"Norn, go!"
"Don't lose to Dust Bunny!"
Rudy Lemono and Mini the Lady were cheering for Norn Ace from the trackside.
As for Oguri Cap, she had exactly one girl cheering her on with all her heart—a brown-haired Umamusume with short, softly curled hair.
"Kitahara-san, who's that?"
Sakuraba found it a little surprising that someone was actually cheering for Oguri Cap.
"Mhm, Oguri's friend, Belno Light," Kitahara answered.
"Mmm..."
Sakuraba quietly watched Belno Light as she earnestly cheered Oguri Cap on.
Birds of a feather flock together, as they said.
From this girl called Belno Light, Sakuraba could sense a dense aura of total normalcy.
Mm, she looked like a very ordinary girl, with no sign at all that she might ever produce results...
Maybe investing in an ordinary Umamusume like her wouldn't be such a bad idea either.
No, no, no.
Sakuraba, you need to be careful. What if you misjudge again?
What if Belno Light was hiding some kind of untapped potential he didn't know about?
Be careful!
An Umamusume who looked this plain was exactly the kind you couldn't afford to underestimate!
What if she was some reborn Empress-type Umamusume or something?
Be careful!
As the stream of random nonsense running through Sakuraba's head continued, his eyes gradually grew sharper.
"Eek—!"
Being stared at by Sakuraba like that, Belno Light suddenly felt a chill run down her spine for no apparent reason.
By then, the runners on the track had just about finished warming up.
Standing at the starting line, Norn Ace looked completely at ease.
She didn't think there was any chance she would lose to Oguri Cap.
Sure, she didn't exactly take training all that seriously most of the time, but the difference in ability was obvious. How could she possibly lose to some Dust Bunny from the sticks like Oguri Cap?
By chance, she caught sight of Sakuraba standing at the edge of the track with his hands on his hips, and snorted inwardly.
Stupid investor. In a minute, I'm going to grind your investment target underfoot and make you pull the saddest little crying face imaginable!
And when that happens, I'll snap a picture of it. That ought to be hilarious.
While Norn Ace was making those little plans in her head, Oguri Cap, standing on the same track, quietly drew in a breath. Cool, fresh air filled her lungs, and the returning chill reached her brain, making the gray-haired girl's thoughts grow clearer and calmer.
This is the first time Sakuraba-san is watching me race.
I have to give him a victory.
Her focus slowly sharpened, until a tingling sensation like an electric shock ran up her spine and made her whole body tremble.
"Rudy, look. What's Dust Bunny shaking for?"
"No idea. Maybe Norn scared her."
"No way. That'd be way too lame."
While Rudy Lemono and Mini the Lady chatted idly, the race began.
The instant the starting signal sounded, the Umamusume in the practice race sprang forward all at once.
No one made a mistake. Every runner got off cleanly.
The girls on the track all displayed fairly polished running form. To the casual eye, they looked the part.
"Oho, it's started."
Sakuraba watched the Umamusume run with keen interest.
It was his first time seeing an Umamusume race in person. To be honest, he had never cared much about Umamusume before. Back then, all his attention had gone into figuring out how to make his idol group famous. Coming to watch Umamusume race live had been out of the question.
But now that he was seeing it for himself, Sakuraba found himself entertaining a somewhat delicate thought.
"This really isn't suitable for children... tsk, tsk, tsk."
What first caught Sakuraba's eye as the Umamusume ran across the track was the extremely obvious way the soft curves under their tight athletic wear shifted and bounced with every movement.
He was an adult. He knew perfectly well what counted as unsuitable for children.
Sakuraba declared that this was definitely R-rated.
Most Umamusume were pretty girls to begin with, so Sakuraba was honestly enjoying the view.
Still, wasn't this a little unfair to the Umamusume who weren't as well-endowed?
Then again, from another angle, didn't Umamusume with smaller chests run a little faster...?
Had they traded appearance points for strength?
Interesting. What a dark bargain that was...
"Sakuraba-san, look! Oguri's making her move!"
While Sakuraba was off in his own thoughts, Kitahara cut in from beside him.
Sakuraba looked up and saw that Oguri Cap, currently running in the middle of the pack, was being closely chased by Norn Ace.
Norn Ace looked like she was working hard to maintain her speed, the heavy swaying in front of her bouncing rapidly with each stride.
So there really was a reason gyarus showed up so often in those little doujins.
"Big is Best."
But was it really?
Meh, hard to say.
Then, in the next instant, Oguri Cap moved!
She took one fierce step forward, her racing shoe sinking deep into the dirt track—and in the very next moment, she shot out like a bullet!
"Go, Oguri!"
Kitahara shouted at the top of his lungs, completely failing to notice that right beside him, his employer's face had turned unbelievably awful.
Holy shit!
No, wait!
No no no no no no!
Holy shit?!
She can go that fast???
Oguri Cap, in an absurdly relaxed manner, instantly opened up the gap between herself and Norn Ace and took first place!
Off to the side, Rudy Lemono and Mini the Lady had already gone wide-eyed in shock at Oguri Cap's performance.
And Sakuraba himself was just as dumbstruck.
Wasn't it supposed to be that gray-haired Umamusume couldn't run fast?
Damn it!
Kitahara!! You've ruined my grand plan—!!
Sakuraba immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
No, seriously, what were you supposed to do when the money-losing star you'd personally chosen turned traitor?
Wait. If Oguri Cap wasn't the dud, then that meant everything Kitahara had said before was true.
Oguri Cap was actually unexpectedly amazing.
And Kitahara's judgment hadn't been off at all... his eye was legit...
Then who was the dud?
Who was it that had led things to this point?
"Hngh, hngh, hngh, aaagh—"
I'm not the dud—!
Amid Sakuraba's grief-stricken screams in his heart, Oguri Cap crossed the finish line and claimed victory without a shred of suspense.
At the finish line stood the gray-haired Umamusume, her long silver hair streaming in the wind.
Anyone watching that scene—any Trainer at all—would have thought she looked absolutely gallant.
Anyone, that is, except for one investor, whose face looked like he was wearing a mask of agony.
Oguri Cap had won.
Belno Light was happy for her friend's victory.
Kitahara was exhilarated to have produced results.
And only one person was quietly falling apart.
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T/N: NO!! NO!!!!! I CANT!!! THIS CANT BEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!