ONE BILLION YEN.
In most currencies, that was already the kind of number an ordinary person could hardly even imagine.
Put in terms of Umamusume racing, it meant winning three races on the level of the Japan Cup, and then adding a Satsuki Sho victory on top of that...
Three G1 wins with enormous purses, plus one more race with an ordinary purse.
That was what it took to scrape together a total like one billion.
That was what Sakuraba Ryo's offer meant in Tony Bianca's eyes.
If her leg hadn't been injured, then yes, winning four G1 races in a single year wasn't impossible for her—but it would still have been incredibly difficult.
Take Ellerslie Pride, who had come to race in this year's Japan Cup.
With seven G1 victories to her name, she was without question the ruler of Oceania.
And yet when she came to the Japan Cup, she was still cut down by a challenger who had burst onto the scene halfway through, like Oguri Cap, and finished only eighth in the end.
That was just the nature of this sport.
Strength mattered, of course, but no one could know what kind of monster they would run into in the next race.
No Umamusume could guarantee she would keep winning forever.
Even those with undefeated records wouldn't have dared say, before retiring, that they would absolutely never lose.
For Sakuraba Ryo to offer Tony Bianca that price meant he acknowledged what she was worth.
Even with my leg like this... he'd still offer me that much?
The hospital room was silent, save for the occasional shadow of a bird passing the window and the faint murmur of distant traffic.
The scent of roses was so thick it almost seemed to weigh on the air, pressing down over every inch of the room.
Reclining in that sea of flowers, Tony Bianca did not answer at once.
She closed her eyes.
One billion.
Like a stone dropped into deep water, that number sent layer upon layer of old, tangled ripples spreading through her heart.
She remembered the scorching turf beneath the Arc's sunlight, the scream and roar that tore through the air at the instant she crossed the line, the heavy feel of the trophy, the icy spray of champagne.
Those glorious, burning memories of running and victory had once been carved into her life like a brand.
And then there was that crisp, heart-stopping sound on the Japan Cup turn. The agony that, in an instant, stripped away all her strength and speed. The pale, blinding color of the sky above her as she lay on the cold grass past the finish line.
The doctor's verdict still rang in her ears.
Never run again. Fade quietly from the stage. That seemed to be the only future left within her reach...
The King of the Arc's curtain call would not come with flowers and ribbons at the finish line, but with plaster casts and endless rehabilitation.
No matter how fragrant her fans' roses were, they could not fill the hollow that had been torn from the depths of her soul.
Retirement.
That word is so light, and yet it was the heaviest shackles of all, ready to lock away every remaining possibility in her future.
And yet, in that darkness that had been slowly settling over her, Sakuraba Ryo had brought an almost absurd number and carved open a crack.
One billion.
Not severance. Not consolation. A job offer.
An acknowledgment.
What he recognized was not the value of her past trophies, but the value of her future.
Even if that future no longer had anything to do with the track.
What exactly had he seen?
In Tony Bianca—the one she herself had begun to doubt, begun to give up on—what could still be worth an investment that huge?
Risk?
A scam?
Countless doubts circled in her on instinct.
And yet another emotion, finer and more stubborn, trembled out of the ruins inside her.
It was unwillingness.
Unwillingness to let it end like this.
Unwillingness to accept that her value ended at the racetrack.
Maybe... there wasn't only one road.
Maybe... her life, her experience, everything her name carried, could still take on another meaning. Another shape.
Sakuraba Ryo had told her to trust his judgment.
It was risky—a mad gamble.
But then again... hadn't her whole life been one gamble after another?
Betting she could go faster. Betting she could grow stronger. Betting she could come out on top among the best of the best.
Only this time, the wager was the rest of her life after injury, and the one sitting across the table was a stranger whose confidence bordered on absurd.
A long while passed. Maybe only a few dozen seconds, yet it felt like several seasons.
Tony Bianca slowly opened her eyes.
The turbulence in those emerald eyes that had once belonged to a ruler gradually stilled, replaced by a calm, resolute light.
She no longer looked at her injured leg.
Instead, she fixed her gaze on Sakuraba Ryo's face, as if trying to see through that composed smile and into the true shape of whatever lay at the heart of his plan.
She drew in a soft breath, filling her lungs with the heavy scent of flowers.
Then she spoke.
Her voice was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear, carrying a firmness that had not surfaced in a long time—the kind that belonged to moments of decision. It cut through the room's stagnant silence.
"...I understand."
Moonlight Lunacy whipped her head toward her, shock and disapproval written all over her face. Her lips moved, but in the end she said nothing.
Tony Bianca gave her friend a small shake of the head, asking her to wait, but her gaze never left Sakuraba Ryo.
"One billion... is indeed a number that can't be ignored, and can't easily be refused."
She paused, and the corner of her mouth lifted in the faintest hint of a smile. It was an expression made of self-mockery, relief, and the first rekindling spark of something inside her.
"But more importantly, Mr. Sakuraba Ryo, even at a time like this, you're still willing to offer a price like that for the name 'Tony Bianca.'"
The bitterness in her voice gradually faded, and something harder began to gather in its place.
"You said to trust your judgment."
Tony Bianca straightened her back slightly. The movement pulled at her pain, but she ignored it. In that moment, the proud bearing that belonged to a queen quietly returned—not resting on legs that could run, but on something deeper within her soul.
"Then... I choose to believe as well."
Her gaze sharpened, focused like someone standing at the starting gate once more.
"I accept your invitation."
"Though I still don't know the full shape of this plan you're talking about," she admitted plainly, before her tone turned firm.
"But at the very least, you're still acknowledging my possibility. That alone is enough."
She looked at Sakuraba Ryo as if she were not accepting a job contract, but taking on a brand-new challenge whose shape she could not yet see.
"The rest, then, is in your hands, Mr. Investor. Show me how you plan to make use of this... possibility worth one billion."
"Leave it to me."
Sakuraba Ryo thumped his chest and gave Tony Bianca a thumbs-up.
The King of the Arc, acquired!
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