"Sakuraba Ryo... doesn't need me by his side anymore...?"
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Oguri Cap's face.
Seeing that expression, Tamamo Cross raised a brow and continued.
"Even if you're still undefeated right now, the race you're entering next is the Japanese Derby, isn't it?"
"As you are now, you absolutely cannot win the Japanese Derby."
Tamamo Cross looked at Oguri Cap coldly as she delivered that judgment.
It wasn't that she was deliberately targeting Oguri Cap.
But facts were facts.
"You still lack the most crucial quality needed to win the Derby."
"And if you can't win the Japanese Derby, then you can't create value for Sakuraba Ryo, and you can't help him achieve his goal."
"If that's the case, then you aren't needed."
"That's all."
Tamamo Cross's words shook Oguri Cap.
Because there wasn't even the slightest trace of falsehood in them, and Oguri Cap, who could sense that, was struck all the harder by it.
"If I can't win the Derby... then I have no value to Sakuraba Ryo...?"
She lowered her head and murmured to herself.
Then she looked up again and called out to Tamamo Cross, who was about to leave.
"You said I'm lacking some quality... what is it?"
Tamamo Cross had her back to her and was already about to walk away, but at Oguri Cap's question, her steps paused slightly.
"What are you lacking?"
"Heh."
Tamamo Cross let out a soft laugh.
In the next instant, Oguri Cap felt a chill run down her spine, and her cheeks prickled as though stung.
An overwhelming, powerful presence burst forth in front of her. Oguri Cap felt her shoulders suddenly grow heavy, and it was as if lightning flashed before her eyes.
And yet that sensation lasted only a moment before vanishing.
"What you lack... is this."
After tossing out those words, Tamamo Cross stretched lazily and left.
Only Oguri Cap remained where she was.
"That feeling just now... what was it...?!"
Oguri Cap looked down at her pale hand. Several dark red marks had been left in her palm—during that brief instant, she had clenched her fist too hard and her nails had dug into her skin.
The shock Tamamo Cross had given her just now had been so intense that she had nearly lost control of her own strength.
But Oguri Cap paid no attention at all to the injury on her hand. Her whole being was immersed in that mysterious sensation from moments ago.
"So that... was the quality she meant?"
If Oguri Cap had to describe it herself, then in that instant, Tamamo Cross had become something like a monster.
Strong.
Unbelievably strong.
Oguri Cap's sharp instincts were telling her that if she raced Tamamo Cross right now, she would absolutely lose.
"If I don't become as strong as her... then I won't be able to help Sakuraba Ryo...?"
Oguri Cap had more or less realized what Tamamo Cross had truly been trying to tell her...
Tamamo Cross genuinely believed that Oguri Cap's growth was too slow.
And if Oguri Cap's growth was too slow, then her existence would only become dead weight for Sakuraba Ryo.
And in Tamamo Cross's eyes, gentle by nature as Sakuraba Ryo was, he probably would not directly cut off his investment in Oguri Cap.
She would never allow that to happen.
If Oguri Cap truly could not keep up with them, then she ought to have the sense to let go on her own.
And if Oguri Cap could not even understand something that simple, then Tamamo Cross would personally teach her that lesson.
That was why today's confrontation had happened.
"...I have to help Sakuraba Ryo!"
"I... have to become stronger!"
After a long silence, the gray-haired girl started forward once more.
...
"My, I never expected you to come to Central, Sakuraba-san~ Why didn't you tell me in advance~?"
Inside the student council office at Tracen Academy, Symboli Rudolf propped her cheek on one hand and smiled as she looked at Sakuraba Ryo, who was sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room.
"Uh..."
Looking at the student council President of Tracen Academy, who was staring right at him, Sakuraba Ryo's mouth twitched slightly.
Damn it all.
I was just wandering around campus, so how did this woman manage to catch me?
No, wait...
Thinking about it carefully, running into the student council President of the school while inside Tracen Academy was actually perfectly normal...
Crap.
The problem was my decision-making!
Damn it, I got careless!
When he had first run into Symboli Rudolf at Central, Sakuraba Ryo had actually wanted to make a run for it.
But the Emperor's grasp had been too inescapable. He had no chance of fleeing and was dragged here by force.
"Even though you said you didn't want to come to Central, here you are after all, Sakuraba-san."
"Uh, I'm only here to take care of a few things."
Sakuraba Ryo avoided Symboli Rudolf's somewhat overenthusiastic gaze.
He just had a bad feeling about being looked at like that by her. Nothing good ever came of it.
"Oh~ Taking care of a few things?"
Symboli Rudolf spoke lightly, smiling all the while.
"What business could you possibly have at Central? In the end, you came for Oguri Cap, didn't you~?"
"..."
"Hadn't you said before that you'd only come to Central for a look once Oguri Cap won a G1~?"
Symboli Rudolf had not forgotten inviting Sakuraba Ryo back at Chukyo Racecourse.
That had been the reason he used to refuse her.
And she had quietly remembered it ever since.
"...Come on. Oguri's an Umamusume I've invested in. Isn't it normal for me to come check on her?"
Faced with Symboli Rudolf's teasing, Sakuraba Ryo gave up resisting.
"Besides, I'm just here to look around Central as a tourist. I never said I was actually going to join your side..."
"But the very fact that you came to Central is already something very important to me~"
Symboli Rudolf rose from her seat and crossed over to sit on the sofa opposite Sakuraba Ryo.
"After all, that was the wager between us, wasn't it~? If you came to Central to see Oguri Cap, then naturally that means you came to help her too, right~?"
"You've already chosen to help Oguri Cap win a G1, so why not simply yield to me~? Deep down, you've already given in, haven't you~?"
"...?"
Sakuraba Ryo stared at her like he had no idea what she was talking about.
He hadn't come to Central to help Oguri Cap at all—if anything, he had come specifically to hold her back.
What did she mean, given in?
This was resistance!
"I only took a casual look at Oguri. I didn't do anything special, and talk of helping her doesn't even begin to apply."
Oh my, Sakuraba-san is being a tsundere again~
Symboli Rudolf offered no comment on Sakuraba Ryo's words.
With the things Sakuraba Ryo said, you usually had to hear the opposite of what was coming out of his mouth.
She was willing to bet that over the next few days, Oguri Cap's strength would make tremendous progress.
And when that happened, she wanted to see what excuse the man in front of her would come up with then~
Still, Symboli Rudolf had not brought Sakuraba Ryo into this room merely to tease him in private.
Sitting on the sofa, she lightly slipped off her shoes, then smiled at Sakuraba Ryo.
"Would you give me a private service session, my dear Sakuraba-san~?"
---
A/N: Do you know the feeling of salvation when you're typing "Sakuraba-san" and accidentally type "Sukuna-san" instead?
T/N: SUKUNA??? SAKURABA IS SUKUNA????????