The afternoon quickly passed, and as twilight settled in, it was time to wrap up the day's training.

"Running was so much fun~!" Urara and the other Uma Musume returned to the edge of the track, drenched in sweat but smiling happily.

Mizuno handed out clean towels and water bottles as usual, then instinctively turned toward Urara, gently wiping away her sweat himself.

However, starting from yesterday, there was now someone else he'd have to get used to drying off.

"Onii-sama..." Rice Shower stood beside him holding her towel and water bottle, staring up at him with hopeful eyes.

"..." Mizuno blinked in confusion.

Was she asking him to wipe her sweat too? But why?

Did Rice Shower somehow get the same misunderstanding as Urara—that being his trainee meant he'd personally wipe her down after training?

Mizuno desperately wanted to clarify that Team TAC had no such outrageous tradition.

Yet the thought of having the chance to pat Rice Shower was far too tempting to resist.

"Alright," Mizuno finally agreed, taking Rice Shower's towel and gently dabbing her forehead.

"Thank you..." Rice Shower happily closed her eyes, enjoying her Onii-sama's gentle touch.

"Guu..." Watching this scene, Tokai Teio rubbed her head and shifted uncomfortably, feeling oddly irritated.

After drying Rice Shower off, Mizuno prepared the honey drinks as usual.

"It's time! Finally!" Gold Ship suddenly whipped out a pen and paper from who knows where, ready to take detailed notes.

Ah, right—Gold Ship wanted him to teach her how to make the [S-Grade Honey Drink].

"Watch carefully now," Mizuno reminded her.

"Yep, yep!" Gold Ship nodded intensely, eyes wide open in concentration.

Mizuno swiftly took out the ingredients and began mixing.

About ten seconds later, the first cup of [S-Grade Honey Drink] was ready.

"Ta-da~!" Mizuno presented the first drink to Tokai Teio, the biggest fan of his honey drinks.

"Thank you, Trainer-san~!" Tokai Teio beamed happily as she took the cup.

So Trainer-san really does care about me, huh~?

Teio sipped her drink happily, ears twitching with joy.

"So, did you learn it?" Mizuno turned toward Gold Ship.

But Gold Ship's jaw had practically dropped to the ground, and her notebook remained completely blank.

"That's way too fast!" Gold Ship shouted in disbelief.

Ordinary honey drinks from stores took around a minute to prepare, yet Mizuno-san made a vastly superior [S-Grade Honey Drink] in barely ten seconds.

Was Trainer-san even human? Or was he actually the real alien here?!

"Huh? Was it fast?" Mizuno asked curiously.

It might have indeed been a bit too quick.

"Fine, I'll slow down."

He repeated the process slowly, taking about twenty seconds this time.

"What about now?" He turned again toward Gold Ship, who still had that stunned expression with her jaw hanging open.

"Ah, this…" Gold Ship was speechless.

Slowing down just a bit didn't help at all! She still couldn't keep track of his incredibly swift movements—how was she supposed to learn anything?!

Yep, Trainer-san is definitely the real alien!

"Wait... alien?" Gold Ship's thoughts jumped suddenly.

Indeed, Mizuno-san's body was always completely covered, deliberately concealing his true appearance. It wasn't impossible that he was an alien hiding something beneath those clothes—maybe even extra arms!

Should I knock him out and see for myself sometime…?

"..." Seeing Gold Ship zoning out like that, Mizuno immediately knew she hadn't understood a single step.

"Here, these are my personal notes on the ingredient ratios. You can have them." Mizuno handed Gold Ship the notebook he had used when he first learned how to make the honey drink.

Since he could now easily create the honey drink without notes, giving them to Golshi was a nice gesture to strengthen their newfound friendship.

"Cool," Golshi replied, accepting the notes gratefully.

"Urara, Rice Shower, let's go." Mizuno had some things he needed to privately do with Urara and Rice Shower—special individual attention—so he took the two of them and left first.

After Mizuno had left, Gold Ship leaned quietly toward Mejiro McQueen's ear.

"Hey McQueen, lend me that anti-pervert baton you've got strapped to your butt."

"No way!" McQueen immediately refused, glaring angrily at Golshi.

"Besides..."

"It's at my waist!"

...

Back at the Team TAC training room.

Urara and Rice Shower sat side by side, shoes off, raising their delicate feet.

If anyone ever tries to tell you that Uma Musume's feet become smelly after running, please slap them immediately, because they're intentionally deceiving you.

Such wonderful creatures like Uma Musume could never possibly smell bad—even their sweat-covered feet after running were soft, fragrant, and lovely enough that their foot-washing water could practically be used as rice seasoning.

At the moment, Mizuno knelt down carefully, massaging each girl's feet with one hand.

"Hahaha~ It tickles~ hahaha~!" Urara laughed delightedly, squirming happily.

"Mmm..." Rice Shower blushed deeply, shyly hiding her face behind her fingers and peeking nervously at Mizuno through them.

Indeed, the secret thing Mizuno had planned for Urara and Rice Shower was simply giving them a relaxing foot massage.

If it had been any other Uma Musume, Mizuno would absolutely never massage their feet.

Because, according to the cursed knowledge from those infamous fanfictions, giving Uma Musume a foot massage was considered dangerously stimulating—drastically raising affection levels and directly leading straight to the basement scenario.

However, he had no worries massaging his little angel Urara. He'd gladly learned massage techniques specifically to pamper her.

As for Rice Shower…

How could an older brother type like me possibly refuse to massage Rice Shower's feet?

Massaging tired legs after training could effectively ease muscle fatigue, relax their bodies, and improve tomorrow's training efficiency.

Mizuno had known about these benefits all along. However, before he got the private training room, massaging his Uma Musume publicly would definitely cause trouble—if Tokai Teio and the others saw, they'd insist on joining in, creating a huge headache.

Thus, Mizuno had waited until today to privately massage Urara and Rice Shower's feet inside their new training room, specifically avoiding everyone else's eyes.

After carefully massaging for around ten minutes, Mizuno felt pretty exhausted himself.

He wasn't professionally trained, and without proper technique, his hands quickly grew tired. If he had better knowledge, he'd be far more efficient and less tired afterward.

Mizuno idly wondered if there was perhaps a book that could teach him proper massage techniques.

[Mizuno-dono, I actually happen to have a book on that.]

Really? Let me see it.

[Massage Techniques—from Feet to XX.]

"Ugh, it's him again."

Just from the book's suspicious title, Mizuno already recognized the author—it was definitely that guy who'd written the infamous manual, [From Getting Started as a Trainer! (Basement Ending)].

After finishing up with Urara and Rice Shower's massages, Mizuno finally took out the book and skimmed through it.

The first chapter described various acupuncture points on an Uma Musume's body and the effects of pressing them.

Subsequent chapters covered detailed massage techniques for feet, calves, thighs, waists, backs, arms, and shoulders—each body part described thoroughly with various methods and tricks.

As for the later chapters…

Absolutely not suitable for minors. Definitely not displayable.

You know, I've always been curious—just who exactly is the author of these weird books?

[...]

[Mizuno-dono, some things are better off not knowing.]

...

Don't tell me it's actually me or something…?