"CRACK!"
"A thunderstorm… it's rare to see such weather in Tokyo. Has the summer monsoon already arrived?"
At this moment, in the team building, the three Trainers were silently doing their own tasks, busy with dealing with their daily work. In the month after the Japanese Derby, many things were still waiting for them to handle.
"Wada, how's the media situation going? Are they still bothering you?"
"They'll be quiet for a while, at least until the Kikuka Sho."
Wada replied to Ikezoe's question without even lifting his head. He was busy not only with Meisho Doto's recovery training but also with T.M. Opera O's new training regime due to her progress exceeding his expectations, making him very busy. As the Trainer who's currently the most famous among them in the Team, his two Uma Musume were naturally also very famous. Wada really didn't have much time to waste on media matters, so he said indifferently:
"Just as we predicted, after just a month, everyone seems to have completely forgotten this matter already... Japan's media agencies are always like this... no, it should be said that media agencies all around the world are like this nowadays. Those three laws of news they had always preached about have long since been thrown in a random dump somewhere; these days they only care about attracting eyeballs."
"When they can't attract eyeballs, they'll quiet down. People don't care what the truth is; they only care if what they hear is what they want to hear."
"You're correct, Wada; this is all we can do right now."
Imanami, on the side, also nodded. He seemed to have completed the training plans for McQueen, and now was planning Tokai Teio's training regime—of course, most of it was just to train Tokai Teio's body, without any intention of training Tokai Teio's final spurt.
Even an experienced old bone like Imanami couldn't think of a way to solve Tokai Teio's problem currently. Tokai Teio's powerful final spurt was directly linked to her flexible ankles and powerful bursts. Imanami couldn't make the decision for Tokai Teio to change her running style or bury her talent forever. So, besides training Tokai Teio's physique to keep her as healthy as possible, Imanami felt that the next thing on the agenda was to focus on training Teio's ability to control her final spurt—simply put, the mastery of the intensity of her final spurt.
In this regard, T.M. Opera O was well-versed in it. Her powerful two-stage final spurt seemed terrifying, but it was actually all under her control. For how long and to use how much force, as long as it was within T.M. Opera O's upper limit, she could precisely control it. Though Tokai Teio might not be able to learn to be as precise as T.M. Opera O, these could be trained at a later date.
Anyways, there was still a long period before Tokai Teio's debut race and she still had a long way to go. Thus, Imanami felt that as long as she trained well, Tokai Teio might be able to proudly display her talent while also ensuring safety. This line of thinking was also why Symboli Rudolf chose to entrust Tokai Teio to Imanami in the end. Imanami also knew that this was probably a "try your best challenge" that the president gave him...
"Trainer—Trainer! Something bad has happened!"
"BANG!"
However, with the familiar childish voice of Tokai Teio, accompanied by the sound of the door suddenly being pulled open, the three Trainers all looked up in unison. They saw Tokai Teio wearing a raincoat, but her expression was very anxious as she shouted at the three of them:
"Trainer! You all hurry and go see—Orfevre, she—"
"What happened to Orfevre?!"
As soon as Tokai Teio mentioned Orfevre, Ikezoe immediately became alert. Imanami and Wada also got up one after another. Imanami handed a glass of water to Tokai Teio and said soothingly:
"Teio, don't worry, speak slowly; what happened to Orfevre?"
"Gulp—oh, thank you Trainer." Teio first drank all the water before catching her breath, and then immediately said nervously: "Trainer Ikezoe, hurry and go see; Orfevre is still training in the rain! Not only that, McQueen, T.M. Opera O, and Gold Ship are also all running with her!"
"You all hurry and go see; Orfevre looks like she's about to collapse! She even fell a couple of times when McQueen and T.M. Opera O pressured her!"
"—We'll go right away."
After exchanging glances, the three Trainers quickly rushed out of the room without hesitation. They didn't even put on raincoats, fearing that they wouldn't get there fast enough and their Uma Musume would get injured in such a downpour...
