As they were about to enter the final straight, L. Dittman finally realized the problem.
His already pale complexion beca even uglier.
"Why is this horse, which is already losing speed with more than 500 ters remaining, even running a 2400-ter race?!"
Inwardly cursing Hashiru Shogun, L. Dittman had no choice but to guide Lets Elope several more paths toward the outside.
At the sa mont, before fully entering the straight, Shuta An increased the intensity of his push-riding. Tokai Teio imdiately accelerated forward, smoothly filling the space Hashiru Shogun had just vacated.
Ahead of them now were only User Friendly and Dr. Devious.
The two jockeys had intentionally left a slight gap between their horses rather than bunching tightly together, mainly to ensure enough room to use their whips freely later.
And that tiny opening instantly beca an opportunity in Shuta An's eyes.
"But it's still too early."
The young man remained perfectly calm, showing no intention of imdiately launching Tokai Teio into his full sprint.
He still rembered the "bet" he had made with Higashi Ikuo before the race.
"In that case, I'll continue letting Teio conserve energy here while adjusting his stride."
Shuta An made his decision silently.
anwhile, L. Dittman aboard Naturalism noticed that Shuta An had no intention whatsoever of accelerating imdiately upon entering the straight.
He inwardly scoffed at LetsElope's jockey.
"So why were you in such a hurry? This final straight is over 500 ters long. Very few horses can sustain a full-power sprint from beginning to end."
"He clearly never intended to go that early, yet you accelerated on the bend anyway."
However, while ridiculing Lets Elope's premature move, L. Dittman also realized that the early acceleration had conveniently opened an enormous lane for him.
"As long as I follow the route Lets Elope created earlier, Naturalism can also pull cleanly out of the pack."
Without hesitation, L. Dittman urged Naturalism forward along the exact path Lets Elope had opened.
Neither Yamanin Global nor Ikuno Dictus could resist his montum.
Naturalism quickly overtook both horses.
Now, Tokai Teio was only a single horse length ahead of him.
At the sa ti, L. Dittman could clearly feel that Naturalism's condition was exceptionally good today.
"Since she feels this strong—then let's go all at once!"
At this mont, the leading Legacy World was still roughly 400 ters away from the finish line.
When Naturalism overtook LetsElope and rapidly closed the distance toward Tokai Teio, Shuta An naturally noticed it as well. After all, the sound of L. Dittman cracking three sharp whips cut clearly through the thunder of hooves.
"Since Naturalism has begun accelerating, then it's ti for to move too."
The calculation flashed instantly through Shuta An's mind.
"It's exactly 400 ters from the finish. If Teio begins sprinting now, he can maintain maximum speed all the way to the line."
"Then we start here."
The instant that thought settled, Shuta An snapped a right-handed whip across Tokai Teio's side, directly signaling him to accelerate, while simultaneously driving hard with both arms.
Tokai Teio instantly understood.
Relying on his terrifying explosiveness, he surged forward with only a few powerful strides and effortlessly squeezed herself between User Friendly and Dr. Devious.
Duffield and McCarron were both shocked.
Neither of them had imagined that soone would actually attempt to force through that gap.
In their eyes, while there was indeed a slight opening between User Friendly and Dr. Devious, any horse attempting to force entry there carried an enormous risk of collision. This was the Japan Cup. Both jockeys had already tacitly compressed the gap down to what they believed was the absolute limit.
Yet no one had expected that the steadily-riding Shuta An would suddenly force Tokai Teio violently into that opening—and then explode out from it without the slightest hesitation.
"Damn it! He actually pulled through from there?!"
Lets Elope's Trainer, J. Cummings, nearly scread from the grandstand.
"He's insane!"
Nearby, Naturalism's Trainer, Freedman, clutched his head.
"This way, Naturalism just lost nearly ten ters of ground! L. Dittman, hurry and whip him!"
—
Matsumoto Shoichi naturally could not hear the overseas Trainers shouting from afar.
However, he could clearly see Shuta An and Tokai Teio effortlessly "slipping" free from the pack before imdiately raising their speed another level.
His eyes instantly lit up.
"Incredible! if they pull away from here, Legacy World absolutely won't be able to resist them!"
"Go! Charge! Finish them!"
The Horse Owner was already beside himself with excitent.
