"What everyone is seeing now is this year's Japan Cup. As you can see, the participating horse girls are all popular characters from the Twinkle Series..." The large screen was introducing the competitors.
Mejiro McQueen, having changed into her racing outfit and horseshoes, walked toward the entrance tunnel. At the exit, she saw many familiar horse girls.
Some of these horse girls shouldn't even be appearing in this time period based on real-world history. Although the careers of horse girls in this world were roughly similar to their real-life counterparts, the races here were held much more frequently than in the real world. It was very possible to see a horse girl complete her real-life counterpart's entire career in a single year. Plus, the longest service time in the Twinkle Series was four years, so running into familiar names in a race was perfectly normal.
Less lucky or skilled debutante horse girls might even be "schooled" by old seniors in their first year; this was a common phenomenon. But in this world, there was no saying that a rookie horse girl couldn't beat a senior! After all, once a horse girl becomes "full-fledged," their stats won't be too bad. Geniuses and monsters are stronger than ordinary horse girls because of their constitution and innate leg quality (skills). Just because an upper-year horse girl is more experienced doesn't mean she is truly strong.
For example, Mejiro McQueen had only just completed her first year since debuting and was still considered a rookie, but her track record was already the strongest in this Twinkle Series!
"Yo~ McQueen!"
At the exit, a silver-haired horse girl greeted Mejiro McQueen.
Mejiro McQueen saw her and chose to ignore her directly, striding toward the exit.
She didn't want to have anything to do with this horse girl.
Because this one was a weirdo horse girl said to have immigrated from Mars.
"Don't be so cold, McQueen."
Gold Ship followed Mejiro McQueen, acting overly familiar. Their relationship was merely that of relatives. You could say they weren't familiar at all. Mejiro McQueen could count the number of times she'd interacted with her on one hand, so she completely failed to understand why Gold Ship was clinging to her.
"Heard you joined Team Sirius?" Gold Ship asked, surprised and curious.
When she first heard about it, she thought it was fake news. After all, this was that McQueen. She always thought that if McQueen were to find a trainer, she'd be the domineering type to just tie the trainer up and drag them back.
"Gold Ship-san, we are not close."
Mejiro McQueen looked up and shot Gold Ship a cold glance. If it were a normal horse girl, she'd be trembling with fear by now. But Gold Ship didn't react at all, her face still wearing that sleazy and creepy smile, causing Mejiro McQueen's mood to plummet to 'Awful.'
"By the way, I heard Team Sirius is still recruiting, right?"
Gold Ship said with a grin.
Scram!
Mejiro McQueen already guessed what this weirdo horse girl wanted to do.
Because this world's Gold Ship was currently a free agent. She had joined many teams before, but never stayed long. According to her, those kinds of places would restrain her free spirit, and if she stayed too long, she'd become a "wrecked ship."
Although Gold Ship's words were strange, Mejiro McQueen could actually understand her on this point.
After all, many trainers at Chuuou Tracen were the "Tojo Hana" type. In those trainers' minds, horse girls just needed to run, and that was enough. Everything from training to race schedules, even the running style used in the race, should be decided by the trainer. This was the long-standing tradition at Chuuou.
But for horse girls with a strong will of their own, like Silence Suzuka and Mejiro McQueen, or free spirits like Gold Ship, this was simply like being in prison. Symboli Rudolf had noticed this and was trying to make changes. Her letting Tokai Teio join Sirius was part of that consideration.
Mejiro McQueen was almost certain that she herself had attracted Gold Ship, letting this weirdo horse girl notice what made Sirius different.
But understanding Gold Ship didn't mean she was willing to accept a weirdo horse girl like her.
She hadn't forgotten the times Gold Ship pranked her when they met as children. Suddenly lifting her skirt in front of everyone, or secretly putting a bug on her shoulder to scare her—these vicious acts had long since made Mejiro McQueen label Gold Ship as pest-like trash!
Recalling these memories, Mejiro McQueen's entire aura became even colder.
A strong killing intent flashed in Mejiro McQueen's eyes. "I will completely crush you in this race. I'll make you learn not to provoke me so easily!"
"Ho ho!" Faced with this McQueen, Gold Ship only got more excited. "Want a serious match? I, Gorshi, am ve~ry~ stro~ng~, you know!"
Although she seemed completely unreliable, Gold Ship's aura wasn't weak at all. That sharp gaze proved she was also an excellent horse girl.
