To be fair, Norn Ace was not bad-looking at all. Her hairstyle was cute, and her figure was impressive too.
But Xingyun Liuge's honest assessment was:
She's small fry.
In order to calculate her true level as accurately as possible, after struggling with every trick she had to beat a simulation opponent, Xingyun Liuge would run the same matchup again without using any skills, just to see how strong she really was on pure ability alone.
Unfortunately for Norn Ace, in Xingyun Liuge's eyes, she belonged squarely in the category of opponents you could beat once and then keep beating forever.
Even without using a single skill, Xingyun Liuge could defeat Norn Ace at her peak.
"Hey, what's with that look? That's seriously rude, you know."
A horse girl's instincts were extremely sharp. Norn Ace narrowed her eyes on the spot. She had the distinct feeling she was being looked down on as some kind of scrub, and her tone immediately turned nasty.
"You're a new face. Who exactly are you supposed to be?"
Although Norn Ace really was a bit of a slacker, that was not just her own personal problem. Most local horse girls were like this.
Monsters like Haysack—who rose all the way from the regional circuit to the Central League—were vanishingly rare. Most local horse girls would spend their entire lives muddling through in the regional scene. Even if a rare local genius managed to seize an opportunity and challenge the Central circuit once, she would usually be crushed so thoroughly by the Central horse girls that she would slink back home to the regional tracks in defeat.
Oh, so you are a local champion and think you are strong?
Heh. That "talent" of yours is nothing more than a stepping stone before true prodigies. If you never push yourself and try, you will never understand just how hopeless reality really is.
As time passed, local horse girls gradually gave up on the dream of overturning the Central scene. They spent their whole lives circling regional dirt tracks, or simply gave up and coasted.
After all, if they could not win major races or become famous, then why bother working so hard?
Besides, as long as finishing in the top five still earned prize money, then why not just stay on the local circuit? There would always be horse girls in this world who just wanted to drift through life.
So why could that not be them?
Norn Ace was one of that sort.
But that did not mean she was willing to be looked down on.
Did people really think every horse girl was good-tempered? Not to mention, she was a horse girl who had actually been chosen by a trainer. She had the right to step onto the track and compete for placements with other horse girls.
"No, not at all. I wasn't thinking anything. Anyway, my name is Xingyun Liuge. I usually stay in the dorm, so it makes sense that we don't know each other. What's your name?"
Xingyun Liuge waved her hand, indicating she had no particular thoughts at all. In her own opinion, she was being quite polite.
Norn Ace was not satisfied in the slightest.
She had her own social circle, and she was one of the people at the top of it. How could she swallow this kind of insult? On top of that, she had never even heard the name Xingyun Liuge before.
She—a horse girl with a trainer—had just been looked down on by some horse girl she had never met before, and one who did not even have a trainer.
Who could endure that?
How could Norn Ace tell Xingyun Liuge did not have a trainer?
Because their shoes were different.
As a horse girl, she could tell at a glance that Xingyun Liuge's shoes were not the kind horse girls were supposed to wear. A horse girl with a trainer would never make that sort of mistake.
Forget taking a step back.
The more she stood there thinking about it, the angrier she got.
"Hey, I'm talking to you…"
Norn Ace was just about to start putting pressure on Xingyun Liuge.
"What's going on here? No fighting."
Chihaya Yui happened to be passing by. Seeing the two horse girls confronting each other, she immediately stepped in.
"Norn, and… Xingyun Liuge?"
She still remembered the name of the gray horse girl she had helped before.
"Ah, Miss Chihaya, hello."
The moment she saw Chihaya Yui, Xingyun Liuge's attitude clearly brightened.
She had been looking for a trainer, and Chihaya Yui had a trainer's license.
Wasn't this exactly like being handed a pillow when she was feeling sleepy?
There was also another important reason:
Whether as a given name or a surname, Chihaya sounded very beautiful, and Xingyun Liuge liked it a lot. She even felt that this was the trainer fate itself had delivered to her.
Norn Ace also remembered Chihaya Yui. She was one of only five trainers at Kasamatsu Tracen. But since Chihaya had only just graduated, Norn Ace had not chosen her as her trainer. Instead, she had chosen Kawamura Hiyori, a blonde female trainer.
"So you two know each other? Well, whatever. I'm telling you, this girl has zero manners. I was just going to teach her how to respect her seniors."
