Walking across the campus was Symboli Rudolf—the Emperor—dressed in her military-style uniform.
She had been quite busy lately. The new racing season would revive with the Satsuki Sho, and after that, races large and small would arrive one after another—especially the G1s. The Japan Derby, the Takarazuka… one following the next. Official duties alone were enough to keep her occupied, leaving her with no time to personally guide Garden Gale.
…Speaking of that girl.
What was she doing right now…? Just earlier she'd been holding a signing event. Somehow she'd even ended up mixed up with T.M. Opera O.
Rudolf cut off her wandering thoughts.
Her gaze shifted to the short figure walking beside her.
Though calling her that might be a little impolite.
Golden‑orange hair cascaded down over her shoulders like a waterfall. In her hand she held a retro folding fan, fanning herself lightly. A perpetual smile rested on her face, making the little tiger tooth at the corner of her mouth especially noticeable—along with that unmistakable hat.
Every feature pointed to her identity.
The chairwoman of Tracen Academy… a girl named Akikawa Yayoi.
Though her appearance seemed youthful—
Her status was enough to leave people stunned.
"So! Maintaining the training track is a responsibility we cannot shirk! It's our duty! We can't let the condition of the track interfere with the students' training—or the races that are about to begin!"
With a flourish of her paper fan, her face shone with spirited enthusiasm.
At the moment, the two of them were patrolling the training grounds.
Inspecting the maintenance condition of the track.
Most of it was fine. A few areas had problems…
And every time Rudolf thought about that, her head began to ache.
The chairwoman herself had driven a bulldozer out to repair it!
If word got out, people would think Tracen Academy couldn't even afford the money to maintain its racetrack. Pressing a hand lightly to her forehead, Rudolf had already resolved to take this secret with her to the grave.
Naturally enough...
They arrived at the entrance to Team LOCK's training field.
Rudolf looked around at the surroundings before finally fixing her gaze on the team nameplate.
[LOCK].
Would Garden Gale be training here?
Holding that thought, she paused where she stood and considered it for a moment. But Akikawa Yayoi clearly hadn't noticed Rudolf stopping. As always, she wore a cheerful expression and walked straight ahead—
And immediately spotted, down at the starting line, the figure spreading her wings and flying low across the ground.
Garden Gale.
—Her explosive form flowed as smoothly as a Pegasus.
That blazing intensity seized Akikawa Yayoi's attention instantly.
Her paper fan slipped open unconsciously.
She froze in place.
Admittedly—
Along their route of repairs today, they had encountered quite a few Umamusume in the middle of training.
But someone who could reach that kind of extreme—someone who could seize a person's gaze in a single instant like Garden Gale—
She had almost never seen that before.
No… not almost.
She truly had never seen it.
Akikawa Yayoi couldn't help but grow intrigued. She stood there, forgetting entirely about the temporary repairs she had been planning.
First, she wanted to watch the run.
So she stayed where she was.
And then she saw it.
The aura of concentration radiating from Garden Gale… and that final spurt growing faster and faster.
Once, contests of pure speed had given Garden Gale terrible headaches. She'd even needed small tricks just to win them.
But now—
Speed itself had become one of her weapons.
Her velocity tore across the track like low-altitude flight.
It was a speed shocking to behold.
Akikawa Yayoi wasn't Kanzaki Sakura.
She didn't have a stopwatch. She couldn't see the exact numbers.
But she understood something clearly.
This Umamusume had just produced an excellent final 3F time.
"…No way."
She murmured to herself slowly, sounding almost baffled.
What division was this Umamusume in? She hadn't seen her before. And yet… she seemed strong. Incredibly strong. Her potential was limitless!
If she hadn't been seen before, that meant she hadn't become famous yet.
Which meant the sky ahead of her was wide open.
Hearing the chairwoman's puzzled muttering, Rudolf couldn't help feeling curious.
"What do you mean, 'no way'?"
She stepped inside.
And then she saw Garden Gale slowing down gradually from her sprint, a trace of delight appearing on Rudolf's face.
Just as she'd thought.
Garden Gale wouldn't slack off. Even after holding a signing event, she was still training seriously.
So focused.
Hardworking. Diligent.
Ultimate discipline forged ultimate genius.
Of course, a sprint couldn't simply stop on a dime.
So Garden Gale being spotted like this was only natural.
Still, Rudolf didn't quite understand what had just happened. Though she could roughly guess, she asked anyway:
"Chairwoman, what happened just now?"
"Look—over there. That Umamusume."
Akikawa Yayoi snapped her folding fan shut and pointed.
Straight at Garden Gale.
"That Umamusume… that final spurt just now was incredible! I'd even say—with proper polishing and enough time, she could truly become a top-tier powerhouse."
"I was only away on a business trip for a while… and Tracen Academy already produced such a fine seedling?"
Rudolf realized what she meant.
Everyone who saw Garden Gale was shocked.
Rudolf even thought that Garden Gale's greatest weapon hadn't been revealed yet. If Chairwoman Akikawa saw that ability on display, she'd probably be stunned out of her mind.
Compared to that—
This was nothing.
With a faint, inexplicable sense of pride, Rudolf smiled and said:
"Come on. Let's go take a look."
"That Umamusume is the champion of the Satsuki Sho, after all. Of course she's strong."
"Perhaps the chairwoman has simply been too busy lately to notice the news."
So she was the Satsuki Sho champion.
Akikawa Yayoi nodded thoughtfully.
Then she followed Rudolf over.
...
Originally, Rudolf had planned to have Garden Gale demonstrate something for them.
For example...
Her mimicry ability in actual practice.
But the first person she saw instead was Kanzaki Sakura.
Rudolf froze for a moment, then quickly recovered and greeted her.
"Good evening, Trainer Kanzaki. Good evening, Shakur-san."
"Good evening, President… and Chairwoman."
Kanzaki Sakura still held a stopwatch in her hand. She hadn't even had time to start recording the data before the two of them blocked her path.
She looked a bit uneasy—understandably.
After all, these two were her superiors.
And one of them was the very top.
Akikawa Yayoi immediately asked:
"What data were you testing just now? A sprint?"
"Yes."
The moment the conversation turned to work, Kanzaki Sakura dropped her guard completely. She lifted the stopwatch, glanced at it, and her face filled with pure fascination.
"Garden Gale is simply incredible!"
"Even though it's a 3F speed test without endurance consumption, still—no matter how you look at it—running 33.1…"
"That's unbelievably strong!"
"There's something even stronger coming later…"
Rudolf had been about to say that.
But suddenly she registered the time Kanzaki Sakura had just reported.
Had she heard that correctly?
A look of disbelief appeared on her face.
"33.1?"
Rudolf's expression was full of suspicion.
Kanzaki Sakura confirmed immediately.
"Yes. 33.1."
"..."
The calm elegance in Rudolf's mind vanished instantly.
Now only a single thought remained.
Garden Gale—you've grown once again!
---
T/N: in the original, garden gales time was 34.1 BUT it wouldnt make sense for Eishin Flash actual time which was 1 second faster being 32.7 and not 33.7 thats right eishin was one second faster than what the raw said, so i decided to just fix it by taking a second off both the times and YES i know eishin flash is foaled way after tm opera o but 荣进闪耀 stands for eishin flash so...
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