Rice Shower, ever the early riser, was already waiting at the campus gate for her trainer.
Today, the gatekeeper wasn't alone—beside the usual guard stood Secretary Hayakawa, whom Rice hadn't seen since the beginning of the school year.
Two days ago, the Chairwoman had finally returned from her overseas business trip, bringing back three horse girls who left quite an impression on Rice.
The former world champion, Rigantona.
The current strongest in the world, Zenno Rob Roy.
And Zenno Rob Roy's top disciple, the recently debuted Turf Dream.
The timeline of this world remained as chaotic as ever.
Rice hadn't expected that Turf Dream—who in McQueen-neesan's era had been her contemporary—would somehow be ranked alongside herself in this world.
Strictly speaking, this world's Rice Shower should be one year ahead of Turf Dream.
At least for this Japan Cup, none of these three would be competing.
Otherwise, Rice would truly have been at a complete loss.
Even so, the international competitors in this race were all genuinely world-class.
It was only because Rice wasn't familiar with them that she didn't feel much pressure.
"Hah..."
Trainer P, who'd barely slept the previous night, slipped on his shoes at the entryway and stepped outside.
Due to time constraints, he'd only managed some last-minute cramming on the competition.
But honestly, such preparation was fairly meaningless.
Every opponent was a contemporary superstar.
Even without a dominant force like Zenno Rob Roy participating, there were no weak competitors this year.
These weren't opponents who could be defeated through tactical planning alone.
Besides, whatever tactics he could devise, the opposing trainers could think of as well.
Add in the variables of each horse girl's condition and performance on race day, and horse girl racing differed greatly from actual horse racing.
Tactics, in truth, didn't matter much.
"I'm heading out."
Arriving at the campus gate to find Rice already waiting, P had long since stopped being surprised by this.
He'd once tried competing with her over who could arrive first, but eventually conceded to Rice's unyielding determination that refused to give an inch.
"Good morning, Trainer."
"Good morning, Rice. Have you eaten breakfast?"
"Not yet."
Learning that Rice hadn't eaten, P extended an invitation.
After breakfast in the cafeteria, the two set off for the venue.
Since P still hadn't bought a car, he'd reserved a taxi in advance.
Though the fare was admittedly expensive, he considered it a necessary expense.
He couldn't exactly follow the example of a certain senior and have his team squeeze onto buses or trains on race day, could he?
Meanwhile, Okino, who was still preparing to leave, couldn't help but sneeze.
Compared to P, who'd made preparations early, Okino's approach remained the same as always.
Generously put, he was simply accustomed to this—completely lacking any sense of tension.
Less generously, he was utterly unprepared.
Not that Team Spica's members took their trainer seriously anyway.
They'd all piled into Mejiro McQueen's family car early that morning, completely forgetting their trainer even existed.
The first sensation upon arriving at the venue was the heavy humidity.
Seeing that the grounds weren't yet open to the public and only participants could enter, P unceremoniously went to check the turf conditions.
The moment his fingers touched the ground, he couldn't help but frown.
The track conditions were terrible—likely due to last night's heavy rain.
Without question, this was a heavy track.
Looking at the moisture on his hand, P's furrowed brow soon relaxed.
No, perhaps this wasn't a bad thing.
In fact, these conditions might actually favor Rice.
And for the opponents who'd traveled from afar, this would be a considerable blow.
Their stamina wasn't at its peak to begin with, and their performance on a heavy track certainly wouldn't match that of the local competitors.
The question, then, lay with those local competitors.
The overwhelming crowd favorite was undoubtedly the undefeated Triple Crown winner from two years ago—Tokai Teio!
While a heavy track should theoretically favor Rice with her superior stamina, P had recently noticed something while watching Tokai Teio's races: she possessed impressive heavy-track adaptation skills.
There was no denying it—that horse girl was a true genius, nearly without weakness.
Even if her long-distance capabilities remained uncertain against Mejiro McQueen, Tokai Teio's versatility across running styles was already remarkable.
Soon after, the international competitors and trainers entered the venue. Upon seeing the turf conditions, many trainers' expressions turned grave.
But the competitors themselves appeared utterly unconcerned.
P observed that many wore expressions full of confidence.
Even knowing that two undefeated Triple Crown winners from Japan were competing, they still didn't take the race too seriously.
This was the norm.
After all, Japanese competitors' overseas records weren't particularly impressive.
Combined with the Japan Cup's historical results, which mostly favored international winners, their current confidence was understandable.
This confident mindset had its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was that their mental state wouldn't be affected by track conditions.
The disadvantage was that once momentum shifted against them in a race, this mindset could easily crumble.
Before the race began, Rice maintained her usual well-behaved demeanor.
Surrounded by unfamiliar strangers, she quietly followed behind her trainer.
This led many international competitors to misjudge her first impression.
"This is Japan's strongest this year?"
"I can't sense any aura of strength at all. Even her ZONE presence seems unstable."
"Hmph, looks like an easy win."
With his keen perception, P sensed something off in those competitors' gazes and turned to look at Rice, who was blinking her large eyes innocently.
Then he couldn't help but chuckle.
From their behavior, he could deduce one thing.
These people weren't taking this race seriously at all.
Otherwise, had they watched Rice's race footage, they'd know how different her racing persona was from her everyday self.
No—perhaps they weren't underestimating the race, but rather underestimating her specifically.
After all, their greatest opponent should be that genius, Tokai Teio.
"If that's the case..."
There was hope for victory.
These competitors' current states weren't formidable at all.
Now he just needed to observe Tokai Teio's condition once she arrived.
