Agnes Tachyon's mind swam with dizziness again. She couldn't quite tell which racetrack she was on now.
"Dantsu Flame! Dantsu Flame is still accelerating—the gap between them is shrinking!"
Dantsu Flame charged forward. Not bad at all. From a researcher's point of view, seeing Dantsu Flame push herself this far was genuinely satisfying.
But sorry, Dantsu Flame.
"You can't beat me." Agnes Tachyon murmured softly between breaths, a faint smile on her lips.
It wasn't mockery or anything of the sort—just a statement of fact. In Agnes Tachyon's calculations and estimations, no matter how she looked at it, Dantsu Flame simply couldn't close the gap.
No matter how many times she ran the numbers, no set of legs could surpass her own.
Ah, if that's the case… if she alone could achieve this—
Then she would have to be the one to carry this banner.
"Agnes Tachyon! Agnes Tachyon! Agnes Tachyon!" Dantsu Flame's eyes were bloodshot as she roared, watching the distance between them shrink, closer and closer, as if she could reach out and touch her.
I can do it—the me right now can do it!
They entered the final stretch!
Agnes Tachyon suddenly snapped back to awareness, a sharp pain shooting from her calf all the way up to her skull.
What's wrong with me today… I really shouldn't have gone out…
Agnes Tachyon furrowed her brow in frustration. The pain in her calf grew more intense, as if a crocodile had clamped onto her lower body and was thrashing about.
The tendinitis in her left foot had flared up again. She'd pushed her body too far.
How could she have forgotten? This was exactly why she'd retired abruptly, left the racetrack, and pinned her hopes on Manhattan Cafe and the other Uma Musume.
For an ordinary person, tendinitis was just a minor chronic condition—an annoyance that didn't affect daily life.
But for an Uma Musume, it was a career-ending death sentence.
A death sentence. An incurable disease. Though mild, it wasn't life-threatening… but it was like those pesky flies, buzzing and buzzing and buzzing…
Never gone, never leaving.
"She's catching up!" Agnes Tachyon heard someone in the crowd gasp. She glanced back again and saw Centaurea's face right beside her.
Was it the illness affecting her? Or those irritating memories? How did this annoying, mosquito-like kid catch up?
The final straight—only 300 meters left! Centaurea felt like she was grinding her teeth to dust. She'd never tried to control her speed so variably during a run, never navigated so many turns. Now her lungs felt like they'd been stuffed with a burning rod.
Racing against a top-tier horse like Agnes Tachyon was more exhausting than a whole week of nonstop training.
Hang in there, my body!
Right here, right now—pass her!
"Agnes Tachyon! Dantsu Flame! Agnes Tachyon! Dantsu Flame!"
"Agnes Tachyon! Agnes Tachyon! Agnes Tachyon!"
On the Satsuki Sho course, the roaring crowd was so loud it felt like they might lift the entire stadium into the sky.
"It's Agnes Tachyon—Agnes Tachyon maintains the lead!"
Dantsu Flame leaned forward, her hair soaked with sweat.
Just a little more… just a little more…
Just a little closer, and I'll catch up…
The gap between her and Agnes Tachyon was still closing!
She could do it!
"It's over." Dantsu Flame heard Agnes Tachyon sigh softly, and her eyes widened abruptly.
In that very instant, Agnes Tachyon crossed the finish line. Dantsu Flame followed right after.
Dantsu Flame ran a few more steps in a daze, then stood on the track, looking around as if she couldn't quite grasp what had just happened.
The crowd's cheers, the commentator's praise, her peers' applause.
It took a few seconds for her to realize—all of it was for Agnes Tachyon.
She… had lost. Even after all her big talk, she'd been defeated so easily.
Agnes Tachyon stood before Dantsu Flame, gazing at her with that infuriating look of pity.
"I told you. You can't win against me."
"—She's overtaking her!" In the indoor training ground, the atmosphere was electric. Every Uma Musume, whether they were training or not, had gathered to watch a showdown of a caliber usually only seen on television.
"Incredible!" one of them shouted, as others hugged each other in excitement.
And in that moment, for the first time, Agnes Tachyon saw someone's back ahead of her.
It was a slender figure half a head shorter than her, pale as a kind of phosphorescent moth Agnes Tachyon had once seen.
Ah, it was the most beautiful creature—every curve, every flutter of its wings seemed to pulse with the very essence of life—
Of course. A moth's life is so brief—it doesn't even need to eat. It just dances and dances, until death takes it.
Agnes Tachyon understood. Centaurea was that kind of moth—dancing tirelessly until she burned herself out.
"She's crossed the line—!" someone in the training arena cheered.
Centaurea crossed the finish line, then her legs gave way. Gasping for air, she crouched down, then clutched her chest and rolled on the ground. She was on the verge of passing out.
"Giving… huff… everything… to run… is so… huff… awful!"
Agnes Tachyon came to a slow stop. Her crimson eyes shifted, the figure before her blurring and overlapping in her vision.
Dantsu Flame stood rigid on the spot, tears brimming in her eyes. It was clear she was trying hard to stay strong, to hold back her sobs. But the body's natural reactions don't obey one's will. Dantsu Flame threw her head back and wailed, crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.
"—I lost!"
Centaurea lay like a corpse on the turf, wincing as the sharp blades of grass pricked her back. She looked up at Agnes Tachyon standing over her, raised a wobbly hand, and flashed a peace sign.
"—I won!"
Someone… beat me? Is that what happened?
So… this is what it feels like to be surpassed?
Agnes Tachyon stood there, stunned. She touched her face and realized, to her surprise, that she was crying—tears had been streaming down without her even noticing.
—Tachyon, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… if only I could've…
—Guinea pig, it's my body that failed. Why are you the one hurting?
—Because… Tachyon can never run again…
—What does it matter?
She never believed it had to be her on the track. It was just that no one else could fulfill her longing—that dream, that ultimate vision of beauty she yearned for…
She felt no bitterness, no anger. For once, Agnes Tachyon felt something rare: relief.
—It seems… from now on, even if I never run again, it'll be alright.
"Hahahahaha!" Agnes Tachyon suddenly burst into loud laughter. She reached out, pulled Centaurea to her feet, and gripped her hand tightly, refusing to let go.
"From now on, I'll be in your care, my new guinea pig."
--+--
T/N: This was a fire race, even if it was just a practice race. ABSOLUTE CINEMA
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 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.