Chapter 80. Regrettable Discovery
When they landed at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, it was exactly 8:30 PM local time in Paris.
Taking the private car arranged by the hotel he had booked, Shuta An sat in the back seat, idly scrolling through his phone. The moment he opened Line, countless unread messages from Mejiro Dober appeared on the screen.
From initial embarrassment to gradually becoming more openly spoiled, the change in Mejiro Dober's mood was obvious even through text.
"I've arrived in Paris." He typed a reply. "Tomorrow, I'll check the results of your training over the past few days."
The message was marked as read almost instantly.
"I've been training very hard recently!"
"I won't let Ann down!"
"I've trained Dober for several years, and I've never been disappointed in Dober."
After a brief pause, he continued typing.
"Have you gone to Longchamp Racecourse recently to check the track? Have the administrators announced the turf maintenance plan?"
"Yes, the announcement came out today."
Mejiro Dober replied and attached a photo she had taken.
Shuta An opened it and read through the contents.
"I don't know any French at all. I only learned English at the Academy. Living here by myself is really inconvenient. Thankfully the hotel provides Japanese-language service, otherwise it would be even harder."
Mejiro Dober complained while he was reading the announcement.
"That's why I booked the Saint James Paris Hotel for Dober. It has Japanese service and isn't far from Longchamp Racecourse."
This time, the room he had reserved wasn't inside the main hotel building. Instead, it was the Courbet Apartment, a one-bedroom self-catering apartment located in a villa next to the hotel. He had also paid an additional fifty thousand yen for the hotel's airport transfer service.
"Anyway, since there's only one bedroom, we'll have to sleep together tonight."
After saying that, Shuta An asked a rather unnecessary question.
"Oguri should have told Dober already, right?"
"I'll endure it before the race."
Mejiro Dober replied.
"Please do your best to endure it. If you really can't, go run a few extra laps on the training ground to vent your energy."
Seeing his suggestion, Mejiro Dober rolled her eyes.
She silently made up her mind that if Shuta An ever fell asleep before she did, she would definitely draw something on his face with a pen as revenge.
After arriving at the hotel, Shuta An took a quick shower, changed into casual loungewear, and set up his laptop in the study. He then began downloading past race footage of Mejiro Dober's potential opponents for the Prix Vermeille.
Mejiro Dober originally intended to stay beside him, but after watching for a while, she gradually became drowsy.
The computer screen was filled with dense data, numbers, and notes. To someone who had never liked dealing with figures, it was enough to make her dizzy.
"Dober, go rest first." Shuta An noticed her growing fatigue and gently advised, "You still have training tomorrow."
"Okay."
Mejiro Dober swayed slightly as she stood up and prepared to leave the study.
"Ann, don't stay up too late either. These materials look exhausting."
"I know."
Shuta An waved a hand before returning his attention to the screen.
To Mejiro Dober, the information looked like a chaotic mess of text and numbers. To Shuta An, however, it contained the reasons behind every victory and defeat of the Uma Musume entered in the Prix Vermeille.
"Still, written analysis alone is too one-sided. I should compare it with the race replays."
He opened the past races of the first-place finisher, Kaliana.
"Let's see what kind of abilities these Uma Musume, whom the European media believe can challenge Dober, have actually displayed."
A trace of curiosity appeared in his eyes.
"If I discover they're all overrated, then I won't mind designing tactics that completely tear through their disguises."
Over the following days, Mejiro Dober visited Longchamp Racecourse every other day to familiarize herself with the track and observe changes in the turf.
On the days she didn't go to Longchamp, Shuta An spent the daytime accompanying his girlfriend around Paris. In the evenings, he continued researching her Prix Vermeille opponents in the apartment study.
Although French reporters knew the two were staying at the Saint James Hotel, the hotel's security was tight enough that obtaining any photographs was impossible.
Moreover, since Shuta An had booked a self-catering apartment, no one could impersonate hotel staff and enter the room. The villa containing the apartment had its own management, completely separate from the hotel's ordinary operations.
There was simply no opportunity for anyone to sneak in.
On the night exactly one week before the Prix Vermeille, Shuta An finally finished analyzing all nine other Uma Musume on the entry list.
"What a pity. What a pity."
He pushed himself backward with his foot until the office chair rested against the wall. Stretching lazily, he let out a long sigh.
"From my impression, not a single one of them can truly challenge Dober."
At that moment, he felt not relief, but regret.
Because this conclusion meant that as long as Mejiro Dober encountered no problems, victory would come easily. Yet Shuta An knew better than anyone that what she needed now was not easy victories, but powerful opponents.
"As expected, I'll only get what I want in the Breeders' Cup Turf."
In any case, it was finally time to finalize her race tactics.
Since Longchamp Racecourse had completed its final large-scale turf maintenance earlier that day, Shuta An planned to have Mejiro Dober walk the course again tomorrow and report how the newly prepared surface felt.
"There's still no rain forecast for Paris next week, so the track will probably remain good."
He tapped the desk lightly.
"An early-position tactic is still the safest option. Staying too far back makes it easy to get boxed in."
Although this concern hadn't materialized in the Yorkshire Oaks, Mejiro Dober's current reputation made it entirely possible that her opponents would cooperate specifically to block her path.
"Better safe than sorry."
He wrote that sentence on the first line of a fresh page in his notebook.
"All opponents on the track are united enemies."