And in this storm, just as Tokai Teio said, on the training ground at this moment, T.M. Opera O, Mejiro McQueen, and Gold Ship were training with Orfevre in such an adverse environment, undergoing an extreme form of training, and this time the three Uma Musume could also be said to be going all out.
Currently, T.M. Opera O was in front of Orfevre, Mejiro McQueen was behind her, and Gold Ship even blocked Orfevre's path on the outside. Under the Aura and pressure of the three Uma Musume, she could neither accelerate nor slow down, being boxed in with no hope of escaping. The heavy rain also didn't help Orfevre, which accelerated her stamina drain.
But she forced herself not to back down; she continued to sprint at full power, not even attempting to surrender when under the pincer attack from all three sides, forcing her already weakening legs to move, trying to stimulate her potential by forcing herself into a harsh environment...
"Bam!"
Orfevre once again stumbled and fell from exhaustion, and this time, both T.M. Opera O and McQueen couldn't bear it anymore. They all rushed forward to help Orfevre up, and McQueen immediately said:
"That's enough, Orfevre! You've already trained enough! If you still can't unleash your potential under these conditions—let's try another method."
"You'll only ruin your body like this. Even if we are Uma Musume, and you're from the Gold Family, you can't endure such long training under these conditions!"
"As the Overlord, though I have to admit that your training method is worthy of the title 'Golden Tyrant,' this is too much."
Even T.M. Opera O couldn't just stand by and watch. Although Orfevre initially asked her and McQueen to help her train and she was initially supportive, now T.M. Opera O quickly changed her mind. This was not training at all; it was self-inflicted torture. Under such heavy track conditions, having two G1-level Uma Musume that already mastered Aura pretty well box her in and constantly force her to run without stopping was complete insanity—no Uma Musume could withstand such a training method.
But Orfevre just wouldn't give up. She had fallen several times already, but even so, she gritted her teeth through the pain and got up to continue training. At this moment, her entire expression looked extremely ferocious, worthy of her title "Golden Tyrant."
"This isn't enough! This isn't enough!"
"I can still run! I definitely can! There is a reason why so many people believe in me; I don't believe I don't have potential! I don't believe it!"
"I definitely can! I can do it—I want to prove that I can do it!"
Orfevre roared madly at no one in particular. At this moment, drenched all over by the storm, she looked like a disheveled lion, while Gold Ship, on the side, uncharacteristically said nothing, only helping to support Orfevre up.
Perhaps T.M. Opera O and McQueen didn't understand, but Gold Ship, as her sister, knew at this moment that her sister's roar was not directed at others, but to herself. Or rather, doubting herself. Gold Ship's unnaturally high intelligence immediately made her realize from the start that this training was merely a pretense for Orfevre; what she really wanted was to vent. Thus, she didn't ask any more questions, nor did she attempt to dissuade her. She merely accompanied her big sister and allowed her to vent her emotions.
However, now, though others might not feel it, Gold Ship felt it. Within Orfevre, there was a long-accumulated power that was subtly showing signs of breaking through; the side belonging to the "Golden Tyrant" was starting to break through its shell. It just needed a catalyst, one last one...
"ORFEVRE?!"
And at this moment, a voice from not far away suddenly made Orfevre silent. The four Uma Musume all looked over and saw Ikezoe, who had run to the training ground first, enduring the heavy rain, with a stunned and unbearable expression.
At this moment, the self-loathing Orfevre suddenly became quiet. Her two arms, held by T.M. Opera O and McQueen, also fell weakly, as if she had let go of her pitiful self-esteem, and she knelt powerlessly on the ground...
She lowered her head as she began to subtly sob, not knowing whether it was rainwater or something else flowing down her face at this moment...
"...I'm sorry... Ikezoe."
"But I can't do it... I just can't do it no matter what... I can't become the 'Orfevre' in your heart..."
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I'm too sleepy to put anything quippy here...
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.