Night fell. Inside Tracen Academy, it was already past curfew.
The students were forbidden from leaving their dorms without submitting a form, and returning to the dorms past curfew would require writing self-reflection essays.
Yet, one Uma Musume quietly left her dorm.
"McQueen, it's already past curfew. You should know that, right?"
As the manager of the Ritto dorm, Fuji Kiseki immediately stepped forward to intercept Mejiro McQueen, who was about to leave the dorm, and said with a smile:
"It's very unsafe to go out at night, little pony. So, do you have the relevant documents?"
"The overnight stay application has been approved. Here is my Trainer's signature, and the Student Council's stamp."
McQueen unhurriedly took out her application and handed it to Fuji Kiseki, then slowly said:
"Oh, and also, all of my sisters—Ryan, Ardan, Bright, and the others—are going back to the Mejiro Estate today."
"We have some important matters to discuss, so please understand, Senior."
"Hmm... Since you have the form, then you all may go."
Fuji Kiseki carefully checked the list and the application report. After confirming everything was in order, she smiled and let her pass, then said:
"The overnight stay application is only valid for today, kay? Remember to tell your sisters to also not come back too late tomorrow and miss class."
"Understood. Thank you for the reminder."
McQueen gently nodded, then strode out of the building. Outside the school gates, a car was already waiting for her with all of the Mejiro Family's Uma Musume staying in Tracen in it.
McQueen calmly entered the car and at that moment, Ryan, feeling quite puzzled, asked McQueen:
"McQueen, is there something serious happening? You even asked all of us to go back home."
"Yes, there is something serious, Ryan-nee, something very serious."
Mejiro McQueen also nodded solemnly, looking at her sisters around her, her expression bore signs of slight nervousness, before speaking seriously:
"It concerns my team and my Trainer. I need to discuss this with Grandmother personally, because this matter... is related to Shadai."
"Shadai?"
Just that one sentence from McQueen slightly startled the surrounding Uma Musume. Clearly, even people who weren't involved in the situation with Team Miracle were well aware of Shadai's influence.
"Now you all know why this matter is difficult, but I cannot give up." McQueen bit her lower lip slightly, seemingly conflicted, but in fact, she had already made up her mind as she said:
"So, when I go and discuss this with Grandmother. I hope everyone can support me..."
"B- but, McQueen, I understand what you're feeling, but that's Shadai!"
Seeing her younger sister so agitated, Mejiro Ryan, after exchanging glances with the other sisters, cautiously spoke up, intending to give her younger sister a heads-up first:
"Shadai is just too big. Even Grandmother can't contend with them! They are the combination of six big families."
"Rather than an agency, they are more like a large corporation!"
"McQueen, you know Grandmother won't agree, so you'd better prepare yourself mentally. B- but don't worry, there must be another way..."
"...I know."
McQueen nodded silently at this. She, of course, knew how great Shadai's influence was. The Mejiro Family sounded big and rich, but it depended on which faction it was compared to.
When compared to small families, they wouldn't even scratch the level of the Mejiro Family even if they tried for another thirty or forty years.
But when compared to a regional monster like Shadai... The Mejiro Family was just a single family in the end.
Even in spite of this, McQueen had to try no matter what. Currently, the only one capable of making a decision like this was Grandmother.
Therefore, McQueen will have to use all she had to try and persuade Grandmother to help their Team overcome this difficulty.
At least, McQueen didn't want to be as powerless as she was back during the media incident, unable to help her Trainer and the others at all...
Meanwhile, what Mejiro McQueen and her sisters didn't know was that they weren't the only group of Uma Musume to leave school that day.
While McQueen was just departing from Tracen, a meeting was currently taking place at the Gold Family's house.
"Everyone, you all understand why I called you guys here, right?"
In a pitch-black room, two rows of Uma Musume were currently seated.
The only lighting was only a few lit candles on the unadorned tablecloth, creating an eerie atmosphere, as if it was the meeting of some shady underworld organization.
"...I can't see shit, Gold Ship. Turn on the goddamned lights! It's way too dark!"
"It wouldn't be atmospheric if the lights were on! And Orfevre-nee over there, sit down properly! I'm holding a meeting with everyone as the acting head of the Gold Family!"
