Sakura Baimu interrupted Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen's conversation.
"Um... Falco wouldn't encounter that... Zone Umamusume too, would she?"
Smart Falcon, listening to Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen's conversation, felt a considerable sense of unease.
Having been exposed to Mejiro McQueen, Tokai Teio, and Symboli Rudolf over the past few days, she had a general understanding of what a Zone was.
In short, it was some kind of incredibly powerful technique that could drastically increase one's strength and also put considerable psychological pressure on surrounding Umamusume.
Therefore, Smart Falcon was terrified of this.
"Next match, Smart Falcon of TBC versus Lillian of Abyss."
Sakura Bakushin O's voice startled the tense Smart Falcon.
"Trainer-san~"
Smart Falcon put on a pitiful expression, staring expectantly at Sakura Baimu, looking terrified.
"Oh dear, you're an Umamusume from the High School Division."
Sakura Baimu sighed, looking around for a Zone Umamusume.
Since there were no Zone Umamusume on their team, she couldn't tell if her opponent, Lillian, possessed a Zone.
Finally, Sakura Baimu's gaze settled on Tamamo Cross, who was sitting with her chin resting on her hand, along with Oguri Cap and the others beside her. Her eyes lit up.
"Tamamo!!!"
Tamamo Cross trembled upon hearing Sakura Baimu's voice.
Her lips twitched as she slowly looked in the direction of the voice, and sure enough, she saw Sakura Baimu waving at her.
"Don't call me Tamamo!!!"
Tamamo Cross yelled, feeling utterly humiliated by Sakura Baimu calling her that in public.
"Tamamo, check with GG, does that American Umamusume have any Zone?!"
"I told you not to call me Tamamo!!!"
Tamamo Cross glanced at the flustered black-haired Umamusume who had just entered the venue, then replied helplessly:
"No!"
"Thanks!!!"
Sakura Baimu waved with a smile, then turned back and said,
"Did you hear that? No Zone, you can relax."
Just as Sakura Baimu finished speaking, she noticed Smart Falcon covering her face with her hands.
"What's wrong?"
"Trainer-san!!!" Smart Falcon suddenly bristled, her tail standing on end. "You can call her yourself, but why did you have to yell 'GG' in front of so many people?! If everyone remembers that, Falcon's idol career is over!!"
"Don't worry, no one will remember." Sakura Baimu patted Smart Falcon's shoulder, urging her with a smile. "Go on. Be careful not to get tricked. Act confident. Think about how you felt after defeating Crown last time."
"Okay..."
Hearing Sakura Baimu's series of reminders, Smart Falcon's previously bristling tail drooped back down. She replied softly and then walked onto the arena.
On the Zone.
At this moment, Smart Falcon's opponent, a black-haired Umamusume named Lillian, nervously clasped her hands together.
She was also an Abyss Umamusume.
She had just witnessed the defeat of her team's two strongest Umamusume, Cattleya and Bonnie.
Cattleya and Bonnie were undoubtedly among the top three strongest active-duty Umamusume at Pluto Academy.
Apart from the exceptionally talented Golden Crown Eagle, no one could defeat Cattleya and Bonnie.
Yet these formidable opponents, whom she admired and envied, had been so easily defeated by Mejiro McQueen and Tokai Teio.
Therefore, she deduced that Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen were actually terrifyingly strong, not at all the weakest as Cattleya had initially claimed.
"Even Cattleya and Bonnie, who possessed a Zone, became like that. Then I..."
Lillian glanced at Cattleya and Bonnie, whose eyes had become unfocused and who had already been dragged away, a deep fear creeping into her heart.
Then she saw the Umamusume with brown twin ponytails emerge from TCB's group.
Smart Falcon also felt worried. Although hearing that Lillian didn't have a Zone reassured her somewhat, she had just witnessed Abyss's Umamusume charging at opponents and kicking dirt, and knew these Umamusume truly lacked any competitive spirit.
She simply wasn't confident she could maintain the match while avoiding the opponent's various underhanded distractions.
After much deliberation, Smart Falcon decided to greet her and see if she could persuade her to compete normally.
So she gave Lillian a friendly smile and extended her hand.
"Hello, my name is Smart Falcon. You can call me Falco☆!"
"Y-you... hello, I'm Lillian."
Looking at Smart Falcon's smiling face, Lillian didn't feel relieved at all; instead, she felt even more terrified.
She clearly remembered that Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen hadn't smiled when they entered the arena.
Was Smart Falcon acting so friendly now to lower her guard so she could activate her Zone later and turn her into someone like Cattleya or Bonnie?
A smiling tiger is the most terrifying!
"Um, Falco has a request." Smart Falcon glanced around, then suddenly leaned closer to Lillian and whispered.
"Eek—?!"
Lillian jumped back two steps in fright at Smart Falcon's sudden approach.
"Could you, later, take your time to compete with Falco seriously?"
Smart Falcon carefully chose her words, asking tactfully.
She tried not to describe her underhanded tactics too harshly, lest she offend her.
"Seriously?! Does that mean she saw I don't have a Zone and thinks I'm too weak to motivate her?! She really is a Zone Umamusume!"
Lillian looked at Smart Falcon's serious expression and suddenly felt her legs tremble.
Seeing that Lillian didn't answer, Smart Falcon assumed she was reluctant and added:
"Teio and Miss McQueen were both middle school Umamusume. Falco is different; she's an upper school Umamusume. However, she's quite a bit behind Teio and Miss McQueen. Falco doesn't have any other unreasonable requests. She just hopes that Miss Lillian will compete seriously later. Is that alright?"
"Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen were middle school Umamusume? This Smart Falcon is an upper school Umamusume?! And Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen are quite a bit behind her?!!"
"What does she mean by saying she doesn't have any other unreasonable demands? Does she usually make unreasonable demands on her opponents during matches?!"
Lillian felt tears welling up in her eyes, her feet already unsteady.
Tearfully, she turned to Air Groove, waiting for the match to begin, raised her hands, and shouted:
"I forfeit! I forfeit! I'm not competing!!"