Chapter 685: NO．54: You actually keep remembering you're a trainer

NO．54: You actually keep remembering you're a trainer.

On the third floor of the high school division, the sole activity room converted from a classroom for the horse-girl team.

The trainer, as usual, sat in the corner sofa, holding a not-thick paperback book, his gaze behind the glasses fixed on one complex and delicate chart after another, appearing especially focused.

Not far away, the black-haired horse girl was similarly fully absorbed in concentrating on the classic moka pot in her hand.

This is the expensive extraction tool she ordered two days ago and received this morning, personally delivered by the trainer as a courier, adding a special meaning—although the trainer hasn't yet taken her mountain climbing, seeing her pour coffee powder into the filter basket while humming something quietly, she seems to have already imagined the scene.

And at the wall near the exit, the chestnut-haired horse girl was operating the trainer's terminal screen, pondering the shogi moves on the screen—this is her arranged leisure training.

Playing shogi is a rather common intellectual training method, and some trainers prefer to use card games like bridge, xiangqi, or international chess to train the horse girls; essentially it's all the same.

Of course, if one just sends a Mahjong Soul link to the horse girls for no reason, shouting about needing one more for a four-player room, they're probably just wanting to play mahjong.

Although the chestnut-haired horse girl's trainer isn't particularly fond of shogi as a board game, it doesn't hinder choosing it for training.

Anyway, the opponent is a difficult AI, not the trainer himself.

The chestnut-haired horse girl is certainly not the type who loses her composure mid-game and starts shouting; she remains quiet and focused, adding an important touch of tranquility to the activity room.

Such a quiet activity room, with a faint aroma of coffee spreading, was suddenly greeted by a dull push of the door.

Immediately following came a loud and impatient shout:

"Tunshu Jun~! Tunshu Jun~! Tunshu Jun~!"

"……" The shogi-playing horse girl could still barely keep focusing on the screen, but the coffee-brewing horse girl had to shoot a resentful glance.

The one being called, however, seemed to have the same level of focus as the shogi-playing horse girl, head not lifted, appearing to turn a deaf ear.

Thus he naturally would receive a direct shout, no longer accustomed to rhythmic ups and downs.

"Trainer!!"

The one being called still didn't lift his head, but his face clearly showed intolerance to the high decibels, his reply also carrying a hint of helplessness: "…It's not lunchtime yet, Miss Suzi."

"Who's hungry!"

If a room's ownership could be determined by the variety of items placed, this activity room would probably belong to Manchester Chazuo, but judging by the impression of the items, it would belong to this very person, Ailisuzhi.

Her set of items, far neater and more valuable than miscellaneous junk, occupies half the indoor space, and she always does not hesitate to take on the role of host with the most unfriendly attitude.

"I'm telling you, it's already the third day! How much longer do we have to wait to get the follow-up research materials?"

"It's only the third day, be patient, Miss Suzi," said the trainer, still not lifting his head, turning a new page without changing his expression: "You should know that police usually solve cases in months, and cracking some major cases can take years."

"For some work involving infiltration, it's common to have no results even after ten years."

"Can't a major matter involving negative-energy monsters possibly wait that long?" Ailisuzhi said impatiently, without insisting that the other look at her while speaking.

"Exactly, so we won't need to wait too long, right?"

"But what if, in the end, it turns out to have nothing to do with us——! Trainer——!"

"Hey, don't grab! Don't pull! Don't shake!"

Usually, when a horse girl presses both hands on a trainer's shoulders, it's hard for the trainer to stay calm.

Aomo is no exception.

Especially when the other directly pulls him to shake him, and he can't test his jacket's tear‑resistance just to oppose them, so he can only backhandedly press on the other's shoulder and arm.

"Let go first! Are you possessed by Qi or by Qianming?"

As he said, although Aomo and Suzi's daily interactions are mostly rude and highly aggressive, they don't usually reach the point of random physical conflict.

This sort of willfulness, which manifests as outright yanking and pulling, lacking any sense of distance, is more the style of people like Qi, Qianming, and Wanshan.

