After waiting five minutes for Hiroshima Baozha and Little Nankai to finish warming up, the friendly race officially began.
Just like the previous selection race, this one was also 1600 meters long, run on turf in a clockwise direction. Passing the Hishi Amazon cardboard cutout counted as crossing the finish line.
The race also drew the attention of a number of horse girls, who gathered around the outside to watch.
The four competitors stood at the starting line and lowered themselves into position.
At the start, Hayakawa Tazuna raised the starting pistol toward the sky.
"Three, two…"
Bang!
The race began, and all four horse girls sprang forward at once.
For the first few seconds they ran side by side, but before long the field began to spread out.
Daisy charged into the lead. She seemed to be using a frontrunner strategy, trying to widen the gap as much as possible from the very start. She went all-out immediately and quickly opened up a lead of three lengths over the pack.
Little Nankai ran in second, Happy Miko in third, and Urara in last.
By the second corner, Daisy was still accelerating, stretching her lead to five lengths. Little Nankai remained ahead of Happy Miko, though only by a small margin, while Urara stayed close on Happy Miko's heels.
At the third corner, Daisy—still in front—finally began to show signs of fatigue. She wiped the sweat from her brow, and her speed gradually started to fall, allowing the pack behind her to slowly reel her in.
Then came the final straight—the moment that would decide everything.
Happy Miko, who had been running at an even pace and conserving energy the whole time, swung out to the right and began accelerating, trying to overtake Little Nankai ahead of her.
"Little Nankai!" Hiroshima Baozha shouted.
Hearing her trainer's call, Little Nankai gave a small nod and also moved right, cutting off Happy Miko's path.
From then on, no matter which direction Happy Miko tried to take, Little Nankai adjusted accordingly and kept blocking her, preventing her from getting past.
Behind them, Urara wiped the sweat from her head and panted hard, still doing everything she could to cling to Happy Miko.
At the same time, Daisy's stamina was nearly gone. Sweat poured off her like rain onto the grass, and it was practically certain that the group behind would catch her.
But at that very moment, Gangmen Guantong shouted from the sidelines, "Go, Daisy!"
It was as if hearing her trainer's encouragement gave Daisy a second wind. She clenched her teeth and picked up speed again.
"Ahhh—!"
Because Daisy sped up again, the rate at which the others were closing the distance briefly slowed.
In the final 200 meters, Little Nankai and Happy Miko finally caught Daisy, and the three horse girls entered a fierce struggle for the finish.
Urara tried to join the battle too, but her strength simply was not enough. She still had some energy left, but in pure speed she could not match them, and could only watch helplessly as the other three charged toward the finish line.
The race was over.
The final ranking was: Little Nankai first, Daisy second by a head, Happy Miko third by a nose, and Urara last, two lengths behind.
"Heh, heh, heh."
The moment the result was announced, Hiroshima Baozha's mouth curled upward.
"Well, what can I say? I was already holding back, but I still accidentally took first place. Ah well, nothing to be done—this must be what the strength of a genius looks like."
He looked unbearably pleased with himself, as though he wanted to start dancing in front of everyone just to show off.
If Little Nankai had won by a wide margin instead of just barely scraping out the victory, he would have been even more insufferable.
"Well? Say something." Hiroshima Baozha raised an eyebrow at the crowd, clearly waiting to be praised.
Tang Han: …
Kiryuin Aoi: Um… congratulations…
Gangmen Guantong: Strong stuff, Brother Baozha.
"…"
"Tch…"
When the deafening cheers and applause he had imagined failed to arrive, Hiroshima Baozha pouted unhappily.
After a brief exchange, everyone headed onto the track to meet up with their own horse girls.
The four runners were already standing there, wiping away sweat with the towels Hayakawa Tazuna had given them, each lost in thought about the race they had just finished.
"Well done." Gangmen Guantong walked up to Daisy and gently patted her head.
"T-Trainer, please don't come so close…" Daisy took a few steps back, blushing as she covered her head.
