Uma Musume no Nama no Nichijou (Horse Girl), First and foremost

That subtle feeling of being outmatched by your opponents.

After all, apart from the fact that this formidable rival in front of him had caught up with him in terms of strength and had been pulling further and further ahead, Fujimasa had never really had the opportunity to have this kind of relationship with Oguri.

"But no matter what, there's still Tamamo Cross besides me. Even if I really win against Oguri Hat in terms of momentum and technique, I don't think I have much of a chance against Tamamo Cross."

Golden Victory: "?!"

"Eh...good question."

Upon hearing this, the pure white horse seemed to have been reminded, and decisively jumped out to interrupt their conversation.

"How about you recover a bit, March, and then have a double battle with Tamamo-no-Mae?"

"Hmm... I don't mind, but it will take me some time to recover. In that case, the side effects of the domain state will probably kick in and affect my ability to run in the race later, right?"

Having said that, Fujimasa March seemed unconcerned about this, only thinking that if the test was interrupted, another time should be found.

The side effects of their own team's domain state are almost two different things from what the famous horse girl said about risking her life.

Three weeks after the Emperor's Spring Appreciation Race, Ash-haired horse girl Tamamo Cross had fully recovered and completed her rehabilitation training. Apart from preparing hard for the Takarazuka Memorial Race, she was basically in the same condition as a regular racehorse girl.

Well, to put it simply, he's so healthy it's almost unbelievable, so Fujimasa doesn't really care about that.

"It's alright, I'll teach you how to postpone the side effects of the domain state."

After all, Golden Victory is already a member of the prestigious Mamonde family, which represents the top group of Japanese horse racing girls. The prestigious Mamonde family is willing to share its knowledge and skills in this area with her to help the team.

Of course, that's all. Perhaps it's an unspoken understanding among prestigious female racehorses, but when faced with Golden Victory, they explicitly stated that non-family members and top-tier racehorse girls are not allowed to learn from them.

She had some reservations about the family member's request, but after hearing that other top female racehorses would also know, Golden Victory reluctantly accepted and kept her promise.

She was well aware of the dangers that the Domain state itself could pose to racehorse girls. If a racehorse girl were to use entering the Domain state as a training requirement without knowing the other details, she would most likely be ruined by the training.

Of course, it's hard to say now, but Golden Victory will still obediently abide by these rules.

At least that's how it is now.

"But I remember that Tamamo Cross performed worse on the sand than Oguri Hat. It's impossible that she fell in love with the sand track while I was away from team practice."

Upon hearing that she would be competing against Tamamo Cross, Fujimasa initially agreed to the Golden Victory match, but she quickly realized that it seemed there was no real competition between them...

perhaps?

In short, she wasn't quite sure what this senior trainer, Ma Niang, wanted to test. She just subconsciously thought that the operations of the Golden Victory boss were probably impossible to execute.

"Well... actually, what we need to test more is your momentum, skills and intensity in a match, so objectively speaking, it doesn't really matter whether it's on sand or grass."

"However, everyone is getting a bit bored running on the grass all the time, so I don't think Tamamo would mind."

"But if that's the case... um, I understand, but I still hope the time can be adjusted again so that Tamamo Cross can at least do a few rounds of venue adaptation."

After confirming the requirement for a golden victory, there were no further doubts or objections. However, as someone who wanted to compete with his opponent under similar conditions, Fujimasa still made a request that Tamamo Cross could practice on the field.

"Well... that's fine. The Uma Musume Club went there for training a day ago. If we do that while it's still fresh in our minds, and since you're a newcomer to Little March, the conditions on both sides should be quite close."

Upon hearing this, Fujimasa March nodded and accepted the condition.

Excluding factors related to slope, sand tracks do indeed exhibit significant differences compared to grass tracks in different locations.

Therefore, when racers who have practiced on the track beforehand compete against those who haven't, even if there's a difference in their suitability for sandy terrain, it will be largely compensated for.

Golden Victory quickly finalized the relevant travel arrangements with Tamamo Cross over the phone. As for whether the little goose-haired horse girl would accept it or not, that was not within the scope of Pure White Horse Girl's consideration.

What? You're saying we're disregarding the rights of racehorse girls?

No, Tamamo Cross agreed on her own initiative.

