The year-end grand festival.
The stage of the Arima Kinen.
Because Teruizumi Shinji had spoken so ambiguously in his last interview, the fans had become genuinely afraid that this trainer—who never played by the rules—might actually refuse to run the Arima Kinen in the end.
So they had pushed Offside Trap's vote count to a historic first place.
The first time she saw the total herself, she had been so shocked she could barely close her mouth.
Now, as she slowly walked out from the waiting room after the preliminary interview arrangements, she caught sight of the Classic-year girls who would also be racing this time. A moment earlier she had even seen Seiun Sky.
As lazy-looking as ever.
But Offside Trap would never underestimate her. Seiun Sky's performances in the Satsuki Sho and the Kikuka Sho had already proved how strong she was. Hidden beneath that careless exterior was very likely endless sweat and effort, night after night.
Then she looked toward her trainer.
The way Teruizumi Shinji stood there made her suddenly feel as though she had been thrown back to that not-particularly-bright afternoon from the Autumn Tenno Sho. Back then, the two of them had been heading to interviews as well, and if she remembered correctly, she had been placed dead last.
Now she was the horse girl with the highest chance of becoming the very first Autumn Triple Crown winner. So when the journalists had taken their seats, she had naturally been placed first.
Almost unconsciously, she glanced behind her.
Inside the waiting room, Air Groove was looking at her too.
Offside Trap did not know where the other girl had found the courage to enter a race she still did not really suit—but this time, there was not the slightest trace of hostility in her eyes.
It was all gentleness.
Offside Trap was not used to that at all, and turned away again.
She took her seat calmly at the interview table.
Every journalist in the room looked tense, eyes sparkling with excitement. They were about to interview the undisputed number one horse girl in Japan's Shining Series—the girl who had already all but locked up Horse Girl of the Year—and her trainer. Naturally, they were vibrating with anticipation over what kind of explosive statements this interview might produce.
"The interview begins!"
Even the host sounded impatient, his eagerness slipping through his voice.
"Hello!"
"Hello—"
"Trainer Teruizumi—"
Several voices started at once.
Shinji and Offside Trap exchanged a glance, then a smile.
"One at a time."
Offside Trap's voice instantly soothed the room. The usually aggressive journalists all quieted down like obedient schoolchildren and lowered their microphones.
"You first."
She pointed to the reporter whose voice she had heard first. The man straightened his glasses and leapt to his feet at once.
"Hello. I'd like to ask Miss Offside Trap whether there are any opponents in this race she considers especially worthy of attention."
He sounded terribly careful. The question itself was perfectly normal, but a malicious interpretation could easily twist it into a challenge against Offside Trap's strength.
"I don't think so, actually. But no matter what, I'll do my utmost to win this race."
Her answer was gentle, and a bright light went through the room. The reporters seemed ready to declare on the spot that Offside Trap possessed a perfect temperament, flawless and kind.
Sitting beside her, Shinji nearly laughed. At one time, words like perfect had been reserved for Silence Suzuka.
"Then I'd also like to ask—how high do you think your odds of victory are?"
The question sounded strangely familiar.
Offside Trap first looked at Shinji. She remembered clearly how, after warning Silence Suzuka about her leg issues, she had once talked to her trainer about this exact question and what the answer ought to be.
She had not expected to use that answer here.
"I only want victory. Every horse girl here has the possibility of beating me, which is why I have to devote my full attention to guarding against every single opponent."
The reporter nodded deeply. Around him, others scribbled furiously, determined to record every word and movement from Offside Trap.
"Then I'd like to ask Trainer Teruizumi. Since the Kyoto Daishoten until today, Miss Offside Trap has already conquered the Autumn Tenno Sho and the Japan Cup. The Autumn Triple Crown is something no Japanese horse girl has ever achieved before. What expectations do you have for her?"
"Expectations…"
Shinji paused thoughtfully.
Then he shook his head with total indifference.
