Hishi Miracle truly gave it her all, but she hadn't eaten lunch, and running on a gnawing, empty stomach was simply asking too much of her.
Ultimately, she just gave up the ghost, collapsing directly onto the roadside grass in a heap, looking every bit like someone who had resigned herself to whatever fate had in store.
Staring up at the azure sky and feeling as though she'd reached the final day of her life, Hishi Miracle panted heavily. For once, a rare spark of indignation flickered in her heart.
"In the end... I still couldn't manage to eat back my tuition fees at the cafeteria..."
As she was sighing and lamenting her lot in life, that massive, looming shadow actually split into three. Seeing the number of shadows beside her triple, Hishi Miracle's jaw dropped in shock.
But before she could even process it, one of the shadows spoke.
"Her speed is pretty average, but her stamina is surprisingly decent."
While fluttering her oversized sleeves, she produced a vial filled with an eerie green liquid from who-knows-where and set it right on Hishi Miracle's forehead.
"Drink up, Hishi Miracle. This is the destiny of an Uma Musume."
Staring at the green bottle perched on her brow, Hishi Miracle blinked, looking utterly dazed.
"Do you just... enjoy feeding people strange liquids the moment you meet them?"
Another shadow spoke up. She gently moved the bottle from Hishi Miracle's forehead, gave it a little shake, and turned to the sleeve-fluttering shadow to inquire.
"Just asking, but what exactly is in here?"
"Concentrated vegetable juice. It's very nutritious!"
Hearing the answer, the second girl hesitated for a moment before plunking the bottle right back onto Hishi Miracle's forehead.
"Then drink it. Consider it a way to recover your strength."
"Eh... but concentrated vegetable juice tastes awful, doesn't it? Is there any honey water? I could do honey water."
Seeing that they didn't seem to harbor any ill will, Hishi Miracle, sprawled on the grass, decided to push her luck.
Right then, the final shadow—the largest of the three and the main body of that previous "giant"—stepped forward.
"Since she has a talent for endurance, we should consider specialized long-distance training for her ahead of schedule. Rather than trying to mold a well-rounded Uma Musume, it's better to focus on a single point and forge one incredibly long plank."
"How about swimming? I recall that being an excellent exercise for building stamina."
Hishi Miracle's face went pale at those words.
These people didn't lack ill will; they were clearly identifying her weaknesses to carry out a precision strike!
With a will fueled by a "death before swimming" resolution, Hishi Miracle struck a pose of fearless defiance and shouted:
"Do your worst! I will never yield!"
It sounded quite spirited—or it would have, if her eyes weren't squeezed shut in terror.
Dream Weaver scratched her head, wondering why Hishi Miracle had suddenly burst out with that.
Feeling the need to explain herself, Dream Weaver pulled Hishi Miracle up from the grass. Looking at the girl's face, which was so tense her features were practically scrunched together, she said:
"Relax, we're not going to do anything to you."
"I'm just here to invite you to become my trainee Uma Musume."
Upon hearing this, Hishi Miracle cautiously opened one eye.
She couldn't believe there was actually a trainer at Tracen who wanted to sign her. Fearing the person had the wrong girl, she felt the need to offer a disclaimer.
"Wait, are you sure you're looking for me? I'm not Hishi Amazon, and I'm definitely not Hishi Akebono."
"I'm Hishi Miracle. The Hishi Miracle who is about to achieve a ten-race losing streak across the school selections, mock races, and athletic meets."
The corner of Dream Weaver's mouth twitched. She thought a ten-race losing streak in school training sessions sounded a bit hyperbolic; surely, with the stamina Hishi Miracle had shown when she thought she was being hunted, that shouldn't be the case.
Seeing that she didn't respond immediately, Hishi Miracle let out a sigh of relief, figuring Dream Weaver must have indeed made a mistake. Her expression relaxed as she tried to console her.
"It's fine. I mean, win rates are supposed to be proportional to ability, right? If there are Uma Musume who always win, there have to be those who always lose, too."
She opened her eyes fully and reached out to pat Dream Weaver's shoulder, looking for all the world like she was the one comforting the trainer.
But Hishi Miracle's hand froze before she could even lift it.
The moment she actually looked at Dream Weaver, her entire body turned to stone.
Her mouth hung open instinctively, her finger trembling as she pointed at Dream Weaver. She stuttered for a long time, but not a single coherent word came out.
Dream Weaver was also seeing an Uma Musume with this little fighting spirit for the first time—especially after being so recently inspired by Tokai Teio's will, the contrast was jarring.
That was why she had dithered for a moment.
But by the time she finally figured out how to answer Hishi Miracle, she found the girl was already catatonic, chirping "Dream-dream-dream-dream-dream" like a broken record.
Dream Weaver turned a pleading gaze toward Agnes Tachyon and Sugar Lights, wanting to ask these two top-tier geniuses if they could diagnose whatever ailment had struck the girl and if there was a quick fix.
Instead, she saw that both Agnes Tachyon and Sugar Lights wore expressions that suggested they had expected exactly this.
Noticing Dream Weaver's confusion, they even paused, looking at her with a hint of disbelief.
"You seriously don't know what kind of status you hold in the eyes of the Tracen Uma Musume?"
"What status could I possibly have?"
Dream Weaver pointed at herself, sounding genuinely puzzled.
Before Agnes Tachyon or Sugar Lights could speak, Hishi Miracle, who had been stuck for an eternity, finally found her voice.
Pointing at Dream Weaver, she wailed:
"It's Dream Weaver-senpai! Waaaaaah!"
"Wait, for real? A living Dream Weaver-senpai has actually appeared!"
Watching the inexplicably panicked Hishi Miracle, Dream Weaver's lip curled. What did she mean, a "living" version had appeared? Don't make it sound like she usually manifested as a ghost.
However, seeing this reaction, she finally understood why Hishi Miracle had frozen up.
And so, Dream Weaver asked Agnes Tachyon and Sugar Lights a rather silly question.
"Am I... actually famous?"
The two of them just stared at her with "are you kidding me?" expressions, as if to ask why she thought they had joined her team so readily.
Although she knew from her backstory and from people like Northern Taste that she was a world-class Uma Musume—and she had even used that "world-class" title to boost her own prestige earlier—she didn't have much of a "real" feel for the title.
She hadn't paid much attention to the "world-class" status mentioned in her lore, being too busy complaining about the system forcing a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe curse on her.
Only now, seeing Hishi Miracle's reaction, did she finally realize just how much weight her "world-class" reputation carried.
Perhaps because Hishi Miracle had screamed so loudly, the Uma Musume who had been in the distance heard the name "Dream Weaver" and turned their heads.
Once they confirmed that Dream Weaver was indeed there, their eyes lit up, and they began charging over with the momentum of a crowd looking to surround her.
Seeing that things were about to take a turn for the worse, Dream Weaver didn't hesitate.
She scooped up Hishi Miracle and Agnes Tachyon and hopped onto Sugar Lights' wheelchair.
Before Sugar Lights could even react, Dream Weaver had already leaned down and toggled the wheelchair's operating system. With a sharp click of the red button, Dream Weaver shouted:
"Sugar Unit, launch!"
An engine-like hum erupted from the wheelchair.
As a green glow flickered to life, the two wheels spun at a blurring speed. In mere seconds, they kicked up a cloud of grass and dirt, blasting through the gap before the crowd could close in.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.