(In the previous chapter it was written wrong. It wasn't the Asahi Hai, it was the Hopeful Stakes.)
With the announcer's sky-piercing shout, Nakayama Racecourse completely exploded!
"McQueen! McQueen! McQueen!"
"Light-Chaser! Light-Chaser!"
"Go for it!"
"Ooooooohhhhhh——!!!"
The mountain-crashing, wave-like cheers were so intense that even the runners' tunnel trembled slightly.
In the tunnel's shadows, Mejiro McQueen slowly opened her amethyst eyes.
She adjusted her race outfit one last time.
The aura that had just receded while she was chatting with Ryan now condensed again, soaring upward, becoming purer and sharper than ever before.
"Tak—!"
She began to walk once more.
One step forward.
And the instant she stepped out from the dark tunnel into that dazzling sunlight—
BOOOOM!!!
Tens of thousands of gazes locked onto her all at once!
"So different from the Hopeful Stakes... so this is a Classic Triple Crown race?"
McQueen lifted her head just slightly.
Just by standing here, she could clearly feel a pressure completely unlike before: the wishes of countless people, the expectations of countless people.
Right now, every bit of that was gathering on her, without missing a single strand.
That heavy bundle of wishes felt like a raging wind, whipping the hem of her clothes into a flurry.
In the stands, countless faces blurred into a halo of light, yet the shouting carved itself clearly into her heart.
"McQueen!" "Light-Chaser!"
Every syllable turned into invisible strength, pushing her forward.
"Mejiro McQueen has entered the track! Can she take her first glorious step on the stage of the Classic Triple Crown?"
The announcer's blazing tone drove the rhythm of the whole venue, and the atmosphere rose even higher.
At the side, the other seventeen horse girls watched this scene, involuntary sighs slipping from their lips as they felt a bitter unwillingness.
"We haven't even started running yet, and they're already this desperate for her to win?" White Shining Rock's voice was full of helplessness, but her eyes only grew more determined.
"Haha, McQueen is popular, you know." Mejiro Ryan stood off to one side with a hand on her hip, chuckling lightly.
"...Then just beat her."
All of a sudden, White Grand spoke coldly.
She straightened up, her gray-white hair lashing in the breeze at the tunnel entrance like a blade.
"Rip that position out of her hands."
That icy, battle-burning line fell like a drop of water into boiling oil, exploding in an instant among the seventeen horse girls!
White Shining Rock clenched her fist, the unwillingness in her eyes instantly turning into a blazing flame.
"Yeah!"
"Ayaa, that's pretty direct,"
Ryan still wore a smile, but the hand on her waist quietly dropped, and her stance shifted just a little, revealing a more serious edge.
Ines Fujin froze for a heartbeat, then the flicker of envy in her chest was replaced by a searing heat she'd never felt before.
Right. If she's that strong...
If you want it, then fight for it!
If you want to take it, then beat her!
Not just the four of them. The other fourteen horse girls too, whether they had been sighing, resigned, or simply in a spectator's frame of mind...
In this moment, all of them were lit up by White Grand's provoking, challenging words!
A set of auras, once scattered and uneven, suddenly seemed to resonate with each other, gathering and surging skyward.
Seventeen pairs of eyes, seventeen lines of sight, turned into seventeen nocked arrows straining at the bow.
They pierced through the roar of the racecourse, full of unhidden challenge, aiming straight at the girl in pure white standing in the center of the sunlight: Mejiro McQueen!
"Would all participating horse girls please step into the gates."
The announcer's voice sounded at just the right time.
Hearing this, the girls withdrew their gazes and walked toward their respective starting gates.
"...So they've all set their sights on me?"
Feeling those ten-plus strands of hostility just now, not too strong but not too weak either, McQueen smiled faintly and walked forward with calm steps.
Once McQueen was the last to enter her gate, and a brief silence fell, the stirring fanfare of Nakayama Racecourse slowly rose through the air.
...
At the very top tier of Nakayama, in the central VIP stand.
Kuroha stood before the transparent floor-to-ceiling window, looking out over the track below.
Or rather, watching a few specific horse girls among the participants.
Just then, a figure came up beside her, speaking with a smile:
"What's this, our great Light-Chaser's head trainer is actually worried about this race?"
Kuroha came back to herself, then turned her head and smiled lightly. "You pretty much never miss a G1."
At her side, Symboli Rudolf was standing gracefully.
Even wearing Central Tracen Academy's standard uniform, she couldn't hide her beautifully sculpted figure.
The several-dozen-kilo weight of her "crown" of hair on her head might as well have been air; Rudolf's movements were utterly unfazed. Instead, she folded her arms with a mock-annoyed look.
"I am the student council president, after all. Of course I have to attend a major event like the Classic Triple Crown."
She paused as she spoke, her gaze dropping to Kuroha's feet...
Where a petite loli was gripping Kuroha's trouser leg, earnestly craning forward to watch the race about to begin.
"This kid is... the new horse girl you just took into your team?" Rudolf asked, not quite sure.
"Hmm? Oh, you mean Bourbon?"
Kuroha reached down to rub the little loli's wonderfully soft head and smiled.
"She's been training under me lately. If she does well, and if they themselves are willing, she should be the next generation of hope for Light-Chaser."
Little Bourbon had also noticed Rudolf's arrival. Once Kuroha introduced her, she turned and bowed politely.
Today, only she and Tokai Teio had come with Kuroha to Nakayama to watch the race.
Rice Shower had not come.
After all, the Monthly Sho was scheduled for three in the afternoon.
But because she longed for the Classic Triple Crown, Mihono Bourbon had asked for a half-day leave.
"President Rudolf-sama, my name is Mihono Bourbon. I am currently receiving guidance under Coach. Please treat me kindly," she said.
Up above, Teio grinned and chimed in, "Kaichou, Kaichou, Bourbon is doing super well, you know! She learns really fast!"
"Mm, is that so? Then please treat me kindly as well, Bourbon," Rudolf replied with a warm expression.
Seeing the three horse girls, one big and one small (plus one Teio), getting along happily at her side, Kuroha withdrew her gaze and turned back to the track.
But she was not looking at her own McQueen.
Instead, she fixed on the back of a different horse girl.
White Grand.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]