As time passed, spring grew deeper.
With Folkqueen officially joining the team, and the practice-partner Umamusume squad steadily taking shape,
the gears of Chasing Light finally began to turn in earnest.
The first thing to properly get on track was the daily training of Nice Nature and Rice Shower.
With Kuroha's targeted plans, along with a wide variety of "targets" for them to use their [Demonic Power] on,
the two of them were steadily growing stronger at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Next came the site selection and design work for Chasing Light's brand-new training grounds.
As the current number-one figure at Central Tracen Academy, second only to Akikawa Yayoi herself,
Kuroha enjoyed enormous privilege in this area.
He basically only needed to make one grand stroke and approve the budget. Everything else, from site approval to construction coordination, could naturally be handed off to UFA Association professionals to handle properly.
That saved him a great deal of time.
And just before the calendar turned to May,
in late April, at the Spring Tenno Sho,
because of Mejiro McQueen's overwhelming pressure, this G1 race, which should have been packed with stars, ended up with only a mere ten runners daring to enter.
And the result of the race held no suspense whatsoever.
"The strongest active racer," Mejiro McQueen, crushed all of her top-class rivals once again by an utterly despair-inducing margin.
Her position as the undefeated queen of Central's current era was further solidified.
Then, at the post-race press conference,
Central Tracen, and indeed the entire Far Eastern Umamusume world, was thrown into fresh upheaval once again.
Kuroha, head trainer of Chasing Light, together with Mejiro McQueen, announced at the post-race conference that
Mejiro McQueen would depart for an overseas campaign in May.
And this time, the target
was France, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Boom.
In an instant, the entire press conference venue, as well as all the viewers and fans across the Far East watching the live broadcast on their screens,
erupted into uproar and frenzy.
Just as the Japan Cup meant everything to New Zealand,
the Arc held a place in this Far Eastern island nation that was practically a heart demon.
It was the long-cherished dream of generations, a wish that seemed impossible to attain.
Now, Central's strongest trainer, together with Central's strongest active racer, were joining hands to challenge that towering peak.
How could that not set everyone's blood on fire?
As the bold declaration spread at lightning speed, online discourse exploded like a powder keg being set alight.
"Can they win?" some asked.
"They will win!" others declared.
"Didn't Trainer Kuroha lead Oguri Cap to a European international G1 win last year? We've already witnessed a miracle like that. How are people still doubting his ability to lead a team?"
Some angrily lashed out at the pessimists.
"A G1 is not the same as every other G1, all right? That's the Arc! The highest wall in European racing, on a hellish heavy turf track. How could that possibly be easy?"
"So what? Chasing Light has never lacked miracles!"
"Correction to the person above. Chasing Light itself is the very definition of a miracle!"
"Heh. They've only just made the announcement. The campaign hasn't even started yet, and people are already mindlessly hyping it up?"
"Oh? The campaign hasn't even started yet, and some dogs are already down on their knees singing funeral songs. If your knees are that weak, maybe go see an orthopedic specialist."
"..."
Online, discussions, doubts, shouting matches, praise, and arguments rolled on nonstop, the heat refusing to die down.
Central's audience had all transformed into keyboard warriors online, arguing until their faces were red over nothing more than a single announcement.
But none of that outside noise or fervor affected the people at the center of it.
...
Inside the trainer's office at the Mejiro family training grounds,
"Hm... compared to the earlier, more conservative version, this schedule really is a lot more aggressive."
Kuroha sat in his chair, flipping through the materials in his hands. After giving them a quick read, he added with a smile,
"And it's also extremely reasonable. As expected of Godolphin."
From the sofa not far away, the blue-haired girl took a sip of black tea and replied with a smiling gaze,
"If it's something I promised you, Yu-kun, then of course I'll give it everything I have."
"Oh?"
At that, Kuroha could not help raising a brow, teasing her,
"What a surprise. I thought the Goddess Godolphin who dumps all the work on Bayer every day and drags Darley out shopping while slacking off
had already forgotten how to spell the words 'give it everything I have.'"
"Yu-kun~~"
At once, the girl's aggrieved voice floated over to him.
"All right, all right. I get it."
Kuroha smiled and shook his head, then flipped the documents back to the first page.
"So the plan is to leave for France directly in three days."
"Then spend nearly a month there adapting to the turf, and go straight into the G1 Prix d'Ispahan on May 26. Right?"
Godolphin smiled and nodded, setting down her teacup.
"Mm. It just so happens that the Prix d'Ispahan is also held at Longchamp Racecourse."
"That arrangement will let little McQueen experience and adapt to the Arc course environment ahead of time through the most realistic kind of live race possible."
Kuroha gave a small nod of approval.
Though Godolphin had looked as if she had been slacking like crazy during this time, tossing the daily burden of monitoring training entirely onto Bayer,
she and Darley were still, at the end of the day, two of the Three Goddesses standing at the pinnacle of the Umamusume world.
As a genuine goddess, she had a perfect grasp of Mejiro McQueen's current training status, as well as how well her running style had adapted to foreign turf.
Leaving less than a month for adjustment, then directly challenging an international G1 at Longchamp,
was the kind of schedule that any other Central trainer would think was outright madness.
But to Godolphin and Kuroha, it was the most reasonable arrangement possible.
The current Mejiro McQueen, after all, had already been jointly recognized by the Three Goddesses as "the strongest racer in the world today."
She had every right and every bit of confidence needed to be that willful.
And also,
in the itinerary spread open before Kuroha,
the first race of the overseas campaign was not merely a G1.
From May all the way to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October, in just half a year, Godolphin had insanely arranged a total of seven races for McQueen.
And in front of every single race title, the bright, unmistakable letters "G1" were written.
Seven G1s in half a year.
Faced with that horrifying schedule, Kuroha looked utterly unconcerned.
Setting the documents back on the desk, he stood up, walked over to Godolphin, and poured himself a cup of tea as well.
"Still, only three days to prepare..."
Holding the teacup, Kuroha frowned slightly and let out a quiet sigh.
"Looks like I'll have to go talk to Queen and see if she can move that trip forward even more."
Compared to the current version, the first version of the campaign plan Godolphin had originally proposed had been far more conservative.
It had mixed in some G2 races as transition and adjustment points.
That had also meant the original departure date for the campaign had been set for late May.
That was the reason Kuroha had proposed to Folkqueen some time ago that she move her originally planned July return trip up by one month.
But now, the departure date for the overseas campaign had been dragged forward by nearly two full months.
A single change could affect the whole chain, and many things that had originally been scheduled naturally had to change with it.
"Queen, huh..."
When she heard Kuroha bring up Folkqueen, Godolphin could not help tilting her head slightly, blinking as she said softly,
"You don't need to worry too much about her. If you're the one asking, Yu-kun, then that girl probably won't refuse."
"And where exactly is that confidence coming from?" Kuroha replied, somewhat speechless.
"Naturally. I'm a goddess of the Umamusume, after all. Don't underestimate my powers of observation too much~"
As Godolphin recalled the cute little unconscious gestures that New Zealand girl had shown from time to time lately, she could not help revealing the indulgent smile of a loving mother three times over.
"Ah... youth really is wonderful."
The blue goddess cupped her cheeks in both hands and sighed from the heart.
"..."
Watching the nearly visible pink bubbles floating around Godolphin, Kuroha's eye twitched twice.
"Then I'll go submit the flight request with the association for three days from now. It should just be me, you, McQueen, and Queen."
"Use the time to get ready, and don't slack off too wildly."
"Knoooowwwn~"
Godolphin smiled brightly, blinked, and replied in an adorably drawn-out tone.
(End of Chapter)
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