The person sitting in the head's position was none other than Gold Ship, who had been entrusted with the heavy responsibility of being the temporary head of the Gold Family by Stay Gold before her departure, temporarily having control over the entirety of the Gold Family.
Although she was the youngest in the Gold Family, she was surprisingly the tallest, the most reliable, and probably the smartest one out of everyone in the Gold Family.
In fact, the "temporary" suffix was merely a formality considering that Stay Gold always appointed Gold Ship as the acting head when she went out.
And well... she only comes back once in a blue moon for a few days before disappearing again to go race in some god-forsaken place.
"Eh? Why do I act like a bum and throw all my responsibilities onto Gold Ship? Well listen here you snivelling little brats, I was the one who took care of you all back when we were kids." (T/N: Toji coded)
"Plus, I'm not really good at thinking; if even Gold Ship can't deal with something, then I'm sorry to say, you're all screwed."
Stay Gold had also instructed the Gold Family on multiple occasions like this: "When I'm not around, listen to Gold Ship. Do whatever she tells you to do."
"You can roughen each other up, you can argue, but you are not allowed to run away from home, and you are not allowed to cut ties with each other."
"If you think Gold Ship is making a wrong decision, feel free to convince her or duke it out. But if Gold Ship still doesn't change her mind afterwards, you have to listen to her."
"If I find any of you breaking these rules, then don't blame me when I no longer treat you as sisters when I come back home."
Saying this, Stay Gold even took off her glove and showed off her fist at the time, causing everyone to tremble in fear, completely submissive.
And so far, under Gold Ship's leadership, the Gold Family had begun a process of 'stagnation,' with the family neither rapidly progressing nor regressing.
But this time, a family meeting was finally held after so many years.
"Since everyone is already informed, let's get straight to the main topic." Gold Ship slightly raised her head.
At this moment, she seemed to be imitating a famous scene from Evangelion, but Evangelion doesn't exist in this world, and she also didn't know where she learned this pose.
But that's besides the point.
"Okay so, Shadai is now our enemy. Everyone understands how important the relationship between a Trainer and an Uma Musume is, right?"
"So, what are your guys' suggestions?"
"Kidnap their top brass alongside all their family members and sink them in Tokyo Bay."
At this moment, an Uma Musume whose face was obscured by darkness couldn't help but suggest with a laugh:
"It was pretty effective in those gangster movies."
"...Dream Journey, we are not a mafia. We'll face consequences for that; our underworld background isn't as deep as those guys in those movies."
"Though we can probably do that in two to three days, the next person sinking in Tokyo Bay will be me by Oldest Sister."
"Correct, that's my goal." The Uma Musume called Dream Journey quietly sat back down, causing veins to pop out on Gold Ship's forehead.
"Even if we want to legitimately contend with Shadai, our Gold Family isn't influential enough, right?" Nakayama Festa, who was sucking on a lollipop, said:
"Not only is this a 1V6 situation, our family is also relatively new. We don't have the foundation to wrestle with Shadai, do we?"
"Correct, so this time, we have to find allies. Allies with a foundation, with strength, and who we have connections to."
Gold Ship smiled slightly at this, then fixed her gaze on everyone, slowly rising to her feet and saying:
"Everyone—Tonight, we go to the Mejiro Estate! Let's have a good talk with the old hag of the Mejiro Family!"
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Rather long translator note today,
First off, for you readers who managed to get through 150 Chapters of my dogshit translation, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Without knowing that someone was reading and actively engaging with this translation, I definitely wouldn't have been able to consistently do a side hobby I decided on a whim for over 5 months now. (Time sure flies fast)
And secondly, I will be rewriting this translation!
... Well, technically.
I recently re-readed the previous chapters through the mobile app and I found the structuring to be so horrendous to the point I had actual difficulty reading. (Chapter 135 and before)
So, I will be changing the fomatting of the previous chapters. Don't worry, I will still be releasing daily chapters, and I'll leave the paragraphs with comments untouched, I'm just informing you all.
Again, though this probably sounds juvenile and corny as shit, thanks for reading my translation! Really appreciate it!
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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.