What… was that?
Oguri Cap stood there with both hands braced against her knees, breathing hard, her blue eyes filled with almost tangible confusion.
Because just moments ago, she had seen something utterly unbelievable.
How was she supposed to describe it? It had felt as though both the air and the track had turned into a swamp, as though invisible chains had bound her whole body and made it impossible to lift her legs properly. Just trying to step forward had felt exhausting.
Oguri Cap slowly raised a trembling hand. Even now, she could vividly remember that bizarre sensation of being bound by chains.
The problem was, the feedback from her body told a completely different story: aside from being a little tired, this body of hers was perfectly healthy. Bound by chains? Nothing like that had happened.
Which only made Oguri Cap more confused.
So what had that been?
Had she simply run too hard, deprived her brain of oxygen, and hallucinated?
But every horse girl in the race had slowed down.
That clearly could not have been just her problem.
At that moment, Oguri Cap saw a pale, delicate hand extend toward her.
It was small, but fine and luminous, almost dewy-looking, and somehow it even seemed to carry the faint scent of fresh grass.
Oguri Cap instinctively looked up toward the owner of that hand—
Xingyun Liuge, who had taken victory with ease.
She saw Xingyun Liuge tilt her head adorably and ask,
"What's wrong?"
There was not the slightest trace of gloom on the girl's cute face, nor anything eerie or shadowy about her at all. She looked like a completely different person from the one on the track.
Oguri Cap did not overthink it. She simply took Xingyun Liuge's hand.
It was soft, pleasant to the touch, not at all like the hand of someone who had gone through grueling training.
And yet, Oguri Cap had seen Xingyun Liuge during morning practice. She knew the girl was an extremely hardworking horse girl.
After hesitating for a moment, Oguri Cap finally asked outright:
"That thing just now… what was it?"
Oguri Cap had one good point:
If she did not understand something, she asked.
Of course, that did not necessarily mean she would understand the answer.
Xingyun Liuge had already tested The Box inside the Realm of Death and knew full well that it created an overwhelmingly dramatic effect, so she was not surprised in the slightest.
And she had already prepared an explanation in advance.
"How should I put it…"
Xingyun Liuge rested one hand against her chin, as if trying to come up with the simplest possible way to explain it to Oguri Cap.
"To be honest, I do not fully understand it myself. Maybe it is something like total unity between body and spirit? Basically, you have to temper yourself until both mind and body reach their absolute limits, and then, when your mental focus becomes extremely concentrated, you can start to sense its existence."
"Just think of it as a kind of special skill that can only be grasped after countless rounds of tempering."
Xingyun Liuge had seen all sorts of horse girls in her simulation battles, and had witnessed the unique qualities of truly top-class racers, so she was not worried at all that the phenomenon caused by The Box would bring her any trouble.
To make herself sound even more convincing, Xingyun Liuge confidently brought up Symboli Rudolf as an example.
She was not lying, either.
Symboli Rudolf could accomplish something similar.
"I see. I completely understand."
After hearing Xingyun Liuge's explanation, Oguri Cap nodded vigorously, as if she had understood everything.
In reality, she had not understood a single word.
At this point, she did not even know who Symboli Rudolf was.
Oguri Cap's inner thoughts were very simple:
Symboli Rudolf? Since Xingyun Liuge brought up that name, she must be another super horse girl on the same level as her, one who has mastered this kind of special skill too. How nice.
Oguri Cap did not doubt Xingyun Liuge's words in the least. She only came to one conclusion:
If this was a special power that could only be understood after endless tempering, then she would have to work twice as hard.
She wanted to master a skill like that too.
Not for any other reason—
but simply so she could run to her heart's content and face powerful horse girls head-on.
Losing would make her feel terribly frustrated, yes—
but at the same time, it would also fill her with the drive to rise higher.
In Oguri Cap's dictionary, the word give up did not exist.
More than that, after hearing Xingyun Liuge's explanation, she even felt touched.
Xingyun Liuge could easily have hidden this from her, yet instead she had willingly shared the secret.
What a broad and generous heart that was!
Thinking that, Oguri Cap suddenly felt a warm current rise through her body. For one absurd moment, she thought she might have awakened something.
In reality, she was simply moved.
That was all.
Naturally, Xingyun Liuge was not going to show favoritism to Oguri Cap alone. She shook hands with the other horse girls one by one and offered them kind words of comfort. When someone cautiously asked about the strange phenomenon, she explained it openly and generously, holding nothing back.
It was very simple, really.
Though she liked racing little horse girls into tears, she was actually a good person.
It was absolutely not because seeing Minami Kaku crying again had made her feel deeply satisfied, putting her in an especially good mood.
Absolutely not.
On top of that, once she started doing this, that embarrassingly chuuni commentator finally stopped going on about demon kings.
Though, unfortunately, the new praise she received left her feeling no less awkward.
What was that supposed to mean—"she has the bearing of the Emperor"?
Explain that.
What exactly did it mean to say she had the bearing of the Emperor?
That undefeated Triple Crown, seven-crown, five-kanji-named horse girl might well have been incredibly strong. After all, she was a true legend of Japan and had even earned the title of Emperor, so yes—her raw ability was clearly impressive.
But still!
Weren't there plenty of stronger figures above that Emperor?
Xingyun Liuge was the sort who enjoyed watching the spectacle from the outside. All she knew was that the simulation battle roster was packed with names—so many names—and every single one of them was ranked ahead of Symboli Rudolf.
In her opinion, this so-called Emperor was still a little too green and should probably spend more time learning.
"Ah, whatever. At least the image is moving in a more positive direction."
After all, Emperor was not an insult, so Xingyun Liuge decided she could be a little charitable about the commentator's limited vocabulary.
Next came the perfectly expected winners' stage.
Kasamatsu was just a small local venue and could not provide any grand setup, so this time only Xingyun Liuge would appear on stage.
Once the live ended, Xingyun Liuge was all set to call Chihaya Yui over and head back so they could continue studying. She also planned to return to the Realm of Death and keep training, constantly improving herself.
But at that moment, Oguri Cap came over to her on her own initiative—bringing Belno Light along.
More precisely, Belno was the one who had insisted on coming, worried that Oguri Cap would fail to explain herself properly and end up making Xingyun Liuge misunderstand.
After all, Oguri Cap and Xingyun Liuge were race rivals. There was no reason Xingyun Liuge ought to help Oguri Cap train so that she could awaken that special skill.
Kitahara, for his part, wanted very much to help, but he was only an ordinary retired horse girl. He did not know that skill himself, so there was nothing he could directly contribute.
However, he did have an uncle who worked as a trainer at Central Tracen, and he was prepared to call in that connection. In any case, he would not let Xingyun Liuge help for nothing.
He even assured her:
"This might even catch the Emperor's attention. You could rise to prominence in one leap!"
Xingyun Liuge was not especially interested in Symboli Rudolf's skill set, because she already had stronger tools of her own.
But as one of the backup contingencies in her broader pressure plan, she was more than willing to help Oguri Cap.
Besides, Oguri Cap's strength had already long surpassed that of ordinary local horse girls.
Oguri Cap ought to go make a grand scene in the Central circuit!
Even if it feels a little pessimistic to think about the worst-case scenario from the start... well, whatever. My luck has never exactly been good, after all.
That was how Xingyun Liuge saw it:
There was never anything wrong with planning generously for the enemy.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 172)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 116)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter119)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 66
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 52
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 55
The Way the Umamusume Look at 42
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 40
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 36
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