Horse Girl, Your Friend is Fighting Her Way Out of the Horse Racing Track

She clenched her hands with some worry.

The opera singer, who had been watching the performance from the window, quietly put away her exaggerated manner, crossed her arms, and stopped giving long speeches.

The girl's purple eyes narrowed slightly as she quietly gazed at the slender figure on the hospital bed.

"I see..."

The words of poetry and wine extinguished the passion in the eyes of Aeneas.

Her hand, which had been hovering in mid-air, trembled slightly before she slowly withdrew it, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

Narita opened her mouth, wanting to say something to ease the suffocating tension, but before she could utter a sound—

"Click".

The doorknob of the infirmary was turned from the outside.

Immediately afterwards, with a crisp "snap," a folding fan snapped shut in mid-air.

"Watch!"

A clear and loud voice broke the deathly silence in the room without warning.

Everyone instinctively turned their heads.

The newcomer was petite, dressed in an exquisitely tailored blue and white dress, with white socks and leather shoes on her feet.

She had striking long orange hair, with her sideburns deliberately cut asymmetrically, interspersed with a few strands of white highlights.

She was wearing a blue and white top hat—with a cow-colored kitten yawning on it.

It's Akikawa Yayoi, the chairperson of the board of directors of Treson Academy.

"Chairman?"

Naritaji and Ennis Fuujin both exclaimed in surprise, and even the opera singer who had been watching the show from the side bowed slightly and toned down his flamboyant posture.

Ignoring the students' surprise, Akikawa Yayoi walked confidently straight to the bedside.

Through the shadow of the hat brim, his deep blue eyes met directly into the wary black eyes of Poetry and Wine.

"So you were the lost horse girl who caused quite a commotion last night."

Akikawa Yayoi leaned down slightly and got closer to observe.

The cow-and-cow cat on the top hat flicked its tail in dissatisfaction at its owner's action.

Poetry and Wine did not flinch, but looked at the school's chairman, who looked like a little girl but had an unusually strong aura, with some doubt.

After a few seconds of silent eye contact.

Akikawa Yayoi suddenly grinned, revealing her canine teeth.

"A very interesting look in your eyes."

She tapped the folding fan in her hand against the palm of her other hand, making a tapping sound.

"Although his body was so weak that it seemed as if a gust of wind could blow him over, beneath this frail skin lay a rather dangerous flame that had not yet been completely extinguished."

As the chairperson who has discovered countless top racehorse girls, Akikawa Yayoi's intuition is frighteningly sharp.

She saw in poetry and wine the qualities of an absolute powerhouse.

Even now, down on his luck and undocumented, too weak to even get out of bed, his unique talent cannot be completely concealed.

"decision!"

Akikawa Yayoi straightened up and suddenly pointed her folding fan at poetry and wine.

A smile appeared on her face, and then she announced her decision without any hesitation.

"Since you don't want to owe anyone personal sympathy, and feel that it's a burden, then let's make a deal."

Poetry and Wine squinted slightly, somewhat unsure of Chairman Akikawa's plans.

"trade?"

"Yes."

Akikawa Yayoi waved the fan in her hand, then spoke in a serious tone.

"All your medical expenses, as well as your food expenses during your recovery period, will be temporarily covered by the academy. In addition, I will also allocate an empty room in the dormitory for you as a temporary place to stay."

Upon hearing this, Ennis Fuujin and Narita both breathed a sigh of relief.

Even Narita Jiro's face showed a hint of surprise.

"but--!"

Akikawa Yayoi abruptly changed the subject, her folding fan suddenly unfolding to cover half her face, revealing only a pair of gleaming blue eyes.

"There's no such thing as a free lunch, and Treson Academy isn't some kind of welfare institution. In exchange, once your body has recovered enough to get out of bed and run around, you must undergo the academy's aptitude test!"

"If your talent and legs are enough to prove your worth, you can officially stay at Central Treson Academy and use your future competition prize money to pay off this debt."

"If you don't have enough talent..."

Chairwoman Akikawa's voice turned cold as she spoke in a deliberately indifferent tone.

"Then I'll transfer you to the local Treson Academy. The competition there is relatively less intense, and it'll be enough for you to achieve results and support yourself."

The room fell silent again.

Poetry and Wine listened quietly to these words, and their shoulders, which had been tense from being on guard, relaxed considerably.

'I see.'

Looking at the generous chairman in front of her, she felt a long-lost sense of approval.

As expected of the person in charge of Central Teresa. Sharp insight and decisive methods.

The last person she admired so much was Chairman Rudolf.

Chairman Akikawa is now proposing a contract that is essentially free of charge and even beneficial to poetry and wine.

