Once the paddock presentation ended, the horse girls entered the gates one after another.
Inside the narrow stall, Urara took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Her trainer's pre-race instructions echoed through her mind again and again.
"This race is different from the mock races before."
"The dirt track at Nakayama Racecourse is on the inner course, with a total lap length of 1,493 meters. But the debut race you're entering is a 1,000-meter newcomer race."
"So there are three parts of the course you need to pay attention to."
Her trainer's voice had been serious—serious enough that Urara had unconsciously held her breath while listening.
"The opening 200 meters of the race begin with a steep downhill. After that comes a long gentle descent of around 600 meters. And then, in the final 200 meters before the finish—"
He had paused there, his tone turning especially solemn.
"—there's a major uphill stretch with an elevation change of more than two meters."
"Whether or not you can hold on and finish your sprint on that final slope will decide this race."
Urara still remembered how hard she had nodded at the time.
"So, Urara."
Her trainer's hand had come down on her shoulder, warm and firm.
"You have to save as much energy as possible during the downhill section, so you'll have enough left for the final battle."
"Do you understand?"
"Yeah! Urara understands!"
—It'll be fine.
Urara told herself that in her heart.
—I'm going to win.
Her eyes remained shut, but her pink ears stood high, catching every sound around her.
The wind.
The rain.
The distant roar of the crowd.
And—
the sound of her own heartbeat.
[Focus… focus…]
The skill Concentration quietly activated.
Urara felt her mind become clearer than ever before.
All the noise around her gradually faded, as though the whole world had been muted.
Her attention sharpened to the absolute limit.
At this moment, the only thing in her eyes was the gate that was about to open.
In her ears, only her trainer's instructions remained.
And in her heart, there was only—
the determination to win!
Bang!
The gates flew open.
The race began.
Urara exploded out of the gate with a perfect break.
It was a starting motion polished through countless hours of training, every detail refined to exactly where it needed to be.
Her small yet nimble legs drove powerfully at the instant the gate opened, and her body shot forward like an arrow released from the bow.
The reaction-speed boost granted by Concentration let her burst out ahead of every other horse girl.
In a single instant, she seized the lead.
[So fast… Urara's in front…]
A surge of joy rose in the pink-haired girl's chest.
But—
she immediately ran into her first problem.
…
In the stands—
the same place where Tōru and the two spectators were watching.
"This is bad."
The bespectacled man suddenly frowned.
"Why do you say that all of a sudden?" asked the green-haired man, puzzled.
"Number 4, Haru Urara, appears to have chosen a front-running escape strategy. For a small horse girl who isn't good at bodying through power contests, that's a smart decision."
Pushing up his glasses, the man spoke in a grave tone.
"Her break from the gate just now was excellent for an escape runner. That reaction was easily above average. Normally, that would be a very good sign."
He paused and looked toward the inside lane of the track.
"But—in the current condition of the track, it's actually unfavorable for front-runners to cut to the rail."
"What do you mean?"
"Look over there."
He pointed toward the inside of the course.
The green-haired man followed his finger, and then—
his face also turned serious.
As the fourth race of the day, the inner track had already been churned up by the previous three races. It was covered in footprints and pockmarks.
Rainwater mixed with the dirt, pooling in the hollows into little puddles.
Some places had been trampled so badly they had turned into soft, collapsed patches—dangerous traps.
One careless step could catch a leg.
A fall was not impossible.
That kind of footing was terrible for running.
"But if the lead horse doesn't cut to the rail now—"
the bespectacled man said in a low voice,
"—then running wide on the outside means covering extra distance and wasting the advantage of being in front."
He let out a sigh.
"It's a no-win choice."
…
Back on the track—
faced with that pitted, treacherous footing, Urara's answer was—
to charge straight into it.
Without hesitation, she cut inward to the rail.
[Trainer said… save stamina…]
[Going wide would mean running much farther…]
[So… even if it's harder to run… I have to stay inside!]
Gritting her teeth, the pink-haired horse girl showed astonishing toughness on the torn-up track.
Her feet moved nimbly around the obvious traps, searching through the mud for comparatively solid patches to plant on.
Even when she occasionally stepped into a soft spot, she quickly adjusted her balance and kept her rhythm intact.
It was a steadiness completely at odds with her tiny frame.
And once the leader chose that path, the horse girls behind naturally followed.
Especially—
the number 3 horse girl running tightly behind Urara.
Hayate Shun'ei.
That silver-haired horse girl's gaze was sharp as a blade, locked onto Urara's back.
Clearly, just like Urara, she had also chosen a front-running escape strategy.
However—
despite her fierce appearance, the way she actually ran was extremely delicate.
She controlled the distance between herself and Urara with incredible precision.
Not too close—too close and the mud kicked up by the girl in front would impair her vision, and the front runner's rhythm changes would interfere with her own.
But not too far either—too far and she would lose the benefit of drafting behind the leader, and it would be harder to launch a decisive pass at the crucial moment.
The gap she maintained was so exact it looked as though she had measured it with a ruler.
