"Like teacher, like student, I suppose?"
"Watching your own pupil repeat your exact mistakes… it isn't a pleasant feeling."
The voice seemed to drift down from the distant heavens, yet its familiar cadence pulled Liberty Island back from the fog. She struggled to force her eyes open.
Waking up so abruptly left her vision blurred, offering no buffer from the world.
Under the harsh, stinging glare of the overhead fluorescent lights, Liberty Island couldn't quite make out the figure of the speaker, but she didn't need to.
A flash of vivid red tied at the end of a ponytail gave the woman away before her features could even come into focus.
"Mas…ter…"
Her voice was impossibly raspy. For a moment, Liberty Island wondered if the sound had even come from her own throat.
But soon, the reality of her situation hit.
A dull, heavy throb radiated through her limbs—the kind of ache that suggested every inch of muscle had been pushed to its breaking point—and a searing heat surged up her throat.
"I really did… lose, didn't I?"
It wasn't a question she truly needed to ask. Feeling the crushing weakness of her body and recalling the final images before she lost consciousness, she had already pieced together her fate.
"You lost."
Dream Weaver didn't offer any empty platitudes; she simply gave a blunt, matter-of-fact nod.
"Master… do you find me pathetic?" Liberty Island's voice trembled. "I puffed out my chest and told you with so much confidence to trust me before the race… and in the end, I couldn't keep our promise."
Her eyes began to well up, tears blurring her vision. But before the wave of melancholy could fully take hold, Dream Weaver cut her off.
"Well, going from grand declarations of victory to a complete and utter collapse? Yeah, it's a bit embarrassing."
Liberty Island was stunned. She never expected that kind of response.
The tragic atmosphere she had been carefully cultivating shattered instantly, and it was hard to find that thread of sadness again. She fell into a long silence before finally grumbling.
"...Master, couldn't you just comfort me like a normal person?"
"You don't look like someone who needs pity," Dream Weaver replied with a light chuckle, reaching out to brush a stray tear from the girl's eye.
"You aren't that little kid who used to sit in the cafeteria sobbing anymore. Once you find the courage to put everything on the line and gamble it all on a single moment, the outcome of winning or losing ceases to be the most important thing. You proved you no longer fear Equinox. That's enough."
Liberty Island touched her own cheek, as if she could still feel the warmth Dream Weaver had left there.
She murmured to herself, "But I still lost… and that was supposed to be the final battle to decide the successor."
"So you lost. What of it? Do you think just because you lost to Equinox, I'm going to kick you out and brand you a rogue student?"
Seeing Liberty Island's dazed expression, Dream Weaver patted her cheek gently.
"That 'final battle' talk is just sensationalist nonsense the media cooks up to get clicks. You've only been a pro for a little over a year; Equinox has only been at it for two. Your careers as Uma Musume are going to be long. What does the result of a single Japan Cup actually prove in the grand scheme of things?"
"Master…"
Liberty Island whispered. The white light of the room spilled over Dream Weaver, making her look as though she were glowing. In Liberty Island's eyes, she looked like an angel.
"Master… will you stay by my side so we can challenge Equinox again?"
"I might not be able to do that for a little while."
The words hit Liberty Island like a physical blow.
She bolted upright in bed, ignoring the burning sensation in her throat as she practically shrieked.
"Wait, that's not right, Master! This is the part where you give me a kind smile, flick my forehead, call me a dummy for worrying, and then we have a heart-to-heart hug to end the scene! Why are you saying you can't do it?! What happened to not kicking me out?!"
Seeing her so agitated she was practically ready to leap off the hospital bed, Dream Weaver quickly caught her by the shoulders, pressing her back down while explaining.
"No, no, that's not what I meant. I just have some things to take care of soon. It might be a while before I have the time to sit down and draw up your next training schedule."
Liberty Island finally stopped struggling. The muscle pain brought on by her sudden outburst drained the last of her energy. She lay there, limp, staring at Dream Weaver with a tired pout.
"Then don't phrase it in a way that's so easy to misunderstand. Next time, finish the whole explanation in one go, please."
Dream Weaver offered an apologetic smile and handed Liberty Island a bottle of mineral water from the nightstand as a peace offering.
Her throat had been screaming for relief, but she had been so focused on Dream Weaver that she hadn't even noticed the water.
She snatched the bottle, gave up on the lecture, and twisted the cap off, gulping it down greedily.
Watching her, Dream Weaver felt a sense of relief.
"Still got plenty of spirit, I see. You're recovering well. I knew having Agnes Tachyon bring a few extra bottles of those high-grade recovery tonics was the right move."
Having drained more than half the bottle, the fire in her throat finally dimmed. Liberty Island lowered the bottle and asked, puzzled, "Master, did you know I was going to collapse on the track?"
"I did."
Dream Weaver nodded, then let out a helpless sigh. "I figured you wouldn't leave yourself any room for retreat if it meant beating Equinox."
She paused for a few seconds, looking as if she were searching for the right words.
"I have a friend… she once burned herself out on the track during a race she felt she absolutely had to win. Ever since the Oka Sho, I was worried you'd awaken a similar 'Zone' just to surpass Equinox, so I tried to step in and correct your course."
"I didn't expect it to backfire. You and Hishi Miracle spent all your time using my 'Divine Blade' as a reference point for your own development. Miracle was fine; her Zone wasn't that refined, so she couldn't truly throw her life away even if she wanted to. But you were different. To prepare for the risk, I had Tachyon brew those specialized medical tonics before we even got here."
Liberty Island nodded along, trying to process the long explanation. But just as Dream Weaver thought she was finished, the girl caught onto a strange detail.
"Using the Divine Blade as a reference… creates a Zone that lets you put everything on the line? And Master, didn't you say right before I woke up—something about teachers and students? Did you collapse on the track because of the Divine Blade too? I've never heard that story before."
Dream Weaver's gaze drifted toward the wall, thinking to herself: I burned myself out in a completely different world—how on earth would you have heard about it?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.