At this point, Xingyun Liuge was absolutely drenched in sweat, but the spectators did not care in the slightest. They shouted themselves hoarse for her, waving flags and cheering goods with all their might. It looked as though they might even charge straight through the wall of Scotland Yard officers and rush onto the track.
Some of the more fanatical female supporters had even come wearing T-shirts printed with chibi versions of Xingyun Liuge, screaming at the top of their lungs, "Miss Xingyun, I love you! I want to horse around with you!"
Xingyun Liuge quietly complained to herself: But you're human. How exactly would that work?
Of course, kind-hearted and beautiful as she was, there was no way she would say something so tactless out loud. She simply acted as though she had heard nothing and waved naturally to the crowd.
The photographers, cameras in hand, scrambled for the best angle to capture her athletic figure. No doubt those photos would make the evening editions and be plastered all across London by nightfall. After all, Surrey was only half an hour from London by train, and the Epsom Derby was a major national event.
If any paper was even a little late getting those shots out, it would probably lose readers on the spot.
The race organizers had arranged a grand press conference for Xingyun Liuge and tactfully asked whether there were any subjects that ought to be avoided. It was a simple enough line of questioning, really—they wanted to know what topics she disliked, so they could avoid any unfortunate incidents.
Sirius Symbol was the sort who could be a little rough around the edges, but in a setting like this, with Xingyun Liuge now boasting five crowns, she still took the initiative to approach her and ask for a private word.
Maruzensky quietly followed after them.
Once there was no fourth person around, Sirius Symbol bent forward in a full bow.
"Please. I know this may be asking too much, but this truly matters to us. Miss Xingyun, please, just hear me out."
In truth, it was not an especially difficult request.
She merely hoped Xingyun Liuge would not let the reporters bring up transfer talks.
"Rudolf is already continuing the cleanup of JRA. She's determined to erase that name from history completely. She will absolutely give Miss Xingyun an explanation. So please—please give us a little more time!"
It was a textbook ninety-degree bow. Seeing it, Xingyun Liuge could not help thinking to herself: So this is what true bowing craftsmanship looks like?
Before the Two Thousand Guineas, Sirius Symbol had still viewed Xingyun Liuge as a junior with some talent, plenty of ambition, and a head full of ideas.
Now she knew she no longer had the slightest right to think of her that way.
Not just her—even Rudolf Symbol, the so-called Emperor, had lost that right. In less than fifty days, Xingyun Liuge had proven herself with absolute, irrefutable strength.
An undefeated American Triple Crown winner, plus an undefeated British double-crown winner.
Either accomplishment by itself would have been enough to let her tower over every Japanese horse girl and stand at the very top.
And yet Xingyun Liuge had done both, tearing through a truly devilish schedule and collecting five crowns in succession.
This was no longer simply a matter of how many G1 titles she had. It was about a Japanese horse girl, from a country whose racers were generally seen as weaker than the British and Americans, going overseas and winning on the international stage by overwhelming margins, creating a legend unlike any other.
"The Emperor is absolute"?
Yes, Rudolf Symbol's dominance over Japanese turf had certainly been awe-inspiring.
But she had failed in her overseas campaigns.
That alone was enough to turn such a phrase into little more than a slogan for fans playing inside their own sandbox. If she was truly absolute, then why had she failed to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe? Why had she failed to defend the Japan Cup? Most importantly, why had she finished sixth in America?
There had only been seven runners in that race. That was not merely finishing out of the placings—it was next to last.
Injuries were something any horse girl might suffer, but without hard international results to back it up, there was no right to call oneself absolute.
Judging by Xingyun Liuge's current record, it was no exaggeration to say that the new generation of horse girls and racing fans would no longer revere Rudolf Symbol the way they once had. At best, she would become someone people mentioned casually over tea:
"Before Xingyun Liuge, Central did have another Triple Crown winner, if you ignore the international races."
Just as a great many people barely paid any attention to Mr. C.B.'s accomplishments anymore, a previous year's Triple Crown winner would inevitably pale in the face of an undefeated Triple Crown champion.
If Sirius Symbol herself were used as an example, then most people no longer even remembered that she, too, had been a Derby-winning horse girl. What they remembered instead was that she had gone abroad and lost every race.
"…Sirius."
Maruzensky was startled. She had never imagined that the proud Sirius Symbol would one day humble herself like this to beg someone. She had worried Sirius might fail to turn the corner and end up clashing with Xingyun Liuge.
Instead, this was what she found.
After a moment's thought, Maruzensky stepped out from around the corner as well and added her own plea.
Seeing the two senior girls lowering themselves this far, Xingyun Liuge asked with deliberate innocence, "But I don't think I've ever actually said anything about JRA, have I?"
She blinked those bright eyes at them, looking utterly harmless, as though to say: I don't know what you mean. I've never said a single bad thing about JRA.
The truth, however, was that if the two of them took those words at face value, then they were out of luck. She had never once said she didn't hate JRA. She simply had no interest in wasting energy getting angry at something beneath her notice.
After all, in one earlier interview, when a reporter had asked why she had skipped Japan's Classic Triple Crown altogether and gone straight overseas, Xingyun Liuge had merely smiled and declined to answer.
That single silence had been enough to set off the rumors that she and JRA were on bad terms.
Anyone with decent information channels already knew perfectly well what the truth was. If these two had forgotten that, then that was hardly her problem.
Sirius Symbol, unfortunately, was not quite quick enough on the uptake. She nearly blurted out, "Eh? But your domain—"
Maruzensky instantly clapped a hand over Sirius's mouth and smoothly took over.
"Little Xingyun, of course we know that. It's just that JRA's rules and systems were terribly outdated, and there were all sorts of internal problems too. That's why little Rudolf has been taking this so seriously. Haha."
And that, at least, was the truth.
Under Rudolf Symbol's all-out purge, the rot inside JRA—corruption, dereliction of duty, all the usual filth everyone already suspected—had been dragged into the light. Aside from ordinary employees and a very small handful of upper-level staff who had actually done their jobs, nearly everyone else now had prison bars with their names on them.
Even Rudolf herself still felt uneasy, worried that Xingyun Liuge might think she had not gone far enough.
After all, the darkness that had appeared in that horse girl's domain had not been remotely ordinary.
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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