Tokai Teio arrived at the venue in the Mejiro family car.
Today she wore her blue-and-white racing outfit, striding into the venue with composure.
P, now seated in the spectator stands, carefully observed Tokai Teio.
His conclusion: Flawless!
Yes, whether physical or mental state, today's Tokai Teio had nearly reached her peak.
At this thought, he felt a headache coming on.
He truly couldn't understand why Senior Okino was so unreliable, yet the competitors under him almost all possessed remarkable self-regulation skills.
After Tokai Teio's entrance, P also noticed the other competitors' demeanor changed completely—totally different from how they'd treated Rice.
While this was technically "good news," P felt uncomfortable nonetheless.
They were both undefeated Triple Crown winners—what was with this double standard?
His observations complete, he could only conclude: As expected.
P had suspected he couldn't devise any tactics against Tokai Teio, and now he was certain.
Today's Tokai Teio was undoubtedly in her strongest state ever.
She was probably planning to maintain this momentum through continuous victories, building up her presence before challenging Mejiro McQueen at the Tenno Sho (Spring).
If she actually pulled this off, Tokai Teio might genuinely have a chance to challenge McQueen's supremacy in long-distance racing.
Many trainers had initially assumed Senior Okino's arrangement meant he'd already conceded Tokai Teio's winning streak.
But P could now state with certainty.
Senior Okino might privately think McQueen would win, but he absolutely hadn't given up on Teio's victory.
He'd made reasonable arrangements to give Teio a chance to defeat McQueen.
Truly worthy of being a senior trainer whom the Chairwoman and President valued highly despite all his flaws.
P felt there were many shining qualities he could learn from Senior Okino.
Soon it was time for the venue to open to the public.
The previously quiet grounds instantly came alive.
Spectators filed into the stands in orderly lines.
After the entrance period ended, the broadcast played the expected opening music.
"The final Tokyo Racecourse event of the year—the G1 Japan Cup!"
"Today's live commentary will be brought to you by myself, Hosoe, and—"
"Myself, Akasaka."
"—providing commentary for today's race."
After their opening remarks, the competitors began their entrances.
One by one, almost every competitor introduced was a famous international name.
This Japan Cup's caliber exceeded any before—the local horse girls were completely overshadowed in popularity.
Not until the third-most-popular competitor appeared—this year's undefeated Triple Crown winner, Rice Shower—did the crowd begin to cheer.
But second place still belonged to an international competitor.
Though only a dual-crown winner who wasn't even undefeated, this competitor's sole defeat had come in the world's strongest race—the Arc de Triomphe.
Even if her record appeared inferior to Rice's, simply having competed in the Arc de Triomphe was an extraordinary honor in itself.
First place in popularity, without question, went to Tokai Teio, who commanded the most votes due to home advantage.
A significant portion of Rice's votes had been drawn away by her.
Otherwise, as this year's strongest undefeated Triple Crown winner, Rice might not have actually lost to second place in popularity.
It simply meant that in people's hearts, Tokai Teio was considered stronger.
Thus everyone had voted for Tokai Teio in the support polls.
P actually wished those fans would be more decisive and give all their votes to Tokai Teio.
Then at least Rice wouldn't have insisted on participating in this race with such slim odds.
"The gate signal has appeared."
"Number 14, the crowd favorite Tokai Teio, drew the disadvantageous outermost gate position, yet her composure during loading is remarkable!"
Without a hint of hesitation, Tokai Teio's condition today was dazzlingly brilliant, her entire being radiating fierce fighting spirit.
Many international competitors found her quite formidable.
But just as they all focused solely on Tokai Teio, a terrifying chill suddenly emanated from Gate 8.
That pitch-black aura even seemed to shroud the entire gate in dark mist.
"What is that?"
"That's her gate position."
"Impossible! That ZONE presence!"
Even Tokai Teio's confident expression turned serious at this moment.
So this was the oppressive presence of the Black Assassin that could only be felt in person?
The intensity of this aura was truly abnormal.
It completely mismatched the strength Rice had displayed in previous races.
At this moment, inside Gate 8, Rice focused intently ahead.
And behind her, The Overlord had opened its eyes.
Unlike Rice's dark blue flames, the fire in The Overlord's eyes was blue veiled in pitch-black essence—far more terrifying and powerful than Rice's own aura.
The starting lights flashed, and the instant the gates opened, all competitors burst forth.
Almost simultaneously, several competitors manifested tremendous presence.
If this were a game, one could have seen a cascade of green and gold skills flashing in that moment.
Currently leading was the front-runner, Legacy World.
As the only front-runner in this race, she easily claimed the lead position.
Tokai Teio's position at the start fell somewhat behind.
The outermost gate had indeed affected her launch, though her expression showed no anxiety.
When she'd drawn this position, she'd already anticipated a slow start.
"Tokai Teio is moving toward the inside lane."
Rather than staying outside to chase directly, Tokai Teio chose to hug the inside rail and catch the slipstream of those ahead.
She wasn't confident enough to compete for position during the early-to-mid stage—that would be all effort for no gain.
Meanwhile, Rice was in fifth place, right beside the second-favorite, User Friendly.
Though User Friendly hadn't taken Rice seriously before the race, the moment she felt the presence emanating from Rice, her guard shot up to maximum.
"I completely misjudged her earlier—but with such presence, what are you hiding?"
ZONE intensity didn't necessarily correlate with strength.
But Rice's ZONE presence was simply too terrifying—abnormally so.
Had she not experienced it firsthand, she never would have imagined ZONE presence could be this powerful.
She couldn't help but suspect Rice was hiding her true strength.
...
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