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

"Saying you're not holding back makes it seem like you're incredibly strong. Didn't someone's guarantee of being number one in both momentum and technique recently get taken away by Little March..."

"Waaaaaah! Uh, oh, that was careless of us! That feathered thing definitely won't beat us in the next march!!!"

When Golden Victory told her about the outcome of that contest of momentum and skill, Tamamo Cross was somewhat excited. However, her excitement stemmed more from her frustration and agitation at not being able to outshine her own team in this aspect.

"Would you like to come and play with the march?"

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of amazing person, but well... never mind..."

She smiled and shook her head. Just as Fujimasa was about to subconsciously refuse, she saw Oguri Hat's eyes.

For some reason, she always felt that the other person really wanted to race with her, even though Fujimasa March's performance on grass was obviously not as good as on sand.

"Forget it?" "No, it would be a shame to miss such a big event. Please let me participate."

Hearing the sudden change in Fujisei's march, Golden Victory rolled his ears in confusion before nodding in agreement: "Of course, we won't refuse any of our friends who want to participate in this practice match."

Well, the competition venue is located at the Uma Musume Club, and the time slot is specifically provided for the Golden Family's practice sessions. The purpose is to ensure that information about their competition will not be leaked.

After all, this was a race that would determine the outcome of her own racehorse girl's second leg of the Triple Crown. Being a little more careful and avoiding a place like the Trexon Academy track, where all the racehorses could easily see the race, was something Golden Victory, as the race organizer, had to be mindful of.

"So, Rice Bath wants to participate too! Bourbon, are you going to join?"

Miura Bourbon, who recently returned from abroad, has shown explosive improvement in his performance in recent practice matches, giving Mi Yu a vague feeling that his strength has increased dramatically since returning to Japan.

Since the previous match was irrelevant to her and didn't require much effort, Miura Bourbon naturally didn't choose to go all out, so no one else, including Golden Victory, noticed the change in this horse girl.

Of course, the reason why Golden Victory didn't notice was mainly because her focus had been on the East Sea Emperor and Oguri Hat recently, so she naturally couldn't pay full attention to the others.

"What are Lord White Calamity's orders?"

"Tsk tsk, come and have fun if you want. Isn't it fun to run around together?"

"I feel nothing because there is a gap in strength in the competition itself, because Lord White Disaster does not restrict the use of the domain status, and because the enthusiasm of the participants is questionable."

Faced with a question like "Golden Victory," Miura Bourbon, being a racehorse girl with a mechanical personality, responded in a very low-EQ way, directly echoing the words of the pure white horse girl, even though Bourbon's words weren't wrong.

"Well, as for the domain, we won't restrict you non-key personnel from doing it if you have the ability. After all, this competition doesn't necessarily have to give the victory to those horse girls who are about to participate. Like in the previous competition, didn't Tamamo just easily defeat Teibo and Oguri Hat and win the title of chief horse girl?"

Although there is no necessary relationship between the two, Tamamo Cross's strength is indeed enough to lead this group of friends. However, Golden Victory was more about stimulating everyone's enthusiasm for participating in the competition, so he naturally brought up this statement.

Putting everyone else aside, as the top racehorse girl, Tamamo Cross certainly couldn't afford to slack off. In fact, in some ways, she had to work even harder than the three racehorse girls who were about to participate in the Japan Darby.

Of course, this is based on the competitive and honor-seeking nature of most horse girls. A small number of horse girls may have a significantly reduced effect, which is why Golden Victory had to add a mention of prizes to prevent Tamamo Cross from actually choosing to slack off.

"Understood. I will participate in the competition and compete actively. Please give me your guidance."

"Tsk tsk, I feel like something's off about you, Little Bourbon. But never mind, just do your best in this race and run in your own style."

As he said this, Golden Victory also went through his thoughts in his mind.

Letting everyone experience the difference in strength beforehand is more beneficial than harmful.

Under her team's leadership, Golden Victory largely trusted himself, believing that his team would only improve through competition.

Of course, similar coordination and psychological support work still need to be repeatedly confirmed to ensure that there are no hidden problems with individual horse riders...

Regarding the area-related content that Miura Bourbon just mentioned, this time Golden Victory doesn't actually intend to impose any restrictions.

The reason is actually quite simple: in her view, a week of competition time is enough to get into her zone of mental focus from the halfway point...

Even if the injury occurs after the fourth turn or even after the third turn, the injury should be able to recover to its best condition before the next race.

Of course, she did mention the degree of control over the Golden Victory, but she didn't care much about the forced restrictions.

Other trainers might do this, but as a racehorse girl, she understands that once you start running on the track, you're often in a state of high energy or forced to get high. In her opinion, you just need to be flexible and adaptable.

"...Then I'll participate too."

Hearing everyone express such opinions, even Megumi McQueen felt that aside from those three or four racehorses who were likely to win, he and the other rookie racehorses were more likely to be just there for the ride...

But as Golden Victory said, while treating this as a competition, we should also treat this practice race as a rare opportunity for everyone to compete together. There are racehorses who want to compete for first place, but that doesn't mean everyone has to do it.

For someone from the Mejiro family, this requirement was... somewhat subtle and novel.

In that high-pressure environment where everything is compared, and where you could be eliminated from your family simply because you lack any of the racing qualities of your horse girl.

There, competition was for survival. Although it wasn't as completely lax here, as fellow members of a prestigious family, she felt a different kind of cohesion that motivated her to keep moving forward.

She has aspirational goals, formidable rivals to compete against, and the motivation to improve herself as a racehorse girl.

"Hey—the twin-turbo setup wants to participate too!"

Perhaps it's because everyone else participated. Even though my skills have improved through hard work during this period, seeing everyone's performance on the field makes me feel that everyone is very strong, and it feels a bit off when I go up to participate in the competition myself.

Hmm... something's not right. She doesn't think losing to everyone is something unacceptable, but she also wants to participate in the competition well.

As for pressure...

What pressure could a silly child possibly have?

Oh no, I should say that since Twin Turbo has already made his debut, that's already a success. Competing alongside teammates whose achievements are so outstanding that even they themselves are not entirely clear about them, the pressure is naturally not that great given the gap in skill levels.

So after hearing about the "Golden Victory" theory and seeing that many others wanted to participate, Twin Turbo naturally saw this competition as a stage for them to express themselves.

"Yes, everyone is welcome to attend. Let's treat this as a rare large-scale gathering of horse girls since the establishment of our Golden Family!"

Seeing everyone's eager expressions as they waited for the match, Golden Victory wore a gratified smile.

If she hadn't been injured, Golden Victory would most likely have chosen to participate in this match.

Well, she, the Golden Victory, the incredibly strong patriarch, the undefeated White Calamity, originally wanted to participate in this practice match.

Normally, this match would have been won by her, the scumbag senior who had no intention of giving way to her juniors.

The main reason, I suppose...

The original intention was to use the match to calm these two down, since talking or other actions alone wouldn't be enough to achieve the desired effect.

However, because she suddenly remembered that she was still injured, she was told not to run and had to give up the idea.

In terms of taking care of her health, even though Kim Seung-ri's usual behavior is somewhat eccentric, she does take good care of her body.

But...

She may not come, she may not participate in this competition, but she didn't say that the player responsible for rampaging through the arena wouldn't exist!

The following day, at the Uma Musume Club, in the race preparation area.

[Golden Family Practice Race, Shiba Inner Mongolia, 2400 meters]

Everyone: "......"

After all, this was a practice match, so no one chose to wear the final outfit. Besides, about half of these friends hadn't debuted yet, so there was no such thing as a final outfit.

However, this was not the real reason why everyone was speechless with surprise when they arrived at the arena.

A familiar figure of a senior athlete was on the field, seemingly practicing. Dressed in a gymnastics uniform, she showed off her graceful figure, making her presence all the more noticeable.

Everyone: "......"

"Hey, I forgot to tell you guys, since it's a family competition, there's nothing we can do if we're injured and can't participate. Xingwang-chan is in the same boat, but apart from that..."

After a slight delay, the pure white horse girl's perspective shifted to that senior horse girl.

"So we told Maruzen-neechan the news and asked her to set aside a day from the student council to come and participate in the competition~"

They had a bad feeling as soon as they saw Maruzensky warming up on the sidelines in his competition uniform, looking ready to go into the game at any moment.

However, based on the idea that Golden Victory wouldn't do such a thing,

"Well, although I'm not exactly good at middle-distance races, I can still manage a bit, so please take care of me~"

Noticing that everyone, or rather the racehorses who had originally intended to win this race, had clearly lost some of their enthusiasm, Maruzensky responded with a slight smirk:

"Well, I only had a short warm-up practice last night and today, so you all have a chance to beat me now, my lovely juniors."

Yes, once the first place in the competition has been decided, she is well aware that everyone's enthusiasm will definitely drop significantly or even lead to despair.

So Maruzenski honestly told her about her current situation and expressed her hope that her juniors could compete with her.

Oh dear, it seems my mindset has reverted to what it used to be~

As for showing deference in terms of strength, Maruzensky himself also grasped the appropriate degree.

Furthermore, Maru Zenki was also eager to test how his aura and technique could enhance her strength.

There are far too few opportunities for her to play.

"Hey, so your senior Maruzen has already given you a chance. So, young horse girls who are ambitious and want to win this match, don't think you have no chance just because your senior isn't at his peak."

He skillfully used a few gestures to incite conflict, subtly employing his own aura and techniques.

Even if there are racehorse girls among them who focus on cultivating their senses, Golden Victory is still a completely calm and collected operation.

Hey, I just love having fun!

"Hey, Little Gold, you should thank me for participating in this competition!"

"Hey, definitely, thank you Maruzen-sama. It's because I have trouble walking, otherwise I would have just slaughtered you all."

Just kidding, but Golden Victory also knows very well that for Maru Zenki, a senior member of the Makoto team, being able to participate in such a rare competition with such high skill levels is extremely rare.

Thank you, thank you. As for the prize...

What? Prizes are for the team members who were notified before the Golden Victory. Why would a senior like you want a prize? Isn't crushing the juniors a great prize?

Golden Victory, who initially viewed Maruzensky with a similar mindset of treating him like a working-class person, is now thanking him as a junior or younger sister.

Maru Zenki: "...Hmph~"

Although she didn't know what the other party was thinking at the moment, as a horse girl who was occasionally mischievous, Maru Zenski had a feeling that Golden Victory must be hiding something.

But... as long as you're happy~

The match is about to begin.

After entering the gate, the Emperor of the East Sea was extremely nervous.

He wants to beat Oguri Hat and complete his own winning streak.

I also want to win this match so that I can get the prize that Senior White Disaster mentioned.

Winning against Oguri Hat was supposed to be equivalent to winning this family practice match at the Uma Musume Club, but now that Maruzen-senpai has joined the fray...

It's fair to say that winning this competition will be extremely difficult.

But it's not zero!