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

That was my first time participating in a G3 tournament, standing behind the first and second place players on the winners' stage.

Even if I comfort myself with the excuse that "it's just an ordinary horse girl," even if I justify myself with the reason that "third place is still pretty good," even if I numb myself with the thought that "the opponents were too strong, there's nothing I can do about it,"

Deep down, within her own heart—the heart of a woman with exceptional qualities—she still casts a longing gaze toward that one and only position.

'Ah... I really do want to get first place...'

'But perhaps there won't be a chance. After all, an ordinary horse girl will perish in an ordinary car accident. I just hope the final moments won't be too painful, since I've never even been in a relationship...'

Caught in a jumble of thoughts, Excellent Quality didn't fight back, leaping to the side of the road, nor did it roll to avoid being scraped by the flatbed truck, nor did it suddenly have an epiphany and use its red skill to stop the flatbed truck.

She chose to... close her eyes!

The young man in the driver's seat: "..."

But the expected impact didn't come. Instead, she felt a strong hand lift her up from her knees and throw her into the air like a French baguette.

Immediately afterward, she felt a second and a third hand grab her waist and thigh respectively. Her excellent physique caused her to abruptly open her eyes, only to find herself being held in the arms of a wild-haired pony, her legs supported by another pony with light blue hair, and beneath her pressed a deer-haired pony, who seemed to be groaning in pain.

Before she could even catch her breath, the third impact came. Her excellent qualities, which she had just managed to get on the bus, were once again thrown out by the powerful inertia. She flew off the three people on the bus and landed safely as the 103rd customer to enter the fruit stand!

The fruit stand owner, Yoshino, glanced at the bewildered young man sitting on the ground, squatted down, held up one finger with his left hand and two fingers with his right, and said, "Hey! Little Nechika, are you still awake?"

"Look! What's one plus two?"

The red-haired girl with a ponytail thought for a moment and replied, "Um... three?"

Yoshino nodded, reached out and helped You Yushou up, then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Looks like you weren't seriously hurt. Are they your friends?"

As he spoke, he looked up at Orn, who was getting out of the car, and shook his head with a smile, saying, "Even though the horse girls are tough and resilient, we can't take them on these kinds of big drifts!"

Orn scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. He first glared fiercely at the newly gleaming light that was whistling and shrinking behind Megumi Ardan, before saying to the shopkeeper, "Haha, I know! I know! There were some unexpected events this time! This dangerous situation will definitely not happen again next time!"

Yoshino, a cigarette dangling from his lips, sized up the young man before him and suddenly asked, "Hey! This gentleman has striking features and a clear, unassuming appearance; he seems unfamiliar. Could he be a new trainer?"

"Yes, I only transferred my household registration from the local area to the central government a month ago."

Orn helped the little chestnut hat and the whistling music, who were still sitting on the ground, to their feet. He asked, "Shopkeeper, I just heard you say something about 100 people, 101 people. Are you having some kind of promotion?"

Yoshino smiled and said, "I am indeed having a promotion here. The 100th customer in our store today will receive a free cantaloupe from me."

"Look, it's the one displayed in front of the shop, isn't it big!"

The brand-new, radiant ears twitched, and she popped out from behind Aldan, calling out to the shopkeeper, "Boss! Boss! I'm the 100th one!!"

"So, I can take this back with me!?"

Yoshino laughed and nodded, "Of course, you can definitely take this back with you!"

Upon hearing this, the newly radiant figure immediately rubbed her hands together and moved closer to the cantaloupe, but before she could even touch it, Orn grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up.

"Ouch!! What are you doing, my benefactor!! Ouch~~~"

Ornn raised an eyebrow at the still-recovering red-haired girl beside him and sneered, "Radiance, you've done something so dangerous, dragging others into this chaos. Do you think you can just stay out of it?!"

"Go!! Apologize to her!!"

Her once bright and shiny ears drooped down. Although she was becoming increasingly mischievous, she still had self-awareness when it came to matters of principle.

She was grabbed by the back of her collar and brought before the girl by Orn.

"Um... I'm sorry, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been in danger just now,"

Excellent quality quickly waved his hand and said, "Ah, actually I also had a problem! If I had been able to avoid it in time, you wouldn't have had to worry!"

Ornn placed the newly gleaming light on the ground and sincerely said to the girl, "I'm sorry for getting you involved in the chaos just now. As an apology, I'll give you that cantaloupe."

The newly emerged radiance was about to say something, but remembering that he was the culprit behind this chaos, he immediately lost his confidence.

The woman with excellent qualities looked at Orn in surprise, and quickly waved her hands, saying, "No, no, no, I wasn't injured at all. This gift is too valuable! I can't accept it!"

Orn waved his hand firmly and said, "Hey, don't be so polite. If we hadn't run into you, you would have been the 100th lucky customer! What we're doing now is just returning the item to its rightful owner!"

"You're right, aren't you, boss!"

Yoshino was taken aback by what he heard, but he could roughly guess what had happened from the conversation between the five people in front of him. Moreover, from his own perspective, he naturally still wanted to give the cantaloupe to Konachi.

So the shopkeeper laughed and smoothed things over, saying, "Haha, since this gentleman is so kind, little one, don't refuse, just accept it!"

Orn reached out and picked up the cantaloupe, then handed it to the red-haired girl.

A new radiance suddenly appeared behind him, and she whispered in his ear, "My benefactor! You really don't know the cost of living! Do you know how much a good quality cantaloupe costs these days?! 5000 yen!"

As she spoke, she slammed her right hand angrily onto the table beside her: "5000 yen!! If you paid with coins, that much money wouldn't fit in a car!!"

Orn raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but ask, "So expensive? But I saw Xiaoli eating quite a lot at school, didn't she?"

"Little Chestnut, do you remember how many kinds of fruit you've eaten?"

Little Chestnut Hat rubbed her stomach and thought for a moment, then said with dazed eyes, "Um... I can't remember."

Meguro Ardan, standing to the side, shook his head and explained, "No, while the fruit supply in Central Treson is much more plentiful compared to other academies, the overall quantity is still quite small."

"The central government's fruit supply only became more abundant after various families invested in the company."

"For ordinary vendors, their fruit products are subject to high agricultural product taxes, which ultimately leads to fruit prices rising to an outrageous level."

She looked at Uncle Yoshino and asked, "Boss, am I right?"

Yoshino took one last drag of his cigarette, then threw the butt on the ground and stomped it out.

"Yes, what this young lady said is right. Take watermelons for example. I have an older brother who inherited our mother's farmland near Hokkaido. He's a top student who graduated from the Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences at Shizuoka University! The watermelons he grows are incredibly sweet!"

"But when the agricultural cooperative buys them, they can only pay less than 10% of the market price for his watermelons. Although the agricultural cooperative's publicity made watermelons some kind of so-called noble fruit, in the end, my brother probably won't even get 10%!"

Seemingly having vented his frustrations, Yoshino sighed, then smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Let's not talk about these unfortunate things! Young man, I see you've brought a cart to the shopping street, are you looking to buy something?"

Orn nodded and said, "Yes, we plan to buy some swimwear, sunscreen, and things like that, since the summer training camp is coming up soon."

"If you also have camping gear like tents, that would be even better. Do you have any recommended shops?"

Yoshino glanced at the slightly awkward-looking Yu-Yu beside him, who was holding a cantaloupe, and said, "Haha, I don't really know what kind of clothes young people like these days, but... I do know about Uchi!"

"Eh?"

The shop owner continued, "Since you feel a little uneasy about accepting this cantaloupe, why don't you take this young man and his team to stroll around the shopping street? Consider it a reward for you!"

Orn added, "That's right. We're from the same academy, so why don't we get to know each other?"

