Ascot Racecourse.
Kuroha brought Mejiro McQueen and the other three girls, excluding Godolphin, to stand outside for a while and admire the magnificent racecourse before finally walking in.
After passing through a long corridor, the view suddenly opened up.
Before them lay a vast green field. The rich scent of turf and stables was deep and refreshing.
Kuroha's group of four quickly drew the attention of an uma musume team near the entrance.
"Huh?"
A tall uma musume with shoulder-length red hair let out a soft sound of surprise.
She tilted her head slightly. When she saw the purple figure that had once given her something close to traumatic flashbacks, her heart gave a fierce jump. Even so, she shook her head hard, then waved in a very friendly manner and called out loudly, "Mejiro McQueen!"
Everyone from Chasing Light turned toward the voice.
"Who is that?" Maruzensky asked, tilting her head as she looked at the enthusiastic European girl.
Kuroha smiled and explained, "That's Sanglamore. She was the runner-up in McQueen's first overseas race, the Prix d'Ispahan in France. You could call her a pretty strong opponent."
"She's also one of the uma musume competing in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes this time."
Folkqueen, standing to the side, murmured thoughtfully, "Our training times probably just didn't overlap these past few days, so we didn't run into each other."
As they chatted, everyone walked over. Sanglamore's training team also came forward to greet them.
"Hello, Mr. Kuroha."
Sanglamore's trainer was a fairly young-looking woman. At first, she gave a slightly stiff curtsy, but after remembering Kuroha's nationality, she changed it into a handshake.
Kuroha had gathered information on nearly every noteworthy uma musume of this generation, so he naturally knew this trainer's background quite well.
Her name was Emily, and for now, she was only the assistant trainer of Sanglamore's team.
Her situation was somewhat similar to Kitahara's back at Central.
The team's head trainer was about to retire, and in order to give a young trainer experience, he had stepped behind the scenes and handed the team entirely over to her to manage.
Because of that, Sanglamore had only been entrusted to her this year.
"Long time no see, Miss Emily."
Kuroha replied with a faint smile, then looked toward the red-haired girl chatting happily with McQueen beside them.
"Sanglamore looks to be in excellent condition. How are preparations going for the race in a few days?"
When Emily heard that, her face immediately turned bitter. "Mr. Kuroha, please don't tease me. A few months ago, San and I were nearly beaten into losing all confidence by you two."
Kuroha gave a light cough.
"That's overstating it, Miss Emily. In that final straight last race, your rhythm was already adjusted quite well. It's just that McQueen happened to be in especially good form at the time."
"Exactly!"
Hearing that, Sanglamore immediately turned her head, planted her hands on her hips, and laughed. "Emily, stop always making other people sound so impressive. This track suits my running style better. I'm definitely going to put up a good result!"
"Yes, yes."
Emily immediately pressed a hand to her forehead and shook her head helplessly.
After complaining about her trainer, Sanglamore naturally slung an arm around McQueen's shoulders and mysteriously gestured for her to look in another direction.
"Mejiro McQueen, look over there."
McQueen followed her gaze in confusion.
In that direction, an elegant girl with a powerful presence and long golden hair was listening carefully to her trainer's guidance with a gentle smile on her lips.
"That's..." McQueen's brows furrowed slightly, and the information Kuroha had shown her before flashed through her mind.
"Generous?"
"Right! That's Generous."
Sanglamore smiled and nodded. "She's already familiar with Ascot Racecourse from her past races, so she didn't show up for public training these past few days. I didn't expect her to come back today."
As she spoke, Sanglamore shook out her red hair and winked at McQueen. "What do you think? Doesn't she seem really strong at first glance?"
In Sanglamore's perception, both McQueen beside her and Generous not far away were surrounded from head to toe by an indescribably terrifying presence.
Only, that presence, enough to sweep everything away and shake the entire racecourse, was usually restrained to perfection. It would only erupt completely during a race.
That was one of the reasons she dared to chat so casually with the current McQueen.
If it had been McQueen during the Prix d'Ispahan...
"Eek."
Just thinking about it made every hair on Sanglamore's body stand on end. She sincerely admired her past self for daring to summon her courage and go all out back then.
As expected of me.
"Strength... Perhaps."
McQueen did not notice Sanglamore's odd reaction. After watching the blond girl for a while, she tilted her little head and softly agreed.
In truth, just like with the opponents she had faced before, she did not feel even the slightest threatening edge from Generous.
However, out of the reserve befitting the prestigious Mejiro family, she still gave a tactful answer.
Sanglamore's body stiffened slightly when she heard that, and she could not help sighing.
"As expected, the way a genius uma musume like you sees the world will never be on the same level as mine."
She shrugged helplessly and was just about to say something else when Generous, not far away, seemed to sense their gazes and turned to give them a friendly smile.
Sanglamore paused for a moment, then politely returned the smile.
Afterward, she looked at McQueen beside her, who was equally elegant and composed, and shook her head in distress.
"Honestly, every time I'm around noble uma musume like you, I feel like some kind of barbarian."
"Not at all. Sanglamore, your personality is frank and vivid. You shine like a red rose beneath the sun. How could you possibly be a barbarian?"
"And I would hardly call myself a noble either."
Hearing Sanglamore's words, McQueen shook her head with a gentle smile, her pale violet eyes rippling with a warm light.
Sanglamore blushed faintly at the praise, scratched her head, and laughed.
"Geez, your mouth really is sweet! I'd never be able to come up with something that refined."
"But seriously, in this King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, I'm not losing to you again!"
"Then I'll look forward to seeing it."
The two teams exchanged a little more small talk before tacitly dispersing and throwing themselves into their own dedicated pre-race training.
(End of Chapter)
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