France.
Paris Longchamp Racecourse, on the day of the Prix d'Ispahan.
The changing room.
El Condor Pasa showed no sign of pre-race nerves as she browsed Japanese websites on her phone.
She came across the popularity poll for the Yasuda Kinen. "Well, I guess it's no surprise—it's Senior Taiki Shuttle, after all."
In the Yasuda Kinen popularity poll, Taiki Shuttle from Team Rigil firmly held the top spot.
It seemed inevitable. Over mile distances, few Uma Musume could compare to Senior Taiki Shuttle.
If not for Barbatos's existence, Senior Taiki Shuttle would already be sitting on the throne as the current Mile Queen.
El Condor Pasa herself was quite adept at mile distances too, though she didn't count herself in the running.
After all, this "current Mile Queen" title was only for Japan—her goal was to become the strongest in the world!
After glancing briefly at the comments on the webpage, she switched tabs.
With Team Rigil participating in the Yasuda Kinen, it would be a race with little suspense.
She quickly switched pages to look at the popularity poll for another race—the deciding battle of the first half of the year in Japan, the Takarazuka Kinen poll.
"Just as expected."
As for who was ranked first in popularity, it wouldn't surprise El Condor Pasa—or anyone following Japanese Uma Musume Racing, for that matter.
Neither the legendary Uma Musume participating this time—Air Groove—nor any other contender could possibly surpass her in the popularity poll.
First in popularity: Wind God—Barbatos!
If the popularity poll weren't displayed numerically but as a bar chart, the combined bars of all the other participating Uma Musume probably wouldn't even reach the height of Barbatos's alone.
This was someone who, not long after her debut, had surpassed the "Emperor" Symboli Rudolf in terms of fanbase size!
The second most popular Uma Musume was also as El Condor Pasa had expected.
Second in popularity: The Empress—Air Groove!
However, the third spot in popularity did surprise El Condor Pasa a little.
She had thought it would be either Silence Suzuka or Mejiro Dober.
One was a contemporary prodigy on par with her and Barbatos; the other was an Uma Musume with five G1 victories who should still have plenty of fans even after retirement.
But at this stage, holding third place in the popularity ranking was…
Third in popularity: The Derby Uma Musume—King Halo!
The recently concluded Japanese Derby had clearly influenced voters. Winning the Derby had earned King Halo more votes.
Fourth in popularity was close behind third, and until race day, no one could say for sure who would ultimately take third place.
Fourth in popularity: The General of the Mejiro Family—Mejiro Dober!
After that came fifth in popularity: Silence Suzuka.
Though El Condor Pasa didn't pay much mind to online chatter, she was somewhat aware that the reason Silence Suzuka's popularity had dropped to fifth was likely because she hadn't won a single G1 title.
However, Silence Suzuka had transferred to Team Spica before El Condor Pasa joined Team Rigil. Since they had never trained or raced together, El Condor Pasa couldn't really judge.
Well, it's hard to say. Popularity doesn't necessarily reflect strength anyway. She was just passing time waiting for her own race to start.
El Condor Pasa hadn't told anyone about today's race. Though the Prix d'Ispahan was a French G1 event, for her, it was merely preparation for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe!
The real focus was the Arc.
Given the time difference between France and Japan, there was no need to have her friends stay up late to watch her race live.
Just as the race was about to begin and staff came to notify her, as El Condor Pasa prepared to leave the changing room, a new message popped up on LINE.
"The race is about to start, right? Your first battle in France—go for it!"
The sender's note didn't have any text, just a small clover emoji.
"Victory is assured!"
A smile tugged at El Condor Pasa's lips. She replied with just three words, put her phone away, and left the changing room.
--+--
Japan.
In the nearly empty cafeteria close to closing time.
Grass Wonder put her phone down and looked up at the large screen broadcasting the live coverage of the Prix d'Ispahan, watching El Condor Pasa make her entrance.
Beside her, Barbatos, Seiun Sky, and Special Week had gathered—all members of their usual dining group except for El Condor Pasa, who was racing.
Even King Halo, who didn't usually eat with them, was there.
Among them, though Barbatos, Grass Wonder, and King Halo were all still preparing for the Takarazuka Kinen, they had swapped their usual rest time for training earlier, so now they could use what would have been training time to watch El Condor Pasa's race.
This way, they could not only watch their good friend's race but also mislead their Takarazuka opponents into thinking they weren't training, while secretly training like mad behind the scenes.
"They're entering the starting gates. The race is about to begin."
Barbatos munched on a bread roll as she asked, "Hey, do you think El-chan can adapt to the European turf in just these few days?"
She had shifted her usual mealtime to training earlier so she could watch the live broadcast, and was now grabbing a bite in the cafeteria.
European turf differed significantly from Japanese turf. Many Japanese Uma Musume who went to Europe struggled not only to win G1 titles but even to place in graded races.
Hmm, if Barbatos herself went to France, with her passive ability to ignore unit collision, adapting to the turf wouldn't be an issue.
"If El-chan is participating, she must have confidence in her preparation."
Grass Wonder smiled gently, calm and composed, showing great faith in her roommate.
They didn't say much more, focusing intently on the race. In Japanese horse racing, international events were rare; usually, the only chance to see foreign Uma Musume was during the Japan Cup.
So, they all wanted to see how El Condor Pasa, newly arrived in France, would fare in a G1 race there.
Then Barbatos noticed, within the starting gates, El Condor Pasa seemed to say something, drawing angry glares from the other Uma Musume. It didn't last long, though, as the race began.
One minute passed…
Two minutes passed…
"El Condor Pasa hasn't adapted to the French turf yet."
Watching the live broadcast of the Prix d'Ispahan conclude, King Halo came to this conclusion.
El Condor Pasa's full strength in Japan was far greater than this. Even though she'd had injuries before, she should have fully recovered by now.
Even if her first comeback race wasn't at her peak, the speed she showed here was quite a bit off from what she displayed in the Oka Sho.
"Yeah, true."
Barbatos chimed in. "She only managed to pull ahead of second place by a length and a half."
It wasn't that she was being boastful; having raced against El Condor Pasa, she knew her capabilities. It also helped gauge the strength of the other participants.
The conclusion she drew was: "This year's Prix d'Ispahan field doesn't seem that strong, huh?"
After the broadcast ended, they all sent congratulatory messages via LINE to El Condor Pasa for her debut victory.
Then, as the cafeteria staff apologized and mentioned closing, they all decided to head back to the dorm together.
Under the night sky, there weren't many Uma Musume on the paths. Most had finished a day of classes or training and were preparing to rest.
Just as they neared the dormitory building.
Barbatos suddenly "remembered" something and stopped. "Oh, I think I left something in the team room. I'll go back and get it."
Having said that, she grabbed Seiun Sky's hand and headed back the way they came.
King Halo watched Barbatos and the others leave, wondering what Barbatos had forgotten. But since there was still a little time for training, she turned and said:
"I just remembered the trainer wanted to see me about something. I should head over."
Grass Wonder watched the three leave with a knowing smile. Though they each had their own excuses, it felt like they were all going off to train in secret.
She glanced at Special Week beside her. She couldn't bear to leave Special Week alone, so she'd wait until they were back in the dorm before sneaking out herself.
"Shall we go, Spe-chan?"
"Mhm."
--+--
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.