"The people closest to me... other than my sisters, is probably Dictus and Teio..., but how can I have such feelings towards any of them?"
"...Forget it, I'll go back to Trainer first. It's too early to be thinking about this now."
Ultimately, McQueen gave up on pondering this rather difficult matter, choosing to temporarily push the problem to future her to deal with as she went to go find Imanami for her daily training session.
Although Orfevre's situation had given McQueen some insights, she still couldn't fully grasp the feelings involved. Orfevre was like a textbook for McQueen, but a textbook ultimately falls short of practical experience.
And as McQueen has yet to experience that feeling of a pounding heart, she still couldn't understand love at all.
Perhaps all she needs is a little more time.
Thinking this, McQueen had already walked into the team building. After composing herself, she knocked on the door, a smile unconsciously gracing her face as she said:
"Trainer, are you there?"
"...Ah, McQueen, come in. There just so happens to be something I have to talk to you about."
However, Imanami's voice held a rather serious tone to it. McQueen's heart skipped a beat as she quickly pushed the door open, only to find Tokai Teio and Gold Ship also standing there. Their expressions, like Imanami's at the moment, did not look very pleasant.
"What's wrong? Trainer, did something happen?"
"Yes, and it's certainly not a good thing." Imanami nodded, handing McQueen a letter he had been holding, then saying,
"McQueen, this is a letter from Shadai. Take a look."
"Shadai?" McQueen took the letter with some surprise.
A letter from Shadai was, in a sense, an instruction from the Japan branch of the URA itself; it was impossible to ignore its contents.
Legally speaking, Shadai and the URA were two separate entities with no partnership between them.
However, Shadai, as the largest Uma Musume agency in all of Japan, monopolizes most of the top-tier training resources for Uma Musume.
Even a decent chunk of the resources at the URA come from Shadai; they were the undisputed kings of the Japan Uma Musume scene, even surpassing the likes of the Mejiro Family by a decent margin.
Thus, it was inevitable for their influence to seep into even an international giant like the URA, though it was only a branch.
Mejiro McQueen was very clear about this. Thus, as she opened the envelope and read it word for word, her expression twisted into an indescribable one...
"Th- this is utterly—shameless, desu wa!"
The content of the letter, in summary, was that Shadai discovered the recent exploits of Team Miracle and believed that the talents of the Uma Musume in the team were excellent, with each of them capable of dominating the Japan scene in the future.
Thus, they have extended an olive branch, hoping that the team's Uma Musume would accept their sponsorship and come under their wing, meaning they would be competing as Uma Musume of Shadai.
All of this sounded like a simple recruitment offer for the team, but implications earlier as well as the contents at the end of the letter made McQueen's expression fill with anger.
Shadai stated that while they are willing to recruit the team's Uma Musume, they did not want to hire the Trainers.
Thus, they were willing to shoulder the cost for the breaking of the contracts between the three Trainers and their respective Uma Musume.
Shadai would pay for all the costs and fees from the breach of the agreements signed between the three Trainers and their trainees.
The Trainers would then also be given a large sum of extra compensation. Of course, under these terms, the Uma Musume's Trainers would then be replaced by Trainers under Shadai.
Just seeing these conditions immediately made McQueen so angry that she almost ripped the letter in half; fortunately, she eventually managed to rein in her emotions, though her words were still sharp:
"This is completely unreasonable! What do those people at Shadai think the bond between a Trainer and Uma Musume is?!"
"No! I disagree! I absolutely cannot agree, desu wa! Trainer, tell them we refuse their offer immediately!"
Saying this, McQueen immediately turned her gaze to Imanami. Imanami was the true backbone of Team Miracle, and is also the one who usually made the final decisions for the team.
Ikezoe and Wada both respected and trusted Imanami greatly, so Imanami's choice would be the choice the entire team made.
And so, Imanami's choice was actually the most important one, as Wada and Ikezoe would naturally follow his decision with their Uma Musume following suit.
"McQueen, don't get so nervous. Of course, we won't agree to Shadai's demands. Even if I agreed, Ikezoe, Wada, and all of you would definitely not agree."
"But here lies the problem: how do we refuse Shadai so that they won't hold a grudge against us?"
"After all, considering the number of connections they have, they are not something we can casually provoke."
Forcefully coercing new Trainers to give up the training rights of their Uma Musume? Should I say, classic Shadai?