This was the Japan Cup. Not only glory, but an enormous purse was hanging before them. There was no way he could remain calm.
"It feels like Teio still hasn't fully unleashed himself yet."
Higashi Ikuo unconsciously murmured from the perspective of a spectator.
"If not for that sudden burst of final speed—it almost feels like Teio could continue widening the gap forever."
With 200 ters left to the finish line, Tokai Teio completely "captured" Legacy World.
Yet neither horse nor rider showed any sign of slowing.
Shuta An continuously cracked the whip three tis with his left hand, forcibly maintaining Tokai Teio's accelerating state.
"Teio—Show these overseas opponents exactly what Japanese racing is!"
The young man roared inwardly, twisting every ounce of strength in his body into his arms as he continued pushing relentlessly.
anwhile, only a horse length behind them, L. Dittman finally began unleashing his famous windmill whip aboard Naturalism.
His left arm spun violently in circles as the whip cracked repeatedly through the air.
Each strike produced a sharp explosive sound.
Even Shuta An could hear it clearly.
"That windmill whip really is impressive!"
Despite muttering that, the young man never once stopped pushing Tokai Teio forward.
Even after more than ten consecutive windmill strikes, the gap between Naturalism and Tokai Teio not only failed to shrink—
It actually continued growing wider and wider.
L. Dittman frowned.
At that mont, he understood.
Victory had already been decided.
Yet even so, he refused to give up.
"If I can't defeat Tokai Teio; then at least I must defeat everyone else!"
Thus, he swung the windmill whip once more.
But by now, Shuta An's attention had already completely left him behind.
The rhythm of the push-riding gradually drew the young man into an extraordinarily focused state.
Then—
in a certain instant—it felt as though the entire world suddenly fell silent.
All noise disappeared.
Every roar from the grandstand, every pounding hoofbeat, every shout from the comntator seed to vanish completely.
Shuta An could hear only Tokai Teio's breathing.
Tokai Teio's heartbeat.
It was as though the entire world contained only the two of them.
Every ti Tokai Teio took a stride, Shuta An's own heartbeat synchronized with Teio's.
"What is this?"
He could not understand it.
Yet he had no ti to think deeply.
Instead, he instinctively followed this state, synchronizing every movent of his push-riding perfectly with Tokai Teio's strides.
And the efficiency of his riding rose dramatically.
"Tokai Teio is still accelerating!"
The live comntator's voice beca nearly hysterical.
"He has completely left all opponents behind! There's absolutely no sign of her slowing down!"
"How Marvelous!!!"
Even Matsumoto Shoichi unconsciously frowned.
"How do Shuta-kun and Tokai Teio suddenly look as though they've beco a single entity? Their movents are perfectly synchronized."
At Chukyo Racecourse, Tahara Seiki—who was not participating in today's Japan Cup—suddenly shot to his feet inside the jockey waiting room the mont the television cara focused on Shuta An.
"That's it!"
His eyes shone brightly as he clenched his fists.
"That's exactly what I wanted to see! Complete unity between horse and rider!"
"I never imagined Shuta-kun could achieve this only a few years after debuting! He truly deserves his reputation as a monstrous genius!"
Unable to suppress his excitent, Tahara Seiki paced back and forth inside the waiting room.
"If I had known I'd witness sothing like this today, I should've found any possible mount for the Japan Cup just to watch him from nearby!"
"What a waste!"
—
With 100 ters remaining before the finish line, Shuta An and Tokai Teio—still imrsed within that mysterious synchronized state—had already opened a four-length lead over second-place Naturalism.
"Here they co! Here they co! Here they co!"
The live comntator was nearly screaming.
"Tokai Teio has completely abandoned all opponents behind him! No one can catch him anymore!"
"This is another undefeated Triple Crown after Symboli Rudolf!"
"The races his father could win, His Son can conquer even more magnificently!"
Just before crossing the finish line, Shuta An abruptly broke free from that intensely focused state.
Almost casually, he flung away his whip.
Then he squeezed Tokai Teio's sides lightly with his legs, straightened his upper body, turned toward the grandstand—and violently punched the air.
"Two minutes and twenty-four seconds flat!"
"The winner is Tokai Teio!"
"It's Tokai Teio!"
"The undefeated Triple Crown remains undefeated in the Japan Cup!"
"After conquering the world stage, Tokai Teio returns ho and continues his domination!"
"Six G1 victories achieved magnificently!"
"Arima Kinen contenders, witness this clearly!"
"This is the Tokai Teio you will challenge!"
"The undefeated Triple Crown Winner! The horse who defeated the Epsom Derby champion, the New Zealand Queen, and the Australian Triple Crown winner! A Tokai Teio whom nobody could defeat!"
However, within the grandstand, the people involved noticed sothing even more astonishing.
"Tokai Teio's final ti—"
Matsumoto Shoichi exchanged glances with the others nearby.
"Two minutes and twenty-four seconds on a heavy track is barely slower than previous years on good going," Trainer Asami Kuniichi said slowly.
"With this race alone, Tokai Teio already deserves consideration among Japan's greatest historical horses. Even Symboli Rudolf at his peak probably couldn't match him on heavy turf."
"But Teio still has another full year ahead of him."
Matsumoto Shoichi smiled faintly.
"Next year...he'll probably fly all around the world."
"That's wonderful."
Asami Kuniichi also smiled.
"Japan finally has a horse like this. We absolutely must let the entire world witness him."
Naturally, he also had another reason for feeling pleased.
If Tokai Teio spent next season campaigning internationally, then dostic turf G1 races would suddenly beco far less terrifying.
After Tokai Teio gradually slowed down, Shuta An guided him toward the grandstand.
Raising both arms toward the audience, the young man once again reproduced his celebration after the Kikuka Sho. He clapped lightly toward the crowd before guiding Tokai Teio down into the underground tunnel.
"Too strong."
After Naturalism gradually caught up, L. Dittman spoke first toward Shuta An.
"Can Tokai Teio co to Australia next year? A horse this extraordinary deserves to be witnessed live by Australian racing fans."
"He definitely will." Shuta An answered without hesitation. "I intend to suggest to the Trainer that Tokai Teio participate in next year's Queen Elizabeth Stakes."
"That would be excellent."
L. Dittman nodded sincerely.
"I look forward to Tokai Teio's performance there."
"He'll definitely shock Australian racing fans badly enough that their jaws drop wide enough to fit a coconut," Shuta An replied with a grin.
—
Waking up the next day, the young man opened his eyes to find Silence Suzuka still nestled quietly in his arms, sleeping soundly.
Glancing at the clock and seeing that it was still early, Shuta An decided to open the attribute viewer for a quick look.
"You defeated all opponents in the Japan Cup. Reward obtained — Zone: Effect unknown."
"Effect unknown?"
Shuta An frowned slightly, but then his expression shifted as a thought surfaced in his mind.
"Zone…aning an area, a state, or even a domain. Could it be related to that strange sensation I entered during the final stage of the race?"
The young man was montarily stunned.
"If my guess is correct then this really is sothing incredible."
Shuta An carefully recalled the sensation from yesterday.
"That state felt sowhat similar to entering a Zone…but not exactly the sa." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Maybe it can be taught to the Uma Musu I train?"
The reason he judged "Zone" to be different from a true "Zone" of Umamusus was because, when he entered that state yesterday, his physical condition had not been approaching its limit at all. Strictly speaking, it did not et the conditions required for entering a conventional Zone.
"Still, maybe Suzuka can try it first?"
Shuta An lowered his gaze toward the carrot-haired Uma Musu resting against him, staring quietly at her twitching ears as he fell into thought.
—
Near noon, Shuta An drove Silence Suzuka to Haneda Airport.
Soon, the Uma Musu would depart from there for Hong Kong to prepare for the final race of her Twinkle Series career.
Before getting out of the car, Silence Suzuka turned her head slightly and asked softly, "Ann…is there anything else you want to do?"
The distance between them was so close that Shuta An could clearly see his own reflection within her pupils.
Once they stepped outside, the bustling crowd would surround them again, and Silence Suzuka, still sowhat shy by nature, would avoid intimate displays in public.
So the young man leaned forward.
Their lips t gently.
There was no exaggerated collision, no passionate sound, only the quiet attraction of two people naturally drawing closer together, like opposite poles of a magnet.
Silence Suzuka slowly closed her eyes. She looked as though she had fallen asleep, yet she still quietly responded to every advance from her lover.
