Tomorrow was the debut race, and Fujiwara Chiya was giving his Uma Musume one final round of mental preparation.
Although the lineup of his team looked extremely bizarre, when it came to raw strength, Fujiwara Chiya believed they would not lose to any first-rate squad.
"Any other questions?"
Before wrapping up, Fujiwara Chiya asked one last time.
"I object!" Gold Ship raised her hand.
Fujiwara Chiya smacked his lips. Good thing he had asked now. If Gold Ship had suddenly raised an objection right before the race, he might really have exploded on the spot.
By now, Fujiwara Chiya had already trained up a certain mental endurance. In all things, he tried to think on the bright side. To preserve his state of mind, he would tell himself that things could always get worse, and that all he was doing was cutting off the damage before that happened.
Using this kind of thinking, Fujiwara Chiya had become much more clear-headed.
"What objection?"
Tomorrow's first race was Gold Ship's. Fujiwara Chiya was terrified she would pull some kind of high-knee nonsense or something equally absurd. If she failed to win her debut race, she would have to run again in a second one, which would be a real waste of time.
A Uma Musume's main energy ought to be spent on training and graded races.
"Trainer, you didn't ask for my opinion when you registered me!"
"Opinion? What opinion?"
Gold Ship pulled out the race schedule.
"What's the problem?"
"The problem is right here, Trainer!" Gold Ship jabbed a finger at her own name. "Why does Shirayuki get to be called Snow Dancer, while I have to be called Gold Ship?"
The reason was so ridiculous that Fujiwara Chiya was left speechless.
He had already told everyone about Shirayuki using an alias on the track. Although they had all been a little curious, no one had asked too much, and everyone had simply said they would use the alias during interviews.
After all, what name a Uma Musume used was her own freedom. Yet Gold Ship had singled this out specifically.
"I want an awesome title too! When you registered me, you didn't ask for my opinion at all. What about my sovereignty? What about the integrity of my territory? Has it just been violated by my trainer like this?"
Your territory consists of the three tatami mats in your dorm room.
Normally, when trainers filled out registration forms, they just ignored the alias section by default. What era was this? Who even used that anymore?
"I even already thought of the name!"
"What name?"
"Obviously, my code name." Gold Ship dramatically unrolled a scroll in front of Fujiwara Chiya. "This is the alias of the great Gold Ship: Wild, Cool, Over-the-Top, Handsome, Dashing, Elegant, Wind-and-Tree-like, and..."
She went on for what felt like fifty more words.
"…the Great Golden One."
After finishing, Gold Ship puffed out her chest proudly.
"Well, Trainer? In the future, race announcers will have to spend ninety percent of their time just reading out my name. In a single race, I'll gain the fame of ten ordinary races. I'm a genius!"
Fujiwara Chiya clapped for her expressionlessly.
Thank god I submitted that form early.
If Gold Ship had actually written that in, he would never hear the end of it. A simple scolding from Central would be getting off easy. They would probably slap him with some charge like "insulting the dignity of Central turf" too.
Amid Gold Ship's endless complaints, Fujiwara Chiya finally ended the day's training.
On the way back, he happened to run into Nase Fumino. The two of them found a roadside bench and sat down.
"The debut race schedule is out. El Condor Pasa and Shirayuki have been placed in the same field."
At those words, Fujiwara Chiya's eyes flickered.
"I've already told her how to deal with Shirayuki. In that race, she'll go all out."
Fujiwara Chiya walked over to the nearby vending machine, bought two cans of coffee, and handed one to Nase Fumino.
"You're telling me this because you want me to be careful of El Condor Pasa at full power?"
Nase Fumino took the coffee, drank from it, and said nothing.
"I'm pretty confident in Shirayuki's ability. At the very least, I don't think she'll lose her debut race."
Nase Fumino lightly licked her lips.
"Have you done the psychological preparation for your Uma Musume?"
Sometimes, when a Uma Musume lost, she would take out her frustration on the trainer. Not every Uma Musume had a close relationship with her trainer. If anything, most Uma Musume and trainers were only bound by contract, more like a customer with a gym membership training under an instructor.
If the guidance was poor, they would not hesitate to switch.
Nase Fumino had seen plenty of Uma Musume dump trainers just because they found them too nagging. There was absolutely no room for sentiment.
"No Uma Musume stays undefeated forever, unless she's some chosen prodigy. But who would bet on themselves being one of those? For Uma Musume, failure is common. Helping them get through it and stand up again is the trainer's responsibility."
Nase Fumino looked at him.
"If she wins, it means she was stronger. If she loses, there's no need for despair. It's just a stage every Uma Musume has to go through. I hope… you'll tell Shirayuki that."
"Alright… though, this sounds more like you're comforting Shirayuki. Why don't you just tell her yourself?"
"As the opposing trainer, it wouldn't be appropriate…"
If it had been one of Chiya's other Uma Musume, Nase Fumino would have crushed them without hesitation. But unfortunately, the opponent this time was Chiya's cousin. Given the relationship between her and Chiya, it was highly likely they would keep seeing each other in the future. If she utterly demolished Shirayuki as the rival trainer, it would make things awkward.
