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Wednesday—this week's training day. Shuta An arrived at Central Tracen Academy early. After tossing his bag into the office, he turned and headed straight for the training grounds.
He didn't go to the First Training Ground—the most crowded venue among the Uma Musu—but instead made his way to the smaller Slope Road Training Ground.
To prepare for the Yodo Slope in the Kyoto Nisai Stakes, Tokai Teio had been spending most of her training ti here, aside from her usual morning exercises.
Originally, Kurofune and Rice Shower were ant to train alongside her. However, Shuta An had already sent them to the flat woodchip track at the First Training Ground for basic work, leaving no room for them to assist here.
In the Dream World, Toyama Tao advocated extensive use of slope training for racehorses, and it had indeed produced anomalies like Mihono Bourbon—beings that defied common sense. But power that transcends bloodline and talent always cos at a cost.
Slope training carried an extrely high load.
For Kurofune and Rice Shower, who had yet to fully mature, training on the slope alongside Tokai Teio could accelerate their growth and accumulation far beyond normal routines—but it would also drastically increase the risk of injury.
Before reaching full developnt, even a minor injury could severely limit a Uma Musu's future potential. Tokai Teio was the Sadalsuud team's top priority for next year, but Kurofune and Rice Shower were its future as well.
Because of that, Shuta An firmly rejected their request to act as training partners.
As for Tokai Teio's training partner, he assigned that role to jiro McQueen, who was currently preparing for this year's Arima Kinen under Team Spica. The price was simple—several vouchers to well-known dessert shops in Tokyo.
jiro Dober was already on break.
Silence Suzuka's retirent race would take place at Sha Tin Racecourse, making slope training aningless for her.
Oguri Cap, anwhile, had her own races to prepare for and was training directly at Hanshin Racecourse. More importantly, Shuta An had no intention of calling her back.
Even with Tokai Teio's exceptional talent, training alongside Oguri Cap would only hinder her own preparations. To him, Oguri Cap always ca first.
Upon arriving at the training ground, Shuta An quickly spotted Tokai Teio. She and jiro McQueen had just finished a set of uphill runs.
He handed each of them a bottle of water. "Good work. How do you feel today?"
"Pretty good! I feel like I'm in perfect condition right now!" Tokai Teio gave a thumbs-up. "I could run the Kyoto Nisai Stakes right now—no problem at all!"
"Really?" jiro McQueen's eyes widened. "You didn't even catch up to just now."
"That was my first set today. Of course I wasn't going all out." Tokai Teio puffed her cheeks. "McQueen, on the other hand, looks completely out of breath."
jiro McQueen's gaze shifted aside—because Tokai Teio had hit the mark exactly. She had indeed given it her all in that set.
"So she wasn't holding back because it was her first run—I thought my training lately had paid off, that I could at least close the gap a little." The lavender-haired Uma Musu murmured inwardly.
"The morning workload is lighter today," Shuta An said.
"Let's do a proper final chase-up. Even if our team doesn't emphasize chase-up results, we can't be too relaxed. Otherwise, once the video gets out, fans will start worrying—and my DMs will be flooded again."
At the end of his words, he shrugged, his expression faintly resigned.
"Don't worry! I've got it!" Tokai Teio thumped her chest. "I'll deliver impressive numbers today!"
"Keep the 800 ters within the 55-second range."
Shuta An paused slightly, giving only a rough benchmark rather than an exact target.
For flat-track chase-ups, timing could start anywhere between 600 and 1400 ters, though 1000 or 1200 was standard. For slope training, however, timing almost always began at 800 ters.
Tokai Teio's run today was no exception. Eight hundred ters in fifty-five seconds was considered standard—but for her, it bordered on diocre.
Still, seasoned viewers of the Twinkle Series already understood the Sadalsuud team's approach: they didn't chase stopwatch tis in final runs. As long as Tokai Teio didn't post sothing disastrous like sixty seconds, the audience would accept it without much concern.
After the morning session ended, Tokai Teio suddenly shouted.
"I'm starving! I want a super-sized carrot wrap!" before dashing off from the edge of the slope track.
Only Shuta An and jiro McQueen remained.
Shuta An gathered Tokai Teio's equipnt, intending to return it to the office for her later. jiro McQueen quietly did the sa with her own gear.
The silence between them felt unusual. Recalling the earlier conversation with Symboli Rudolf and jiro Ramonu—especially the remark that "jiro McQueen is special"—he finally spoke.
"I have a question about the jiro Family. Would it be alright to ask you, Miss McQueen?"
"Oh?" jiro McQueen paused, then smiled politely and nodded. "If it's not too private, I'll answer what I can."
"It's about sothing Miss Ramonu ntioned. She said most of the Uma Musu in your generation are preparing for engagent, but that you're an exception—What does that 'exception' refer to?"
For a mont, upon hearing the opening, jiro McQueen nearly misunderstood.
If she hadn't already known Dober's feelings, she might have thought the man beside her was raising the topic for a different reason. But as the rest followed, her expression settled.
"I almost caused Dober unnecessary trouble," she thought.
She lifted her gaze and t his. "My case is different because of my background."
"Background…" Shuta An hesitated. "If it's sothing personal, then perhaps I shouldn't ask further?"
"There's no need to avoid it." jiro McQueen waved it off lightly.
"From birth until I was five, I never stayed within the jiro Family even once. It wasn't until I turned six that my mother brought back. Because of that, compared to others in my generation, I drew far less attention from the elders—at least until I won the St. Lite Kinen."
"I see~ So there's no pressure on you regarding engagent?" Shuta An followed her logic.
"Exactly." jiro McQueen nodded.
Then, as if it were an afterthought, she lowered her voice slightly, her tone deliberately casual.
"Trainer…you don't want Dober to be engaged to soone else, do you?"
