By noon on Sunday, Light Dyna finally woke up slowly in her hotel room.
Something unexpected had happened on the way over the night before, but she had still made it to the hotel before morning. After checking in and reaching her single room, she had skipped every part of her usual routine. Without even washing up, she had simply thrown herself onto the bed with her shoes still on and fallen asleep.
As a result, her knees had stayed bent in that position the entire night, her feet still pressed flat to the floor in a sleeping posture so bizarre it bordered on artistic.
When Dyna finally sat up on the soft bed, her whole body felt stiff. Pain radiated from her neck all the way down to her toes, and when she first tried to stand, she almost dropped straight into a dogeza.
"Tss... no matter how lazy I get in the future, I can't skip that step again. At the very least, I need to take off my shoes."
She cracked herself back into place a few times and let out a long breath. Through the window, she could see the cherry trees outside the hotel grounds in full bloom, perfectly in season for the Oka Sho.
Sea the Stars had appeared beside her at some point, one hand resting against the glass as she gazed at the pink blossoms with a distant look in her eyes.
"So this is what cherry blossoms look like. They're a little different from what I imagined."
"Hm? What did you imagine they'd look like, Miss Sea the Stars?"
Dyna was brushing her teeth, a ring of white foam around her lips.
"At the very least, I thought they'd be more dazzling in full bloom. I didn't expect them to just be... ordinary pink flowers." Sea the Stars looked calm as she spoke. "When I was little, Mother often talked about her life in Japan. For various reasons, she had to leave Japan and drift from place to place, until the Choi family took her in. If it hadn't been for that kind couple, there probably wouldn't be a me today."
She did not sound like she wanted to say much more about that time.
After all, for Sea the Stars herself, Japan had never been more than a curiosity. Her mother's stories had always overflowed with praise for cherry blossoms, but to someone who had grown up in Europe, stripped of all that nostalgia and filter, they really did seem rather ordinary.
Dyna filled her mouth with water, rinsed, spat, and wiped her face with a towel.
"But maybe that's exactly because of what came before? Maybe that's what made the brilliance afterward possible." She smiled. "A mother and daughter both conquering the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe... no matter when you hear it, it still sounds incredible. If I ever race at Longchamp again, I'll probably need your guidance, Miss Sea the Stars."
"Of course," Sea the Stars said. "Naturally."
"Have you ever thought about going to America?" Cody's Wish had appeared too, just like that. Cody had been perched on her finger at first, but the moment he saw Dyna he fluttered up and settled on top of her head. "Try California barbecue and beer. Sit at a grill until dawn after the Breeders' Cup races are over."
Dyna waved both hands immediately.
"Barbecue, sure. Beer, absolutely not. My alcohol tolerance is terrible—I'd get flattened."
Still, what Cody's Wish had said about the Breeders' Cup did make sense. According to the visible panel, Dyna's aptitude read turf and dirt dual-specialist, so maybe she really could show off on the American dirt scene too.
That said, that was something for much later.
With her current base stats, if she went to America now, the only possible way she'd "win" would be to get body-checked all the way to the finish by one of those giant American bruisers. Racing over there really did feel like pure, unfiltered freedom.
"I'll definitely think about the Breeders' Cup," Dyna said cheerfully. "So I'll be counting on you too, Miss Cody's Wish."
After chatting with the two horse souls in her head for a little longer, Dyna finally got dressed.
That day she chose a white top, a beige coat, and cutoff denim shorts. From the back, though, the coat's hem still covered the long elegant line of her legs.
"I actually love the way she's styled today," Cody's Wish commented. "It feels youthful, and she looks gorgeous."
Sea the Stars shot her a sideways look.
"I think Dyna would be better off in a skirt. At least knee-length. Or maybe a little above."
"Pants."
"Skirts."
The two ghosts somehow ended up arguing about fashion while Dyna calmly used her room card, locked the door, and left.