If only Shirayuki had been training under her instead, there wouldn't be so many complications. As it was, Nase Fumino even had to worry about Shirayuki's feelings after losing, just in case she later visited Chiya's place and Shirayuki came running out to cause trouble.
Nase Fumino truly did not want to see a situation like that.
"Even though Shirayuki's young, she's pretty mature mentally. I don't think she'd get carried away from one win or collapse from one loss."
Hearing that, Nase Fumino let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"I hope so."
She finished her coffee.
"Then I'll be going, Trainer Chiya."
"Yeah. You came all the way here just to tell me this?"
"That's right."
"Seems like you care quite a bit about Shirayuki."
Nase Fumino turned her gaze away.
If she did not build a proper relationship now, it would be troublesome later.
Chiya had remembered her, but Shirayuki's side was still completely blank.
After the debut race, Nase Fumino had already decided she would deepen her relationship with Shirayuki a little.
The next day, at Tokyo Racecourse, Fujiwara Chiya arrived with his team. Gold Ship had already gone off with the staff toward the tunnel for the runners.
"Let's shout with spirit! You hear me!? Races are all about spirit!"
""Yes!""
With their teammate stepping onto the stage, Rice Shower, Matikanefukukitaru, Meisho Doto, and the others all clenched their fists and shouted at the top of their lungs toward the track.
Mejiro Dober and Agnes Tachyon stood to one side, while Fujiwara Shirayuki stood a little farther away.
"And now, the number one favorite, Gold Ship!"
With the announcer's introduction, Gold Ship stepped onto the stage.
The moment he saw the silver-haired Uma Musume wearing oversized sunglasses for some inexplicable reason, Fujiwara Chiya's eye twitched.
What even is that?
Who put those on her?
Gold Ship!
This is Central Racecourse. Why are you still like this!? Have you no limits!?
Fujiwara Chiya wanted to dig a hole in the turf and bury himself. No one should ever say he was Gold Ship's trainer.
"Thump!"
The moment the announcer finished the introduction, Gold Ship made some weird noise with her mouth, leaped down from the stage, straightened up dramatically in the middle of the course, then snapped her sunglasses shut with a flourish and gave a wicked grin.
What performance are you doing over there!? Get to the gate already!
Fujiwara Chiya was about to lose it.
Was this a race? No, this was Gold Ship dragging his face across the dirt and scraping it raw.
Just kill me quickly, Gold Ship!
At long last, before Fujiwara Chiya died of shame, Gold Ship entered the gate. The moment he saw her go in, he practically sprang back to life.
The lights at the starting gate flashed, and with a loud clang, Gold Ship burst out first.
No hesitation at the gate. No exaggerated high-knee nonsense. No weird pre-race fidgeting. She just came out cleanly and smoothly, in a way that felt almost unbelievable.
She's won…
She's already won.
Fujiwara Chiya's eyes actually began to sting. He had worked so hard just to see this one, brief moment of a normal Gold Ship.
It felt like a dream.
Like seeing corruption transformed into a miracle.
"Go, Gold Ship!" Fujiwara Chiya shouted at the top of his lungs. If he was not going to cheer for her now, then when would he?
"All runners have started cleanly. Currently in the lead is number three, White Snow Frost, with number six, Gold Ship, following closely behind!"
The start had gone smoothly. Gold Ship ran in the front pack without any trouble.
Originally, according to her running style, Gold Ship should have been somewhere around mid-pack to the rear. But those positions were now far too easy to get boxed in from, and with bad luck she could even get swallowed up entirely, making victory much less likely.
Because of the changes in race conditions, the fight for position had grown more intense than ever. To reduce unnecessary stamina loss, the best rhythm right now was simply to run wherever there was more open space.
Fortunately, aside from her preferred late-charge style, Gold Ship's ability in a stalking position was also quite strong. Fujiwara Chiya had done his homework on the field and discovered that most of them preferred holding back or charging late, with only three using a forward-running style. That meant the pressure at the front would be much lighter.
Modern racing had become all about information warfare. Learning an opposing Uma Musume's habits and likely tactical choices ahead of time had, with Central's new direction, dramatically increased a trainer's workload.
And yet their salaries still had not gone up.
Soon the race entered the first turn. Gold Ship eased off the pace slightly. It was a good time to reduce speed a little, catch her breath, and preserve leg strength for the final stretch. There was also no need to worry about being overtaken here. Unless someone was blindly charging like an idiot, no Uma Musume would waste extra stamina attempting a corner overtake this early. The disadvantages far outweighed the benefits.
Fujiwara Chiya shouted encouragement at full volume.
Recently, Gold Ship had been doing her own weird, pseudo-mystical training methods, shogi meditation and swinging around giant hammers and all sorts of nonsense. Fujiwara Chiya had thought it was nothing but fooling around, but somehow the results had not actually been bad. At the very least, she had been able to carry out all the tactics he assigned her, which meant her stamina was holding up fine.
