Aggressor Team Nemesis.
This collection of uncontracted, scout-less Horse Girls was held together by the iron fist of Sunday Silence. As the team's lead instructor, Sunday hammered her peerless technique, spirit, and physical conditioning into every student. The quality of her training was undeniable; its results were already being felt at Team Rigil, where Genuine had shown Tojo-san exactly what a Nemesis graduate was capable of.
But as the prestige of Nemesis grew, there was another factor driving its success: the presence of the woman at the top.
"I… I can't catch her…!"
"What kind of speed is that?!"
"I'm unleashing my final sprint and I'm not even gaining an inch!"
"Move your legs, not your mouths! At least try to stay in my shadow!"
Sprinting at the front, leaving a trail of stunned and exhausted Horse Girls in her wake, was the Chief of Nemesis herself: Mejiro Rampage. My role as Chief involved building training menus, recruiting elite instructors, and organizing mock races, but I also made it a point to get on the turf myself to gauge the students' progress.
When I ran, I used every ounce of my "Fastest and Strongest" status. To a normal runner, a gap that wide might be demoralizing, but at Nemesis, the girls looked at it differently.
If I can catch the Chief—no, if I can surpass her—the world will have no choice but to make me the protagonist.
From the wings to center stage. Nemesis was the place where you proved your worth. And I was more than happy to be their benchmark. If they wanted my crown, they were welcome to try and take it.
"The Chief takes first," an observer noted. "The gap between her and second place… well, 'massive' doesn't even begin to describe it."
"It was a foregone conclusion, but seeing it in person is still harrowing," another added.
The team was still in its infancy; I couldn't afford to lose. I had a responsibility to remain the dream—the unreachable peak they all hungered for. I pulled up, checking the data on my tablet to use for tomorrow's planning.
"Alright, everyone! Listen up!" I barked. "Those who ran today, don't you dare skip your cooldown. Tomorrow is the final adjustment for the mock race; keep it light. Tomorrow's protagonist will be decided by your performance, so don't you dare waste this chance with some half-hearted effort."
"Those of you not racing tomorrow, get in the gate!" Sunday Silence yelled, her voice booming across the track. "I'm taking you on personally!"
"The Boss is taking us on?!" a girl cried out. "Crap, I wish my race wasn't tomorrow!"
"Stop complaining and do your job!" Sunday barked.
"YA-HA!"
I watched Sunday—the woman everyone called "Boss"—with a mix of exhaustion and amusement as I sat on a bench to start my data entry. The Nemesis mock races had become a hit with the faculty. Veteran trainers used them to find immediate talent, while rookies came to see what kind of traits were currently trending. It was a gold mine of information.
"Yo."
"Back again, are you?" I asked without looking up from my keyboard.
"Yeah. That shitty instructor is being louder than usual today…"
"My condolences."
A girl sat down next to me. She was a dark bay with a gaze so sharp it could cut glass. Her attitude was one of utter indifference to her surroundings—a "self-contained" aura that made it hard to tell if she was remarkably composed or just remarkably stubborn.
In Tracen, she was already labeled a "problem child." As a freshman, she had no trainer and no team, which meant she was supposed to be under the tutelage of the general faculty. Instead, she skipped classes and defied her instructors with a casualness that bordered on the legendary. That was how our paths had first crossed.
"Who would want to do that boring crap?" she muttered.
"The instructors' job is to make you safe and predictable," I said. "If you don't like it, find a trainer."
"Hah. As if anyone wants a freshman like me. If you're so worried about it, why don't you take me?"
"If you actually show some heart, maybe I will. Eventually."
"Hmph."
She wasn't intimidated by Mejiro Rampage. She didn't flatter me or treat me like a legend; she treated me as an equal. Her bluntness reminded me of Sunday Silence in a way that I found oddly relaxing. I was about to go back to my work when I saw a small group approaching.
"Ah! There you are!"
"Oh! We found you!"
"I should have known. You're sitting with quite a character, aren't you?"
