"Urgh, urgh, urgh… oyster…"
Face buried over a trash can, Stardust Phantom was retching so hard she was starting to doubt life.
What little pasta she'd eaten at lunch had long since come back up. Her lungs and stomach were burning like they'd swallowed live coals; every breath felt like gulping down hot embers.
Beads of sweat as big as beans covered her forehead and slid down her cheeks.
Her hair clung to her skin, and her twin red-tipped ears drooped lifelessly.
She looked like she'd been dunked in water and hauled back out, drenched from head to toe. Her body felt as if it had been run over by some interdimensional teleport device; she barely had the strength to squat.
Before training started, she'd thought: I'm a horsegirl, after all.
No matter how tough it gets, I won't be totally unable to handle it. Worst case, I'll gut it out and finish whatever Coach Rokuhei asks.
She never imagined that after only a few hours she'd be puking like this.
First came twenty 100-meter sprints, every single one requiring max speed. If she fell more than two seconds behind Oguri Cap on any run, it didn't count and had to be redone.
And there was no real rest—walking back to the start was "recovery."
At first she'd thought, That's just 2,000 meters total; catch my breath and it'll be fine.
But past the first dozen, she could hardly breathe, while Oguri Cap was only lightly flushed and panting.
After that, their gap grew with each rep. She had to redo at least four or five runs just to pass.
By the time she finished, she was about to collapse on the spot, too exhausted to move a finger.
Then Coach Rokuhei merely helped her stand, waited for Oguri Cap to complete her fifty 100-meter sprints, and only then told Stardust Phantom:
"Alright, next is twenty 200-meter sprints. This time you can't fall more than three seconds behind Oguri. Let's begin."
She didn't even finish all twenty before she wound up the way she was now, hurling.
At last, when the worst had passed, Stardust Phantom lifted her head with effort and looked out toward the track where Oguri Cap was still diligently running her 200-meter sprints.
She hadn't noticed earlier while focused on her own reps, but now she was startled to see traces of the "Holy Night Runner" technique already appearing in Oguri's finishing form.
"Oguri Cap… do you… do this kind of training every day?"
She turned to ask.
"Of course not."
Rokuhei stood beside her, arms folded.
"Oguri only recently recovered from injuries, so we've reduced a lot of her workload. Remember, she's a mid-to-long-distance specialist, and the upcoming Arima Kinen is a full 2,500 meters. Without stamina, nothing else matters.
"The real question is you, Stardust Phantom—are you continuing today?"
He tossed it out casually, but in his experience, almost no horsegirl kept going after her first true brush with endurance-limit training.
In all his years as a Central trainer, only one had persisted—Oguri Cap, right now blazing around the course.
"Of course I'm training!"
Stardust Phantom shot back at once, wiping her mouth with a sleeve and pushing herself upright, heading back toward the track.
Rokuhei Ginjiro was momentarily taken aback by how she didn't hesitate at all.
Watching her retreating back, he suddenly recalled what the Student Council President had told him at their last meeting:
[That horsegirl has the potential. She might be the one to inherit Oguri's place—the next Cinderella. If you can, will you stick it out with her a while longer?]
The "Ash-Gray Cinderella"—Oguri Cap's much-told moniker.
A country girl no one believed in, who fought her way into Central and earned the name of "monster."
"Is that why the Emperor asked me to bring her in…?"
————————————
Stardust Phantom, already stepping onto the 200-meter lane, didn't hear Rokuhei mutter behind her.
Moments earlier, while retching, she'd opened her system panel.
Since her debut race, she'd kept up self-training—yet the results were mediocre: about ten total stat points a day.
But in just those few hours just now, her Stamina alone had gone up by 10, and Power had climbed by more than 10.
She knew it was largely because her baseline Power and Stamina were so poor that early structured training produced dramatic gains.
Still, as long as the gains were visible, she had no desire to quit—because as Rokuhei said: if you can't stomach this much hardship, how do you ever chase the Classic Triple Crown?
At the very least, she had to finish these remaining runs.
In the end, gritting her teeth, Stardust Phantom completed all twenty 200-meter sprints. By the last reps, she could barely stand; she had to lean on the likewise sweat-soaked Oguri Cap to keep from toppling.
"You look really frail," Oguri said mildly.
Even after so much running, though she too was breathing hard, her condition was clearly better than Stardust Phantom's.
"We'll stop here for today. Afternoon's nearly gone."
With the sky turning golden, Rokuhei strolled over with a cheerful smile and handed them towels.
Watching the two of them rub their faces like kittens, he couldn't help a fond look.
When they'd finished wiping down, he turned and headed off the track. Stardust Phantom, supporting Oguri, hurried after him.
"Eh? Where are we going?"
"Isn't it obvious? Dinner," Oguri said, dabbing at the corner of her mouth. "Carrot curry rice—my favorite. Want to come?"
"Yes!!!" cried the perpetually broke Stardust Phantom. "Please let me freeload a meal!"
"Hahahaha, eat plenty," Rokuhei laughed. "Oguri's endurance comes from her appetite."
Oguri's head bobbed furiously at his side, ears twitching, proudly confirming she ate big only to run better.
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