"I wonder... does Platinum still remember me?"
That silvery, radiant figure still occupied a significant space in Daiwa Scarlet's heart.
She was acutely aware that at least half of her current fame probably stemmed from that debut race against Platinum.
If she hadn't participated in that particular debut race, but had instead scored a dominant victory in some other one, her popularity and buzz would likely have decreased, not increased.
The Pegasus, Platinum—truly terrifying!
While Daiwa Scarlet was still honing her skills in middle-distance races, striving to become the strongest Japanese Uma Musume beneath Platinum, Platinum herself had already... swept through the middle-distance division, standing alone with no rivals left to conquer.
Not only that, she was now challenging the undefeated mile division champion, Frankel.
That upcoming race was already universally acknowledged as a "Legendary Battle," a "Clash of the Century," even before it had begun.
And compared to Frankel, who could even overtake former mile legend Brigadier Gerard...
Daiwa Scarlet knew her limits. She wasn't so blinded by hype that she actually thought she was strong enough to challenge Platinum.
Although!
Platinum had said things like, "It was a brilliant race. I don't think I'll ever forget you."
But whether those words were genuine or not... that was anyone's guess.
Dragging her suitcase, Daiwa Scarlet thought to herself...
Better to go watch the race properly than to cling to impossible dreams.
--+--
In the student council office at Tracen Academy.
Most of Japan's famous, hall-of-fame caliber Uma Musume were gathered there.
The serious and stern Symboli Rudolf couldn't help but voice her amazement.
"Even the legendary duel between [Brigadier Gerard and Mill Reef] back in the day surely pales in comparison to this one, right?"
"After all, those two monster seniors back then hadn't even reached their peak."
"But now, both Platinum and Frankel are in their golden prime as older Uma Musume, both are legendary Uma Musume!"
Her words were met with a nod from the smiling, fiery-red-haired young Uma Musume beside her.
This was Maruzensky, an Uma Musume from a prestigious European family who had come to debut in Japan.
Maruzensky's understanding of Europe's top monster Uma Musume far surpassed that of Japanese Uma Musume like Symboli Rudolf, Air Groove, and Mr. C.B.
"And that's not all. They both surpass ordinary legends; they are the [GOATs] of their respective distances."
"If legends could be ranked, Frankel and Platinum would undoubtedly stand at the forefront of the hall of fame, at the very pinnacle of the pyramid."
Maruzensky's family senior and mentor was none other than Nijinsky, the last British Triple Crown winner!
But whether it was Nijinsky, Brigadier Gerard, or Dancing Brave—these legends of the old era seemed overshadowed by the new era's Frankel and Platinum in the eyes of the world.
After all, one was the historical strongest miler, the other the historical strongest middle-distance runner.
The attention and hype for this world-watched showdown had reached unprecedented levels.
Even the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, which could usually claim to be the world's top grass race in any given year, would be left far behind in terms of buzz by this Queen Anne Stakes.
The Arc happened every year, with fields varying in strength, but generally floating within a certain range.
A century-defining clash like this, potentially birthing an Uma Musume who could surpass Eclipse, was a monumental duel unseen for a hundred years!
Even the Japanese Uma Musume, who were usually uninterested in [international races] and not particularly keen on mile events, were boiling to the point of taking leave or even rescheduling their own races to ensure they could attend.
Even more astonishing, the organizers of the European Mile G1, the [Queen Anne Stakes], had been preparing for months, undertaking massive venue expansions!
This was to meet the expectations of fans worldwide and to add more cheering spectators to a duel destined to go down in history.
And correspondingly... the number of Japanese 'Pegasus fans' who managed to get tickets would be very, very large.
In Symboli Rudolf's view, only Platinum could command such influence.
Even the [Former Strongest Japanese Uma Musume], Miss Emperor, had to grit her teeth and admit she fell far short.
"Right now, even within Tracen Academy, a huge number of students and teachers are probably taking sudden leave, right?"
"This has really thrown everything into chaos."
