"Teio, you're really talented," Air Groove praised her earnestly. "With some more practice, you might be able to hear the flowers' voices on your own without my help in a few months."

"Hehe~ Well, of course!" Tokai Teio puffed her chest out proudly. "After all, I'm a genius!"

"What about you, Trainer Mizuno?" Air Groove turned toward Mizuno after teaching Teio.

"I…" Mizuno awkwardly scratched his head.

How should he put it? He was still stuck firmly at the starting line…

"I still can't sense anything at all," Mizuno admitted honestly, spreading his hands.

"That's strange…" Air Groove frowned deeply, pinching her chin thoughtfully.

"Normally, among us Uma, even if it's not directly touching the chest—even just holding hands—it usually only takes a little time to clearly sense the other's emotions…"

Mizuno: "?"

Wait, was telepathy a secret Uma superpower or something?

"Hmm…could it be…Trainer Mizuno, you…" Air Groove slowly looked up, eyes fixed seriously on Mizuno's face. "Aren't an Uma?"

Mizuno froze for a moment before nodding decisively: "Yeah, I'm human."

"That explains it…" Air Groove suddenly realized. Reaching out without hesitation, she placed her palm against Mizuno's chest. After quietly feeling his heartbeat for a moment, she withdrew her hand and shook her head.

"It seems humans and Uma—especially of opposite genders—can only perceive each other's feelings after achieving complete unity of heart and mind…"

"Eh—is that so?" Tokai Teio curiously popped her head over and also pressed her palm firmly against Mizuno's chest.

"Uu… It seems Trainer-san and I still haven't reached that kind of unity yet…" Tokai Teio lowered her head slightly, looking disappointed.

But her restless little hand—still lingering mischievously on Mizuno's chest—and her rapidly flicking ears and tail gave away that she wasn't nearly as disappointed as she appeared. Clearly, she was just using this chance to grope him.

Sensing danger, Mizuno took a few quick steps back, putting himself safely out of Tokai Teio's reach.

"Ehh…" Now Tokai Teio genuinely looked disappointed, ears drooping as she puffed her cheeks cutely, pouting at Mizuno as if silently begging, Just let me touch a little more~

Unlike Teio, who seemed to take any chance to flirt shamelessly, Air Groove was still deep in thought, seriously contemplating how to help Mizuno feel the flowers' voices too.

After all, Tokai Teio was just assisting the experiment, while Trainer Mizuno himself was the core researcher behind the plant growth potions. Unless he also learned how to hear the flowers, today's teaching wouldn't hold much meaning.

"What should I do…?" Air Groove grew increasingly anxious, failing to think of any good solution.

"How about this…" Mizuno cautiously suggested at that moment. "Air Groove-sensei, could you demonstrate hearing the flowers' voices again, while I observe closely?"

Mizuno pulled his notebook back out, entering a state of intense concentration.

He believed Air Groove's method was simply too subjective and vague for someone like him—a science-oriented person who preferred analyzing the precise principles behind every phenomenon. For him, rather than relying on intuition, it was more practical to gather large amounts of experimental data and deduce concrete patterns from them…

So, even though it was a bit unfair, Mizuno had to inconvenience Air Groove a little by turning her into a "flower-listening instrument," collecting detailed data on each individual seedling.

"Hmm…of course, I don't mind…" Although Mizuno's request was strange, Air Groove didn't refuse.

After all, everyone had their own way of thinking and learning. Perhaps Trainer Mizuno's unusual request really was the most suitable method for him.

Air Groove approached a young sunflower, paused briefly, then reported its feeling to Mizuno: "This one lacks water."

"Lacks water… Got it." Mizuno followed closely behind, meticulously jotting notes.

She moved to the next seedling: "This one lacks minerals."

"Lacks minerals… Got it."

"And this one…"

After nearly an hour of tireless explanations, at least half of the seedlings in the greenhouse had been carefully analyzed, and Mizuno's notebook was now densely packed with observations.

"Ahem…" Air Groove's throat was feeling rather dry after speaking continuously for so long, making her desperately want a drink of water.

Yet the greenhouse still had half the seedlings left to interpret. Compared to her own bodily needs, the success of the experiment was clearly more important. Air Groove decided she would finish interpreting all the seedlings first, then go get a drink.

But just as she prepared to move to the next plant, a bottle of water suddenly appeared from behind her.

Turning around in surprise, Air Groove found Mizuno quietly offering her the water.

"You've worked hard."

"Thank you…" Air Groove gratefully accepted the water, taking several refreshing sips. The cool sensation instantly soothed the burning dryness in her throat.

"Alright, let's continue." Air Groove carefully closed the bottle, preparing to continue interpreting the next seedling for Mizuno. "This one…"

But this time, things were slightly different. Just as Air Groove opened her mouth to announce the seedling's condition, Mizuno's voice calmly spoke before hers:

"This one lacks both water and sunlight."

"You learned it?!" Air Groove spun around in shock, staring incredulously at Mizuno.

Because he was completely right—this seedling indeed lacked both water and sunlight!

"How about this one?" Air Groove quickly pointed to the next seedling.

Mizuno answered calmly again: "It doesn't lack anything."

"You really did learn it!" Air Groove exclaimed joyfully.

Just moments ago, she'd been distressed over how to help Mizuno sense the flowers' voices. Who would have imagined that after fulfilling his strange request—carefully explaining half the greenhouse to him—he'd actually succeeded in understanding the seedlings' feelings?!

From the beginning until now, it had barely taken an hour, yet Trainer Mizuno had already learned how to hear the flowers without any guidance! This learning speed was far faster than even the genius Tokai Teio's!

"This is wonderful!" Air Groove was immensely excited, her horse ears and tail swishing energetically.

Now that Trainer Mizuno could listen to the flowers himself, their research pace would accelerate dramatically, and capturing the mysterious man was within reach!

But as Air Groove's eyes met Mizuno's again, she realized that his gaze wasn't focused on the seedlings at all, but rather fixed thoughtfully on her face.

"Is something wrong?" Air Groove asked anxiously, touching her own cheek, wondering if there was dirt or something stuck to her face.

"No, nothing." Mizuno quickly shook his head, glancing back down at his densely filled notebook.

The truth was, he hadn't actually been listening to the flowers' voices at all…

Rather, throughout the past hour, he'd been carefully studying Air Groove's expressions instead.

Honestly speaking, for Mizuno, reading Air Groove's subtle expressions was far easier than trying to sense something intangible like the feelings of plants.

Although Air Groove typically wore a calm, indifferent face—barely changing even when her mood fluctuated—there were still tiny, almost imperceptible variations in her expression and movements that he could detect.

By analyzing these slight micro-expressions, Mizuno had indirectly guessed the approximate conditions of each sunflower.

Mizuno had decided that instead of wasting energy on something as nebulous as flower telepathy, he was far better off honing his skills in decoding Air Groove's subtle emotional cues.

Therefore, he'd suddenly arrived at an absurd yet oddly logical solution:

Quite simply, if Air Groove read the hearts of the flowers, and Mizuno read Air Groove's heart…

Wasn't that effectively the same as Mizuno himself reading the flowers' hearts?

Of course, Mizuno had no intention of telling Air Groove this, lest she mistakenly conclude he was some pervert obsessed with analyzing girls' faces.

Thus, Mizuno carefully tucked away his notebook, calmly meeting Air Groove's gaze:

"Yes, Air Groove-sensei—I've learned how to listen."