"Huff… huff… Rudolf—you're not bad. To think you could push me this hard in the bike leg…"
"You're not bad either, Maruzensky. I didn't expect your bike handling to be this terrifying."
A short while later, at the mountaintop finish of the cycling stage, Rudolf and Maruzensky arrived almost simultaneously.
Maruzensky had fallen a little behind in the swim, but she'd erased every bit of that gap on the bike. Now she and Rudolf were effectively back at the same starting line.
This way… at least the kid won't be bothered by the Mejiros.
Maruzensky's drive in this race was unusually fierce. Part of it was simple: she genuinely adored Kagura. But she had another goal, too. Beating Rudolf might not happen—but no matter what, she couldn't let the two from the Mejiro Family take first. She couldn't shake the feeling their interest in Kagura wasn't entirely innocent. She wasn't about to hand them that opportunity.
"Congratulations, you two," Trainer Minamizaka said, waiting at the top. "You're the first to arrive. You've reached the final stage—run down from here to the beach at the foot of the mountain. The Mejiro Trainer is waiting at the finish line there."
Minamizaka wasn't surprised Rudolf and Maruzensky were first—he'd predicted it would be those two. Still, seeing it with his own eyes left him with a small pang of regret.
Nice Nature… yeah. Can't be helped. Rudolf-san and the others are just too strong…
Of course he wanted Nice Nature to win. He could tell how much she cared about her closest friend. But Rudolf and the other pros were simply too dominant. Not being able to seize an advantage here was, frankly, unavoidable.
Neither Rudolf nor Maruzensky relaxed for even a second over their temporary lead. They launched into the final leg immediately.
It was a long downhill stretch—just looking at it made your calves ache. Anyone who'd ever climbed a mountain had heard the saying: climbing is hard, but descending is harder. Going down didn't just drain stamina; it demanded constant control and braking, burning strength in a different way. For high-speed Umamusume, it was its own kind of training.
Not long after Rudolf and Maruzensky departed, a panting Mejiro Ramonu arrived at the summit with Nice Nature and Bizen Nishiki, both of whom still looked relatively okay.
Mejiro Ramonu arrived at the summit, panting hard. Close behind her, Nice Nature and Bizen Nishiki came up as well, both looking relatively steady.
"Sorry, Trainer… I guess I'm still not quite there."
Nice Nature lowered her head, embarrassed, thinking of the guidance she'd been given.
"It's fine, Nature," Trainer Minamizaka said. "Don't worry about anyone else. Run your own race. Show what you've gained these past few days."
He stepped forward, bent slightly, and patted Nice Nature's head.
Bizen Nishiki had already set her bike down. Seeing her ready, Nice Nature didn't linger—she took off with Bizen Nishiki down the downhill stretch, with Trainer Tojo following close behind on her scooter.
After they left, several more minutes passed before Ardan and Kagura arrived at last. Ardan was in last place, but she looked the happiest by far—or at least, that was how Minamizaka felt.
"Do you want to rest a bit, Ardan-ojousama?" Kagura asked.
"No. If I rest now, everyone will be waiting forever," Ardan said firmly. "With Kagura beside me, I'll be fine!"
Faced with Kagura's concern, Ardan refused the suggestion with quiet steel. Like the others, she set her bike aside and headed into the final stage.
"Thanks for your hard work, Trainer Minamizaka," Kagura said.
Kagura paused on the scooter to greet him before continuing on.
"Hard work? I've just been standing here," Minamizaka said with a laugh. "The girls racing are the ones doing the hard part. By the way—Kagura, you're on a scooter… are you staying at the back to prevent accidents?"
"Mm. Ardan-ojousama's the only one at the rear. She's not very strong physically, so I need to keep an eye on her."
"I see. You really put your heart into your friends."
Strictly speaking, this wasn't within the job scope of a Support Umamusume. Kagura had no obligation to be out here doing this. Yet she came anyway. Her sense of responsibility was plain to see, and Minamizaka felt genuine respect for the little Umamusume.
"Well… I just can't relax otherwise. It's not a big deal."
"I have a request, Kagura. I heard you know massage, too?"
"A little… why?"
"When the race ends, could you give Nice Nature a massage—help her loosen up?"
Kagura blinked once, then nodded in understanding. It wasn't a hard request. She hadn't exerted herself today; helping Nice Nature would be no trouble.
"Sure~ I'll go find Nature-san during lunch break."
...
On the sandy beach beyond the finish line, the Mejiro Trainer waited quietly for the racers to arrive.
In his heart, he already had a pretty good idea who would win. He couldn't see the course ahead from here, but by pure strength, the ending was likely a three-way fight: Maruzensky, the powerful veteran; Symboli Rudolf and Mejiro Ramonu, the recently debuted prodigies. The suspense lay only among those three.
The descent from the summit wasn't long. Downhill took effort, but the Umamusume didn't spend much time on it. Aside from one moment where Bizen Nishiki nearly failed to brake on a turn and would've shot straight off if Nice Nature hadn't grabbed her back, everyone reached the foot of the mountain smoothly and hit the final sprint stretch.
"As expected…" the Mejiro Trainer murmured.
A cluster of figures entered his view. In the lead, just as predicted, was Rudolf—Maruzensky nearly alongside her. What surprised him was that Mejiro Ramonu had dropped back by a noticeable distance. Behind her came Nice Nature and Bizen Nishiki, locked close together. They were clearly accelerating with everything they had, but the gap ahead wouldn't close. The win would be decided between Rudolf and Maruzensky.
The instant they rounded the final bend and hit the long home straight, Rudolf unleashed everything she had. At last, she shook Maruzensky off and crossed the finish line first—by a razor-thin margin.
A second or two after they broke the tape, Mejiro Ramonu came through, followed by Bizen Nishiki and Nice Nature.
"Challenging the president really is… too early for me," Nice Nature sighed as she spoke.
She wasn't happy about it, but the result didn't surprise her.
Even with the outcome decided, the Mejiro trainer waited for the final racer—Ardan. Only after Kagura accompanied Ardan across the finish line did he announce the end and call out the results.
"Congratulations to Rudolf—first place in today's race!"
"So that's how it ends…" Ardan said, watching Rudolf step forward to accept the champion's prize.
She smiled, a little ruefully—then lowered her eyes to Kagura beside her, who'd stayed with her all the way to the line. Noticing Ardan looking, Kagura turned her head and offered a warm smile. Ardan paused, then returned it with a small, quiet smile of her own.
But… somehow, it doesn't feel that important anymore.