Boom——!
Lightning split the pitch-black night sky as rain poured down in torrents.
It was already close to eight in the evening. Because of this violently bad weather, most people had long since hidden themselves back home. And for some reason, the streetlamps on this road were broken, making a path already seldom walked seem even lonelier.
In the middle of this stormy night, only one person moved slowly along this pitch-dark road.
"…The lamp by the gate broke? Haa, I'll have the servants repair it tomorrow…"
A woman with hair streaked faintly with white walked carefully under a black umbrella, muttering in a low voice. From her weary tone, it was obvious—she was no longer young.
Boom——!
Another flash of searing white tore across the heavens, bringing the woman a moment of light as she neared home.
"…What's that?"
Her eyes widened slightly, and her steps halted.
By the brief light of lightning, she vaguely saw a dark mass by the shrubs near her gate—exactly the place she was about to pass.
She pulled out her smartphone, flicked on the flashlight, and aimed it at the shape.
It was a girl, black-haired, very young—ten, maybe eleven at most.
Her long black hair lay scattered messily beneath her. She wore clothes resembling a shrine maiden's garb, but they were filthy and torn, her white skin exposed through rips, marred with bruises and even burn-like marks.
"…An Uma Musume?"
The woman crouched closer. There, atop the girl's head, were long ears. And behind her, a tail. The girl was not human, but like herself—a horse girl.
"…So badly hurt…"
Even with little medical knowledge, a glance was enough. The child's injuries were severe. The woman frowned, not hesitating—she pocketed her phone, tossed the umbrella aside despite the rain, pressed her hand against the girl's chest, then checked her breath. Weak, but there. She was alive.
Feeling along the wall, she found the metal nameplate etched with "Symboli Household." She pressed the bell beneath.
Soon, a young woman's voice sounded from within:
"This is the Symboli estate, may I ask who—"
"It's me. Symboli Speed. Open the gate, and call the family doctor."
"Speed-sama!? Are you injured!?"
"Not me. A wounded child at the gate, breath faint—hurry and summon them!"
Speed finished issuing her orders swiftly. She could tell—the girl's condition was critical. If she hadn't collapsed right at the Symboli estate's door, and if Speed hadn't happened to return at this time… On such a stormy night, would the girl even have survived until morning?
This road was deserted for a reason. The Symboli estate was here—one of the great houses of Uma Musume, with vast grounds. Few outsiders ever came, save reporters or Tracen students.
The gate swung open. Servants hurried out to greet their master, while physicians in white carried a stretcher, carefully lifting the girl from the ground.
"Speed-sama, the child's injuries look grave… What happened?"
"She was lying at the gate. Many bruises, burns as well. Perhaps fled from a house fire."
Speed could only shake her head. She knew little beyond that.
"…What a pitiful child…"
"Investigate. See if any shrine nearby suffered fire tonight. Her clothes… she looks like a miko. She may have come from there."
"Yes, Master."
…
…
"So hot… hurts…"
The burning pain dragged the girl toward consciousness, every twitch stabbing her with agony.
"You're awake?"
Before she could even recognize the ceiling above, an elderly voice reached her ears.
She froze. The words weren't her native tongue—yet somehow, she understood them perfectly.
"…I…"
What is going on with me?
She blinked at the woman by her bed. Clearly aged, but even more clearly… not human. Who had ears and a tail like that? Couldn't be some granny doing cosplay, right? And if they were props, weren't they a little too lifelike?
And my body… feels wrong too…
She couldn't move much, but she could feel it—on her head, at her lower back. New appendages. And worse, she could control them.
"Child, you've been hurt. Do you remember what happened to you?"
The elder sat beside the bed, hand stroking her hair gently, with obvious pity.
"…Child?"
Yes, she was younger than this woman by far, so it wasn't strange to be addressed so. But the moment she opened her mouth—
Wait. My voice!?
That wasn't the crisp voice of a twenty-something office worker. No, it was soft, sweet, almost… cartoonish. The kind of cutesy lilt she'd only ever heard in anime.
She had been a woman, sure. But she wasn't some internet-illiterate recluse. A terrible suspicion took hold. She lowered her head and looked at her hand.
This tiny hand… definitely not mine. Don't tell me I overworked myself to death and… restarted?
Her unfinished research paper, unsaved when she collapsed, flashed into memory. Her head ached at the thought, and she pressed her forehead.
"Child? Are you all right? Is there pain?"
Seeing her clutch her head, Speed assumed hidden injuries.
"…Hurts."
The words slipped out in this strange tongue, yet fluently, as though her body already knew it well.
"You're hurt badly. The doctor says your condition has stabilized, but you must rest. This afternoon, lightning struck a shrine nearby. It burned. Did you escape from there?"
"…Shrine… fire…"
The dream from her coma replayed—the sea of flames, her frantic run.
——Inari Kagura.
That was her name. Memories clicked back into place. Her first awakening was inside an unfamiliar shrine. Then came the fire. No time to think about what world she was in, or even her own condition. Only instinct screaming: run.
"I… remember. Fire…"
"Then you truly came from there. Child, what of your family?"
"…I don't know. I… can't remember them."
It was the truth. Inari Kagura had been born from nothing. The shrine had only her. No family, no past. All she had was this name. Anything further back belonged to another life, one that had nothing to do with this body.
She'd guessed she had transmigrated. But she hadn't expected the background to be… utterly blank. No cheat system, no perks.
Wait. Am I a black household? Without even an identity…?
"…Memory loss? Poor child…"
Seeing her darken, Speed sighed softly and stroked her hair again. She wasn't lying. She truly couldn't remember.
Only she escaped… then perhaps her family perished in that fire. Such a small child…
The reports had said no bodies were found. Only this Uma Musume had emerged. Could her family truly have abandoned a child alone in a shrine?
Amnesia had many causes—trauma, injury. Likely both. For one so young… it was unbearable.
"…Do you remember your name?"
"Inari Kagura. Yes… Inari Kagura."
She knew it wasn't her real name, but this body's. Still, it was best to use it. A name fitting this world.
"Inari Kagura… May I call you Kagura?"
"…I don't mind. You saved me. Call me whatever makes you comfortable."
Kagura nodded faintly. She guessed already—it was this stern-looking old lady who'd found her and treated her. Her body bore the marks of emergency care. If not for that, with injuries severe enough to make her collapse, she might already have had to "restart" again.
Should I count myself lucky I didn't break my seniors' record for fastest restart?
She shivered at the thought. When the fire struck, she had panicked, run blindly, remembering nothing of her path. Lucky she collapsed where someone found her. Alone, she would've been finished.
At least now—this grandmotherly woman showed no malice. She even stroked her hair gently, as though afraid to frighten her. Exhausted, battered from injury and fear, Kagura no longer wanted to think. Safe for the moment, she let herself go.
"…Haa…"
Her eyes closed quickly.
What will become of this child…?
Speed's hand lingered, softly combing the strands of black hair. Kagura had already drifted off, too weary. Even in sleep she frowned, ears drooping, haunted by whatever nightmare clung to her.
"…So small… May her family be found soon…"