Chapter 399 399: Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement [399]
Chapter 399 399: Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement [399]
"What?! Trainer Mizuno has gone missing again?!"
Symboli Rudolf, who was still in the Student Council discussing what sort of bride price… compensation they should give Mizuno, suddenly received news from Tokai Teio that Mizuno had disappeared.
"What happened?!" Symboli Rudolf shot up from her seat at once and urgently asked Tokai Teio for the details over the phone.
"I'm not too sure either…" Tokai Teio's voice carried a hint of tears. She was just as frantic.
According to Tokai Teio, while she had been escorting Mizuno back to the tent in the Flowerbeds to sleep, they had run into Mejiro McQueen blocking the road and harassing him. So Tokai Teio had bravely stepped forward to hold Mejiro McQueen back, letting Mizuno return to the tent alone.
But after she and Mejiro McQueen tussled for ten minutes and she finally managed to drive Mejiro McQueen away, she happily went to the Flowerbeds to look for Mizuno—only to discover, in horror, that he had vanished without a trace!
Tokai Teio was burning with anxiety, so she searched everywhere for Mizuno. As a result, she found several strange clues nearby.
There were no signs of a struggle inside the tent, but the flower-watering faucet outside had not been turned off. Water was still pouring out of the hose, soaking the ground around it.
A trail of wet footprints started from there and stretched all the way to the Flowerbeds entrance. Judging from the size and depth of the footprints, the culprit was probably an Umamusume who had carried Mizuno away directly.
But after the wet trail left the Flowerbeds, it disappeared. The soles of the culprit's soaked shoes must have dried completely, and Tokai Teio's pursuit had been cut off there.
"I see…" Symboli Rudolf shakily hung up the phone, held her chin, and thought calmly for a moment. Then she picked up the phone again and called the manager of the Special Education Base.
"Tell me, is Gold Ship still inside?"
"Yes."
A short while later, the report came back.
"President, Gold Ship is currently still undergoing education at the base. She has behaved well during this period and has not shown any inclination to escape."
"It wasn't Gold Ship?" Symboli Rudolf looked stunned.
If the culprit behind Mizuno's disappearance was not Gold Ship, then who else could it be?
One of the ten Umamusume who had been affected by Uma Mint back then? Or someone close to Mizuno? Had they, like the three of them last night, been unable to hold back and made a move on him?
"What's wrong? Is Trainer Mizuno all right?" Air Groove asked worriedly from beside her.
"Hard to say…" Symboli Rudolf's brows drew tight.
If they did not know who had abducted Mizuno, then his current situation was probably very dangerous.
Though Symboli Rudolf did not particularly like Gold Ship, right now, she would rather Gold Ship had broken out of prison and taken Mizuno than have some other Umamusume be the one responsible.
At least Gold Ship was Mizuno's good brother. She would not endanger Mizuno's life. But other Umamusume were not necessarily the same. With how tempting that man was to Umamusume, it was entirely possible that the culprit would drain him dry in one go!
"Who on earth could it be?" Symboli Rudolf tapped the desk with her finger in distress, unable to figure it out no matter how hard she thought.
In this situation, if they wanted to rescue Trainer Mizuno, it seemed they could only ask that dear little sister of his who could locate him through special means.
"Tell Rice Shower about this…"
...
Meanwhile, in a dark room whose location was currently unknown, though the surroundings were dim, it was just barely possible to recognize it as a kitchen.
The sound of running water came from the sink. A short-haired, princely Umamusume with a gloomy expression had her head lowered as she sharpened the kitchen knife in her hand against a whetstone bit by bit.
"Gwah!"
Mizuno, tied up hand and foot, had been tossed into the corner of the kitchen. Like livestock that had just learned it was about to be slaughtered, he frantically struggled against the ropes binding him.
At the time, he had been happily taking a cold shower outside the tent. Then his vision had suddenly gone black, and a sack had been thrown over him. By the time he could see again, he had already been kidnapped to this place.
And after the culprit Umamusume brought him here, the first thing she did was not strip Mizuno's clothes off and commit indecent acts against him. Instead, she first washed all the pots, bowls, and ladles in the kitchen, then sharpened the kitchen knife, giving off the distinct impression that she was about to make Mizuno the main course of a grand feast.
