While the principal of Kasamatsu was throwing himself into the anime project, a silent wave of support was quietly unfolding along the shopping street around Tracen Academy in Tokyo. From cafés and dessert shops to bookstores, stationery stores, and even the entrances of several elegant clothing boutiques, brand-new Oguri Cap character standees had been neatly set out. On the standees, Oguri Cap was shown either brimming with fighting spirit or smiling with guileless honesty, her image strikingly vivid beneath the sunlight.
At the lower right corner of every standee was the same unobtrusive mark—the emblem of an enterprise under Belno Light.
"This... should be eye-catching enough, right?"
At the corner of the street, Belno Light stood in front of her largest dessert shop, carefully studying the newly placed standee.
She reached out and gently brushed away a thread of dust so faint it was almost invisible from the standee's edge. Oguri Cap's figure was reflected in her eyes, but her gaze was complicated.
Her commercial reach had already successfully extended to most of the high-quality shops around Tracen Academy. Through partnerships, acquisitions, and brand licensing, she had made almost every store in this bustling area bear the mark of the Belno family.
Answering Sakuraba-san's call and having these shops all promote Oguri Cap at the same time was not difficult for her.
Overnight, Oguri Cap's image had sprung up like mushrooms after rain in every corner of this famous shopping street.
And yet, standing at the crowded street entrance, watching passersby occasionally stop to look at the standees, Belno Light furrowed her brow slightly.
"Not enough... It's nowhere near enough."
She murmured to herself, her fingers unconsciously winding around a slightly curled lock of her hair.
Sakuraba-san's goal was a "world-class idol."
And all she had done was extend that influence across the shopping street beside the academy.
Compared with all of Tokyo, with Japan, with the wider world beyond, this reach was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
The shops near Tracen Academy... in the end, their customers were mostly academy-related personnel, Umamusume fans, or nearby residents. Their influence had boundaries.
She wanted to do more.
Not merely superficial support like setting out standees.
She wanted to mobilize every commercial resource she had and build a broader, sturdier stage for Oguri Cap.
For example, she could contact overseas distributors and push official merchandise bearing Oguri Cap's image into the international market.
Or she could sponsor international sporting or cultural events, letting Oguri Cap's image appear on a world-class stage. Or perhaps...
Countless ideas spun and collided at high speed inside her shrewd mind, then were swiftly evaluated for feasibility.
But every proposal only made her more clearly aware of the limits of her current strength.
Her business empire had begun to take shape, and around Tracen Academy, it could already be called a power in its own right. But once placed on the scale of the world, it still seemed immature.
Funding, multinational channels, international influence...
None of these could be built overnight.
A rare agitation surged in her heart, mixed with unwillingness and a powerful desire.
"I have to grow faster."
She clenched her fist, her nails pressing lightly into her palm.
Not to surpass anyone, but so that when someone important needed her, she could truly be of help.
So that she could live up to Sakuraba-san's grand vision. And so that, like Oguri Cap on the racetrack, she could run farther in the field she excelled at and reach higher goals.
She took one last look at the Oguri Cap standee glittering in the sunlight, then turned and entered the dessert shop.
The interior was warm and bright, and the exquisite pastries inside the glass display case looked mouthwatering.
She walked behind the counter, opened the slim notebook she carried with her, and the screen lit up to reveal complex data charts and a to-do list.
"First, reevaluate the overseas expansion plan. Raise its priority to the highest level."
She spoke softly, her fingertips flying across the keyboard.
"Second, make contact with agencies experienced in sponsoring international events... As for the sponsorship name, let's sponsor it under Sakuraba-san's name. Sakuraba-san probably won't mind..."
Her eyes turned sharp and focused. The extraordinary drive unique to an Umamusume made her work at astonishing speed.
A clear blueprint gradually took shape in her mind.
...
While Belno Light was concentrating in the dessert shop on the shopping street, sketching out her blueprint for international expansion, Sakuraba Ryo was strolling alone down the broad, tree-lined path of Tracen Academy, his brows tightly knit. What circled through his mind, however, was another "plan" that ran in the complete opposite direction.
"Standees, promotion... Belno really moves fast."
Of course, Sakuraba had noticed the changes taking place on the shopping street.
And because of that, he felt a faint sense of crisis.
"At this rate, there's no way Oguri Cap's fame won't rise. But the bigger her fame gets, the higher her future commercial value becomes, and then the income will..."
"I need to expand Oguri's fame while making sure the speed of spending money is always faster than the speed of earning it. Much faster."
Sakuraba stroked his chin, his gaze gradually drifting into the distance.
"Anime production is only the first step, and a necessary investment at that... I need to find some pretext to burn even more money in a reasonable way..."
Hire paid posters to spam Oguri's name across major forums?
No, that would only bring her infamy. It would be bad for Oguri's development.