When they finally separated, Shuta An gazed once more at the faint blush spreading across the Uma Musu's cheeks and whispered softly:
"I'll be in Hong Kong next week."
"Mm~ I know," Silence Suzuka replied as she wrapped her arms around him once more. "It's only one week. I can wait."
Watching the Uma Musu disappear gradually into the crowd, Shuta An silently thought to himself:
"I already took the opportunity to explain and demonstrate the concept of Zone to Suzuka. I wonder when she'll be able to trigger that state herself."
Truthfully, even Shuta An himself did not fully understand how to reproduce the Zone state.
He couldn't possibly force Tokai Teio to run another Tokyo 2400-ter race in the Dream World today just for experintation. That would already border on abusing the horses, and even local Horse Owners and Trainers would consider such behavior excessive exploitation.
Because of that, Shuta An could only temporarily keep the matter to himself.
"If Suzuka successfully enters that Zone, she'll definitely tell ."
Turning around, he left the airport behind.
"I still need to go to work today. I only took a half-day leave."
With Shuta An's current position, Symboli Rudolf would undoubtedly approve even a full day of leave without hesitation. However, there was sothing important the young man wanted to investigate at the academy, so he had only applied for half a day.
—
After returning to Central Tracen Academy, Shuta An first clocked in and cancelled his leave, but he did not remain in his office afterward.
Because he had previously accepted the jiro Family's invitation to provide training guidance for their Uma Musu, he already possessed the Line contact information of several mbers of the younger jiro generation.
Now, when he wanted to contact jiro McQueen, he no longer needed to trouble Tokai Teio as an interdiary.
He had already arranged to et jiro McQueen at a café outside the academy while returning earlier. Naturally, he was now heading there to keep the appointnt.
"I hope I didn't make Miss McQueen wait too long," Shuta An thought as he walked. "It would be better if I arrived first. That way I could still think carefully about how to approach the conversation."
No matter how he considered it, jiro McQueen's sudden claim of injury during the physical examination in order to withdraw from the Arima Kinen felt far too strange.
Shuta An instinctively sensed that sothing was wrong.
After arriving at the café, he sat down at the reserved table.
Once he finished ordering, he hesitated briefly before adding:
"Please make the caral macchiato extra sweet."
This was naturally for jiro McQueen.
Although he was not entirely certain about her tastes, Shuta An judged through common sense that she would probably prefer sweeter flavors, so he gave the instruction specifically.
"Certainly," the waiter replied with a slight bow before turning to leave.
"After jiro McQueen withdrew from the Arima Kinen, the jiro Family still has jiro Ryan and jiro Bright participating. For certain factions within the family, McQueen's withdrawal might even be considered beneficial."
At the beginning of the year, the jiro Family's hopes had originally been pinned on jiro Ryan. Yet with the year nearing its end and Ryan still lacking a G1 title, the withdrawal of a major competitor like jiro McQueen naturally increased the possibility of another family mber achieving honors.
Even with Special Week and Grass Wonder still present, the pressure had lessened considerably.
It was likely that the older mbers of the family who supported jiro Ryan were secretly pleased by jiro McQueen's actions.
However, those who consistently supported jiro McQueen would undoubtedly feel dissatisfied.
Although jiro Dober had already achieved seven G1 victories, they were all limited to Triple Tiara races, causing their perceived value to be sowhat lower.
If jiro McQueen had managed to win the Arima Kinen imdiately after her Kikuka Sho victory this year, then even from a conservative perspective, she would already stand on equal footing with jiro Dober.
And if she later captured the Spring Tenno Sho as well, then after jiro Ramonu gradually stepped away from authority, jiro McQueen might truly possess the qualifications to compete with jiro Dober for influence within the family.
Now, however, with her voluntary withdrawal, all such possibilities had turned into nothing more than empty dreams.
And it was highly likely that jiro McQueen would soon face trendous pressure from within the family because of it.
Even understanding all this, however, Shuta An had no real position from which he could help her ease that burden.
Even if he was jiro Dober's Trainer, he remained an outsider to the jiro Family.
Of course—
This outsider was currently planning to deliver the jiro Family a devastating blow.
"But before all that, the important thing is getting Miss McQueen to honestly tell why she deliberately faked an injury to withdraw."
Shuta An lowered his gaze toward his phone as he thought quietly to himself.
