Though Xingyun Liuge had quietly grumbled about it, she truly could not resist the temptation of creating something from nothing.
Weighing the Hextech gun in her hand and touching the rocket belt fastened around her waist, she could not help but let out a sigh.
"What even is my life at this point?"
Even more absurdly, she could enchant her running shoes too. At that stage, this was no longer a footrace. It was practically a technology competition.
She could even brew miraculous little potions, the purely natural, harmless, quietly effective kind.
To that, Xingyun Liuge had only one response:
Seriously? That actually got a laugh out of me.
The Wild would make them afraid.
Still, now that she had it, there was no harm in testing it a little.
So Xingyun Liuge called over the girls who were in relatively better shape—Fujimasa March, Nolen Ace, and Southern Actress—gave their racing shoes a few "adjustments," and dragged them all out for a morning run.
"Even though I thought this from the start… America really is completely different from Kasamatsu," Southern Actress exclaimed, then turned to Xingyun Liuge. "But the even more surprising thing is…"
"That Xingyun can even handle the work of a support horse girl!" Nolen Ace shouted in praise. If they had not been running, she probably would have clasped her hands to her cheeks, gone all bashful, and maybe even thrown Xingyun Liuge into a huge hug.
What she was actually thinking was:
She's way too amazing… and small and fragrant and adorable too! Hehehe…
Fujimasa March, however, felt that Nolen Ace had missed the real point.
"No. The important thing is… my body feels lighter. Like I can run even faster!"
As a horse girl, of course she knew exactly how important a proper pair of shoes and correctly fitted horseshoes were.
To put it bluntly, a good pair of shoes could let a horse girl bring out one hundred and twenty percent of her power.
Because Kasamatsu Tracen had produced a phenomenon named Xingyun Liuge, the Tokai Regional Racing Association had poured in substantial support, and the school's girls had all received custom-made shoes and horseshoes, making them far stronger than before.
But Xingyun Liuge had only casually hammered and tinkered a bit, and somehow they had all broken past their old limits and become even stronger.
That was the kind of miracle one usually only saw in dreams.
"It's not that big a deal," Xingyun Liuge said. "Nothing worth making a fuss over."
All she had really done was raise them to a level where they could stably perform at around one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty percent of their previous output. Whether they could maintain that from here on out would depend on their own effort. She truly did not think it was anything particularly amazing.
She had not even started seriously cheating yet.
Judging by the current strength of the three girls, they could now probably place consistently in Central—regular top-five finishes, that sort of thing. There was still nothing to get smug about.
If they could not consistently take first, then there was no meaning in—
…Actually, no, that was not right either.
Technology should exist to bring happiness to everyone. Fixating only on victory was far too narrow-minded.
Xingyun Liuge suddenly felt that yesterday she had fallen into a flawed way of thinking.
Conquering injury—that was what truly mattered.
What she should really be doing was creating an entirely new world where no one ever had to get hurt again.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a streak of blue flashed past her vision.
"?"
Blue immediately made Xingyun Liuge think of the American horse girl she got along with fairly well—Winning Colors.
But when she caught up, meaning to greet her, she discovered another horse girl there as well.
The newcomer had lustrous black hair and gleaming golden eyes, as if they were burning with fierce fighting spirit.
She wore a sailor uniform that looked utterly out of place among the American horse girls, yet spoke with perfect confidence.
"Let's run together in the Kentucky Derby, Victory. I'm absolutely going to beat you!"
"That one… could she be Miss Narita?" Southern Actress sounded a little uncertain.
Before they had departed, Narita Brian had made a special trip over and asked them to pass along some letters, saying they were meant for a very important senior.
Of course, those letters had clearly not been written by Narita Brian alone. Biwa Hayahide, Mayano Top Gun, Sunny Brian, Legal Eagle, Tanino Gimlet, and Vodka had all contributed too. The signatures on the envelopes had made that very clear.
Nolen Ace offered a different opinion.
"Huh? If Miss Narita were coming herself, she wouldn't have asked us to bring them, right? So that should be…"
"Brian's Time," Xingyun Liuge answered immediately, naming the other girl. "Winner of the Florida Derby, and one of the runners in this Kentucky Derby."
Since she had come here to run the Kentucky Derby, there was no way Xingyun Liuge would not know the other top contenders.
"Eh? Then doesn't that mean we're aiding the enem— the enemy?" Southern Actress jumped in alarm. She genuinely had not thought of it that way.
"No, it's just delivering some letters. It's not that dramatic, right?" Nolen Ace said, though sweat was already starting to bead on her forehead, and her lack of confidence came through plainly enough as her gaze drifted aside.
Clearly, Southern Actress's line of reasoning had dragged her off course.
There was no way Narita Brian would help an American horse girl deal with one of their own. Even if Brian's Time was Narita Brian's senior, and Narita Brian and Xingyun Liuge were not particularly close.
Before Xingyun Liuge could say anything, Brian's Time and Winning Colors had already noticed them and came over to greet them.
Narita Brian carried an air of heroic sharpness, but could also come off a bit cold. Brian's Time, by contrast, was the exact opposite—bright, open, lively.
Though the two looked astonishingly alike, after speaking to them for just a few lines, the difference between them became immediately obvious.
After hearing about the letters, Brian's Time looked surprised, then touched, and promptly invited Xingyun Liuge to a training match.
"The track should be ready by tomorrow, from what I've heard. Let's settle this on the course, Xingyun Liuge—show me just how strong you really are!"
Then she added, "Winning Colors should join too. You want a better read on this hot favorite's abilities as well, don't you?"
With both hands on her hips, Brian's Time gave off the feeling of an impassioned, hot-blooded big sister.
And so, the next day arrived.
"I mean, I do want to see how strong Xingyun Liuge is too, but did you really have to drag me into the race as well?" Goodbye Halo said with a helpless laugh. "I'm not even running the Kentucky Derby. I'm aiming for the Kentucky Oaks after that."
Though what she was actually thinking was:
This is perfect. If I can personally experience how strong she is, maybe that's even better!
As long as Xingyun Liuge kept racing in America, the two of them would cross paths sooner or later. Learning more about her in advance could only help.
And it was not just Goodbye Halo.
All the other major Kentucky Derby hopefuls had shown up as well, hoping to use this training match to gather more information and find a path to victory.
Approx. 2000m Training Match, Dirt, Cloudy, Heavy Track
Though the standing water still came high enough to swallow their horseshoes, the horse girls' competitive spirit was blazing.
Because this was the perfect chance to learn more about Xingyun Liuge—and to find the opening that might someday let them beat her.
Then, in the next instant, the gates flew open, and every horse girl burst forward at once.
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 126)
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 (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
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 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
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 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin