"So what you're saying is, Cody's Wish had already been in my head for a long time, and Miss Sea Bird just woke her up?"
Even after hearing Cody's Wish explain it, Dyna still looked confused. The little blue bird was now peacefully perched on top of her head, as if it had decided this was its nest.
Cody's Wish gave a slight nod. "That's right. What surprises me, though, is that you're actually... well, for now, rather ordinary."
Dyna was left speechless.
Hearing a powerful horse girl describe her that way was devastating. Interpreted charitably, it meant you're ordinary for now. Interpreted less charitably, it meant why are you so weak right now? Things like that were common enough among horse girls. After all, where there was strength, there was weakness too.
"I know I'm weak, but having it said out loud is still a real blow to my self-esteem. The fact that Miss Cody's Wish chose me at all is already an enormous honor."
A little storm cloud practically appeared over Dyna's head. Then the little blue bird on top of her promptly pecked her once, making her whole body jolt.
The corner of Cody's Wish's lips curled upward. "I'm Cody's Wish. Cody is the one on your head. He's the most important person in my life..."
"Huh? Cody is this little bird?"
"When I first started racing, my results were honestly pretty awful. Then I met Cody, who was terminally ill. I don't know whether it awakened some kind of hidden potential in me, or whether it was simply a fated bond, but from then on I started winning race after race, all the way to the Breeders' Cup."
Cody's Wish kept one finger resting on top of the little bird's head as she spoke, her tone tinged with memory.
"On the day I retired, Cody died. But the Three Goddesses are watching over us. That day, this little blue bird came to my side, and it's stayed with me ever since. I believe he is Cody, and he's never once denied it."
The little blue bird cooed twice after hearing that, as if agreeing.
Dyna sat duck-legged on the bed, listening to the story, her feelings a complicated mess.
The name Cody made her think of that little boy. Clearly, she had not formed a bond with him as deep as the one Cody's Wish had shared with Cody.
Running was not something Dyna herself absolutely needed.
But once Sea Bird's words and Cody's Wish's words had entered her ears, they had begun relentlessly interfering with her thoughts. Especially because her previous line of work had involved children too. Combined together, it was like a perfect combo attack that had completely short-circuited her brain.
Maybe what Dyna needed in her ordinary life was a little seasoning.
And it just so happened that this seasoning might bring happiness to other people too?
In any case, Dyna did not have the pressure of academy life weighing on her, so...
She did not stay tangled up inside herself for very long before making her decision.
"Coach... I want to learn how to run."
"Huh?"
Cody's Wish's fingertip paused, then tapped lightly against Dyna's forehead.
Zhuofu truly could not understand why Dyna, who had been doing just fine as a full-time cook, suddenly insisted on having her take her to the academy training grounds to practice running.
"Hah... hah..."
The panting behind her was getting heavier and heavier. Zhuofu had no choice but to slow down into an easy jogging pace, the kind someone would normally use for warm-ups. But for a complete outsider to sports, even that was clearly still too fast.
Listening to the ragged breathing coming from just behind and to the side, even Zhuofu's own rhythm was starting to get thrown off.
French turf was softer, which demanded more strength from the ankles. But for a horse girl like Dyna, who had barely ever stepped onto a proper turf course a few times in her life, she probably could not even tell the difference.
"Mother of..."
Dyna let out a weak cry. Then her legs gave out, and she could no longer keep up.
She staggered toward the white rail at the edge of the track, turned around, and pressed her soft stomach against the cold horizontal bar, practically hanging on it to stop herself from collapsing to the ground.
Her loose white T-shirt had been completely soaked through with sweat and now clung tightly to her back and waist, outlining the shape of her body so clearly that even the silhouette of the undergarments beneath was visible.
Zhuofu stopped running.
After a moment's hesitation, she walked over.
Sweat dripped from the tips of Dyna's chestnut hair, slid down her long neck, and finally disappeared into the damp collar of her shirt.
Zhuofu's eyes followed that bead of sweat downward before she could stop herself, and she suddenly felt her own cheeks growing hot.
Dyna seemed to sense someone behind her and slowly straightened up, turning around while bracing herself against the rail.
Her whole face was bright red, and a faint mist clung to her dark reddish eyes. Her sweat-soaked bangs stuck in disarray to her forehead, making her look a little bedraggled.
The fabric over her chest was soaked too, plastered close against her skin and showing every curve.
The moment Zhuofu's eyes touched it, she guiltily jerked her gaze away.
"Are you okay?"
"I... I can still run..."
There was a stubborn streak of refusal to lose in her voice. In Dyna's field of vision, Cody's Wish was standing beside the rail on the other side, watching her expressionlessly.
Looking at her forcing herself like this, Zhuofu felt both annoyed and amused. In the end, she could not resist reaching out and pinching the drooping horse ears resting limply atop Dyna's head because of exhaustion.
"If you can't run anymore, then rest. Why are you trying so hard to show off? You've never had professional training, so if you just run wildly like this, it'll be easy to injure your ankles."
Only after doing it did Zhuofu realize the gesture might have been a bit too forward. She quickly hid her hand behind her back and used the explanation to cover her embarrassment.
Dyna's already-red face deepened even further in color. Even the base of her neck had taken on a pink flush.
"That's not it! I—I won my debut race in Japan in a single try. As for how I won... well, I also just ran around wildly."
"You won your debut race in one shot?"
Zhuofu's interest instantly flared.
As a horse girl still in the theory-learning stage, her physical ability had already reached the peak for girls her age, yet her master still insisted on having her build up a foundation slowly and refused to let her enter a debut race this year. It was driving Zhuofu half insane with frustration.
Who could have imagined that the cook she had gotten to know was actually some kind of prodigy who cleared her debut in one run?
"Do you want to run in a rookie-season G1 in France? England works too. Ireland's pretty good as well. We have far more rookie-season G1 options over here than Japan does! And you'd still keep your Japanese racing registration, you know?"
Zhuofu launched into a nonstop stream of chatter. A flood of relatively technical jargon came crashing in like an unstoppable battering ram, smashing straight through Dyna's mental defenses and filling her head until there was no room left.
"Hold on...! Running in a G1 is way too early for me! I still have to learn everything from scratch!"
The moment Dyna thought of that yellow figure on the track, her head started aching again. If she chose the most famous Triple Crown races, then she was guaranteed to collide head-on with Orfevre.
Crossing her arms, Zhuofu said, "That's true. Then while you're still here, how about I teach you some basic knowledge first? The kind that applies to any track?"
"Of course I need that! I'd be happy just to learn, over the next few days, what pace is, or which foot to step out with first on a track..."
Dyna had very little faith in her own ability to learn anything athletic. Yet when she saw Zhuofu looking so confident, she still felt strangely reassured.
Patting her chest, Zhuofu declared, "Don't worry. French teaching quality is way better than Japan's. But I still recommend that once you go back home, you find a trainer to guide you, okay?"
Dyna let out a soft sigh and gripped her left arm with her right hand.
"That kind of thing... I'll decide depending on how things go."
"Of course, of course I'm really looking forward to running together with you in the Arc someday"
Zhuofu clapped her hands. Since she had now chosen to become Dyna's temporary teacher, she needed to bring a full hundred and twenty percent of her energy to the job.
Cody's Wish stroked the little bird absently, feeling curious as well about this unfamiliar turf-racing world.
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 (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
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 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin