Tracen Academy, 7:00 p.m.

By this hour, most Uma Musume had already finished dinner, heading back to their dorms to rest—or dragging their Trainers out on dates (tragic).

Meanwhile, our Student Council President, Symboli Rudolf, had only just finished the day's work and left the Council room.

Because of her overwhelming influence, Rudolf always attracted attention. Around the academy, many fangirls would rush over for autographs and photos as soon as they spotted her.

And some older Trainers—while fleeing from the predation of their own Uma Musume—would see the respected Rudolf from dozens of meters away and immediately slide across the ground in desperation, begging for her protection.

But what could she do? Even if she sternly warned those Uma Musume, even if she kindly escorted the battered Trainers to the gate and onto the school bus back to the dorms, things seemed resolved...

By the next day, the same Trainers would still be hunted down. And because the girls had "endured for a whole day," their Trainers' fate would be even more miserable.

So, to avoid such endless entanglements, Rudolf usually returned by taking a quiet back path where almost no one passed.

Tonight was the same. Walking that lonely path, bathed in silver moonlight, she mused over one of her cold jokes about the moon.

"'The sly moon shines slyer in the sly night sky.' Pu-huhu~" Rudolf couldn't help chuckling at her own pun.

"Tomorrow I'll tell this to Air Groove. It might cheer her up."

After a brief spell of amusement at her own wit, she quickly sank back into frustration.

Because there were still two important matters unresolved.

The first was the mysterious man who had appeared before the Three Goddesses' statue.

The ten Uma Musume who had seen him with their own eyes, unable to find him again, grew gloomier by the day. Not only losing heart for training, but even their daily lives suffered.

Especially the two dorm supervisors—they had no energy left for dorm affairs. As a result, many girls took advantage, staying out all night without permission, leaving their Trainers at their wits' end.

Rudolf had no choice but to assign Gold Ship to investigate a few days ago.

Though Gold Ship delighted in causing chaos and was normally a Student Council headache, in the matter of "finding people" she was competent. And since she was idle, while Rudolf herself was tied up by endless duties, she had no option but to entrust it to her.

But the clues were too scarce. After days, Gold Ship had uncovered nothing.

(Though it was entirely possible she was slacking off and hadn't looked seriously in the first place.)

The second issue was Tokai Teio. That child still hadn't formed an assigned bond with Trainer Mizuno.

Rudolf had promised Teio before—no threats, no coercion toward Mizuno.

But she truly could not think of any gentle method that would make Mizuno obediently agree to pair with Teio.

Every time Rudolf recommended adorable Teio to him, Mizuno would answer solemnly: "I already have two assigned Uma Musume. Please don't call me again. I'm afraid Urara and Rice Shower will misunderstand." And he rejected her again.

But the more Mizuno refused, the more resolute Rudolf became in entrusting Teio to him.

At first, she thought perhaps Mizuno simply preferred girls like Urara and Rice—cute little-sister types—and didn't realize Teio was just as cute, not inferior in the least.

So Rudolf instructed Teio to spend more time with him, show him her charms directly.

Teio was clever. She invented her own "Little Sister Operation," and began working hard to get close to Mizuno.

But days passed—and still, no success.

Though Mizuno gently indulged her spoiled requests, the moment the topic turned to "becoming her Trainer," he reacted as if faced with some primordial beast, frantically finding excuses to reject her.

"Haah..." Rudolf sighed helplessly.

"Mizuno. Even if you want to be responsible to your current Uma Musume, you don't need to be so stiff. Rejecting Teio again and again—doesn't it look as if you're actually afraid of her?"

But adorable Teio was nothing like those silly romance-brained girls. She wouldn't drag him off on endless dates. What was there to fear?

Rudolf truly didn't understand.

Just earlier, talking with Teio about Mizuno, she had seen that bittersweet expression on the girl's face—happy yet wounded. As Teio's father in spirit, Rudolf's heart ached.

"Unforgivable! Mizuno—since you won't yield to soft words, I'll have to use hard ones!" Rudolf's eyes gleamed dangerously.

Yes—only a more forceful approach suited an Emperor!

If gentle persuasion failed, then she would use underhanded means.

But in truth—even if Rudolf wanted to threaten Mizuno, she couldn't.

Because she had no leverage.

Mizuno was like someone who had appeared from thin air in this world, with no past traces to uncover. No dark history, no weaknesses for her to seize.

"What should I do...?"

Just then, as she pondered how to find Mizuno's weakness, a faint singing drifted from ahead, catching her ears.

"Love you walking alone through dark alleys. Love you for never kneeling. Love you for staring down despai. Refusing to shed a tear~"

The voice was quiet, as if afraid of disturbing someone. Hard to hear unless you listened closely. But Rudolf's ears caught it clearly.

"?" They flicked upright, startled.

That strange, neither-male-nor-female voice—perhaps not very distinctive, but to her, it was familiar.

"Isn't that... Mizuno's voice?!" Rudolf's eyes widened.

But how could Mizuno's voice be echoing here, in this deserted back path?

Could it be that she had thought about him too much, and was now hallucinating?

Yet the very next moment—Mizuno himself appeared, coming around the corner, carrying Hayakawa-san in his arms toward the infirmary.

The two met face-to-face.

"Trainer Mizuno?"

"President Rudolf?"

They froze, staring blankly at each other.

Why was she on this path? Why was he?

"Eh? Hayakawa-san?" Only then did Rudolf notice the woman limp in Mizuno's arms.

Why on earth was Mizuno carrying Hayakawa-san around the campus at night? And why did she look half-unconscious?

"Uh..." Mizuno glanced down at the sleeping Hayakawa, then back up at Rudolf's increasingly dangerous gaze. His scalp prickled.

This was bad. The President mustn't misunderstand...

"President Rudolf, please, let me explain—"

"..." Rudolf studied his nervous face. Suddenly, inspiration flashed.

Oh-ho.

So this was it.

Wasn't this the weakness she needed?