...
"Mm? Is there something on me? Why are the two senpai looking at me like that?" Daiwa Scarlet froze, a little confused as she lowered her head to examine herself.
Unfortunately she could only see the upper part of her chest; the abdomen side could not be seen.
"Nothing, nothing." Grass Wonder was the first to look away. Her eyes carried a smile, yet her tone was as calm as usual.
"Sorry, Scarlet-chan." Special Week also hurriedly withdrew her gaze. A suspicious flush rose on her cheeks. She somewhat unnaturally tucked the stray hair at her temples and let her eyes drift toward the distance.
At that moment the figures of Tokai Teio, Mejiro McQueen, and Rice Shower appeared right in front of them. The three immediately took the posture of preparing for the handover.
"Grass, I'm leaving it to you!" The first to arrive, Mejiro McQueen, spoke in a clear and decisive voice. While decelerating she precisely untied the strap at her waist and, in one smooth motion, steadily delivered it into Grass Wonder's hands.
Tokai Teio and Rice Shower followed closely behind.
"Scarlet!"
Daiwa Scarlet turned sideways to receive it, her movements clean and efficient. "Thank you for your hard work, Teio!"
"Spe-chan, Rice..."
Rice Shower's apologetic words had not finished before Special Week cut them off in one breath. "Rice did amazingly! Leave the rest to me!"
"Mm!" Rice Shower was stunned for a moment, then watched Special Week's figure sprinting away.
...
Special Week tightly followed behind Grass Wonder.
The two of them had clashed several times on the racecourse, with victories and losses on both sides.
However, after Lucian's teaching, Special Week's overall strength was a bit stronger than Grass Wonder's—when talent was evenly matched, what was compared was effort.
Effort did not simply mean training. One also had to pay attention to how to put in effort, how to find the correct direction of effort, and how to train in a targeted way...
Lucian did not dare claim that he as a coach was unmatched by anyone, but he had confidence that he could let the Uma Musume climb to an even higher level!
The gap created by Rice Shower's inability to match Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen was being shortened little by little by Special Week giving her all.
The race had only reached the third stage, yet it was already extremely intense. It was a pity there were no spectators on site, only the fierce wild wind howling and the plants on both sides dancing in support!
"Grass!!"
The aura on Special Week's body suddenly changed. In an instant, leaping electric arcs brought forth waves of sakura-colored light!
Taking one more step further, Special Week actually entered once again the flow state that belonged to her—the "Heart's Field."
After the Japan Cup, Lucian had privately begun special Zone training with Special Week and the others, but the results had been minimal... except during mock races.
At those times it was true confrontation between opponents, so under powerful pressure and motivation the latent strength of the Uma Musume would erupt.
Of course, mock races could not be held every day either, because the Zone consumed the Uma Musume's bodies too greatly. Body consumption did not refer solely to physical stamina.
Therefore Lucian always held one on Friday afternoons and did not conduct extra training.
In addition, he could not guarantee that every mock race would trigger the potential, because some relaxed mindsets were contagious~ and some slacking mindsets were also contagious~
But overall the efficiency was still quite good.
...
Toujou Hana, Nishizaki Ryo, and Lucian observed the progress of the entire race through drones and kept contact via intercoms.
When the first two saw this scene, they both furrowed their brows and spoke in unison: "Zone?"
The voice coming from Lucian's intercom carried a slight hoarseness. "You two, I don't recommend being so in sync. It makes me look redundant..."
Just like Daiwa Scarlet on the field.
It was not that she was weak, but that for the moment she could not insert herself into the duel between Special Week and Grass Wonder.
Yet Lucian did not mind pairing up with her so that neither of them would be redundant!
"Lucian, has Special Week already mastered this Zone ability?" Toujou Hana smoothed her shocked expression, yet her gaze remained fixed on Special Week's figure.
Nishizaki Ryo also temporarily had no time to joke with Lucian. "Speaking of which, Seiun Sky from your team has also entered that kind of state before."
The two trainers' desire for knowledge was urgent; of course they also wanted to grasp the mysteries within it.
But Lucian's research was still ongoing and he simply could not give an accurate answer.
"Although I also really hope the team members can fully master it, unfortunately they have not. Still, they should gradually be getting a feel for it and be able to enter the Zone state without paying too great a price."
There was a faint trace of small pride in Lucian's tone.
"Lucian, after we return, next week I will come to 'Dream' to observe the training." Toujou Hana pushed up her glasses.
"I want to come too! If you won't let me watch I'll take a telescope and sneak a look... sneakily look!" Nishizaki Ryo hurriedly chimed in as well.
"Alright, of course the two senpai are welcome to come observe. This is also recognition of me as an individual." Lucian spoke with a junior's respect and yielding tone.
Of course he would not hide anything. After all, if there really was any new development, it could also benefit this group of lovely Uma Musume.
"In this race, Grass Wonder should lose." Toujou Hana crossed her arms, her brows full of worry.
Her training was very strict, yet the stricter it was, the more it showed Toujou Hana's care for her team members.
"Grass shouldn't have stepped into that stage yet, right?" Lucian asked.
Toujou Hana closed her eyes and shook her head. "No. Condor has a tiny bit of a budding sign... but that is all. I also usually have Symboli Rudolf, Maruzensky, and Brian train together with them..."
Lucian was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Hana-nee, may I say one sentence? Consider it a suggestion for you."
"Lucian, go ahead and speak. I am not a pedantic person. If it is a good suggestion I will of course adopt it. Don't you people of the Dragon Country also have a saying called 'the accomplished one is the teacher'?"
"Hana-nee, the Chinese coming out of your mouth is who knows how many times smoother than a certain Nishizaki senpai's." While praising her, Lucian did not forget to step on Nishizaki Ryo once.
He still did not know what poem that person had recited that night; it had almost made him forget what the original lines were.
"Lucian, hurry up and spit it out already!!"
"Alright alright alright, speaking speaking speaking, why the rush all of a sudden..." Lucian put away his joking mood. "Hana-nee, compared to training that grows stricter and harsher, I feel the team members' psychology is even more important... we need to promptly discover and untie the knots in the team members' hearts."
After Condor's defeat at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe last time, when she had called Special Week and even received consolation from him, Lucian had discovered this shortcoming of Toujou Hana's.
Of course she might also have cared about Condor, but it was not enough.
"Hana-nee, and Nishizaki-senpai as well, this truly is not a small problem. If the stagnant qi of depression cannot be thoroughly eliminated, it may become an obstacle preventing the Uma Musume from entering the Zone."
This made Lucian think of Dextrous Bailey who had retired a while ago, and also of Twin Turbo who had begun to harbor thoughts of retirement...
"This kind of stagnant qi of depression might be the team members' fear of races, or the enormous pressure produced because of their goals... it requires us trainers to think of every possible way to discover and resolve it, because sometimes they simply hide it and never say..."
"It is not finished just by simply consoling them."
...