After leaving Longchamp Racecourse, the group, under the atrocious navigation of their "veteran local guide" Godolphin, lived up to expectations and got lost.
"...I rember there used to be a fairly popular dessert shop around here."
Godolphin folded her hands in front of her and tilted her head apologetically.
Kuroha looked around at the completely unfamiliar streets, several dark lines forming at his temple. "How long ago is this 'used to be'?"
"Um, the last ti I ca to France after descending with Byerley and the others, it was probably..."
Godolphin pressed her index finger to her lips, looked up in thought for a mont, then gave a shocking answer.
"Thirty years ago?"
"..."
Everyone instantly fell into deathly silence.
Godolphin seed to realize that her sense of ti was different from everyone else's and quickly apologized with complete sincerity.
"I am terribly sorry!"
"It's fine. I'm used to detours by now."
Kuroha did not truly mind. After waving a hand, he directly opened his phone's navigation app and, relying on his mory, searched for the shop he had visited during last year's expedition with Oguri.
Before long, the group arrived in front of a traditionally decorated French pastry shop. After one trip in and out, they were carrying quite a few large and small bags.
All of them were filled with the shop's various signature desserts.
Afterward, at an outdoor café near the Louvre, three Uma Musu with completely different personalities happily tasted the food on the table, occasionally exchanging quiet comnts and letting out pleasant little laughs.
Watching this warm scene, Kuroha propped his head up with one hand. As he stirred the iced Aricano in his cup with a straw, he thought with so emotion:
"Playing around like this once in a while, really relaxing properly... isn't bad."
"Trainer."
Just then, McQueen quietly speared a cut piece of cake beside him and offered it to his mouth.
"Ahh."
Kuroha paused slightly, then laughed and obediently opened his mouth.
Seeing her trainer accept her feeding, the gray-haired girl's violet-jewel eyes instantly curved into crescents, and sweetness filled her heart.
Mm... It's been a while since I slept with Trainer too. No ti like the present. Maybe tonight?
As she chewed the dessert in her mouth, McQueen's thoughts began drifting in a sowhat dangerous direction.
Just as everyone was enjoying their leisurely morning tea, a voice tinged with tentative surprise sounded beside their table.
"Excuse ... Are you Lady Folkqueen?"
Everyone followed the voice and saw a refined young woman wearing glasses at the next table, staring at Folkqueen with an excited expression.
"Uh... yes."
Being suddenly recognized in a foreign country left even Folkqueen, who had seen plenty of major occasions, sowhat dazed.
Although she was called "the strongest Atlantic Uma Musu," the focus of her racing career had mainly been in Oceania and along the Pacific Rim. The reason she had beco more widely known was largely because she had defeated Dawn Radiance Eilers and Obsidian.
Because of that, she really had not expected to be recognized by a passerby at a glance on the European continent.
But the young woman did not pause. Her gaze turned toward Kuroha, and she continued, "And you are Trainer Kuroha from the far eastern island nation?"
As she spoke, she took a business card from her pocket.
"I'm Jenna, a reporter for the French Uma Musu Daily."
So she was a reporter. No wonder she recognized all of us.
Kuroha frowned slightly.
He had never liked this kind of unscheduled, in-your-face interview.
If this had been one of Tracen's shaless paparazzi, he would probably already be considering stuffing her into a trash can.
But since he was in a foreign country, he still had to pay so attention to his image.
Just as Kuroha hesitated over how to refuse her, Jenna quickly added, "I'm a huge fan of you and Lady Queen. I've watched recordings of every race Lady Queen ran during her career."
"I was also present for every race Lady Oguri ran in Europe last year!"
As she spoke, a barely perceptible cunning flashed deep in the young woman's eyes.
You're a reporter. Of course you were present...
Everyone was sowhat speechless.
Just then, Godolphin suddenly spoke softly, her voice as gentle as water.
"Miss Jenna, what would you like to ask?"
The reporter nad Jenna saw that an unfamiliar Uma Musu had spoken. She paused at first, then quickly raised a bright, professional smile.
But the mont her gaze t Godolphin's erald eyes, her entire body seed to have had the pause button pressed. She instantly froze in place.
From her perspective, the blue-haired girl before her was clearly smiling with extre gentleness.
Yet deep within those pupils, there seed to be storms and tsunamis vast enough to cover the heavens and blot out the sun.
An indescribable sense of intimidation pressed down on her like Mount Tai, making her soul feel as humble as a speck of dust, trembling violently beneath terrifying divine might.
"Ah... I, I..."
Under the oppression of a higher life form, she stamred for a long while without managing to form a single sentence.
Watching the French reporter's face grow increasingly pale, as if she might kneel down in the next mont, Kuroha let out a soft sigh.
"If you're a fan, then you can ask a few simple questions. Just don't take too long."
Hearing that, Godolphin smiled casually, withdrew that invisible gaze, and continued elegantly enjoying her dessert.
In an instant, the soul-suffocating pressure vanished like smoke.
Jenna ca back to herself, gasping for breath. With lingering fear in her heart, she lowered her head and refused to look at Godolphin again no matter what.
In the end, after hesitating for a mont, she still spoke softly.
"Trainer Kuroha, since you've co such a long way, I imagine it is for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe?"
Because of Godolphin's presence, Jenna's wording had beco careful and cautious.
"Yes."
Kuroha took a sip of coffee and answered lightly.
In any case, he had already announced this at Tracen's press conference. There was no need to keep it secret.
The reporter fell silent for a mont, organized her words, then continued.
"This year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is not like previous years."
"Besides the top-class powerhouses from various countries, our nation's own superdominant champion, Suave Dancer, has also been in terrifying form recently."
"Suave Dancer?"
Hearing a familiar na engraved into history and renowned in his previous world, Kuroha raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. A short while ago, she claid an overwhelming victory in the G2 Prix Greffulhe, and even Vice President Dancing Brave has praised her highly."
At this point, she gritted her teeth, seemingly to demonstrate her sincerity.
"I've collected information on the Uma Musu aiming for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe this year. If Trainer Kuroha needs it..."
Jenna spoke quietly, occasionally sneaking glances at Godolphin out of the corner of her eye.
Godolphin, look how badly you scared her. She's forgotten how to do business properly.
Kuroha teased silently in his heart and winked at the Blue Goddess.
The latter returned an extrely innocent, gentle smile.
"That works."
Kuroha replied, "I'm currently staying at the Grand Estate of Chantilly. When you have ti, prepare your interview draft and submit an application to the estate managent office. You can hand the materials over to then."
Hearing that, Jenna looked as though she had received a treasure and nodded repeatedly in delight.
"O-okay! I'll make sure to deliver them!"
"Any other questions?"
"No, no! Please enjoy your al, everyone!"
Jenna hurriedly waved her hands, then prepared to flee.
But at the instant before she left, her curiosity as a professional reporter still made her unable to resist taking one last look at the fourth person at the table.
The purple-haired Uma Musu who had been quietly and obediently eating dessert the entire ti.
Aside from Folkqueen and Trainer Kuroha, one of the other two must be the ace of this expedition, right?
That terrifying blue-haired Uma Musu has obvious European features, so it probably isn't her. That ans it should be this purple-haired Uma Musu, right?
However, the instant her gaze landed on McQueen's face...
Buzz!
A pure white flash of lightning as deep as the endless heavens exploded across her retina.
That terrifying sense of horror suddenly rose again from the depths of her soul.
Jenna was so frightened she nearly cried out. She hurriedly withdrew her gaze and disappeared at the end of the street without looking back.
Still seated, McQueen calmly withdrew the Domain intimidation she had released for that instant.
Then she returned to being the elegant, proper young lady she always was, and contentedly licked the cream left at the corner of her lips.
(End of Chapter)
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