This wasn't some fantasy world. Shuta An couldn't magically stretch time by three days. Realistically, he had two choices.
1. He could shorten Oguri Cap's rest period, then force her condition back into shape within ten days—just enough to enter the Arima Kinen.
2. Or he could let her rest for the full twenty-one days, then rush the final adjustments—sending her into the Arima Kinen in a state where she wouldn't be able to fully show her strength.
Either way, the Arima Kinen was a 2500-meter challenge Oguri Cap had never attempted. And at the notoriously grueling Nakayama Racecourse, even elite Uma Musume struggled. Losing there would not tarnish her year; four G1 victories already guaranteed she would be Local Horse Girl of the Year. The URA Association would even grant her the Special Award of the Year—she was still officially a local Uma Musume, and thus not eligible for the URA Horse Girl of the Year award.
"And four G1s—that alone is enough to guarantee Oguri a spot in the Twinkle Series Hall of Fame after she retires," Shuta murmured, wholly confident in that point.
Lost in tangled thoughts, he returned home and rang the doorbell. To his surprise, it wasn't Berno Light or Oguri Cap who answered—but Tamamo Cross.
"Did I come to the wrong house?" Shuta blinked, stepping back to double-check the house number. It still clearly said Mejiro.
Tamamo Cross's expression faltered. "We're guests today. You didn't get the wrong place."
"Oh." Shuta pressed a hand to his chest in relief and stepped inside. Tamamo Cross moved aside and headed back to the living room without waiting for him.
He thought she was going to resume chatting with Oguri Cap and Berno Light. But by the time Shuta finished changing into slippers and reached for a cup of barley tea, Tamamo Cross was already slipping into a thick coat.
"I just got home—Miss Tamamo Cross, are you leaving already?" he asked, trying to coax her into staying. "Why not have dinner with us?"
"If I'm free later, I'll accept." She waved lightly. "But I have something important to take care of back at the academy. Sorry."
"I see—then I wish you all the best." Shuta closed the refrigerator, cup in hand.
"Bye~" Tamamo Cross waved to Oguri and Berno. "Oguri, rest well."
Oguri Cap's reply sounded subtly muffled.
She's a little down—Did Tamamo Cross say something to them? Shuta wondered.
After sending Tamamo Cross off, he returned to the living room. He sat across from Oguri Cap, Berno Light at his side, barley tea warming his palms.
"The report came out, right?" Berno asked, glancing at him. "Oguri's fine, isn't she?"
"No major issues. No minor injuries either." Shuta nodded toward the shelf where the report lay. "But there's one thing I want Oguri's opinion on."
"My opinion?" Oguri looked up. "It must be something important."
"Very important," he answered quietly. "Something I can only move forward with after you agree—or refuse. Honestly—if possible, I wouldn't want you to make this choice at all."
He set his cup down with a strained smile. If he had to choose alone, looking at her now, he would choose to withdraw from the Arima Kinen. Even if fans were waiting for her to complete an unprecedented autumn middle-to-long-distance Grand Slam—even if they would be disappointed—it didn't matter. He was her Trainer. His responsibility was Oguri Cap—no one else.
"Please speak, Trainer." Oguri pinched the back of her left hand, bracing herself.
"Here's the situation," Shuta began. "The report says Oguri's condition is good, no injuries. But—two consecutive high-intensity autumn races have built up fatigue and hidden damage. To fully recover, three weeks is the minimum."
"Three weeks—then we only have one week left to prepare for the Arima Kinen." Oguri immediately grasped the problem.
"Exactly. One week isn't nearly enough. Even if I push hard, I still need at least ten days." Shuta's voice was heavy.
Oguri heard the message beneath his words, understood his caution, and knew the risk she would face if she ignored it.
"If I don't recover properly—I could get injured, right?" Though phrased as a question, Shuta and Berno could hear the certainty in her tone.
"Exactly." Shuta repeated the same word.
"If this were noon, I would have agreed with you," Oguri continued. "Health is important, after all."
Shuta's heart sank before she even finished.
"But now—NO." Her eyes ignited with determination. "Ann, I have a reason I must run in the Arima Kinen."
"Why?" He didn't notice his hand trembling.
"Because while you were out, Tama came by. She told me something—" Oguri's expression tightened. "She plans to make this year's Arima Kinen her retirement race. No matter the result—she's retiring from the Twinkle Series."
"Retirement?!" The word detonated inside Shuta's mind. "Why? Normally Uma Musume can race another year—why retire now?!"
Oguri didn't answer his question. She simply continued, "So—even if there's risk—I have to run in this Arima Kinen."
"…" Shuta fell silent, then a new resolve lit his eyes.
"I understand." He stood. "Oguri, rest properly for these two weeks. I'll take care of the later adjustments. I'll build a training plan that gets you into race-ready condition without compromising your recovery."