Oguri Cap and Super Creek were already eating lunch in the hotel dining room. Apparently Nagakura had gone out early that morning to explore the shopping district in Takarazuka, which made Dyna the latest riser and the last one to eat.
"Good afternoon, Oguri. Miss Shining Glory."
Since she was carrying a tray, she could only smile instead of raising a hand in greeting.
Oguri was not remotely surprised when Dyna sat down beside her. What did surprise her was the sheer size of the food on Dyna's tray. It was at least double the amount she had ever seen Dyna eat before.
"Did the boss lady used to eat so little because she was in a bad mood or something?"
That was the only explanation Oguri's brain could come up with.
As if reading that exact thought from her blank little bean-like stare, Dyna picked up her fork and explained,
"I'm trying to put on a little weight for the Triple Crown races. If I go onto the track with my current frame, the other horse girls might start treating me like some kind of little girl..."
"Ohhh. So that's how it is." Oguri nodded in sudden understanding, then turned straight to Super Creek. "Then why didn't I ever need to gain weight? Did Kitahara abuse me?"
Super Creek nearly sprayed miso soup all over Oguri's face.
"Cough—Oguri! Why don't you first try thinking about how much you eat in every single meal? If you gained even more weight, you'd turn into a giant barrel!"
Oguri looked down at the food she had already devoured halfway through.
"Maybe you're right. Kitahara really was the best to me."
Super Creek and Light Dyna exchanged a look.
Their eyes each clearly said the same thing.
Did working with Kitahara seriously make Oguri this dumb?
Wasn't Oguri always this dumb, from Kasamatsu all the way to Central?
In the end, the two of them reached the same conclusion through eye contact alone:
Never bring up anything too "advanced" around Oguri Cap. Her brain would not process it.
Dyna finished all the carrots and meat on her plate, then drained her orange juice in one go. Her stomach was full, but not uncomfortably so, which felt perfect. Though honestly, that was probably just because she'd been eating so much lately that her stomach had stretched.
As they were returning their trays to the collection counter, Super Creek glanced at her phone.
"It's already past one... Nagakura should be back soon."
They had already called a taxi to Hanshin Racecourse. Nagakura arrived about half an hour later than expected, which left her with almost no time. She rushed upstairs to her room, hastily gathered her things, then hurried back down just as the taxi pulled up.
Since the roads to Hanshin were a little jammed, they did lose some time, but they had already accounted for that.
By the time they arrived, the racecourse was not especially crowded at the entrances anymore, because the public seats had all been filled long ago by fans who had arrived at dawn. Relaxed latecomers like Oguri and the others, using special access, were very much the minority.
They entered through a private gate and reached a slightly quieter viewing section. From there, Dyna could see Whale Capture's support group below, waving banners that read Whale Capture—Victory in the Oka Sho!. There were merchandise stands everywhere too. The most common item seemed to be hand fans printed with horse girl portraits.
And then, down near the rail closest to the track, Dyna spotted a familiar flash of orange.
Orfevre.
She was standing beside Trainer Ikezou, holding a clipboard. Dream Journey was there too. As if sensing a stare with emotion in it, Dream Journey turned and met Dyna's gaze across the distance.
She seemed to smile faintly.
"Hm? Big Sis, what were you looking at just now?"
Orfevre turned too, but found nothing notable in the sea of people.
"Nothing. Keep your eyes on Whale Capture," Dream Journey said, patting her lightly and turning her back toward the track.
Dyna found it a little startling. So a horse girl who had awakened a field really could be that perceptive—spotting an emotionally charged gaze from that far away.
She could not even imagine what it would feel like to try using gate-techniques against someone with a field. They'd probably counter on instinct and smash your brain blank with a single body-check.
If you played those kinds of games, you had to be ready for backlash.
Not every horse girl could be affected.
The preparation on the track was brief. After the JRA's painfully corny music played over the speakers, the horse girls went into the gates, and the race began soon after.
The gates flew open.
Whale Capture's starting speed was not especially high. She quickly dropped to the rear of the field and settled there, smooth and controlled. Crucially, she did not cut inward. Instead, she stayed on the outside and deliberately spent a little extra ground.