Originally, sitting at a nearby desk was the student council vice-president, Air Groove.
The number of student council members at Tracen Academy wasn't actually small.
From Symboli Rudolf, Air Groove, to Maruzensky, Mr. C.B., Sirius Symboli, and others, they numbered more than a handful, but the one who did the most work was invariably Air Groove.
But now, the habitual workhorse sat dazed, her eyes glazed over, staring blankly at the mountain of leave request forms piled high in front of her.
Approving leave requests was usually a minuscule task, maybe twenty or thirty a day, not taking much time at all to stamp and sign.
But now... there seemed to be no fewer than several hundred.
The key point was, this wasn't the end of it. Another batch of leave requests would need stamping and signing later.
Platinum just running one race had directly caused Tracen Academy to empty out by nearly half.
The reason it was only 'nearly half' and not 'most' wasn't because they didn't want to go, but because—the remaining young fillies weren't fast enough with their clicks, and didn't manage to get tickets!
Currently, within Tracen Academy, the topics of conversation were entirely about Platinum, Frankel, the Queen Anne Stakes, and either complaining, discussing, or boasting about whether they had managed to snag tickets.
Have you ever heard the Uma Musume lament?!
Have you ever seen Tracen Academy on the verge of disintegration?!
All of this, just because of the impending duel between Platinum and Frankel!
"I can't finish signing these, it's just impossible."
"Just how ridiculously popular is Platinum?"
Under Air Groove's exasperated sigh, Symboli Rudolf and Maruzensky smiled and walked over, each taking a portion of the forms.
"You're not alone this time."
"After we finish the official duties... shall we go too? I've already prepared a few tickets for the event."
Maruzensky extended the invitation to her friends in the student council.
Hearing this, even the diligently working Air Groove jolted.
"Yes!!"
--+--
At the airport in Japan...
Satono Diamond and Kitasan Black were dragging their suitcases, lining up to board the plane.
"Let's go, Kita-chan!"
"We absolutely cannot miss Platinum-san's most crucial battle, the one that will surpass Eclipse!"
"Yeah, Dia. Good thing we don't have any races scheduled recently, so we can fly over early."
Loyal fans of Platinum like Satono Diamond existed all over the world.
A significant number of well-known Uma Musume from various racing jurisdictions had similarly flown to Europe, terrified of missing the true [Crowning Battle of the Era].
After boarding the plane, Satono Diamond couldn't hold back her admiration.
"Only Platinum-san could have this kind of influence, to make the entire world focus on a single race like this!"
The final battle on the turf... was approaching!
Beside her, Kitasan Black, who had been looking down at her phone screen, suddenly looked up and called out to Satono Diamond.
"Diamond! Look at the class group chat."
"The homeroom teacher and the other teachers are reminding all the Uma Musume in the class not to be overly influenced by other races and to prioritize training!"
Hearing this, Satono Diamond's expression remained relatively calm, not finding anything particularly strange about it.
After all, didn't that sound perfectly normal?
At Tracen Academy, even active Uma Musume couldn't spend all day, every day, only training and racing, doing nothing else.
An Uma Musume's career was often only about three years long. If injuries, early decline, or other issues occurred, retirement in under two years was possible.
Therefore, they still needed cultural courses to prepare for continuing their studies after retirement.
And for the homeroom teacher and staff at Tracen to remind them to focus on training... wasn't that just part of their job?
"And then... then most of them have taken leave."
"They said that for the next few days, their classes will be changed to self-directed training."
Hearing this, Satono Diamond's face froze.
Huh?
The teachers who were telling them to focus on training... had taken leave themselves?
Satono Diamond lowered her head and pulled out her own phone.
A few seconds later, she saw something that made her pupils contract and burst out laughing in disbelief.
It was... a photo from aboard an airplane, posted by one of their fellow Uma Musume classmates.
The caption read—"Don't believe these old fogies, they're terrible! I'm on the same flight as them!"
Well, well, well. Just like them, they'd all packed their bags and made a run for it to go watch the race, huh?