Shuta An would never plan a training schedule alone. He had already concluded earlier that there was no way to magically "borrow seventy-two extra hours from the heavens." So, after stepping into the study, the young man seated before the computer immediately pulled out his phone. With practiced motions, he opened Line, found "Dr. Grace," and sent his request.
A few minutes later, Dr. Grace's angry voice message arrived. Shuta An didn't bother opening it—he already knew what kind of rant it contained. Besides, the chat showed that Dr. Grace was still typing.
Half a minute later, her message popped up—
"Speak. Why did you wake me up in the middle of the night again?"
"A problem I can't solve myself." Shuta An responded calmly. "Please wait a moment."
He pulled out the scanner, fed in Oguri Cap's medical examination report, digitized it, and sent it to Dr. Grace's email.
Only then did he type: "Take a look at the medical report I just sent."
"The latest report for the Japanese Uma Musume you're responsible for? It seems normal. All damages are within standard limits. I don't see any issue." Even Dr. Grace sounded puzzled.
"What if I told you that in twenty-seven days, she's entering another G1? Turf, 2500 meters, with two steep Slope Roads to climb."
This additional detail shut Dr. Grace up. Just as Shuta An was about to ask whether she had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion, a new message arrived:
"You're not trying to make sure she recovers completely and also enters the race in peak condition, are you? Those conflict. And it's not like you to let your Uma Musume compete without full recovery."
"Of course I know that." Shuta An bit his lip. "But Oguri has a reason she must run. I can't refuse her. As her Trainer, I should at least try to fulfill her wish."
"That's not something a Trainer should say." Dr. Grace cut straight to the core.
"With your personality, if you were only her Trainer, you'd have scolded her and made her give up that fantasy."
"Well—" He chuckled awkwardly while typing. "You're right. But I already promised her."
"Hah—this is the really kind of problem you would be losing sleep over." Then Dr. Grace sighed and added, "But who told me I owe you?"
"If it's about me leaving the West Coast, forget it," Shuta An grumbled. "You shouldn't have spoken up back then. Otherwise, you'd be stuck in Japan with me. I can train Uma Musumes—but you? You'd be stuck finding some hospital and treating regular people."
Dr. Grace didn't argue. Not because she believed she'd fail to find work in Japan—but because her mind was already racing with ways to accelerate Oguri Cap's recovery. Her train of thought was completely different from Shuta An's. Based on her experience, Uma Musume needed at least ten days to adjust from resting state to peak race mode. Anything shorter meant they couldn't run at full power.
"A shackle forged by the three goddesses—" She muttered internally. Her side went silent.
Shuta An didn't find that surprising. He set down his phone and prepared to finish writing—well, fabricating—Oguri Cap's post-Japan Cup report.
"In this race, Oguri Cap originally planned to use a front-running tactic, but the physical clashes among overseas Uma Musume exceeded expectations. She therefore made a spontaneous decision to fall back to the extra-line group to avoid rough contact."
"Mid-race, the leading group exhausted their stamina from constant position fights, allowing Oguri Cap to display superior speed in the final sprint."
"At the end, Tony Bianca's accident affected her less than predicted. She produced a stronger finishing kick than those ahead, caught Obey Your Master and Tamamo Cross, and secured consecutive autumn turf middle-to-long-distance G1 victories."
"Although Arima Kinen is the expected next target, consecutive months of high-intensity competition and Oguri Cap's incomplete physical maturation mean unavoidable damage. Therefore, whether she can participate will be discussed next month."
As he expected, after submitting the report to the URA Association, rumors of "Oguri Cap possibly withdrawing from Arima Kinen" surfaced that very evening.
He didn't bother explaining. He merely complained to Symboli Rudolf:
"Is the URA Association a sieve? I submitted the report this afternoon, and the rumors came out by evening."
"These things often happen—" Rudolf replied with helplessness. "When I raced in America, my report leaked the same day—and it even got distorted, forcing my Trainer and me to issue a statement."
"Then my trust in the URA Association drops even further," Shuta An grumbled. "If even the Emperor's report can be leaked and altered, some people are too bold."
"Good thing I already retaliated." Shuta An's mouth twitched. He was about to send a sarcastic message when Rudolf asked: "So are those rumors true? Oguri Cap won't be running Arima Kinen? Why not?"
"If the final say in Team Sadalsuud were mine, then yes." The implication was unmistakable.
"So she is still going." Rudolf exhaled in relief. "She should. It's the grandest stage of the year."
"But the doctors already warned about her physical strain. If she can't recover properly…"
He didn't need to finish. Rudolf understood. After a pause, she sent:
"Is there anything I can do? If you need anything, tell me. If Miss Oguri Cap doesn't run, this year's Arima Kinen won't deserve the name 'The Big One.'"