Business at the bakery became even more booming after Gold Ship joined the staff—naturally, because she had gone around the academy promoting it with great enthusiasm.
They worked themselves dizzy from morning onward every day, only to sell out ahead of schedule by the afternoon. Ironically, that left Dyna with a bit of actual time to rest.
That day, as usual, after seeing off the last customer, Dyna looked at the completely empty display shelves with heartfelt satisfaction, then went over to flip the sign on the door to Closed.
"Phew! You two have really worked hard lately! I think I ought to give you bonuses!!"
Bracing both hands on the table, Dyna solemnly made the announcement.
Ever since Oguri Cap and Gold Ship had come to the shop, Dyna had increasingly felt like a hands-off owner. Every day, all she really had to do was tell Gold Ship how much bread needed to be made, and Gold Ship would produce it flawlessly.
Dyna had always been the type to repay kindness. In her eyes, the contributions Oguri Cap and Gold Ship had made deserved compensation of equal worth.
Granted, once the bakery's earnings were reduced by utilities and all the miscellaneous expenses, there was not exactly much left over...
Upon hearing this, the two gray-haired employees immediately arrived at the same question deep in their hearts:
Did their boss actually have any spare money to hand out after covering costs and rent?
The more they thought about it, the more it felt like these "bonuses" were probably going to be squeezed right out of the boss's own food budget...
So, in the interest of preserving their employer's health, Gold Ship was the first to refuse.
"No way. We all know this shop is something Boss Lady built with her own hard work to support herself. It's already running on small margins and high volume—after all the little deductions, there's barely anything left in your own hands!"
"I agree. I only took this part-time job so I could make sure I'd always be able to buy the bread Boss makes. Wages were never really part of the calculation. If you really want to thank me... then just increase my bread allowance from one loaf to two."
Oguri Cap made her support known as well.
But Dyna seemed absolutely determined to hand the bonuses out.
Though the two gray-haired horse girls were not especially close, at that moment, one look into each other's eyes was enough for them to understand.
If Boss Lady keeps messing around, we tie her up. No reckless spending allowed.
Inside the bakery, that was not Gold Ship anymore.
That was Mejiro Ship.
Just as the atmosphere inside the shop was about to enter a deadlock between employees and employer over the issue of bonuses, the door—despite clearly bearing the Closed sign—was pushed open.
The cheerful ringing of the bell spread through every corner of the room, drawing all three sets of eyes toward it.
"Sorry, but we're current—"
Gold Ship reflexively began to recite the standard line they had practiced, only for Dyna to clap a hand over her mouth with lightning speed.
The one who had entered was a little boy.
But what caught the attention of everyone in the shop was that there was not a single strand of hair on his head. For a child that age to be bald...
Dyna's mind instinctively went somewhere painful.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Dyna shot Gold Ship a glance, signaling her toward the back kitchen. Gold Ship, whose emotional intelligence was remarkably high when it mattered, immediately understood. Pulling on her chef's hat, she slipped silently out of the front room.
As for Oguri Cap...
Well, in a situation like this, there did not seem to be much for her to do.
The little boy's cheeks were flushed red, and when he saw Dyna, he spoke with visible excitement.
"Um... I've heard about this shop for a long time now! I know it's really inappropriate to come in and bother you while you're closed... but I really want to buy a loaf of bread. The easiest kind to make is fine! I really, really want to taste that flavor again—the one a horse-girl big sister who lives near me gave me before..."
He was probably not very used to talking to strangers. Just getting all of that out seemed to consume every bit of courage he had. The bow he gave afterward was clearly an apology for intruding.
A moment later, the woman who hurried in behind him was probably his mother.
"I'm so sorry. I only looked away for a second, and he disappeared. He didn't cause you too much trouble, did he?"
After apologizing sincerely, she took hold of the boy's hand and was about to lead him away. Since Dyna had not yet answered, the boy's face filled with reluctance and disappointment—but, knowing he had been unreasonable in the first place, he was preparing to leave with his mother.
Dyna raised a hand to stop them.
"This customer has already placed an order, and it's already being made. Why not sit down here and wait for the bread to come out? Or... if you prefer, you could come back tonight and pick it up."
Perhaps Gold Ship had heard her, because from the kitchen came a deliberate chorus of clanging and banging, successfully drawing the mother and son's attention.
The boy lit up with delight.
Seeing that, the mother bowed deeply again.
"This really is too much trouble... the child can be stubborn, barging in while you're closed and disturbing you like this."
"It's no trouble at all. Besides, if you look at our signboard, the part that really matters is the Worry-Free part. The bakery itself is secondary."
Dyna sat down to one side and adjusted her glasses.
Because horse girls scarcely aged in appearance before growing old, the woman had evidently taken Dyna for an unusually mature young horse girl.
It was obvious Oguri Cap was not especially good with children, but the boy was clearly a loyal fan of hers. The moment he realized Oguri Cap was working here as a clerk, he excitedly began chatting with the rather inarticulate horse girl at the counter about whatever topics came to mind.
Meanwhile, Dyna wanted to confirm whether the boy's condition was what she feared it was...
