Uma Musume Girl, I'll tell you about my Santa Hat special move too?

She gritted her teeth and persevered, refusing to give up in the slightest, not even slowing down. Stardust Illusion had no time to consider anything else; having reached this point, only one thought remained in her mind:

I will persevere to the end!!!

thump.

"Okay, all done!"

Standing at the finish line, Higanbana shouted, quickly reaching out to catch the Stardust Illusion falling towards her. Beneath her stern expression, a satisfied smile involuntarily appeared:

"You've achieved Stardust Illusion. You've completed four practice runs on the slope!"

"This...this isn't...uh...a piece of cake..."

Stardust Illusion was so exhausted that she couldn't even open her mouth to speak; her heart was pounding like a heavy drumbeat.

On the system panel in her line of sight, a symbol for "Endurance +20" flashed by.

-------------------

"Master, this is today's Academy Daily."

Watching Toyama Scarlet massage Stardust Illusion's leg muscles to relax them, Miura Hōbō handed her a magazine without any change in expression.

This is a publication produced internally by Central Tressen Academy to report daily news about horse racing events and the academy.

Exhausted and with aches all over, Stardust Illusion casually took the magazine and started flipping through it while lying down.

"Any news about the Emperor of the East Sea... Hmm?"

Stardust Illusion was utterly astonished as he looked at the contents of the magazine in his hand:

"The French Academy of Horse Racing is coming to Tressen for an exchange program soon?!"

"Yes, we already discussed this with our trainers a few days ago."

Hikari Toyama answered casually.

Her massage technique was very skilled, and she was able to quickly relax Stardust Illusion's tired legs that were screaming for a break.

"The date is two weeks from now... that would be around January 16th? Led by the legendary racehorse girl clan, they will be conducting exchange training and mock races with a trainer's team from Tresenne. Those interested should submit their applications to the student council—ah, that's the clan that defeated the Divine Eagle at the Arc de Triomphe."

Stardust Illusion recalled the appearance of the noble family and the Arc de Triomphe tournament, and couldn't help but sigh:

"It's a real pity. If it weren't for the prestigious clans, the Divine Eagles would have been strong enough to win the championship. But that doesn't really matter for a two-person team like ours. Right now, we just need to focus on training."

"Hmm? I already handed the application form to Rudolf's symbol."

Hikari Toyama answered casually.

"Oh, it's already been handed over to the Emperor? That's good. I was worried you'd forgotten... Ah?!"

----------------------

"The French academy team, led by a prominent family, doesn't get many opportunities to train with players of this caliber. Why are there so few applications?"

Rudolf looked puzzled as he stared at the three application forms in front of him.

"Because that's a prestigious family."

Qi Cao handed the compiled documents to the emperor, then pointed to the beautiful woman with long orange-brown hair in the photo on the first page and continued:

"This absolute tyrant with world-class strength has shattered the dreams of one domestic racehorse girl after another to compete in international races. Its only defeat was an away loss to a special week. It is understandable that most people do not register in order not to affect their confidence in becoming a racehorse girl."

"Once you've been exposed to that level of field, it's easy to start to doubt yourself, or even completely destroy your desire to run."

"The teams that have signed up include Special Week, TeamSpica (to which the East Sea Emperor belongs), Team Rigil (to which Shenying and others belong), and..."

The emperor looked at the third table in his hand, his face darkening.

This paper, which is the application form from Team Draco, is missing a lot of the resumes of the other two groups, even the one for the female racehorses.

"Why did Trainer Toyama apply as well? I remember that of the two racehorse girls she's coaching, Miura Bourbon hasn't officially debuted yet, and Stardust Mirage has only been a month since her debut... Doesn't she know the strength of the French Academy?"

"Maybe she just wants to join in the fun, let's ignore her." Qi Cao picked up the application forms from the other two teams and asked the emperor in front of him:

"Which team should we send? Rigil's current squad includes Taiki Express, Ryoma Amazon, and Narita Shirahito, while Special's squad includes Tokai Emperor, Mejiro McQueen, and Golden Ship."

Judging from the strength of the players, she personally believes that the current players on Team Rigil are stronger, but Team Special has the East Sea Emperor involved, so she can't predict which side Rudolph will choose.

“Let Rigil lead this exchange. Taiki Express and Narita Shirohito are both very strong runners, and you know how strong Ryoma Amazon is, as your disciple. It’s just right to have Tresson represent the French team.”

Rudolf pointed to the registration form on the left side of the gas tank and prepared to instruct the gas tank staff to prepare for the publicity.

Ring ring!

Rudolph's cell phone rang, interrupting their conversation, and she immediately answered the call.

"What's wrong?"

After watching Rudolf grunt and groan into the phone for a while, QiCao finally spoke up and asked a question after the call ended.

"...The favor I owed is now coming back to haunt me, and this is a bit of a problem."

