This time, when Takamine and Ardan headed for the shop, they made a point of changing into casual clothes and leaving their usual uniform looks at home.
Takamine wore a short black knit top that left her slim waist and well-defined abdominal lines on display, giving her a striking sense of strength. Even though autumn had already arrived, she personally seemed not to feel the chill at all.
Her gray-white jeans only made her long legs look even more flawless.
Compared to Takamine's slightly hotter style, Ardan dressed much more conservatively, perfectly embodying what it meant to be a refined young lady. A pale blouse paired with a violet floral skirt gave her a poised elegance. The two of them walking side by side down the shopping street carried an air that stood completely apart from the ordinary passersby around them.
Takamine had not come with the certainty that negotiations would succeed.
But at the very least, she wanted to see what kind of horse girl Dyna really was.
When the two of them finally reached the storefront, however, they discovered something strange.
The shop door was open—
Even though it was clearly outside business hours.
Ardan had passed by this place several times before, and she was absolutely certain that this shop never opened outside its designated hours.
"That's odd. By the time, it should be closed right now. Are we still going in?"
Even as Ardan spoke, Takamine showed no hesitation at all. She simply rapped her knuckles lightly against the door and stepped inside.
With no choice, Ardan followed.
The wind chime above the door rang twice, drawing the attention of everyone already inside. Then the sound faded, and silence fell.
"Well now. Fancy finding familiar faces here. What a coincidence."
Aside from the chestnut-haired proprietress, the other two unexpected visitors in the shop were none other than the 144-centimeter Dream Journey and the 142-centimeter head of the Gold family, Stay Gold.
At 165 centimeters, Takamine did not hide her dislike of the two from the Gold family in the slightest, whereas the 162-centimeter Mejiro Ardan kept her emotions more carefully concealed.
In some subtle, invisible sense, the Mejiro side—favored by the blessings of height—had already seized the opening advantage in this smoke-free battlefield.
"Boss Lady, this isn't business hours, is it? Then why exactly are they here...?"
Though tiny in stature, Stay Gold, as the head of her family, lacked nothing in presence beside Mejiro Takamine. Sitting atop a high stool with her arms crossed, she glared at the newcomers with open hostility.
Dyna blinked.
Her eyes flicked toward the slightly open crack of the kitchen door. Behind it, the tall gray-haired figure shook her head, then firmly shut the door all the way.
Gold Ship genuinely had no idea what was going on either.
She knew McQueen would tell Takamine about the matter, but this was way too fast. What shocked her even more was why her own older sister had suddenly shown up here in person.
Dyna's relationship with the Gold family had only improved by the tiniest bit thanks to Nakayama Festa and Gold Ship, and Gold Ship herself had never mentioned a single thing about Dyna at home.
So how had Big Sis and Dream Journey known?
"I... don't know either?"
Dyna immediately chose weakness.
The Mejiro and Gold sides had never exactly been on good terms. Since this was now ace against ace, all Dyna had to do was slip aside and let the two great houses duel it out.
There was absolutely no need to set herself on fire by stepping into the middle.
In a situation like this, trying to play peacemaker would only get the peacemaker burned.
Stay Gold continued, "We're in the middle of resolving a private matter with the Boss Lady. There's no need for outsiders to stick their noses in."
Takamine gave a cold laugh. "Given your family's way of doing things, 'resolving' probably means sinking the Boss Lady into Tokyo Bay to silence her. That's the sort of image gangsters have already burned into people's minds."
"And your Mejiro side is hardly spotless either. Let me think... you didn't come here with good intentions, did you? Tsk, tsk."
The smell of gunpowder between them was practically tangible. Their clashing gazes looked close to throwing off sparks that might ignite the whole room.
Stay Gold knew perfectly well that she was at a disadvantage. The damage Orfevre had caused was simply too severe.
She could lower herself in front of Dyna if she had to.
But in front of Takamine?
Absolutely not.
That old fox Takamine was obviously trying to bring Dyna under Mejiro control, and that was something the Gold family could never tolerate.
"As far as the Boss Lady is concerned, we're offering her protection. Protection from the likes of you—a family of feral horse girls. Owning an entire shopping street for yourselves and still wanting more. How greedy can you get?"
Step by step, Takamine pressed forward.
The two family heads looked almost ready to explode on the spot.
Meanwhile, the two attendants stood one on either side behind Dyna, exchanged glances over her shoulders, and smiled helplessly at the exact same time.
"It seems this quarrel has nothing to do with us now. Miss Dream Journey, did you come here of your own accord?"
Ardan asked softly, and Dream Journey gave a small nod.
Dyna dragged over two chairs and set out cookies and warm milk before sitting down herself.
"If you haven't had breakfast yet, would you like to eat a little?"
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
The three of them sat together, nibbling and sipping while watching the two family heads verbally batter each other.
Unfortunately, their entire argument kept circling back around to Orfevre, and Dyna found her head starting to hurt just listening.
Dream Journey adjusted her glasses with a single finger. Her deep eyes turned toward Dyna.
"Boss Lady, I know your impression of the Gold family isn't good. But there's something I'd like to ask. In your debut race, when Orfevre rammed you... was there some reason for it?"
The moment the question left her mouth, the way Ardan looked at Dream Journey changed. Her relaxed expression sharpened instantly into vigilance.
One corner of Dyna's eye twitched.
She reached up and touched the place on her arm where she had been struck.
"Maybe... maybe she mistook me for a redhead? Orfevre really hates red hair."
"..."
Dream Journey leaned back, her expression suddenly grave.
So Orfevre's illness really was serious.
She had already been showing symptoms during her debut race, yet she had not said a single word?
If things were allowed to continue like this, wouldn't she end up attacking every chestnut- or red-haired horse girl she encountered in future races?
So Dream Journey nodded with complete seriousness.
"I understand now. As for Orfevre, Miss Stay Gold and I guarantee to you that we will absolutely cure her illness."
"Illness?"
"Yes. As for your compensation..." Dream Journey glanced at the other side of the room, where the argument still showed no sign of ending any time soon, then sighed. "It seems that will have to wait until Miss Stay Gold and Miss Takamine finish."
Four plates of cookies disappeared before the two family heads finally started to wind down.
Both of their faces were slightly red now. Stay Gold had stood up from the floor, but without the extra boost of the high stool, she no longer looked nearly as imposing in front of Takamine.
"If you lot get your hands on the Boss Lady, she'll never have a good day again. Let me say this clearly right now: even if the Mejiro family gives up every condition and provides help to the Boss Lady for free, we still won't allow the Gold family to lay even the tiniest finger on the Boss Lady's territory!"
Stay Gold ground her teeth.
But the sins created by her own family still had to be swallowed in full, so in the end, she gave up arguing further.
After all, the fallout from Orfevre's behavior was still spreading among racing fans even now. Add to that the bizarre nature of her recent defeat, and the Gold family was currently standing right in the storm's eye. They could not afford to fight the Mejiro family head-on.
"Looks like it's finally ending?"
Dyna wiped her hands clean and looked toward the two beside her.
"It seems Miss Stay Gold suffered a crushing defeat. Entirely expected, really. After all, what Orfevre did isn't something the public will forgive so easily."
Dream Journey shook her head and walked over to pull Stay Gold away from in front of Takamine.
Dyna, for her part, felt that the two families clashing like this was actually very good for her.
When the snipe and clam struggle, the fisherman profits.
Right now, she was like someone fishing calmly by the bank, simply waiting to see which of the two great families would bite the hook first.
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
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 32
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