"Nope."
With almost no hesitation, Godolphin gave her answer.
She extended a pale finger and gently tapped the seven-colored orb of light resting in Kuroha's palm.
The orb immediately bounced like gelatin.
"From a macro perspective, whether it's the Three Goddesses' Blessing that we grant, or the Blessing Power that Hane grants you, they both fall under the same umbrella: idealistic 'divine power.'"
Godolphin withdrew her finger, then held it up in front of Kuroha and wagged it lightly.
"But in terms of nature, they're worlds apart."
"Nature?" Kuroha asked, puzzled.
"Mmh. Let me put it this way."
Godolphin thought for a moment, then pointed down at the track, where Maggie and the others were running.
"The divine power the three of us wield is, strictly speaking, a power specialized for the Uma Musume as a people."
She paused, then looked back at Kuroha.
"But the power you have, Hane, is completely different."
"Even though you usually use it on Uma Musume, that power of yours… rather than being something born for Uma Musume…"
"It's more like… an ability specialized specifically for humans."
"…"
Kuroha didn't argue. He fell silent, thoughtful.
He'd already had a suspicion.
After all, back when he first obtained Blessing Power, the system's description had been very explicit.
"Target: same species."
"In other words, this power treats humans as the same species, and Uma Musume as a different species…"
Seeing him sink into thought, a gentle smile surfaced on Godolphin's face.
"We are the Three Goddesses of the Uma Musume. And you, Hane… if one day you truly reach the same place we stand…"
"Then perhaps you'll become the 'God of Humanity' in this world."
Kuroha shook his head with a wry laugh. "That's still a long way off."
The Three Goddesses could maintain the peak period of four hundred thousand Uma Musume with nothing more than power cast down through that strange world.
As for him, forget ten thousand. A thousand was already a stretch.
"I believe you'll make it," Godolphin said, unfazed. After offering her encouragement, she returned to the point. "Because the nature of the power is different, that's why it becomes dangerous."
"Back when your power was weak, it was like a bowl of gentle tonic soup."
"Even if the nature didn't match, as long as the dose was tiny, it really could serve as a substitute for our Blessing for Uma Musume."
"The key is the amount," the blue goddess said softly. "No matter how nourishing a medicine is, once you overdo it, it stops being medicine and becomes poison."
"And besides, what you have isn't even a supplement suited to their bodies."
As she spoke, Godolphin tapped the rainbow orb again, now about the size of a tennis ball.
"This much is barely within what they can withstand. Any more, and they probably won't be able to hold it."
"So you can't just use it on your trainees whenever you feel like it, okay, Hane-kun?"
"Got it," Kuroha replied, nodding.
He casually tossed the orb in his hand to Godolphin. "So it won't work on normal Uma Musume, but for someone like you…"
Like he was feeding a pet, Godolphin opened her mouth. "Ahm," she chirped, and swallowed the orb whole, her lips and tongue moving as she spoke like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"That's right. As long as they're a god, it's fine, as long as you're willing to release the restraints on your power."
"Even Dali and Bayer?"
"…Yeah." Godolphin immediately looked a little guilty. "Hane-kun, you already knew?"
Kuroha waved it off with an easy grin. "So when are they coming back?"
"Probably about a month. If it's longer, maybe two?" Godolphin scratched her cheek. "If they can't find you out there, they'll come find me."
"…"
After a few seconds of silence, Kuroha looked at the blue goddess beside him, his tone turning faintly amused.
"By what you just said, the two of them could probably comb the whole planet in a little over a month."
"But because they know you're in the Far East, they won't bother making a special trip."
"So letting them spin their wheels for two months, Godolphin… you didn't do that on purpose, did you?"
"…Ahaha. Why do you make it sound so crooked?"
Wearing that dazzling smile again, warm and doting with just a hint of slyness, the blue goddess hugged Kuroha's arm and gave it a little shake.
"Okay, okay. Don't talk about that. Let's have tea together."
"Here, cheers!"
"…"
…
Meanwhile.
At Central Tracen Academy, inside an indoor gym.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The heavy impact of metal echoed through the open facility. Quite a few Uma Musume were doing strength training alongside their Trainers.
"Wooooh! Amazing! Everyone's eyes really are sharp!"
A middle-aged man built like a bundle of knotted muscle was practically dancing between the machines like an overexcited kid.
He didn't look like someone from the Far East. If anything, he looked more Western.
"Satsuki Sho! Derby! Kikuka Sho! And now… Arima Kinen!!"
