A familiar place. Familiar people.
Kitasan Black gazed at Tracen Academy before her.
Up ahead, Gold Ship-senpai was going to great lengths trying to recruit new members for her team.
Quite a few new students nearby cast envious glances in that direction.
Unlike during the senpais' time, when Team Spica was still on the rise. Back then, the trainer had a bad reputation and wasn't good at management, so even though Spica was strong, they weren't very famous. But now, Spica was undoubtedly one of Tracen Academy's powerhouses—and currently one of the more popular ones too. Though Kitasan Black knew their internal financial situation still hadn't improved.
That was why Gold Ship and the others had personally come out to recruit. They couldn't be bothered with talentless newcomers anymore, but talented newcomers naturally had better options. Even though Spica was indeed strong now, they weren't good at managing the team. Their resources were basically the lowest among Tracen Academy's top teams. Kitasan Black remembered that in the anime, Trainer Okino was still worried about salaries even at this point.
And the new recruit being targeted this time was naturally her.
With the power of fate at work, plus her abilities already exposed, her reputation as a genius was now known to all. Given all this, it wasn't strange for Gold Ship-senpai to find her on the first day of enrollment.
Moreover, she remembered that in the original timeline, "Kita-chan" had apparently been acknowledged as Gold Ship-senpai's one-sided disciple. Even though the relationship was one-sided, it was enough to show that she and this senpai had a gravitational connection.
Listening to Gold Ship-senpai's persuasion while not actually taking in a single word, Kitasan Black waited until Gold Ship-senpai's throat went dry before finally giving the answer she'd prepared long ago: "I'm sorry, Gold Ship-senpai, but I currently have no intention of joining any team."
"..."
Gold Ship immediately grew anxious upon hearing this. She'd finally found a promising seedling she liked—their team hadn't recruited anyone new in two years!
Sure, if they lowered their standards, recruiting new members would be easy with Spica's current reputation. But that approach would be self-destructive, because their team's philosophy simply wasn't suited for that. Plus, even though Trainer Okino was decent enough at training itself, he was utterly useless at everything else.
Despite producing so many strong members and building up their reputation, the team's resources hadn't improved much. This was fatal. Current Spica might appear to be at its rising peak, but that was only because their members' fame was forcibly carrying the team. If they couldn't find suitable new recruits, then by the time she, Gold Ship, retired too, Spica's name would become nothing but a legend of the past.
And Gold Ship estimated she could run for maybe one or two more years at most. She hadn't entered the Supreme Domain. Though she had the talent for it and had once touched the threshold of her domain, not entering was not entering. Combined with her later attempts to compete against those monsters, her spirit had inevitably been worn down, and her strength had already begun declining. In fact, she already felt somewhat powerless during races now.
Never before had she felt such an urgent desire to find a successor—hoping someone new could take up Spica's position as their racing uma musume. True, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen hadn't retired from their racing careers in this world like they had in the [Player]'s reality, but a team couldn't rely forever on its veterans, could it?
"No, Kita-chan, listen to me. I know other teams would welcome you too with your abilities, but I guarantee they can't offer you the same full-support conditions that we at Spica can!"
Gold Ship tried her best to persuade.
Everything she said was heartfelt truth. Because their team had no new members, the moment Kitasan Black joined, she would immediately become the team's star uma musume. Whether it was their trainer or the senpais, everyone would do their utmost to support and nurture Kitasan Black. Only small, unknown teams could offer such treatment to a newcomer—any team with a reputation simply couldn't give a newcomer such favorable conditions.
Kitasan Black understood this point well, but she still didn't want to join Spica. Because of the anime's plot, she subconsciously felt this team was unreliable. After all, a trainer who would think to give Kitasan Black—a front-runner—skill factors for something like "Imperial Dance" was hard to trust as having any real ability. More importantly, she didn't think she needed any trainer at all. Okino was currently at the peak of his career, and she didn't believe she could get along with him right now. Her original plan was just to find an obedient rookie trainer to deal with the rules.
If this had been during Okino's darkest period—when Gold Ship-senpai debuted—she definitely would have considered him. Back then, Okino had been no different from a broken man. If she'd acted even slightly forceful, Okino would have obediently played his role as a tool. But the Okino of this era was the trainer who had led Team Spica to become a first-rate team. There was no way he'd be content to be used as a tool by some newcomer.
Sure, she was confident she could forcibly suppress him, but she didn't like doing that sort of thing and didn't see the point. After all, she didn't need any training resources. Her stat panel had been trained through the System, and while it wasn't completely unchangeable, the effects were actually minimal—whether improvement or decline. As long as she didn't do something stupid like stacking multiple debuffs on herself, her stats would basically remain stable.
With her situation, she could race even with a dog as her trainer, so why make things difficult for herself?
"Thank you, senpai, but my answer won't change. I have no intention of joining a powerhouse like Spica. For me, I'd rather find a trainer who satisfies me, regardless of whether they have ability or not."
Kitasan Black firmly declined Gold Ship's invitation once again.
"Can't you reconsider?"
"That's enough, senpai. Continuing to push will just become unsightly."
Kitasan Black had never seen Gold Ship-senpai like this before.
Though Gold Ship was known as the "Martian Uma Musume," the impression she gave people had always been one of boundless cheerfulness and confidence. But now Gold Ship-senpai had become so humble.
"..."
Gold Ship fell silent.
But a moment later, unwilling to give up, she tried to use her ultimate move.
"If that's how it is, then even if I have to use force, I'm dragging you into our team today!"
"That's pathetic, Gold Ship-senpai. Are you really going to kidnap me? Besides, you can't."
Kitasan Black stopped Gold Ship's next action with an icy stare.
In that instant, Gold Ship saw reflected in Kitasan Black the powerful enemies she had once faced.
The figures of the Tyrant and the Queen deploying their ZONEs flashed before her eyes, and her momentum was instantly crushed.
Gold Ship had once believed she was destined to stand at the pinnacle of her era. Back then, she'd been full of confidence. But reality was cruel. Facing that imperious Tyrant and the Tyrant's only rival, she was completely outmatched. While her opponents strode into the Supreme Domain with an invincible bearing, she couldn't budge that door even slightly.
She had lost.
Not just the races—her fighting spirit had been defeated too. That was why her current strength had declined rather than improved, because she could no longer imagine herself winning a race.
No one knew. Even her trainer had been fooled by her facade, believing that someone like Gold Ship could walk out of any setback or blow on her own. But the truth was, Gold Ship's inability to win races now was the greatest proof she hadn't recovered. That was why she wanted to find someone new to take her place.
It was also for this reason that, feeling Kitasan Black's aura now, she couldn't bring herself to act.
If it were the old her, she would have moved without hesitation. But the current her couldn't do it.
Kitasan Black could naturally see that something was off about Gold Ship-senpai's condition, but that wasn't her concern. Seeing that Gold Ship-senpai had given up on trying to make a move, she decisively chose to leave.
How Spica's future turned out, what was going on with Gold Ship-senpai—none of that was her business. Or rather, from the very beginning when she came to Tracen Academy, she had never intended to get along with everyone here.
Because the students here were, in a sense, all her enemies.
Since they were enemies, peaceful coexistence was impossible.
She was a destroyer who harbored no dreams, who would trample all ideals for her own selfish desires.
She'd been prepared for this level of resolve long ago.
After all, she had persevered for this very purpose. Since she hadn't chosen to run away and had come here instead, it meant she was ready to make everyone cry.
...
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