Mejiro McQueen didn't refute it, because Gold Ship's strength was indeed not weak. Gold Ship had a skill, and a very powerful one at that. Its effect even surprised and made Mejiro McQueen wary. However, Gold Ship's skill was very difficult to activate. Coupled with her free-spirited nature and her tendency to not take races seriously, Gold Ship lost more often than she won.
Thinking of Gold Ship's somewhat terrifying track record, Mejiro McQueen really didn't dare to underestimate this weirdo horse girl.
But it was just a tiny bit of caution, that's all. Even if Gold Ship got serious, she was no match for her! And so what if Gold Ship got lucky and activated that skill in this race? Would she, Mejiro McQueen, lose to such a second-rate character who couldn't even control her own ability 100%? No! No matter who the opponent was, she would never lose! Because winning is her reason for running!
A deep purple flame flickered in Mejiro McQueen's left eye.
Entering the gate.
Gold Ship, rarely, didn't cause any trouble.
Narita Brian, who had just walked into the gate, sensed the fleeting aura from Mejiro McQueen. She stared expressionlessly in that direction for a moment. Her participation in this race was actually a student council mission. Symboli Rudolf had sent her to confirm which stage Mejiro McQueen had awakened to. Now she could at least confirm that Mejiro McQueen had completed the flowering of the first stage, [Wave], and was starting to grasp the second stage, [Aura]!
Wave, Aura, ZONE—these were the three stages currently summarized by Symboli Rudolf. Although a "second door" existed beyond ZONE, according to Symboli Rudolf, even world-class horse girls' research on ZONE was currently stuck before that second door.
'The catalyst really was the Satsuki Sho and the rivalry with Tokai Teio, wasn't it? It seems the Emperor was right.'
The race countdown hit zero.
All the competitors burst from the gates.
"The Tokyo 2400m middle-distance race officially begins! All horse girls had a perfect start—"
"It's starting! Number 9, Mejiro McQueen, has chosen her usual running style and is pulling away from the other runners at an astonishing speed!"
Narita Brian looked up and saw a white figure breaking through the shockwave as if riding the wind and waves. That shockwave that could break wind resistance was the symbol of the first stage, [Wave]. This stage wasn't hard to master; most of the high-school division horse girls knew this move.
However, there were also horse girls like Narita Brian, who, due to physical problems, couldn't even use 'Wave' right now. Her record for the past two years was terrible. Compared to her debut year, she was like a different person. The monster horse girl once called the "Ogre God" truly seemed to be 'dead'.
'Only in a real race can you truly understand how unreasonable Mejiro McQueen's starting speed is!' Narita Brian was also surprised by Mejiro McQueen's starting speed.
The feeling on the track was completely different from watching on the sidelines. Just seeing that figure pulling further and further away created immense pressure. This was something you couldn't see from the sidelines or in recordings. It was no wonder that Mejiro McQueen's opponents in previous races made so many mistakes. Only by participating yourself could you understand just how stressful it was to be her opponent, watching that figure recede into the distance.
'She's strong, as expected. But it doesn't matter. The thing I need to do has never changed.'
Narita Brian wasn't shaken and continued to run at her own pace. Despite being an unexpected contender, her eyes were as serious as ever!
'If I'm running with Mejiro McQueen, I absolutely cannot be affected by her opening strategy.'
Mejiro McQueen's leg quality and stamina were an innate talent, just like Tokai Teio's "Teio Step." It wasn't a skill that could be easily learned through training.
Mejiro McQueen led through the corner, arriving at the middle-leg straight all alone.
"The race has only just begun, and Number 9, Mejiro McQueen, is already leading onto the middle straight! The record has been broken again!"
"In second place is Number 12, Seiun Sky, already thirteen horse lengths behind the leader—"
Although this wasn't the first time he had commentated on one of Mejiro McQueen's races, this commentator's emotions were still stirred up by the scene.
This was the charm of Mejiro McQueen. That magnificent running style was extremely spectacular to watch.
Reaching the middle straight, Mejiro McQueen had no intention of slowing down. Although the skill's effect had worn off, the flame in her left eye flickered, and the shockwave around her had not extinguished. Just as Narita Brian had guessed at the start, Mejiro McQueen had completely mastered 'Wave'!
"The subsequent runners are finally out of the corner, but Mejiro McQueen is already too far ahead! Can anyone really catch her?!"
The other commentator wanted to speak but stopped, silently closing his mouth. It seemed every time Mejiro McQueen participated in a race, he had no chance to speak. Didn't this guy know that commentators needed to ensure fairness and impartiality when working? Although, he was saying exactly what he himself wanted to say!