Go and pull down the curtain on this era with your own hands.
Teio had no way to understand what Byerley Turk meant by those words. In fact, even after the conversation ended, she still had not managed to understand what the two of them had been talking about at all.
Other worlds, Umamusume resonance, the development of the world...
Those things were too distant for Teio. They were fields she had never thought about or set foot in before.
And not just her. Even if any other Umamusume had been in her place and suddenly heard all of this, their first reaction definitely would not have been understanding. More likely, they would have considered whether to send Kitahara to see a therapist.
Kitahara, however, could understand what Byerley Turk was saying. After all, he came from another world, and the knowledge in his mind could correspond to the things Byerley Turk said. In fact, after thinking briefly, he had roughly guessed why Byerley Turk had told him all of this.
"Because it has already happened, and there's no longer any need to hide it."
In reality, the moment They agreed to let Eclipse race, the Three Goddesses had already anticipated the current situation.
It was not that They could not continue maintaining the state of this world. If They wanted to, even if "resonance" failed, with Their current power, They could absolutely force this world to remain as it was.
Umamusume could still be Umamusume, and humans could still live very happily. But the price would be that the rules of this world would solidify even further, making any further possibility nearly impossible.
At that point, would this world still be a world, or would it be a cage called a world?
The Three Goddesses did not know, and They did not intend to know.
As for Eclipse, she was the product of another one of Their plans.
According to Their projections, if everything went smoothly and Eclipse became a god, she could make certain changes and additions to the existing rules, giving Them more room to operate.
Although it would not solve the root problem, extending this world's life by a few decades was still possible. With enough luck, even a few hundred or a thousand years was not impossible.
But the moment They agreed to let Eclipse race, They had already given up on that plan.
Perhaps it was because of the emotions accumulated through years of communication. Perhaps it was because They realized this was nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst. Or perhaps it was because They were worried that if something really happened to Eclipse, a certain person going mad might cause even greater damage to this world.
In short, the moment They agreed to let Eclipse race, the Three Goddesses had, in practice, already abandoned that plan.
Or, to put it in simpler terms.
They gave up.
The reason They had kept all sorts of things hidden from Kitahara before was not that They did not want to communicate with him. Quite the opposite. If possible, the Three Goddesses actually rather wanted to chat with him more, and it would have been best if They could physically criticize that blockhead of his.
But They could not. Because Kitahara held all the cards in his hand. While that gave him the power to influence the future course of the world, it also meant he would bear all responsibility.
He would make a choice. But the problem was that before the choice was made, and even for some time after it was made, no one would know what kind of future would truly be correct for this world.
Under those circumstances, even if They told him the truth, it would have no meaning. Instead, it would only add a great deal of unnecessary pressure onto him. Better to keep it hidden, let everything develop normally, and allow him to make his choice naturally at the very end.
What the Three Goddesses had not expected, however, was that before Kitahara made his choice, They and Eclipse would make a choice first, voluntarily giving up the original plan. Thus came the confession now.
But...
"Why did you have to say all this in front of Teio?"
Kitahara glanced at Teio, who was still sitting there blankly, and lowered his voice.
"She's still just a girl."
"I think so too, and originally, I had planned to find a private time to tell you all this."
Unexpectedly, Byerley Turk agreed with him, then continued.
"But Eclipse insisted on saying these things in front of Tokai Teio."
"...Eclipse asked for that?"
"Yes. It was me."
Eclipse nodded in front of Kitahara, acknowledging it.
"As for the reason... do you plan to stay here overnight?"
...Was there any connection between those two sentences?
Faced with Eclipse's usual incomprehensible remarks, Kitahara did not dwell on it too much. He glanced at Teio beside him, who still looked completely lost, and sighed.
"I might originally have had a chance to leave, but now that you've said all this, I definitely can't go."
Eclipse nodded.
"Good. Then I'll stay too."
Kitahara did not know what Eclipse was planning, but since she had put it that way, he did not intend to object—in reality, objecting would be useless anyway, since he could not win against Eclipse.
So after a brief exchange, Kitahara sat down in a chair nearby, preparing to spend the night there, while Eclipse slept together with Teio.
Then, in an atmosphere growing increasingly quiet, the night deepened.
...
Extra: Bits and Pieces Around Tracen
Saturday morning.
Kitahara was browsing the latest report from the Umamusume Research Institute at his computer when his phone beside him suddenly began dinging nonstop.
What was going on?
He picked up his phone in confusion. After opening it, he found that he had been pulled into a group chat.
After skimming through the chat history, Kitahara quickly confirmed the nature of the group.
A classic Trainer escape group.
No, calling it an escape group was not quite accurate, because the vast majority of Trainers still could not bring themselves to abandon their own Tantou and run. It was more a place where they discussed and researched ways to protect themselves, hoping they could safely get through the three years together.
As for why this group chat had been created at this particular time...
There was an old saying: a little separation is sweeter than a honeymoon.
Although Tracen's most famous specialty was blockhead Trainers, in reality, while Umamusume were not as bad as they were, they were also often soaked in the honey jar and thus lacked a clear perception of their own feelings.
During the first year, when they first made contact, aside from a few special cases, the probability of an Umamusume and Trainer's relationship changing in nature was actually very low.
On one hand, of course, that was because the two had not spent that much time together yet, and their emotions had not accumulated enough.
On the other hand, during this period, because they had grown used to long-term companionship, even if their emotions had started to change a little and become slightly sweeter, the two people soaked in the honey jar for so long would find it difficult to notice.
Then came the New Year holiday.
Unlike other holidays, while other holidays theoretically seemed longer, the problem was that there were far too many grind dogs at Tracen Main Campus. Basically, hardly anyone left school during those breaks.
