By the time Special Week, El Condor Pasa, and the others reached the training grounds, a sizable crowd had already gathered in Team Rigil's area.
The contrast with Team Spica's area, which they had passed a moment earlier, could not have been starker. Only one or two umamusume had been handing flyers to passing students there, and even then, they had barely managed to give any away.
Many students had refused on the spot, saying they had no interest in the team.
Now look at how lively things were around Rigil.
They were worlds apart.
This was the difference between a powerhouse and a small-fry team.
Special Week had to admit that if she truly intended to join a team, Rigil was an excellent choice.
She knew Spica had considerable potential. After all, it was the protagonist team from the *Uma Musume* anime. If she joined at this point, she would immediately reclaim the role written for her in the original storyline, which meant she might genuinely receive some form of luck boost. The corrective force of fate was stubborn, but it would sometimes compromise with children who behaved as it expected.
But she didn't want that.
Special Week could not think of a single reason to join Spica.
Was it the team's high bonuses? Or because it had so few recruits at this stage that its Trainer would give her more individual attention than Rigil's? Neither condition appealed to her in the least.
If she joined the weak Spica, she might receive more attention. But even if Rigil's Trainer did not favor her, Hana Tojo's reputation guaranteed that she was no irresponsible Trainer. Besides, merely getting to train and run alongside Rigil's members every day was reason enough to join.
At Rigil, she might even have opportunities to seek advice from umamusume of Symboli Rudolf's or Maruzensky's caliber. That alone crushed every resource Spica could currently offer.
The two teams could not be compared.
And if Spica failed to develop because she did not join and it lost its protagonist?
Strange. What did that have to do with her?
Those people were little more than familiar strangers to her. Even if they died in front of her the next second, she might not feel a thing.
Besides, even without her, didn't Spica still have that girl?
Special Week looked at the umamusume standing among Rigil's members—Silence Suzuka.
Suzuka happened to glance her way at the same moment.
"..."
They had been notified that they were roommates, but in reality they had never properly interacted. At most, they knew each other's names.
Special Week recognized Silence Suzuka because her distinctive features remained obvious even though a real person naturally differed from a two-dimensional character. Silence Suzuka recognized Special Week because she had also been present during that shocking mock race.
At the time, however, Suzuka had taken little interest in her new roommate.
Special Week had demonstrated a degree of ability in the simulation, but not enough to attract Suzuka's attention. To Suzuka, Special Week was merely the roommate assigned to her. Special Week felt much the same. She had genuinely liked Silence Suzuka as a character in her previous life, but that had only been affection for someone in an anime.
Now that Silence Suzuka existed in her reality, Special Week no longer felt any particular interest.
The only reason she was paying attention now was because she was considering which training team to join.
Silence Suzuka was practically the textbook example of someone who had ended up with the wrong training team through a series of misunderstandings.
Her situation at Rigil was excellent.
Rigil's Trainer genuinely believed in Suzuka's talent and even intended to cultivate her as the ace of Rigil's generation.
Yet even with that treatment, Silence Suzuka was dissatisfied.
She believed her Trainer was suppressing her—refusing to let her run freely in training and planning to impose restrictions on her running style in future races.
Because of this conflict, Suzuka would eventually transfer to Spica. No responsible Trainer would support what she wanted to do, except Spica's Trainer, who had become nearly unscrupulous in his efforts to recruit members.
In a sense, his approach resembled that of a manager who said, "I believe in you," and handed all his work to a subordinate. If the subordinate succeeded, the manager would beam and claim part of the credit because his trust had made it possible. But if the subordinate failed, he would immediately shed all responsibility—the decision had been yours, after all, so naturally the blame belonged entirely to you.
Spica's Trainer was not truly that malicious. But on a fundamental level, how different was his method? Both chose the working style most advantageous to themselves. The only difference was that Spica's Trainer still possessed a conscience.
Of course, Spica's team philosophy suited umamusume who wanted to remain true to themselves. Winning did not matter to such runners; they only wanted to race in a way that made them happy. Silence Suzuka was precisely that kind of umamusume right now. Unless something unexpected happened, she would eventually transfer to Spica—and then she would confront her destined calamity.
Special Week could already foresee Suzuka's fractured leg. That was the consequence of taking the wrong path at a crossroads in life.
Fortunately, Special Week already knew the future of her other self and could eliminate one bad option.
What "General of Japan, Special Week"? Hadn't her original dream been to become Japan's greatest umamusume? She had never achieved it. She had been left with the regret of an unrealized dream.
Special Week absolutely refused to accept that future!
For an instant, her shadow seemed to transform into the original "Special Week," glaring at her as if insisting that wasn't true.
Special Week had only one response to the illusion.
*Failure, disappear from my sight at once!*
A mere phantom created by fate's corrective force would never shake her will!
She would write her own destiny!
*I will not lose.*
Special Week's conviction was absolute. Now or in the future, she would yield to no one. She would win everything. If she could not accomplish that, her reborn life would have no meaning.
Therefore—
El Condor Pasa!
You will be my first sacrifice!
Your defeat will open the first chapter in the destiny I write for myself!
Standing nearby, El suddenly felt a chill.
"Desu?"
She scanned the crowd warily.
"Was that my imagination?"
At that moment, Rigil's Trainer approached and clapped her hands.
Her face revealed no emotion as she surveyed Special Week and the other students hoping to join the team. The pressure of a first-rate Trainer caused some of the less confident students to consider retreating. They could not imagine themselves ever catching this Trainer's eye.
Hana Tojo did not appear especially invested in this recruitment trial, which was only natural. Rigil had no shortage of excellent newcomers.
Its current rookies already included three outstanding prospects: Silence Suzuka, Grass Wonder, and Narita Brian.
"Before the evaluation begins, I want to remind you of one thing. As you all know, Rigil is among the strongest teams at Tracen Academy. Not everyone will meet our requirements. Rigil will select only the most capable newcomers."
As she spoke, her gaze paused briefly on El Condor Pasa.
No one knew that she had rushed here because she had received word that the newcomer she had long been watching had finally come to take Rigil's evaluation.
Indeed, this recruitment trial could almost be said to have been arranged specifically for El Condor Pasa.
Hana Tojo had not intended to recruit any more rookies this year, but El's arrival had changed her mind. She knew the American prodigy was the sort of umamusume who could become Rigil's ace.
Concealing her thoughts, Hana adjusted her glasses and addressed her team members. "We'll begin the evaluation shortly. I'll leave the preparations to you."
"All participants, please come here to register your information."
Fuji Kiseki was responsible for recording the applicants' details.
"Spe, you still have time to surrender, desu!"
El feared that she might lose Special Week as a friend before the day was over. She could sense how serious Special Week was; this did not look like a childish impulse she would simply forget. And if El raced seriously, she believed Special Week had no chance at all. She would be crushed.
"..." Special Week gave her a cold look. "If you think you can defeat me, prove it with your strength!"
She would not show the slightest mercy either.
She intended to crush El completely.
The smile disappeared from El's face.
"Are you serious?"
"I've been serious from the beginning!"
Special Week left her with those words and went to register with Fuji Kiseki.
El stared after her, thinking in silence for a moment before reaching a decision.
"Then I'll get serious too!"
Special Week had better not come crying afterward and beg her to remain friends.
With mixed feelings, El went to register as well.
She could not refuse Special Week's challenge.
After all, Special Week was already a rival—a friend—whom she acknowledged!
She simply had not expected to face her so soon.
"Those two girls seem different from the others."
Fuji Kiseki looked down at the list in her hand, puzzled.
Special Week and El Condor Pasa?
Neither looked as though she was here merely to sign up.
How could she put it...?
"They look as though they're about to enter a real race, don't they?" Maruzensky answered.
"Yes, exactly."
Fuji Kiseki suddenly understood.
"Wait, then could they be—?"
"It looks like things are about to get interesting!"
Maruzensky smiled toward the track.
Hishi Amazon and Grass Wonder, who were handling the timing and starting signal by the track, had also noticed El and Special Week. Neither girl said a word, but their expressions and the aura around them set them apart from everyone else. The other applicants were taking the trial seriously too, yet these two felt fundamentally different.
Hishi Amazon asked Grass, "Those two are in your class, aren't they?"
"Yes. That's Special Week, and the one beside her is El Condor Pasa. They're both my friends."
Spe was El's friend.
El was Grass's friend.
Therefore, Spe and Grass were already friends as well.
A hint of private calculation colored Grass's answer.
Hishi Amazon, unaware of the details, noticed nothing unusual. She merely pointed at the pair and asked curiously, "Something seems off about them. Do you know what's going on?"
"...I'm not entirely sure."
After a brief silence, Grass gave a smile that discouraged further questions.
She knew the entire cause of the incident. But precisely because she knew it so well, she could not tell her teammates the truth. If everyone discovered that neither El nor Spe cared much about joining Rigil and had merely borrowed the recruitment trial as a place to race, things would become very troublesome.
"..."
Everyone knew Grass Wonder was also a member of the martial arts club.
No one pursued the topic.
Before long, every participant had registered.
The evaluation was about to begin. There were few rules: when they heard the starting signal, they simply had to run to the finish line. How they ran was entirely up to them. Whether Rigil's Trainer selected them would depend on their final performance.
It was also possible that, as on the previous few days, no one would be chosen.
The evaluation began.
At the sound of the starting signal, every participant surged forward.
With so many runners, the pack was chaotic at first.
This was where an umamusume's ability to respond came under scrutiny.
The weaker runners immediately lost control of their own pace and could only follow those ahead of them.
But there were also performances that caught the eye.
Almost the instant the signal sounded, two runners seized their opportunity and accelerated.
They gave the other participants no time to react.
Right from the start, they left the rest of the field far behind.
"Here I come, Spe!"
El glanced back at Special Week from the front of the formation.
She was somewhat surprised that Special Week had genuinely matched her start, but she had already entered racing mode and revealed little emotion. After confirming her rival's position, she decisively faced forward and prepared to accelerate—
A gust of wind accompanied El as her speed climbed!
In the blink of an eye, she opened the gap on Special Week once more.
"Hm?"
Watching from outside the track, Hana Tojo's previously relaxed expression grew serious.
"..."
El maintained her lead into the turn.
Even after entering the curve, she did not slow down. She continued using her skill to raise her speed. For an instant, a crimson bird of prey seemed to spread its wings behind her while white wind curled around her body. Her speed broke past its ordinary limits and entered an extreme state.
"So that's the girl Trainer mentioned?"
Fuji Kiseki stared in surprise.
"Her strength really is extraordinary."
It was rare for an umamusume who had not yet made her debut to display such ability. Even Fuji Kiseki had been able to force out this kind of performance only with difficulty in her own early days. Yet El did not look as though she had only just learned the skill. Her command of it was clearly excellent.
"..."
Maruzensky silently watched Special Week race.
For some reason, the girl drew her attention and even made her feel a trace of concern. El certainly lived up to the Trainer's praise. With that degree of strength, she could easily win her debut even now, and perhaps claim a GI victory before long.
By comparison, Special Week was difficult for Maruzensky to understand.
Her running form seemed somewhat inexperienced.
And yet, in a curious way, she continued to match the rhythm El had established.
"That girl..."
Hana Tojo was also surprised by Special Week's performance.
She had not paid much attention to her before.
Special Week had recorded a respectable result in the entrance exam's mock race, but she had still fallen short of Hana's standards.
Hana might have considered accepting her only if Rigil had been short on newcomers.
Now, however, she realized Special Week's strength exceeded her earlier estimate. What the girl had already displayed was far beyond her entrance-exam performance—and this was clearly not the full extent of her ability.
...
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