Chapter 115. Triple Tiara and the Differences in Highlights of Mixed Races
Of course, Shuta An knew that if he wanted the other party to agree, merely presenting an empty proposal would never be enough. While Mejiro Nagasaki and the others remained deep in thought, the young man proactively offered part of financial support for the entire project as his share later. They would only need to assist Mejiro Ramonu in the future; as for the remaining details, those could be discussed later between him and Mejiro Ramonu.
However, Mejiro Nagasaki ultimately did not give her full agreement.
After all, while she could accept the matter of Mejiro Dober no longer being "bled" by the Mejiro Family in the future, it would still be impossible to conceal such a matter from the Old Madam forever.
To be honest, if not for the fact that the matriarch of the Mejiro Family already appeared to have only a few years left to live, the young man had, for a brief moment, considered staging a modern version of "Candle Shadow, Axe Sound" within the Mejiro Family itself.
Fortunately, he quickly suppressed the thought.
—
Still, this negotiation had already pushed the progress of his overall plan to roughly 80-85 percent. Because of that, Shuta An was in a genuinely good mood when he left the Box.
However, just as he was preparing to return to Team Sadalsuud's Box to begin watching the races, he was stopped midway by Mejiro Ramonu.
"Ms. Ramonu, why are you here?"
The young man clearly remembered that Mejiro Ramonu had promised to help block certain Mejiro Family members who could not be reasoned with today, so logically speaking, she should not have appeared here at this time.
"I didn't expect the faction supporting Dober to settle things so quickly, so there was no need for me to step in at all." Mejiro Ramonu let out a helpless sigh. "I rushed over from home just to see whether Shuta-kun still needed any help from me."
"As you can see." Shuta An spread his hands slightly. "It's already settled."
"Was it successful?"
Mejiro Ramonu's expression immediately became tense. Naturally, she wanted to hear good news—although whether such good news would actually be good for the Mejiro Family as a whole remained another matter entirely.
"It's one step away from complete success. Unfortunately, that final step can only be left to time."
Shuta An shrugged before explaining in detail the final proposal he had made to Mejiro Nagasaki and the others.
After hearing everything, Mejiro Ramonu frowned slightly.
"Shuta-kun, aren't you afraid that in the end, you'll simply be spending money to help the Mejiro Family raise children?" she retorted.
"If all of them come to assist me, aren't you worried that I'll eventually be sidelined and your investment completely squandered?"
"I don't think they can do that."
Shuta An concealed the latter half of his thoughts. Even if such a situation truly occurred, he already had backup measures prepared.
"Ha~"
Mejiro Ramonu lowered her head and let out a soft laugh.
"It's been a very long time since an outsider trusted me this much."
For some reason, despite the smile currently resting on the face of the Mejiro Family's acting head, Shuta An always felt that Mejiro Ramonu was actually deeply sorrowful.
"Anyway~!"
Mejiro Ramonu blinked hard several times before lifting her head to look directly at him.
"As for Dober, please continue taking good care of her in the future, Shuta-kun."
"I will."
Standing before the Mejiro Family's former Triple Tiara Uma Musume, Shuta An gave a solemn promise.
"I'll do everything I can."
"There's no need for that. Just make sure Dober doesn't end up walking the same path I did."
Mejiro Ramonu shook her head before turning away.
"Still…hearing good news from Shuta-kun today makes me happy."
"Don't walk your path?"
Watching Mejiro Ramonu's departing figure, Shuta An frowned deeply.
"Did Ms. Ramonu encounter something similar in the past…and then her Trainer chose to avoid it?"
The moment that thought surfaced, the young man instinctively decided not to investigate further. He could vaguely sense that this matter represented one of Mejiro Ramonu's deepest sorrows.
"I should focus on Dober first."
Turning his head, Shuta An looked toward the Nakayama Racecourse track.
"This afternoon's Arima Kinen—"
Whether it was Grass Wonder or Special Week, both were extremely troublesome opponents in the young man's eyes. Not only from Mejiro Dober's perspective—even if Silence Suzuka herself were racing today, the situation would remain the same.
"Unless it's Oguri"
Only the Gray Uma Musume who had once achieved three consecutive Arima Kinen victories could give Shuta An a true sense of reassurance against opponents like Special Week and Grass Wonder.
—
Back inside the Box, Shuta An was unsurprised to find several Uma Musume already sitting leisurely on the sofas. However, a glance toward the shopping bags piled in the corner immediately revealed that while he had been busy outside, they had already thoroughly explored Nakayama Racecourse and bought quite a few things.
