The standoff between the Golds and the Mejiros only lasted an hour. In the end, under Dyna's watch, the two family heads each sat down in the chairs their attendants had brought over.
"So... you two are done arguing now, right?"
Dyna blinked and extended one hand toward each side.
It was a rather inexplicable gesture, but Takamine and Stay Gold still answered in unison,
"More or less..."
Considering they had both lost their composure inside someone else's shop, each of them felt a little embarrassed. But Dyna seemed not to mind at all. Instead, she suddenly took one of their hands in each of hers.
"If that's the case, then why not sit down and talk properly? How about making peace with a handshake? I'll be the witness."
Holding both their hands, Dyna gently drew them together, her eyes moving back and forth between their faces.
Not only were Takamine and Stay Gold momentarily stunned—even Dream Journey and Ardan exchanged startled looks.
"Sorry. Lately, because of my younger sister's situation, I've been under a lot of pressure. I may have gotten a bit carried away."
Taking advantage of the moment, Stay Gold actively gripped Takamine's hand. She admitted she had gone too far just now.
Having to deal every day with family affairs and fend off certain unscrupulous reporters had truly kept her nerves stretched to the breaking point.
Takamine felt how surprisingly small Stay Gold's palm was against her own. In the end, she squeezed back lightly as well.
"Sorry. I apologize for the harsh things I said too."
At least on the surface, the conflict was resolved for now.
Dyna had no intention of letting them make a huge scene in her shop. As for the open and hidden struggles between their families, they could go do whatever they liked elsewhere.
Both women's gazes rested on Dyna for only an instant before shifting away again.
"Wow, Boss Lady really does have amazing affinity with people. No wonder so many girls at the academy say they'd love to have a heart-to-heart talk with you."
Ardan lightly pressed two fingers to her lips, inwardly quite delighted.
Dyna was simply relieved that both of them still had their reason intact. Once the first explosive wave had passed, a bit of gentle mediation had been enough to calm everything down.
"I think I more or less understand why Miss Mejiro Takamine came. But Miss Stay Gold...?"
This was Dyna's first time meeting her in person, so she understood almost nothing about this horse girl whose style seemed so freewheeling.
She had only heard that Stay Gold had a nickname, "Lady Akan," but a small bread roll like Dyna was nowhere near enough to stand before such a senior figure.
Letting out a long breath, Stay Gold rose from her seat.
"The purpose of this visit was to apologize to you in place of my younger sister. What happened during your debut race months ago was my responsibility as well. I failed to discipline her properly."
Stay Gold bowed deeply, leaving Dyna at a complete loss. She had assumed the Gold family had long since put the matter behind them.
But Dyna did not think it had anything to do with Stay Gold—or anyone else in the Gold family, for that matter.
This was simply a conflict between her and Orfevre alone, one that could not presently be reconciled.
"Miss Stay Gold... I understand what you mean. But I can't accept that apology. This is something between me and Orfevre. It doesn't concern anyone else."
Dyna helped Stay Gold upright. The moment their eyes met, Stay Gold understood.
"Sigh. I understand. We really did spoil my little sister too much."
Stay Gold understood that perfectly well. All she could do now was bring Orfevre here herself someday.
At last, the atmosphere inside the shop softened.
But it was no longer an atmosphere in which any real negotiations could continue.
Takamine watched them quietly, then pressed a hand to her forehead. She had come here full of determination, convinced she would secure what she wanted—only to end up smashing headfirst into the Gold family instead.
All she could do was lament her bad timing.
The Mejiro side and the Gold side left the shop one after the other.
Stay Gold promised that Dyna would be removed from the list of shops charged fees on that commercial street, and that Orfevre would be strictly disciplined.
Dyna, in turn, said that she would look forward to the day Orfevre came to apologize in person.
Once the door shut behind them, Dyna collapsed back in her chair, looking as though her soul had gone gray.
"Those two great Buddhas were way too much to handle... Ship—!"
"Hm? Is it over? Boss Lady, you're still here?"