In fact, because they could freely control their time, they grinded even harder than usual, and all kinds of training facilities and grounds were often packed.
But during the New Year holiday, it was New Year's. After grinding for an entire year, Trainers and Umamusume would basically all return home to spend time with their families. It could be called the only period that separated Umamusume from their Trainers.
And so, the qualitative change began.
The companionship that had lasted so long suddenly disappeared. The partner who had been one in body and mind with her abruptly vanished.
Although they could contact each other by phone, Trainers, as adults, had many social obligations during the New Year, making it hard for them to reply promptly. Even if they chatted, they could not chat for too long.
At her ear, all the relatives were discussing matchmaking. They were clearly urging an unrelated older male cousin to get married, yet for some reason, it made her think of her own Trainer.
Would he be urged to get married like this too? Would he go to a matchmaking meeting too? Why was he replying to her so slowly?
They had clearly agreed to be one in body and mind. They had clearly agreed to walk forward shoulder to shoulder. But now...
Anxiety, unease, doubt...
After leaving the honey jar, when that sweet curtain vanished, she was already at the most emotionally sensitive age. Add all sorts of negative emotions as catalytic fuel, and the qualitative change in feelings naturally took place.
As for those whose feelings had already changed in nature, that went without saying. If they could leave their Trainer able to get out of bed and go outside the next day, that already counted as restraint.
Combining those two situations, it was not hard to understand why, at this particular time, Trainers would form groups to discuss self-protection and even escape.
They really had to protect themselves!
Kitahara knew about this situation, but he did not quite understand why these people had pulled him in.
After all, even setting aside his relationship with his own Umamusume, during this New Year holiday, he basically had not been separated from them at all either, except for a certain Teio. No matter how one looked at it, he had no reason to worry about this kind of thing.
[Kugawa Rei]:@Kitahara, Aniki, I heard you've been to a lot of local Tracens and know a lot of people there. Is that true?
[Kitahara]:Yes. What about it?
[Kugawa Rei]:I wanted to ask about the atmosphere at local Tracens... um... you know, that kind. How is it compared with here?
[Kitahara]:That depends on the specific region. Every local Tracen has a different atmosphere, but overall, they're still more conservative than ours.
Not every Tracen had earned the nickname "Trape." In fact, based on Kitahara's observations, the atmosphere at most local Tracens was still quite normal.
It was not that the Umamusume at local Tracens were especially noble and aloof. Rather, many of the Trainers at local Tracens were people who had retired from the Main Campus. Either they were already taken, or they were old men and old women, naturally leaving them no opportunity.
Moreover, compared with Tracen Main Campus, the Umamusume at local Tracens did not have that much power either. They did not have the nerve to openly defy public order and morality, unlike Tracen Main Campus, which was stationed with a bunch of young ladies whose hands and eyes reached the heavens. Binding their own Trainers and taking them home was not enough; they could even develop related industries...
Yes, he was talking about the Mejiro family.
[Umei Na]:@Kugawa Rei, what, are you thinking of escaping to the regions?
[Kugawa Rei]: I do have that idea. Although mine is very easy to deal with and very well-behaved, seeing your situations, even though I luckily encountered her this time and our relationship is currently very normal, next time might not be the same. So after I finish guiding her, I plan to go to the regions...
[Futo]:"Easy to deal with" "very well-behaved" "normal"
[Umei Na]:@Kugawa Rei, why don't you guess why we pulled you in?
[Kugawa Rei]: ...
[Kugawa Rei]:Impossible. Absolutely impossible. How old is that girl? And besides, she only sees me as an older brother, okay?
[Kitahara]:Classic.
[Nishiguchi]:@Kitahara, I think you're even more classic.
[Kitahara]:?
[Umei Na]:@Kugawa Rei, if you don't believe us, tell her you have a girlfriend and see how she reacts.
[Kugawa Rei]: Then I'll say it. I'm not like you people. My relationship with her is completely normal.
[Kugawa Rei]:If you don't believe me, I'll go tell her right now and prove it to you.
Three minutes later, Kugawa Rei's profile picture went gray. No more responses came from him.
[Higashimori]:...Isn't what we did kind of bad?
[Futo]:In any case, let's reserve him a pelvic fracture care bed first.
After cheerfully seeing Kugawa Rei off, the group once again began a grand discussion on how to protect themselves in the new school term. Messages kept scrolling by and continued for a long time.
As for what results they achieved after the discussion ended...
The answer was none.
What a joke. Tracen had not been like this for only a year or two. If there really were a way to solve this problem, the veteran Trainers would have used it long ago. Trainers at Tracen Main Campus would not be in shorter supply year after year.
Humans cannot defeat Umamusume.
That is common sense.
Even so, at the very end of the discussion, one Trainer still proposed a suggestion that sounded somewhat reasonable.
"Well, although we can't resist if something really happens, if we keep some 'safety measures' on hand, at the very least, things won't reach the worst possible situation, right?"
That seemed like a reasonable suggestion. After thinking about it, the other Trainers felt there did not seem to be anything wrong with it either, so this proposal became the only result the group discussion produced.
But they all seemed to have overlooked one thing.
Although "safety measures" could indeed prevent some of the worst situations from happening, for those Umamusume whose feelings had merely changed in nature and had not yet reached the point of forcefully jumping them, if one day they opened their Trainer's little bag and caught sight of those "safety measures"...
What kind of situation would that be?
...
Two weeks later, Trainers at Tracen Main Campus disappeared in large numbers. The figure was so high that Tazuna Hayakawa once suspected Agnes Tachyon had pulled off some major stunt again.
After investigating the situation clearly, Tazuna Hayakawa was silent for a long time. In the end, she sighed deeply.
"What a sin..."
---
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