"That sound, it's coming from the track. Is someone training this late?" Symboli Rudolf said.
"By the sound of it, they're training on the grass." Maruzensky closed her eyes, carefully analyzing the distant footsteps.
Symboli Rudolf crossed her arms, her ears twitching slightly.
"The start is very good, the speed is slightly faster than normal race speed, but in the last few seconds, the footsteps suddenly became heavy, so they must be climbing a slope."
Maruzensky chuckled softly: "It sounds like the speed and time from the start until just before the climb haven't changed much each time. So it seems they're practicing their climbing posture and stride."
Symboli Rudolf and Maruzensky, two Horse Girl whose strength was at the pinnacle of Tracen Academy, had already analyzed the general situation of Sakura Bakushin O, who was currently practicing, just by the sounds coming from the track.
"How many laps has it been? Doesn't she get tired?" Maruzensky was slightly surprised.
"Not only that, she maintains a consistent speed before the climb, and only changes speed when climbing the slope," Symboli Rudolf said with a smile.
"Shall we go take a look?"
"Let's go. I'm also curious who's practicing." Symboli Rudolf nodded and walked towards the track with Maruzensky.
When the two reached the side of the track and saw Sakura Bakushin O, wearing a hood, her swaying blue ponytail appearing even more vibrant under the moonlight, repeatedly performing the mechanical tasks of "starting - accelerating - climbing - recording," both of their faces showed a look of confusion.
"Who is that? Why don't I recognize her?" A hint of confusion was visible in Maruzensky's blue eyes.
"Judging by her height, she's definitely not from the Middle School Division, but in the High School Division, it seems there's no one with a blue ponytail except Amazon and Al Dan." Symboli Rudolf was also a bit puzzled.
"That's definitely not Amazon-chan." Maruzensky said.
Maruzensky, Rudolph, and Hishi Amazon were all members of Rigil, training together every day, so it was impossible for them not to recognize Hishi Amazon.
"Mejiro Ardan has always been in poor health, so she couldn't possibly be training all night, and her build doesn't look like Ardan's either..." Symboli Rudolf frowned. "That means there's only one possibility: she's not from our academy; she snuck in."
"Hey, Rudolph, wait a moment. Let's just watch for a bit." Maruzensky saw that Symboli Rudolf seemed about to speak and quickly stopped her. "This person is quite interesting."
"Why does she only practice this short slope here? Is she training for the Japanese Derby or the Japan Cup?"
"Whether it's the Japanese Derby or the Japan Cup, that short slope only needs to be crossed once. So why doesn't she just run the full course? I feel like she's not practicing for a race at Tokyo Racecourse, but rather looking for the optimal climbing method for other races with similar steep slopes," Symboli Rudolf said.
"As expected of Rudolph~" Maruzensky teased, "Rudolph, have you noticed something?"
"What is it?"
"Since we discovered her, she's run at least six or seven rounds, hasn't she? And that's not even counting the times she ran before we found her. That's already the distance of a full Spring Tenno Sho, but she can still maintain her speed."
"Hmm…" Symboli Rudolf pondered for a moment, then suddenly pulled out her phone from her pocket, opened the stopwatch, and pressed the start button after Sakura Bakushin O began to run.
[0:29.89]
"Five hundred meters, this speed, plus a steep slope over a meter high…"
Symboli Rudolf's brows furrowed deeper and deeper; she also felt that something was amiss.
This speed, let alone for her and Maruzensky, even an Horse Girl from the middle school who had been enrolled for one or two years could achieve it.
However, the person on the track now achieved this result after running at least seven times the distance of five hundred meters plus a steep slope.
The nature of it was completely different.
"This speed is even faster than Mejiro McQueen's speed, who just broke the Spring Tenno Sho record."
Symboli Rudolf raised her head, her gaze burning as she stared at the figure in the middle of the track, who was making notes in a notebook, her voice filled with unconcealed surprise.
Of course, this calculation would definitely be different from an official race, but it was enough to show that the person's stamina, speed, and even strength were astonishingly good.
"Actually, flat ground is fine, but for an Horse Girl who has already run a considerable distance, that steep slope is a huge test for her heart. Yet, when she climbs the slope, there is almost no noticeable decrease in speed, and even after running so many times, there are no signs of fatigue."
Maruzensky's eyes grew brighter and brighter, filled with curiosity and surprise.
"Could she be from abroad? The Japan Cup is still half a year away."
Just as Maruzensky and Symboli Rudolf were guessing Sakura Bakushin O's identity in their minds, Sakura Bakushin O herself finally finished writing down the record of this run.
The notebook in her hand was already filled with a complete page of notes. For this one section, she had run at least a hundred times that night.
But there was no other way. Facing a new track and a new challenge, she could only use this most fool method, experimenting again and again to find the fastest way to climb the slope.
"The speeds this few times are decent. It seems this climbing method should be the fastest way to climb this steep slope."
Sakura Bakushin O felt a bit excited, thinking that tonight's efficiency couldn't be better. She only spent about an hour and already had results.
Now she could quickly go uphill with almost no loss of speed. Although this would put some pressure on her heart, Sakura Bakushin O believed that with Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen's Soshitsu, they could completely handle it.
She took out a small box of aojiru from her bag, inserted a straw, and began to drink it furiously, sucking the entire small box of aojiru into her stomach.
"Ugh."
Sakura Bakushin O covered her mouth, feeling a dry heave. To save money, she generally didn't eat paper cup cakes, so now she seemed to be in a state of poor condition.
She covered her chest and recovered for a while, then raised her head and saw Maruzensky and Symboli Rudolf standing at the intersection of the campus and the track, looking down at her from above.
"Hiss—"
Cold sweat immediately broke out on Sakura Bakushin O.
"Why isn't the Student Council President resting at such a late hour? Could it be that she was abducted by the Old Driver next door for a race, and now she's here to let the night wind calm her motion sickness?"
Sakura Bakushin O grumbled, quickly stuffed everything into her bag, then pulled down the hood of her hoodie, and prepared to leave with her head down.
"Hey, you!"
Seeing that Sakura Bakushin O was preparing to run away after seeing her, Symboli Rudolf immediately called out to stop her.
"You're not from our school, are you? Who are you?"
Symboli Rudolf stood still, not moving. The gravitas of the Student Council President immediately spread, making the already guilty Sakura Bakushin O feel a bit awkward.
Sakura Bakushin O did not answer, but instead, pulling her hoodie, she secretly glanced at the distance to escape, wondering in her heart if she had any chance of escaping from the strongest Horse Girl.
"If you answer honestly, I won't pursue it. If you don't say a word, then I can only report it to the police."
Symboli Rudolf's extremely authoritative voice came, making Sakura Bakushin O's mouth twitch.
"I've gone too far this time!!!"
--
Saw the funny picture, it made me laugh so hard.