"To be honest, I don't think of it as something to 'expect' at all."
"In my view, this is merely the natural course of things. When you possess overwhelming strength, victory should flow as naturally as water flowing from its source to the sea."
Offside Trap shot him a look.
Easy for you to say. You're not the one racing. In the end, she was always the one paying for the outrageous confidence he showed in public.
Thinking that, she completely missed the quiet sweetness blooming inside her at hearing him acknowledge her, so plainly, as Japan's number one.
"Then another question for Trainer Teruizumi: how do you view the fact that the new generation of horse girls will be sharing the Arima Kinen stage with their seniors?"
The journalists had clearly noticed that Offside Trap was taking the modest route today, and their attention swung toward Shinji instead.
They loved him in interviews. Every time he opened his mouth, it was electric.
Shinji looked at Offside Trap.
The question had been directed at him, yet he casually threw it to her.
"What do you think?"
"I'm going to win."
Since the question was his, her answer came without hesitation—just as decisively as when she had first responded to him back when they officially became trainer and partner.
Shinji nodded, wetting his lips before finally turning to the cameras.
All the journalists watched him closely. Every lens was trained on his face, waiting.
"I think Little Over's answer can stand as my own."
"But this is an increase in distance for Miss Offside Trap, while Seiun Sky and Grass Wonder are coming on fiercely."
No one mentioned Special Week, whose poor showing in the Japan Cup had effectively removed her from this line of questioning. Shinji found the omission rather funny.
Then he looked directly at the reporter.
He knew exactly what they wanted to hear.
Back at the Autumn Tenno Sho, while the whole crowd had been roaring someone else's name, these very reporters had still interviewed the two of them with feverish excitement, taking their words seriously and giving them their due.
He did not mind giving them something worth publishing.
Because he and Offside Trap would never allow those words to become weapons later.
"You're right…"
A smile appeared on his face.
Instantly, the entire reporters' section held its breath.
There it was.
That familiar smile.
They had heard so many memorable lines follow that smile already. This trainer had been born to sit under microphones. And the fact that he always had the ability to back his words up only made it better.
"But that's how the contest to decide Japan's number one horse girl has always been. The fact that they're even allowed to share the track with Little Over and display their abilities is mercy enough."
The key word was not now.
The whole room erupted in gasps.
There was movement outside the interview room too. Shinji's smile deepened further. Some naughty little children were eavesdropping, apparently—but he did not care.
He might as well be saying it for their benefit too.
Those girls had never possessed the right to stand in the struggle for Japan's number one.
The ones truly racing Offside Trap were not them.
His gaze drifted past the window and finally settled in the direction of the student council office.
Offside Trap's path would not stop here.
The race was still ongoing.
The season was not even half over.
The real show had only just begun.
Chapter 79 — They All See You as Their Greatest Opponent
Watching Offside Trap still running across the track, King Halo struggled to keep up with the speed she was setting.
Then, after one faltering step too many, the younger girl was flung violently aside.
The moment she hit the ground, she pounded the dirt hard with her fist, unable to accept it, yet powerless to stop the horse girl ahead from widening the gap still further.
And this was only Offside Trap's first lap after her so-called "simple warm-up."
Before that, she had already completed two separate two-thousand-meter sessions.
Hana Tojo slowly lowered her binoculars.
From one perspective, she almost wanted to pound the rail in front of her the way King Halo had just pounded the ground. But with her own partner horse girls beside her, she forced the urge down.
She did not want to give her girls unnecessary pressure.
She had to stay composed, so they would not lose composure first.
Turning back, the first one she looked at was Air Groove.
This race—Air Groove's final major appearance in the Shining Series—mattered enormously. Even though Air Groove's raw strength and aptitude looked stretched for the Arima Kinen, Hana had still designed several focused training blocks for her lately, hoping she might at least be able to show something on the day.
But seeing the yearning in Air Groove's gaze as she watched the field, Hana knew her vice-president no longer possessed the fighting spirit to believe she could beat Offside Trap.
