I'm Ornn, and I'm about to be beaten to my knees by the Man-eating Horse Girl!

"While the actions of these private ranches were not the direct cause of the tragedy, ... no snowflake is innocent in an avalanche."

Orn sighed, looking up at the boardwalk not far away and the five parasols on it.

He said softly, "Cancer... I thought Ma Niang would be very healthy, and apart from the fracture, she shouldn't have any illnesses..."

"Generally speaking, that's how it is,"

Wada took another deep drag of his cigarette, looking at the six fishing rods under the five parasols, and said, "Just like Little Chestnut in your team, she eats and drinks all day and is perfectly fine, but if it were any other horse girl, it might not be the same."

"Stomach ulcers, stomach cancer, intestinal cancer, and various other diseases can occur, but the probability is extremely low, and with timely treatment, there are basically no problems."

"Should we say it's the blessing of the three goddesses? Those famous horse girls, apart from broken bones, basically never even catch a cold. They're so healthy and strong that they could easily have ten children."

"But if the diagnosis is too late, and the disease has progressed to an advanced stage, then even a miracle won't save you."

Wada stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, looked at Orn who was deep in thought, and suddenly said, "Are you thinking, if the three goddesses really exist, why don't they care about these things?"

Ornn scratched his head and said helplessly, "Sometimes... I do think that way."

"The three goddesses blessed the horse girls with good health, but at the same time endowed them with fragile legs,"

"Horse girls can bring joy and laughter to people, but it seems that conflicts are more likely to break out among horse girls, which sounds like a terrible joke."

Wada stroked his chin and said, "Let's put aside the question of whether gods exist in this world for now, but Orn, let's assume, I mean, let's assume..."

"If you were one of the three goddesses, could you punish those private ranches? For example, by summoning lightning to strike them dead?"

Orn frowned slightly. He instinctively wanted to say yes, but seeing the meaningful look in Wada's eyes, he fell silent.

After pondering for a long time, he sighed and said, "...No, because they were not the direct cause of the tragedy."

"Moreover, the existence of private ranches has objectively helped many female horses who cannot afford tuition and training fees to realize their dreams. In the end, their existence is even a good thing."

Hearing Orn's answer, Wada nodded.

"Then can you punish those who engage in school bullying?"

Orn shook his head again: "No, in the end, these people are just misled by the huge volume of public opinion, which has led to deep-seated prejudices. They are just accomplices."

"The horse girls who signed those contracts did so voluntarily. The rumors and the bullying by the horse girls were also voluntary on their part."

Wada then asked, "Could you just kill Morita Itsuki and his brother with a single blow?"

"No, because their existence has indeed given the ranching industry its own 'rules,' and their oppression has indeed plundered the wealth that should belong to ordinary people, but it has also indeed made the racing industry grow stronger."

Orn looked down at the notebook in his hand: "If I can accept more faith and offerings, then it will be even less likely that I will destroy them."

Even if you hate their behavior, you can't do anything about it. If you do, you're breaking the rules... if even gods have rules.

"Moreover, without a strong system to support it, even if you kill one Morita Tree, another Li Tian Tree or Huang Tian Tree will rise up, and the problem will not be solved at all."

He carefully opened the notebook in his hand. Inside was a sheet of paper almost entirely covered with names, which appeared to be a list kept by the girl.

The list is very long, with nearly two thousand signatures.

The list is short, just like the girl's short life.

The petitions with signatures varied in size, seemingly due to the long interval between signatures; the format of the petitions also evolved from initially being hasty to becoming more refined.

Did she write and format it herself? For a fifteen or sixteen-year-old, this is an enormous undertaking.

The notebook was mostly filled with petitions, while the latter half consisted of the girl's own diary entries, or rather, a collection of essays.

The diary entries mostly describe what I ate that day, how painful the treatment was, and which friends visited me. Judging from the timeline, I've been keeping this record since I was admitted to the hospital.

The notes evolved from initially recording the progress of the petition, to the author's attempts to find a direction to support the Nojin Ranch, and finally to recording everyday life.

It seems that even she herself understands that it is impossible to prove her alma mater on her own, and she seems to be about to give up.

Orn quickly flipped through the notebook. In the last entry, she wrote, "Mom, if there's a chance, please give this notebook to the headmistress."

"The ranch taught me a lot and taught me many things. Yesterday I finally understood why the ranch's teachers hadn't come. Many of them had resigned, so naturally they didn't know about my situation."

