This was what Agnes Tachyon believed:
Humans—and horse girls—were made of countless numbers.
And mathematics was the finest discipline of all, the one capable of precisely calculating every person's—every horse girl's—future.
That might sound arrogant, even heretical, but she believed it to be the truth.
Because through an enormous volume of calculations and research, she could derive the outcome of race after race. As long as she had all the real, valid data before the race began, she could build a mathematical model in her mind and compute the result of any race from the safety of her cluttered little room—without even watching it.
Perhaps that was simply a talent she had been born with.
Agnes Tachyon was genuinely proud of it.
And that same gift had plunged her into profound despair.
Because in her calculations, no matter how carefully she trained, no matter how diligently she managed her condition, her legs would still arrive at the same conclusion:
Collapse.
It might not be quite as bad as Miss Mejiro Ardan's "glass legs," but…
Then again, perhaps it was worse.
So Agnes Tachyon chose to become a free horse girl—one who would never be shackled by anyone or anything.
But was that really true?
Was she truly unbound?
Of course not.
Horse girls were born yearning to run, aching for glory. How could those things possibly be cast aside so easily?
But Agnes Tachyon had no answer.
No matter how she calculated, no matter how deeply she researched, no matter how many variables she added, the result never changed.
It was like a math problem that had already been solved: there might be many different ways to work it out, but the answer itself was fixed.
If a god truly existed in this world, then it had to be a thoroughly malicious one.
If everything was already decided, then how was she supposed to feel motivated?
If she indulged her desire to run, then surely all that awaited her in the future was pain.
And then she saw Seiun Ryoka run.
A single unknown variable that had barged into a world of certainties.
There could be nothing more intoxicating than that.
As a researcher, how could Agnes Tachyon possibly resist the temptation of unraveling such a mystery? Even if solving it failed to change her own future—even if all her hopes ultimately came to nothing—she would still throw herself into it willingly.
Because this was the only unknown she knew.
Even as a mere diversion, it was more than enough for her.
Without anyone noticing, Agnes Tachyon began collecting information on Seiun Ryoka. She wanted to calculate every number that made Ryoka who she was and analyze her from beginning to end.
That effort, naturally, ended in total failure.
Which gave her a headache—
and also ignited an even fiercer urge to research.
The harder she tried, the more thoroughly she failed. And the more she failed, the deeper she sank into it. Before long, she had nearly forgotten the reason she had started analyzing Ryoka in the first place.
So when Symboli Rudolf invited Agnes Tachyon to serve as one of Ryoka's attendants, Tachyon kept a straight face on the outside—
while inwardly she was ecstatic.
She had nearly wanted to clutch her cheeks and grin like a madwoman.
And after she began observing Seiun Ryoka at close range, she found an even greater surprise waiting for her.
On a certain day—
No, actually, on the very day she had been made to drink that unknown medicine—
she noticed that something inside her had changed.
As an excellent researcher, Agnes Tachyon knew her own body thoroughly. Of course she could detect a transformation in it with ease.
What she never could have imagined was that the collapse she had always believed to be inevitable had quietly slipped away from her.
But why?
She had only known Seiun Ryoka for a short time. How had Ryoka seen through the problem that awaited her in the future and resolved it so effortlessly? What principle lay behind it?
Even now, Agnes Tachyon could not answer that question. She still did not understand what had happened to her.
All she could do was stroke her ankle and perform the same calculations she knew so well—calculations that still managed to surprise and delight her every time.
Because she was afraid.
Afraid that one day she would wake from a dream and discover that her destined collapse had returned.
And if that happened…
Her mind would probably break before her legs ever did.
She wanted so desperately to step onto the track herself—to smash apart her own anxiety with lived experience.
So after arriving in Britain, Agnes Tachyon once again volunteered to be Seiun Ryoka's training partner.
She thought:
Even if only for a moment, let me see your full power.
Let me see a clearer vision of my own future too, Seiun Ryoka.
She had truly given that run everything she had.