Air Groove had already accepted that she herself could never reach that level.
That was why she looked like that.
Hana gathered herself and turned to Grass Wonder.
This partner horse girl had finally healed completely. Nearly a full year of squandered talent made Hana ache with regret. At least now she could finally throw herself fully into a race again.
Unlike her best friend El Condor Pasa, Hana knew that Grass Wonder possessed an exceptionally delicate heart. All the noise after the Mainichi Okan had affected her more or less.
She was the kind of horse girl who doubted herself—but once doubt took root, she would only work harder to prove herself wrong.
"How do you feel?"
Hana's question was gentle.
Grass Wonder looked at her in surprise. No one knew Hana better than her own girls, and she noticed her trainer's unusual mood at once.
But it was El Condor Pasa who answered first.
"She's still unbelievably strong!"
Her voice rang out with no hint of subtlety. The only girls who had come with Hana today were Air Groove, Grass Wonder, and El Condor Pasa, who was practically inseparable from Grass Wonder.
Even though she had failed to show her strongest self in the Japan Cup, El Condor Pasa had recovered her mindset quickly. She believed that on a track more suited to her, she could absolutely challenge Offside Trap.
Hana ignored El Condor Pasa's comment. It was not useful. Instead, she kept her eyes on Grass Wonder, trying to read the emotions inside those still, clear pupils.
But Grass Wonder hid them well. Her eyes were as calm as always, like soft clouds floating in a pale sky.
"She's very strong. But no matter what, I'm still going to try to beat her."
Grass Wonder's voice was crisp and steady. The softness in Hana's gaze deepened. Here was that familiar refusal to bend. Grass Wonder had not retreated in the face of the overwhelming power revealed by Offside Trap. She had always been the kind to walk straight toward difficulty.
Hana turned her eyes back to the field.
This time, though, she stopped studying Offside Trap's training itself. There was no point. No matter how many times she watched Teruizumi Shinji guiding her, she could learn nothing from it.
It was like looking at demonic torture more than training—just repeated, primitive running to the point that Hana sometimes wanted to ask him what exactly he had learned to become a trainer, and why his methods looked this raw.
Nearby, Narita Brian sat beside him, not participating in the current session.
Hana still did not know what sort of plan Shinji had prepared for Brian, but from how things looked now, the former Triple Crown winner clearly needed rest first.
"Did Brian… have anything unusual before? Some kind of injury, maybe?"
The question came hesitantly, directed at Air Groove. Shame was already creeping over Hana as she asked it. It seemed Brian's body had indeed been in trouble for a long time, and yet she, her trainer, had not even noticed.
"Her leg problem never really healed. It's the same old issue. Leg instability."
Air Groove's answer was precise. As Brian's friend, she understood her better than Hana did.
Hana did not reply.
For a moment she could not even bear to look at Narita Brian, even though the girl could not see her, could never know she was being watched.
So Hana turned away instead—and spotted Mejiro Dober in the stands on the far side.
This Arima Kinen would also feature the Mejiro family's current main Shining Series runners. Their purpose in coming today was obvious enough: just like Hana, they were here to gather data.
But judging from the headache written plainly across Mejiro Dober's face, Hana suspected they had drawn the same conclusion she had.
Offside Trap was a nightmare.
Her all-around strength was too complete. Stamina, explosive power, cruising speed, endurance after long sprints—it all gave the impression of a horse girl with no clear flaw anywhere.
That made Hana deeply uneasy.
She had wanted to construct tactics that might trap Offside Trap in a boxed-in position. But Little Over's forward lane selection and overpowering raw strength made that hard. Grass Wonder alone would not be enough to cage her—perhaps not even Grass Wonder plus Air Groove.
Hana's eyes swept around the track.