By the ti both cups of coffee and the dessert had been served, the young man finally set his phone aside and nodded politely toward the waiter.
He took a sip of the iced Aricano before him. The bitterness and acidity instantly sharpened his mind considerably.
Just then, he heard the café door open.
Raising his head, he saw jiro McQueen, still wearing her Tracen Academy uniform, walking slowly toward his table.
Shuta An extended his hand lightly.
"I took the liberty of ordering a caral macchiato for Miss jiro McQueen. I hope it suits your taste."
"Thank you," jiro McQueen replied with a small bow before sitting down across from him.
Then, without any unnecessary hesitation, she imdiately asked:
"Shuta Trainer, what exactly did you want to discuss by inviting here?"
Seeing how direct her attitude was, Shuta An imdiately abandoned his original plan of probing indirectly.
He lifted his iced Aricano slightly and looked directly into the eyes of the jiro Family's young lady seated opposite him.
"What I want to know is this, Miss jiro McQueen. Why did you fake your injury?"
The mont the question left his mouth, jiro McQueen's body visibly trembled.
Clearly, she had never expected Shuta An to expose the matter so directly.
"I didn't fake an injury," she instinctively denied at first. "Rather, Shuta Trainer's assumption itself is rather malicious, isn't it? Accusing an Uma Musu outside your own team of such behavior—if that spread publicly, wouldn't it damage your own reputation?"
"Heh…"
Shuta An rely chuckled softly and shook his head.
"This matter is known only to heaven, earth, you, and . Please tell the truth, Miss jiro McQueen."
"I won't tell Nishizaki-san."
jiro McQueen lowered her gaze.
"I did intend to withdraw from the Arima Kinen."
"Why?" Shuta An imdiately pressed further. "Was soone instructing you? Or—"
"It has nothing to do with anyone else," jiro McQueen interrupted quietly. "It was entirely my own decision."
She paused briefly before continuing:
"I only asked Ramonu-nee for assistance in carrying it out."
"Miss Ramonu was involved?" The young man's expression imdiately changed with surprise. "She actually allowed you to withdraw?"
"I saw how Mr. Shuta wanted to help Dober-chan, and Miss Ramonu was helping as well but I couldn't do anything."
jiro McQueen lowered her head slightly.
"The current jiro Family is already stagnant. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the family is now sustained entirely by the Uma Musu still active in the Twinkle Series and Dream Trophy Series."
"The prouder I once felt about the jiro Family—the more heartbroken I feel about it now."
Her tone gradually beca firr.
"But I can't change anything. I can't help at all. Even after winning the Kikuka Sho, nothing changed. I'm still only a junior. In the eyes of the elders, I'm rely another source of inco."
Then she raised her head and looked directly at Shuta An.
"Later, I realized I had to do sothing. The family's inco depends on our races and rchandise sales. So all I needed to do was find a reason to refuse participation in the Arima Kinen."
"Although…" she added quietly, "an excuse like this can only be used once."
Shuta An said with a shake of his head. "But what you're doing harms your own interests more than anyone else's,"
"I hope Miss jiro McQueen won't repeat sothing like this in the future. This kind of action ultimately damages you far more than the target of your resentnt."
"So this will only happen once." jiro McQueen's gaze drifted slightly away. "Let be selfish just this once."
"After that—I'll quietly continue being the family's puppet."
Then she changed the subject herself.
"But no matter what, I will never harm the younger mbers of the family."
"Whether it's Dober-chan, Ryan, Bright, or Palr…"
"No matter what the elders demand of , I absolutely won't do anything that would hurt them."
anwhile, outside the café window, neither Shuta An nor jiro McQueen noticed a black-haired Uma Musu briefly slowing her steps as she glanced inside.
"What is Trainer talking about with McQueen…?"
jiro Dober frowned slightly as she looked through the glass.
"They even look…close."
A strange discomfort rose within her chest, but she forcefully suppressed the urge to walk inside and ask questions.
"Forget it. Even if he's on a date with another Uma Musu, it has nothing to do with ."
Yet the more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she beca. Unable to endure the feeling any longer, jiro Dober hurriedly turned away and left.
(In the first place, jiro McQueen in real life did not run in the 1990 Arima Kinen after winning the Kikuka Sho, so the story's interpretation aligns naturally with her historical campaign.)
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