"Trainer?"
"McQueen's challenge... the Takarazuka Kinen. I understand. Thank you, Trainer."
"Hm? You're telling me to be careful with my body? Don't worry, Trainer, I'll be fine."
On the Symboli family's private training grounds, Tokai Teio hung up the phone. After hearing McQueen's challenge, her spirits, which had been crushed by the previous race, were lifted again. In her eyes, this meant she had finally captured McQueen's attention. She originally thought that after losing so badly, McQueen would ignore her completely. She had lost so much confidence that she could only numb herself with training.
Symboli Rudolf walked over, holding a sports drink.
"What's wrong?"
"Kaichou, listen! The trainer just called and told me McQueen is challenging me to a showdown at the Takarazuka Kinen! I did it! All that's left is to figure out how to beat McQueen!"
Tokai Teio said excitedly, not noticing Symboli Rudolf's unnatural expression. Rudolf, on the other hand, sensed what Mejiro McQueen really meant by this challenge. But looking at Teio's current state, she couldn't bring herself to say it, because at least Teio's mood had temporarily returned to normal.
"Is that so? But you still can't properly control the power of ZONE, can you."
Symboli Rudolf changed the subject. She truly couldn't bear it. Tokai Teio had no idea what she was chasing. It might be a goal she could never reach in her entire life. If those words came from her, the person she admired most, Teio would surely fall into despair and give up running forever. Because of this, Rudolf didn't know what to do. She could see that McQueen was also trying to help Teio, but the problem was, Teio herself couldn't see it.
No one could get through to her.
Because in the end, the problem was with Tokai Teio herself. Symboli Rudolf could see that all this talk about "helping Mejiro McQueen find her joy" was not what Teio truly felt.
Perhaps Teio herself hadn't realized it, but what she truly wanted wasn't some "friendly relationship" with Mejiro McQueen. She was simply in despair over McQueen's strength.
A normal person would have given up. But Tokai Teio was different.
Tokai Teio was too proud, so she couldn't accept this. What she really wanted was still to win. But because she sensed that this side of herself was too "ugly," she chose to forget her true feelings and started using the excuse of "helping Mejiro McQueen find her original joy" to convince herself.
This twisted way of thinking had led Teio to become the way she was now.
Mejiro McQueen was complaining about Rudolf's inaction, but Rudolf felt just as helpless. This wasn't a problem she could solve just by intervening.
She could use her authority to control Tokai Teio, but that would only suppress her temporarily. It wouldn't solve the real problem and might even lead to more severe consequences. So, Symboli Rudolf chose to let Teio run headfirst into a wall. Maybe then she would wake up. As for Teio's physical well-being, Rudolf had already prepared a world-class medical team. She even brought this team with her to every race Teio ran.
If, even after all this, it still didn't work...
Then, no matter how much she couldn't bear it, Symboli Rudolf would have to accept the result. Perhaps
this was the fate of a genius horse girl born in the same era as a "century-class" horse girl like Mejiro McQueen.
Tokai Teio did not notice Symboli Rudolf's thoughts or sorrow.
After hearing Rudolf's reminder, she said excitedly, "No problem! I will definitely master this power before the race! And I've finished collecting McQueen's data. I don't know what McQueen's ZONE is, but I can feel that it's actually not that strong."
As users of ZONE, they could all roughly sense each other's aura. And McQueen's ZONE didn't feel strong. It wasn't like Oguri Cap's deep, dark aura, or the terrifying "crimson lightning field" of Symboli Rudolf. McQueen's ZONE just felt like a tiny ray of light. Although Teio didn't know why it was so weak, this was a good thing for her.
When Symboli Rudolf saw that Tokai Teio was underestimating Mejiro McQueen's ZONE, she had to resist the urge to sigh. She felt Teio was still too young. How could the strength of a ZONE be judged by such superficial things? While the intensity of the aura can give a rough idea of its power, can its effect really be determined by its intensity? And some ZONEs might not seem powerful on their own, but when used by that specific horse girl, they might produce terrifying results. The strength of a ZONE, in the end, depends on the user.
As for the intensity of the aura, that was simply a matter of how much spiritual power was being released.
