No one gave the signal, nor was any verbal exchange needed. Everything flowed as naturally as if preordained, and in the same instant, the two of them began to run.
You know, there's an old saying: the hardest thing to steal in this world isn't some priceless gemstone, nor some immensely heavy piece of machinery.
It's the intangible, formless thoughts hidden within the mind.
Knowledge and skill.
No matter how secure a safe is, it can't compare to the human brain, which offers outsiders not even a sliver of a chance to peek inside.
So the young girl felt that, compared to those external things which could be lost at any moment, ability itself was far more important.
She would never refuse any opportunity that could help her improve.
Besides, she understood Green Grass's thinking.
As an Uma Musume, from the moment you step onto the racetrack until the day you leave, aside from the fleeting memories that remain, it truly feels like nothing is left behind.
The footprints you once left behind grow fainter with the passage of time.
And Green Grass didn't want that to be the result.
On this vast, seemingly endless racetrack, leaving and being forgotten weren't the only two options.
She had chosen a third path.
To pass down her own way of running.
She wanted more people to see, more people to remember, that there was once a delicate girl who, relying on sheer willpower, set foot upon this very grass.
For Green Grass, teaching her probably felt less like instructing a junior, and more like the passing on of a spirit.
Letting one soul find refuge in another...
Thump!
Her soles met the earth, sending clods of soil flying.
The night was damp, the air chilly.
This match had no finish line, nor did it need one. It was simply Green Grass holding nothing back, laying herself bare, while the girl focused entirely on receiving it all.
The tricks of running, the strife of competition.
Unnecessary. All of it was unnecessary. To think about winning or losing now would feel like a desecration of this race.
Coincidentally, the starry sky tonight was exceptionally bright, and the girl was in peak condition.
It seemed she could memorize even more than before...
After maintaining a relatively steady pace for several hundred meters, Green Grass gradually hit her stride.
Even these former powerhouses who once dominated the track couldn't enter their 'Zone' anytime, anywhere.
They needed to warm up, to get their bodies and minds highly active, sometimes even requiring their condition to be at its absolute best, to have a chance of touching that state.
To match Green Grass's rhythm, the girl had been intently listening to the footsteps behind her.
Those footfalls, precise as machinery, were like a masterpiece sculpture, perfected over years of meticulous carving.
Imitate, refine, and surpass—this was perhaps the one and only gift heaven had bestowed upon the girl since she opened her eyes and came into this world.
She could have chosen to ignore it, to live a quiet, ordinary life like anyone else.
Or she could choose to utilize it to its absolute limit, and carve out a breathtaking journey.
And she had resolutely chosen the latter.
The girl... she inherently loathed a life of bland, unremarkable normality. She had never once regretted the choice she made.
Gathering her strength, she gradually accelerated. Green Grass, close behind, matched her pace perfectly, sticking to her without a hint of deviation.
Was Green Grass's 'Zone' different from last time?
That intense, oppressive feeling that had appeared behind her without any warning.
Or perhaps... it wasn't even a Zone at all...
The girl had experienced a state of complete focus before.
But after the race was over, she could never quite recall how it felt.
It was like a powerful electric current passing through her body, lasting only for the briefest instant.
It was her own subjective consciousness that made the feeling seem to last longer.
So, the true nature of the Zone was something even the girl found difficult to define.
But surely, Green Grass was about to provide the answer.
This was the first time she had ever felt such a vivid sensation emanating from someone else.
An ultimate realm that even the likes of Narita Brian and Oguri Cap had never stepped foot in.
Listening to the rhythmic sound, the girl wanted to increase her speed further, entering the acceleration phase of a race.
Just then, whether illusion or not, the girl suddenly saw something flicker past her cheek from the side and behind.
Swish—
A cut appeared on her face.
Blood slowly welled up...
What!?
It was as if something had detonated in her brain. A searing pain spread across her cheek. The girl reached up to touch her face.
Smooth and soft. No blood, as she had expected.
None?
Right...
She didn't even possess such a thing to begin with.
But even so, her body was clearly and unmistakably telling her, 'You're injured. Your blood is flowing out. Your stamina is dropping...'
Was this... phantom pain?
Feeling pain in a place that wasn't actually wounded.
Why?
Suddenly, the girl realized this was likely an effect of Green Grass's Zone.
Her presence was spreading outward.
Just as the girl braced for the next attack, a sharp, fierce wind cut past her.
With a loud whoosh that filled her ears, the girl narrowed her eyes and sped through the gust without slowing down.
What followed was—
Silence.
An immense quiet settled around her.
Under the illuminated night sky, she was the only one running in silence on the training field.
The echoing footsteps behind her had vanished. The sharp, oppressive presence had melted away like ice cubes dropped into water, as if it had never existed.
Green Grass... was gone?
The girl tilted her head slightly, observing.
She couldn't see her.
She couldn't see any sign of the other, couldn't sense her presence. It was as if that person had never been there from the start.
What in the world... is going on?
She wasn't a ghost; she couldn't just vanish into thin air.
Even if she had left the training field, she couldn't have disappeared without a trace in mere seconds.
The girl was bewildered. Just as she was about to stop and search for any trace of the other, an incredibly sharp dagger thudded into her chest, piercing straight through. The gleaming blade reflected the pale moonlight with a cold, quiet glow under the stark lights.
An agonizing, heart-rending pain shot straight to her skull.
Green Grass was holding the hilt of that dagger, her calm blue eyes devoid of killing intent or any emotion as she looked at the girl.
Green Grass...
She was right behind her, in the blind spot just outside her field of vision!
Almost purely on instinct, the girl's foot slammed heavily into the ground, and her own presence burst forth uncontrollably.
A beast's claw seemed to shatter the dagger.
But even so, that intense pain refused to fade from her mind.
Clutching her chest, the girl came to a stop, gasping for air like a wounded person drowning in water.
If she were human, she'd undoubtedly be drenched in cold sweat by now.
She felt the injured area. There was no stab wound, no blood.
Just like before, it was the other's overwhelmingly intense presence, imparting a near-tangible illusion.
But wait, could that really just be called 'presence'?
It was completely undetectable.
And the next time it appeared, it was already holding a dagger piercing through its opponent.
After the girl stopped, Green Grass slowly came up beside her.
This was a skill honed specifically to counter Maruzensky.
A technique belonging solely to Green Grass: the 'Assassin's Zone.'
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.