After going back and forth several times, Xingyun Liuge and Chihaya Yui finally came to an agreement:
Chihaya Yui would work hard to qualify for the Central circuit, and in the meantime, the two of them would submit the necessary paperwork immediately, so they would not truly miss the Classic season.
Every horse girl only had one chance in her life to challenge the Classic Triple Crown. If a girl simply was not strong enough, then fine—she could just take things step by step.
But Xingyun Liuge clearly had the strength to challenge the Classic Triple Crown. She might even be able to go for an undefeated Triple Crown, perhaps even the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
There was no way they could let this chance slip away.
If they missed it, Chihaya Yui knew she would never forgive herself for the rest of her life.
So she threw herself into the task with extraordinary vigor.
Only after preparing all the necessary documents and mailing them off to the Central Horse Girl Association did Chihaya Yui finally let out a breath of relief. Then, in a tone that sounded almost like a complaint, she said:
"I really am grateful for your trust, Luka, but this is a crucial decision that affects your shining future. I want you to be more careful with things like this, and not act on impulse."
At first glance, it sounded like a stern lecture.
But in truth, every word was filled with concern and gratitude.
She was profoundly thankful for Xingyun Liuge's trust, and wanted to give more and more back to her horse girl in return.
She was only a rookie, fresh out of the gate.
What had she ever done to deserve being valued so highly by such an extraordinary horse girl?
If she did not repay Xingyun Liuge properly, that simply would not do.
Even though the two of them would most likely be separated very soon…
A faint sadness flickered across Chihaya Yui's heart, but it passed just as quickly. She felt she should not dwell on sorrowful things. What she ought to do was give her all in supporting her horse girl.
What Chihaya Yui did not know, however, was that all of this had been part of Xingyun Liuge's plan from the beginning.
She was a woman who intended to race every little horse girl into tears.
How could she possibly linger forever on the local circuit?
Of course, her wish to repay Chihaya Yui's kindness was absolutely sincere. Without Chihaya Yui, she never would have gotten into Kasamatsu Tracen in the first place, much less set foot on the track.
If she was going to the Central circuit, Xingyun Liuge wanted to bring Chihaya Yui along with her.
But if she had only said that outright, it surely would have wounded the girl's drive to improve herself. That was why Xingyun Liuge had pulled and pushed the conversation the way she had—to thoroughly ignite Chihaya Yui's determination.
Beyond that, there was another very important reason:
Xingyun Liuge had a feeling this journey to the Central circuit would not go smoothly.
But do not misunderstand.
Xingyun Liuge did not think she would lose to anyone.
On that point alone, she had absolute faith in herself.
The problem was this:
What if what stood in her way was not the race schedule, and not the other racers—
but something else entirely?
A certain "expert" had once said:
Victory and defeat are not always decided on the board itself. Sometimes they are decided outside the board.
And that meant—
the rules.
After winning her debut race in clean, decisive fashion, Xingyun Liuge had used the chairwoman's connections to investigate some information, and what she found was this:
The race regulations set by the Central circuit were extraordinarily rigid.
And that rigidity was bad news for her.
Take the Classic season as an example.
On paper, the registration requirements were these: the horse girl herself had to be registered in the Central circuit, then apply once in October of the year before the Classic season, once again in January of the Classic year, and finally once more half a month before the target race. These three steps together were referred to as Classic Registration.
Translated into Xingyun Liuge's case, that meant she would have needed to register once last October, once this January, and then again half a month before the Classic race she wanted to enter. Only after completing all three steps would she even have a chance to compete for the Classic Triple Crown.
But even that was nowhere near enough.
The first leg of the Classic Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho, allowed a maximum of only eighteen horse girls to enter. Regional horse girls did not even have the资格 to register as they were—they first had to re-register under the Central circuit.
And even that was not the end of it.
Entry priority was determined by the amount of prize money the horse girls had earned in Central races, ranked from highest to lowest.
In other words, if Xingyun Liuge arrived in the Central circuit too late and had not won enough prize money there, then her registration priority would be too low, and she still would not be able to enter the Satsuki Sho.
The only possible breakthrough lay in the eight special priority-entry slots available through the prep races:
top three in the Yayoi Sho, top two in the Wakaba Stakes, and top three in the Spring Stakes.
But the reason a breakthrough could be a breakthrough at all was because it only applied if your Classic Registration was already valid.
That was the part Xingyun Liuge cared about most.
Last October?
She had not even hit the jackpot and transmigrated yet!
If Xingyun Liuge had read the story of Gray-Haired Cinderella, then she would not have needed to worry about this.
In the original story, Oguri Cap had been blocked by the JRA on exactly this point of Classic Registration. Even after earning enough prize money, and even with journalists stirring up public opinion on her behalf, the JRA still refused to budge. As a result, Oguri Cap lost her chance to compete for the Classic Triple Crown.
Because she did not know any of that, Xingyun Liuge had confidently gone all-out in local races, crushing other horse girls by huge margins. She wanted to use her results to force the JRA to acknowledge her, and thereby win the right to contend for the Classic Triple Crown.
Of course, she was not naïve enough to place all her hopes in the JRA's flexibility.
She had long since heard that Japanese thinking tended to be rigid and inflexible.
Japan had a Classic Triple Crown—
but did nowhere else in the world have one too?
She had already made preparations to go win her way onto the Road to Kentucky, then challenge the American Triple Crown instead:
starting in early May, ending in early June, running the entire American Triple Crown in just forty days—
and then calmly watching the storm erupt afterward.
If her calculations were correct, then once she returned with the American Triple Crown in hand, the JRA would be forced into an emergency revision of its entry rules, and would practically beg her to come back and run in the Kikka Sho.
And then…
she would be able to say:
"However, I refuse."
All Xingyun Liuge really wanted was to happily run in the Classic Triple Crown, then head over to England and America to crush other little horse girls' Triple Crown dreams. But if the JRA would not play nice, then she would simply go to America.
If not for the scheduling conflict between the British Triple Crown and the American Triple Crown, she would honestly have liked to do both.
Thinking that, Xingyun Liuge began kneading Chihaya Yui's shoulders while urging her to study seriously.
Chihaya Yui felt her scalp go numb on the spot.
She had only just finished getting certified—how was it already time to start cramming for another exam again?
This was way too much!
And yet, she truly did want to go to the Central circuit together with Xingyun Liuge.
She wanted to see Xingyun Liuge galloping magnificently over Central turf.
Even if she, too, was fully aware of the Classic Registration problem.
Without telling Xingyun Liuge, Chihaya Yui secretly sent a letter to the Central Tracen Student Council, placing her hopes on the Emperor.
After all, there was always that saying people repeated in the streets:
"As Student Council President, my power is unlimited."
If it was the Emperor, surely she would be willing to extend a hand to a horse girl blessed with such extraordinary talent.
Thinking of that, Chihaya Yui took the initiative and urged:
"I'm already working hard, so Luka can't slack off either. It wouldn't do for you to stumble in the Junior Crown Cup."
It was only a teasing remark.
Chihaya Yui did not actually believe Xingyun Liuge would lose.
Xingyun Liuge felt exactly the same way. She increased the pressure of her hands on Yui's shoulders and declared:
"Me, lose? Don't get it twisted. They're the challengers."
"Ow, ow, ow! Mercy! Mercy!"
The girls' laughter drifted up over Kasamatsu, and everything felt perfectly harmonious.
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
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 26
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