"Here is some freshly brewed tea for everyone."
"Yay~! I love your tea, Tazuna-san!!"
"Mmm~ what a lovely aroma… As expected of Secretary Tazuna, you truly know how to brew a magnificent cup of tea…"
"Fufu, thank you very much."
"So, in short—you are saying these girls are your daughters from the future?!"
"That's how it seems… I mean, I'm as freaked out as you are after getting an oracle straight from Darley Arabian."
"Mmmm… It is exceedingly difficult to believe, yet I cannot imagine you weaving such an elaborate lie. Furthermore, these student ID cards are far too exquisite to be counterfeits… Still, time travel, of all things…"
Rampage spoke with the Chairwoman while gently stroking the heads of Amaterasu and Ford, who were sitting comfortably on her lap.
Having her own future daughters drop in out of nowhere was an utterly absurd predicament. However, figuring it would be nearly impossible to hide, Rampage had decided to lay everything out flat to the Chairwoman and Tazuna. Though the two were initially bewildered, knowing Rampage wasn't the type to fabricate such a wild story—combined with the undeniable proof of the student IDs carried by all four girls—they eventually accepted the truth.
"Still, how on earth did you guys end up time-traveling in the first place?"
"Ah, well… you see, about that…"
"…"
Amaterasu averted her eyes awkwardly, while Ford buried her face deep into Rampage's chest. Just as Rampage wondered if it was really that embarrassing to talk about, Tsukuyomi stepped up to answer.
"Allow me to explain. In truth, thanks to Mom's relentless efforts, a facility known as the 'VR Umulator'—which utilizes VR technology—was installed right here at Tracen Academy."
"First drones, now VR…? What, did they equip it with an AI modeled after the Three Goddesses or something?"
"As expected of our mother. Spot-on discernment."
Tsukuyomi spoke with a cadence that somehow felt like an imitation of Rampage's own speech patterns. Tazuna and the Chairwoman watched her with warm, affectionate smiles, but Rampage couldn't help seriously contemplating whether this was just a severe case of middle-school syndrome.
"Well, a new addition was recently made to that AI."
"What kind of addition? An AI modeled after Eclipse or something?"
"No, an AI modeled after you, Mom."
"WHY ME?!"
Rampage immediately snapped back with a full-force retort. The Chairwoman and Tazuna, on the other hand, nodded in complete comprehension.
"Makes total sense!! You are the world-renowned, fastest, and strongest Tyrant!! Moreover, since there is a wealth of data available on you, it is only natural that you would be selected!"
"I quite agree. Recreating Eclipse would be rather difficult, whereas using Rampage-san—who, despite being retired, would likely cooperate right away—makes complete sense."
"Oh… Future Me definitely pushed back against that, didn't she?"
"Oh, big time. In the end, Grandmother, Speed Symboli-sama, Monsun-san, and the others all had to gang up to persuade her before she reluctantly agreed."
Figures… Future Me is suffering from her own set of headaches, huh… Wait, is that really what's waiting for me in the future…? Rampage fought the urge to let out a massive sigh.
"Amaterasu and I were chosen as test subjects for that trial… but mid-race, the Darley Arabian AI among the runners suddenly burst into light, and next thing we knew, we were here."
"It really was Lady Darley…!! Next time, I'm definitely sending her oilfish to ruin her stomach…!!"
"But Ford and I came from somewhere completely different, you know~?"
"What?"
"Yes, we were wondering about that too. Because… Lord is acting way more like a bratty mesugaki than the one we know!"
"I SAID, WHAT EVEN IS A MESUGAKI!!?"
Lord snapped back in a high-pitched voice, while Tsukuyomi calmly enjoyed her tea with an air of composure that practically screamed, 'See? That right there.' Given her subtle young-lady demeanor, she had probably received proper refined training from the Mejiro family…
"For me, after I won the Triple Crown, Tachyon-san and Shakur-san asked me for a favor~"
"Triple Crown?! Wait, you won the Triple Crown!!?"
"Hehe, pretty much~"
Lord flashed a mischievous, mischievous-child grin. Rather than surprise, the Chairwoman felt an overwhelming surge of joy. Does this not mean the future of Japan's horse girl world is completely secure?! To think such magnificent horse girls exist in the future—in that case, I must work even harder to make this academy the absolute best it can be! she resolved silently… oblivious to the fact that the Triple Crown Lord had conquered was actually the British Classic Triple Crown.
"Wait, did you say Tachyon? Why is she involved in this?"
"Tachyon-san is my trainer in my time! She'd ask Mama to help with all kinds of experiments, and we'd help out too~ Ah, wait! Does current Mama even know Tachyon-san from her racing days?"
"Racing days? She hasn't even entered middle school yet!"
"Ehh~ Little Tachyon-san exists right now?! I wanna see her~! Wait, hold on… does that mean… Teio-san is here too!!?"
"Yes, she certainly is."
"C-Can I actually meet Teio-san in her prime?! I WANNA MEET HER, I WANNA MEET HER, I WANNA MEET HER! SHE'S MY ABSOLUTE IDOL~!!!"
Rampage felt a sudden wave of deja vu. Was Lord's whole persona actually an attempt to copy Tokai Teio? Come to think of it, her hairstyle and blaze mark looked ridiculously similar… Honestly, if someone told her Lord was the child of the President or Teio, she wouldn't even doubt it…
"AH!? N-No, that's not it, okay?! I mean, I definitely respect Teio-san a ton, and I can even do the Teio Step, but Mama is my absolute favorite, okay?! I love Mama the most, so please don't say things like 'Go be Teio's kid instead'~! I DON'T WANT YOU TO HATE ME~!!!"
Rampage might have been giving her a bit of a dead-eyed stare, but as she kept silently watching Lord, the girl panicked frantically, scrambling to defend herself. By the end of it, her voice sounded uncannily like Teio's as she dissolved into near-tears. What on earth did Future Me do to her?
Seeing this, Ford gently tugged on Rampage's sleeve.
"M-Mother… You see, Lord really respected Teio-san, but there was a time when she took it way too far. To the point where our older sisters were totally fed up with it."
"Ah~… yeah, that sounds like something Lord would do…"
"Don't say 'sounds like Lord.' It's because she's Lord."
"And back then, Mother was super stressed because of some really tough work stuff. So she told Lord—ah, but just a little bit, okay?! Because Mother is actually really, really gentle—she just said a tiny bit coldly: 'If you love Teio so much, why don't you go become a kid in her family instead?' But Lord loves Mother so much that she broke down crying and apologized over and over."
Rampage wasn't sure whether to be convinced or appalled… but it was certainly something an exhausted parent might blurt out in a 'our house is our house, their house is their house' kind of way. Lord had simply taken it completely to heart and suffered a massive emotional blow…
"Ah, geez! I get it, I get it! There's no way in hell I'd ever hate you!! Stop crying already, Lord!!"
"REALLY?! YOU'RE NOT LYING, RIGHT?! MAMA, IS IT REALLY TRUE, MAMA?!"
"Really, really! Your tyrant mother doesn't lie—probably."
"PHEWWWWW, THANK GOODNESS~…"
Watching her soothe the girl, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi chuckled quietly. Even though this was a much younger version of their mother, the way she handled them was identical.
"So, you ended up here because of Tachyon's experiment?"
"Probably… But Tachyon-san had already tested it on herself beforehand. She said she wanted data from various people, so I don't think it was intentional. Tachyon-san is actually super nice to us!"
"Tachyon, huh… (Wait, didn't she mention Shakur too? Did those two team up to build something crazy again?)"
"Was it the same for you, Ford?"
Ford nodded in response. In Ford's case, she had been chosen as a test opponent for the Rampage AI that Tachyon and Shakur were fine-tuning, and while running against it, before she knew it… well, here she was.
"Haaaah… The future is pure chaos in its own right, isn't it…?"
"And you happen to be right at the center of it, you know."
"Please don't say it out loud, Tazuna-san."
Rampage couldn't suppress another deep sigh… though hearing that Tachyon and the others were doing well in the future did offer a small sense of relief. Speaking of Tachyon, a sudden thought crossed her mind.
"Since we're on the topic of Tachyon, let me ask: what happens to Flora in the future? Did she die? She's dead, right?"
"No way, she's alive, Mom!? Wow, the rumors about you being harsh even when you were young were totally real!!"
"Tch. Why is she still alive?"
"I heard you talking about me just now!!!"
The door to the Chairwoman's office burst open, revealing Flora standing right in the doorway.
"Sensing a fragrant, divine, and high-purity wave of pure Rampagenium, I have rushed to your side!"
"Nobody called you. Go home."
"My, how cold… Hm?"
At that moment, the figures of the future daughters caught Flora's eye. Instantly, a flood of non-existent memories surged into Flora's brain—memories of building a happy, loving family together with Rampage—
"I see! So these are the daughters born between Rampage-san and myself!!"
""""LIKE HELL WE ARE!!!??""""
Before Rampage could even raise her voice, all four daughters shouted back in unison, rejecting the notion entirely.
"Wow, it really is just like Mom said! Father said all he could do was laugh too… He's definitely given up on dealing with her entirely."
"How on earth did a person like this win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe…?"
"Because she's strong, I guess?"
"I really don't want to accept that as an answer, Ford~"
Seeing Flora display her terrifyingly sharp, almost predatory intuition whenever Rampage was involved, Rampage could only sigh once more. Since things had already turned out this way, she at least explained to Flora that these girls were her daughters from the future.
"By the way, what am I like in the future? Am I adored by all of you?"
Flora, after all, was a horse girl who fought bitterly as Rampage's greatest rival, achieving monumental feats such as two Japan Cup victories and a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe title. She naturally expected at least a small degree of respect… but reality was far less forgiving.
"Whenever you try to suddenly hug Mom, she puts you in an iron claw."
"Mom told us to report you to the authorities whenever you enter our sight. Well, we don't actually report you, but we basically ignore you."
"As a horse girl, you're someone worth respecting. But, um… you're a weird, overly physical person."
"I was so creeped out when you told me, 'Think of me as your other mother!'"
"WHYAAAA?! Why is my reputation so abysmal?!"
"Reflect on your daily behavior, you super pervert."
It turned out that Flora was still very much Flora, even in the future.
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