--+--
Europe.
The silvery-haired girl, dressed in training gear, was returning from the training ground.
"So tired."
"Already trained for half an hour. Time to reward myself."
For Platinum, in the past, ten minutes of training was enough to adapt to the track and environment, while also deepening her understanding of a particular running style.
Training for a full half-hour in one go was, for Miss Pegasus, an unprecedented level of hard work!
But if her opponent was the legendary Frankel, the supreme product of three hundred years of British breeding, then it indeed warranted Platinum's serious attention.
As Platinum lazily returned to her room, her ears twitched slightly, catching the sound of her phone's ringtone.
"Hmm?"
Approaching and picking up her phone, Platinum saw a log of over a dozen missed calls.
Looking closer at the log, she noticed the calls came from two different people, which piqued her interest.
"One is [Race Officials]? At this time, it must be the final confirmation of entry and participation."
"And the other one is... Winx?"
Platinum promptly answered the incoming call, deciding to get the formalities with the race officials out of the way first.
"Hello, Miss Platinum, I'm calling from—"
"Agreed."
Soon after, the experienced Platinum ended the call.
She then opened the official race website and went straight to the pinned [Queen Anne Stakes] section.
Clicking in, she saw the displayed entry list and popularity vote results.
[First Popularity: Platinum]
[Second Popularity: Frankel]
[Third Popularity: Winx]
[Fourth Popularity: Cirrus des Aigles]
(T/N: Cirrus des Aigles didn't participate in the 2012 Queen Anne Stakes, which is the only Queen Anne Stakes that Frankel won, but 天鹰翱翔 directly translates to Cirrus des Aigles, so who cares)
This lineup of participants was truly unprecedented, and likely to remain unequaled!
"So, it's finally here?!"
--+--
At another training ground in Europe.
A girl of peerless beauty, with hair whiter than snow, sat on a bench with her legs crossed.
Her gaze was fixed on the content displayed on her phone screen.
Third place in the popularity vote? Winx?
"So low..."
"The last time my popularity was this low was so long ago."
For Winx, this so-called 'third popularity' felt utterly alien.
She was immensely experienced, with a career spanning over four years and accumulated race entries exceeding forty... a super veteran of countless battles!
As for her losses, they numbered only a handful, most occurring in her first year.
Thus, Winx had essentially dominated and won dozens of races in a row; to Australian audiences, she was the queen who reigned supreme.
Even when she traveled to Japan for the inaugural [Pegasus Kinen], Winx still maintained a top-two popularity ranking, proof of the high expectations and recognition she commanded.
But now, after entering and traveling for the Queen Anne Stakes, she was not only third in popularity, but... the gap in votes was substantial.
"The difference with Frankel in second place is already a staggering multiple!"
"A gap this big means I can't even be considered a [top contender] anymore."
Winx let out a soft sigh.
If the gap were small, even third popularity could count as a top contender, creating a three-way showdown.
But now... the only ones the world recognized as the top contenders were Platinum and Frankel!
All the other participants, nearly all of them G1 champions themselves, seemed to have no popularity at all.
The next second, her eyes turned sharp. The stunningly beautiful, snow-white girl stood up.
"I must give it my all in front of Miss Platinum!"
--+--
The Sea Household.
In the living room, the chestnut-haired Sea the Stars was drinking a beverage.
Next to her was Galileo.
"Is Frankel still training?"
"Little Stars, what do you think of Little Fran's chances of winning?"
Galileo asked, turning her head with a slightly worried look towards her sister.
Among the many Uma Musume in the Sea family, Galileo got along extremely well with a great number of the younger fillies.
Even Frankel was no exception.
Galileo's infectious charm and charisma were truly something.
"Yes, she's still at it."
The chestnut-haired girl nodded slightly.
The next moment, her tone heightened as she voiced her thoughts.
"Frankel made a promise to me, to everyone!"
"No matter the cost..."
"Frankel will surpass Platinum!"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
There should be... around 70+ advanced chapters?
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.