The night deepened.
Parisian nights never truly fell silent.
Neon lights shone brilliantly, dyeing the entire city until it seemed as bright as day.
At the gate of France Tracen Academy, the car door opened. Though it was nearly midnight, the car had returned safely.
"Miss Dancing Brave, we'll be heading back first."
The driver bid Dancing Brave farewell. Once Dancing Brave nodded, the engines roared, and the motorcade disappeared into the night.
Watching the cars vanish, Dancing Brave lowered her eyes and glanced at the time on her watch.
Ten o'clock sharp.
Kuroha and the others had arrived a little late, and the airport was some distance from the Grand Estate of Chantilly. The estate itself was also some distance away from Tracen Academy.
As a result, she had returned much later than expected.
"Still, I suppose there was some gain."
Recalling the astonishing aura she had sensed at the airport, Dancing Brave could not help sighing.
"I hope she's the only one. Otherwise, this year will be difficult for Hidé."
Walking through the gate of Tracen Academy, Dancing Brave paused. After a moment's hesitation, she did not head toward the dormitories.
Instead, she turned and walked straight toward the campus gymnasium building.
The campus at night was very quiet, with only the streetlights casting dim yellow halos over the paths.
After all, most of the Uma Musume at the academy would still have to wake early for morning training the next day.
Because of that, at this hour, even the most diligent Uma Musume would usually have already bathed, put on pajamas, and prepared to sleep.
Dancing Brave walked at an unhurried pace, her ponytail swaying lightly with each step. The purple in it occasionally flashed with a faint gleam under the lights.
The outline of the gymnasium gradually became clear.
At this hour, most of the windows in the gym building were dark. Only one room still had its lights on, making it particularly eye-catching in the night.
"That Hidé... Night training again."
The corner of Dancing Brave's mouth twitched.
She walked straight into the building, followed the familiar route to the lit room, and pushed the door open.
"Good evening, Dancing Brave-nee."
A bright voice suddenly rang out.
The person inside did not turn around, yet she seemed to have known all along that it was Dancing Brave.
Dancing Brave shut the door behind her, then scolded her in annoyance. "Secretly training at night again? Training requires a balance between work and rest. How many times have I told you that?"
In the corner of the room, a treadmill was running, and a beautiful dark-skinned girl was jogging lightly on it.
The girl wore a black sports bra and fitted shorts. Her posture was upright, her curves striking, and her long legs gleamed with healthy luster under the lights.
As she jogged, a bead of sweat slid down her neck, followed the line of her back, and disappeared at her waist.
She was an Uma Musume who radiated youthful energy from head to toe.
"Hehe, I'm only jogging. I absolutely didn't force myself to do strength training."
After being scolded by Dancing Brave, the dark-skinned girl scratched her head in some embarrassment, then immediately put on a proper expression.
"Staying in the dorm was just too boring, so I came here to relax a little."
"...I swear, you're impossible."
Dancing Brave looked at the junior acting cute in front of her and had no idea what to say.
"Oh, right, nee, you came back really late tonight."
Seeing that Dancing Brave seemed about to continue lecturing her, the dark-skinned girl immediately changed the subject.
"..."
When facing her own junior, Dancing Brave was clearly much more casual. She rolled her eyes, then only spoke slowly after a long pause.
"I talked a little longer at the airport. You know what Émond is like. He talks too much."
"Mm. People at those occasions are always the most boring!"
The dark-skinned girl nodded, casually picked up the towel draped nearby, and wiped the sweat from her neck.
Then she looked at Dancing Brave and said softly, "Thank you for your hard work, Dancing Brave-nee. You've been running around for me this whole time."
That gentle expression was completely different from the earlier girl who had insisted she was only relaxing.
She knew that during this period, Dancing Brave had personally contacted almost every foreign trainer and Uma Musume arriving in France for the sake of planning her races this year.
Every time an expedition team arrived, Dancing Brave would personally go there and use her own eyes to assess the quality of those potential opponents for her.