Golden Victory simply said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the opponent's momentum and skills are stronger than yours, Tamamo~" After that, Tamamo immediately took the bait and said something like, "Whether it's sand, grass, or even the road, I'll let that hairy thing know how powerful I am!"

Fujimasa March: "...I can only say that he truly lives up to his title as the leader of Golden Victory. It seems that during my occasional absence, Golden Victory has indeed become more free."

Regarding her assessment of Golden Victory, she was reserved, because Fujimasa always seemed to think that this pure white horse girl had always been like this... free and unrestrained?

Little Chestnut Hat: "Hmm? Hmm hmm hmm? Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm."

After nibbling on the afternoon snacks he had brought to the playground, Oguri quickly swallowed something before responding when he heard the Fujimasa March.

She didn't really understand what the other person was saying, so she stuffed more food into her mouth and pretended that she couldn't answer in detail because she had food in her mouth. But as soon as the food entered her mouth, this hairy thing started eating again.

The only difference from before was that he made a few more sounds while eating to agree with the other person.

Fujimasa March: "..."

As one of the few normal female horsemen in this family group, she didn't know why she kept feeling a headache coming on...

After settling things with Tamamo Cross and arranging a practice match, Fujimasa March also learned some tricks about the domain from Golden Victory.

The Fujimasa group, who were supposed to go back to rest after this warm-up match, suddenly decided to leave Fujimasa at their dormitory, as if they had suddenly thought of something.

Oh, that's not quite right. When this spiky horse girl came to Central Teresen Academy, she basically stayed in her Golden Victory Trainer Dormitory. It's only recently that she has occasionally chosen to stay with New Radiance.

Because of the need to use related tools, the logistics staff's dormitory rooms are now basically one person per room, while Shining Glory has prepared a double bed for himself out of habit.

Hmm... this is probably the cohesion among the Kasamatsu people, right?

The exact reasons are unclear, but this situation has certainly made Golden Victory reconsider his stance regarding his base...

"Well, Little March, it seems you haven't been staying here lately. My room should be bigger and more comfortable."

Looking around, it was still the familiar trainer dormitory of the Golden Victory boss.

Despite his seemingly mature and composed demeanor, Fujimasa's lips twitched slightly, as if he had PTSD, after hearing the words "Golden Victory."

Why did I choose not to stay overnight at Central Teresen Academy on my recent visits?

That's a good question. In Fujisaka's vague memory, it was one night when she was sleeping obediently in the second-floor room of the trainer's dormitory provided by Golden Victory.

Then two familiar voices suddenly came from next door, one from a horse girl from the Symbol family and the other from a horse girl from the Golden family. As for who they were, Fujimasa March couldn't say.

In short, one of the two racehorse girls said something provocatively, "Do you have experience?" and was then made to make all sorts of indescribable sounds by the other. Then, it was as if the roles were reversed and she made a strong counterattack.

Originally, being as rational as she was, she insisted that it must be a misunderstanding, since Fujimasa clearly stated that Golden Victory was injured and needed to apply medicine.

It's understandable that such accidents occasionally happen when manpower is needed... right? Probably?

After forcibly hypnotizing himself about the right and wrong of the matter, and forcibly forgetting most of the golden victory boss, Fujimasa thought that he would not encounter similar embarrassing situations again.

But some time later, when she came here again to stay after moving between Kasamatsu Tresen and Central Tresen Academy.

On the same late night, with different people, similar events seemed to be an inevitable cycle that Fujimasa March encountered once again.

Even though she was sleeping on the second floor, the sounds at night, the poor quality of the house itself, and her own excellent perception as a racehorse girl all contributed to the different experiences.

The sound traveled almost unimpeded, reaching right next to the little horse girl's ear...

So in one of the rooms, the voices seemed to be right next to her ears, occasionally saying things like, "Sister Victory, don't do this," "Sister Victory, it hurts so much," and "It will feel much better after it hurts..."

All I can say is that the Fujimasa March at that time indicated she was terrified.

I even hesitated for a long time about whether or not to use earplugs.

God knows what terrible things might happen to me tomorrow if I put in earplugs and fall asleep...

"A Little March?"

"No! Oh, what I mean is, there's no need to trouble Boss Golden Victory. How should I put it... I'd like to get used to the student dormitory environment first."

The rare wisdom among the group of wild horse girls, which emerged from their will to survive, allowed Fujimasa March to immediately give what she considered the best answer.

"Hmm? Well... that makes sense, but the room where Hikari lives is a bit different from the space where Uma Musume lives. Oh well, if you want to stay, then stay; if you don't, we won't force you."

After thinking about it for a while, Golden Victory felt that something was not quite right, but she quickly gave up on thinking about it further because of what she was going to say to the other party.

"So, Golden Victory, is there something you want to tell me? Or is it something you can only say after you've parted ways with Oguri?"

"Well, this matter has nothing to do with Oguri Hat right now. He's working very hard to prepare for the Japan Darby match."

After the Emperor's spring appreciation, there is only one month left before the Japanese Darby, and now three weeks have passed, which means that Oguri Hattori only has one week left to carry out various training activities.

"Well, although we can just tell her that we can each rely on our own abilities and there's no need to be so nervous, seeing that feathery thing preparing so seriously is something that even I, as a trainer, find hard to bring myself to ask her to reduce her training volume or something."

She knew that the reason why that horse-woman with the reed hair was preparing so diligently was because this time she was taking the Emperor of the East Sea as a serious opponent.

But...

To be fair, in previous races, it would have been a situation where it was a choice between Teibo and Oguri-hashi to win. But now, everyone knows momentum techniques, and many racehorse girls can even enter the zone using momentum techniques...

Not to mention the other contestants, even Super Little Bay, who is in the same cohort, is now interested in participating in this competition. Although according to Naze Fumino's request, it is more about letting her experience the G1 competition, and there are no requirements for Little Bay to achieve a certain ranking.

With one more member on their own team, not to mention other strong rivals like Uma Musume, it's basically a continuation of the Satsuki Sho grudge plus some who are trying to make a splash in the Japanese Darby and become strong rivals to Darby Uma Musume.

Just as Rudolph symbolizes the concerns of this student council president who cares about her students, she believes that this Japanese Darby match could very well be the most brutal in recent years.

If you're not prepared to run until you break a bone or even your leg, simply wanting to win isn't enough.

If it's a pure white horse girl, or a racehorse girl with a golden victory, she strongly opposes this kind of operation where they see who can gamble more of their horse girl careers.

However... as a trainer, Golden Victory mostly felt helpless and passive in the face of this situation.

The racehorse girls who can stand on the track all possess mature thinking abilities. As their trainer, Golden Victory will only make proper arrangements for them. As for whether these racehorse girls can actually achieve their goals...

Let's see. Anyway, I have to be responsible for myself.

It's a personal honor for the racehorse girl, unlike Komiyama who worries about this and that and even prevents his own racehorse girl from competing due to overly strict evaluations.

"...Is that so? It seems that Oguri is having a tough time right now."

After thinking about it for a moment, I didn't know how to evaluate it at first.

Fujimasa was simply thinking of the difference between the old Oguri Hat, the goose-haired horse girl who thought that being able to race on the track was happiness, and the goose-haired monster Oguri Hat who was now burdened with the victory and honor of the competition.

It's not that they're completely strangers, but it does change one's previous perception of their friend.

Is this the main reason why Oguri's condition after today's match is different from what I've felt before...?

After understanding and slightly improving her mood, Fujimasa continued their conversation:

"Well, since that's the case, it's definitely necessary to keep Oguri focused. So, what is it that I should know about Golden Victory?"

"Um, has there been any change in the situation with Kasamatsu Tresson recently?"

Although there are still many people that Golden Victory knows at Kasamatsu Tresen Academy, including the three trainers Kitahara, Shibasaki, and Rokuhei Ginjiro, it seems that with the exam time approaching, these three have entered a state of almost complete isolation from the world, a terrifying state where they cannot be reached by phone or cell phone.

In short, when it comes to getting detailed information about the changes in local horse racing, Golden Victory thought that the best course of action would be to ask Fujimasa March, who happened to be coming from Kasamatsu Tressen.

"Anything has changed... If we're really talking about it, besides everyone starting to learn momentum techniques, it seems that local racehorses have already developed a related evaluation form for momentum techniques earlier than central racehorses, and then use this to decide whether they need to invest a lot of time in momentum technique training."

In other words, you focus on momentum and technique, but haven't taken any action to make the horse girls aware of the system integration?