"To be honest, I'm also a newcomer who's only been here at the central government for a month. I'm sure I don't know as many of the shops around here as you do. It would be great if we could have a tour guide!"

After hesitating for a moment while holding the melon, Excellent Quality bowed to everyone and said, "I am Excellent Quality from the Higher Division! Well... I hope you will all take good care of me!"

Upon hearing the name, Megumi Ardan thought for a moment and asked, "Excellent qualities... May I ask, is your trainer Ms. Kiryuin?"

With surprise, Eloquence looked at Aldan and replied, "Yes! How did you know?"

"Hehe, I heard Sakura Chiyo and the others mention it before,"

Megumi Ardan stepped forward and introduced herself: "I am Megumi Ardan. This is Trainer Orn, Oguri Hat, Tengzheng March, and Shining Radiance. We are all students in the high school. Nice to meet you."

"Trainer Ornn, where do we go next?"

Ornn snatched the brake lever from the newly revved Glorious's hand and shoved it back onto the tricycle.

"Let's go to the clothing store first. Central Tresson can be quite stingy sometimes. Let's go buy some summer clothes first."

As he pushed the bike, he tested the brakes and said, "We also need to buy summer clothes. We're going to school lightly equipped this time, and we're still short on summer clothes. We can't go there wearing our summer uniforms, can we?"

Teng Zheng lowered her head and tugged at her school uniform. She said, "Actually, it's not that it's not good. This uniform is quite sturdy. It won't tear no matter how you tear it."

Shining Radiance's eyelids twitched, and she whispered, "Let's not. At least let us make some custom designs on it."

"Wearing only school uniforms... would be so tacky!"

Orn finally decided, "Alright, it's 10 a.m. now. Let's go buy the clothes first, then see if there's anything else we need on the way, and then we'll go out for a meal."

"The school food is pretty good, but it gets a bit tiring after a while. I know there's a kiln-roasted chicken restaurant nearby, and their food is really good!"

Oguri wiped her mouth discreetly, then said seriously, "Tuolai, I'll never get tired of the food at school."

"I'll eat it as long as it's available."

Shining Bright rolled his eyes: "Yeah, yeah, I feel like even if you ate only potatoes for three meals a day, you could still enjoy it."

Meguro Ardan smiled wryly and said, "Isn't this a kind of talent?"

"By the way, Necha, how far is the shop you recommended from here?"

With excellent qualities, he estimated the distance while holding the melon and then said, "It's probably still about two kilometers away, right? The shopping street near Central Tressen is quite long, and there's a large supermarket about three kilometers away from us. If we want camping gear, we should be able to find it there."

Orn waved goodbye to the Yoshino shop owner, and after testing the sturdiness of the flatbed cart, he straddled the driver's seat, patted the wooden plank, and said, "Okay, ladies, the Dolan tricycle is now fully inspected. Please board, we'll depart immediately!"

Teng Zheng reached out and touched the cart, then hesitated and asked, "Auen, is this cart really alright?"

"I mean, if Glorious doesn't cause any trouble, there shouldn't be any problem."

Hearing Orn's uncertain words, the newly gleaming lips trembled slightly, as if wanting to say something.

But because she had just been disciplined, she was now like a child who had been scolded by their parents, very obedient and well-behaved.

Looking at the brand-new Radiance quietly shrinking into the corner, Orn couldn't help but sigh. If only she could stay this quiet forever, it would save him the trouble of worrying about her.

Standing beside the vehicle, she hesitated, wondering whether to get on, since the flatbed cart looked quite unreliable.

But when she saw the sign on the tailgate that said the vehicle could carry 9 people, she felt relieved.

Since it can hold nine people, even if I get on the bus now, it will only be five people, which is still a long way from being overloaded!

The red-haired girl boarded the cart carrying a melon, then pulled up the back panel and asked curiously, "Mr. Orn... I saw on this cart that it says it can carry 9 people. Can it really hold that many people?"

