Regardless of whether Xingyun Liuge had run that practice race with Diminuendo or not, Minster Son had already become very interested in her.
The courage to set out on an overseas campaign at the very beginning of her classic year alone was enough to catch Minster Son's attention.
And more than that…
An overseas campaign meant having to account for every possible variable. Setting aside whether one could adapt to the course and climate, food alone was already a monumental issue.
As everyone knew, British cuisine was famously exquisite. Its finest representatives were, of course, fish and chips—and French food.
As for why French cuisine counted as British cuisine… well, surely one could not possibly count baked beans, ice cream, or canned goods.
Minster Son was the sort who could suppress her appetite with ease. Even if all three meals in a day consisted of nothing but toast and carrot juice, her heart would remain perfectly undisturbed. She would simply eat with gusto.
That lasted right up until she caught the aroma of Eastern cooking in the dining hall.
She still remembered it perfectly.
It had been an evening thick with sorrow and gloom… ahem, no, it had been a melancholy night just after the rain had stopped.
The air had been so fresh it was as if it had been blessed by the Goddess herself. Mixed into it were the fragrance of damp earth and the green scent of grass, leaving one refreshed in body and spirit.
But no matter how invigorating that pleasant freshness was, it could not overcome the faint aroma drifting through the air.
Another horse girl might have dismissed it outright and joked to herself:
How could Central Tracen possibly smell like that? Besides, it isn't even mealtime. I must be imagining things.
But Minster Son did not let the anomaly pass.
She followed the scent directly and discovered that it was wafting out from the back kitchen of the cafeteria.
Was the head chef perhaps staying up late to prepare a new dish?
She quickly rejected that theory. Her ears had already caught sounds unlike anything associated with British or French cooking. If she had to describe it, it sounded rather like the cooking she had seen on television when people prepared Eastern dishes.
The Central Tracen chefs most certainly did not possess skills like that.
So she began her investigation, careful and quiet.
The commotion, as it turned out, was Xingyun Liuge's doing.
Back in Kasamatsu, Liuge had already begun preparing for life abroad. She had never really tried British or French food, and since she did not think she could endure hamburgers every day, she had taught herself how to cook.
And so came the first meeting between the two horse girls, in the cafeteria of Britain's Central Tracen.
Liuge herself believed her cooking was no more than passable—just good enough to be edible. But in Minster Son's eyes, those dishes were already delicious.
Very delicious.
And when Liuge discovered Minster Son, she had simply invited this complete stranger to join their midnight meal.
There had been no deep meaning behind it.
It was just the straightforward warmth and hospitality of an honest, kind-hearted person.
Or perhaps it was because the girl with ash-gray hair and bright blue eyes reminded Liuge of someone she knew.
Especially the way she devoured her food—Liuge practically saw Oguri Cap in her.
But the girl standing before her was not Oguri Cap.
It was Minster Son.
Deeply moved, Minster Son felt as if she now owed Xingyun Liuge a favor. So she had declared:
"When I win the Two Thousand Guineas, I'll treat Xingyun and everyone else to a grand French dinner! As much as you can eat!"
She had even flashed a thumbs-up and a radiant grin while saying it, fully embodying the principle that food came first.
Only then did the two finally realize that they were rivals.
And from there, it had quickly leapt straight into the familiar stage of:
Since our eyes have met, let the battle begin.
Minster Son was a somewhat stubborn girl. She believed that a practice race was the best possible way to prove herself. She did not want Xingyun Liuge to think she was just talking big, so she took the initiative to challenge her.
Let's race. Once we've run together, everything will become clear.
She was a horse girl who trained every day until late into the night. She had complete confidence in her strength and fully intended to aim for the British Triple Crown.
She had not, even for a moment, considered the real reason the girls had been gathered in the cafeteria eating a late-night meal in the first place:
By the time they had finished all the procedures and finally arrived at Central Tracen by car, it had grown very late. Naturally, they had needed something to soothe their empty stomachs.
Chihaya Yui, of course, had been firmly opposed.
Xingyun Liuge had only just endured a long, exhausting journey. A training race at a time like that was utterly inappropriate. On top of that, the weather was awful, the course slippery, and it was completely unsuitable for asking Liuge—who had not yet adjusted to British turf—to run a practice match.
But Liuge did not mind in the slightest.
She accepted happily.
The moment they set off, Minster Son realized that Xingyun Liuge was indeed unfamiliar with British turf. Her form and running posture both looked a little off.
And yet, even so, she still could not surge past Liuge in one decisive move and seize the lead.
The two girls were forced into a fierce contest for first position.
Minster Son preferred front-running and pace-leading tactics. Under normal circumstances, if she failed to secure the lead, then so be it—she would simply rely on the racing instincts and experience she had built up to overturn the situation later.
But tonight was different.
This was clearly a horse girl who had only just arrived and had not even adapted to British turf yet. If Minster Son casually surrendered the lead here, would that not be the same as admitting that she could not beat even such an unadjusted Xingyun Liuge?
Minster Son refused to back down.
She used a gate skill against Liuge.
Lead Position Interference (Light): When contesting the lead, slightly reduces the acceleration of the rival horse girl.
A dazzling radiance erupted from Minster Son's body, so bright it nearly scrambled Liuge's vision.
To ensure her own safety, Liuge instinctively eased off for a moment. But after dropping back by no more than a neck, she discovered that the blinding effect had already vanished.
Minster Son was still glowing, yes—but the effect that muddled her vision was gone. At this point, she looked more like a horse-girl-shaped lamp than anything else.
Liuge blinked.
She had initially thought Minster Son might be a powerful horse girl who had mastered a Domain. But apparently that was not the case.
Was this skill… just a little underwhelming?
Still, the glowing effect was kind of interesting.
With that thought, Xingyun Liuge decisively activated Decisive Strike. Since her opponent had so kindly handed her the perfect chance to trigger the doubled bonus, how could she possibly waste the opportunity?
When moving toward an opponent, Decisive Strike granted fifty percent bonus movement speed for eight seconds.
Though, of course, once she overtook them, it would roll back down to half that base value.
Then came a sharp crackle.
Blazing lightning burst from the girl's eyes—and at that exact same moment, the gloomy storm clouds overhead, as though they had been waiting for a signal, suddenly broke open and unleashed torrential rain. In an instant, both girls were drenched from head to toe.
Worse still, the sudden downpour obscured their vision.
The moment Minster Son noticed Liuge activating her skill, she instinctively veered sideways, afraid that Liuge, unable to see clearly, might crash straight into her.
But in moving, she lost her footing.
She was about to smash directly into the rail.
At that critical moment, Xingyun Liuge lunged forward without hesitation.
Brilliant lightning exploded beneath her slender, delicate feet, tracing a perfect numeral 7 through the air.
She caught the off-balance girl around the waist, spun twice and a half in midair, and landed smoothly—so light and elegant it looked like an artistic gymnastics routine.
That moment left Minster Son deeply shaken.
Which was precisely why, when her friends confidently declared that she would surely win the Two Thousand Guineas, she had answered:
"I might not even keep first favoritism."
Because by then, Xingyun Liuge had already beaten British horse girls twice.
And the second time, the British horse girl had been the one to seek her out.
By now, the major papers in Britain already knew her name.
Just two days earlier, the front-page headline had read:
The Silver Monster Lands in England!
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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