This was not Offside Trap's first time seeing the track at Fuchu Racecourse.
But she was certain it was the first time she had ever stood here carrying such enormous hope.
She gazed into the distance, all the way to the opposite stretch of the course. Staff were still moving about on the track, making the final preparations for the Autumn Tenno Sho, and the sight made her unconsciously wet her lips.
They felt a little dry.
Her emotions, too, seemed to be wrapped in some unknown substance—heavy and oppressive, yet strangely light and floating at the same time, leaving her momentarily dizzy.
Following behind Terazumi Shinji, she walked toward the group of reporters who had already made their preparations.
Given her original fame and record, Offside Trap should never have drawn this many reporters and media outlets. But the rumors about her saying Silence Suzuka had "leg trouble" had grown more and more outrageous, to the point where they were nearly mutating into a slanderous story that she had cursed Suzuka with leg trouble and wanted her out of the Autumn Tenno Sho altogether.
Offside Trap clenched her fist one last time, then sat down beside Shinji.
"We will now begin the interview with Offside Trap. Reporters, Trainer Terazumi Shinji, and Miss Offside Trap, please make your preparations…"
The announcement came from somewhere in the crowd before them. Offside Trap tightened her grip on the hem of her outfit.
Today, she was wearing her brand-new racing dress. Before leaving, she had thought it looked beautiful—yet now, at such a crucial moment, doubt welled up in her again.
Could there be some flaw in this racing outfit, some overlooked detail neither she nor her trainer had adjusted properly?
"All right, this interview is now beginning."
The sounds around her multiplied at once—the clicks of cameras switching on, the rustle of notebooks, the murmur of voices. Shinji remained calm and quietly tugged at Offside Trap's hand.
He could tell she was drifting.
It was a reminder.
"How do the two of you view the likely race development for this Autumn Tenno Sho?"
A crew-cut reporter was the first to raise his hand.
"I think… Silence Suzuka will probably take the lead and dictate the pace…"
The man beside her showed no sign of answering, so after waiting a moment, Offside Trap gave her reply.
She had wanted to avoid the subject of Silence Suzuka as much as possible, but once the interview truly began, she realized with a jolt that the horse girl who had already lodged herself deep in the hearts of Japanese racing fans was a central figure this race could never be discussed without.
She was going to have to face every question related to her.
"You just mentioned Silence Suzuka. We'd like to ask: how do you view the issue of Suzuka's leg instability? Many racing fans online are also looking forward to hearing your direct answer."
"Uh…"
Offside Trap instinctively looked toward Terazumi Shinji. His expression was flat, his gaze fixed on the reporters, not sparing her even a sliver of attention.
"It may have something to do with her front-running style… or with how strong Silence Suzuka herself is…"
"So you do admit that Silence Suzuka is the biggest favorite in this race, and the strongest opponent among all the runners?" one reporter asked excitedly, clearly feeling he had seized the crucial point in her words. "After all, since the start of this year, Silence Suzuka has remained undefeated in graded races, racking up a winning streak. Many fans are already saying there is no one left in Japan who can beat her."
"And I'd also like to ask—when you said what you did, were you truly acting out of kindness when you told Silence Suzuka to undergo a full physical examination?"
"What do you think about the transition from the old generation to the new?"
"…"
For a moment, Offside Trap had no idea how to answer.
This did not even feel like her interview anymore.
It was not as though she had never watched pre-race interviews before. Most interviews centered on the runners themselves—how they intended to run, what preparations they had made, and so on.
But a pre-race interview that hardly mentioned the runner herself at all, like this one? Among all the JURA pre-race interviews she had ever seen, she had never encountered one like it.
"I…"
Offside Trap's words began to tangle. The reporters before her, however, seemed like sharks that had smelled blood. Their sharp questions came one after another, pressing harder and harder against the now-blank-minded horse girl.
Her eyes grew dull.
The night before, she had prepared meticulously for every possible question she thought might arise. And yet none of the answers she had prepared were of any use at all.
"I think everyone here needs to understand one thing. This interview is for Offside Trap, not for Silence Suzuka."
Terazumi Shinji's voice cut cleanly through the noise.
The cameras that had been aimed at Offside Trap all turned at once toward the expressionless trainer. Yet his expression did not change. His eyelids lowered halfway as he gripped the bent microphone stand.
"'No rivals left in Japan'—I don't believe Silence Suzuka herself has ever said anything like that. So all of you should know perfectly well who it is that wants such a conclusion."
He shrugged, his gaze sweeping over every face in front of him.
"I imagine every person in the news industry here understands even better than I do that anyone pushed onto a pedestal is ultimately going to fall hard."
Perhaps because the disdain in Shinji's tone was unmistakable, some of them visibly bristled.
"In yesterday's interview, Silence Suzuka said that for the sake of her overseas ambitions, and for the dreams of her fans, she intends to give everything in this race. And when asked about her chances, she said she believed she had at least a forty percent chance of winning it."
"And what about Nishizaki Ryu? Does he agree with that assessment?"
Shinji tilted his head slightly, meeting the other man's faintly smug look.
There was no denying it was a number full of confidence. Victory belonged only to first place, and taking first among a field of so many powerful horse girls was no easy feat.
A smile slowly spread across Shinji's face. He opened one hand.
"I think that out of a hundred chances, maybe she has forty."
Offside Trap snapped her head toward his profile.
A fierce confidence shone in the man's expression.
She knew that confidence came from her.
What she could not understand was why, in a race of a level she herself still had no certainty or confidence in—a level she had never even touched in her life—her trainer could believe so firmly that she would be the final winner.
"Whether it's an undefeated record or a winning streak, fundamentally speaking, it's time for it to end."
"If the story keeps going past this point, it stops being a good story."
As Shinji spoke, the sharpness in his eyes grew more intense. Several reporters in the front row shifted their gazes away, suddenly unable to meet his.
"A true strong one dares to face blood in all its vividness. I have no wish to speak of Offside Trap's past. Hardship in the past does not entitle one to anything in the present."
He lifted a finger, pointing toward Offside Trap. Her whole body jolted.
"I only want to say that after everything she's been through…"
His fingertip stopped in her direction.
"She has the courage to see blood and the resolve to fight to the death. Perhaps that is too heavy a thing for the racetrack—but strength is strength, and weakness is death. Silence Suzuka will lose on that point."
"I do not deny her passion, nor her sense of responsibility for what she bears. But that same passion and responsibility have also cost her the fierce hunger and obsession for victory."
His finger dropped and began tapping lightly against the table in front of him. The soft tapping somehow drew every eye in the room.
"She runs because she loves running before she runs to win. She does not run for victory."
"We do."
"Now, and in the future as well."
In his mind surfaced the scene from that day at Spica, when they had all surrounded Offside Trap. Shinji, who had arrived at the scene long before, had also seen the attitudes those so-called geniuses displayed during and after training.
Most of them were serious, yes.
Some of them were loose, yes.
But in the end, there was not a single one who truly satisfied him.
He did not think they were wrong. This was the privilege of the naturally gifted. They were entitled to weigh their moods, their pleasure and suffering, the gains and losses of meaning.
Even so, Shinji found himself laughing inwardly.
To him, they were being precious.
"The Three Goddesses imprisoned a girl—"
"—and what they let out was a hunter."
As for the rest of you…
Shinji's smile turned wild.
Do not think you can protect the flock from the wolf. For the wolf, that is equivalent to annihilation.
This world had always been that way.
Either the wolf dies, or the sheep do.
He rose slowly to his feet, and Offside Trap rose with him.
"Any more questions?"
The reporters in front of him were still reeling from what he had just said.
There would probably be no grave consequences, but Offside Trap likely had no chance whatsoever now of receiving the Three Goddesses' blessing.
And once this spread, it would make it easy for the other runners to mark her, perhaps even turn her into a common enemy.
"It seems not."
"Then let's end it here."
His tone was light, almost casual, as he stepped around the gathered reporters and headed out.
Behind him, the horse girl followed closely, step by step, glued to her trainer's back.
Inside the interview room, which had been ablaze with noise only moments before, the reporters seemed to wake from a dream and all turned to stare at the doorway where the two had already disappeared.
The door still hung open, looking strangely disorderly.
Just like the man who had opened it.
A rebel against the rules.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
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 (Chapter116)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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