It was Suzuka, my student. She was flanked by two other freshmen, both of whom I recognized instantly.
"Rampage-san, I didn't know you were with her," Suzuka said.
"I wouldn't say I'm 'with' her. She just sort of materialized here. I'm not exactly a woman who turns away stray cats."
Suzuka gave a soft laugh. "I suppose that's true. Um, I have a message for her. The instructor is looking for you."
"Tell him to drop dead," the girl next to me muttered. "If he wants me, he can come find me himself."
"Now, don't be like that… Stay."
"Who asked you to wait?" the girl—Stay Gold—retorted.
Suzuka looked at me with an apologetic expression. I knew exactly who these girls were. The "Class of '97." In the world of Silence Suzuka, this generation produced some of the greatest legends to ever touch the turf. Seeing them all in one place made my blood simmer with excitement.
There was Seeking the Pearl, the first Japanese-trained horse to win a G1 abroad (the Prix Maurice de Gheest). There was Taiki Shuttle, the "Invincible Miler" who conquered the Prix Jacques Le Marois in the pouring rain. And then there was Stay Gold—the horse who witnessed the rise and fall of her peers, only to finally claim her own overseas G1 in her very last race, becoming the first Japanese-bred and trained horse to do so.
This was the "Generation that Reached the World."
"Rampage-san, these are all my classmates!" Suzuka introduced them.
"Oh! Rampage-trainer! I am Taiki Shuttle! Nice to meet you!"
"Fufu, meeting you really has made this a fabulous day! I am Seeking the Pearl!"
"The pleasure is mine," I said, feeling a bit of a sting.
In the original history, these two were the ones who brought the first overseas G1 trophies back to Japan. But in this world, I had already taken that "first." I felt a brief pang of guilt, wondering if I'd stolen their destinies, until Taiki spoke up.
"I watched your race at the Breeders' Cup Classic with my family in America!" Taiki shouted. "That was when I decided—I must come to Japan!"
"And I was the same," Pearl added, her eyes sparkling. "Seeing you shine on the world stage made my own dream feel like a reality. You gave me a vision to chase!"
Hearing that they'd come here because of me made the guilt vanish, replaced by a warm, slightly embarrassing pride.
"Well, I don't admire you at all," Stay Gold grunted from the bench.
"Stay?! Why would you say that?!" Taiki gasped.
"Because admiring her doesn't change anything," Stay Gold replied, leaning back. "I am me. She is she."
"That attitude of yours is also quite fabulous," Pearl laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"R-Rampage-san, I'm so sorry, my classmate is being rude…" Suzuka stammered.
"Don't sweat it. This is exactly who she is. I wouldn't want her any other way."
"See?" Stay Gold smirked.
I'd first met Stay Gold when I caught her skipping class. I was working outside to get some fresh air, and she'd wandered over, apparently deciding that my workspace was her new favorite spot.
『Is that so? Well, my bad. I'll go find somewhere else to work.』
『…You're a trainer, aren't you? Aren't you going to tell me to get back to class?』
『If you were the type to listen, you'd already be there. Besides, I'm a trainer, but I'm not your trainer. I'm not high-and-mighty enough to tell a stranger how to live her life.』
That interaction had earned me her respect—or perhaps she just figured that if the legendary Mejiro Rampage was nearby, the other instructors would leave her alone.
"I still think you should go to class occasionally," Pearl noted.
"Boring. There's nothing to gain from listening to those drones."
"Then what kind of class would you attend?" Suzuka asked.
"...Thinking is too much work," Stay Gold sighed. "But if Rampage was the one teaching, I'd show up."
"That is a nice idea!" Taiki shouted. "I want to attend, too! It is not fair that only Suzuka gets to learn from you!"
"U-um, that's because I'm her student…" Suzuka murmured.
I looked at the group of them—the stubborn outlier, the American powerhouse, the fabulous dreamer, and my own quiet storm. This generation was going to be a handful. I couldn't wait.
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