The memory ends here. Ardan's thoughts returned to reality. She looked at the Kitano in front of her, who, except for his appearance, which seemed a little healthier than in her dream, was no different. The complexity of her feelings at this moment could be imagined.
She had clearly acknowledged him as her trainer in her dream, yet she was now turning around and asking the him who had all these memories if his heart had changed... In a way, this was her taking the initiative to doubt her own "glass heart."
But she had to ask this question. Because she knew that the next development would be the same as in her dream. As long as her attitude was a little more forceful, then he would definitely tell her the truth... this was what her intuition told her.
She wanted to ask clearly, the him who had all these memories, what he really thought of them, her and Rudolf... who did he care about more?
Even if she got an answer that made her heart ache, it didn't matter. At least, she believed that he would definitely tell her the answer in the gentlest way... this was his style.
And after she had asked this question that she was so concerned about, a playful smile finally appeared on his face, which had been silent for a long time.
And it was also this smile that made her expression a little dazed, because his smile was almost exactly the same as the smile of the him in her dream, who had finally told the truth after joking around.
"That's right. To be honest, I've actually had a crush on President Rudolf for a long time. From the time I was a child, I've been deeply in love with this dashing and heroic Rudolf, who showed a dominance like an emperor on the racetrack."
"So my inquiry this time was to get some information from you, Ardan, to first understand the cruel training of you big family horse girls, and then use this information to properly empathize with President Rudolf, to make it easier to conquer her."
"—If I answered like this, would it be easier for you to accept? Miss Mejiro Ardan?"
At this moment, his tone even had a hint of teasing as he looked at her with a rather playful gaze. However, what surprised him a little was that he had thought that Ardan, who would have been scared by his previous remarks before he had even finished his last sentence, was unexpectedly calm and was looking at him with a particularly gentle but somewhat helpless gaze.
...That's not right. Could it be that my reverse psychology was seen through? I remember that in the past, as long as I used this trick, she would be coaxed. How come it didn't work this time?
For a moment, he was also rarely a little flustered. This set of words was actually one of the experiences he had summed up after many playthroughs. When faced with the pressing questions of a horse girl who had noticed something unusual, how should he respond?
In the end, he chose this "reverse psychology" tactic. First, in a light-hearted way that was hard to believe, he would say some truths that normal people would find incredible, so that the horse girls themselves would realize that this was a "lie," and then he would say the comforting lie he had made up. Nine times out of ten, his charge would believe it—and would absolutely not think of the truth he had said before.
And this method, he had practiced the most on the intuitive and meticulous Ardan. Now he had reached a masterful level. With the coordination of his tone and actions, he considered his acting ability to be on par with Gold Ship's.
...Of course, it wasn't that he was deliberately trying to deceive her. After all, every time before she competed, with the help and tacit permission of Mejiro Palmer, he would secretly sneak into her room and use the "Life Return" ability on her to strengthen her body and help her reach her best physical condition before every race to reduce the risk of fracture. He really had a hard time explaining this to her.
If he had explained it, combined with her past performance, she would definitely have believed it. But after believing it, the vigilant her would absolutely not have allowed him to use this life-consuming method to protect her...
But he had actually calculated in his heart that consuming a part of his life force in advance to strengthen her body was actually the most life-saving method for him. The life force consumed to repair a fracture was even greater. And a horse girl like her, who had a risk of fracture every time she went all out in a race, was actually the most worry-free for him—because there was no need to guess. All he had to do was to mindlessly transfer life force to her before every race.
From this point of view, she was very lucky, because she did not have to be like some horse girls with "fate," who, even if he had taken protective measures in advance, could still not escape the judgment of fate.
And because of this, his lie was most often told to her. All the "luck" she had experienced in the past was a "lie" carefully woven by him for her...
But lies would eventually be exposed one day. Fortunately, in the little time they had left at the end, they were finally honest with each other... but all of this was the past her. He could not tell the truth to the now-memoryless her.
Sigh, why am I suddenly becoming so sentimental? Is it because I dreamed of my past with her again yesterday?
He also gently shook his head and refocused his attention on her in front of him. And just as his heart was uneasy, the smiling her also finally spoke:
"So, the lies are over. Can you tell the truth now, Trainer Kitano?"
"Phew..."
Her sentence pulled his heart from hell back to heaven at once. Thank goodness, he had thought that the little idiot had suddenly become smart. Everything was still under control.
"Actually, I just wanted to know how big the gap is between the horse girls of the big families, who have received strict and systematic training since they were young, and those of the Gold Family. Festa and Golshi are still too far behind Teio in terms of basics."
He turned his gaze to the racetrack again. At this time, Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross, the two ash-haired horse girls, were running as sparring partners for Festa and Gold Ship. And in front, Silence Suzuka was acting as the "escape horse" of this race, speeding up the overall pace of this training race with a great escape posture.
Now it was the time for the final straight sprint. Oguri Cap, in a front-runner posture, and Tamamo Cross, at the back of the pack, their momentum suddenly changed! They both accelerated forward at a speed that was unbelievable to Gold Ship and Nakayama Festa!
Soon, the gap between the two ash-haired horse girls and Suzuka in front was shrinking at a visible speed. And the lightning-like, visible "aura" flashing on their bodies symbolized that they were existences among the horse girls that could influence an era...
"'Domain.' Now, only by awakening such an ability can there be a chance to defeat Tokai Teio?"
"That's right. If Festa and Golshi can't go all out and stimulate their own potential, then they will have almost no chance of winning in the Japanese Derby," he also nodded, and then asked Ardan beside him again:
"In the Mejiro family, besides Palmer-senpai, is there anyone else who has awakened this ability?"
