As Yasui Makoto studied the medical report alongside Air Groove, thoughts spun quickly in his mind. Soon, he connected Duramente's recent training camp location to the seaside.
Seafood had an especially high purine content, and considering the current situation, Duramente's training diet probably involved plenty of fish and shellfish.
This was common during seaside training camps, yet few Uma Musume ever developed inflammation from it.
Looked at this way, Duramente's constitution might be somewhat special.
The medical report mentioned this explicitly, adding a clear medical instruction that Duramente must completely avoid seafood and other high-purine foods going forward.
Such advice was understandable and easy enough to follow.
But when Yasui Makoto read the next line, he couldn't help but frown slightly, throwing an involuntary, worried glance toward Air Groove beside him, then toward the office desk behind them.
Right now, the two of them were standing in the orthopedics examination room at Tracen Academy Hospital. Harsh, white ceiling lights gleamed down, illuminating a large skeletal diagram on the wall.
Under that sharp lighting, Air Groove occasionally stared at the report, then raised her eyes to glance at the skeletal chart. Her hands clearly trembled, and her brows had long since knitted into a deep frown.
Behind the desk sat a middle-aged doctor in a white coat, similarly holding a copy of the medical report.
His expression remained relatively calm. As he flipped through the pages, he quietly discussed something with an Uma Musume standing next to him.
When Yasui Makoto's gaze moved toward that Uma Musume, his eyebrows unconsciously twitched in surprise and confusion.
That was Doctor Agnes Tachyon.
She also held a copy of the medical report, seemingly discussing its contents with the doctor beside her.
But even as she spoke in a low voice, she occasionally glanced their way. Beneath her red eyes, apart from seriousness and thoughtfulness, was an elusive, strangely interested gleam.
Yasui Makoto had barely interacted with this Uma Musume since that initial diagnosis at the start of the year, and later in the student council office. It seemed Agnes Tachyon had completely forgotten about him since then—even her earlier recommendation of Daiwa Scarlet had been dropped. She'd never reached out again.
If memory served correctly, wasn't Agnes Tachyon supposed to be a neurologist?
Why was she here in Orthopedics right now?
Surely, she didn't come all the way here just because of me…?
"Air Groove-senpai, I think reducing her training load is still the safest choice."
Agnes Tachyon's voice interrupted Yasui Makoto's thoughts. Apparently, her discussion with the doctor had concluded. She picked up the cup of black tea from the desk, gazing over:
"I can probably understand Duramente's yearning for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. I can also understand what she'll feel after hearing about this."
"No, more accurately, maybe I'm the only one here who truly understands."
"After all, forced to give up because of inflammation and such…"
Taking a slow sip of her tea, a vortex swirled in her red eyes, as if time itself had begun flowing backward. A subtle smile spread across her face, one that wasn't really smiling.
"Sounds very familiar, doesn't it?"
That last sentence was extremely soft, yet it caused both Air Groove and the middle-aged doctor to look sharply at her.
Even Yasui Makoto couldn't help but stare deeply at Agnes Tachyon, suddenly beginning to understand why she'd appeared here, and even why she'd chosen to work at this very hospital.
After debuting, she'd blazed an incredible trail, winning four consecutive races, including the first leg of the Classic Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho.
Each race she dominated like a fierce autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, overpowering the field and stunning the crowd. At that time, Agnes Tachyon was truly a dazzling meteor.
And indeed, she really was just a meteor.
After the Satsuki Sho, she'd suffered tendonitis.
For an Uma Musume, this illness was incurable. And so, Agnes Tachyon departed the blazing stage of competition forever.
But this kind of scenario wasn't rare. Rather, it was all too common in the racing world.
Perhaps Agnes Tachyon had become a doctor precisely to make up for her own regrets—and also, perhaps, to help younger generations facing similar fates.
"Tachyon…"
Air Groove's eyes trembled briefly, then quickly shook her head, gratitude and helplessness intertwined:
"Maybe I gave you the wrong impression. It's not that I won't accept reducing the training workload. It's just…"
She rubbed her temples and pointed outside the room.
"You probably don't know, but that child Duramente… can sometimes be extremely stubborn."
"Just recently, she had a big fight with her parents. And yesterday, she actually… kind of ran away secretly."
"If we hadn't coincidentally bumped into Yasui yesterday, who knows how much effort it would've taken to drag her back."
"I'm just thinking how exactly to explain something like this to her."
As Air Groove and Agnes Tachyon both implied, aside from cutting purine-rich foods, the doctor's other main suggestion was to greatly reduce training and switch to recovery treatment.
The recommended rest period wasn't extremely long—only three to four months. But even this relatively short break happened to clash perfectly with the major races of the second half of the year.
If Duramente were to follow these medical instructions, never mind the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe or Kikuka Sho—she wouldn't even be able to race at all during this period.
"Just explain it exactly as it is."
Agnes Tachyon took another sip of her tea, eyes growing slightly colder:
"I'm not really someone who sugarcoats things, so let me put it plainly—this current scenario is already fortunate for her."
"Air Groove-senpai, you should know very clearly just how troublesome inflammation can be."
"Let me be even blunter. If that child continues stubbornly like this, bone fractures will be absolutely guaranteed."
"And even if she manages to recover, next year, during her older-horse year… she'll probably fracture again."
"If something like that happens again…"
Taking another slow sip of tea, a fleeting glimmer of danger and bitterness passed through Agnes Tachyon's eyes:
"She'd better just prepare to say goodbye to the Twinkle Series entirely."
At those words, Air Groove's face showed both agreement and distress, and the doctor quietly nodded along.
Yasui Makoto couldn't help glancing sideways at Agnes Tachyon.
What this Uma Musume had just described was precisely the scenario from his memory.
In another timeline, after Duramente's fracture during her classic year, she indeed recovered.
But the following year, during the Takarazuka Kinen of her older-horse season, she fractured again—this time permanently losing all competitive ability, a true tragedy.
Yasui Makoto couldn't know what Duramente, as a racehorse, thought back then.
But he was absolutely sure, if this scenario occurred in this world, the Uma Musume version of Duramente would definitely find it incredibly hard to accept.
The difference was that Yasui foresaw these events through his memories; Agnes Tachyon likely deduced them from medical knowledge and experience.
Judging from the current situation, Duramente's inflammation was discovered very early, meaning the worst outcome could still be entirely avoided.
However, if they hadn't found out now, or if they ignored it, next year's tragedy would absolutely repeat itself.
So… she really did become a doctor specifically for the sake of helping her juniors and preventing tragedies like hers…
As Yasui Makoto pondered this, Air Groove's eyes suddenly flashed with determination.
"I understand. I'll have a proper talk with Duramente."
"And… Tachyon, could you help me persuade her?"
"Well, that's…"
Agnes Tachyon stood up lazily from behind the desk, stretching slightly, smiling leisurely:
"I just happen to be working on some research lately related to conditions like this, so consider this expanding my case studies."
"Let's go, Air Groove-senpai."
"Oh, right…"
Passing by Air Groove, Agnes Tachyon looked toward Yasui Makoto, acting as if she'd just noticed him. With a cryptic half-smile, she said:
"As for you, sir, please wait here for now. When I come back later, we'll discuss Kitasan Black's condition."
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T/N: AGNES TACHYON IS MORE THAN A MOMMY HORSE!!! (shes not even a mommy horwse you are the one you that is taking care of ehr) SHE IS A DEEP CHARACTERRRRR