He was gripping a crumpled sheet of paper, the freshly released year-end fan poll rankings.
"GOAT! It's a miracle that leaves you speechless! This is the sweetest fruit of effort and muscle! Youth itself!!"
He shouted nonsense at the top of his lungs while bouncing around, so hyped he might as well have thrown on a green spandex suit and cosplayed Might Guy.
A few Uma Musume stretching nearby jolted at the sudden roaring and glanced over, rolling their eyes with a mix of annoyance and resigned helplessness.
"Huh? Who's that old guy? He's so loud," a younger Uma Musume, clearly newly in True Blooming, muttered under her breath.
"I think that's… Akazono Douji, a Trainer?" her friend whispered. "I heard he's a direct disciple of that 'Honeywine Magician,' Naise Hideto."
"Naise Hideto's disciple?!" The first girl blinked, then a thought struck her. "Then his trainee is… one of the 'Top Four,' right?"
Their gaze slipped through the noise and bodies, landing on a corner of the gym.
There, a short-haired girl with a sharp, capable air and a physique like a sleek leopard braced herself beneath a barbell loaded with a truly horrifying weight.
Her workout clothes were soaked through with sweat. Every inch of muscle pulsed in a steady rhythm under the crushing load.
One of the Top Four: Mejiro Ryan.
"Ryan! Did you see it! Just as I knew! Our steps, our effort, our growth, they're carving real marks into this world!"
Douji strode over, shouting.
Huff.
Ryan set the barbell back onto the rack with absolute control. Metal slammed into metal with a deep, heavy ring.
She straightened, wiped the sweat from her brow, and showed a faint, dim smile.
"What's wrong, Ryan?"
"…Trainer," Douji noticed her expression and cut off his hot-blooded speech, frowning in confusion. "Are you not feeling well? If you're off today, we'll adjust the training plan right away!"
"No, Trainer. I'm fine."
Ryan shook her head slightly, then looked at the sheet in his hands. "That's the… year-end list?"
"Exactly! The fan poll rankings!" Douji reignited on the spot, eyes glittering. "Muscle and numbers never lie!"
"Ryan, your sweat wasn't wasted!"
"Even under that monster's rule, the fans still saw your toughness! Countless fans' admiration is engraved in December under your name!"
"Is that so… Arima Kinen."
There was no joy on Ryan's face, not the kind he expected. She simply nodded calmly, then slowly lifted her right hand.
She spread her fingers and stared into her palm, then, bit by bit, clenched them into a fist.
The force in that motion felt like she meant to crush the air itself. Her fingers tightened, hard.
Only after several seconds did she raise her head and meet Douji's eyes, so clear and bright they looked like a college kid's.
"I understand, Trainer. I'll… give everything I have to prepare."
"That's the spirit!"
Douji sensed something was different about Ryan today, compared to her usual fire, but he didn't think too hard about it.
"Carry your gratitude to the fans onto that track and burn! You'll succeed, Ryan!"
With his blood boiling, the musclebound man let out another roar and charged out of the gym in a storm, ready to rush through Ryan's Arima Kinen participation procedures.
After Douji left, the corner fell quiet again.
Ryan sat on the bench and looked down at the fist she'd just clenched.
"I'll succeed…?"
She murmured, so softly only she could hear.
Then, in that instant.
Tss.
A tiny flash of silver-gray electricity, like the cold gleam of metal, flickered deep inside her pupils and vanished.
Only someone who had truly stepped into this world would understand. That spark was not the burst of a wild thunderbolt.
Ryan knew that.
But among her contemporaries, among that so-called Top Four…
Mejiro Cheng couldn't see it. Ines Fujin couldn't see it. White Whale Rock couldn't see it either.
They all believed that the "One Above" was only ahead for now.
Someday, they would surpass that lead.
"…"
Ryan rose without a word and walked to the gym's window.
Outside, the setting sun poured down orange light, like peeled tangerines.
Within the illusion of crimson clouds filling the sky, she thought she saw a figure with purple hair and white clothes, stepping on invisible stairs, walking higher and higher across the heavens.
"Once my body fully grows… can I win?"
Ryan stayed silent for a long time.
Then, slowly, the corners of her mouth lifted into a small smile.
"It's so hard, Ryan. It's really so hard."
"But… I want to win."
"Little by little, I'll chase down that gap between us that looks unreachable… little by little…"
"Even if the time it takes is forever."
She turned back and walked toward the weights again.
My name is Mejiro Ryan!
I swear on the name of Mejiro: as long as my heart is still beating, I will never surrender!!
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]