The first thing Royal Anthem did after arriving at Epsom Racecourse was ask around for the lodgings of her main rivals.
If she could find out their room numbers, then she would be able to keep track of their movements in real time, and observing their training would become much easier.
Her expression slightly cold, Royal Anthem stood at the hotel front desk and asked with complete seriousness.
Cecil let her do as she pleased. In any case, he knew she was never going to get a useful answer. He simply treated it as one of her episodes again. By now, as the trainer of a girl prone to all sorts of wild, off-the-wall ideas, he was long accustomed to it.
And just as he expected, the receptionist only wore a polite, refusing smile and never answered no matter how many times Royal Anthem asked.
"Why won't you answer me?!"
Royal Anthem was starting to get anxious. That very night, she had intended to put her plan into action and get a proper look at what her opponents were doing after hours. As diligent as she was, she wanted both to analyze their technical traits and to learn what unique training philosophies other trainers might be using.
"I'm sorry, but we can't disclose our guests' information."
"Guests?" Royal Anthem froze for a second, then very seriously corrected the receptionist's wording. "Wrong. They're enemies."
"..."
The receptionist went speechless.
When the woman curled her lip, Royal Anthem caught the expression perfectly. She had never imagined she would one day be looked at with such naked disdain.
"What kind of look is that? Do you know who I am?"
"Sorry. I don't recognize you at all."
Royal Anthem's expression froze.
She was the third favorite for the Coronation Cup, the horse girl whose support rate came closest to those top two.
At that point, the receptionist's patience finally ran out. Her gaze sharpened as she looked toward Cecil, who was still finishing the last of the check-in paperwork.
That look said it all:
Control your horse girl.
Even without words, Cecil understood.
He sighed and nodded helplessly. Looking at Royal Anthem, who was still muttering to herself, he knew this was the one thing about her that really gave him headaches.
"Enough, Royal Anthem."
Cecil carried a natural air of authority when he got serious. Though he normally looked refined and easygoing, once he put on that stern demeanor, he was genuinely intimidating.
Unfortunately, it did not work on Royal Anthem at all.
She continued glaring, clearly unable to accept this answer. Then she turned back toward Cecil, her face full of grievance.
"Trainer, tell me—is she deliberately trying to upset me so she doesn't have to tell me where they're staying?"
Cecil nearly laughed.
How did his horse girl manage to be so unreasonable and still make him want to laugh this much?
The receptionist across from Royal Anthem was wearing an equally odd expression. She looked like she was one tiny step away from laughing outright, but somehow managed to hold it in.
"Tonight's dinner was really good."
A voice suddenly came from behind them.
Royal Anthem's face changed at once.
Cecil's brows twitched too, and he turned.
Sure enough, it was Bally. The man paused for a moment when he saw Cecil, then nodded in greeting. Spotting the vigilance written all over Royal Anthem's face, he chose not to go any closer.
There had been some rumor floating around—apparently from a British journalist who had interviewed Royal Anthem in person.
"Royal Anthem is crazy. She's only missing the actual diagnosis."
Obviously, that was an absurd exaggeration and not something anyone should fully trust. But the fact that such a rumor had spread unchecked did suggest that Royal Anthem's personality was, at the very least, difficult.
Dolce, meanwhile, studied Royal Anthem with clear interest.
This girl gave her a dangerous feeling.
Her record up to now was not that impressive, yet she had still earned the fans' approval purely on the strength of her form. That likely meant she really was strong.
Dolce was not about to let her guard down.
She decided then and there that besides Offside Trap, she would be keeping close watch on Royal Anthem as well over the next few days—her training, her behavior, all of it—and analyze everything.
Unaware that her thoughts happened to align perfectly with her rival's, Royal Anthem and Dolce stared at one another with equally unreadable expressions.
Only Good Dream shivered and instinctively edged farther away from Dolce.
She could not tell exactly what Dolce was thinking—but she did know that whenever Dolce gave off this sort of feeling, it usually meant nothing good.
As for Offside Trap, she was still discussing how delicious dinner had been with Shinji. She had not noticed Royal Anthem at all.
It was only when Shinji came to a stop that she finally looked around and realized another competitor—and her trainer—had arrived that day.
"Royal Anthem."
Shinji's quiet murmur in her ear made the girl nod. Only then did she understand who the other girl was.
No wonder she carried that sort of presence—a pressure only horse girls, or extremely perceptive top trainers, could probably feel. As one of the unquestionably strongest rivals in this field, Offside Trap's expression turned more serious.
"Good Dream!"
Royal Anthem recognized Good Dream. She had already caught the girl's evasive look, but showed no sign of restraint. Instead, she called out again at full volume:
"What room are you in?"
"That lunatic..." Good Dream muttered under her breath, and Dolce, hearing it clearly, nodded in agreement.
From Royal Anthem's behavior so far, it was obvious she was not exactly normal.
"I don't know!"
Good Dream's answer made her refusal perfectly clear. But Royal Anthem only stared at her stubbornly and took several steps closer.
Her obstinacy was bordering on obsession—though perhaps it was precisely that abnormal persistence that had brought her so close to the level of a truly first-rate horse girl.
Seeing the look of exasperation spreading across Good Dream's face, Shinji remained unbothered.
He and Offside Trap were probably the least afraid of anyone watching their training or figuring out their tendencies. The way Offside Trap improved guaranteed that she had no reason to fear scrutiny from anyone.
This was a very rude horse girl, Shinji judged.
But at the same time, he also judged her to be the kind who won races.
"Looks like we're in for some harassment over the next few days."
He said it jokingly to Offside Trap.
The girl blinked, then smiled faintly and nodded without concern.
"Let her come."
"I'll win anyway."
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 165)
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 (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
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 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
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 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin