Had Teio just confessed to him?
Kitahara only remembered it after he and Tokai Teio parted.
It was not that he was especially dense. At first, he had actually understood what had happened.
But afterward, Tokai Teio's cold joke had genuinely scared him into a cold sweat.
No joke. One Rudolf alone could make the average temperature inside Tracen Academy drop by ten degrees.
If there was another one, they might recreate the Ice Age outright.
As for why Tokai Teio had simply left, it was not because she did not want to be more affectionate with Kitahara.
It was just that, for what came next, she needed to make preparations.
And as for what exactly had come to her while she was with Kitahara, and what she planned to do...
"Trainer-san, I want you to train me with everything you have from now on."
That was Tokai Teio's request.
Kitahara did not refuse.
Just as he had said, no matter what Tokai Teio asked of him, he would give her all his support and trust.
...Of course, Umapyoing was a separate matter.
As for Tokai Teio's plan...
"Mayano, did you know? Beings like Umamusume have a 'limit.'"
In the dorm, Tokai Teio lifted one hand, an orange flame burning at her fingertip.
Across from her, Mayano blinked, hugging a pillow.
"Is that some kind of magic trick? And what do you mean by limit?"
"No. This isn't magic. It's part of 'me.'"
Tokai Teio snapped her fingers, and the flame vanished. Then she turned to look out the window, at the Umamusume coming and going around campus.
"As for the limit, it's a restriction the Three Goddesses set to ensure the stability of Umamusume."
The human body had limits. That was a very scientific fact.
And because Umamusume did not look much different from humans, people had never questioned the matter of their limits either.
But was that truly the case?
Tokai Teio had once thought so, but not anymore.
Because she had truly, unmistakably touched that "line."
She was a genius to begin with, and after Kitahara's conditioning, however slight the gain, she had still reached a "limit" ordinary Umamusume could never touch in their entire lives.
And she was not the only one.
In truth, after receiving Eclipse's hint and sensing that "line," Tokai Teio understood.
There had never been any such thing as a "Domain" in this world to begin with.
The so-called Domain was nothing more than power beyond the limit, expressed in another form by Umamusume who had surpassed that limit because they were suppressed by the line.
That so-called "line" was not necessarily something directly perceptible like speed or strength, either.
An eruption of emotion, the essence of the self, the craving for victory...
It did not have to be overwhelming strength that crossed that line. Other things could cross it too, then transform into part of a Domain.
In the past, even if someone had noticed that line, nothing would have changed.
Because the Three Goddesses were there, and that line had not been created to persecute anyone. On the contrary, it existed to protect them.
But now, the Three Goddesses' protection was on the verge of collapse, and the world's future was dark.
More importantly, there was a terrifying existence who, by her own power alone, had nearly torn that line apart completely.
Originally, Tokai Teio had thought Eclipse was simply terrifyingly strong.
But only after touching that line did she realize it was far more than that.
Eclipse's strength was far more terrifying than anything she had shown on the racetrack.
If she wanted to, with her Domain alone, she could make every other Umamusume unable to move.
However many lengths there were in a race, that was how many she could put between herself and them.
But after realizing that, Tokai Teio's heart actually grew lighter.
If she had lost a race to some other Umamusume, she might still have felt sad.
But racing Eclipse was no different from racing a Gundam fitted with rocket engines.
—No, not necessarily. After all, even a Gundam might not be able to outrun Eclipse at full strength.
They were not even things from the same dimension. Losing was losing. There was truly nothing worth minding.
And the reason Eclipse had not completely torn that line apart was not that she could not do it. It was to protect them.
After all, even if Eclipse tore that line apart, it would not affect her. It would even benefit her.
But for other Umamusume, once they lost the Three Goddesses' protection and restraint, what would happen was anyone's guess.
Even so, she had given them a chance.
A chance to cross that line.
To chase, to draw near, and then to surpass.
To cross that line by their own strength, and then—
Face the real world. Face their true selves.
The only question now was that no one knew what would happen after crossing that line.
Once they lost the restraint of the Three Goddesses, what would Umamusume, whose essence was chaos, become?
An Umamusume needed to step forward and answer that question.
And that answer would greatly influence what came next.
Ability, courage, responsibility—not one of them could be missing.
And for the moment, the best candidates to become the first limit-breaker were Umamusume in their True Awakening period.
They were at their most unstable during this time, but it was also when their upper limits were highest.
As for other Umamusume, even Rudolf, after completing True Awakening, had little hope of becoming the first limit-breaker.
So this was something only she could do.
Tokai Teio closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She would risk herself and become the first limit-breaker.
Perhaps something terrifying would happen. Perhaps she would become some kind of monster.
But she was not afraid in the slightest.
Because she believed that even if she lost everything, even if she could no longer run, even if she became a monster...
He would stand by her side.
As always.
And so she opened her eyes.
Flames burst forth in her palm.
That was her burning self.
And her burning resolve.
...
Elsewhere.
Kitahara also began to get busy.
Not only to train Tokai Teio with everything he had, but for certain other matters as well.
To be honest, Kitahara could not really interfere much on Tokai Teio's side.
Because in the end, that was a matter for Umamusume. No matter how outstanding his abilities were, no matter how good his relationship with them was, he was ultimately not an Umamusume. He could not personally understand their condition, much less did he have the right to make decisions on their behalf.
But that did not mean he had nothing to do.
Quite the opposite. There were far too many things he could do.
After all, when all was said and done, Umamusume made up only a very small portion of this world's population.
Far more numerous were humans.
So since Tokai Teio had taken responsibility for the Umamusume side, he would naturally take responsibility for handling the human side.
Of course, limited by his identity and perspective as a Trainer, he did not understand things like the global situation, so he would not attempt to micromanage it.
But that did not mean he had nothing to do.
For example...
...
BANG!
Kitahara, together with Tazuna Hayakawa and the security personnel of Tracen Main Campus, kicked open the door to Karai Risa's dorm room.
"Tracen Special Operations Team. Trainer Karai, your crimes have been—"
"I surrender."
Before Kitahara could finish speaking, Karai Risa raised both hands.
"I admit to whatever you're talking about. Don't hit me. I'm afraid of pain."
---
T/N: FIREBALL???? ALSO ECLIPSE FULL STRENGTH IS FASTER THAN A GUNDAM?? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
T/N2: I HAVE NO EXCUSE! EXCEPT THAT UHHH SPYTL! AND ASPENTL! HAS KEPT ME DISTRACTED! THOSE FIENDS! I will try to post more now...
bonus chaps
100 stones → 1 bonus chap
200 stones → 2 bonus chaps
300 stones → 3 bonus chaps
and so on :3
100+ new chaps every week across all my TLs on the P website :)
hehe every 100 followers on either instagram or twitter = 5 bonus chaps...?
(for all ongoing tls)
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl
instagram: hanbaowise
twitter: WiseKingOfUruk_