No one could have imagined that all Xingyun Liuge had done was cook an ordinary meal, and yet it would still lead to a completely exhausting "incident."
Back when they had been preparing for the 2000 Guineas, Xingyun Liuge had handled all of the girls' meals herself. By then, everyone already knew she could perfectly balance training and meal prep, so naturally, no one thought anything unusual could possibly happen here. They accepted it all without a second thought.
And then—
Led in by the maids, a girl with long brown hair and the Central Tracen school uniform stepped into the villa. She had lively sapphire-blue eyes, skin as fair as snow, and a chest so full it effortlessly drew the eye.
More importantly, she carried an aura unlike anything the others had. Even surrounded by a crowd of horse girls, her presence stood out sharply. It was not that she seemed out of place. It was simply that her one-of-a-kind temperament made her impossible to overlook.
Her voice was soft and gentle, the sort that made people think of a reliable upperclassman—or even a kindly mother.
Yes. That was the feeling surrounding her. Maternal, almost comforting. Loli-moms had their appeal, of course, but the truly orthodox "mom type" was still the kind whose body and personality both radiated mature, overflowing womanhood.
Though, to be precise, "mature" was not quite the right word. "Old-fashioned" fit better. Probably because some of the phrases she used sounded just a little strange. However you looked at it, her habitual expressions did not sound current—they sounded like they had come from a whole decade earlier.
Before Maruzensky had even reached the dining room door, she could already hear the commotion inside. It was not an argument. It was something even harder to deal with than that.
After eating the dinner Xingyun Liuge had prepared, Agnes Tachyon burst into tears and immediately dropped into a full kneeling, forehead-to-the-floor marriage proposal.
"Miss Xingyun, please marry me! Only after tasting the food you made did I finally realize why I've stayed single all these years—it was because I was waiting for you to appear!"
Daiwa Scarlet nearly turned gray on the spot, a whole avalanche of complaints jammed in her throat.
Seriously? A proposal over one meal? That was absurd!
On one side was the senior she respected. On the other was the Xingyun Liuge she admired. Scarlet felt she ought to uphold the traditional virtues of loyalty and righteousness and bless the two of them—but she really, really admired Xingyun Liuge herself.
And besides, deciding to propose just because your taste buds had been conquered by someone's cooking was way too impulsive. Was that really love? Wasn't it more like wanting Xingyun Liuge to cook for you for the rest of your life?
To Scarlet, Tachyon's proposal was far too reckless, far too surreal. There was no way something like that could possibly succeed.
Sure enough, she very soon heard Xingyun Liuge laugh softly.
"Miss Agnes really is interesting."
There was unmistakable amusement in her voice. For Scarlet, that at least counted as a small mercy. She immediately scooped up a spoonful of rice and shoved it into Agnes Tachyon's mouth, clearly intending to shut her up by force.
An astonishing pressure rose from her body, as if she were saying:
If there's food, eat. If not, stop talking.
For a moment, it was impossible to tell who was the senior and who was the junior.
Looking at the lively dining room, Maruzensky smiled and greeted them all.
"Yo-hallo! It's Maruzensky~"
As she spoke, she even gave the girls a playful wink, showing off every ounce of her feminine charm.
There was no question about it—she was absolutely a dazzling beauty.
Though apparently she was even older than Symboli Rudolf, or so some people said.
And because she liked tossing around baffling catchphrases that sounded like they had come from an earlier era, everyone at Central Tracen tended to think of her as a very, very, very senior upperclassman.
That troubled Maruzensky quite a bit. She worked hard to learn new slang and keep up with the times so she could fit in better with the younger generation and chat naturally with them.
Not because she was afraid of being lonely, of course. Mostly because she wanted to keep shining and stay relevant.
She could hardly spend every day having tea parties with Hayase, Chitose-daihyo, Katsuragi Ace, and the others.
As a super sports car, Maruzensky naturally wanted to keep up with the newest trends and talk about brand-new topics with the new generation of horse girls.
"Yo... hallo?" Chihaya Yui stroked her chin and thought seriously. Of course she knew the famous supercar horse girl Maruzensky by name. The issue was, what Showa year was that greeting style from exactly?
In truth, Maruzensky actually had kept up with the trends this time. It was just that Chihaya Yui and the others had been abroad for so long that they no longer knew what counted as current slang in Japan, so their minds naturally drifted toward "outdated relic" territory.
Xingyun Liuge, meanwhile, had no such concerns. She simply threw out an arm and called cheerfully,
"Now that you're here, eat first."
It was hard to say something as direct as nothing matters more than food, but hunger was a formidable enemy. Neglecting your stomach was the height of foolishness. Even if something enormous was happening, they could still sit down and talk while they ate.
Even a Hongmen Banquet was still, fundamentally, a banquet.
Xingyun Liuge did not like Japanese food, so she had cooked Chinese dishes instead, slightly adjusted to suit the girls' tastes.
And that was what had caused the "disaster."
Agnes Tachyon had humiliated herself on the spot, begging Xingyun Liuge to cook for her forever, seemingly without sparing a single thought for the damage this might do to Daiwa Scarlet.
Wasn't that just forgetting old favors as soon as someone new came along? Daiwa Scarlet had been cooking for her for ages!
"Oh, before that, I'd like to introduce everyone to this horse girl. Please, come in. No need to be shy."
This time, Maruzensky had come carrying Symboli Rudolf's hopes—and in some ways, the ardor of all Japan with her. Naturally, she intended to give it everything she had.
"Excuse me."
A horse girl with reddish-brown hair stepped gracefully into the room.
She wore a gown-like outfit in red and black, with blooming flowers decorating both sides of the skirt. The long hem nearly brushed the floor. By her left ear sat a tiny crown and a crimson ornament.
Among Japanese horse girls, she definitely counted as tall. If Xingyun Liuge the anomaly had not existed, she might have been among the tallest of them all.
Her long, rounded legs were wrapped in lovely white fabric, the faint way it pressed into her flesh making them all the more irresistible.
She was tall, yes, but the most overwhelming thing about her was the sheer presence of her well-developed leg muscles. For a horse girl, that was a direct symbol of power.
And yet even that was not the most eye-catching thing about her.
The armor plating in front was nothing short of astonishing, so generous that it looked as if it would sway just from the act of walking. It was, by any standard, extravagant.
She performed a respectful curtsey toward Xingyun Liuge, and her crimson eyes were filled almost to overflowing with admiration.
"Miss Xingyun, congratulations on conquering America's dirt tracks and claiming Triple Crown glory. If it is you, then whether it is Japan's turf or Britain's turf, both will tremble beneath your iron hooves."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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