Then maybe find a brand to inject capital into, and slap Oguri Cap's face on it...?
Just then, a familiar voice sounded beside Sakuraba's ear.
"Sakuraba-san, good afternoon."
Sakuraba came back to himself and looked toward the voice.
Beside the path, under a ginkgo tree, Tazuna Hayakawa stood quietly in place. Her well-tailored dark green office-lady suit made her figure look upright and composed, and she held a light brown folder in her arms. Her face bore its usual calm, faint smile, and her eyes looked especially clear beneath the sunlight filtering through the shadows of the leaves.
Looking at Tazuna Hayakawa's gentle, composed figure, something suddenly stirred in Sakuraba's mind.
This assistant secretary, who always moved quietly through every corner of the academy and kept all affairs in perfect order—her opinion ought to be quite incisive.
"Hayakawa-san, good afternoon."
Sakuraba stopped and looked toward Tazuna Hayakawa beneath the ginkgo tree. After a moment of hesitation, he asked,
"Hayakawa-san, if you wanted to make an Umamusume athlete's fame grow rapidly in a short amount of time... what do you think would be the most direct method?"
Tazuna Hayakawa paused slightly, as if she had not expected Sakuraba to ask such a question.
She tilted her head a little. Her gaze remained gentle, but a hint of faint confusion surfaced in it—after all, Sakuraba usually paid more attention to business and publicity than race strategy. Still, she did not ask further. After a brief moment of thought, she answered without hesitation.
"An Umamusume is, first and foremost, an athlete. At the foundation of their world are races. The more they win, the more attention they naturally receive—that is the purest and most direct path."
She lightly brushed her fingers over the folder in her hands, her voice steady and clear.
"If Sakuraba-san hopes for a certain Umamusume's popularity to rise quickly, then the best method is to have her keep winning. Victory draws attention, and it builds prestige. That is an unchanging truth in the world of competition."
As Sakuraba listened, his eyes gradually lit up.
Right. That logic was absolutely correct!
Sentiment, story, character appeal—none of that changed the fact that in the world of competition, winning was what mattered.
Every fan was a meta slave deep down.
What everyone chased would always be the victor shining on the racetrack.
In that case...
What if he could move the concept of "strength" from the real racetrack to somewhere else?
In reality, he certainly did not dare let Oguri Cap keep winning—that would only bring in more income, running completely counter to his loss-making plan.
But what about in a game?
Design an Umamusume-themed game, make Oguri Cap absurdly strong in that game, and turn her into the definitive meta pick...
Then the players chasing strength would naturally start paying attention to her, wouldn't they?
Then he could make the game a free-to-start gacha game and set up an obnoxious banner.
Because of the strength of the character in the banner, the people playing the game would have no choice but to learn about that character's backstory.
But because the banner was so obnoxious, most players basically would not choose to pull.
Wouldn't that let him promote Oguri Cap as hard as possible without making money?
The corners of Sakuraba's mouth rose unconsciously.
He could not let her win too much in real races, but in a game, he could let her win without the slightest burden.
Wasn't this exactly the perfect path he wanted—fame rising without directly monetizing it?
"I see... I understand now."
"Thank you, Hayakawa-san. You've done me a huge favor."
"You're practically kami!"
Sakuraba clasped both of Tazuna Hayakawa's hands in his own, his face full of excitement.
When Sakuraba suddenly took her hands, Tazuna Hayakawa froze slightly, and a faint blush rose across her cheeks before she realized it.
She did not immediately pull her hands back. She only blinked in some confusion.
What she had said just now was nothing more than the most basic, most self-evident truth in the world of Umamusume. How had that made Sakuraba so excited that he would even call her kami?
Tazuna Hayakawa merely lowered her head a little, her voice still gentle.
"You give me too much credit, Sakuraba-san. I'm glad I could be of help."
Only then did Sakuraba let go of her hands and take half a step back, waving at her with a brilliant smile.
"Anyway, thank you so much! I'll definitely treat you to a meal next time! I need to go put this idea into motion right now—"
Before he even finished speaking, he had already turned and strode briskly toward the academy gates. His retreating back looked light and eager, as if he might break into a run at any moment.
Tazuna Hayakawa stood where she was, gently curling the fingers he had held moments ago. A trace of warmth still lingered on her fingertips.
She watched the direction in which Sakuraba had disappeared, then lightly shook her head, though the corners of her lips curved upward before she knew it.
This investor really was always in such a hurry.
Come to think of it... that attractive feeling about Sakuraba-san seemed even stronger than when they had first met...
She raised a hand, her fingertips unconsciously brushing her cheek, where a little of the heat had yet to fade.
Then she softly drew in a breath, hugged the folder properly to herself once more, and turned to walk in another direction.
Her steps remained as steady and composed as ever. Only she herself knew that, in some unknown corner of her heart, something was faintly itching.
---
T/N: GULP
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