Hearing Sakura Baimu's friendly banter again, Maruzensky felt happy and replied with a smile.
"It's not like it's the first time I've lost. I wasn't taking it seriously, so of course I don't care."
"Huh? Maruzensky-san has lost before?" Sakura Baimu asked in surprise.
"There haven't been any official matches, but in private practice, Rudolf, C.B., and I often go toe-to-toe," Maruzensky laughed. "Don't forget, Rudolf is the pinnacle of the academy, not me."
"But I heard that you, Maruzensky-san, have never taken matches seriously, and you've never used your Zone."
"That's true. We don't use Zones in private matches. And in official matches, I haven't faced Rudolf, so naturally there's no one I'd use my Zone against," Maruzensky said with a smile.
"But I remember Maruzen-san and Rudolf-san participated in the Dream Cup together, right? That time..."
"Of course I won~"
"Wow, as expected of Hotrod, your strength is terrifying." Sakura Baimu quoted a famous line from an online novel.
"I've run against Rudolf countless times in private and lost many times. Losing to you today was unexpected, but it's not a big blow."
Maruzensky chuckled, then winked at Sakura Baimu.
"But to be honest, I really panicked when you overtook me just now. Luckily, this wasn't a formal match, and I didn't really go all out."
"Oh, so if Maruzen-san had used her Zone and lost to me, would you have cried?"
Sakura Baimu suddenly narrowed her eyes and asked Maruzensky.
"Even Rudolf couldn't force me to use my Zone, Sakura-san. Are you really that confident?"
"Maruzensky-san didn't answer my question directly."
"Let me think..."
Maruzensky lightly tapped her chin with her slender fingers, glancing upward with a thoughtful expression.
After a moment, she shook her head and smiled at Sakura Baimu.
"Sorry, I really can't imagine losing when I've activated my Zone~"
Sakura Baimu smiled and gave Maruzensky a thumbs-up.
"As expected of Hotrod, that confidence isn't something everyone has."
"Sakura-san still has a good chance. I'm looking forward to you becoming the first person to force me to use my Zone~"
Maruzensky patted Sakura Baimu's shoulder encouragingly.
Then her gaze turned serious again.
"But victory will probably still be mine~"
Maruzensky's cool expression didn't last long.
Suddenly, Maruzensky let out a loud yawn.
Realizing it herself, she quickly withdrew her hand from Sakura Baimu's shoulder and covered her mouth.
"Oh dear, this is the first time I've ever been sleepy this early. Looks like tonight was really fun. I ran really well~"
"Goodnight."
Sakura Baimu whispered goodnight, then pressed the timer on her hand and ran off again.
"Young people really have a lot of energy~"
Maruzensky smiled, yawned again, and finally decided to go home and sleep.
Tonight, Maruzensky went to bed much earlier than usual.
And she fell asleep with a smile on her face, looking forward to tomorrow.
--
Time flew by again, and it was now August.
August was exceptionally busy for TCB.
Because this month, three Umamusumes from TCB were going to participate in competitions.
The first race of August was contested by Rice Shower, a newcomer to the team.
Sakura Baimu registered her for the Kitakyushu Kinen race held in early August at Kokura Racecourse in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture.
This is a high-stakes G3-level race held by URA at Kokura Racecourse.
The distance is 2000 meters.
Initially, when the staff heard that Sakura Baimu was registering Rice Shower, they even suspected that she was there to cause trouble.
However, after it was confirmed that Rice Shower would be participating, the entire staff at Kokura Racecourse were incredulous.
Rice Shower was the winner of the Takarazuka Kinen and, even more so, the formidable Umamusume who had defeated the strongest active racers, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen.
Unfortunately, Rice Shower suffered a comminuted fracture in an accident during the Takarazuka Kinen.
Just when everyone was lamenting the fall of this rising star, Rice Shower unexpectedly announced her comeback just over a month later!
"Even a normal fracture wouldn't heal this quickly, right? Can she really make a comeback? What if we promote her and she doesn't come to race?" a staff member at Kokura Racecourse asked a colleague next to her.
"Who knows? You can't generalize about the physical condition of different Umamusumes."
"Should we promote her, then?"
"Why not advertise it? This is Rice Shower's first race after her broken leg. She's the strongest active racer, having defeated Mejiro McQueen and Tokai Teio!"
The news that Rice Shower would participate in the Kitakyushu Kinen immediately shocked many people.
They were all somewhat incredulous that Rice Shower, who had suffered such a serious injury at the Takarazuka Kinen, had announced her comeback only a month later.
--
Fukuoka Prefecture is extremely far from Tokyo, so Sakura Baimu didn't choose the Shinkansen and instead opted to fly with Rice Shower to Fukuoka.
Originally, the TCB team members hadn't planned to travel to Fukuoka Prefecture with Sakura Baimu to watch the race. It was too far, and with the team's tight budget, flying all seven of them would be too extravagant.
But Sakura Baimu insisted. How could they not all go out and support Rice Shower's comeback race?
It's just money.
She waved her hand dismissively. "Mejiro McQueen, please!"
So, all the Umamusumes from TCB flew to Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture.
Having come all this way, the Umamusumes decided to spend a day having fun after Rice Shower's race before returning to Tokyo.
The pre-race presentation began.
Rice Shower unsurprisingly received the most votes.
The audience, along with the Umamusumes who had just finished their presentations, watched Rice Shower slowly pick up her jersey after the presentation, all with expressions of astonishment.
"So, Rice Shower really did recover!"
Glimmer Express, the third most popular contestant in the race, exclaimed in surprise as she peered toward the presentation stage from the back.
"That's not necessarily true. She doesn't need to run during the presentation. I don't believe she'll recover that quickly."
Ogura Storm, the second most popular contestant, was also very concerned about Rice Shower's condition. She immediately objected after hearing Glimmer Express's words.
After speaking, she also peeked at Rice Shower, whose steps were steady, and felt a little less confident herself.
"Even if the fracture healed, it's impossible for her to return to her previous condition in a month."