That was right.
She was deliberately holding herself in second place.
This tactic was known as a shadowing run—sticking tight behind the leader, reducing energy expenditure by drafting off her, then launching a killing blow in the closing stages.
That fine, precise sense of distance control was a technique inherited from her mother, a mare who had won multiple graded dirt races in a row.
It was talent engraved in her blood.
But—
bit by bit, Hayate Shun'ei realized something was wrong.
[This girl… isn't she going way too fast…?]
Even for a short-distance race, number 4—Haru Urara—was setting the pace far too aggressively.
Hayate Shun'ei glanced backward.
And then—
her pupils contracted sharply.
The two of them had already opened up more than four lengths on the main pack!
And the gap was still growing!
Five lengths.
Six lengths.
This way of running was—
"A breakaway!"
The one who shouted it was the bespectacled man in the stands.
He stared at the pink figure on the track in disbelief.
"In a newcomer race, and in weather like this, she's actually gone for a breakaway escape!?"
"That's way too insane!"
A breakaway escape was the most extreme form of front-running tactics.
From the very start of the race, the horse girl sprints all-out, opening a huge gap over the others and then trying to hold that lead all the way to the finish.
It was an incredibly high-risk strategy.
Once the runner's stamina gave out and the girls behind started catching up, it usually meant utter collapse.
Especially on a rainy dirt track—
where the muddy ground dramatically increased stamina consumption, multiplying the danger of such a tactic.
And she still dared to choose it?
This was practically—
In the next instant, the bespectacled man's expression changed from shock to excitement.
"Interesting… this is too interesting…"
His eyes shone.
"This is exactly why I'm obsessed with horse girls!"
"This kind of madness that ignores conventional logic… this kind of courage to stake everything—"
"This is the very essence of racing!"
…
Unlike the man's shock and exhilaration,
Akihara Tōru's face remained calm as still water.
Because this was the sure-win formula he had chosen for Urara.
He had only settled on this strategy after serious consideration.
First, he had evaluated Urara's current stats.
Even with all her training and the boosts from friendship training, Urara's speed was still only average among girls of her generation.
In terms of raw top-end speed, she simply didn't have an advantage.
And even though her impressive grit and power gave her a finishing kick that could last much longer than most others, that alone was still not enough to make her truly competitive.
Because—
the core of a closer's strategy is to overtake with superior speed in the final stretch.
If your speed isn't high enough, then no matter how long your sprint lasts, you won't catch the girls in front.
So—
why not think about it differently?
Abandon the closer style altogether and make Urara into a breakaway front-runner.
A lack of peak speed didn't matter.
As long as she could sustain her sprint long enough, she could naturally build a large enough lead.
Then even if her speed dropped in the endgame, if the lead was big enough, the girls behind would never catch up.
As for the greatest concern of a breakaway runner—stamina—
on one hand, her new skill Escape Spirit reduced stamina loss.
On the other hand, Urara's far-above-average grit was also something worth trusting in.
The real question was—
Tōru's gaze remained fixed tightly on the pink figure racing down the track.
Could Urara hold on to the very end?
…
Back on the course—
having realized that Urara had chosen a breakaway strategy, Hayate Shun'ei clenched her teeth and thought furiously.
[Is this girl… insane…?]
[On a rainy day like this, choosing a breakaway… there's no way her stamina can last to the finish…]
From a rational standpoint, Hayate should have dropped back now and maintained her original pace.
She should not have followed number 4 into suicidal recklessness.
She should have simply waited until the girl in front burned out, then overtaken her cleanly.
That would have been the safest choice.
But—
Hayate Shun'ei's eyes flicked toward the distant stands.
She knew.
Somewhere out there, her mother and her trainer were watching her.
This was her debut race.
Her first chance to prove herself to the world.
Was she really going to pull back so tamely and settle for such an obvious kind of victory?
[No…]
The competitive instinct hardwired into every horse girl overpowered her reason.
It was instinct carved into her blood.
A hunger she could not suppress.
She wanted to win.
Not a cheap victory picked up after her opponent collapsed.
She wanted a clean, head-on victory, one earned by crushing her rival from the front!
[I'm going after her!]
Fighting spirit blazed in Hayate Shun'ei's eyes.
Her choice was—
to chase!
…
"Not good!"
By the trackside, the moment he saw Hayate Shun'ei's decision, Tōru gripped the railing hard.
At last, his expression changed.
This was not in the plan.
He had chosen the breakaway tactic only after carefully calculating Urara's stamina.
By his projections, Urara's current endurance—combined with the reduced consumption from Escape Spirit—should have been just enough to let her carry the breakaway over the full 1,000 meters.
But—
that calculation assumed Urara would be running under normal conditions.
It assumed no other horse girl would contest her for the front.
And yet now—
there was another girl on the track who had chosen the exact same breakaway strategy!
Once two breakaway runners started competing against each other, everything changed.
To avoid being passed, both of them would instinctively speed up.
The extra consumption caused by that rivalry was on an entirely different level from a normal race.
