Tokai Teio ultimately joined Mizuno's so-called "Plant Growth Research Team," though counting Mizuno himself, the group totaled only two members…

In truth, Mizuno had initially refused Teio's participation.

But Teio had only given Mizuno two options—either she joined him planting flowers, or she'd go investigate the mysterious masked man's whereabouts herself.

Which option to choose didn't even need to be asked…

After all, dodging an open arrow is easy; avoiding a hidden one is far harder. Mizuno certainly didn't want Teio secretly approaching him one day, whispering, "Trainer, you wouldn't want others finding out you're actually the mysterious man, right?"

If that happened, even if Mizuno didn't want to enter Teio's basement, he'd obediently climb down himself.

That scenario is absolutely unacceptable!

"Trainer?" Tokai Teio's voice snapped Mizuno out of his dreadful imagination. A cute little face peeked out from behind him.

"Trainer, I've buried all the seeds. What's next?" Wearing a white tank top, Tokai Teio beamed brightly at him.

Her clothes were already damp with sweat, turning slightly transparent, and dirt stuck to her everywhere. But she didn't seem bothered at all; rather, she looked excited, tugging Mizuno's sleeve and eagerly awaiting his next instruction.

"So fast?!" Mizuno was startled, quickly looking toward the plastic-covered field.

Just as Teio had said, yesterday's sunflower experiments had been cleared away, the ground freshly seeded.

Teio's efficiency was unbelievable. If Mizuno had done it alone, he'd have taken at least another hour.

"Next, please set up the drip tubes at each planting spot." Using all his strength, Mizuno lifted a stack of nutrient drip devices he'd recently developed and handed them to Teio.

"Roger!" Teio easily took the equipment with just one hand, skipping happily back toward the plastic greenhouse.

Mizuno couldn't help but sigh.

An Uma's stamina and strength really were incredible. Unlike himself—a normal human—who collapsed after just digging a quarter of the field and needed a long rest to recover, Teio's efficiency was worlds apart.

Mizuno recalled a surprising historical fact he'd stumbled upon online: this world had once truly relied on Uma for farming and humans for weaving. A single Uma could do the work of a dozen people. This meant that even during turbulent times, food production had never once been a problem.

But conversely, the husbands of those Uma suffered miserably, because they also had to handle the equivalent workload of more than ten people…in other aspects.

"How tragic…"

Just hearing the description, Mizuno could vividly imagine the nightly hell those Uma husbands must endure.

Thankfully, he'd long ago sworn he'd never marry an Uma…

"Trainer!"

"What is it?" Hearing Teio call out again, Mizuno turned his head in shock.

Had she finished setting up all the equipment already?! It hadn't even been a minute yet!

"Nope." Teio shook her head apologetically.

"This equipment's too advanced—I don't know how to install it… Sorry…" She lowered her head, hands behind her back, looking as if she'd committed some grave mistake.

"No, it's my fault…" Mizuno scratched his head.

He'd completely forgotten these drip devices were his own invention, a brand-new design he'd never shown Teio how to use. Of course she wouldn't understand.

"Let me demonstrate a few times." Mizuno stood up, leading Teio toward the experimental field.

The two knelt beside a planting spot. Mizuno picked up a drip device and carefully explained step-by-step how to set it up and use it.

But while Mizuno was earnestly demonstrating, Teio's eyes kept fixating on the side of his face instead.

"Hehe, Trainer's so handsome."

"Huh?" Mizuno's head filled with question marks.

My face isn't even visible—how are you telling I'm handsome?

"Hehe~" Teio rested her chin in her hands, smiling meaningfully.

Finding someone handsome isn't only about their face.

If someone willingly pours their entire heart and soul into quietly helping others in a hidden place—even if you'd never seen their real face, even if that person's true appearance was horribly ugly—he'd still feel unbelievably handsome!

Just like love: good looks might get attention, but it was character that guaranteed long-lasting affection.

"Trainer, I didn't see clearly. Could you teach me again?" Teio, apparently not satisfied yet, asked Mizuno to demonstrate once more.

Mizuno: "…"

...

Having finished her morning Student Council duties, Symboli Rudolf returned to her dorm room, shoulder bag slung over her arm.

She smoothly placed her bag onto the sofa, washed her hands in the bathroom, then sat gracefully at the dining table, preparing to eat.

But the dining table was empty—not a single dish in sight.

Symboli Rudolf blinked, momentarily puzzled, sensing something off but unable to place it. She stood again, deciding to prepare lunch herself.

After finishing her meal, Rudolf sat on the sofa in the main room, retrieving documents from her bag to review.

Yet, before even starting to read, Rudolf's attention was suddenly captured by an office chair across from her desk. She stared fixedly, unable to look away, as if she usually glanced toward it from time to time.

Coming back to herself, Rudolf startled slightly, abruptly losing all motivation to work. She returned directly to her bedroom, threw herself onto the bed, and began deep contemplation.

These past few days, she'd felt a vague unease she couldn't quite explain—an emptiness in this large dormitory room, as if something important were missing.

More precisely, she'd forgotten entirely why she'd chosen to live here, in the male trainers' dormitory.

There were two pillows on the bed: one beneath Rudolf's head, the other hugged closely to her chest, flipped back and forth repeatedly.

Rudolf gazed at the pillow in her arms. The missing something felt just like this pillow—often easily overlooked, but its absence was distinctly uncomfortable.

What exactly was it?

Rudolf thought deeply, yet no matter how she tried, she couldn't figure it out.

Frustrated, she suddenly sat up, tossing the pillow aside, then decisively straddled it.

The familiar posture gradually unlocked memories deep within her mind, and slowly, the pillow beneath her transformed into another shape entirely.

It became a person—a person who, like the pillow, hid everything within himself, yet silently worked hard, giving everything he had for others.

Only now did Rudolf finally realize exactly what she'd been missing.

"It's Trainer Mizuno!"