While Doremi was still thinking about how to deal with Offside Trap, Air Groove was sitting on the sofa in the student council office, staring at Narita Brian in shock.
Even Symboli Rudolf, seated at the head of the room, looked displeased. Her face was dark and heavy, but it did not make Narita Brian yield in the slightest. The horse girl simply stood quietly opposite her, a stubborn set to her expression.
"For us, this is a crisis we have no choice but to overcome, isn't it?" Seeing the resolve in Narita Brian's eyes, Symboli Rudolf rubbed her temples with a pained look. "Brian, we need you right now."
"I…"
Narita Brian parted her lips, only for her gaze to drift to the flag hanging behind Symboli Rudolf. The banner of the student council made the refusal she had been about to give stop at her throat. Then she closed her eyes.
"Brian."
Symboli Rudolf's voice sounded just like it had back when she first invited her into the student council. Brian had never been interested in its day-to-day duties, but she had still possessed a sense of responsibility. At the very least, she had wanted to use her achievements and strength to win the council greater prestige.
Otherwise, she would never have joined in the first place.
Most people only remembered that Symboli Rudolf and Air Groove had done tremendous work within the student council, contributing greatly to the academy's growth and development. Few people ever mentioned that when Narita Brian joined bearing the glory of her Triple Crown, she too had elevated the student council's stature, both within the academy and beyond.
She had contributed to this place with her honors and accomplishments. Narita Brian did not think her contribution had been especially huge, but it had existed, had it not?
Then why, now, should the very things she had once offered up for this place be used to sacrifice her in return?
"My current strength can't support a race like this Japan Cup anymore. It's been a very long time since I last entered a truly serious race. You know perfectly well what our training has been like. Maruzensky would be more suitable than me."
"She…"
No matter what, the old student council—before Symboli Rudolf had taken over—had adamantly refused to let Maruzensky enter the Classic races or other G1 events. Why, then, would the Maruzensky of today step forward for their sake? Wasn't that the very reason she had always refused to join the student council?
"I can arrange one more blessing for you…"
"Don't lie to yourself, Rudolf." Narita Brian spoke bluntly, but Symboli Rudolf did not refute her. Air Groove, beside her, also turned her face away. "How much of a boost would a blessing even give me now? And how much extra strain would it put on my body?"
"The effects of blessings were never the same every time. I don't know whether the Three Goddesses themselves make subjective judgments, and I don't want to know. What I do know is that I don't want to enter this year's Japan Cup so hastily, with no real preparation and no real improvement."
As she spoke, Narita Brian's eyes began to redden.
She understood Symboli Rudolf's thinking. If she took part, then once the official Japan Cup entry list was announced, the confidence of Japanese fans would undoubtedly rise. And even if she lost later, people could still explain it away with injuries or form, perhaps even dress it up as a noble story of competing out of duty and responsibility.
But she did not want that.
The purpose of entering a race was to win. If victory was not the goal, then why enter at all?
Symboli Rudolf drew in a deep breath, still wanting to make one final attempt, when Air Groove finally spoke from the side.
"President."
"Hmm?"
"Let's leave it at that…"
Symboli Rudolf fell silent. She looked at Air Groove's face. The usually cold and composed horse girl now wore a complicated expression as she looked at the Symboli Rudolf she had always respected.
"We in the student council… I alone should be enough. You can arrange one more blessing for me…"
Air Groove understood what that meant.
She had originally intended to challenge for another G1 victory sometime in the first half of next year. But if she accepted yet another blessing, the burden would likely be so great that she would have no choice but to postpone her ambitions until after moving up to the Dream Trophy League.
The final stretch of her Twinkle Series career would most likely end with this Japan Cup—a race she could barely hope to win.
Symboli Rudolf lowered her eyes halfway, and at last nodded.
Setting aside ranks and positions, the two horse girls before her were also her friends. She could not refuse to respect their own wishes.
"Then—"
"Then I'll be going."
Narita Brian's sudden interjection cut off whatever Symboli Rudolf had been about to say. Perhaps the council president knew that what she had asked for earlier had been unfair, because she avoided Brian's eyes and merely nodded.
Narita Brian gave the two horse girls one last look. Then her gaze shifted to Air Groove. After everything she had endured recently, the usually stern horse girl looked slightly drained, yet when Brian looked at her, she still managed a faint smile.
Narita Brian inclined her head in gratitude, then turned and walked toward the door.
She pushed open the heavy entrance. At once, the darkened office behind her was flooded with the light from the corridor outside. The sunlight streaming through the windows in the hall was bright and clear—nothing like the dimness within that room.
For a brief moment she froze.
A figure in her line of sight tilted her head slightly and waved to her.
"You… you're back…"
The person standing there was none other than Tazuna Hayakawa, the chairwoman's secretary in her fitted green outfit, smiling warmly at her.
Compared to Symboli Rudolf's authority, the friendly, approachable secretary had always been unmatched in popularity throughout the academy. Even the chairwoman herself, if she personally appeared, could not compare.
Tazuna stepped aside and smiled.
"I actually came to see you."
The words at her ear made Narita Brian look up in surprise and meet Tazuna's eyes.
What gentle eyes they were.
Brian had met many gentle people in her life, but she had never seen eyes like Tazuna Hayakawa's—eyes like a clear spring, the kind that seemed to seep quietly into one's heart before you even noticed.
Her hand was already being taken, and Tazuna's voice carried a teasing lightness that made refusal impossible.
After giving the ponytail hanging from the back of her cap a little shake, Tazuna asked, "Do you want to talk here, or should we find somewhere quieter?"
"Somewhere else is fine."
After a moment's hesitation, Narita Brian followed after Tazuna as they headed out of the school building. The sunlight outside was pure and clean, utterly unlike anything one could feel inside that office.
As they walked toward the statues of the Three Goddesses, Tazuna began speaking in a mildly complaining tone.
"I was away in Europe for much longer than I expected this time. I really didn't think so much would change before I got back."
She had left Japan after the Takarazuka Kinen and only returned after the Autumn Tennōshō. For the chairwoman's secretary, that was indeed an unusually long absence.
Narita Brian said nothing. She only looked at Tazuna with growing puzzlement. What she really wanted to know was why someone who had been away so long had specifically come to see her.
Perhaps sensing the gaze behind her, Tazuna suddenly turned her head. Narita Brian instinctively halted.
"It was about the Japan Cup, wasn't it? What you were all discussing in there today—it was about the Japan Cup."
The office door was thick enough that nothing from inside could possibly be heard from outside.
Yet for a brief moment, Narita Brian genuinely suspected that when the room had been built, Tazuna must have secretly installed some hidden mechanism of her own—some little switch that let only her hear what was being said inside.
"Do you still want to race?"
Tazuna's abrupt question caught her off guard. Narita Brian first had to process it, and then her expression dimmed.
Though Tazuna Hayakawa had always been highly regarded throughout the academy, was she, when faced with this matter, going to think from the larger institutional perspective just as Symboli Rudolf had?
Narita Brian was just about to shake her head—
But then Tazuna lifted a hand and pressed a finger gently to her lips.
"There's no need to answer right away. In just a moment, you'll understand why I'm asking."
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 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin