For Uma Musume, the greatest insult is when their competitor doesn't even consider them an opponent.
—Thoughts like these often arise among Uma Musume who have a vast gap in strength.
When the passing of time reveals how deep one's talents go, close rivals who started at the same line would later find that a large chasm has opened up between them.
When this occurs, usually, the weaker party would initiate the conversation and say something along the lines of:
"I'm sorry, but I might not be worthy of being your rival anymore. The gap between us is too great. You should pursue higher goals and leave me behind; I wish you all the best."
Such topics are rarely brought up by the stronger Uma Musume, because if they were the ones to initiate it, it would carry a hint of arrogance and disdain, regardless of their intentions.
And since everyone attended the same school and would continue to see each other daily, saying such things would make their days rather awkward.
Moreover, doing something like this would immediately paint you as a villain in the eyes of others, which could easily lead to social ostracization.
But now, in front of Orfevre, Maruzensky first crushed her by several lengths to prove she could easily win if she wanted to, then intentionally slowed down for no reason at all, using this taboo method to provoke her.
There was simply no way Orfevre wouldn't get mad.
Uma Musume aren't afraid of losing; if they lose this time around, there's always a next time to win it back.
They also aren't afraid of getting dominated early on in a race; the race wasn't over yet, so who could tell what the final outcome would be?
But to underestimate your opponent and openly hold back? A provocation like this would be on the same level as directly cursing their mother.
More importantly, Orfevre found this provocation strangely familiar, as if she had experienced such a humiliation before, which made her even more inexplicably angry.
"How about it, my dear Junior? Have you realized that our strength is not even on the same level?"
"Heh, it seems the pair of you aren't that impressive after all. Even if I start over from the beginning, I'm still confident I can beat you by several lengths~"
Maruzensky spoke with a deliberately provocative smile.
Yet, behind this mask of viciousness was a face full of anticipation.
Maruzensky could already feel it— Orfevre was on the verge of a breakthrough.
If she could overcome this barrier, her strength would definitely advance by leaps and bounds.
The current Orfevre... while considered strong among her peers, isn't dominant enough to win all three Classic Triple Crown races and claim the title of the next Classic Triple Crown Uma Musume with certainty.
From Ikezoe's own words and through her own investigation, Maruzensky knew that the method for Orfevre to rapidly improve was somewhat unique.
While other Uma Musume performed better when in 'perfect condition,' Orfevre was different; for her to truly show her true strength, she needed to be in 'terrible condition.'
The more negative emotions she accumulated, the more she could access her potential and abilities.
For such an Uma Musume, wasn't provoking, humiliating, and pressuring them the best way to ignite their strength?
...
"Jeez... even if it's just a provocation, just hearing it makes my blood boil!"
The black haired woman next to Nakayama Festa said with a slight shock,
"Even I wouldn't dare to provoke another Uma Musume like this; isn't this going a little too far?"
"...Don't worry, while Orfevre tends to be timid under pressure, if you push her too much, she'll bite back like a cornered animal."
Nakayama Festa was initially angered by Maruzensky's actions, but quickly regained her composure and said,
"No one in our family dares to bully Orfevre too much."
"Hoh~? Your Gold Family sure is an interesting bunch."
The black-haired woman chuckled softly, and, sensing that something was happening on the training grounds, quickly shifted her gaze back onto the mock race.
...
"—Take back what you just said, old hag."
However, just when Maruzensky thought her provocation worked, something unexpected happened.
Orfevre's eyes, which seemed to be teeming with murderous rage, suddenly disappeared, replaced by resolute calmness.
Completely ignoring Maruzensky's presence, Orfevre's eyes were fixed on the track ahead, as if only the finish line ahead existed in her gaze.
"You can look down on me, because I can't outrun you right now; you can insult me, because I can't beat you either."
"But. There is no way in hell I'll let you insult Ikezoe, my Trainer."
Orfevre's calm voice was eerily unsettling. It was like she was never angry in the first place.
Her voice, of course, reached Ikezoe's ears, and it was the first time Ikezoe had heard Orfevre express her thoughts so directly.
For a moment, Ikezoe even forgot that he was currently riding on Orfevre, almost causing him to fall off.
"I know how I am all too well. If there's an Uma Musume I can't beat, it's definitely my problem, not Ikezoe's."
"Ikezoe always tries his best for me— it's just that I haven't- I haven't tried as hard as him."
At this point, Orfevre also gritted her teeth and started to accelerate again, causing Maruzensky to merely smile back and speed up in kind.
As this was happening, the 1000-meter mark was just passed, the two Uma Musume crossing it almost parallel.
Because this mock race originally seemed to have been initiated in jest, no one had bothered to keep track of the time.
Yet, one person did.
The black haired woman quickly focused on the time on her stopwatch, raising her eyebrow in surprise.
