Uma Musume: To The Top!!

Trip dragged her exhausted body and slowly shuffled toward the entrance of the competitors' tunnel.

However, the moment she raised her eyes, she saw the white-clad queen of the racecourse throw herself into a young man's arms like a swallow returning to its nest.

The adorable way she kept rubbing her cheek against his chest—

How could anyone still see the racecourse queen who had just displayed her majesty before the spectators of the racecourse and the entire world?

"Ah… That's McQueen's trainer…"

"I heard he's also the first human in history to marry an Umamusume. I didn't pay much attention last time, but looking closely now, he really is young and handsome."

Trip mused to herself and gossiped inwardly for a moment before pursing her lips and looking away.

"Ugh. She's beautiful, her strength is absurd, and in the future, she might even be able to openly date and marry the person she loves…"

"McQueen, what kind of winner's life are you living?"

For some reason, the girl realized that the life being lived by the rival who had defeated her seemed to be everything she had once yearned for.

Shaking her head, Trip pressed her lips together and looked around.

When she found that her teammates had not come to pick her up yet, she prepared to return to the waiting room alone.

But before she could take more than a few steps, a slightly hunched figure slowly walked over from the other side of the tunnel.

The instant Trip clearly saw that familiar figure, she froze in place as if struck by lightning.

The guilt that should have eased somewhat after McQueen comforted her on the grass suddenly surged back into her heart the moment she saw the old woman.

Trip looked left and right in a panic, as if she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

But in the end, she stayed where she was and looked at the old woman before her with a wronged expression.

"Grandma… I… I lost…"

"I know."

The reply that came to her was the old woman's kind voice.

Grandma Hamon's face was filled with endless gentleness and heartache, and her gaze fell deeply on Trip's shoulders and back.

Because of her hunched posture, the old woman looked only around one and a half meters tall, yet before Trip, who stood nearly one meter seventy in racing shoes, she seemed incomparably tall and imposing.

The old woman habitually raised her hand, and the girl before her instinctively bent down, bringing her head closer and letting those warm palms stroke her hair.

Then she took a step forward and tightly wrapped her arms around the old woman, sniffling hard.

"Uu… Grandma, I'm sorry…"

Trip's voice carried a faint hoarseness. In front of the person closest to her, she could not suppress the emotions in her heart at all.

Grandma Hamon gently rubbed the girl's head, coaxing her softly like a child.

"There, there, Trip. Grandma saw it all. You worked very, very hard."

With just that one sentence, the emotions surging in Trip's chest immediately burst their dam.

"Grandma… I… Uwaaaahhh—"

France's current strongest, whose name shook Europe and made countless powerhouses dread her, was now crying loudly in the old woman's arms without caring who was watching, freely venting her emotions.

In truth—

No matter how powerful and domineering they appeared on the track, these Umamusume were, in the end, only young girls who had just stepped into adolescence.

No one would truly demand that they always maintain a calm and composed mask, living as cold symbols who only knew how to run, never revealing even the slightest weakness.

On the track, they were invincible warriors charging ever forward.

But once they stepped off the track, they were also little girls who could act spoiled, feel lost, and cry out their grievances while holding their family and friends.

That was what Umamusume were.

Not far away, McQueen quietly watched this scene while holding Kuroha's hand, a gentle smile appearing in her eyes.

If she cries it out like this, the burden in her heart should lighten quite a bit, right?

McQueen thought silently.

She did not want to stand on the decisive stage of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe one month from now and defeat a closer whose form had been ruined because she was crushed by pressure.

However, unlike the relief in McQueen's eyes—

Standing at her side, Kuroha narrowed his eyes. The glow of [Body-and-Qi Reading] flickered in his pupils as he looked at Trip's seemingly normal lower leg, and his brows could not help knitting tight.

"Trainer, let's go."

McQueen did not want to keep standing there and watching Trip cry, so she considerately tugged Kuroha's hand.

"Hm? Ah, right. Let's go."

Kuroha paused for a moment at her words, then took one last deep look in Trip's direction. Afterward, he closed his hand around McQueen's and turned to leave the tunnel.

…

After returning to the competitors' prep room, Maruzensky eagerly pulled McQueen into the bathroom for a shower.

Given Kuroha's relationship with the two Umamusume, there was naturally no need for him to avoid them.

He sat comfortably on the sofa, holding the "People's Queen live-action body pillow" in his arms.

On his left sat Sunday Silence, who seemed to still be immersed in the afterglow of that world-shaking duel and remained silent.