"So she's spending a bit of distance to avoid getting boxed in by the inner wall of horses through the bend." Dyna watched intently. "Compared to how much energy a closer saves by sitting back and waiting, that extra ground is practically nothing."
Oguri Cap herself had used similar approaches before. Sometimes if a horse girl drifted too far back in a差し run, it practically became a closing run anyway.
The Oka Sho was being run on the outer course, which made it somewhat gentler overall. At 1600 meters, the leaders hit the bend quickly. On Hanshin's outer course, the track dropped two meters over 600 meters before rising sharply by two meters in the final 200 meters. It was a harsh test of both heart and strength.
Whale Capture's advantage from running outside revealed itself almost immediately.
As the other horse girls around her had to deal with centrifugal force, slowing slightly and drifting outward while trying to keep their positions, Whale Capture took the opening created by that outward swell and slipped inside.
"Ah," Dyna murmured. "She found a great lane. The horse girl who was there got shoved all the way to the outside."
I can use that.
Up to now, whenever Dyna attacked, she mostly went flying around from the wide-open outside and gambled everything on one long straight. Compared to that, what Whale Capture had just done felt... technical.
The field shot through the bend. By the time they reached the long stretch, Whale Capture had already advanced into the leading group.
Hanshin's outer straight—474 meters long—was where the Sakura Queen would be decided.
The grey Whale Capture naturally drew all eyes... but in front of her stood the strongest rival in this race:
Marcellina.
"Wait... why isn't Whale Capture accelerating yet?"
Normally, a closer should already be launching her finishing drive the moment the final straight begins. Dyna could not understand it.
"Marcellina still leads! Whale Capture is accelerating now, but can she really do it this late in the last two hundred meters?! Marcellina is accelerating too! A duel between a front-runner and a closer!"
Sea the Stars' expression did not change.
"She's not going to win. Her late kick needs distance to come alive. She missed the window."
For Whale Capture to win now, the only possibility was awakening a field—but that would mean burning through a terrifying amount of future potential.
Dyna's fingers wound together.
In the last fifty meters, Whale Capture did reach the very front pack, but compared to Marcellina she still came up just short. To the audience, her trembling all-out struggle looked like blood-and-fire drama.
But this time, Marcellina won.
Sea the Stars sensed something odd. During that final struggle, Marcellina seemed to have touched the embryonic outline of a field.
She was genuinely surprised.
In the end, Marcellina won the Oka Sho by three-quarters of a length over Whale Capture, the second favorite defeating the first.
But Sea the Stars could also tell that the hazy outline of that field had cost Marcellina a great deal. From here on, it was unlikely she would ever reach much greater heights again.
"Miss Sea the Stars," Dyna asked quietly, "that pressure that washed over us just now... that came from Whale Capture and Marcellina, right?"
Because of Cody's Wish and Sea the Stars, Dyna had become sharp enough to feel that strange, oppressive force too.
Sea the Stars nodded.
"The winning horse girl probably won't be taking any major graded stakes after this. Still... I've seen this sort of thing plenty of times. In Europe, a lot of horse girls burn themselves out during their maiden year."
She sounded more regretful than sorrowful. She was not the kind to sink into grief over it.
Dyna fell silent.
From Whale Capture, she had just learned several extremely interesting techniques.
If Trainer Ikezou had taught Whale Capture like this, then he had probably taught Orfevre in much the same way.
Which meant Dyna could probably reverse-engineer the exact distances at which Orfevre, another horse girl whose main weapon was late speed, would make each decision.
And once she knew that, she could trap Orfevre completely—strangle every possibility she had of taking first.
That, Dyna had already decided, was what she would do before every race from now on.
A soft little laugh slipped from her.
"Ha~"
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 (Chapter155)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter172)
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 158
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 144
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 165
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 140
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 120
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 95
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 80
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 50
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 40
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 50
Still playing traditional Honk 30
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