Rampage was running herself ragged preparing for the URA Finals.
Technically, I'm still an active athlete, so why am I spending all my time doing this? The thought had begun to nag at her recently. While she mentally shifted the blame onto the URA for failing to do their job in the first place, she continued to work diligently alongside the Chairman and the others today. It was resentful work, mostly because the only reason she was so efficient at it was due to the skills she had honed in the trenches of her past life as a corporate drone.
"And that concludes the current status of our coordination with the various Tracen Academies. The organization of the qualifying races appears to be proceeding smoothly. There's even a proposal on the table to establish special entry slots in Graded stakes races for the final qualifiers."
"Understood!! Holding the final qualifiers within a Graded race is an intriguing concept! It is more than acceptable; it is brilliant!!"
"That is all well and good, but… don't you think the number of documents requesting Mejiro Rampage-san as a guest for the qualifiers is a bit excessive?"
The preparations for the Finals were proceeding remarkably well. For an event of this scale, covering the entire Japanese archipelago, the setup was moving at a record-breaking pace. It made one wonder just how much of a grudge these regions held against the central URA… The enthusiasm from the Kasamatsu Training Center, in particular, was bordering on terrifying.
And amidst the mountain of paperwork were endless requests for Rampage to make a guest appearance.
"Inevitably so!! It is self-evident that they would wish to invite the architect of the URA Finals!!"
"And naturally, they want to see the world's strongest and fastest horse girl."
"Ah, geez… If I knew it was going to earn me titles like 'MAX-MAX-MAX,' I should have just been satisfied with the Arc de Triomphe and left it at that."
Though, even if she had stopped at the Arc, it was obvious she would have been summoned regardless.
"Also, we have received offers from the URA for television appearances and event participation."
"Eh? Do you think I'll do it?"
"No, I believe you will not."
"Delightful!!"
Why bother with television appearances bound by endless restrictions when she could just stream it herself? It was faster, and she could procure guests far more luxurious than anything the network could scrape together. She had no intention of accepting such offers, especially when it was painfully obvious the URA only wanted to use her as a billboard to save their own skins.
"Actually, the URA really doesn't think about anything, do they…? Asking if I'll run in the Japan Cup? Are they idiots?"
Rampage had no intention of running in this year's Japan Cup. Aside from being swamped with the Finals and the Legend Races, the fatigue from the Breeders' Cup Classic hadn't completely faded. Running in this condition would visibly result in a subpar performance. The URA seemed unable to comprehend the physical toll of the insane overseas expedition schedule she had undertaken.
Or perhaps they just assumed, It's Rampage, she'll be fine. In fact, that was almost certainly what they were thinking.
"If I had to guess, they are hoping for a new World Record on Japanese soil. After all, you hammered out a World Record on that nightmarish track at the Arc de Triomphe. They likely assume that on Japan's high-speed turf, you would clock an even faster time. They are banking on it."
"Counting their chickens before they hatch. Just because I'm running in Japan doesn't mean I'll get a better time than I did back then. My mental state was truly at its peak in France… I don't know if I can bring myself to that edge again."
Rampage felt she had produced too many results. It was like a boss piling quotas on a subordinate simply because they had succeeded once.
"I can't have them expecting things from me forever. We have Turbo, we have Teio. Let them handle it. I don't intend to sit on the throne of 'strongest and fastest' for eternity… Alright, that's the signing done. Well then, Chairman, my part is finished, so I'm heading out."
"Umu! Good work!!"
The Chairman watched Rampage leave the office while Tazuna collected the documents. Both of them felt that Rampage did not wear the air of a monarch, but rather the free, unbridled wind of a horse girl.
The current Student Council President, Rudolf, wore the dignity and atmosphere befitting an Emperor. The Vice President, Ramonu, carried a similar air befitting a Queen. But Rampage resembled neither. If anything, she was closer to Mr. C.B.
C.B. was free and bohemian to the core. Rampage was sturdy and unbending, running through everything in her path. Similar, yet distinctly different.
"Truly, watching her never gets boring, does it, Tazuna?!"
"Yes, indeed. Chairman, it is almost time for your next appointment."
"Umu! Understood!!"
"TURBO—FULL THROTTLE!!"
"Ha! Interesting! If you've got a turbo, then try and pass me with it!!"
"I'm going all out from here, too!!"
When Rampage popped her head out onto the course, a luxurious mock race was underway.
There was Sunday Silence running as the 'Aggressor.' There was C.B., who had started training with the Shinzan Iron horseshoes—which had drawn a gasp of shock from Trainer Okino after her last defeat. And there was the Triple Tiara winner, Twin Turbo. It was quite the spectacular lineup.
"Go, go! Turbo!!"
"C.B.-senpai, do your best!!"
"Sunday-san, go for it!!"
A crowd of horse girls watched them. Having caught wind of the event from somewhere, a large audience had gathered to observe the mock race. Some were filming enthusiastically, others stared with eyes wide as saucers, analyzing every stride. Some were simply overwhelmed by the running, cheering passionately.
"Distance is 2400m. Track condition is Good. It's a race with the Japan Cup in mind. The competition is fierce…"
"Turbo-senpai is running, so she's definitely going to win!!"
"What are you saying? Teio-san is running, so it's obviously going to be Teio-san."
"Ah, hold on a minute! Ikuno-sama is continuing her momentum from the Queen Elizabeth II Cup!! She's bound to win just like Rampage-senpai did!!"
"No, no, no, no, in that case, it has to be Nature-senpai!!"
In a place like this, the debate over who would win was the standard topic of conversation. And precisely because the absolute monarch, Rampage, wasn't participating, the discussion of who would take the crown was more heated than usual.
"N-No gooooood...!"
"Phew… Not there yet. I can still close the gap."
While Rampage was lost in thought, the mock race concluded. The result: Sunday Silence took the win, two lengths ahead of second-place C.B. Turbo finished third, one length behind C.B. However, given the caliber of the opponents, that margin was nothing to be ashamed of; it was a respectable performance.
"Alright then, I think I'll go my own way…"
She could have joined the conversation, but that would likely end with her being dragged into running, so she decided to refrain. Minami-zaka had explicitly forbidden her from racing until she made a full recovery, so there was no helping it.
For all her power, the Tyrant could not win against Minami-zaka.
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