She had never mentioned any of these things in front of her.
The brown-haired girl paused when she heard that, then smiled.
"If you think I've worked hard, then stop being so willful in the future."
She reached out and rapped the dark-skinned girl lightly on the head. "Be a little more obedient."
"Ugh..."
The dark-skinned girl puffed out her cheeks, her eyes drifting toward the ceiling as she whistled.
"Honestly, you..."
Dancing Brave rubbed her temples with a headache.
Seeing that, the dark-skinned girl giggled, slung the towel over her shoulder, and sat cross-legged on a nearby yoga mat. Then she asked curiously, "So, how was the one who came this time? I heard she's from the same Tracen Academy as that Oguri from last year, and that she's the strongest Uma Musume of Tracen's current generation."
Hearing that, Dancing Brave thought for a while before answering, "She is different from the other Uma Musume who only have empty reputations."
"That Mejiro McQueen who arrived this time deserves that title."
"Oh?"
The dark-skinned girl raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly. "How so?"
Dancing Brave thought for a moment, then said, "I have not watched her recent training, nor have I seen her race at full strength."
"Because of that, I can only judge based on her presence and my own intuition."
"If she were placed against me during my peak..."
She raised her eyes and looked directly at the dark-skinned girl before her, saying in a low voice, "She would absolutely be an opponent capable of threatening me."
The gym fell quiet for an instant.
The dark-skinned girl stared blankly at Dancing Brave, blinked twice, then exaggeratedly covered her mouth.
"Whoa. She could actually threaten you, Dancing Brave-nee?"
"...Stop joking around."
Expressionless, Dancing Brave rapped her on the head again.
"Ow!"
The dark-skinned girl clutched her head and crouched down, but the smile on her face could not be hidden no matter what.
Dancing Brave looked at her like that, sighed, and said, "In any case, she is absolutely a powerful rival on your journey this year. You need to take her seriously. Understand?"
"I know, Dancing Brave-nee. Don't worry!"
The dark-skinned girl stood up, swaying her head, then patted her exceedingly generous chest, immediately sending up an impressive ripple.
"Even if that Mejiro McQueen is the so-called strongest Uma Musume of Tracen's current generation, I'm also the strongest Uma Musume of France's current generation."
After saying that, she paused for some reason, and the aura around her suddenly changed.
It was as if, from the body of a mischievous kitten, the king of beasts had suddenly burst forth.
Her voice turned clear and cold as she said, "No matter who it is."
"No matter how many of them there are."
"Their fate has only one end."
"And that is to be defeated beneath the iron hooves of me, Hidé Dancer!"
At that moment, the dark-skinned girl named Hidé Dancer was filled with raw aggression, and a light was beginning to awaken in her eyes.
It was a radiance as brilliant as a star.
It ignited deep within her pupils, instantly lighting up both her eyes.
Boom!
Then, as if endless streams of Domain light had suddenly been born from the void, they rampaged through the gym.
But after only a few seconds, that astonishing pressure quickly faded.
Hidé Dancer clasped her hands behind her back and looked at Dancing Brave with a giggling smile. "So you can rest completely easy, Dancing Brave-nee."
"...All right."
Dancing Brave fell silent for an instant, then nodded and turned to leave. But when she gripped the doorknob, she turned her head again and said, "Don't stay too late. Understand?"
"I know, I know."
The girl's clear reply came from behind her.
...
Outside the gymnasium building, Dancing Brave walked out.
After only a few steps, however, she inexplicably stopped in place.
First, she subconsciously looked toward the room where the light was still on. Then her eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked toward one direction in the sky.
That was the direction of the Grand Estate of Chantilly.
"Mejiro... McQueen..."
For some reason, that junior gave her a feeling that was always... strangely hard to describe.
After pondering for a long while, Dancing Brave still shook her head.
"Forget it. My era ended long ago. I should focus on properly training my own team."
(End of Chapter)
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