In that situation—
could Urara still make it to the finish?
…
On the track, Urara also noticed Hayate Shun'ei closing in behind her.
[Huh…?]
[Someone's catching up…?]
Urara had never imagined that someone else would choose the same breakaway style. At that moment, panic flickered through her.
Instinctively, she wanted to search for her trainer's voice—wanted to find support in him.
Where is Trainer?
He should be right beside the track, shouldn't he?
If only she could hear his voice—
But the cruelty of the race did not allow her even that split second of distraction.
It took only a single glance to the side.
And in that brief instant, the silver-haired girl had already drawn level with her!
[So fast…!]
Alarm surged through Urara's heart.
Another single breath later—
Hayate Shun'ei had already moved ahead of Urara and taken the lead!
[No… she got past me…]
Urara no longer dared let her mind wander. Grinding her teeth, she chased desperately after her.
[Catch up… I have to catch up…]
[Trainer said… I have to hold the lead…]
[I can't let her stay in front…!]
Both girls' speeds soared even higher.
The already furious pace was dragged into the extreme.
The normal rhythm of the race had completely disintegrated.
This was no longer strategy or tactics.
This was a direct clash between two breakaway runners, each staking her pride as a front-runner on the line!
…
At the announcer's booth, even the race caller seemed to have been swept up by the blistering pace of the race.
"Number 3, Hayate Shun'ei, and number 4, Haru Urara, have launched into an intense battle for the lead right from the opening stages!"
"Both horse girls have chosen breakaway tactics—an extremely rare sight in a newcomer race!"
"At present, the pair have already opened up more than eight lengths on the chasing pack!"
"And the gap is still widening!"
"This is madness! These two horse girls are practically running for their lives!"
The commentator's voice grew ever more excited.
"And the question now is—can their stamina hold out to the end!?"
…
Eight hundred meters vanished in an instant.
The two of them reached the final 200 meters almost simultaneously.
The brutal uphill section with a two-meter elevation change loomed in front of them.
Hayate Shun'ei charged into it first, her gray-white hair flying in the rain.
But—
after just a few steps, her speed visibly dropped.
[No… can't… go on…]
[My body… is so heavy…]
She had hit the wall.
Her early sprint had completely drained her stamina.
Those eyes, so sharp a moment ago, were now beginning to lose focus.
And with the pursuing horse girls behind them still charging forward, it almost created the illusion that she herself was moving backward.
[Why… why am I…]
Hayate was flooded with bitter regret.
She should never have chased.
She should have kept her own rhythm.
She should not have allowed number 4's recklessness to drag her in.
If only she had stayed cooler—
If only she had stayed more rational—
[But… it's too late now…]
In despair, she watched as the pink figure beside her shot past.
That horse girl, smaller than she was.
That horse girl who should have exhausted herself even sooner.
And yet—
she was still surging forward!
[Why… why can she still…]
Hayate Shun'ei could not understand.
She truly could not understand.
…
And after Urara grit her teeth and forced herself another hundred meters ahead—
her own steps at last began to slow.
[I can't… really can't anymore…]
[My legs… so heavy…]
[Breathing… hurts…]
Just like Hayate before her, Urara had begun to decelerate.
The price of the breakaway strategy had finally come due.
Her legs felt like they had been filled with lead.
Every step demanded overwhelming force of will.
That two-meter elevation might as well have become a mountain no one could climb.
[How much… farther…]
[Where's… the finish…]
Urara's vision began to blur.
She could no longer clearly see the track ahead.
All she knew was that she had to keep moving forward.
All she knew was that she could not stop.
But—
[My body… already…]
Just as despair was about to swallow her—
right there on the edge between struggle and agony—
Urara heard that familiar voice again.
"Go, Urara—!!!"
It was her trainer's voice.
The voice of the trainer who belonged only to her.
It pierced through the rain.
It pierced through the noise.
It pierced straight through the haze clouding her mind.
And reached her ears with perfect clarity.
[Trainer…!]
Urara's eyes lit up.
Those pink eyes, which had nearly gone dark, blazed once more.
[Trainer is watching Urara…]
[Trainer is cheering for Urara…]
[Urara can't let Trainer down…]
[Urara absolutely can't lose!!!]
From somewhere unknown, strength poured into her body once again.
It was power that surpassed the limits of flesh.
It was power born from their bond.
It was—
the power that came from the trainer who believed in her!
Encouraged by her protagonist, Urara shattered her limits once more.
Biting down hard, she surged forward!
That body on the verge of collapse suddenly seemed to regain new life.
Every step landed with absolute conviction.
Every step carried her closer to the finish.
Ten meters.
Five meters.
Three meters.
One meter—
"She's across the line!!!"
The announcer was practically screaming.
"Number 4, Haru Urara, crosses the finish line first!!!"
"She wins!!!"
"In these brutal conditions, with her stamina almost completely spent, she still held on all the way to the end!!!"
"A spring cherry blossom blooming in furious splendor upon August mud! The winner of today's dirt newcomer race is—Haru Urara!!!"
-------
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