Watching Barbatos cross the finish line with a lead of more than ten lengths.
The stands erupted with thunderous cheers, the sheer volume of it felt like it could shake the entire Kyoto Racecourse to its foundations.
The vast majority of the spectators wanted to see Barbatos win, to witness her create another miracle, to behold the sheer, sweeping power of a prodigy of this era dominating all before her.
Though on the internet, the 'rational analysis' crowd had long since dissected the challenges of the Spring Tenno Sho.
They made sure everyone understood the difficulties Barbatos would face, that her victory was almost an impossibility.
It planted a seed of faint worry even in the hearts of those fans who firmly believed Barbatos had to win.
But at this very moment.
All those worries melted away, transformed into pure joy and exhilaration.
What should have been a fierce battle between titans, in reality, had been resolved with such casual ease.
The so-called clash of the titans, the so-called old aristocracy versus the rising prodigy, turned out to be Barbatos's one-woman show. There was no suspense, no real rival to speak of!
A long-distance powerhouse? A scion of the Mejiro family? Before a prodigy of this era, before Barbatos, they seemed utterly insignificant!
Even if Mejiro Bright's performance in this race looked seriously off, who cared about that right now?!
--+--
"She's too strong! B-chan really is invincible!" Twin Turbo cheered, bouncing with excitement.
Behind her glasses, Ikuno Dictus wore a strange expression, her gaze fixed intently on Mejiro Bright, who had also crossed the line and secured second place.
"Don't you all think there was something... odd about Mejiro Bright's run in this race?"
"Yeah, I thought so too," Nice Nature chimed in. In her view, the Uma Musume who chose to lead from the front seemed more normal.
Faced with Barbatos's relentless pursuit and explosive closing speed, trying to build a lead from the very start was probably the best strategy.
Even if that lead could never truly be held, at least they would have given their all.
That was just the unbridgeable gap between them and Barbatos at present.
But why did Mejiro Bright run like that?
If her stalking strategy early on was meant to mark Barbatos, then why, when Barbatos accelerated at the third corner, didn't Mejiro Bright immediately respond and accelerate herself?
As a fellow Uma Musume, Nice Nature couldn't quite understand it.
Was she waiting for Barbatos to fade in the final straightaway?
Placing your hopes on your opponent making a mistake might be a valid tactic, but Mejiro Bright should have had better options, chances to fight back harder.
So why?
"It probably wasn't Mejiro Bright's fault," Minamizaka said seriously.
"Just like the commentators said earlier, accelerating at the third corner in the Spring Tenno Sho is something no Uma Musume has managed to do before. Normally, for any average Uma Musume, fading in the final straight after a third-corner burst is almost a given."
"Maybe that's precisely why Mejiro Bright chose to trust her own experience, deciding to save her final burst of speed for the very end."
The implication was clear: it wasn't that Mejiro Bright was weak, but that Barbatos had shattered all conventional wisdom.
I mean, in a normal Spring Tenno Sho, when do you ever see the pace this frantic from the start?
Usually, they conserve energy in the first half, saving everything for a showdown on that final long straight.
Even Minamizaka could count on one hand the Uma Musume who could genuinely lead from start to finish in the 'Ten-sho' style.
With that thought, his gaze drifted to a figure not far away.
To Seiun Sky.
If it were Seiun Sky, perhaps she could manage to lead wire-to-wire in the Tenno Sho...
--+--
Barbatos stood near the finish line, soaking in the cheers and applause that belonged to her alone, the victor's exclusive tribute.
After the Winter Dream Cup, she had set this small goal of challenging the Spring Tenno Sho, hoping to overcome her stamina issues, to reach a point where even without her system, she wouldn't plummet into a sudden collapse.
And now, even relying only on the movement speed boosts from some passive skills, her full-speed sprint could barely keep pace with an ordinary G1-level Uma Musume's top speed.
As for stamina, she was on a completely different level, several tiers above even G1 racers. Probably even most Legendary Uma Musume didn't possess this kind of monstrous endurance.
A brilliant smile graced her face.
Yet amidst the joy, she knew this still wasn't enough. Compared to the Legends, even with her system, she was still somewhat green.
She couldn't afford to get complacent just from winning the Spring Tenno Sho.
If Mejiro Bright had employed a different strategy, even if she'd still won, she probably couldn't have opened up a ridiculous gap of over ten lengths.
Sure, she could afford to be a bit cocky in pre-race interviews and trash talk, but when it came to studying and preparing for her opponents, she had never slacked off.
Now that she'd secured the Spring Tenno Sho...
Her next goals were to steadily claim the Triple Tiara title, aim for the Autumn Tenno Sho to achieve the rare spring-autumn double, and target the year-end international race, the Japan Cup.
And then, to face off against those G1-level monsters in the Takarazuka Kinen and the Arima Kinen, to temper herself in those fires.
Even though El Condor Pasa had chosen to compete abroad, if it were the Takarazuka or Arima, she'd likely run into Silence Suzuka, or another Legend. That would be the real crucible for her.
It would let her accumulate enough experience to charge into this year's Winter Dream Cup, to challenge the Legends once more!
To see how wide the gap still was between her and Symboli Rudolf, to see if, after a year of racing, any distance remained between her and the other Legends.
Having considered all this, the applause and cheers gradually died down.
Barbatos finally turned, looking at the other participating Uma Musume who were now walking over.
She exchanged words with them, shared thoughts about this race and long-distance events in general, talking about settling the score next time.
But her eyes drifted towards Mejiro Bright, who stood off to the side, not approaching. This defeat must have been a heavy blow.
Especially after a winning streak in G-series races, to suddenly suffer a loss like this.
Even though Mejiro Bright still got second place, it was a second place left in the dust by over ten lengths.
"Mejiro-san?" Barbatos walked over with a smile. As an Uma Musume herself, she understood all too well that the pain of defeat didn't necessarily need comfort.
Comfort might help, but what you really needed was to pull yourself out of the failure.
She had approached Mejiro Bright for another reason entirely.
"Hmm?" Mejiro Bright looked at Barbatos, puzzled, unsure what she wanted to say.
Seeing Mejiro Bright up close for the first time, Barbatos thought that back in China, she'd probably be considered excellent wife material—she had that gentle, virtuous air about her.
But she didn't stare or dwell on it. She had a girlfriend, after all. Instead, she got straight to the point.
"Can I ask... what exactly did you mean by that 'tortoise and the hare' thing?"
Mejiro Bright was momentarily confused about why Barbatos was asking this, but it wasn't a secret, so she explained the meaning of the fable.
"The hare focuses on the tortoise, but the tortoise focuses only on the finish line?" Barbatos murmured to herself. At first glance, it sounded profound, like it held a sudden revelation.
But... was this why, when she accelerated, Mejiro Bright didn't immediately follow?
The tortoise and the hare...
If she cast herself as the tortoise, how could she possibly beat the hare?
--+--
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.