On his other side was Godolphin, her eyes narrowed and her face full of smiles.

As the sound of shower water pattered from the bathroom, Godolphin rested her cheek on one hand and suddenly asked an abrupt question.

"What do you think, Kuro-kun? Are you planning to help?"

Help with what?

Curled up in Kuroha's arms, the People's Queen, whose face was red as blood yet who refused to break free, felt a trace of confusion rise in her heart.

But after slightly lifting her head and glancing at Kuroha's chin, she shook her head indifferently.

In any case, as long as it was something Kuroha decided to do, he would definitely handle it perfectly.

"I'll help."

Kuroha naturally knew what Godolphin was asking about.

First, he looked at her with a strange expression. Then he nodded without hesitation.

After saying that, he paused and spoke softly.

"Though helping is certain, the question is when to help."

Others might not have noticed it, but Kuroha and Godolphin had seen it very clearly.

Trip's right lower leg—

Was fractured.

It was exactly the same as what had happened back then when Super Creek had chased after Mejiro Ardan's footsteps, madly squeezing her body dry and pushing herself with everything she had.

On the final straight, Trip had surpassed herself and obtained an extreme speed enough to match McQueen's all-out burst.

The price that followed was a fracture.

The willpower of an Umamusume, far beyond that of ordinary people, could indeed drive out terrifying strength that exceeded the limits of the flesh for an instant.

But the problem was—

Even if that strength was truly wrung out, how could flesh and bone possibly endure it completely unscathed?

This was especially true for an Umamusume like Trip, who had already set foot at the peak of the world.

When they exploded with full power—

A punch could send the air screaming, and a single step could shatter solid earth.

And when they unleashed that world-destroying force, their own muscles, ligaments, and bones also had to endure an equal, or even more terrifying, recoil.

Under normal circumstances, an Umamusume's physical toughness was directly proportional to the strength she could exert.

In fact, the body's tolerance threshold was faintly a layer below the maximum output.

But if, under those circumstances, she forcibly raised that power again through overexertion?

Once that happened, a mild fracture like Trip's current injury might already be the lightest possible price.

In more severe cases, a comminuted fracture, the immediate end of a career, and forced retirement on the spot—

That was the fate of most Umamusume after forcing an explosive breakthrough.

Hearing this, Godolphin smiled and exchanged a look with Kuroha. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced toward the bathroom door and deliberately raised her volume by half a notch.

"That's true~ If we simply stand by and let that child skip next month's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe because of her leg injury…"

"Then wouldn't our McQueen be able to win the championship without lifting a finger?"

"After all, Generous's incomplete and impossible-to-complete [World] can't stop McQueen in the slightest."

"…"

Kuroha was speechless for a moment. Seeing the sly look on Godolphin's face, he immediately understood. The corner of his mouth curved into a smile, and he nodded along solemnly.

"Mm. That is reasonable. More than reasonable, even."

"Although Trip's injury became much lighter because she slowed down in time at the final moment…"

"She'll still need to rest for at least three months. I'm afraid she'll have to miss every race this year."

"In that case, after we secure the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe without issue, I'll graciously treat her afterward. Some kind of spirit medicine would do the job."

Godolphin nodded furiously in deep agreement.

"Ah, yes! Exactly. That is simply a flawless idea!"

"No—!!!"

Suddenly, a sharp cry came from the bathroom.

With a bang, the bathroom door was yanked open.

The violet-haired girl, her hair still slightly wet and a bathrobe wrapped around her body, rushed out anxiously and loudly objected.

"Trip has to participate in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe! Otherwise, the championship I win won't have any mean—"

But very quickly, McQueen's protest came to an abrupt stop.

Because in front of her, her own trainer and Lady Godolphin were both looking at her with smiles on their faces.

Sunday Silence turned her head away, while the People's Queen rolled her eyes.

Everyone had an indescribable smile on their faces.

…They tricked me!

The extremely sharp-witted young lady of the Mejiro family instantly understood what had happened, and her small face visibly flushed bright red.

"Hm? Little McQueen? Why did you suddenly run out?"

From inside the bathroom, Maruzensky's graceful, voluptuous figure was faintly visible through the curling mist.

She looked puzzled and was about to step out to see what was going on, but McQueen, whose face was completely red and who had begun practically steaming from the top of her head, quickly pushed her back inside.

"Nothing, nothing! Nothing happened at all!!!"

As the bathroom door closed once more, a cheerful atmosphere began to fill the room.

(End of Chapter)

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