Most of the Uma Musume on the field wore expressions mixed with bewilderment and relief.
The one she'd greeted earlier in the athlete's tunnel had even started swaying on the spot, her eyes spinning like whirlpools.
Dream Weaver didn't go over to talk to them. She never considered herself a savior.
No matter how astonishing her performances on the track might be, she couldn't save everyone.
Victory brought Hope, but that hope only existed if people already carried expectations in their hearts.
For those Uma Musume whose fighting spirit had been crushed by her own display, even Dream Weaver didn't know what to say to them. As the victor, anything she said might come across as mockery.
But Sakura Yamato was different. Dream Weaver could still see disappointment and reluctance in her eyes.
Remembering how the other girl had raced—that stubborn determination to chase her shadow even under the pressure of the Divine Blade Murasame—Dream Weaver suddenly felt she could do something.
"Everyone else looks like they've accepted their fate. Only you still seem disappointed."
"Disappointment means the desire for victory still burns inside you."
"Can I ask where that desire comes from?"
Sakura Yamato blinked in surprise at the question.
The sun herself, standing high in the heavens, had actually noticed her shadow… and was even curious about her?
A mix of three parts shock, two parts confusion, and five parts feeling incredibly honored sent her emotions into a chaotic pie chart.
Almost without thinking, Sakura Yamato found herself telling Dream Weaver about a past conversation with her trainer.
"Because… this might be my last chance to compete for a win…"
Precocious, huh…
Dream Weaver fell silent for a moment. Sakura Yamato's situation bore an uncanny resemblance to her own past.
Back during her first scripted world run, when none of her attributes had broken their limits, she had felt a similar way.
Even after winning so many races, with a future everyone believed in—only she knew her path was actually nearing its end.
After winning the Yayoi Sho back then, Dream Weaver had made a judgment similar to Sakura Yamato's: that her final victory might stop right there.
In that brief period of uncertainty, it was T.M. Opera O who had suddenly shown up at her door, challenging her and reigniting her drive to move forward.
But Dream Weaver didn't plan to use that same method to encourage Sakura Yamato. Their circumstances were similar, but not identical.
Back then, Dream Weaver had no way out. To save her mother, she had to win the Satsuki Sho, even if it meant training herself to the bone at the cost of her very life.
Sakura Yamato was different. She didn't have the chance for a second life.
Though she had burned herself out many times over, Dream Weaver still had a shred of self-awareness. She didn't see her own condition as the norm.
She thought for a moment before speaking.
"I once knew an Uma Musume."
"She competed for many years but never managed to win a single championship that would prove her worth."
"But she never gave up. Even facing opponents she seemingly couldn't overcome, she gritted her teeth and pushed forward… and in the end, she shone with her own brilliance."
Dream Weaver looked into Sakura Yamato's distinctive eyes and smiled.
"I think you're a lot like her."
"…Could I know her name?"
"Sakura Chitose O."
The moment she heard Sakura Yamato's reason for feeling lost, Dream Weaver had remembered this former rival.
Her interactions with Sakura Chitose O hadn't been many—they'd only been opponents in the Autumn Tenno Sho during her third scripted world—but Dream Weaver remembered every rival she'd ever faced.
In that race, which she'd thought would only be between herself and Narita Brian, Sakura Chitose O had awakened her own Zone through sheer indomitable will and persevered until the end.
Compared to herself, Dream Weaver felt Sakura Chitose O was perhaps a better example to inspire Sakura Yamato.
"Chitose O… my elder sister?"
"I heard she won the Autumn Tenno Sho. How could someone like me possibly be similar to her…"
Sakura Yamato murmured to herself, completely caught off guard hearing that name from Dream Weaver.
Dream Weaver's eyes narrowed slightly. So, in the real world, that Autumn Tenno Sho had been won by Sakura Chitose O.
It was surprising, but it made sense.
After all, she was the Uma Musume who had managed to awaken her Zone and last until the end amidst the clash between Dream Weaver and Narita Brian.
"Do you know what her record was before that?"
"Since she won the Autumn Tenno Sho… she must have been a renowned talent even before that, right…"
Despite sharing the same surname, Sakura Yamato actually knew very little about this elder sister of hers. At most, she'd heard from others that she'd won the Autumn Tenno Sho.
Dream Weaver, who meticulously studied every opponent before a race, gently shook her head.
"That's not how it was."
"Before the Autumn Tenno Sho, Sakura Chitose O had never won a G1 race. She didn't even win a G2-level Nakayama Kinen until her third year after debut."
"It was only in the final year of her career that she finally claimed a G2-level race victory. By then, everyone believed her path had reached its end."
"But rising from races below graded stakes over four years to win a G2… doesn't that count as leaving no regrets?"
At the words "leaving no regrets," Sakura Yamato's hands clenched subtly, a strange emotion stirring within her.
Seeing her bite her lip in silence, Dream Weaver smiled and asked a question in return.
"But neither you nor she would be satisfied with just that, would you?"
She cupped Sakura Yamato's face, looking straight into her pupils, and said earnestly,
"I don't like the phrase 'end of the road.' The track is filled with so many possibilities. Why arbitrarily decide the conclusion of your own future?"
"This is a place where miracles and hopes gather. The unexpected happening is what's normal here."
Sakura Yamato thought the warmth from the other's palms would scald her.
This was the unattainable sun.
Getting this close should only result in getting burned.
But all she felt on her cheeks was gentle warmth.
Suddenly, she remembered an old rumor and whispered,
"There's only one legend about the Hopeful Stakes—they say the future of any Uma Musume who wins it is never bright. That's why it's also called the Hopeless Stakes."
"So there shouldn't be any hope he…"
"There is now."
Dream Weaver cut her off, firmly repeating,
"Since I've come here, there will be Hope."
"I will become the Uma Musume who brings more hope from the Hopeful Stakes than anyone in its history."
"Sakura Yamato, I want you to be the first."
Dream Weaver's eyes were a deep, night-like black, but in that moment, Sakura Yamato suddenly felt those dark eyes shone more brilliantly, burned more fiercely, than the real sun.
And so, driven by an inexplicable flutter in her heart, Sakura Yamato blushed and nodded.
Agreeing to become the first Uma Musume Dream Weaver ever 'provoked' in the real world.
--+--
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.