However, the cheers from the entire Tracen Academy training ground and the school-wide announcement of Mejiro McQueen's victory and her achievement of the title "Tracen Academy's Most Outstanding New Uma Musume" stood in stark contrast to the deserted scene outside.
Meisho Doto, however, distanced herself from the commotion, the stage of the victors, and the setting of the losers, and, with her head bowed, she quietly made her way to a very secluded corner of Tracen Academy.
This was a place Doto often came to alone, located near a teaching building, beside which was a hollowed-out tree stump—a hole where many Uma Musume, frustrated by race failures, would often let out angry roars to vent their depression and dissatisfaction.
Doto now found herself there, silently facing the hollowed-out hole, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to say something.
"I…"
I lost, I lost to Mejiro McQueen, it's so frustrating, but I'll definitely win next time—before coming here, Doto had already prepared her lines.
A very ordinary, yet earnest wish, Uma Musume are beings who wholeheartedly pursue victory, and although Doto failed this time with a third-place finish, the gap between her and Mejiro McQueen was not as large as she imagined; there was still a chance to win next time.
She should have thought so, but… "Drip."
"Ugh—" Tears still fell uncontrollably from her eyes, Doto bit her teeth slightly, her expression as soft as a lamb, yet stubbornly refusing to cry out loud, as if it were her last shred of dignity.
"—Doto?"
Behind Meisho Doto, Wada, who had noticed something was amiss since Doto lost her second place, immediately followed Meisho Doto out of the track and stepped forward, interrupting Doto's emotions.
He was a little worried that this unconfident Uma Musume girl might be thinking too much; after all, he had seen that hollowed-out tree stump in front of her, and it was quite deep… "Trainer, Trainer…"
Doto also noticed Wada's voice immediately, and as she instinctively turned around, she realized her extremely disheveled appearance at the moment, so she quickly turned her head back and covered her face completely with both hands.
"Please, please don't look at me now, I beg you…"
"I don't want Trainer to see me looking so pathetic… so please… don't look at me now…"
A nearly pleading tone came from Doto's mouth, yet the more she said so, the more Wada felt he couldn't leave; this child needed his guidance now, and if he let her dwell on negative thoughts alone, she might completely fall into a trap of self-pity.
Speaking of which, this was the first time Wada had encountered a situation where he had to comfort a Racehorse after a race… After all, Wada used to ride Opera O, and even if Opera O lost, she wouldn't cause trouble; a good-tempered Racehorse was just that easy to handle.
Now, in this world, after losing a race, not only was the Trainer disheartened, but the Uma Musume's reaction was even more intense than the Trainer's; at this point, Wada had no time for self-reflection; the priority was to quickly stabilize Doto's emotions.
Wada slowly walked to Doto's side, silently taking her shoulders with both hands, allowing her to face him directly.
At this moment, Doto slowly lowered her hands, her tear-reddened eyes, with a hint of dullness and confusion, looked up at Wada, and the next moment, she only felt a warm hand placed on her head.
"—This race, it was my fault, Doto, I focused too much on Tokai Teio, to the extent that I forgot about Mejiro McQueen's threat."
Wada was truly not good at comforting people, let alone Uma Musume, but he was extremely good at self-reflection and taking all the blame himself; he had done that many times in the past.
Who told him he was so bad back then? So he was used to self-reflection. At the moment, he slightly adapted his old self-reflection speech to comfort Doto.
"Doto, my shortcomings caused your poor performance; this time it's my problem, but I still hope you can trust me one more time, I will definitely lead you to victory next time."
"—No, it's not!"
However, to his surprise, Doto's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, and she quickly shook her head, saying:
"Trainer, Trainer is the best! Before the Friendship Race, he had already planned everything for me! Trainer didn't let me just focus on Teio, he also told me to pay attention to Mejiro McQueen; Mejiro McQueen is my biggest threat, Trainer said so!"
"I was biting at McQueen's heels on the track—but Teio's surge made me panic, and that has nothing to do with Trainer!"
"It's me… I was the one who got scared, I'm too timid, I'm too useless, I… I'm a hopeless Uma Musume…"
As she spoke, Doto's tears fell again, looking utterly pathetic, and Wada was at a loss for words; accustomed to self-reflection, this was the first time he had encountered someone who took all the blame themselves when he was self-reflecting.
One could only say that Wada, due to his past experiences, was outwardly humble but inwardly insecure. However, Meisho Doto's personality was almost identical to Wada's, even more insecure than him... So what should he do? Should Wada prostrate himself before Doto here? Let her take all the blame for him this time?
However, the two were at a stalemate for a long time, neither of them speaking first, and it was unclear how much later, Wada heard Doto, with her head bowed, say in a muffled voice:
"Trainer… sure enough… I'm still not qualified to be your담당 Uma Musume…"
"I… I'm too useless… Trainer Wada, you should have a better, stronger Uma Musume than me; wasting time on a hopeless Uma Musume like me, I…"
As she spoke, Doto's hand trembled slightly as she took out a neatly folded piece of paper from her pocket, slowly unfolded it, and handed it to Wada. It was precisely the contract they had signed in the Student Council.
"...Doto?"
"I, I don't have the courage to break the contract, so please, Trainer, you do it…"
Doto also hated her weakness immensely; she even wanted Wada to be the "bad guy" who broke the contract, but she truly didn't have the courage to tear up this agreement.
If she were to tear up this agreement with her own hands, she would feel such heartache that she would want to harm herself. Every day after this agreement, Doto felt a fulfillment and joy she had never experienced before, and even she, who was usually unlucky and clumsy, hadn't encountered any misfortunes.
This was the happiest period of her life, yet she had let down the person she least wanted to disappoint.
"During this time with Trainer, I, I was very happy."
"For a useless Uma Musume like me to be so highly regarded by you, I am truly overjoyed; I will never forget this time we spent together."
Doto bowed at almost 90 degrees, holding the agreement with both hands and presenting it to Wada. Her tears still fell uncontrollably, and the agreement in her hands felt like a sweet poison to her, making her feel so deadly yet unwilling to let go.
However, Wada looked at the agreement Doto presented to him, as if a erring employee had voluntarily submitted their resignation. In his heart, besides feeling a little sorry for this child Doto, there was also a hint of… amusement?
"...Doto, you really remind me of my old self."
"...Huh?"
Wada's inexplicable remark made Doto pause slightly. Then, she saw that Wada didn't help Doto up; instead, he knelt down to a height where Doto, still bowed, could see him, maintaining eye level with Doto, and chuckled softly:
"You, like this, suddenly make me see my former self. I now seem to understand a little how ridiculous and pathetic I must have appeared in others' eyes back then."
"And I wasn't as good-looking as you, Doto; I was truly pathetic back then, couldn't even get extra points for my appearance."
"Trainer, Trainer…"
However, Wada's teasing words made Doto's cheeks flush slightly. She didn't think she was particularly good-looking… After all, almost all Uma Musume were quite attractive, at the very least, they were delicate and pretty.
Doto considered herself to have no advantages, and her body was even too plump for racing… Since elementary school, many girls had made fun of her developing chest, causing her to lack confidence in her appearance as well… "However, I want to tell you that growth, of course, has a process. Those who are born geniuses are few; most people, like us, stumble, and repeatedly fail—but I have always believed that repeated failure is an indispensable path."
Wada gently wiped away the tears around Doto's eyes and smiled faintly:
"Doto, I wasn't that outstanding from the beginning either… though I'm not outstanding now either."
"I am just a stumbling, mediocre, and useless Trainer. I missed the promise I should have never missed, and I let down the person I should have never let down… because of my own mediocrity and incompetence."
"So this time, I have high hopes for you, Doto; you are not just running for yourself on the track, I have also entrusted my struggle, my effort, and my unwillingness to give up, all to you."