Furthermore, Rudolf hadn't mentioned that, according to her understanding, the more terrifying a horse girl's innate talent, the weaker their ZONE might appear at first. The aura's effect is determined by how much spiritual power the horse girl invests when awakening it. For horse girls whose talent is so great they have no rivals in their era, they aren't under much pressure when they enter ZONE, so naturally, they don't invest as much spiritual power. The resulting ZONE thus looks weaker.
So, the fact that Mejiro McQueen's ZONE looked weak was actually the real problem. But there was no point in saying this. Tokai Teio wouldn't listen right now. She wanted to win too badly and could no longer see reality.
Time passed quickly, and June arrived. For these two months, Tokai Teio trained like her life depended on it. If Rudolf's support team hadn't been so robust, Teio's training methods would have broken her body long ago. In contrast, Mejiro McQueen's life went on as usual, with none of the tension of an impending showdown.
The Takarazuka Kinen, 2200m, a mid-distance track.
Nice Nature and the others stepped onto the track, their faces looking as if they were walking to their execution. There were many familiar faces in this race, all runners who had faced Mejilo McQueen before. They all thought McQueen wasn't going to run this race, but then her name suddenly appeared on the entry list. If not for their pride as Chuuou horse girls forbidding them from running, they really would not want to be here.
"Ooh! Go, McQueen!"
Gold Ship, who had withdrawn from the race, was in the stands, dressed in full fan gear, waving a support stick and yelling at the entrance. She had originally wanted to run this race, but when she saw the trainer go to register with McQueen's application, she decisively snatched her own application from his hand and tore it up. She liked playing with McQueen, sure, but letting her race McQueen again? No way.
She, Gold Ship, was not a fearless hero like Tokai Teio.
"That girl... I heard she decided to withdraw at the last minute!"
"Damn it! If I had known Mejiro McQueen was going to run, I would have made the same choice!"
Mejiro McQueen had skipped the Osaka Hai. They were sure she would skip this race too. Because if she was going to run this, she wouldn't have skipped the Osaka Hai (a "Triple Crown" race). But she did skip it, running only the Tenno Sho (Spring). So they thought she wouldn't run any other races besides the Tenno Sho. This Takarazuka Kinen, especially, should have been the lowest risk, but who knew McQueen would suddenly register for it at the last minute.
It wasn't that the runners were afraid of losing—after all, not many can win a G-grade race anyway. They were afraid of not getting a finishing time. And when you race against Mejiro McQueen, nine times out of ten, you get "eliminated" (lapped/fail to finish). In that situation, you don't even get a record for the race. So now, almost no one wanted to race her. Running against her wasn't just a loss; it was the ultimate humiliation of not even getting a time!
Hearing the wails of the runners around them...
Nice Nature and the others were starting to feel scared.
Biwa Hayahide looked up at Narita Brian (who was in the Sirius section), her face darkening. To be honest, she had no confidence. This feeling only ever surfaced when facing Mejiro McQueen. Because only those who have raced her know how absolute that gap is. You can't even challenge her, let alone win. She completely understood the runners around her who were wailing and crying
, because the difference in their level was just too great.
Especially with important people watching. The thought just made it sadder.
Just as all the runners were despairing over this race, Tokai Teio, the least popular entrant, finally appeared. Although she was famous online, she really hadn't run many high-stakes races. Two of her three G1 entries didn't even result in a finishing time. Only the Satsuki Sho netted her a second place. And because she needed more training time, she had only run a few G2 races, just barely meeting the qualifying line for a G-grade race. If so many other runners hadn't wanted to drop out of McQueen's race, she might not have even gotten in.
"I'm here, McQueen! This time, I will defeat you!"
Tokai Teio laid down the challenge the moment she entered, her expression one of absolute confidence.
The surrounding runners were stunned.
They looked at Mejiro McQueen, only to find she was, as expected, completely cold. She couldn't even be bothered to respond, just walking to her gate with an expressionless face.
At this point, Mejiro McQueen had nothing left to say to Tokai Teio. The race would decide everything.
Watching McQueen ignore her like this, Tokai Teio's face darkened, and she clenched her fists. What is this? Didn't McQueen issue this challenge? Why is this completely different from what I imagined?
...
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