Garden Gale wanted to avoid seeing the Emperor.
She knew Symboli Rudolf was still furious.
If she showed her face now, she'd just get a long lecture... and there was nothing she could say back. So Garden Gale came back at 11 p.m. She refused to believe the Emperor would still come for her at that hour. Sleep it off, and by tomorrow things would be better—only someone had underestimated just how angry the Emperor could get.
...
The next day... morning.
Back in the familiar classroom.
Garden Gale sat in the back by the window, listening as usual, finding her rhythm again.
The office-lady-type teacher on the podium had heard that this kid had gone and won another race, so she decided to let her "grow naturally," as long as she didn't disrupt class. It couldn't be helped—this was the privilege of the strong. If you went and won the Classic Triple Crown, you probably wouldn't even have to show up for lessons and nobody would say much.
Garden Gale took out her phone and opened Umastagram, the one she'd mentioned last time.
The hottest topic in the circle was her upset win over Admire Vega, right there in the feed—impossible to miss. Plenty of fans were already buzzing about her, too; the heat hadn't died down at all. The most common line was that they'd fallen for this Umamusume and were now her fans.
...Damn it.
I really got famous.
Garden Gale felt a little dead inside. She hadn't even had time to post a "watermelon" meme when—a knock sounded at the classroom door.
Every student, and even the teacher, looked over. Garden Gale couldn't help it either; her eyes dragged themselves to the doorway.
But... the moment she saw who it was—her entire body locked up.
Symboli Rudolf stood there in uniform, her face cold as Himalayan snow, tapping the door slowly.
Knock. Knock.
Then she said, "Garden Gale, please come with me. Thank you."
As she spoke, she folded her arms across her chest and stood ramrod straight, radiating imperial authority without leaving the slightest room for negotiation. When her gaze swept the room, no one even dared meet her eyes. Heads lowered at once, crushed under that pressure—so heavy they could barely breathe. You could feel it in the air: just how angry the Emperor was. Even the wind seemed to carry frost.
And then—someone froze in place and ended up meeting Symboli Rudolf's eyes head-on.
Symboli Rudolf smiled. "Let's go."
The entire class's attention snapped back to Garden Gale as she rose like a walking corpse.
"..."
I'm finished!
Garden Gale didn't dare resist... She never dreamed Symboli Rudolf would come to class the very next day to arrest her in person. What was that saying again? The one who arrests others will someday be arrested too.
So she could only go full ostrich, trailing behind Symboli Rudolf as they made their way to the student council president's office.
The Emperor went in first.
"Lock the door," she added.
Garden Gale visibly twitched.
Her social-anxiety persona came roaring back online, tying itself in knots over whether locking the door meant she'd just cut off her escape route.
—But even if you can run, can you escape the temple?
There's no way out.
With the resolve of someone marching to her execution, Garden Gale locked the door, eyes hardening.
Fine. Head or tail, it's still a blade. Symboli Rudolf—if you've got the guts, kill me today!
She walked in without looking around—and then abruptly noticed the Umamusume by the bookcase, tidying it.
Student Council Vice President · Empress · Air Groove!
A G1-class overlord in her own right... She tilted her head, clearly not understanding what was going on.
All she could tell was that Symboli Rudolf was extremely angry.
Wasn't this yesterday's winner? Pretty impressive, huh... Garden Gale really was famous now.
Air Groove shrugged. She didn't say anything—just stopped arranging the books and stepped behind the Emperor, laying a finger lightly on Symboli Rudolf's shoulder.
Symboli Rudolf sat with her hands steepled beneath her chin, face like ice, saying nothing at all.
The air felt like it had stopped moving.
Pressure swelled.
Garden Gale, with strong self-preservation instincts, sat down.
She inhaled once.
Then—she shouted.
"I was wrong! Gomennasai!"
There was no "Wrong about what?" or "Oh, so you know you were wrong?" kind of response.
Symboli Rudolf only answered evenly. "Garden Gale, you really surprised me. Switching between two running styles—that's your proudest ability right now, isn't it? It's no joke... before you, no one had ever mastered two running styles."
"Even though the speed drop when switching is a fatal flaw. But I believe you can overcome it!"
There was no thunderstorm.
Instead, praise—pure, unfiltered praise.
Garden Gale practically melted on the spot, scratching her head with a dumb grin. "Heh... hehehe. It's not that amazing."
Symboli Rudolf didn't stop. "It really is stunning. You can bring both styles up to ninety-nine percent of their power. You're strong. Someday you might even go overseas—Europe, Hong Kong—on an expedition. But before that..."
"Not that strong, hehehe." Garden Gale was so praised she was going punch-drunk.
To hear approval from a monster like that... and who was she, exactly? The Emperor. Symboli Rudolf. Seven-time G1 winner. Any Umamusume she took a liking to was a phoenix among the flock, a Red Hare among Umas. And sure, Garden Gale could even learn the Red Hare's abilities—
"But before that..."
Symboli Rudolf drew the words out. "I've decided to lay out a road to the summit for someone as strong as you. It's settled—your name will be entered for the Classic Triple Crown. I believe in you, Garden. You can take the Triple Crown."
"Hehehe... heh."
Garden Gale's grin shrank.
And shrank.
Until it vanished completely.
Huh? Road to the summit? Enter my name for the Classic Triple Crown? Believe in me—say I can take the Triple Crown?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Absolutely not!
At least wait until I've been dead for ten years!
Even Air Groove behind the Emperor froze.
Can she really... ? The thought flashed for an instant, then was gone—replaced by calm acceptance.
After all, this was an Umamusume the Emperor had chosen.
"I was wrong—I don't want to run the Classic Triple Crown, aaah!" Garden Gale shrieked like a whole-wheat, sugar-free bread-cat, shooting to her feet, no longer caring about dignity as she poured out her misery.
Your Imperial Benevolence, don't go that far! I finally managed to lie flat, okay?! I'm not running those G-class races!
"Enough!" Symboli Rudolf glared, eyes blazing. "So you do know you were wrong! Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused me by skipping the Winner's Live again yesterday? Next time, I will watch you like a hawk until you get up on that stage! Not only am I putting you through special training for your 'road to the summit'—I'm also scheduling training for the Winner's Live!"
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
Her voice even carried a bit of teary, whiny desperation.
"Stop whining, you brat!" Symboli Rudolf looked like her head might split in two.
...
February 13.
The needle of fate began to turn.
Garden Gale's name officially entered the candidate list for the Classic Triple Crown. This social-anxious Umamusume had no idea what awaited her in the future.
All she knew was that the ability attributes belonging to [THRONE OF KINGS] were rising with her victories—and that more and more people were starting to know her name.
The strong of her generation began to surface, one by one. This was their era—the best of times, and the worst of times.
Unyielding will. The End-of-the-Century Overlord. The Gleaming First-Magnitude Star. And a timid, fragile girl. Everything, all of it, looping and spiraling, irreversibly sprinting into the future.
The ambitious crowded onto the track, all for the sake of claiming a place of their own.
Writing chapters into this human world.
After the retirement of the two chestnut legends, the wind of history turned the page. A story that had been blank for so long began a new chapter at last.
...
Whose tomorrow will shine brighter?
---
T/N: END OF VOLUME 1 WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA