Kasamatsu Tracen, training grounds.
[800m dirt training race, sunny.]
Norn Ace and Xingyun Liuge both took their stances.
Anyone with eyes could see it immediately:
Norn Ace's form was textbook-perfect, giving off the feeling of, "Sure, she slacks off, but she's still a properly trained horse girl." Xingyun Liuge, on the other hand, looked much more casual. One glance was enough to tell she was a complete beginner with no formal training, moving purely on instinct.
Standing up on higher ground, Chihaya Yui watched the two horse girls settle into their starting positions and could only press a hand to her forehead in helpless frustration.
No matter how hard she thought about it, she just could not understand why Xingyun Liuge insisted on settling such a trivial bit of friction through a race.
Was it because she had spent too long in a wheelchair and wanted a chance to really run?
But if that was the case, wouldn't it be enough to jog slowly along the roadside? Even if she had recovered, shouldn't she start from the basics and build herself up step by step?
So why challenge a horse girl who already had a trainer right out of the gate?
See it with my own eyes…?
Chihaya Yui still felt utterly lost.
While she was worrying, a blonde woman took the initiative to greet her, her words dripping with teasing amusement.
"Yo, Trainer Chihaya. Is that the horse girl you've got your eye on? She seems pretty motivated. Unlike the girls on my side."
As she spoke, she spread her hands helplessly and let out a long sigh, looking thoroughly exasperated. Her name was Kawamura Hiyori, Norn Ace's trainer.
And she was not praising by pretending to criticize, either. She really had no idea what to do with those three lazy horse girls under her care. They clearly had the ability to work hard and strive upward, so why insist on slacking off? If a horse girl did not put in the effort to become better, then what was the difference between her and a salted fish?
"Ah, Trainer Kawamura, hello."
As a freshly minted newcomer, Chihaya Yui greeted Kawamura Hiyori very politely, then explained:
"It's not like that. I…"
She told Kawamura Hiyori about how she had met Xingyun Liuge, clarifying that the girl was not one of her trainees. Still, Chihaya Yui had indeed become somewhat interested in Xingyun Liuge. She liked horse girls who had dreams, ambition, and drive.
As they spoke, the training race began.
At the starting signal, Norn Ace launched herself forward without the slightest hesitation! The gentle breeze transformed into rushing wind as it whipped past her ears, and she felt like an arrow loosed from a bow, shooting straight toward her target!
She did not care whether Xingyun Liuge was just a clueless airhead or not. The other girl had "provoked" her again and again, and now she was going to shut her up with victory.
Lose?
As if.
She was Norn Ace.
Her opponent was nothing more than some unremarkable horse girl without a trainer.
Of course she would win!
In just a few breaths, Norn Ace had already appeared more than ten meters ahead. If this had been an official race, it would have counted as an almost flawless start. She might well have left every horse girl in Kasamatsu behind her—except Fujimasa March and Oguri Cap.
Naturally, Norn Ace's two friends had not missed the chance to watch this bit of fun. Seeing her run so smoothly, they both felt pleased for her.
The tall blonde horse girl Rudy Lemo stood there with both hands in her pockets.
"Seriously, who would've thought? Norn's actually pretty fired up for once."
The short black-haired horse girl Mini Lady gave a sneering laugh.
"No clue what's going on here, but that girl's definitely in for a bad time."
Right out of the gate, Xingyun Liuge had fallen a full body length behind Norn Ace.
That was also the most direct reason the two horse girls were convinced their friend's victory was guaranteed.
But there were things ordinary horse girls standing outside the track could not feel.
What… is this?
Norn Ace should have been delighted with such a perfect start.
But very quickly, she stopped feeling happy at all.
A strange chill crept over her. It felt as if something incredibly dangerous was pursuing her from behind, bearing down on her with relentless pressure.
That was completely wrong, wasn't it?
What danger could possibly be behind her?
That was just some ordinary horse girl without a trainer!
Why?
Norn Ace clenched her teeth. A drop of cold sweat slowly rolled down her forehead as she drove her legs harder than ever before, running with an intensity and focus she had never shown in her life.
Win?
She did not even have the spare mental capacity to think about that anymore.
All she wanted to do was run. Run. Keep running.
Run until she reached somewhere safe.
She could not help it.
Her brain was screaming one warning after another:
Run! Run! Otherwise—!
Otherwise what?
Norn Ace did not know.
She half-suspected she was hallucinating. There was no way that ordinary-looking horse girl could possibly be putting this much pressure on her.
The immense pressure bore down on her nerves. Sweat poured from her in waves, almost soaking her through completely.
And then, at that moment, she heard Xingyun Liuge's voice.
"Say, Senior Norn… what does running mean to you?"
What kind of horse girl talked while running at full speed?
Was she not afraid of losing her breath and choking herself into slowing down on the spot?
And yet it was happening, right there beside Norn Ace.
At some point, Xingyun Liuge had caught up to her and was now running at her shoulder.
Norn Ace's eyes widened slightly in shock. She bit down harder and tried to throw this incomprehensible girl behind her.
The meaning of running?
What meaning could it possibly have? You run because you feel like running, and when you get tired, you stop.
Do not ask such weird questions!
But Norn Ace had already been going all-out from the very beginning. She did not have even a shred of extra strength left for a second acceleration, let alone any special skill like that.
All she could do was struggle to regulate her breathing and maintain her pace, trying not to let Xingyun Liuge pass her.
The problem was, Xingyun Liuge looked so relaxed and effortless.
Did Norn Ace's struggle even matter?
Seeing that Norn Ace did not answer, Xingyun Liuge did not get annoyed. She merely let out a soft sigh.
"You know, I spent a very, very long time on a hospital bed before this. Even when I was allowed outside for some fresh air, I could only go in a wheelchair. So I was always jealous of everyone who could run freely."
"Senior Norn, that's the real reason I sighed under the school building earlier."
Xingyun Liuge's voice was beautiful, like wind stirring through a pan flute, carrying a natural musical rhythm that made people want to smile without even realizing it.
But Norn Ace had no room to appreciate that rhythm.
She could not smile.
If she had been free to say anything at all, she would only have wanted to ask one thing:
…Why are you telling me this?
But Norn Ace did not say it.
Not because she could not bear to be that cold.
She simply could not manage it.
Just maintaining her current pace was already taking every bit of strength she had. If she tried to speak now…
She might actually fall.
As though she had seen right through Norn Ace's thoughts, Xingyun Liuge gave a soft laugh.
"My body… feels light."
"The feeling of the wind brushing across my face… is wonderful."
"That's why I longed to run. I think running is something joyful. I want to go all the way to the edge of worlds I've never seen before."
"Senior Norn… what about you? What are you running for?"
Xingyun Liuge had not expected an answer from Norn Ace.
She knew the other girl could not give one.
And so she suddenly drove one foot hard into the ground.
"—!"
In that instant, the swift wind soaring through the sky twisted under some invisible force. It became a howling gale that lashed painfully across Norn Ace's cheeks and nearly forced her eyes shut.
Dust and grit flew up in every direction.
Xingyun Liuge burst forward.
In the blink of an eye, she threw Norn Ace behind her. She even glanced back over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue playfully, as if saying:
Sorry, Senior Norn—I'll be heading on ahead~
Norn Ace pumped her legs with all her might.
It was useless.
All she could do was watch helplessly as the distance between them grew wider and wider.
Breathing in ragged gasps, Norn Ace stretched out her right arm toward Xingyun Liuge's retreating back.
But it was all futile.
She could do nothing.
Wait…
Give me…
Norn Ace struggled in vain, extending her pale fingertips as far as she could, as though that alone might shorten the distance between them, as though that alone might somehow let her catch up.
But she could not.
She simply could not.
Her struggle meant nothing.
All she could do was watch Xingyun Liuge widen the gap with effortless freedom.
She saw sunlight spill across Xingyun Liuge's head, shattering into a dreamlike halo.
And in that instant, Norn Ace understood one thing with perfect clarity:
A monster.
That girl… she isn't like us. She's…
A monster, just like March.
From the very beginning, their strengths had never been on the same level.
Her struggle had always been meaningless—
just like the countless horse girls who chased Fujimasa March's back as they ran.
She could not win.
She could not win.
"Ha…!"
In the midst of her violent gasping, Norn Ace suddenly lost her balance, her whole body pitching forward uncontrollably.
The horse girls and trainers watching from the sidelines were all horrified.
Falling at full speed?
That was not just dangerous—that was the kind of accident that could leave blood splashed across the track.
In that instant, Norn Ace herself understood the miserable future awaiting her.
A calm thought surfaced in her mind:
So this is the end for me?
Of course Norn Ace did not want to meet her end like this.
The problem was, there was nothing she could do.
Even truly exceptional horse girls sometimes stumbled in the middle of a run.
So what chance did mediocrities like her have?
She shut her eyes instinctively.
But what greeted her was not the hard dirt track.
It was a soft embrace.
"!"
Startled, Norn Ace pushed herself upright and opened her eyes.
But the dazzling halo of light stung them shut again at once.
Still, in that brief instant before she closed them, she saw a beautiful smiling face glowing beneath the sunlight.
Join here to read ahead.
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From Junkman to Wasteland 60
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