Without asking what they had purchased, Shuta An simply took a bottle of sparkling water from the refrigerator, sat down in his seat, and glanced at the clock overhead.
"The sixth race is about to begin already. I didn't expect things to finish this quickly."
The young man muttered softly to himself.
Then, after coming back to his senses, he noticed Kurofune standing behind him.
"Is something wrong?" he asked in confusion.
"Curren suggested that since we could use this Box thanks to Trainer, and because Trainer always takes care of us, we all pitched in together and bought Trainer a trench coat."
Kurofune smiled brightly while holding up a beige trench coat. "Would Trainer like to try it on?"
"Then I'll try it."
Shuta An accepted it from Kurofune's hands.
After taking it, the young man inspected the trench coat carefully. The inner lining itself did not seem particularly special, but when he flipped it around, he noticed Oguri Cap's name embroidered on the back together with an abstract version of her personal logo.
"So Nakayama Racecourse even sells merchandise like this~"
Shuta An stood up, slipped on the trench coat, and turned around once.
"Is this a Nakayama Racecourse limited edition?"
"It is~" Curren Chan immediately chimed in.
"The version sold at Nakayama Racecourse is the Arima Kinen model, while Tokyo Racecourse sells the Japan Cup version. Since they're only sold at those two racecourses in Kanto, Oguri Cap's Kansai fans even protested online before!"
"This is honestly my first time hearing about merchandise like this."
Shuta An shook his head slightly, while silently thinking to himself—
"I should ask the URA Association later how much commission Oguri receives from these sales."
He did not ask about the price. Instead, he merely decided inwardly to prepare return gifts for the four Uma Musume later.
Just as Shuta An hung the trench coat onto the nearby hanger, the commentator's voice suddenly rang out from the television.
"Takechi Shonen! She overtakes Hayabusa Tora right at the finish line! Washing away the humiliation of her previous Black Pine Sho defeat, she claims victory in the Hopeful Stakes! Could she become Tokai Teio's greatest rival next year?!"
Hearing those words, the two Uma Musume from Team Sadalsuud immediately turned their gazes toward their Trainer.
Shuta An simply shook his head before sitting back down calmly.
"I can already confirm that this generation has no rival capable of challenging Tokai Teio."
Takechi Shonen?
The horse she corresponded to in the Dream World had never even appeared on the Triple Crown stage.
The young man truly was not worried at all.
The Arima Kinen parade began at 3 PM. According to the starting gate order, the twelve Uma Musume appeared one after another. Following behind Grass Wonder, Mejiro Dober stepped into the parade area, and the cheers erupting from the stands instantly became even more fervent.
"They're even more excited than when Special Week-senpai and Grass Wonder-senpai came out earlier."
Curren Chan remarked, her eyes sparkling brightly. "But I think Dober-chan was still only the third favorite in the pre-race popularity poll, right?"
"Both Special Week and Grass Wonder appear stronger than Dober, who has only dominated the Triple Tiara-limited route," Shuta An calmly stated the fact before him.
"Although the Triple Tiara Route also determines victory through strength, the audience's attention isn't focused solely on winning or losing. An Uma Musume's bearing, appearance, and overall aura are all taken into consideration as well," the young man continued.
"However, Uma Musume are inherently beautiful beings, so the real distinction ultimately lies in demeanor."
At that point, Curren Chan immediately added, "And Dober-chan comes from the Mejiro Family, so there's absolutely no need to worry about her demeanor."
"So, on the Triple Tiara stage, Dober is the greatest winner in every sense," Shuta An first nodded in agreement with Curren Chan's words before continuing,
"but mixed races are not necessarily the same. The mixed races of the Twinkle Series are a world where strength reigns supreme, an absolutely results-oriented environment. The winner is the stronger one. And Dober still hasn't truly proven herself in a mixed G1 race, so it's understandable that her popularity isn't as high as Special Week's and Grass Wonder's."
"If the Arima Kinen were a Triple Tiara-limited race, then Dober's popularity would definitely rank first." The corners of Shuta An's lips curved upward slightly. "That is the difference between Triple Tiara-limited races and mixed races."
"It's such a pity Curren can probably only run short-distance races. Otherwise, the Triple Tiara Series would definitely suit Curren best,"
Curren Chan lamented inwardly. "Everyone would absolutely fall head over heels for Curren."
Agnes Digital remained silent.
