King Halo checked herself in the mirror over and over again, enough that Haru Urara, standing off to the side, finally couldn't help getting curious and looked at her in puzzlement.
King Halo didn't explain. Her gaze stayed fixed on her reflection. She was wearing her academy uniform, with the number for today's mock race already pinned neatly to it.
She could hear her own heartbeat clearly.
Memories surfaced in her mind. Of all the mock races she had run since entering Central Tracen Academy, she had never won a single one. That had been the beginning of her fall—from "genius" to nothing more than a willful little rich girl. It had also been the point where her dream shifted, from winning the Triple Crown to merely becoming a first-rate horse girl.
"Is something wrong with how it looks?"
Urara's question came at just the right moment, pulling King Halo back out of those memories. She turned to her roommate with a smile and shook her head. Then she tugged lightly at her clothes, making the answer clear enough.
The outfit fit perfectly.
After saying goodbye to Urara, King Halo headed outside. From the dorm, she first needed to stop by the Polaris lounge. Shinji Teraizumi was waiting for her there—something they had arranged yesterday.
Seeing how early it still was on her phone did nothing to calm her racing heart. King Halo knew she probably would not regain her composure until the mock race was over.
Even in the early morning, plenty of horse girls were already out on the academy roads. Some were drenched in sweat, clearly fresh off their morning training. Others were hurrying toward the track, obviously about to begin their sessions.
None of that had anything to do with her.
At least, not today.
King Halo did her best to steady herself as she entered the building.
She stopped in front of the lounge door.
She truly was too sensitive, she thought. All at once, worry began to creep in. If she lost this mock race too, would that end up reflecting badly on Teraizumi?
After all, in the end, he had only brought one horse girl to the top so far: Offside Trap. King Halo herself had plenty of notoriety, but not the results to match.
As the daughter of Good Bye Halo, she drew attention no matter what, even without producing achievements. There would always be people watching her, always people gossiping. King Halo was afraid those voices would eventually turn toward her trainer too.
If she tried to think positively, perhaps they would only say things like, Even with Teraizumi training her, she still can't win mock races. If it only targeted her, she believed she could endure it. Not fully, perhaps—but she had built up some resistance.
But if it turned into, Maybe Teraizumi isn't all that after all—he can't even properly train Good Bye Halo's daughter, then King Halo felt she would hate herself for it.
And so, she couldn't bring herself to move.
Through the slightly open door, she could see inside. Teraizumi was already there, of course. Compared to her, he was always the one who arrived earlier. That was his habit, and one she had always admired and felt grateful for.
He truly cared about his horse girls.
"It'll be fine. Even if she never wins a mock race, it's not that big a deal..."
His voice drifted out from inside. He seemed to be talking to someone on the phone, and King Halo's ears immediately perked up.
"What I really want to see in a mock race is substance. Winning is for the real thing."
"I honestly don't care. There are too many trainers in this academy. I won't know all of them, and I have no interest in listening to what they say. Let them talk. If it's some small-time trainer talking big, none of it will spread anyway."
There was unshakable confidence in Teraizumi's voice.
Confidence in her.
That only made her breathing turn even more ragged.
In the end, she pushed the door open.
Teraizumi turned to look at her, but he didn't hang up, nor did he lower his voice in the slightest.
He had never intended to hide anything from her.
King Halo obediently sat down on the sofa and quietly watched him continue his conversation.
"It's the same principle as your Mihono Bourbon. I'm not in a hurry. In my plan for the first half of this year, she has plenty of time to find the path that suits her best."
Hearing that, King Halo turned her face away.
She was beginning to feel just how useless she really was.
Offside Trap had risen from being dogged by injuries to where she was now in what felt like no time at all. But King Halo had already spent more than a month under Teraizumi's guidance, and yet she still had not shown any dramatic progress.
She could feel that her base physical abilities had improved quite a bit, yes. But every time she thought about actual races, she became more and more convinced that she still had major problems with her mentality in competition.