"57.9 seconds...? They're fast."
"No, actually... isn't this too fast? 2000 meters isn't too long, but running as a Runaway throughout the entire thing and at this pace too... are their stamina bottomless pits?"
The answer to that was no. For Maruzensky, running as a Runaway for a whole 2000 meters was a considerable challenge.
If Symboli Rudolf was talking alongside the two, she would've said the exact same thing.
This was especially so considering Maruzensky hasn't been on the track for a long time.
As a retired Uma Musume, many of her various aspects had declined, especially her physical endurance; running like this was actually pushing Maruzensky's body to its limit, though she didn't show it.
But for Orfevre... Is her stamina actually a bottomless pit or what?!
"DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU WANT TO COMPETE WITH ME?! COME ON! I'LL COMPETE WITH YOU TO THE END!"
Orfevre laughed with enthusiasm, saying each word with great energy.
"Let me give you a taste of the full power of the Golden Tyrant— IKEZOE!!"
Suddenly, Orfevre's cry made Ikezoe, who had been in a state of befuddlement, snap back to reality.
He then saw this 'Golden Tyrant' completely let go of herself, saying through gritted teeth,
"Although I don't want to say it. I admit it! I'm a dumbass! I'm a major dumbass! I can't think! All I can do is run!"
"So! I want you to be my brain as always! To give your all as always! AND!! TO WIN AS ALWAYS— WITH ME!!!"
"Even I'm giving my all, Ikezoe! You better actually try now!"
Did Orfevre really not know Ikezoe's thoughts? Of course not.
From the very beginning of this mock race, she had already sensed that Ikezoe was a bit more slack than usual.
Horses could sense the emotions of the rider on their back; if the rider was the first to fall into a panic, most horses would also become agitated with them.
Although it was unknown if this applied to Uma Musume, Orfevre sure could sense Ikezoe's emotions when he was riding her.
This was also the reason why she had been so aggressive when Ikezoe told her to slow down, because she felt the emotion of 'giving up' from him.
However, she never once thought Ikezoe had 'betrayed' her. Not only that, she actually found his feelings rather understandable.
After all, Maruzensky was his teacher; it was normal for him to feel powerless in front of her.
But now, Orfevre wouldn't allow Ikezoe to continue feeling powerless.
She wanted to tell him that they were a team, and that no matter who their opponent was, no matter how strong they were, victory was the only possible outcome.
The thought of Ikezoe ever possibly letting her down never crossed Orfevre's mind; after all, she trusted him, what other reasons did she need to entrust herself to him?
Thus, all she needed to do was run, run with all her might!
Just then, Orfevre's roar also made Ikezoe suddenly 'wake up.'
What... what was he doing? Was he going to let Orfevre lose? Just so she could 'grow?'
No, that's not— what he should be doing.
Character building, tempering her attitude, all excuses to comfort himself! If she could win, then just win!
Because Orfevre is the strongest! The Orfevre he rides, HIS Orfevre— is the strongest ever!
"Haha! Right! Let's win! ORFEVRE! LET'S WIN!!!"
"GO— RUN! ORFEVREEE!!!"
Ikezoe excitedly flicked the reins, and as if receiving a command, the muscles in Orfevre's body rapidly tensed.
In that instant, Maruzensky also felt that Orfevre's Aur- no, something other than her Aura had changed.
Just before Orfevre's cleat was about to touch the ground, a faint, golden circle started to form around her.
BANG!
And at that moment Orfevre charged forward with power! The fierce golden circle emanating from Orfevre shocking everyone.
"It's not Aura."
Symboli Rudolf's eyes narrowed slightly from shock as she said coldly,
"It's Zone, Orfevre's Zone."
"Has she touched the threshold of a Zone? Even though it's quite faint, it's good enough."
"Senior Maruzensky really succeeded... though probably not the way she expected considering her expression."
On the other side, T.M. Opera O and Wada, who had been serving as the commentators, clearly showed how they weren't professional commentators.
The both of them were completely engrossed by the race, no longer even remembering that they were supposed to commentate, directly speaking to each other.
"T.M. Opera O, is that...?"
"Mm, it's quite similar to us during the Arima Kinen... they've also touched that realm, though less effectively."
T.M. Opera O confirmed Wada's thought, which caused Wada's heart to be filled with emotion.
The realm he could only painfully reach with the 'Miracle' of the Three Goddesses was now unexpectedly opened by Orfevre and Ikezoe.
Although theirs was very nascent, Wada needed the blessing of a God to even reach it in the first place!
"Heh... If T.M. Opera O and I are the so called 'perfect pair,' then, Ikezoe-kun, you two might be the 'strongest pair.'"
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I love inspirational speeches like this. Hopecore is the best!!
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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.