Their monopoly and dominance in the Japan racehorse scene was known to everyone.
However, Imanami had not expected that even in this alternate world where kind and good-natured Uma Musume were not an uncommon sight, Shadai would still be like this.
Back in their original world, Shadai could be said to have monopolized most of the important resources in the entire industry, including but not limited to racehorses, breeding studs, Trainers, Jockeys, stable staff, and even funds, all of which were entirely in Shadai's hands.
Small owners could only survive in the empty void left behind by Shadai's monopoly, and without any resources to work off of, the possibility of these small owners training a good racehorse, or even getting a good one in the first place, was nigh impossible.
This is also why T.M. Opera O was so hated by Shadai back then. T.M. Opera O was considered to be an "inferior racehorse" in Shadai's eyes, surviving in the cracks.
Yet not only did he manage to defeat a group of "good racehorses" belonging to Shadai, but even managed to break through the encirclement planned by them.
His actions were a metaphorical slap to Shadai's face.
It was like a human trying to crush an ant with a finger, only to find out that the ant can not only lift their finger, but also bite a wound deep enough to cause bleeding.
It's easy to imagine why Shadai seemed to have such a deep-seated grudge with T.M. Opera O at the time.
Even though T.M. Opera O might have been a miracle, it certainly doesn't mean that she will be the only miracle.
Imanami could guarantee that if another Racehorse like T.M. Opera O appeared again in the future, Shadai would definitely be as scummy as they were back then.
Shadai is just an organization like that; they do not tolerate any existence beyond their control, whether it be people or horses.
And in this world, it was the same. They definitely wouldn't give up after a single attempt.
If Team Miracle only had a single outstanding Uma Musume, perhaps they wouldn't care, but an entire group of highly outstanding Uma Musume...?
There was no way Shadai would let go of them easily.
"Trainer, why don't we go find the Director?" Tokai Teio blurted out in desperation,
"The Director must have a way to deal with Shadai. This is Japan's biggest URA central Uma Musume academy, even Shadai can't..."
"Teio, Director Yayoi Akikawa is only the Director of Tracen Academy. In front of Shadai, she can't even represent the Japan branch of the URA."
"If we want to diplomatically resolve this, it needs to be the Chairman of the URA Japan branch who talks."
Imanami rubbed Teio's little head upon hearing this, then said,
"Moreover, URA's interests are intertwined with Shadai, so they probably won't do anything to Shadai. Shadai will at most receive some warnings, but there will be no substantial punishment."
"This matter… don't worry, it's not for you kids to worry about. Just leave this to the adults to find a solution."
"Just go back to training. You don't need to worry about the rest; trust us."
Imanami opened his mouth, looked at Tokai Teio, whose face still showed youthful innocence, and couldn't bring himself to drag her into the world of adults.
An Uma Musume's mission is to run, not to get entangled with this complex web of interests and profits—that is their Trainer's job.
"Is there nothing I can do to help?" Mejiro McQueen couldn't help but say,
"Grandmother will definitely have a way to negotiate with Shadai."
"No, McQueen, remember, absolutely do not involve the Mejiro Family in this matter; it would be more harm than good."
Imanami smiled bitterly and shook his head upon hearing this, but still said nothing more.
"As I said, leave it to the adults—Gold Ship, I'm entrusting you with supervising Teio and McQueen's training during this period."
"Okay~, don't worry, old man." Gold Ship casually agreed, and Imanami left the room with relief, leaving this quiet environment to the three Uma Musume.
"What should we do…" Tokai Teio murmured, still uneasy.
Beside her, McQueen gently pressed Tokai Teio's shoulder and softly said:
"Everything will be fine, Teio. Don't worry; the Trainer doesn't want us to worry like this. This matter… there will be a solution, Teio."
McQueen said softly, but inwardly, she felt very helpless. She vaguely sensed that their team was getting caught in some sort of major crisis; perhaps even their running would be futile.
They were fighting an invisible, powerful enemy, and this formidable foe was not something Uma Musume could defeat, nor could it be entirely overcome through track performance. Instead, it required other means…
McQueen at this moment also felt quite powerless and angry. Could it be that she couldn't help at all?
Meanwhile, Gold Ship, at this moment, was goofing off as usual.
However, it seemed she had already made a decision, one she believed was correct and what the old man needed most right now.
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Time for a big arc.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.