Rudolf put away his phone with a sigh, then picked up the application form submitted by Toyama Hiiro from the table and examined it closely:

"Stardust Illusion asked me to give their team a chance."

"what?!"

The gas tank certainly knew the reason for Rudolf's predicament.

She had previously asked this rookie racer girl named Stardust Illusion for help regarding Oguri Hat, and had also said that she could come to her if she needed anything. That's why she's so conflicted now that the other party has come to her about the training exchange.

But the most crucial question is, why exactly does Stardust Illusion and her team want to communicate with Europe and America?

"Was it really Stardust Illusion who made the call? She doesn't seem like the type to blindly take on challenges. Isn't her goal the East Sea Emperor and the Classic Triple Crown?"

"It must have been something that Hikari Toyama said to her."

Rudolf sighed again, making this guess.

Hikari Toyama, the trainer, is usually a troublemaker at the academy, as her devilish training methods have driven away many racehorse girls.

Only one or two racehorse girls were able to resist her capricious demands and stay in the team, plus the recent rising star Stardust Illusion, which is why the team name was changed and they are ready to start over.

Furthermore, this trainer is not as upright as the others; he often resorts to unscrupulous means when dealing with matters.

What kind of spell did she cast on Stardust Illusion to make her agree to use her favor for this kind of thing?

Thinking about this, Rudolf couldn't help but start to get a headache.

She didn't want to interfere with the academy's operational decisions because of personal feelings, but she also didn't want to directly reject Stardust Illusion—after all, she not only owed her a favor, but judging from Stardust Illusion's attitude, she only wanted to compete against the French team...

How about this?

Qi Cao smiled as he looked at the troubled emperor before him.

She reached out and took all three application forms, then slammed them onto the desk in front of Rudolf, spreading them out in a single line, and continued:

"The French team will be here for another two weeks, right? Let's call all three teams over and let them discuss it amongst themselves to decide who will play."

"Anyway, you just said, President, that Stardust Illusion only asked you to give her a chance, so isn't it enough to put their team on the same starting line as Special and Rigil?"

Rudolf symbolized that after a moment's thought, he spread his hands and said:

"Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any major problems, but I always feel that Toyama Hikari's purpose isn't just this... I wonder if she'll pull some tricks later?"

"Then you, Chairman, should handle her," the gas tank replied immediately. "Tell her directly: 'You are not allowed to be disrespectful to the Central Committee!'"

"This meme isn't going away, is it?"

Chapter 40: The Battle for the French Team's Exchange Rights Begins!

"What's going on? Weren't we notified today that Team Rigil was coming to discuss an exchange and learning opportunity with the French team? That's why I made time to come."

Rigil's trainer, Hana Tojo, is a bespectacled, high-ponytail professional woman who is currently staring angrily at Ryu Nishizaki and Hiiro Toyama on the sofa in front of her.

"Why are you two here too? Wasn't it said that only one team could communicate?"

"This... I don't know either, Ahua."

Ryu Nishizaki, Team Spica's trainer, shrugged, equally clueless.

"That was your doing, Toyama Hiren! You're up to your old tricks again!!!"

With a loud thud, Tojo Hana slammed her fist on the wooden coffee table and pointed directly at Toyama Hiren, who was showing off her senbei (rice crackers).

The three of them had been classmates at the same trainer academy since their student days and were very familiar with each other.

Tojo Hana and Nishizaki Ryu are even closer, while Toyama Hikari has been a troublemaker since her student days, never doing things the way people expect.

At that moment, Tojo Hana realized something was wrong and immediately identified the culprit as Toyama Hikari.

She snorted coldly, leaned back on the sofa, and looked at the man and woman in front of her, issuing a warning:

"Whatever your plans are, Toyama Hikari."

"I'm warning you, exchanging ideas with the French team represents the glory of the entire Japanese horse racing world. You must be careful. Our team Rigil, whether active or retired, has the strongest honor in the entire school, so choosing us is the most reasonable decision."

"That's going too far... Ah Hua, our team isn't bad either, and Little Te even defeated that powerful family."

Nishizaki Ryu was somewhat helpless, but he had been receiving a lot of help from Tojo Hana recently, so he didn't have much confidence when he tried to refute her.

But Toyama Hikari was different. She laughed and pointed her finger directly at Tojo Hana's nose, raising her eyebrows provocatively and starting to make a face:

"Hahaha! Of course, it's Team Draco who wants to exchange and learn. Ahua, your team can practice on its own, right?"

"Or you can train with Aaron, since you two have been in cahoots for a long time anyway. I'll take care of the French team!"

Seeing Toyama Hikari's incredibly irritating expression, Tojo Hana clenched her fists, barely suppressing the urge to punch her.

She gritted her teeth and said, "Don't joke around. Draco only has two players who can practice and compete right now. One of them hasn't even debuted yet, and the other has only been a professional for a month. Is it possible for them to compete with the French team with this level of skill?"