It scared Mizuno so badly his scalp went numb.
When other Umamusume kidnapped him, they locked him in a basement and interrogated him. How had it turned into sharpening knives in the kitchen with this one? She could not really be planning to eat him as food, could she?!
"Guh…"
The more Mizuno thought about it, the more terrifying it became. Especially when he heard the constant sharpening sounds from the sink, his heart leapt straight into his throat.
Mizuno recognized this princely Umamusume. Fuji Kiseki, the dorm supervisor of Ritto Dormitory.
She had handsome features, brows like slender willow leaves, and bright, water-blue, jewel-like eyes. Against her short black hair, she was like a prince beneath the night sky. A sapphire pendant hung from her right ear, and because of her dashing appearance and reliable attitude toward caring for juniors, she was deeply liked by many young Umamusume. Sometimes, Umamusume even confessed to her.
However, after Fuji Kiseki was affected by Mizuno's Uma Mint, because she could not find out who the mysterious man was, she spent all day lying at the dorm entrance like an old man basking in the sun. Her dorm-management work fell by the wayside too, resulting in many Trainers being dragged into the dorms by their beloved Umamusume to Uma Pyoi with no one there to stop them.
Originally, Mizuno had planned to deal with her problem once he had the time. Who could have known that before Mizuno even came to her, Fuji Kiseki would kidnap him first!
Has my identity been exposed?!
Just as Mizuno was thinking about how exactly he had been exposed, the kitchen door was suddenly kicked open.
BANG!
"Hey! Kiseki! You said you found that guy?!" A wheat-skinned Umamusume withdrew her foot and hurried into the dim kitchen, anxiously asking Fuji Kiseki, who was still sharpening the knife by the sink.
"Huh?!" Mizuno's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the Umamusume who had burst in.
Because the newcomer was none other than the dorm supervisor of the academy's other Umamusume dormitory, Miho Dormitory: Hishi Amazon!
Unlike the refined elegance of the princely Fuji Kiseki, Hishi Amazon was more like a wild beast living in the jungle.
Her gray-blue hair poured down to her calves. Her wheat-colored skin paired with her blue-and-white school uniform gave off an inexplicably alluring air. Her left ear was covered by a red-and-black ear cover, and her orange-red eyes, along with the small fang visible in her mouth, all displayed her aggression.
But despite Hishi Amazon's rough-and-ready air, as if she were some hot-blooded idiot who did not understand anything, her cooking was actually excellent. She was also very attentive toward her juniors and, like Fuji Kiseki, was sincerely respected and loved by many of them.
Whenever the academy held selection races, or during a team's daily training, everyone liked using a standee of Hishi Amazon as the finish line. Perhaps that was part of the reason.
Mizuno did not know much about Hishi Amazon's later situation. He only knew that after she was affected by Uma Mint, she never appeared in public again. So why was she here now too?!
"There. He's over there." Fuji Kiseki pointed at Mizuno in the corner with the kitchen knife.
"Him?" Hishi Amazon strode over to Mizuno, bent down, and looked him up and down. Dressed like a black plastic bag, Mizuno did not look anything like the mysterious man in her memories no matter how she looked at him.
"You'll know once you pull off his hood."
"Got it!" Hishi Amazon followed Fuji Kiseki's suggestion and pulled back Mizuno's hood.
The moment she did, Hishi Amazon's entire body shook.
The face in her memory entered her eyes. The familiar scent brushed past the tip of her nose. Hishi Amazon's memories surged, and in an instant, she recognized that the person before her was the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared in front of the statue of the Three Goddesses back then.
"Hah! So it really is you!" Coming back to herself, Hishi Amazon shoved Mizuno into the corner with one hand, pinned his waist between her legs, and showed a delighted expression. "I've been looking for you for so long! Now I've finally caught you!"
"Guh!"
Unable to resist, Mizuno was directly straddled by Amazon across his stomach. Her scorching breath hit his face like steam, making him feel as if he had been hunted down by a starving beast.
Mizuno swallowed nervously, mustered his courage, and asked a question.
"May I ask… why did you tie me up and bring me here?"
"Why?" Hishi Amazon narrowed her eyes, revealing the small fang in her mouth.
"To make you disappear from this world forever, of course!"
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T/N: HUUUUUUUUUUUUUH
stjorthotic