"If Suzuka leads with that kind of speed next time, Barbatos might not necessarily win, you know."
Up in the stands, hearing this, the members of Spica all turned to look at Gold Ship.
Even Okino hadn't expected Gold Ship, who'd been with their team for so long, to say something like that.
Looking at it from that angle, if Silence Suzuka and Barbatos faced off again in the future, the outcome really would be up in the air.
"Right you are!"
Special Week lightly tapped her palm with her fist. "If that's the case, then next time when Suzuka-chan wins, wouldn't that make her Japan's number one?"
She did a quick mental substitution: Barbatos had beaten Silence Suzuka, so she was the strongest active runner, Japan's number one.
So if Silence Suzuka beat Barbatos, wouldn't that logic apply to her too?
"Uh..."
It sounded pretty reasonable on the surface, but when you actually said it like that, it wasn't quite the same thing.
Tokai Teio, who knew the most about this kind of thing, chimed in to explain. "It doesn't work like that. Even if Suzuka-san faces Barbatos again in their next race and wins..."
"At most, Suzuka-san would just claim the title of reigning Middle-Distance Queen."
"Barbatos would still be Japan's number one."
You couldn't just win one race and call yourself Japan's best.
"To be Japan's number one, you at least need to dominate most distance aptitudes. You need to have mastered at least two of the aptitudes—Sprint, Mile, Middle-distance, Long-distance—and have a bunch of wins under your belt to show for it."
Currently, Barbatos could be said to have mastered all aptitudes. Even going up against Taiki Shuttle over a mile, she might not necessarily lose.
"The teachers should've covered this stuff in class, right?"
"Ah, well..."
Special Week scratched her head. As an Uma Musume who relied on spinning a pen to pick answers on tests, classroom knowledge was a world away from her.
"That's true, I guess."
Gold Ship was looking at Special Week with a slightly strange expression. "Spe-chan, I thought your dream was to become Japan's number one?"
It was like she was saying, 'Why does it sound like you care more about Suzuka becoming Japan's number one than your own dream now?'
"Gyaaah!!!"
Though no one knew exactly how it worked, thanks to Gold Ship's presence, the atmosphere at Spica had brightened up considerably.
--+--
Barbatos stood at the finish line, basking in the moment of her victory.
Sweat from her earlier all-out run traced a path down her neck, the pain in her legs still lingering. But beneath the joy of triumph, all of that became trivial.
The titles of strongest active runner, Japan's number one, tugged at the corners of her mouth. An indescribable sense of accomplishment welled up inside her, giving her a bit of a giddy, floating feeling.
But then her gaze swept across the stands.
When it landed on the Rigil observation area.
Seeing the Emperor, Symboli Rudolf, sitting dead center in that section, that giddy feeling vanished in an instant.
Now wasn't the time to relax, to get a big head.
Japan's number one was just the first step towards closing the distance with the Emperor. Who knew how many more steps lay ahead? She had to keep pushing forward!
The biggest takeaway from this year's Takarazuka Kinen was probably finally awakening her own Zone.
A Zone was a symbol of an Uma Musume's true strength. Even some G1 winners hadn't necessarily awakened theirs.
Today, she'd finally taken that step.
If ordinary Uma Musume gauged how close they were to awakening a Zone by whether they could perceive others' Zones...
Then she, thanks to her system, could already see Zones. She even had Zones like [White Lightning] and [Unstoppable Onslaught] available to activate.
Because of that, she'd never been able to tell how far she was from awakening her own unique one.
Until this race. That desperate struggle on the final straight, those last hundred meters to the finish line, had finally forced her own Zone to awaken, raising the ceiling of her current strength.
She wondered, how big was the gap between her and Symboli Rudolf now?
"B…chan?"
A cool, clear voice sounded from behind her. Barbatos turned to see Silence Suzuka.
"Is it okay if I call you B-chan?"
"Of course. Special Week talks about you all the time."
Barbatos chose not to call Special Week 'Spe-chan' in return during their conversation. Even though she usually did, in front of Spe's very obvious crush, she figured she should keep a little distance.
"You're really strong. If we meet again in a race next time, I'll win."
"I won't let anyone else take the view from the front again."
Silence Suzuka didn't seem overly dejected by her loss.
Having experienced failure last year, her expression now remained cool and composed. She had learned to channel the frustration of defeat into fuel for training.
"Then I'll just have to try and snatch that view from the front away. The scenery up ahead does look pretty good, after all."
Barbatos fired back without backing down, then added curiously, "Suzuka-san, what's your schedule for the second half of the year?"
With El Condor Pasa overseas and legendary Uma Musume rarely showing up in regular races, facing off against Silence Suzuka was probably the best way for her to improve right now.
As for the possibility of losing? She wouldn't even entertain the thought.
"Second half... I'm definitely running in the Autumn Tenno Sho and the Japan Cup."
Silence Suzuka saw no reason to keep this a secret. Once entries were posted, every Uma Musume's race schedule was public on the official website anyway.
"The Autumn Tenno Sho? If I entered that, wouldn't that make it a Spring-Autumn Tenno Sho consecutive win?"
Barbatos was just shooting the breeze.
In reality, there was no way she could run the Autumn Tenno Sho.
The final leg of the Triple Tiara, the Shuka Sho, was scheduled right around the same time. There was no way she'd give up a shot at the complete Triple Crown just for a Spring-Autumn consecutive win.
"Then let's have a proper rematch at the Japan Cup."
"Mm."
Silence Suzuka gave a soft hum and nodded in agreement. She wasn't intimidated by Barbatos's challenge for the Japan Cup.
Just then, Air Groove, having finally calmed her own emotions, walked over. "Suzuka, you really surprised me today. You're so much stronger than you were at last year's Tenno Sho."
"Air Groove-senpai."
"We might not be on the same team anymore, but we can still train together sometime if you're free."
"Shouldn't we be getting ready for the winner's stage?"
Mejiro Dober's voice cut through their reunion. Even for a legendary Uma Musume, a fourth-place finisher like Air Groove couldn't participate in the winner's stage.
But hearing that made Barbatos realize something.
As she followed Mejiro Dober towards the locker room, she asked curiously, "Dober-senpai, have you seen King Halo anywhere?"
She hadn't caught a glimpse of King Halo since the race ended. She was a little curious about that.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.