At that time, the sky had been a pure, flawless blue. The sunlight was so bright it hurt to look at. The wind tore past her in violent gusts, and every blade of grass underfoot seemed to bow before her. Even the finishing marker at the end of the track had blurred into a searing streak of light.
Her lungs burned as though they were on fire—
and yet her legs…
No, not just her legs.
Every cell in her body was cheering for the fact that she was running with everything she had.
All of those sensations conveyed one simple, unified truth:
Running was joyous.
A horse girl was born to race beneath the open sky.
But then why—
Why couldn't she tear her eyes away from that back?
It belonged to a horse girl with snow-white hair. Her ponytail danced in the air like willow fluff caught on the breeze—so light, so pure, that it made one want to bury their face in it and breathe in its scent.
Sunlight edged her in a golden glow, making her seem tall and impossibly distant, as though she were racing along some far shore no one else could ever reach.
Sweat slid down the side of her face and fell from her chin, only to be whipped far away by the wind before it could strike the track.
Agnes Tachyon stared at that figure, breathing raggedly, while scientific reason screamed inside her head and spat out countless streams of data:
Stride frequency.
Rhythm.
Energy allocation.
In every one of those categories, she should have been superior.
So why was that woman still able to cleave through the air like a meteor and seize victory with such brutal, unreasonable force?
Agnes Tachyon did not know.
Because before she could answer, the most primitive impulse of all had already overwhelmed her reason and her doubts alike.
She wanted to reach out desperately.
Wanted to close the distance between them, no matter the cost.
Was it because Seiun Ryoka had deliberately shown her imperfection, awakening Tachyon's competitive spirit?
Or had Tachyon, instead, fallen in love with that most unadorned form of beauty?
She did not know.
All she felt was a faint thrill climbing up her spine and shooting straight into her mind.
And then she realized something terrifying.
At some point, the crushing certainty that she would break—the sensation that always accompanied her whenever she ran—had vanished completely.
Her earlier judgment had not been mistaken.
That mysterious medicine Ryoka had given her had truly changed her body.
Tachyon had once believed that numbers were the foundation of truth, and that by devoting herself to research, she could eventually reach the end of that truth—find the very limit of speed itself.
She had even taken the cold numbers that predicted her future and accepted them as an insurmountable wall.
But now that back before her felt like a slap across the face.
A hot, stinging slap.
Yet instead of humiliation, she felt something far more complicated rising within her:
Yearning.
Admiration.
Infatuation.
Love.
There were so many emotions mixed together that even she could no longer tell them apart.
All she knew was that she wanted to catch up to those footsteps—
to throw her arms around that girl in a scorching embrace beyond all reason—
and say:
I want to run like you do too.
Not by following a carefully calculated pace, step by orderly step—
but freely, recklessly, as though burning even my soul to ashes.
After a while, Agnes Tachyon finally came back to herself.
And immediately began mocking herself for it.
Good grief. Lost in that memory again?
She was starting to sound like some sentimental old hag.
Even if it was a beautiful memory, did she really have to recall it every time she touched her ankle?
Agnes Tachyon let out a dry laugh and turned to glance at Daiwa Scarlet—
only for a huge splash of water to come crashing down over her head and face.
"...Huh?"
When she looked up, the silver-haired girl who had once seemed as distant and untouchable as a dream was now surfacing from the bath and swimming toward them—
like some mischievous child who had just pulled off a prank.
Agnes Tachyon grew even more bewildered.
Was she dreaming?
Join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 180)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl 285
"Is this chat group even serious?" 150
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 255
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 305
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (This matter is completely finished.)
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 130
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 155
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 120
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 155
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 110
Still playing traditional Honk 96
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi 51
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 105
Checking In in Demon Slayer 95
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 105
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (This matter is completely finished.)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 90
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 100
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 120
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 105
After Maxing Out Every Class 110
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 95
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 60
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 69
From Trilobites to Titans 57
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 75
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 86
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 70
Honkai: The Fire Devil 70
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume2/30
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 60
Uma Musume Has No Weird Fan Le 74
At age 8, she co-starred with 45
Honkai: Schicksal Media 53
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 30
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