"I saw the current state of the ranch online; it's barely able to take care of itself. Perhaps the headmaster and the others don't not want to visit me, but rather they're unable to."

"So Mom, please give this notebook to him. The petitions I collected may not be able to help them, but they can give them the confidence to persevere."

"please."

Below this passage is an encouraging letter the girl wrote to the ranch.

Orn read through the entire notebook word for word, closed it, and fell into a silent slumber.

"Finished watching? Any thoughts?"

Wada took out his third cigarette and lit it. He asked, "Why don't you give this notebook to me? If I deliver it to him, I'm afraid you'll be tempted to smash his head in with a hammer."

Orn took a deep breath: "No need, I'll deliver it. I promised them, and ultimately it's up to them to handle this."

"I'll temporarily entrust the management of Yejin Ranch to Brother Hetian. By the way, could you please tell Grandpa Beidao that I owe him this matter, and that I'm always ready to take orders for handicrafts in the future?"

"The matter of mass-producing horseshoes... I will try to resolve it when I return to Central Treson."

"I'll talk to the chairman and the head of the Asama family about the ranch later to see if there's any room for maneuver. If a peaceful resolution isn't possible, then we'll have to fight. We need to be prepared for a war of public opinion."

"I have a fairly good relationship with Director Suzuki. I think he'll still help with this favor if I'm willing to pay some price, which will also relieve some pressure on the Satomi family..."

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Wada looked approvingly at Orn, who was rapidly devising a plan.

This young man is indeed very capable in resource management. He doesn't limit himself to the gains and losses of a single city or battle, but considers the overall situation. This kind of thinking is very valuable.

"Well, if the gods can't get involved themselves, Ornn, then you can try to fix things for them with your hammer."

Wada smiled and said, "After all, repairing is a blacksmith's basic function! In this matter, regardless of the exchange of benefits or positions, the old man and I will absolutely support you in doing it."

"Well, Orn, I'll head back and get ready now. Call me if anything comes up."

He stubbed out his third cigarette in the ashtray, then got up and went downstairs.

Holding his notebook, Orn descended from the second floor, passed through three tunnels, and returned to the entrance of the walkway.

Under the parasol, the newly radiant girl was looking around furtively. The moment she saw Orn, she raised her hand and exclaimed, "My benefactor!! What took you so long?! It's almost noon! You haven't caught a single fish!"

"I might have eaten something wrong recently, I have a bit of diarrhea, that's normal."

Ornn carefully put the notebook into the bag next to his seat, then walked behind the new Radiance and asked with a smile, "Let me see how many fish our brilliant new Radiance from the Dolan team caught?"

Shining brightly, he proudly opened the lid of the water tank next to his stool, pointed at the fish swimming inside, and said, "Heh heh, I caught a full fifteen fish!! How about that? Impressive, right!"

Orn read aloud, "Oh, impressive, impressive."

"My benefactor, be serious! Why are you being so heartless... Ah!! A fish has taken the bait!!"

The newly radiant figure immediately entered the state of a master angler, concentrating intently on pulling the fishing line.

Orn then peeked at Fujimasa March beside him, but before he could ask anything, March opened the lid of the bucket next to him.

"Here, ten. Bad luck today, didn't catch many."

It seemed that she hadn't caught as many fish as the brand-new Radiant ones. March looked somewhat anxious, and as she sat on the stool, her right leg kept shaking.

Orn then moved closer to Megumi Ardan; her bucket also contained ten fish, just like the ones in the march.

Ardan turned to look at Orn, blinked, and asked curiously, "Mr. Orn doesn't look too well. Is he sick?"

"No, no, it's just that I'm in a bad mood because of diarrhea."

Orn then turned to look at the silent little chestnut-hatted boy, who was now squatting on a stool like a street urchin.

Even though she had her back to Orn, she seemed to sense his gaze; her ears stood up straight and turned in his direction.

Orn reached out to lift the lid of the bucket next to Oguri, but the girl pressed her hand down firmly.

"It's dragging me down... no... I'd better not watch it!"

Little Chestnut Hat turned around, her face flushed, and covered the bucket of water beside her.

Orn chuckled and said, "So what if you didn't catch anything? Why are you so nervous? It's not like it's an exam."

"Let me see. Don't worry, I won't laugh at you."

Little Chestnut Hat's ears twitched slightly, and she asked softly, "Really...really won't laugh at me?"

