"They all thought you were still holding back, not giving it your all?"
After the Winner's Stage, in a private room at their usual restaurant, Barbatos couldn't help but chuckle.
As fellow Uma Musume from Kochi, she never imagined her hometown friends could be such overthinkers, weaving fantasies about Urara being some unbeatable prodigy—believing they'd lost just because she'd 'tried a little harder.'
But thinking back, it made sense.
Before she'd entered Central Tracen Academy, names like Team Rigil, the Emperor Symboli Rudolf, Maruzensky, T.M. Opera O, Narita Brian—these were all legendary.
Now, those teams, those Uma Musume, didn't feel so distant anymore; they were rivals she could actually challenge.
Even without reaching her current level, an average Uma Musume could occasionally bump into them at Tracen, exchange a few words—they weren't strangers.
But out in the local circuits? Guessing the true strength of Central Uma Musumes probably relied mostly on imagination and analysis, hard to judge accurately.
So, their hometown friends overthinking Urara's strength was pretty normal.
"Yeah, at first when I said I always go all out, she didn't quite believe me," Urara bubbled with the excitement of her debut win, describing the post-race scene.
"But everyone was so nice! We even promised to have a proper rematch next time!"
"So, how did racing feel?" Twin Turbo asked excitedly, juice cup clutched in both hands. If nothing went wrong, she'd be the next to debut.
Yep, she was the only one left in Canopus who hadn't made her debut yet!
"It was... super awesome!" Urara gave a thumbs-up, beaming.
She felt that even without winning, just participating would have been joy enough—but she had won her debut race.
"Wow, then when's my debut race going to be?!" Twin Turbo pushed herself up from the table, leaning forward eagerly toward Minamizaka, drawing everyone else's gaze.
In Canopus now, only Twin Turbo hadn't run her debut race. Even Barbatos was a bit curious about when it would happen.
"Soon," Minamizaka replied with an evasive laugh.
He always thought long and hard before deciding on debut races. Twin Turbo's personality wasn't like Urara's; she wouldn't be willing to debut at a local track.
That meant debuting centrally would be much tougher.
Canopus had made a name for itself now. Barbatos and Seiun Sky had both taken the first leg of their respective Triple Crowns.
While Urara's situation in Kochi was a special case, there was no guarantee Twin Turbo wouldn't face G3-level Uma Musumes in a central debut.
All he could say was: they had to be fully prepared.
Otherwise, losing a debut race could be a huge blow to an Uma Musume's spirit—especially when all her teammates had won theirs.
If Team Rigil, despite its fame and every new member debuting under the spotlight, never seemed worried about being targeted in debut races, it was because each of their newcomers was already among the academy's strongest, unafraid of any challenge.
But Twin Turbo's talent was still a bit... ordinary.
Honestly, since the team's rise to fame, even as a trainer, Minamizaka found arranging debut races had become more difficult.
"By the way, during the races earlier, I got news about the upcoming Takarazuka Kinen," Minamizaka shifted the topic, getting down to business.
"For this Takarazuka Kinen, aside from the originally participating Uma Musumes, yesterday we had entries from last year's Kikuka Sho winner Matikanefukukitaru, the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies champion from two years ago Mejiro Dober, Rigil's Grass Wonder, and King Halo—who lost to Seiun in the Satsuki Sho. They've all signed up."
"Also, a few Uma Musumes have chosen to withdraw from the Takarazuka Kinen."
"It might be a bit early to say this, but the Takarazuka Kinen is absolutely going to be a brutal fight."
Bringing this up now was Minamizaka's way of preparing Barbatos early.
Even with the Japanese Oaks as a buffer in between, the lineup for the Takarazuka Kinen was already shaping up to be terrifying.
Even excluding the legendary Uma Musume, the Empress—Air Groove—the remaining entrants were basically top-tier among G1 winners.
Even if Rigil's Grass Wonder was using the Takarazuka as a comeback race, making her less of a direct threat, you could never underestimate any Uma Musume from Rigil or their trainer, Toujou Hana.
It was precisely because of this lineup that some Uma Musume with priority entry had chosen to withdraw outright.
Each one was nearly unbeatable on their own day, requiring meticulous strategy just to stand a chance. Now, gathered together? It was enough to make any Uma Musume tremble.
"Grass Wonder? Her leg injury is fully healed? She's choosing the Takarazuka Kinen for her comeback?"
Hearing those names one by one, Barbatos's mouth fell open slightly.
She hadn't expected Matikanefukukitaru and King Halo to enter this race, nor Mejiro Dober of the Mejiro family.
But her focus settled on Grass Wonder.
Rigil was fielding two Uma Musumes in this race, but Grass Wonder's situation...
Even fully recovered, jumping straight into the Takarazuka Kinen without any G-series races as a warm-up? That was practically a guaranteed loss.
Barbatos never doubted Grass Wonder's talent. She was known as the undefeated rookie champion, a Uma Musume worthy of joining Rigil!
Without injuries, her current level probably wouldn't be far from Barbatos's own—at least a rival on equal footing.
In the classic races, the three-way battle between Seiun Sky and the others might have become a four-way struggle.
But now, with over half a year of inactivity and the monumental presence of the Empress Air Groove looming, the Takarazuka Kinen seemed like a certain loss. And she still wanted to compete?
"Just looking at the entry list, this already surpasses any Triple Crown race or G-series event this year," Nice Nature finally managed after a long pause.
Even as an Uma Musume not participating in the Takarazuka Kinen, just hearing those names made her feel the pressure. The entrants this time were practically monsters of the G1 scene.
"Air Groove, Silence Suzuka, Silk Justice, Matikanefukukitaru, Mejiro Dober, Mejiro Bright, King Halo, Grass Wonder..."
"Just hearing the names is enough to take your breath away."
Seeing everyone seemed a bit stunned by the lineup, Barbatos smiled. "Actually, we don't need to worry about that too much."
"The one who really needs to pay special attention to this lineup should be Senior Air Groove. It'd be tough if she accidentally got overtaken by us juniors at the Takarazuka Kinen."
"Maybe the newspaper headline will be 'Barbatos, Slayer of Deer and Emperor!'"
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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.