The mother sighed heavily.
"You can tell, can't you... what kind of condition he's in. I wanted him to stay in the hospital and focus on chemotherapy, but he cried and screamed and absolutely refused to remain there. The doctor said that if he kept undergoing treatment, there might still be a chance of recovery... but he just won't stay. I don't know what to do anymore."
Her face was filled with sorrow, the wrinkles on it almost twisting into a knot.
On one side was the child's happiness.
On the other was the faint hope of his recovery.
As a mother, she had already been forced into an impossible dilemma.
Dyna laced her fingers together, her thumbs rubbing lightly over one another.
She already understood the boy's situation. Asking for more detail would only be rude. And the woman was so weighed down by worry that she had turned a complete stranger into a confidante—proof enough of what kind of state this family must be in.
"If you're willing to hear my advice... then please respect your child's choice, ma'am. Sometimes children are much more mature and sensible than we imagine."
Dyna turned to look at the counter.
Oguri Cap was making rabbit-shaped shadow puppets with her hands for the boy, and that tiny little gesture alone had filled the entire shop with the sound of his laughter.
The woman stared at him blankly. It was unclear whether Dyna's words had truly sunk in.
Gold Ship was still rattling around in the kitchen, doing who-knew-what.
At that moment, everyone in the shop had something they needed to do.
In that busy silence where no one was speaking, Dyna rose and walked over to the boy. But before she could say anything, he recognized her first.
"Big Sister Shop Owner—you're the horse girl who got rammed in that race before, aren't you! That rainy debut race at Niigata Racecourse—Orfevre just whooshed right up and started jostling with you, and later her result got canceled! I remember it super clearly!"
Dyna stared at him, a little dazed.
She had never imagined that anyone would actually remember such an otherwise unremarkable debut race.
A faint smile touched her lips.
"So... there really are fans who remember me?"
"Hehe... I only wanted to see Orfevre at first... because I'm a fan of Stay Gold. But then I saw you in that debut race too, Big Sister Shop Owner... and I became a fan instantly!"
From his pocket, the boy pulled out a folded sheet of paper. When he opened it, Dyna discovered, to her surprise, that it was a commemorative winner's poster printed by Niigata after the debut race ended.
He held up the slightly wrinkled poster and looked up at Dyna, who now seemed at a complete loss.
Ever since the day of his diagnosis, he had understood his own fate all too clearly. That was why he had poured even more of himself into the things he loved and adored.
He could no longer run as freely as he wished.
Each morning in the hospital, discomfort in his body forced him to lean against the windowsill and watch the people below, following their rehabilitation instructions with smiles on their faces under the dawn light.
So he had chosen to place his wish to run into the hands of the horse girls instead.
For a child still so young, still green and tender, perhaps the legend of the Three Goddesses really was the best kind of comfort in everyday life.
Horse girls are spirits who bear the hopes of running. The more wishes they carry, the greater the strength they can display on the track.
Perhaps it was that very idea that moved the boy to want to offer some small share of his own strength to the horse girl he liked.
Out of habit, Dyna's right hand clasped her left elbow. Her mouth kept wavering between a smile and restraint, unable to settle on an expression that truly suited the moment.
At last, she very carefully took the poster in both hands and raised it to cover her face.
"I never would have expected this at all... I thought that if I won one race and then disappeared quietly, no one would care much about a horse girl with just a single victory."
The wind chimes sounded softly, mingling with the boy's reply.
"How could that be? My mom always told me that anyone who becomes a horse girl is someone blessed by the Three Goddesses! Big Sister, you're already someone amazing!"
You're already someone amazing!
For a moment, Dyna went still.
That phrase sounded achingly familiar.
A very, very long time ago, she had once said those exact same words to a child herself.
A shabby, dim little room.
An old swing outside, hanging from a big tree and creaking with neglect.
Back then, she had worn a red vest and sat inside that small room, describing the colors of the sky to a little blind girl.
Originally, Dyna had only met that girl once, during a visit as part of a volunteer activity. At the time, Dyna herself had only been sixteen, barely older than the girl.
Nearly ten years later, after becoming a professional charity worker, Dyna met a young woman who had just graduated from college—lively, full of kindness, bright as spring.
That young woman had turned out to be the same girl from back then.
She had clung to a single sentence Dyna once said and endured her way through the darkness. In the end, she had regained the light, entered university, and the very first thing she did was try every avenue she could to find out who that visitor from long ago had been.
Someone she had met only once, and only from one side of her life, had remembered that sentence for so many years and carried it all the way into the brightest chapter of her life.
Dyna had been deeply moved when she learned that.
And now, to hear those same words from a little boy here of all places...
She had never once imagined that a horse girl who had done nothing more than win a debut race could become the object of someone's affection.
To Dyna, affection was something only the truly decorated horse girls—those covered in glory—had the right to bear.
Or perhaps...
Could she also become a horse girl covered in glory?
Well, there was not much use in thinking that far ahead right now.
So Dyna reached out and gently patted the boy's head again.
"All right, I understand... Then let's make a promise. I'll wait for you to get better, and then we'll meet again at the racetrack."