"I'm covered in sweat right now. I smell bad."
"Hm?" Gangmen Guantong clearly didn't believe her, so he leaned in and sniffed.
"You don't smell bad at all. You actually smell nice."
He gave Daisy a bright, sunny smile.
"Ugh…" Daisy lowered her head, her face turning bright red.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
"How did this happen…" Kiryuin Aoi stared at the expressionless Happy Miko in front of her, sinking into self-doubt.
Happy Miko had been able to take first place in the selection race, so how was it that after several days of training under her, she had now lost to someone she had beaten before?
Could it be that her training methods were wrong?
Kiryuin Aoi pulled out her notebook and began trying to identify the problem.
Watching her distressed expression from nearby, Hiroshima Baozha could not help grinning.
He strolled over and said, "Miss Kiryuin, do you need my help?"
The moment she saw it was him, Kiryuin Aoi instinctively stepped back a few paces, then answered politely, "Hehe, thank you for the offer. I am a little confused right now, but I'd like to think things through on my own first, so I won't trouble you."
She doesn't want to trouble me = she cares about me = she likes me!
"All right, all right. If you need anything, just call me. I'll come running to help anytime," Hiroshima Baozha said cheerfully, full of swagger as he led Little Nankai away.
"Come on, Little Nankai. We're going back to training."
"But today is our day off…"
"So you're not going to listen to me? Don't you want to keep taking first place every single time?"
"…All right…"
Then there was Tang Han's side.
"Urara! You've become insanely strong!" Tang Han finally found Urara, unable to suppress his joy.
"Sorry, Trainer-san. Urara still couldn't get first…" Urara said sadly.
"But you did amazing, truly amazing!" Tang Han praised her from the bottom of his heart.
This time, Urara no longer hesitated at the start. She had learned how to distribute her stamina more reasonably, so she was no longer running out of strength before reaching the finish and losing the ability to make a final push.
And in the previous selection race, Urara had been six lengths behind the ninth-place finisher. Now she was only two lengths behind Happy Miko, who had taken third. Her improvement was astonishing.
Give her just a little more time, and she would absolutely become a horse girl capable of winning first place.
And at the rate she was improving—like a rocket blasting upward—that day would not be far off at all.
"That's right, Urara-chan, you were really great just now!" Saint Royal came over as well, deftly using a towel to wipe away Urara's sweat, her eyes sparkling.
She too had seen just how quickly Urara was improving. Although Urara was still far from someone like Saint Royal, who saw herself as top-class, she had once lagged far behind ordinary horse girls. Now she was already capable of contending with them. As Urara's self-appointed overprotective mother, Saint Royal felt overwhelmingly gratified.
And of course, Urara's progress could not possibly be separated from the efforts of her trainer.
Saint Royal stole a glance at Tang Han beside her.
This trainer was much more capable than she had first imagined, nothing like a rookie trainer at all. Aside from his timid refusal to show his face, he actually seemed far closer to the sort of first-rate trainer she had envisioned.
Most importantly, he was sincere toward Urara. No amount of money had managed to sway him. He was the first trainer Saint Royal had ever truly approved of.
She remembered how, back then, when Urara had invited her to join Tang Han's team, she had refused on the grounds that Tang Han was not a first-rate trainer.
Maybe now… she should reconsider?
"Really? Hehe~" Urara immediately brightened up after being praised, and all the sadness from finishing last vanished into thin air.
"Next time, Urara's definitely getting first!" she declared, holding up one finger toward Tang Han in an adorable little vow.
"I believe you," Tang Han said with a nod.
At this point, Tang Han's Doctor's Coat only had one week of time remaining.
Within that week, he had more than enough confidence to help Urara take first place.
Then it was decided.
One week from now—Urara's debut race.
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 138)
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 (Chapter155)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter172)
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 158
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 144
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 165
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 140
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 120
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 95
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 80
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 50
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 40
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 50
Still playing traditional Honk 30
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 27
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
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