"So strong! What speed! What power! The winner of this race is Agnes Tachyon! A truly overwhelming victory!!"
With a lead of three and a half lengths, Agnes Tachyon won her debut race. At the moment, she held the largest margin of victory in the team. In the final stretch, Agnes Tachyon finished a full 0.8 seconds ahead of second place.
She was frighteningly strong. Even if Shirayuki raced against her, and both of them performed at their absolute limit, Shirayuki probably would not have even a sixty percent chance of winning. Agnes Tachyon's ability ranked near the top not only of the whole team, but of Tracen as a whole. The only newcomers who could stand alongside her were the elites of the generation, people like El Condor Pasa, TM Opera O, and Tokai Teio.
With that, all of Fujiwara Chiya's Uma Musume had finished their debuts. They had officially gone from rookie runners to participants in the Twinkle Series. That same evening, Fujiwara Chiya found an all-you-can-eat restaurant and brought everyone there for a proper celebration meal.
Why an all-you-can-eat place?
Fujiwara Chiya looked at the heap of food in Shirayuki's hands, a pile practically half as tall as her body, and then watched her devour all of it under the horrified gaze of the restaurant owner.
And that only left her half full.
Immediately afterward, she went and piled up another huge plate.
Fujiwara Chiya felt a sharp pang in his chest.
Shirayuki was basically a merciless eating machine. No matter what it was, she just kept shoveling it into her stomach.
If he ever had to support her in the future, just how much salary would he need to keep her fed? Fujiwara Chiya could already picture a household where the Engel coefficient hovered somewhere between eighty and ninety percent.
That was way too terrifying.
His meager salary would probably end up going straight into her stomach.
Fujiwara Chiya held his head.
Still, looking on the bright side, all that food would be converted into energy and make Shirayuki stronger. She was only laying the groundwork for becoming more powerful.
That's right, Fujiwara Shirayuki is getting stronger and stronger!
Fujiwara Chiya gave up imagining the future and focused on the present instead.
"Onii-sama, would you like some dessert, Onii-sama?" Rice Shower sat down beside him with a slice of cream cake.
"Rice… you're eating so little." There were only a few jellies and sweets on her plate.
"Mm. Rice can't eat that much. But so Onii-sama won't have to spend too much, Rice is trying her best!" She patted her little stomach.
"If you can't eat much, then don't force yourself. Food is supposed to be enjoyed. If coming to a buffet turns into torture, where you don't stop until you're about to burst, then that defeats the point. Just eat whatever you want, Rice."
"Yes, Onii-sama." Rice swung her legs happily and smiled.
That was the difference.
The money it took to feed one Shirayuki could probably feed ten Rice Showers.
Still, appetite was not really something one could control. The moment you opened your mouth, instinct took over, and all you could do was keep repeating the same action mechanically.
Even Fujiwara Chiya himself could not stop her.
At the dining table, Mejiro Dober sat beside the happily eating Fujiwara Shirayuki, taking out a handkerchief to wipe a bit of sauce from the corner of her mouth.
This girl is adorable even when she eats.
Mejiro Dober stroked Shirayuki's head, both hands moving up to rub her soft ears. The fine, plush fur made Dober's heart flutter. As someone from the Mejiro family, Mejiro Dober had never once had to worry about the cost of food. She could not relate to the pain Fujiwara Chiya was feeling. All she felt was pure affection.
I really want to just carry her off right now. Watching those lightly bouncing ears, Dober felt that urge rise in her chest.
At last, once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Fujiwara Chiya led them out of the buffet restaurant. The owner, meanwhile, had already blacklisted the white-haired girl who had nearly caused him catastrophic losses that day. He instructed all of his staff that if they ever saw her again, they were to stop her at the door. The last time, a silver-haired girl with a somewhat similar hair color had nearly eaten his restaurant into bankruptcy. He had only just recovered, and now he had been bitten again.
Back at Tracen, Fujiwara Chiya gave one final speech before dismissing everyone.
"You've all worked hard. Your debut races were only the beginning. From here on out, every one of you will step onto stages that are even harsher, and even more brilliant. So I hope you'll all continue doing your best."
"Good, very good, Trainer." Gold Ship clapped her hands and cheered in a way that completely ruined the atmosphere.
"…Anyway, the races you'll be entering will gradually rise from allowance races to graded races, and your training will need to change along with that. That's enough for today, so go get some rest. Tomorrow I'll prepare your new training plans."
With that, Fujiwara Chiya dismissed the team. As he turned to head back, his phone rang in his pocket. Taking it out, he saw a message from the Director.
[Come to my office.]
Huh?
What did I do this time?
Any time the Director called for him now, Fujiwara Chiya instinctively assumed he had messed something up again. He quickly reviewed everything he had done over the past few weeks and concluded with certainty that he was innocent.
I'm blameless. I'm innocent. Fujiwara Chiya encouraged himself.
He arrived at the office door, knocked, and stepped inside.
"Director, you called for me?"
Then Fujiwara Chiya saw an unfamiliar blonde girl standing in the middle of the room. She wore a white-and-yellow cap, a yellow jacket, brown shorts, and a travel backpack slung over her shoulders.
Looking at the backpacker-like girl, Fujiwara Chiya paused. From behind the desk, Akikawa Yayoi greeted him.
"Come here, Chiya."
"Yes."
Once Fujiwara Chiya came closer, Akikawa Yayoi introduced him to the traveler.
"He is the trainer I think most highly of, Fujiwara Chiya."
"Hello, Mr. Fujiwara." The girl held out her hand.
"Hello." Unsure of what was going on, Fujiwara Chiya simply went along with the flow.
"Director, this person is…"
"Satake Mei," the girl answered. "I'm from France."
"France?"
"That's right." Akikawa Yayoi waved her fan. "She's a friend of mine. The reason she came to Tracen is to help Japanese Uma Musume step out onto the world stage and seize glory unlike anything seen before."
Akikawa Yayoi introduced her with great enthusiasm.
"By the way, Yayoi," Satake Mei said quietly, "Fujiwara Chiya wouldn't happen to be…"
"Trainer Yoshiya's son."
"I see. No wonder you think so highly of him."
"I don't think highly of him just because of that."
"Ahem…" Watching the two of them suddenly start whispering right in front of him, Fujiwara Chiya could not help coughing to remind them he was there.
Don't just leave me standing here by myself. This is awkward.
"Ah, sorry." Satake Mei scratched her head. "The reason we called you here, Trainer Fujiwara, is because we want your help with a project."
"A project?"
She pulled a proposal file from her backpack and handed it to him. Fujiwara Chiya opened it in confusion.
Printed across the top in black letters were the words:
Project L'Arc
Its goal:
The Arc de Triomphe.