This constantly leaves him, who is not good at bodily contact with others, exhausted dealing with it.

"None of those, just a helpful friend gave me a proposal to communicate with Tunshu Jun more efficiently."

"Don't listen to proposals from those who haven't even done the basic experimental work; this feedback clearly just adds to the communication cost." Aomo said unhappily.

"Really? I think it's pretty efficient; at least if I didn't do this, who knows how long you'd keep staring at that book?"

The girl said, glancing at the eight‑trigram wheel on the page in Aomo's hand: "What are you looking at? It's neither related to training nor to monsters."

"The "New Edition of Zhouyi Prediction Studies," together with this "Water Mirror Divine Physiognomy" and "Contemporary Geomancy," were all sent by classmate Xiao Lin Li Qi."

"Huh? That sounds more like something Dai Fukura would send, and can you even read it?"

Aomo shook his head: "I can't understand it; some things involving ancient Dongyan culture are indeed obscure, but I just want a rough impression—perhaps it'll come in handy soon."

"How? Do you think you can use physiognomy and feng shui to investigate the flow of negative energy?"

"All I can say is, since they deliberately guided negative energy to gather underground, they're highly likely to be involved in geography and ley‑line studies, and possibly do something to the Ren Dragon," Aomo raised his hand, pushed up his glasses, "it can't just be a matter of sucking up negative energy and dumping it into the earth and then ignoring it—that method would be far too crude and stupid."

"Alright, that means you've already started preparing," Ailisuzhi raised her eyebrows, looked back, pulled over a chair and sat down, "so Tunshu Jun~, if there's any commission this time, how should we bring it?"

"I've never wanted to drag students into cases, as for 'us'?" He looked surprised at Suzi, then slightly lifted his head toward the Chazuo and bourbon behind her that were gazing at her.

The last one hadn't known when they already looked this way; the game on the screen was unfinished.

"You guys have discussed it?"

"You aren't clear about that either?" Suzi crossed her arms, "We both have some interest in monsters."

"Studying monsters and being involved in monster incidents are two different things; I must take responsibility for you and your families."

"If that's the case, how about we split things up?"

"How to split?"

"You go into danger; we only take responsibility for assisting the research."

"That's really cold."

"But isn't this what we've always been doing? Or do you think that, as a mercenary, your circle of friends and enemies would be so law‑abiding as to not pay attention to us?"

While clearly speaking those words that reveal her own perilous situation, the girl's dark red beneath the light grille was full of a smile, like a certain Kamen Rider's pose when lifting both arms slightly, further showing her delighted pride.

"Then again, this unchanging condition also fits your persistence, doesn't it?"

"Ah," Aomo listened, listened, then suddenly nodded, "It seems Miss Suzi has come prepared this time."

And the other party, moreover, did not bother to hide it, confidently admitting: "You think my quietness these two days is because of what?"

Pretty good, not bad. Aomo nodded.

Only pedantic adults would insist children grow up exactly along the path they themselves have drawn; Aomo feels responsible only for giving a push to anyone's life path, not for holding their hand, so he also won't deny the other's thinking or the sound logic derived from it.

So…

I agree with your proposal; looking back, when I said those words to you earlier, this matter was already irreparable.

Although a mercenary, he also sent a contract invitation to Ailisuzhi to become a trainer… holding both professions, their respective fields are thus bound to intertwine.

Aomo had to admit this.

"Repair? Don't say it's so terrible."

"If the operation isn't good, it'll be terrible," Aomo, who had put down the book and was leaning on the sofa, shook his head, "Think about why the heroes in the Safe Beauty District comics wear masks, think about why Ultraman's human forms always hide their identities— Of course, there are exceptions, but every exception has its own reasonable justification…"

Aomo said, looking up at the three horse girls: "For example, even if revealing one's identity isn't dangerous, perhaps I should find you the best‑matching monster card."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Even though overjoyed, Ailisuzhi still retained considerable composure.

Then Aomo doused them with cold water: "There's nothing to say; now that everyone's here, we should go train."

"Eh~!"

"Eh, what's with that? Do you still remember you're a horse girl?"