"...I'm very sorry, Trainer Kitano. As far as I know, probably even McQueen, the most outstanding of our generation, has not yet reached this level."
And Ardan also, after gently shaking her head, looked at the horse girls on the track with a serene expression. When she saw Festa and Golshi, who had been left behind by Oguri and Tamamo but were still roaring with extreme unwillingness and wanting to catch up with them, a hint of gratification also appeared in her eyes.
This feeling... was as if a senior was watching the efforts of a junior, but there also seemed to be a hint of imperceptible pity and doting. Her expression, no matter how you looked at it, carried a strange motherly doting feeling...
"Although I haven't received the professional horse girl training of the Mejiro family, I have also watched McQueen and the others' training process when they were young."
"It's no exaggeration to say that it was very hard. At least in my opinion, they, who carried the fate of the Mejiro family, the training they received since they were young had already surpassed my training level by several times—I heard that the Symboli family was even more so. After all, the Symboli family valued excellence more than the Mejiro family. An excellent horse girl must go through more cruel training."
"Sometimes, I'm also very curious how my sister and President Rudolf survived... perhaps this is the reason why I can never compare to my sister."
"...Is that so?"
And her words also made him fall into a long silence. Even though the process was a bit tortuous, he still got the answer he wanted from her mouth—as expected, Rudolf, after separating from him, the training she had received as a horse girl in the Symboli family was bound to be many times more bitter than he had imagined. For her, it was an extremely difficult and arduous period.
And combined with her increasingly strong dependence on him in the hospital room... could it be that her memory of him had not faded but had instead intensified during her many years of training in the Symboli family?
"...If that's the case, I seem to... really owe her a lot."
Having silently said these words in his heart, he also let out a long sigh. After he thought he had sorted everything out, he increasingly felt that in his previous playthroughs, the "debts" he had probably owed had perhaps not been paid off as he had imagined...
With Rudolf as a precedent, he couldn't guarantee that he didn't have other charges who would show the same extremely strong "obsession."
But at least, he had not yet found a second existence. C.B. was still as carefree as ever with him. Suzuka and Spe-chan didn't seem to have awakened their memories. Tamamo and Oguri, this comedy duo, were even more without a sign. He shouldn't be in any big trouble yet.
It's just that... the ability of "Life Return" seemed to be getting harder and harder to talk about. Otherwise, if he let them know, they might go crazy and tie him up, forcing him not to use this ability.
...
"Ah—so refreshing. It's been a long time since I've run so hard."
On the training ground, Tamamo Cross, who had just finished another training race, also drank a mouthful of sports salt water and made a unique Kansai dialect hearty sound. And her eyes fell on Oguri Cap beside her, who was quietly drinking a whole bottle of water with a "gurgle, gurgle" sound, and she couldn't help but say:
"Ah, as expected, you're better at the middle distance of 2400 meters, Oguri. As expected of the person who broke the record with that New Zealand horse girl named Osaichi George. You really should have run the Japanese Derby."
"...Tama, didn't I tell you? Osaichi George and I are just friends."
"I know, I know. Honestly, I don't know why you always emphasize this. Every time I mention him, you emphasize this point. It just makes it seem like you really have a crush on him and were called out."
Tamamo also waved her hand, long since accustomed to her straight-laced behavior. Although so far, she still felt that there were many places where she didn't quite understand her character, but on the whole, she felt that she was one of the top three people in the world who understood her.
However, it was precisely because of this that she would ask her many questions about her behavior that she didn't understand. Under a period of idle chat, she also inadvertently brought up the matter of him and naturally put the topic on the previous matter of Rudolf being sick and him taking care of her all night.
"To be honest, I was very surprised, Oguri." Tamamo had an uncomprehending expression, looking at her with confusion and couldn't help but ask:
"The trainer should be very important to you, right? Haven't you always been looking for his taste? Logically speaking, now that you've finally found him, you should cherish him even more."
"Back at the hospital door, when Palmer and Teio were blocking us from entering, why did you seem to be less anxious than me? If I hadn't asked you to go, were you not going to make a move at all?"
"...Tamamo, you don't understand him."
However, faced with her question, which was mixed with a hint of resentment, Oguri Cap had a peaceful expression as usual. She just gently shook her head in front of her and then explained in a way that probably only she herself could understand:
"I won't stop him from doing what he has decided to do. I just want to stay by his side, no matter who he cares about more."
"I don't want to cause him any more trouble, and I don't want to confuse him... whatever he wants to do, I will help him. No matter what he wants to do, there must be his reason for it. It's just that he doesn't want to tell us."
"I know what you mean, but the problem is, shouldn't we try to let him live a few more days? We can't just watch him do such a life-shortening and laborious thing, right?"
However, this time, faced with her complaint, Oguri Cap had no reply. She just silently raised her head and turned her gaze to him on the stands, who was now standing with Ardan.
Her eyes lingered for a moment on Ardan, who was very close to him, but she still quickly retracted her gaze. Upon noticing his smiling face and the wave he gave to greet her, she also couldn't help but have a smile on her face and gently waved back in response.
Yes... I just hope that he can live like this, smile like this, so that I can still see him... that's all.
I won't cause him any more trouble. I won't do anything that will burden him anymore... I want him to see my growth.
I will never be the child who makes him worry, who makes him tired anymore. I just want him not to abandon me again... that's all.
Her smile was so real, her movements so gentle. And in her seemingly calm, azure eyes, the deeply hidden obsession and the most humble wish had become her truly untouchable and insurmountable bottom line.
It's just that this bottom line has not yet been touched. But if the warning string is accidentally touched, will this seemingly calm and indifferent ash-haired horse girl turn into a "monster"... is still unknown.
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