The training ground might be tucked away in one of the more remote corners of the academy, but there were still plenty of figures gathered around today, especially horse girls who would be running the Arima Kinen. With one glance she spotted Matikanefukukitaru, Gold Ship, and Air Shakur among others.
So everyone really is treating Offside Trap as the biggest threat here.
That thought sparked something in Hana's mind.
The movement of a race group was never about one horse girl shifting positions alone. It was about the whole shape of the pack changing together. So if one or two runners could be used to influence the movement of the whole group behind them, and if each horse girl's habits were taken into account, then perhaps it was possible to manufacture a box.
Nakayama's stretch was not long.
If Offside Trap could truly be trapped inside, then maybe—
just maybe—
there was a way.
Finally spotting a possible, if low-probability, way through the impasse, Hana decided she needed to go back and study it carefully.
At that same time, Shinji looked around the track and noticed the people beginning to leave.
Only then did he call a halt to Offside Trap's session.
Sweat drenched her face, speaking plainly enough of her effort. The numbers ticking upward on her panel told him just as clearly that none of that effort was being wasted.
Still, what satisfied him most was her work ethic. She never even had a visible progress bar to reassure her, yet she could sustain such brutal training for so long anyway.
All the suffering in her past had truly become a great teacher.
"King Halo!"
He did not bother saying anything about Offside Trap first. There was no need. The Vassal Lord bond made the principle simple enough: if it raised her numbers, then it was the right thing to do.
Shinji and Offside Trap had already spent a long time discovering that, and they were perfectly synchronized now.
"Your breathing! You absolutely have to pay attention to your breathing! If your breathing rhythm falls apart, you are never going to catch Little Over!"
[Negative Emotion +50]
[Negative Emotion +75]
Both girls burst with negative emotion at once.
Shinji had to admit it was a painful—but perhaps not entirely painful—kind of joy.
He understood perfectly why King Halo would spike from being compared to Offside Trap as the positive example.
But Little Over? Why was she spiking too?
Was she happy because she was being used as the success case?
Why are you making her catch me? Why can't I stay your closest, strongest, only partner—the one who matters most to you?
Inside, Offside Trap was already crying.
Outside, it only came through as a displeased pout.
Shinji, naturally, took it as smug satisfaction.
"You breathing controls your stride. Breathing and footwork have to stay in sync. So why do you keep trying to micromanage your steps? At your current stage, your grasp of how breathing drives movement is far too weak. Of course we all know that making your stride longer and your cadence faster will instantly raise your speed. But breathing is the foundation. If you use breathing to determine cadence, then you can always confirm your own state. Compared to splitting your focus to control your legs, breathing connects your whole body far better."
King Halo nodded.
She knew he was right. Sometimes she really did get caught up in the moment—chasing victory, trying to catch someone, driven by something else—and let her attention drift where it had no business going.
Like just now.
She had wanted to maintain her distance to Offside Trap, so she had suddenly increased her stride length. It had wrecked her rhythm completely—and sent her flying.
"Training doesn't happen in one day. It's gradual. With your current level, no matter how perfect your body control or tactical planning is, you simply cannot beat Little Over. The gap between you is large enough that you are not catching her. So in simulation training, you have to focus on yourself. You need efficiency. Otherwise your progress will be slow, and you'll end up feeling like you're working incredibly hard while somehow never improving."
King Halo drew a deep breath.
His words stung. They made her sad.
But because they were so serious, so responsible, and so true, she could only force herself to reset her emotions immediately.
The more time she spent training under this man, the more certain she became—
she absolutely could not let go of him.
In Japan, there would not be another trainer with this kind of ability who also cared about her this much.
"As for Little Over…"
Shinji looked at the now-empty edges of the training ground. All those watching eyes had finally disappeared. He shrugged.
"Relax. You'll win. I've always believed in you."
He met Offside Trap's bright, shining eyes.
The delight in them flickered like light on water.
"Look at them. They all came to watch you."
"They're afraid. Because of you…"
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 138)
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 (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
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 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
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 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
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