"I told you Rice Shower could recover. I wasn't lying, but you have to promise me one thing."
"What is it?" Mihono Bourbon asked.
"You can't tell anyone that I treated Rice Shower."
"Okay, I promise." Mihono Bourbon nodded slightly. If Sakura Baimu could really help Rice Shower recover, this little thing was no problem at all.
"Once Rice Shower has recovered a bit, transfer her to a hospital in Tokyo. After all, I have things to do, and it will be more convenient in Tokyo," Sakura Baimu said, gently touching the skin of Rice Shower's leg with her finger.
About two hours passed, and the system showed that the treatment for Rice Shower's injury had reached its limit for the day. Sakura Baimu withdrew her hand and spoke to Mihono Bourbon.
"I have to go find Teiō and the others. Bourbon, you…"
"I'll stay here with Rice," Mihono Bourbon said softly.
"Wow, even a Cyber Umamusume has feelings now," Sakura Baimu thought to herself, sensing Mihono Bourbon's immense affection for Rice Shower from her unwavering gaze.
—
Sakura Baimu had just left the hospital building and was about to make a phone call when she encountered several of her team members waiting outside.
Not only Tokai Teio and her group, but also Symboli Rudolf, Maruzensky, and Mr. CB—three Umamusumes representing the pinnacle of Tracen Academy's strength—were present.
"Trainer-san~"
Tokai Teio waved and called out upon seeing Sakura Baimu.
"Trainer Sakura, how is Rice Shower?" Symboli Rudolf asked.
"Open dislocation, plus a comminuted fracture."
"Tsk." Symboli Rudolf's face instantly fell upon hearing Sakura Baimu's words.
"A comminuted fracture, huh? That's hard to recover from… Even if it does recover, I'm afraid it'll be difficult to run again." Mr. CB's expression was equally grim.
"It's alright. The doctor said there's a pretty good chance of recovery and told us not to worry," Sakura Baimu lied without batting an eye, speaking as if it were her normal self.
Of course, Symboli Rudolf and the other two, being experienced, naturally assumed Sakura Baimu was just trying to reassure them about Rice Shower.
Sakura Baimu didn't intend to elaborate on this issue. She looked at Symboli Rudolf.
"What exactly happened to Rice Shower on the Zone? How could she suddenly run so fast?"
This was Sakura Baimu's biggest question. She hadn't activated her own Zone and couldn't detect any changes in Rice Shower's Zone.
However, seeing Rice Shower's absurd acceleration at the Takarazuka Kinen, combined with Rice Shower's miserable state after the race, Sakura Baimu guessed that something must have gone wrong when Rice Shower activated her Zone.
When it came to Zones, probably no one understood them better than the three Umamusumes present.
Listening to Sakura Baimu's words, Rudolf exchanged glances with CB and Maruzensky, then explained softly.
"Trainer Sakura, as I mentioned before, McQueen and Teiō's progress has slowed to a bottleneck. Until they break through, they remain 'ordinary' Umamusumes."
"Then the so-called extraordinary Umamusumes are those who have mastered Zones, right?" Sakura Baimu asked.
"So, Ms. Sakura, you knew about it. That makes things easier." Symboli Rudolf wasn't too surprised to hear Sakura Baimu use the word "Zone," but first offered a reminder.
"I can't go into too much detail about Zones, not because I'm deliberately keeping it a secret, but because knowing too much about Zones beforehand is never beneficial."
"So, Rice Shower knew too much about Zones beforehand, which led to today's tragedy?" Sakura Baimu asked.
Hearing Sakura Baimu's words, Symboli Rudolf and the other two all showed a simultaneous change in expression.
Symboli Rudolf hadn't even begun to explain; she had merely given the assembled Umamusumes a heads-up, yet Sakura Baimu had already grasped the truth from those few words.
What remarkable insight!
"As expected of Ms. Sakura, known as the youngest genius trainer, your quick reflexes are astonishing." Symboli Rudolf chuckled and shook her head, continuing.
"The strength of a Zone isn't static; as the Zone's strength increases, the cost of activating it also rises. Rice Shower mastered her Zone at last year's Spring Tenno Sho against McQueen. At that time, her Zone matched her strength, so activating it didn't cause too much damage to her body."
"But this time, Rice Shower's Zone strength is significantly stronger than it was at last year's Spring Tenno Sho, which is highly unusual. While Zone strength doesn't increase gradually like training, it is still linked to an Umamusume's own strength."
"The only possibility is that Rice Shower somehow learned a method to increase Zone strength but didn't understand the cost of activating it, resulting in her body being unable to withstand such a powerful Zone."
Sakura Baimu listened to Symboli Rudolf's explanation, gaining a deeper understanding of Zones.
Symboli Rudolf didn't reveal any methods for enhancing or unlocking Zones in her words; she was merely providing an introduction.
Therefore, it wouldn't negatively impact Tokai Teio and the others who were listening in.
"There are quite a few Zone Umamusumes in the academy. How do we find them?" Sakura Baimu frowned.
"No, I don't think they're from our academy," Symboli Rudolf said decisively.
"I had spoken with all Umamusumes who have unlocked their Zones. I usually inform them of basic information about Zones, as well as the rule of confidentiality to at least the lowest-level Umamusumes."
"Simply put, Umamusumes who have unlocked their Zones are strictly prohibited from revealing methods for unlocking Zones to Umamusumes who haven't. And Umamusumes who have mastered higher-level Zones are strictly prohibited from revealing information about enhancing Zone strength to Umamusumes who have just unlocked their Zones."
"Since Rice Shower was able to know about the higher-level Zones in advance, it means that an Umamusume who possessed knowledge of those Zones must have told her. Even in this vast Central Tracen Academy, there are only a handful of Umamusumes who possess knowledge of higher-level Zones; they would never do something to harm their schoolmates."
"So, it's because an Umamusume from another academy deliberately told Rice Shower these things?" Mejiro McQueen frowned and asked.
"Possibly," Symboli Rudolf nodded. "However, most Umamusume training institutions in Japan have this kind of unwritten rule. So, it's also quite possible that it was an Umamusume from abroad."
Sakura Baimu listened to their analysis and nodded slightly.
She planned to ask Rice Shower directly after she woke up.