Norn Ace claimed she meant no harm, but her tone was rude no matter how one listened to it.
Chihaya Yui did not simply accept Norn Ace's side of the story.
"But Norn, you have not debuted either. And Xingyun Liuge was already at the school two days before term started, so no matter how you look at it, she is not your junior."
Just as the two sides reached a deadlock, Xingyun Liuge took the initiative and suggested:
"How about this? Let's settle it the horse girl way."
The horse girl way?
Of course Xingyun Liuge had only been a horse girl for a few days, so she had no idea what that actually meant. She just thought that running could solve the little friction between her and Norn Ace.
Even without proper horse girl running shoes, she still felt she could win easily.
When Norn Ace heard Xingyun Liuge openly issue a challenge, she reacted as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. She clutched her stomach and burst into laughter, nearly laughing herself into a coughing fit.
"Haha—what are you even saying? Hah—cough. Trainer Chihaya, you heard that, right? She said it herself. It is not me bullying her."
What kind of horse girl challenged an actual racer without even knowing what proper racing shoes were?
Norn Ace planted her hands on her hips confidently.
"Ahem. Go change your shoes first. Don't go saying later that I was bullying you."
A slacker was still a slacker, sure. But there were only so many promising racers in all of Kasamatsu Tracen. If Fujimasa March showed up, Norn Ace would feel pressured enough to back down.
But if it was anyone else…
Heh. She only wanted to laugh.
Unfortunately, Xingyun Liuge had no shoes to change into.
So she answered honestly:
"This is the only pair I have. I do not have anything else to change into. Aren't they all basically the same?"
When Chihaya Yui heard that, all she wanted was to stop this utterly meaningless race.
For horse girls, who could reach speeds of dozens of kilometers per hour, running was no joke. If someone fell, a fracture would be the least of it—they could very well die on the spot.
And Xingyun Liuge was not even wearing racing shoes.
That was genuinely dangerous.
But Xingyun Liuge seemed to understand none of this. She went right ahead and arranged the race with Norn Ace on her own, looking thoroughly interested the whole time.
Norn Ace, meanwhile, thought Xingyun Liuge was just a fledgling little filly who knew nothing at all. She had decided to use an overwhelming difference in ability to teach Xingyun Liuge what true despair felt like.
The match between the two quickly attracted the attention of the other horse girls and trainers.
One after another, people gathered along one side of the training grounds, wanting a closer look at the spectacle.
This kind of entertainment was rare.
"A race? Norn and some horse girl I do not recognize?"
"Seriously? I had no idea Norn was this motivated."
"Hey, Norn! Crush her!"
In the end, Chihaya Yui refused to serve as referee. All she wanted was to persuade the two of them to make peace. The problem was, even if she refused, there were plenty of others eager to officiate, so she had no way to stop the race from happening.
Left with no choice, she could only find a pair of running shoes in the right size and have Xingyun Liuge wear them while the two changed into their gym uniforms.
Inside the changing room, Chihaya Yui still could not understand it.
"Xingyun Liuge, why do you want to run? There is no need for this at all. And just a little while ago, you were still in a wheelchair."
She was deeply worried.
Xingyun Liuge, who was busy adjusting to the running shoes, blinked and walked over to Chihaya Yui. Then she rose onto her toes, cupped Chihaya Yui's face in both hands, and smiled.
"It's okay. I'm completely recovered now. In fact, thanks to you, Miss Chihaya, I'm in better condition than ever before. Really, it's okay."
"It's not about whether you win or lose…"
Suddenly having such a cute horse girl come so close threw Chihaya Yui off balance. She felt nervous, and inexplicably flustered too. Instinctively, she turned her gaze aside.
What Chihaya Yui cared about was not the result of the race.
She simply believed there was no need for the two of them to race in the first place.
"Miss Chihaya wants to know why I'm racing Norn Ace, right?"
Seeing Chihaya Yui avert her eyes—and even tense up all over—Xingyun Liuge found it a little amusing. She deliberately used her words to draw Chihaya Yui's attention back.
Chihaya Yui looked over unconsciously.
And what she saw was the girl's radiant smile.
Then she heard Xingyun Liuge say:
"Then witness it with your own eyes."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter100)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 60
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 50
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 50
The Way the Umamusume Look at 31
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 26
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