The contract she least rejects is one of equivalent exchange.

"..."

The black-haired girl on the hospital bed lowered her eyes and remained silent for a moment.

Then, she released her palm, which had been pinched red by her fingernails, and the icy look in her black eyes melted a little.

Poetry and wine offered a much calmer answer than before.

"make a deal."

Upon hearing this answer, Akikawa Yayoi nodded in satisfaction.

She didn't say anything more, but a hint of appreciation flashed in her blue eyes.

"wise!"

The chairman turned around and looked at the three racehorse girls who were still a little stunned.

"Alright, visiting time is over! If I remember correctly, the bell for the higher and elementary classes will ring soon."

"Let's get ready to run to the teaching building."

"Or are you trying to leave a belated entry in my inspection record?"

These words instantly brought the three people by the hospital bed back to their senses.

"Huh? It's already this late?!"

Narita hurriedly glanced at the wall clock, and the golden ears on his head stood up in alarm.

She hurriedly stood up, packed up the thermos she had brought, and turned to look at the poetry and wine on the hospital bed.

The girl's purple-gold eyes were still filled with worry, but with the chairman present, she could only swallow back her words.

"Um... I'll leave the porridge thermos here for now, and I'll come see you again later. Please make sure you get some rest."

Ennis, the Wind God, stood to the side, watching the black-haired girl who was wrapped tightly in the blanket, and his lips moved slightly.

P.S.: I've finished writing the support card short story from the previous volume. You can check it out in chapter 249 when you have time.

Main character: Conversation in Chapter 261

Poetry and Wine's somewhat cold-hearted words just now did indeed sting Aeneas's heart.

But seeing the other party's weak appearance, where even breathing seemed difficult, Aeneas sighed and forced down his disappointment.

"Remember to eat the rice balls on the table."

Ennis, the Wind God, had lost his earlier vigor and sounded somewhat muffled.

She glanced helplessly at the poetry and wine, then pointed to the tuna rice ball on the bedside table that had been squeezed and was slightly deformed.

"You won't get better if you don't eat."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the door, somewhat annoyed.

"Oh, the end of the first act is always accompanied by haste and reluctance."

"Well then, my dear Amina, I look forward to the opportunity to see you perform on the future stage, Adieu."

The opera singer gave an extremely flamboyant curtain call, then tossed his cape and followed the two out of the infirmary.

As the door to the infirmary was gently closed, the noisy atmosphere inside was also taken away.

Akikawa Yayoi stood by the bed, took out a bank card with the Treson Academy logo from the pocket of her dress, and gently placed it next to the rice ball on the bedside table.

"subsidy!"

The chairman pulled down the brim of his hat, and the cow cat on his head meowed in agreement.

"The password is the academy's founding date. It contains an advance payment for your basic living expenses and nutrition during your recovery period."

"It's not much, but it's enough for you to get through this period of weakness. As for the key to the empty dormitory, I'll have Miss Junchuan bring it to you later."

Akikawa Yayoi took a deep look at the black-haired girl on the hospital bed, then gently shook the folding fan in her hand.

"Get some rest, and don't let me down."

With the crisp sound of leather shoes clicking on the wooden floor, Chairman Akikawa left the infirmary.

"Click".

The door lock was fully engaged.

A deathly silence fell over the infirmary.

A gentle breeze occasionally rustled the curtains outside the window, and the smell of disinfectant in the air became increasingly distinct.

Poetry and wine remained stiffly in their original positions inside the quilt for a long time, until they were sure there were no more footsteps outside the door.

She slowly relaxed her tense shoulders.

As if all the bones in her body had been removed, she sank helplessly into the soft bed.

The black horse ears drooped limply on either side of its head, and the heartbeat that had been racing from forcibly bracing itself gradually calmed down.

A wave of exhaustion swept over the black-haired girl, penetrating to her very bones.

She slowly stretched her pale hand out from under the covers.

Her fair fingertips were still trembling slightly from exhaustion. She stepped over the crumpled rice ball and picked up the bank card left by Chairman Akikawa.

The edges of the plastic card were a bit rough to the touch.

But this is what poetry and wine need most right now.

There's no need to respond to anyone's expectations, no need to bear anyone's sacrifices; having the ability to repay is enough.

This made her feel much more at ease than other people's fleeting or expensive concern.

'...'

What am I doing…?

Poetry and Wine stared at the pristine white ceiling, their dark pupils gradually losing focus and becoming somewhat vacant.

She successfully gained a chance to catch her breath in this unfamiliar world.

They no longer have to live on the streets, nor will they have to continue getting soaked in the rain; they even have the possibility of returning to the racetrack.