Tracen Academy.
By December, the cultural classes at Tracen Academy were winding down, and it was time to face the music—exam results were in.
With a packed schedule of G1 races and the holidays around the corner, the Uma Musume who had already debuted were, to varying degrees, busy preparing for their upcoming competitions.
The academy itself was taking a fairly relaxed approach to the year-end finals.
Any Uma Musume with races imminent could postpone their exams, focusing their energy on the track instead.
Make-up exams would be held uniformly once their races were over.
"Condor, shouldn't you be prepping for the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes?"
Barbatos couldn't help but ask, finding El Condor Pasa in Classroom C. She'd assumed Condor would be deep in training drills and would have deferred her exams.
As for herself, even with the Winter Dream Cup approaching, exams didn't really interfere with her practice routine. She was still wearing weighted horseshoes, squeezing in training wherever she could.
"The Asahi Hai? I've got that in the bag! So it's fine," El Condor Pasa declared, clenching a fist with brimming confidence.
That was a lie. Her mask barely hid the dark circles under her eyes. She had initially planned to postpone the exams too, but her trainer caught her sneaking in extra practice sessions.
She'd said she was already overdoing it and told her to take the finals as a way to unwind.
But she couldn't very well admit that to Barbatos.
"'In the bag,' huh? Must be nice," Barbatos sighed. "I don't have a shred of confidence about the Dream Cup myself. Just taking the exams to scrounge up a bit of morale."
Both she and Condor were the type to pay attention in class, able to answer teachers' questions on the spot. Plus, there was the Classical Chinese Literature exam.
Looking for a confidence boost in the finals—perfectly reasonable.
But...
That was a lie too!
Having just purchased [Sylas], she couldn't exactly say she had no confidence. Winning the whole Dream Cup might be a stretch, but beating Amazon-senpai or some of the other legendaries, avoiding dead last in the Winter Dream Cup… that didn't seem entirely impossible.
Still, she couldn't let Condor see any of that confidence.
After all, Condor was part of Rigil. Playing up this slacker, "just getting by" act might fool Condor, might even fool the legendary Uma Musume of Rigil.
Seiun Sky was sprawled lazily across her desk, waiting for the exam to start.
She completely ignored the childish mind games going on between El Condor Pasa and Barbatos, her eyes casually drifting over their classmates.
"Halo and Spe-chan… they deferred their exams?"
She didn't see them in the classroom.
"Yes, that's right," Grass Wonder replied from her seat, smiling gently. "Spe-chan has a G3 race today. Halo is also preparing for a G3 race in a few days."
"G3?"
Seiun Sky's ears twitched. A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes before she settled back into her languid posture.
She wasn't surprised that Special Week and King Halo were running in G3 races.
It was just that, having gotten used to hanging out with partners who'd already won G1s and were about to compete against legends, a G3 somehow felt a bit… lightweight.
Still, she quickly dismissed that thought.
Even if being around Barbatos and El Condor Pasa made G3s seem 'just okay,' for 90% or more of all Uma Musume, winning a single G3 race was the pinnacle of their careers.
A G3 was still a G-series race!
As they chatted, the proctor soon arrived with the test papers, distributing them to the students.
Exams at Tracen Academy weren't overly difficult. After all, the most important thing for an Uma Musume was to run. The academy wouldn't put the cart before the horse, and Uma Musume didn't have much time for studying anyway.
This made the final exam papers exceptionally straightforward.
Barbatos looked over the content, twirling her pen. She didn't start writing immediately, instead scanning the entire paper from top to bottom first.
"Piece of cake!"
The difficulty level was worlds apart from the exams she'd taken in her past human life.
Her pen glided across the paper, filling in answers almost without pause. In just fifteen minutes, she was done.
This test was almost suspiciously simple.
Could any Uma Musume actually manage to fail this?
Barbatos couldn't help but wonder.
She glanced around. El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder were also nearly finished. Next to her, Seiun Sky was already face-down on the desk, fast asleep.
As expected, Tracen Academy didn't go out of its way to make cultural exams hard for its Uma Musume.
The only regret was…
Barbatos let out an inward sigh.
Back in her previous life, exams always had a few challenging problems. Solving them gave you that sudden, illuminating 'aha!' moment.
Now, all she felt was the smooth, uninterrupted flow of writing, the satisfaction of finishing in one go.
--+--
With several consecutive exams concluded, Barbatos successfully powered through a morning of furious scribbling.
By noon, Tracen Academy's final exams were done and dusted.
For Barbatos, a morning like this hardly put a dent in her pre-race training schedule, much less her campaigns on the Summoner's Rift.
She sat with Seiun Sky, El Condor Pasa, and Grass Wonder in a corner of the academy cafeteria, having lunch.
Across from their spot, a large screen TV was broadcasting a live race.
Not many people were paying it much attention.
Among the many year-end competitions, this was just an ordinary G3 event.
"Go, Spe-chan!"
Grass Wonder cheered for Special Week through the screen.
This was the G3 race Special Week was competing in today.
Among the other participants was a familiar face to Barbatos—an opponent she'd faced twice before, the one who'd had a delayed start because Barbatos greeted her: "Dramatic Development."
All four of them watched the ongoing race as they ate, cheering for Spe-chan, equally confident in her chances.
"Dramatic Development takes the lead! Special Week is closing in from behind!"
"400 meters to go! The gap isn't closing! What will Special Week do?!"
Barbatos and the others knew a thing or two about Special Week's situation.
They knew about her powerful late-race kick, how she could even manage multiple accelerations on the final turn. She was a rival you had to take seriously.
According to what Special Week had said before, she managed to beat King Halo during Rigil's entrance test.
That was because she suddenly remembered the running form of Silence Suzuka, whom she'd seen before enrolling. Just by recalling that and mimicking the movement a little…
She adapted to Tracen Academy's turf almost instantly.
'Talk about a copycat Musume,' Barbatos thought wryly to herself.
But the next moment, watching the race, she froze. Sure enough, Special Week accelerated again, overtaking the leading Dramatic Development.
"That running form…?!!"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, 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.