That was the sort of thing only a runner herself could feel. King Halo did not know how to put it into words, and Teraizumi had only told her that this was exactly why she needed mock races.
She had to find that feeling inside them.
When Teraizumi finally hung up, she could no longer hold back the question.
"Trainer... why did the conversation turn to my mock race?"
"Oh, that. Just a friend asking about it..."
Naturally, he wasn't going to tell her that plenty of trainers in the academy were paying close attention to this race.
A horse girl who had loudly declared in front of all of them that she would become first-rate, yet still had not won her first GI to this day—of course that stirred resentment in the trainers she had rejected, the ones she had dismissed as second-rate.
From King Halo's point of view, a horse girl's career was too precious to waste, and choosing a trainer carefully—carefully, and then more carefully—had never been a mistake.
But from those trainers' point of view, their resentment was not without reason either. A horse girl who repeatedly performed poorly in mock races and failed to live up to her talent, while carrying herself with that pride and hauteur...
Teraizumi did not care to judge who was right or wrong.
What mattered to him now was simple: whether or not King Halo could keep control of herself in the middle of a race.
Emotionally, tactically—she had to learn how to stay calm first.
With the Noble line helping her, she won't actually be affected that much by outside interference in a real race, the system remarked.
But she'll interfere with herself, Teraizumi replied inwardly. So first I need her to understand through mock races that she mustn't destroy her own tactics. After that, in real races, the Noble effect can help her build confidence and feel for competition.
That was exactly why he planned to begin the new year with one or two mock races, then move her into one or two graded races, using those as preparation for a GI challenge.
He rose to his feet and looked her in the eye.
On the way here that morning, he had gone by the venue where the mock race would be held.
There would be a lot of spectators today.
At the time, he had not actually seen many people there—but the stands had already been covered in bags, hand towels, jackets, and all sorts of personal items.
Reserved seats, in other words.
By his estimate, even those placeholders alone were enough to fill the whole grandstand, and that was without counting the people who would come later.
He saw the tension in her eyes.
So he spoke softly.
"Today's mock race—just keep your head level. No matter what kind of noise there is around you, treat it like training. That's all."
The moment he said it, he saw the shift in her eyes.
Sensitive as she was, she had guessed something. Teraizumi knew she would. But he had to say it. If she only found out after arriving at the venue, the shock to her mentality would be even worse.
She was not a horse girl with an iron heart.
Not yet.
Perhaps, given more time, she would grow into one. But her racing career would not give her all that much time.
He had already seen her resolve. Compared to the girl she used to be, she had changed so much it was almost night and day. He knew she truly had been giving everything she had.
And if he wanted her to catch up to her mother—and then surpass her—he had to accelerate her adaptation process.
Even if that meant placing even more pressure on her.
If she could not withstand that pressure and rise with it in the first half of this year, then she would not get another chance.
"Just like always," he said, "do what you're supposed to do. You know what I mean."
His voice was light, but King Halo heard every word.
She nodded seriously, not showing any excess emotion no matter how fiercely her heart was pounding.
Satisfied, Teraizumi nodded.
Then, after a brief hesitation, he reached out and gently patted her on the head.
King Halo froze.
"No matter what," he said, "we're still moving toward the goal we promised each other."
So put down the burden. Put down the worry.
And throw everything you have into it.
Her beautiful eyes, with those blood-tear-like markings beneath them, stared back at him.
Then the girl nodded.
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 142)
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 (Chapter181)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter103)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter192)
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 173
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 166
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 110
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 190
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 165
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 156
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 81
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 102
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 120
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 80
Uma Musume: I Want All 95
I Can Copy Unique Skills 84
Summoning an Evil God, but the 66
Supernatural Multiverse 83
My Harem Is Indescribable 75
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 81
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 75
Still playing traditional Honk 55
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 60
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 55
Checking In in Demon Slayer 60
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 65
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 35
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 35
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 39
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 58
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 42
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