For Mr. C.B., the time in her life that could truly be called free was painfully brief.
The period from her first steps onto the track to being scouted and selected by the European racing world for a club remained her most unforgettable, dream-like memory.
She didn't need to think about the future, didn't need to shoulder any expectations. All she needed was to run freely, following her own heart.
The wind tousling her hair, the scent rising from the turf, the sheer joy of overtaking an opponent—each sent thrills of excitement through her. Back then, she felt she might have found the one thing she would chase for a lifetime.
So, when the invitation from Europe came, Mr. C.B. did not refuse.
To her mind then, and in the eyes of most, reaching for higher stages necessitated training under the European system.
She believed the loftier tracks would surely grant her greater freedom.
That's what the young Mr. C.B. thought.
She was like a fledgling bird that had just learned to fly, spreading its wings out of a longing for higher skies.
But when Mr. C.B. finally entered those skies, she discovered they were not the clear, boundless blue she imagined, but crisscrossed with invisible shackles.
Her young wings were bound, and under the expectant gazes of adults, they were slowly twisted into a shape she came to despise.
The more she trained, the more she raced, the further that dream-like version of Mr. C.B. receded into the distance.
And so, she fled. She fled from everyone's expectations.
Yet, once she burst through those high walls, Mr. C.B. made a stark discovery: reality was merely another training camp controlled by Europe.
No one understood her choice.
Her teacher's disappointment, her parents' bewilderment, the pitying looks from one stranger after another—all coalesced into heavy chains that bound her even more tightly than the training camp ever had.
But she couldn't for the life of her find where those chains ended, or how to chase the freedom from her dreams.
Now, however, everything was different.
A direction had been shown, a goal firmly set.
Even with countless formidable rivals ahead, Mr. C.B. felt not a shred of fear. Just as she had said when encouraging Dream Weaver before the Satsuki Sho:
Because she had tasted the bitterness of restraint, she wanted to show all Uma Musume who felt that same shackle what true freedom really was.
She, Mr. C.B., would become the world's most free Uma Musume.
Driven by this fierce resolve, her long-dormant spirit reignited with a brilliant light.
In countless practice races against Dream Weaver, Mr. C.B. gradually rediscovered her former self.
As the Uma Musume who raced freely under blue skies and the undefeated champion of the training camp were both reclaimed, the genius praised by the world and etched in countless memories made her triumphant return to the track.
Mr. C.B. gazed at the absolute defensive line formed by over a dozen Uma Musume ahead, and the corner of her mouth suddenly quivered upward.
Under the focused attention of all, she whispered softly.
"Come on."
The moment the words left her lips, the illusory stagnation caused by her expanding Zone dissipated, and the world flowed into motion once more.
And in that same instant, Mr. C.B.'s Zone erupted in full force.
The raging winds around her transformed into an assistive force, tearing apart the gravitational pull clinging to her body.
In this indescribable state of freedom, Mr. C.B. exploded forward with a terrifying, breathtaking speed, overtaking several Uma Musume in the blink of an eye.
Her chestnut hair streamed wildly in the gale.
She was like the wind itself—no matter how desperately the others tried to catch her, they could only watch helplessly as she slipped through their fingers.
Before this intangible wind, any so-called absolute defense was nothing but a porous sieve. Mr. C.B. didn't even need to think about how to run; her Zone instinctively showed her the way.
These elites, honed by the thousand trials of European training camps, had no means to counter Mr. C.B.'s Zone.
They could only stare in shock as she blew past them, charging straight for the leading group of five Triple Crown winners.
"Zone?!"
The lead Triple Crown winner, who had previously looked down on Mr. C.B. as a wasted talent, snarled through gritted teeth.
She could never have imagined that this failure in her eyes—this one who had lost all potential for higher stages—could unleash such terrifying speed.
What shocked her even more was that, judging by the performance of Mr. C.B.'s Zone now, this was absolutely not the strength of a newly awakened ability.
At the speed Mr. C.B. was displaying, she wouldn't be weak even among their group of Triple Crown winners!
Stunned, she failed to issue a counter-order immediately. It wasn't until Mr. C.B. was practically upon them that she snapped back to reality.
"So I underestimated you."
"But… don't think for a second this is enough to stand with us!"
As she spoke, the overwhelming aura unique to a Triple Crown winner burst forth.
The Zone forged through years of grueling camp training was also unleashed at full power. An oppressive, crushing presence instantly swept across the track, making every Uma Musume's heart skip a beat.
After her Zone expanded, the four other Triple Crown winners exchanged glances.
The unspoken understanding between Zone-users allowed them to communicate without words. In the next instant, they too fully unleashed their own Zones.
Oppressive. Heavy. Hard to breathe. A tightness in the chest.
The Zones of all the Triple Crown winners present seemed to share a similar underlying hue.
Perhaps because they had all awakened under similar pressure and stimulus within the camps, their Zones, while displaying different effects based on their personalities, shared a common core.
It was a foundation built on applying pressure to opponents, unsettling their minds and causing discomfort, then layering on extreme stress to prevent them from performing at their full capacity.
Their Zones were constructed with the goal of weakening the foe to strengthen themselves.
This was the shared color of every Uma Musume who had fought her way out of the training camps.
After years of distortion, the concept that falling one step behind meant plunging into the abyss was carved deep into their souls.
The Zones born from such an environment naturally aimed to weaken the enemy. Precisely because they knew how deeply the camp's pressure could wound, they consciously used that very pressure to construct their Zones.
After all, in the training camps, any Uma Musume who couldn't withstand such pressure became a failure.
And in the eyes of that lead Triple Crown winner, Mr. C.B. was exactly that kind of failure—one who had chosen to quit because she couldn't take the pressure.
So she was convinced that under the weight of such Zones, Mr. C.B. would have no chance to fight back.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.