Shuta An was not at all surprised that jiro McQueen had seen through him. The mont he asked about her "special case," he had already prepared himself for this line of questioning.
So when she spoke, he did not hesitate. "Yes. That's also Dober's wish."
"I thought so." jiro McQueen let out a quiet sigh. "But I can't help you. Right now, I don't have much influence within the family."
"Even after winning the Kikuka Sho—the long-distance G1 the jiro Family has always valued?"
Shuta An pressed. "Then it's still not enough. You'd need to aim for the Spring Tenno Sho, wouldn't you?"
"Yes." jiro McQueen spread her hands slightly. "If I could win one—or even two—Spring Tenno Sho titles, I might gain enough standing to speak for Dober and persuade so of the elders."
"But that would take at least two years." Shuta An finished the thought for her.
"Yes."
A brief silence followed.
"I'm sorry," jiro McQueen lowered her head. "At most, I can ensure they don't bring up engagent matters concerning . I can't help Dober."
"No, Miss McQueen,"
Shuta An clasped his hands lightly.
"The fact that you answered my questions is already more than enough. This information is valuable—and I intend to resolve this before the end of the year."
"With less than two months?" jiro McQueen blinked in surprise. "Isn't that too rushed? As far as I know, Dober's situation hasn't been finalized yet. There's still ti."
"My goal isn't just to free Dober from this engagent."
Shuta An answered plainly.
"Could it be—"
jiro McQueen's eyes widened.
Shuta An only raised a finger, narrowing his eyes with a faint, unreadable smile. Then, without another word, he picked up Tokai Teio's training equipnt and walked away.
Watching his retreating figure, jiro McQueen murmured under her breath,
"If it's what I'm thinking…then once Shuta Trainer succeeds, the jiro Family will be forced to rely solely on Grandmother to hold itself together."
From Shuta An's perspective, what he found most difficult to accept was the way the jiro Family treated its Uma Musu. They raced with their own ability to earn prize money—only to have it drained away to sustain the desires of the elders, leaving them with almost nothing.
Couldn't they just venture into business world? It wasn't like they didn't have the connections either.
"If they followed Miss Ardan's example—they'd be far freer, wouldn't they?"
Sitting in his chair with his eyes closed, he turned the thought over in his mind.
But he also understood that jiro Ardan's choice—to leave everything behind—was not sothing others could easily replicate.
"Even if I help Dober escape, it won't change much for the rest," Shuta An frowned slightly. "If I'm going to act—then I should end this in one move."
He exhaled slowly.
"If possible, I'll break this restraint entirely."
—
His thoughts were completely different from jiro McQueen's.
In her view, if Shuta An succeeded in helping jiro Dober, it would be enough to shake the very foundation of the jiro Family.
Yet, despite being soone who had always taken pride in her lineage, jiro McQueen had no intention of informing her family of this realization.
She knew full well that what she was doing would harm the jiro Family—perhaps even deal a heavy blow to a structure that was already beginning to fracture.
Even so—
She found herself unable to accept the elders as they were now—rigid, stagnant, and suffocating.
"The only ones I can trust are Dober and Ramonu-nee. But even then…I can't do anything."
As the only jiro Uma Musu entered in this year's Arima Kinen, jiro McQueen wanted to help after learning that Shuta An intended to act against her family.
Yet she never once considered deliberately underperforming in the race to defy them.
"So…I really can't do anything."
Her ears drooped as she returned to her dorm room, her steps unsteady, her expression dim.
—
Today was the day of the final chase recording. Although Minamisaka's team wasn't required to participate, the Uma Musu still needed to report to the training ground for regular workouts.
"Dictus!"
Minamisaka called out. When Ikuno Dictus stopped and turned, he asked, "Why are you late? You're usually the most punctual."
"I was talking with my roommate for a bit. Miss McQueen seed to be in a delicate mood today, so I couldn't help but worry,"
Ikuno Dictus replied honestly. Then she added, "I'm ten minutes late, but I'll make up for it in training."
"That's nothing serious. Go warm up first," Minamisaka waved it off.
As he watched her leave, a thought crossed his mind.
"jiro McQueen…in a bad mood?"
"She's been training with Tokai Teio lately because of Ann-san's arrangent—Did sothing happen there?"
He suppressed the thought almost imdiately.
"No point overthinking it. If there's a problem, I won't be able to help anyway."
—
Back in her dorm, jiro McQueen sat on the edge of her bed, idly swinging her legs.
She had been like this ever since realizing she couldn't do anything.
Otherwise, Ikuno Dictus wouldn't have been so concerned that she stayed behind to talk with her.
Still…her mood had improved sowhat.
Because Ikuno Dictus had promised to ask around for ideas.
"I can't involve Trainer in sothing like this. And Gold Ship absolutely mustn't find out—It's better if no one in Team Spica knows."
anwhile, on the training ground—
After hearing Ikuno Dictus's explanation, Nice Nature spoke up. "The friend you're talking about…that's McQueen, right?"
"No," Ikuno Dictus insisted.
"Alright, fine. Whether it is or isn't doesn't really matter." Nice Nature waved her hand casually. "It's not easy to admit sothing like that anyway."
She tilted her head slightly, thinking.
"If she wants to help, but can't interfere directly—then why not strengthen the person she wants to help instead?"
"I've heard about situations like that before—from the ladies at the shopping district."
"I see~" Ikuno Dictus wasn't sure if it would work, but she committed the idea to mory.
And when she relayed it—
jiro McQueen's eyes lit up.
"I see. So that's what I can do."
She imdiately pulled out her phone, jotting sothing down in her notes before setting a reminder.
"The night of the Japan Cup—that should be the best timing."
Her fingers tightened slightly around the device.
"This is the most I can do."
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