"Sunday Silence? Isn't she Cafe?"
The crowd murmured amongst themselves. The woman who looked like Cafe had just claimed to be Sunday Silence. What was the meaning behind this dramatic reveal?
"Sunday Silence? That name sounds familiar." Kousei racked her brain, trying to remember where she'd heard it before.
McQueen smiled. "Remember what our team is called?"
Kousei's eyes widened in realization. "Don't tell me!"
Sunday Silence was a member of the original Sirius project. After so many years, she had finally reappeared before the world.
"Impossible! Wasn't she already...?!" Sirius Symboli refused to believe it, but her instincts screamed that Sunday Silence was truly standing on the track.
"So that woman really isn't Cafe?" Narita Brian seethed, lurking in the shadows as she awaited Rudolf's next command.
Rudolf's expression was one of utter shock. Beside her, Air Groove stared, dumbfounded. She had never seen such a look on Rudolf's face. Just who was this competitor calling herself Sunday Silence?
"It feels good to be back on the racetrack," Sunday Silence said, her eyes sweeping over the crowd before locking onto Rudolf.
"Luna... or should I call you 'Emperor'?" Sunday Silence's voice was low, but Rudolf heard every word with perfect clarity.
Rudolf, tense and stunned, remained silent. It was the Central Committee member who broke first.
"She can't be Sunday Silence! You're not Cafe, so why are you impersonating her?!" the Committee member shouted, his composure shattering in a rare public display of fury.
The member's bizarre outburst only deepened the audience's confusion. They didn't know who Sunday Silence was, why Rudolf was acting so strangely, or why the Central Committee was so obsessed with the name "Sunday Silence."
"Impersonating? Sunday Silence has never had reason to hide. Why would I need a disguise? Today, I am both Manhattan Cafe and Sunday Silence." Sunday Silence spoke with an open confidence that left no room for doubt. Then, she sneered. "Hmph. To think that after all these years, Central hasn't improved at all. It's all thanks to you rats who've usurped the rightful place."
Sunday Silence pointed directly at the Central Committee member and, without hesitation, gave him a thumbs-down. The shocking gesture made the crowd gasp in unison.
"Hahaha!" Rudolf and Sirius burst out laughing simultaneously. Unable to hide her delight, Rudolf murmured, "It really is her!"
The Central Committee member's face turned pale, his expression not one of anger from the insult, but of someone who had just seen a ghost—which, in a way, he had.
With her hands in her pockets, Sunday Silence's black coat billowed in the wind. Her face was a mask of arrogant pride. Such brazen defiance only underscored her heroic nature.
Sunday Silence... Rice Shower thought, her mind racing. If she's not Cafe, what should I do?
While everyone else was thrown into chaos by Sunday Silence's appearance, Rice Shower was more concerned about the race itself. This unexpected development had completely disrupted their original strategy. A single glance was enough for Rice Shower to see that Sunday Silence possessed extraordinary talent.
Or rather, Manhattan Cafe herself possessed extraordinary talent. The real question was what kind of racing style Sunday Silence would employ.
"Whatever. I didn't come here for you anyway. Luna, is the verification complete? Manhattan Cafe is right here. Can the race continue now?" Sunday Silence called out to Rudolf.
A smile played on Rudolf's lips as she waved her hand. Narita Brian understood the unspoken command and led her people away, but not before casting a meaningful glance at Sunday Silence.
Though the situation was chaotic, the moment the race was announced to resume, the crowd's attention snapped back to the track. After all, nothing captivated the heart quite like an Umamusume race.
"As expected," Sunday Silence suddenly turned her verbal assault on the other competitors. "Under the leadership of those rats, Central's standards and resolve have sunk to this pathetic level."
The other racers, naturally, couldn't tolerate such condescension.
"Cafe! Don't think winning one Spring Tenno Sho gives you the right to run your mouth! We're G1 winners too! Don't assume we'll lose to you!"
"A G1 competitor is certainly excellent," Sunday Silence retorted with even more bewildering sarcasm. "But do you truly deserve to call yourselves G1 competitors?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know perfectly well what I mean," Sunday Silence retorted, shaking her head repeatedly. "Why are you even competing in this Spring Tenno Sho? Isn't it simply because McQueen isn't here? When McQueen was still active on the track, not a single one of you contemporaries dared to challenge her. You talked about seizing a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'... You are unworthy of the Tenno Sho's honor."
"What do you know?! No one could beat McQueen! We just want to win the Spring Tenno Sho! What's wrong with that?"
"Is that so? Then let me ask you: when you won your G1 races, did you feel genuine joy?"
The other competitors fell silent. Sunday Silence strode forward, her voice pressing down on them. "What's the point of a victory handed to you like charity? As Umamusume racers, you must have witnessed countless moments of triumph. You've seen all sorts of breathtaking victories, seen the pure, heartfelt joy on their faces. Do you really think winning alone is enough to earn that feeling?"
Sunday Silence's relentless barrage of questions left the others speechless. In truth, they had been asking themselves the very same things.
Was victory really enough to satisfy them?
"So, did you come here just to humiliate us?"
An unexpected voice cut through the tension on the track. Sunday Silence turned to see Rice Shower, her eyes blazing with fury.
"If you look down on us so much, why are you even competing in the Spring Tenno Sho?"
"Yes, why indeed?" Sunday Silence tilted her head back, gazing at the bright moon in the sky. "That's precisely why I'm here."
The others watched in confusion as Sunday Silence walked step by step toward the starting gate.
"Come on, Umamusume," she called out. "Let's enjoy this race together."
The long delay was finally over. The Spring Tenno Sho was about to begin. After her shocking declaration, no one could predict what kind of chaos the self-proclaimed Sunday Silence would unleash upon the race.