Could it be that she really had some strange hidden factor, some bizarre way of improving her running with these ridiculous training methods?
Fujiwara Chiya was starting to suspect there might actually be some truth to the rumor that she was an alien horse.
By the second turn, Gold Ship began to accelerate.
"Watch me sprint!"
Fujiwara Chiya heard her yell.
She's going now? Here? At this point!?
According to Fujiwara Chiya's original plan, she should have waited a little longer. But Gold Ship was in excellent condition. She had not been obstructed, had not made contact with anyone, and still had plenty of leg strength left.
Maybe she really can do it!
Fujiwara Chiya chose to trust Gold Ship's judgment.
She lifted her legs and surged forward.
A straight-line burst!
Gold Ship, in a stalking position, unleashed the pressure of a full-on late charge.
"That's it, Gold Ship!" Fujiwara Chiya yelled, nearly becoming her fan on the spot.
Did you all see that!? That's the Unsinkable Ship!
Gold Ship overtook the leader and reached the front of the field.
Just as Fujiwara Chiya thought she would continue accelerating and open up the gap behind her, Gold Ship suddenly stopped pressing. She held a lead of roughly two lengths over second place and just moved forward at an even pace.
…Huh?
Your one burst really was just one burst!
"Why did you stop accelerating, Gold Ship!?"
Fujiwara Chiya practically climbed onto the rail.
Once she had confirmed her advantage, Gold Ship did nothing more than shout a little while maintaining that same neither-fast-nor-slow pace.
"One hundred meters remaining! Still in first place, Gold Ship!"
The other Uma Musume finally began to accelerate and chase after the leading Gold Ship with all they had. Two lengths… one length… they were getting closer and closer, while Gold Ship's speed never changed.
"Move a little!"
Gold Ship crossed the finish line with a lead of half a length.
"Across the line, first place, Gold Ship!"
""Oooooooh!!""
The crowd erupted in cheers.
"Yohaaa!" Gold Ship waved and shouted to the audience at the finish.
She won. Gold Ship won!
Fujiwara Chiya stood there with emotions split in two.
He was happy because she had won.
He was furious because Gold Ship had sandbagged in an official race!
Once she had confirmed her lead, Gold Ship had clearly eased off. By the time she crossed the line, Fujiwara Chiya was absolutely certain she still had enough in her legs for another acceleration.
One length. No, one and a half at least. She definitely could have opened up that much more.
Looking at Gold Ship as she shouted and strutted around at the finish line, Fujiwara Chiya rubbed his face.
Think positively. At least she completely fooled the other trainers. Now everyone will assume this is Gold Ship's real level, when in reality her true style is still the big closer, and she still had stamina left in reserve.
That's right! This race thoroughly misled all of those potential enemies! It improved her odds for future races! This is sustainable development! This is race strategy!
Fujiwara Chiya immediately brainwashed himself and began glorifying Gold Ship's greatness.
…
"Now then, to celebrate Gold Ship's victory, everyone, cheers!"
After the race, Fujiwara Chiya held a small celebration, inviting all the Uma Musume to his place and making a table full of food for them.
Strictly speaking, he should have taken them out for a big feast. But considering how many Uma Musume he had, if he treated every single victory like that, he would go bankrupt in no time. It was better to do it at home. Besides, Shirayuki's cooking had improved dramatically and was now every bit as good as that of a professional chef. The ingredients were all fresh too, so the meal was excellent, and everyone seemed quite happy.
"Trainer, wasn't I, the great Gold Ship, incredible!?"
"I'm impressed beyond words."
"Good. I like honest men like you!"
"Congratulations on your win, Gold Ship."
"Just a little something, just a little something."
She accepted everyone's praise without the slightest trace of modesty.
Fujiwara Chiya lifted his chopsticks.
This race had given the team a great start. Their first win was in the bag, and the others had all gained at least a bit more confidence from seeing it.
Sometimes mentality mattered even more than ability.
Tomorrow was Shirayuki's race, and Fujiwara Chiya needed to bring out even more energy than usual.
El Condor Pasa was not a Uma Musume who could be defeated easily. As the monster bird that she was, her speed ranked among the best of this year's newcomers.
He had to take this seriously.
"Landlady, another plate of grilled dumplings!" Gold Ship called out with her hand raised.
"Just a moment, Gold Ship."
"Please wait a bit, Gold Ship-san."
From the kitchen, Fujiwara Shirayuki and Rice Shower answered at the same time.
"Oh?" Gold Ship raised an eyebrow.
Fujiwara Shirayuki and Rice Shower looked at each other.
"Um…"
"Rice, go do the dumplings."
Rice Shower hurriedly picked up the grill pan. Looking at Fujiwara Shirayuki working in the kitchen like a perfect wife and mother, the caution in Rice Shower's eyes only grew stronger.