"Huh? Does that count as a promise from a future superstar horse-girl big sister?"
The boy's eyes shone with longing at the thought of fulfilling that promise one day.
If that happened, loads of people would definitely envy him—and then they would notice him too.
Dyna let out a soft laugh and poked her cheek with one fingertip.
"I suppose it kind of does? Though calling me a future superstar is a bit too much. Right now I'm still just a completely unknown rookie horse girl. So you'd better wait patiently, okay?"
Gold Ship's work efficiency was astonishing as ever. During the short time they had spent talking, she had already finished the amount of bread the mother and son needed.
After they paid and left the shop, Gold Ship scratched her head awkwardly.
She was not sure whether she ought to warn Dyna not to take on other people's wishes so lightly.
Gold Ship had the vague feeling that treating this sort of thing too casually would cause serious trouble sooner or later. She had no real reason for thinking so—it was just Gold Ship's intuition.
In the end, though, she let it go.
Dyna was the kind of horse girl whose brightness could radiate outward and affect the people around her. Maybe it was better for her to stay that way.
Of course, it was also possible that Gold Ship had simply lived too long on Planet Gold and grown unaccustomed to scenes this warm because of her family's peculiar atmosphere.
After all, the Gold family's reputation in racing circles was a little strange to begin with.
Especially after Orfevre had lost control of her temper in her debut race and injured the boss lady on the spot—that had only added further fuel to the "legendary" reputation of the Gold family.
At that point, Oguri Cap wiped the powdered sugar from the corner of her mouth and looked at Dyna with something newly stirred in her eyes.
Originally, she had wanted to say, Boss Lady has the same kind of aura as my mother.
But in the end, she kept quiet.
When Oguri Cap herself had been unable to run freely because of the congenital problem with her knees, her mother had also told her every night:
Oguri Cap is already wonderful, and I believe Oguri Cap will definitely become someone wonderful in the future too.
So the miracle Oguri Cap eventually created was not merely built upon the wishes of hundreds of thousands of fans and her own desire.
For her, the greatest source of strength had probably always been her mother's quiet support from behind the scenes.
Thinking of that, Oguri Cap gently touched the accessory atop her ear with a look of quiet happiness.
The shop settled back into the peace of its closed hours.
Gold Ship stood frozen in the kitchen, apparently receiving signals through some mysterious horse-ear radar of hers.
Oguri Cap, full from eating, dozed against the front counter.
As for Dyna, she sat in a chair with her arms wrapped around her somewhat unfairly supermodel-like chest, nodding off like a sleepy chick pecking at grain.
That tranquil scene ought to have lasted until midafternoon.
But an uninvited guest rudely shoved open the door.
Though she still held a crumpled ticket or paper in one hand, nothing about it softened the harshness of her expression.
"Shining Dyna."
"Mm... huh?!"
Dyna, half-asleep, was not startled by the rude way she had been addressed.
What jolted her fully awake was the face of the person standing there.
It was Nakayama Festa.
"N-Nakayama Festa?!"
Nakayama Festa casually stuffed the paper into her pocket and extended a hand toward Dyna.
"Yeah. Looks like you haven't forgotten me. You know I'm going to France soon, right?"
Dyna quickly hid her own hands behind her back and nodded.
"Of course I know... I thought you'd already left..."
"I need an accompanying horse girl. The friends I know are all pretty busy, and I think Camellia gets along well with you. So I want you to come to France with me."
"...Huh?"
Dyna's mouth fell open slightly as she stared in blank confusion.
Since when had her relationship with Nakayama Festa advanced to the point where going to France together made sense?
And this gambler was not exactly easy to get along with, was she? Their first meeting in the shop had already been bizarre enough. For her to show up now and make a request like this so abruptly only made her motives seem even more suspicious.
Seeing the expression on Dyna's face, Nakayama Festa immediately reached into another pocket, pulled out a thin slip of paper, and slapped it down onto the register.
The sharp smack startled Oguri Cap awake.
"This is employment. You're the best cook I've met."
"But I'm a pastry chef...?"
"It's all cooking. Same difference."
Nakayama Festa clearly had no interest in arguing details.
The truth was, she had chosen Shining Dyna as her accompanying nutritionist for two reasons.
One reason really was that, among the people in her circle, Dyna counted as an excellent talent.
The other was that once she herself left Japan, who knew whether Orfevre would start causing trouble at the shop.
The only reason things were calm now was because Orfevre knew Nakayama Festa was currently backing the place.
That was exactly why Nakayama Festa wanted to keep this piece—this bargaining chip who could stand against Orfevre—close at hand, instead of letting her get bullied.
Besides, bringing Dyna to France would let her broaden her horizons and maybe pick up a little something about running as well.
Nakayama Festa, having already investigated Dyna's identity from top to bottom, actually felt some sympathy for this horse girl with a completely blank household record.
The odds of a phoenix rising from a straw chicken coop were low.
But not zero.
Nakayama Festa had always been a gambler.
Even if she often lost big, she still wanted to place one more bet—
That Dyna might just be a golden phoenix.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
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