...
The desolation of yesterday seemed to foreshadow that not many spectators would come today.
Sure enough, very few people arrived. The vast racetrack's stands looked like a series of unanswered fill-in-the-blank questions.
It was so bleak that it was hard to tell how much longer this racetrack could last.
Not only that, but there were also very few horse girls participating in the race—only five in total.
"After seeing the bustling races at the central tracks, I wonder if Urara will feel disheartened by the contrast..." Lucian thought to himself, but then he saw Urara warming up on the field.
"Urara, do your best!" he shouted her name loudly.
Since there were so few people, Urara immediately heard Lucian's voice.
She waved at him and responded, "Trainer, I'll do my best!"
...
Before long, as all five horse girls entered the starting gates, the race officially began.
Urara's start was good, quickly cutting into the inner lane and closely following the leading horse girl.
"My strides feel much heavier than usual, and each step takes more effort." Urara knew this was because of the heavy track conditions. Running on this kind of ground for the first time, she was slowly adapting.
Based on the race's progression, she recalled Lucian's usual teachings in her mind, considering the appropriate strategies.
However, with so few participants, the race dynamics weren't complicated. Even going into the turns, the five horse girls each had plenty of room to maneuver.
But this also meant that Urara, with her petite frame, was at a disadvantage.
...
The psychological pressure and sensations during a race were completely different from training—that was Urara's most honest feeling.
She maintained her pace well in the early and middle stages, but by the final stretch, the accumulated fatigue made her legs heavy and her breathing ragged.
"The final straight—it's time to sprint!"
That thought wasn't wrong, but everyone else was thinking the same thing.
No amount of training could give Urara Spe-chan's explosive final kick, nor could it make up for her lack of innate running talent...
At this final dash to the finish line, Urara's stamina was severely depleted, leaving her unable to sustain a full sprint.
In other words, she was losing speed, and the horse girls who had been trailing behind began catching up.
"Clench your teeth! Pump your arms! Hang in there!"
Faintly, Lucian's voice echoed in her ears again.
But no miracle happened.
"Trainer... I really wanted to win for you..."
As she looked at the finish line ahead, a sense of sorrow—of having let everyone down—suddenly overwhelmed her.
Even after crossing the finish line, this feeling clung to Urara like a curse.
It felt just like an ordinary training session or a mock race.
But she knew she hadn't run well.
Amid the sparse cheers, Urara forced a smile and waved at the spectators before leaving the racetrack.
Yes, Urara had a group of incredibly strong teammates, but she also carried the immense pressure that came with them.
...
"Urara, welcome back."
"Trainer..."
The moment she saw Lucian, all of Urara's grievances and frustrations found an outlet.
She burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. "I lost... I really wanted to win..."
Her tears quickly soaked the front of Lucian's shirt.
Lucian wasn't surprised by Urara's defeat. "Urara, I'm not disappointed in you. I'll always be waiting for you to bring me that victory."
"Inviting you to join the team was never a spur-of-the-moment decision for me, so I'll never regret it—not now, not ever."
113 races—how many horses could reach that number? And how many could still be in good physical condition after that?
"But, Trainer..." Urara's dejected words were cut off as Lucian, understanding her completely, began dismantling her doubts one by one.
"There's no 'but.' I've always worried that you'd feel inferior because of Spe-chan and the others, that you'd underestimate yourself. Sometimes, you think that way too, don't you?"
Urara clung to Lucian's waist, her small body still trembling. "Yes..."
"But in my eyes, Urara has so many shining qualities that they lack... Like your unbreakable resilience, or your optimistic spirit."
"Let me tell you a secret—when Spe-chan and Seiun Sky lost their races, they cried even harder than you did."
"Trainer, really?" Urara lifted her tear-streaked eyes, her pink irises like plum blossoms bathed in rain.
"You don't believe me?" Lucian wiped her tears away with his thumb. "And I saw it just now—even after losing, Urara still smiled and waved to everyone."
"So... Urara is the kind of horse girl who brings smiles to people." Lucian kept affirming her, his words like stitches carefully mending the gaps in Urara's heart.
"'Haru Urara.'" Lucian called her by her full name. "When your mother gave you that name, she must have wanted you to shine as brilliantly as spring."
"One day, this racetrack will be filled with spectators because of you."
"Right now, your only audience is standing right in front of you. Isn't it a little unfair to keep crying like this?"
"Waaah—"
Urara kept wiping her tears, but they only flowed harder, unstoppable. "Trainer... can you promise not to tell anyone... that Urara cried...?"
"Of course I won't. When we get back, I'll proudly tell Spe-chan and the others that Urara came in fourth."
"Fourth place?"
"Fourth place!"
...