Orn confidently assured him, "Of course! A man's word is his bond!"

With his trainer making such a promise, Oguri slowly lifted the lid off his water bucket.

Orn peered inside and saw only two four-centimeter-long fish fry in the basin.

"Pfft...cough, um!"

Orn smiled and patted Oguri's head, comforting him, "Not bad, Oguri, this is a very good result for your first time fishing."

"Although I can't figure out how you managed to catch such a small seedling... cough cough, perhaps it's a special talent!"

"With more practice, you'll catch more and more fish... Oh! Glorious caught another one!"

Just as he said, after a fierce struggle with the fish, Xin Guanghui successfully caught his sixteenth fish.

Holding the fish in her hand, she ran proudly to Orn and said smugly, "My benefactor! It's already twelve o'clock! According to what you said before, the person who caught the most fish has the right to order the person who caught the fewest fish around, right!"

Ornn nodded, and the newly radiant light immediately exclaimed, "Then I'm going to use my power to become number one now!! My benefactor!! You can't eat today!!"

"Not only can't we eat!! You also have to keep cooking for us! Until we can't eat anymore!!"

"And another thing! No more training today!! I need to rest!! Oh, right! Let my benefactor give me a massage! You can't stop until I tell you to! Keep massaging!!"

Having said that, Little Deer Fur raised its head, its eyes shining as it looked at Orn.

"So, my benefactor, will you agree to these conditions?! A bet's a bet, right?!"

The main reason why the newly radiant radiance made these obviously unacceptable demands was... Ornn hadn't hit her in a long time.

No, no! She's fighting for legitimate rest time for the members of Dolan's team!

Based on past experience, Ornn will definitely not agree to these demands. After some bargaining, he will likely only be able to retain the two reasonable requests: not training today and having dinner.

But Ornn's answer made the newly radiant brilliance wonder if she had been under an illusion.

"Sure, do whatever you want."

The newly radiant girl was stunned. She looked up at her trainer and asked, "This time you're not going to try to fool me like last time, are you?"

Orn laughed and said, "No, because I originally planned to bring this as a reward for you."

"You can rest today and tomorrow, but starting the day after tomorrow, you'll need to resume your normal training schedule, okay?"

After saying this, Orn went to settle his fishing score with the guard on the nearby boardwalk. After all, if he wanted to take these fish away, he would need to do some simple processing.

Shining brightly, she sat dejectedly on the bench. She pinched the back of her hand, then raised it and slapped herself.

"Am I really not dreaming? Could it be a miracle?"

Ornn walked back under the parasol, looked at the brand-new Radiance with disbelief, and suddenly said, "Radiance, what do you think is a 'miracle'?"

Little Deer Hair looked up at Orn and said, "This is a miracle! You always said that life is about movement, and movement is rest, but now you're letting us rest first? Isn't that a miracle?!"

Aldan Meguro, standing to the side, chuckled and said, "I think that's not what Mr. Orn meant. What he really wanted to ask was, what is the definition of a 'miracle' for each individual, right?"

Orn nodded and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I meant."

"Is that so..."

Shining with her arms crossed, she looked up at the sky and said, "I think... being able to become a racehorse girl is the greatest miracle of all..."

"What about Oguri and the march? What do you think a miracle is?"

Little Chestnut Hat quietly tossed the fish from her bucket into the brand-new, gleaming bucket. After watching the caretaker take the bucket away, she replied, "Being able to eat my fill is a miracle."

Fujimasa shrugged, looked at Orn, and said softly, "I think it's the biggest miracle that we could meet such an oddball as Orn in Kasamatsu Tressen."

Meguro Ardan chuckled, "Hehe, me too. Joining Dolan's squad is a miracle in my eyes."

"And what about you, Mr. Orn? What do you consider to be a 'miracle'?"

Orn turned his head to look at the bird observation post not far away, then back at the calm lake, and finally fixed his gaze on the faces of the four horse girls in front of him.

"Right now, it is a miracle."

Shining Bright blinked, his eyes slightly dazed, while Fujimasa March rolled his eyes.

Ardan Meguro nodded thoughtfully, while Oguri looked at him with innocent eyes and nodded as well.

Yes, every day is a miracle.

After uttering this strange remark, Orn turned and walked towards the entrance of the plank road.

He picked up the fresh fish that the uncle had prepared and waved to the Dolan team members who were still standing there in a daze, saying, "Let's go! Aren't you all hungry? It's time for lunch!"