The race against Rudolf ended in Shirayuki's defeat.
It was an obvious result. After all, Rudolf was publicly recognized as the number one uma musume. Challenging her was still a little too much. Although Shirayuki lost, she had displayed more than enough strength and received unanimous praise from everyone.
In the Student Council room, a brown-haired girl wearing a white top hat could not help teasing Rudolf.
"Not only did you underestimate her, but she even forced you to use the Domain. Strictly speaking, you lost that race, Rudolf."
"Who could have expected that child to open the Domain in a mock race?"
Rudolf rarely showed an embarrassed smile.
Originally, she had only planned to run an ordinary race against Shirayuki. But seeing how serious the other girl was, Rudolf had also been drawn in by her momentum and became serious herself.
She had actually used her full strength against Shirayuki.
Even if she could have won without opening the Domain in the end, Rudolf had already gotten carried away at the time. In the end, Rudolf was also an uma musume who wanted to race against strong opponents.
Unfortunately, there were far too few people who could become her opponents now.
When she finally encountered a worthy one, even Rudolf's powerful reason could not completely suppress her nature.
"Speaking of which, why did you race that child?"
"It was only because of a promise. Are you interested in that child, Mr. CB?"
Rudolf called out the girl's name.
The girl was none other than the Triple Crown winner before Rudolf, Mr. CB, the third Triple Crown champion in history.
Compared with St. Lite and Shinzan, Mr. CB's fame was actually even greater. The first two Triple Crown champions had appeared when Central racing had only just begun to rise. Back then, online media was not developed, and Tracen itself had only just started.
Many years later, after Tracen gradually grew stronger and all of Japan began paying attention to uma musume, Mr. CB was born. After winning the Triple Crown, she became that year's representative uma musume.
After Mr. CB came the undefeated Triple Crown champion, Symboli Rudolf.
It could be said that the two of them established the current status of Tracen Academy.
The two were both rivals and the closest of friends.
Unlike other uma musume, Mr. CB had a carefree personality and often disappeared without a trace. Even Rudolf rarely managed to find her. Today was one of the rare occasions when she had come to the Student Council room on her own.
"I'm a little interested… Where is that child now?"
"Probably eating."
Mr. CB nodded and turned to say goodbye to Rudolf. Before leaving, she seemed to remember something and said,
"Oh, right, Rudolf. Katsuragi Ace asked me to pass on a message. She said, 'You really embarrassed yourself this time!'"
Letting out a light laugh, Mr. CB closed the door, and the room returned to silence.
It seemed that the fact she had underestimated Shirayuki had already been seen through by her rivals from the same generation. In their eyes, being forced to use the Domain by these juniors was quite embarrassing.
But Rudolf did not think so.
In Shirayuki, she saw the possibilities of uma musume.
And not only Shirayuki.
Teio, Special Week, Grass Wonder, Seiun Sky, El Condor Pasa, T.M. Opera O.
These children were all among the best of uma musume. They all had the potential to reach the summit.
In order to take care of them, to avoid an excessive gap in strength causing them to lose confidence and fighting spirit, Rudolf had always held back her power.
But perhaps it was precisely this protective feeling that had limited their growth.
Uma musume grew braver through setbacks. They fought again and again despite repeated defeats. An unyielding spirit was the key to becoming strong.
Tokai Teio had fully proven this point. She had already shown the indomitability a true powerhouse should possess.
So, from now on, when racing them, Rudolf should treat it with the scale of an official race and use her full strength.
Unlike before, this time Rudolf saw a golden generation led by Shirayuki, one that would carry uma musume to an even higher peak.
Perhaps in the near future, the summit of Tracen would belong to these children.
In the cafeteria, a mountain of food was piled in front of Shirayuki, and she was shoveling plate after plate into her mouth.
Beside her, Grass Wonder showed a worried expression.
"Yuki-chan, if you eat too much, you'll hurt your stomach…"
Shirayuki chewed a few times and swallowed, then grabbed a chicken leg.
"It's fine. I'm really hungry right now."
After racing Rudolf, Shirayuki felt as though her body had been completely drained. She did not want to move at all, and she was unbearably hungry. Once she started eating, she could not stop.
She had seen it now.
There were differences even between Domains.
When Rudolf ran past her, Shirayuki had the illusion that she was about to be torn apart by the wind Rudolf stirred up.
That was Rudolf's true strength.
Even remembering it now made Shirayuki wary.
At her current growth speed, she might not be able to catch up even by the time her true development period ended. Of course, to reach Rudolf's height, hard work alone was no longer enough.
Talent and aptitude.
Neither could be missing.
And how could those two things be obtained?
Oguri Cap had once said that when she was young, her knees were weak, and she could not stand properly. Her mother massaged her every day and had her eat large amounts of food. Only then did her constitution improve, giving her the ability to run.
Now, Oguri Cap was the brightest star in Tracen.
So aptitude could be changed through environment and acquired effort.
Right now, Shirayuki needed to eat large amounts of food to let her body grow faster. There was also massage. Massage could help her relax her body and improve her constitution. She could go to a specialized shop for relaxation, but that would cost too much money.
Shirayuki decided she would massage herself.
Every night, she would run to Chiya's room and massage herself for two hours.
That way, her aptitude should also improve.
The last thing was talent.
Honestly, that kind of thing was like the finger of heaven. It might randomly point at one person among tens of millions. Rather than expecting something like that, it would be better to expect winning the lottery jackpot.
She was a foolish person.
An ordinary person.
Only after accepting that could she calm down and steadily pour her energy into training.
"Yuki-chan feels like she changed quite a bit after going outside once."
"Do I?"
"The old Yuki-chan was much more innocent than now."
Grass Wonder reached out and stroked Shirayuki's face.
She remembered that at the very beginning, Shirayuki had given off the impression of a sheltered young lady. She knew nothing, got embarrassed very easily, and would get nosebleeds after seeing other people's bodies.
It made people's hearts itch unbearably.
But now, Shirayuki's expression was firm. The immaturity she had back then was gone. In Tracen, her words carried weight, and students who had difficulties would come to her for help.
Thinking of this, Grass Wonder could not help feeling a little lonely.
As Shirayuki became more and more famous, the time Grass Wonder could spend with her became less and less. Excluding class time, she could only stay by her side during lunch.
Even then, Special Week and El Condor Pasa would come over to take a share.
Looking at Shirayuki as she devoured her food, Grass Wonder could not help speaking.
"Yuki-chan, can we take a bath together tonight?"