To her, although Triple Tiara-limited races sounded like a place where she could meet countless cute Uma Musume, whether they were on the Triple Tiara Route or the mixed route, every Uma Musume already seemed wonderful in her eyes. As such, Agnes Digital still had not truly decided on her future path.
Kurofune, meanwhile, had long since prepared herself to focus on dirt races.
Since dirt races were not highly valued in Japan, Shuta An had already told her that during her active Twinkle Series years, she should challenge the American Twinkle Series instead. Therefore, the situation of Japanese races was not something she particularly cared about.
As for Rice Shower, she had already decided long ago to dedicate herself to the classic three crowns stage, so things such as demeanor were not within her considerations. However, the naturally timid and junior-like atmosphere surrounding Rice Shower indeed made her exceptionally suited to the Triple Tiara stage.
"Number 7, Mejiro Dober, the undefeated Triple Tiara Uma Musume who made a last-minute supplementary entry into this year's Arima Kinen. Without question, she possesses top-tier talent, and her expression appears extremely relaxed," the guest commentator introduced as Mejiro Dober stood upon the parade platform.
"If only she truly could be relaxed," Shuta An thought silently to himself.
"Both Special Week and Grass Wonder look to be in outstanding condition today. If Dober wants to win, then ideally Special Week would be in the same condition she showed during the Kyoto Daishoten, and Grass Wonder would be in the same state as when she skipped the Yasuda Kinen in the first half of the year."
In other words, he hoped the conditions of those two Uma Musume were utterly terrible.
Unfortunately, Shuta An possessed no black magic capable of debuffing Special Week and Grass Wonder from peak form into poor condition.
"In the end, it still depends on how this race unfolds, and on Dober's own will," the young man murmured softly to himself while standing beside the French window.
Once the parade concluded, he intended to leave the Box and watch the race directly from the grandstands below.
The four Uma Musume also planned to head downstairs together to watch the race trackside.
Curren Chan knew it would be troublesome if fans discovered her inside the Box, so she intended to take selfies around the stands for promotional purposes.
Agnes Digital, as Mejiro Dober's close friend, naturally wanted to cheer for her from beside the track.
Kurofune simply wanted to personally experience the live atmosphere of the Arima Kinen.
Finally, Rice Shower, despite not having any strong desire to watch from the stands, felt awkward remaining alone in the Box after seeing that everyone else planned to leave.
"I hope Dober-chan achieves a good result," Kurofune murmured softly to herself before leaving the Box.
"Absolutely, absolutely no problem!" Curren Chan immediately responded with complete confidence in her tone.
Mejiro Dober stepped down from the parade platform and nodded toward Phalaenopsis, who would start from gate 8. She then crossed directly over the Nakayama Racecourse turf, preparing to head toward the starting gate and begin her warm-up.
After traversing the entire Nakayama Racecourse and arriving at the amusement park located in the center of the track, Mejiro Dober followed behind the Staff Miss guiding her, carefully avoiding disturbing the children playing on the attractions.
"Go, Dober!"
However, from the moment she stepped into the amusement park, cheers for her continuously rose from every direction.
"You're really popular, Miss Mejiro Dober," the Staff Miss could not help but exclaim.
"Not bad, I suppose?" Mejiro Dober smiled slightly herself. "Since everyone supports me this much, then I absolutely must show them my best performance in return."
"Good luck in the Arima Kinen! I'm your fan too!" the Staff Miss walking ahead replied enthusiastically.
"I will!!" Mejiro Dober nodded vigorously.
As she approached the starting gate and prepared to begin warming up, she happened to overhear Special Week chatting with Grass Wonder nearby—
"Grass Wonder, do you know? When I walked through the amusement park just now, the Staff Miss guiding me said she was my fan!"
"Really? Spe-chan truly is very popular," Grass Wonder replied with a smile. "But because of that, for the sake of all our fans here today, we must all give it our absolute best, right?"
"Of course! And today we're facing Dober-chan too!" Special Week clenched her fist tightly. "Trainer has never beaten Trainer Shuta even once, so I really want to help him accomplish that goal."
"I'm literally standing right here listening," Mejiro Dober thought inwardly.
"You too, Dober-chan!" Grass Wonder, who had already noticed Mejiro Dober approaching long ago, turned around and extended her hand toward her.
Mejiro Dober did not hesitate in the slightest and decisively shook Grass Wonder's hand.
"Although entering this race wasn't originally my intention, now that I'm standing on this track, I will absolutely give everything I have."
"That's only natural. Grass Wonder and I feel exactly the same way!" At this moment, Special Week's fighting spirit had already risen to its peak.
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