To her surprise, Orn, who was driving, seemed unaware of the matter and instead asked in a questioning tone, "Nine people capacity? Where did you see that?"

A sudden sense of unease welled up within her, and she peered again at the number 9 spray-painted on the barrier beside her.

She then discovered that the upper left part of the number 9 on the barrier had actually been repainted with a slightly different paint!

But if you remove the paint, the real number is actually... 3!

"Haha, is it okay if I get off the bus now...?"

Chapter 144 Blacksmithing is a profession that highly values ​​efficiency.

Fortunately, their concerns about the excellent qualities were unnecessary. Without any newfound brilliance causing trouble, the group arrived at the clothing store without any problems.

In Orn's view, the layout of the shops around Central Tressen was actually quite strange.

The shops cover an area that almost forms a large circle around the central Tressen, except that the shops are larger in the southwest and south directions of the center. This is completely different from the distribution of commercial areas in other places.

Just like when he and Xiaoli and the others encountered that street with excellent manners, the street sold not only fruits and snacks, but also many shops selling daily necessities.

Next to the tailor shop was a bicycle repair stall, next to the repair stall was a hardware store, next to the hardware store was a lathe workshop, and next to the lathe workshop was a scrap metal recycling station... This tightly connected and functionally integrated shop layout evokes a unique sense of nostalgia for the 1950s.

As Ornn progresses in the direction guided by excellent qualities, that sense of the past gradually fades, replaced by an increasingly strong modern feel.

Every now and then, you can see neat supermarkets lining both sides of the street. There are not only small convenience stores like Daimaru Supermarket, Iida Supermarket, and 7-Eleven, but also large supermarkets with several floors like Tokyu Supermarket and Inakaya Supermarket. Oren can even see some familiar names on the commercial buildings in the distance through the gaps in the street.

"Ito...Yokado? Ito-Yokado? There's even a Uniqlo and a Seiyu supermarket over there?"

Orn remarked with some surprise, noting that in the month he had been in the Central District, aside from a trip to watch Tamamo Cross's match, he had spent most of his time at school.

He never expected that there would be a bustling commercial street so close to the school. If it weren't for their excellent qualities leading the way, he probably wouldn't have discovered this street even a month later!

"Ah, is Trainer Orn referring to that side?"

With excellent qualities, he looked at the tall buildings not far away and then said, "There was no road directly connecting to the old commercial street before. It was only repaired about a month ago, so it's normal that you didn't know."

"If you wanted to go there before, you had to come out from the East Gate and go around in a big circle. Now you can go directly from the West Gate or the South Gate, which is very convenient!"

Orn smiled and nodded, saying, "Hehe, Necha, you don't need to be so reserved. We in the Dolan Squad don't need to use honorifics in private. Just relax."

"Oh, is that clothing store over there the one you were talking about?"

Excellent Quality cleared his throat and then replied, "Yes, yes, Trainer Orn, I highly recommend this store! I even brought Beautiful Sunday here to buy clothes before, and they are indeed very good quality and inexpensive!"

"Okay, now that we have tour guide certification, let's go buy some summer clothes as our first stop!"

Orn smoothly parked the tricycle in front of the shop, then quickly squatted down by the front wheel and used a hammer from his waist to firmly encircle a D-shaped piece of metal of unknown material into the gap in the steel wire of the front wheel.

After confirming that the tricycle could no longer move, Orn clapped his hands, stood up, and said, "Get off, everyone go and choose three or four sets of clothes."

"March, keep an eye on Oguri and Kōki, especially Kōki. She's been quite influenced by capitalism lately, so don't let her choose those random clothes,"

"Aldan, I won't make any demands of you, but if there's anything you want to buy, then buy it. Don't be stingy."

"Although I certainly can't compare to the Mejiro family, I am still quite wealthy."

"Necha, let me take that melon you're holding. If you have any small items you're interested in, you can take them too, like sunglasses or hats. I can pay for those together as a tip for being your tour guide!"