Several days later.
At the far end of Europe, France's Tracen Academy.
Beep, beep.
A crisp notification sounded. The cool, striking girl with long brown hair tied back from her tail pulled her gaze away from the training grounds and took out her phone.
"Oh? Generous and Mejiro McQueen have both arrived in Great Britain?"
Dancing Brave was not surprised by the expected report. She thought for a moment, then raised her eyes toward the grounds again.
"Should I tell Suave? But... she's at a critical point right now."
Following Dancing Brave's gaze, one could see a dark-skinned girl who had just finished an intense round of roadwork. She had one arm braced against the railing and was breathing hard.
Her body was exhausted, but her eyes burned with a fighting spirit sharp enough to make the heart tremble. That round, blazing gaze seemed ready to spill straight out of her pupils.
Whoosh.
At that moment, within a radius of several dozen meters around her, streams of red-gold light were flying everywhere, as if they meant to dye the world around her into a golden sea.
If an uma musume who had stepped into the second stage of Domain were present, she would have been shocked to discover that this power had already surpassed the range a conventional Domain could reach.
"She's pushed open a crack already?"
Looking at Suave Dancer in the distance, Dancing Brave nodded, put away her phone, and murmured, "Generous is strong, but she probably isn't a match for that Far Eastern uma musume. I doubt she'll be able to force out McQueen's full strength."
"In that case, there's no need to watch the race in person."
Detailed data on Mejiro McQueen, gathered earlier, flashed quickly through her mind.
Since her debut, McQueen had rarely met an opponent capable of forcing her to go all out. Or rather, she had never truly met one.
But an uma musume was not a machine. Even if her strength far surpassed others of her generation, there were always moments when faith and emotion surged to their limit, revealing traces an ordinary person would never notice.
As a legendary uma musume who had once touched the greatest limit of racing, Dancing Brave had repeatedly reviewed that gray-haired girl's past races and keenly caught a faint anomaly.
"During last year's Far Eastern Arima Kinen, in that final duel against Mejiro Ryan..."
"Mejiro McQueen, did you truly step into that realm?"
Dancing Brave's eyes flickered as she murmured, "If so, the current Suave is still far too lacking..."
After a moment of silence, a soft sigh drifted slowly across the edge of the field.
...
At the same time, in Great Britain.
On a rented training track.
Bang.
A purple figure and a silver figure suddenly clashed in a sharp exchange.
Yet faced with that surprise attack, the silver-haired, heterochromatic uma musume not only failed to gain any advantage, she felt as if she had slammed into a steel wall.
Her opponent did not budge. She, on the other hand, was forced two steps back by the recoil.
"You reacted that fast?" the silver-haired girl complained through clenched teeth.
Her opponent merely smiled and said nothing.
Soon, the practice race ended.
"Good!"
At the side of the track, Kuroha put away his stopwatch, nodded in satisfaction, and called out, "Queen, McQueen, good work! That's enough for today. Come rest first."
The two girls answered. After taking a moment to steady themselves, they walked side by side off the track.
On the way, Folkqueen sighed with admiration. "McQueen, you've improved so quickly. Lately, no matter how I change up my contesting or positioning techniques, none of it works on you anymore."
"Not at all. It's all thanks to your guidance, senpai. I still have much to learn." McQueen shook her head modestly and smiled.
Folkqueen said helplessly, "Come on. You've practically emptied me out already. What else do I have left to teach you? You should be teaching me instead."
She truly had not expected that the gray-haired junior who had once still been a little uma musume would grow to such heights.
To heights even she could barely hope to reach.
Teach you...
Hearing those words, McQueen seemed to think of something, and her expression turned a little strange.
She glanced at Folkqueen beside her, then at Godolphin, who was smiling at them with narrowed eyes, and silently looked away.
The gold-and-red-eyed girl did not notice the small gesture.
The two arrived at the sidelines and each took a water bottle, drinking deeply.
Maruzensky looked gently at the two juniors as they rehydrated. Then, as if something had occurred to her, she asked, "By the way, Kuro-kun, are we still going to Ascot Racecourse for public training today?"
"...Yes, let's go."
After thinking for a moment, Kuroha nodded. "Today is the last day. Public training is mainly for getting used to the track anyway, so we won't expose any trump cards. It'll be a good chance for McQueen to run a few more laps."
At that moment, Godolphin, standing to the left with her hands elegantly folded in front of her, pointed at herself.
"Um, Kuro-kun, could I take the day off?"
Kuroha paused. "Where are you planning to go this time?"
"What do you mean, 'go'?" Godolphin puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, but soon a faint smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
"Today, I want to handle a few... private matters."
She deliberately drew out the last words.
"Private matters... Sure, go ahead." Kuroha did not think much of it and granted the request readily. Then, out of habit, he added, "Just don't come back too late."
"I know."
...
Not long after, Kuroha and the others finished their preparations and arrived at Ascot Racecourse.
Although Kuroha had already brought McQueen here several times during this period to prepare for the race, every time he stood here, he was still struck by the grand and distinctive design of the racecourse.
At the moment, the racecourse was not particularly crowded.
There were not many actual spectators.
Because public training had been opened, Ascot Racecourse had suspended its other races. On top of that, public training had already lasted several days, so the spectators' enthusiasm for observing the participating uma musume in advance had mostly faded.
As a result, the people still lingering inside the grounds were, aside from a few reporters and paparazzi with cameras, mostly scouts and investigators sent by the various uma musume teams to gather intelligence.
(End of Chapter)
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