Gold Ship poked her head out from the kitchen, a few streaks of white flour still on her face. Seeing Dyna sitting there safe and sound came as something of a surprise.
She had honestly assumed that with the two great families clashing, Dyna would be torn in half and carried away by Mejiro and Gold piece by piece.
Still, Gold Ship had not been idle. She had been in the kitchen the whole time kneading dough and shaping loaves, with the oven running at full power. Before long, a fresh batch of bread would be ready to come out.
A few veins twitched on Dyna's forehead.
"Sigh... It kind of felt like Miss Stay Gold sold you to me, though?"
Though nothing had been said outright in the end, Stay Gold had more or less tacitly agreed that Gold Ship could just keep staying here.
There was no downside, after all. Their relationship with Dyna could be improved bit by bit over time, Gold Ship could serve as a pair of eyes on the inside, and somehow being around Dyna also seemed to calm Gold Ship's jumpy, chaotic personality.
Stay Gold found that extremely mysterious.
If, back in her younger days, she had met a horse girl like Dyna, perhaps she would not have ended up with quite so many beautiful memories of her own journeys.
Because the younger version of herself probably would have drowned in the embrace of a horse girl this gentle.
"Hey now, Boss Lady, what kind of thing is that to say? If I want to go somewhere, Big Sis Stay Gold can't stop me. I'm staying here because I want to. There's work to do, I get paid, and more importantly, it's fun. Where else am I going to find a place this good?"
Gold Ship swept her bangs back with effortless style, clearly tossing the earlier matter aside altogether.
"Sigh. Sorry to make you and Oguri cover the shop today... I think I want to go rest for a bit."
Dyna felt a headache coming on.
Gold Ship raised a thumbs-up.
"No problem~ Boss Lady could be a hands-off owner for a whole year and it'd still be fine!"
Reassured by that promise, Dyna went back upstairs and dove straight into bed.
Perhaps because fatigue had been piling up lately, this time she slept for more than twenty hours straight.
When she finally woke, everything around her was pitch black.
She had not eaten or drunk anything for a whole day, leaving her mouth dry and her stomach growling loudly. With stiff fingers, she felt around for the light switch and flicked it on, then lay there staring up at the ceiling and breathing deeply.
"I slept all the way until night... I wonder how things went for them at the shop today..."
But when she looked at her phone and saw the time—5:40—she clicked her tongue dully.
It was the next day already.
As usual, Dyna kept a bottle of mineral water on the bedside table. She twisted it open and gulped down several mouthfuls. With at least something in her stomach, she felt a little better.
She changed into her athletic clothes and running shoes, splashed some water on her face, and then headed downstairs.
It looked as though the customer traffic yesterday had not been quite as heavy as usual, though Dyna guessed that also had to do with Gold Ship overproducing far more than normal. Some leftover cookies in the display case were promptly swept clean by Dyna.
She stepped outside, locked the door, and made her way up the embankment under the glow of the streetlights. Drawing in a deep breath, she savored the air of early morning.
Among the trees, the air felt a little heavy—after all, having a human standing there after a whole night was basically like competing with the trees for oxygen—but the setting itself put Dyna very much at ease.
She bent down and did the stretches she remembered, though her running shoes naturally had no horseshoe cleats on them. Those could be bought, of course, but she lacked the skill to install them properly herself, and the quality of what she could buy independently was rather questionable anyway.
"All right, today I'll run a little longer~"
Uma Musume really were mysterious creatures.
When you felt down, going for a satisfying run could wash all those feelings away.
But after Dyna had only been jogging for a few minutes, she heard another set of clear footsteps behind her—sharp hoof-iron sounds striking the ground.
That was odd. Normally, no one came along this route at all except for Dyna on her morning runs.
Curious, she turned her head to look.
In the hazy dawn light, she could just make out a gray-haired horse girl, sweat hanging from her chin and dropping away with each motion of her body.
And beside that horse girl—
Was a man riding an electric scooter.
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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