself, and see it bloom with her own eyes."

Which instantly ruled out the cheap trick of "just buy one already about to bloom and show her." She wanted the whole process, from seed to blossom, with her own hands.

But as noted—going through that took at least three years.

Neither her worsening condition, nor her peak years as a race Uma, could wait that long.

By the time the cereus bloomed three years later, the Empress would have missed countless races, slipped out of public sight, her dreams left unrealized. All that remained would be three wasted years of decline.

Which meant Mizuno had to find another way. A way to fulfill her wish in the short term.

"But…"

"There's nothing!"

He scoured the internet top to bottom, but found no trick to shorten the cereus's growth. At most, just generic guides on care, and galleries of blooming photos.

"…Hm?" A sudden thought struck him. A sly shortcut.

What if… he downloaded those bloom photos, then combined them with planting guides to make a little "cereus simulator" game?

Then give it to the Empress—let her water, fertilize, adjust the sun.

And when she finished all the steps, the screen would pop up with a picture of a flower in full bloom.

Then Mizuno would leap out from behind her and say:

"Congrats, Empress-san, you just grew a cereus yourself!"

Wish fulfilled, she'd return to normal life. Happy ending, hooray hooray…

…

"No no no!" Mizuno shook his head violently, denying his own insane idea.

What was that supposed to be—cyber gardening?

Who could possibly accept that as real! To fob someone's true wish off like that was pure beast behavior!

He cut that idea off at the root and forced himself to keep thinking.

Since the net had nothing, Mizuno placed his hope in his idol—Underground Brother.

"Maybe in his books there'll be something…"

He pulled the three volumes from his four-dimensional pocket and flipped carefully.

[From Getting Started as a Trainer! (Basement Ending)]—nothing but advice on being a qualified Trainer. No flowers. Useless.

[Massage Techniques: From Toes to XX]—even less worth opening.

[Training Equipment: From Building Treadmills to Children's Toys]—here, at least, were some relevant devices. UV grow lamps, auto-watering pots, fertilizer mixers… but.

These could help a plant grow better. Not shorten its life cycle.

Still useless.

"What do I do…" Mizuno clutched his head in pain.

He really couldn't think of a good way.

"Mizuno…" Rudolf, watching his troubled face, spoke up:

"I have friends all over the world. Some know flowers well. I can ask if there's any kind of cereus that grows from seed to bloom in a short span."

"Really?!" Mizuno perked instantly at the hope.

He had almost forgotten—Rudolf wasn't only a star Uma in Japan, but worldwide. With her influence and her family's reach, her connections stretched far.

If she pulled strings, the search would be far more effective than him alone.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"Hmhm, no problem. I want the Empress to recover soon too." Rudolf smiled.

With that, the two had nothing more to do, and headed back to the men's dorm.

Neither noticed Fuji Kiseki, who had been slumped in her chair by the dorm doors, was gone…

Three days later, Rudolf returned with her friends' answers.

The result—

Nothing.

No cereus that could bloom fast.

In fact, cereus was cereus. No alternate varieties existed. From seed to bloom, it had to be three years at minimum.

"…Then the only goal left… is finding some drug to shorten the growth cycle…"

Mizuno collapsed into his computer chair, staring grimly at the monitor.

On the screen: Tracen Academy's forum. A place where daily chatter was nothing but Trainers asking which wheelchairs were best, Uma asking about date spots, or where to buy stamina tonics.

But Mizuno's eyes fixed on one odd post from that morning.

Title: [AN0110]

Clicking it opened nothing but a blank page. Empty.

At first glance it looked meaningless, maybe some newbie fumbling with the interface.

But Mizuno, thanks to Gold Ship's hint, knew better.

It was the activation signal.

The code announcing the Black Market had opened.

Yes. Tracen Academy had a black market.

And its master was that elusive figure, seldom seen except in rumor—feared by Trainers, beloved by Uma—the mad scientist mare.

Agnes Tachyon.

Every month or so, Tachyon would open the market, selling the experimental drugs she brewed to fund more research.

Gold Ship had told him she'd been a few times. But since most items were stamina tonics, pelvic-strength enhancers, and such, none of it useful to her, she stopped going.

Mizuno had been curious before. But the thought of entering a den filled only with Uma with impure motives—and worse, entangling himself with that mad scientist—was enough to stop him.

But now? Aside from those impossible potions that broke natural law, he truly had no other way to make a cereus bloom from seed in time.

"…So I really have to try my luck there?"