Chapter 1142: with translation of chapter title

NO．47： Mercenaries and trainers both have the right to make autonomous decisions.

Although every horse girl yearns to run, the start of their careers is somewhat random.

The reason is simply that the number of trainers is limited.

Compared to the relatively stable yearly birth numbers of horse girls, trainer employment numbers fluctuate widely.

At its most volatile, it swings up and down like an electrocardiogram, with peaks sometimes even surpassing the current birth numbers of horse girls.

Given the population base of the Holy Terra Federation, such data is quite reasonable.

But don't rush.

Employment numbers are one matter; how long one can endure is another.

In fact, the average career span of trainers has always been low—not because of any curse, but because too many quit after being hired.

Indeed, working with energetic, mostly good‑looking young girls feels like a pleasant job to anyone who sees it.

Moreover, trainer salaries across the federation's regions may differ, but overall they trend toward high pay, not even counting various basic benefits.

Under such favorable working conditions, what could you possibly complain about? When you think that, you clearly underestimate the actual intensity of this job.

A trainer's job is to train horse girls; beneath a surface that looks no different from a sports coach lies the essence of testing your ability to get along with delicate, sensitive hearts.

Lack of sleep, injury, under‑ or overeating, emotional burnout, and so on—all can point to the endpoint known as 'no adjustment'.

Indeed, if you find their personalities too much to bear, you can try to find a completely obedient horse girl who trains exactly as you wish—regardless of whether you can find one, if you truly do, the outcome will either be utterly mediocre or will hide a temperament you never noticed.

That's another round of torment, and in this process you will gradually realize the degree of cutthroat competition in this profession.

The cutthroat competition among horse girls is also that among trainers—even without official rankings, you still get plenty of pressure from your day‑to‑day coworkers.

By ordinary logic, a horse girl's stress resistance would imply the trainer's inability, or even that the trainer is the source of pressure; conversely, a trainer's stress resistance would simply stem from certain actions of the horse girl.

The main point is this mutual torment.

But the reality is that a horse girl's stress resistance can be linked with the trainer's.

They can even add pressure to each other!

Moreover, the vast majority of those who enter this profession admiring the horse girls' figures are also young people.

This group provides the employment rate, and this same group drags down the career span.

Even today, the trainer profession remains dominated by young faces, but once you trace back their experience, the numbers drop by at least sixty percent.

If it's a central trainer, the placement rate is even like a gacha mobile game.

It's remarkably surprising, and at the same time a fact you must accept.

Even middle‑school horse girls know this; they all say that when selecting trainers, those with less than three years of experience belong to the bracket where expectations should be lowered.

You can't say whether they'll quit soon due to work pressure, thereby sabotaging their own racing careers.

Thus we have the conclusion that has been emphasized several times:

It's not just that trainers must carefully choose which horse girl to handle; the reverse is also true.

At the same time, the horse girls' circle also holds a second consensus summed up by seniors.

—once you encounter a trainer who feels great, you must seize them! Never mind whether they have other horse girls under them.

This advice sounds somewhat like it belongs in an extreme‑emotion section.

But it is indeed something that horse girls nowadays have more or less seen, and more often heard from those around them.

In this situation of too many monks and too little porridge, many horse girls who have entered the central hub waste time waiting for an expected trainer; as graduation approaches, they must consider a final gamble—having a guardian sign the paperwork so they can compete under their own name.

Yes, this is exactly the choice symbolized by Ludaofu Xiangzheng, once praised as 'the king's composure'.

The timing and consequences of this decision determine whether one remains composed.

Obviously, those girls never managed to stay composed, so now each branch of the Torresen Academy has a 'temporary trainer' mechanism, allowing trainers to retain training rights over other horse girls while they are already assigned as a trainer.

It also grants some senior trainers the right to take on apprentices ahead of time.

The relationship between James Stuart, Chao Cang Lu, and Mi Yu is also another manifestation of this mechanism.

For the horse girls' side, once a contract is signed, whether as a primary or temporary trainer, they equally have the right to set foot on the Saichang.

Those who are active simply continue.

Those who have not debuted are allowed the qualification to set foot in the current newcomers' debut race.

Just looking at the total student numbers of the school, you'll find… this new regulation does improve the situation, but it remains quite limited.

Horse girls like Ailisuzhi, for instance, have no connection whatsoever to the new regulation.

Before meeting Aomo Lindun, she was in the endless waiting state that most horse girls still endure.

Their classmate Sky Palace found a trainer, and her career has already begun—nearly a year now—while Ailisuzhi still hasn't started.

—the races she's currently taking part in are not even considered debut races in the strict sense.

However, it can secure a more convenient eligibility for the debut race.

In horse girl races, popularity isn't just a floating metric for outsiders to gauge who might be strong; it also serves as a credential for entering a race, and to some extent influences the gate order.

But for now, it's still far from being a start.

Before Suzi officially steps onto the debut race, the pre‑accumulated popularity is already enough—whether it's the victories themselves or being paired with a trainer of extremely high buzz, her fame has rapidly built up over the past month or so; even if we don't talk about follower numbers, the buzz factor alone has been firmly secured.

And what the URA Association looks for is precisely that buzz.

Yes, it's the buzz, not the follower count.

This is precisely the business side of the URA Association.

Its lifeline lies in these idol‑like horse‑ear girls, but the careers of those girls are likewise closely tied to the URA Association.

For publicity and better development, the association often makes decisions that defy common sense, yet it also gladly pushes forward possibilities that people would welcome.

This is like Extreme Peak and Noble Lady; the two are considered a collision of the Dazhenhan sisters.

It is also like greedily announcing both the classic Triple Crown and the three-time Hua Crown at once; despite having victories, it is undoubtedly just a scattered heavenly palace, and it will likewise serve as a fresh talking point.

For the parties involved, it's absolutely not good, but in the association's eyes it's still traffic worth a handshake.

He could already foresee some future Umastar from the present, yet he had no intention of blaming the association for its approach in this regard.

He merely watched that, for Uma Musume, the ultimate humiliation segment that could not be more classic—the group of girls on the winners' stage, providing dance accompaniment and harmony for the winner.

Seeing them maintain, at the same time, a smile that showed no trace of resentment despite its overtly commercial nature, he felt that, compared to his own external aid, what the Sky Divine Palace most needed now was essentially a strengthening of mental fortitude.

And this was not something he should do.

So he turned away and stepped forward into the dimness beneath the stage.

He moved through the crowd without hindrance, raising his hand to pat the inconspicuous back in front of him.

"?"

That person clearly hadn't expected anyone to pat his shoulder, and under the stage's light, the dismay still lingering on his startled face became visible.

"Trainer Lin Dun?"

"Yes, it's me." Noting the other's half-step retreat, he did not bother to reach out and help; Aomo merely smiled and asked him.

"Want to chat? Trainer Yan, you seem quite troubled."