After finishing everything at Dr. Kokobu's place, having lunch, and arranging another treatment session, by the time Kitahara returned with Super Creek to Tazuna Hayakawa's house, it was already close to dinner.
As soon as they stepped inside and saw Oguri Cap, Kitahara spoke with an odd expression.
"Oguri Cap, interested in filming a commercial?"
Oguri Cap was in the living room with Belno Light and Tamamo Cross. The three horse girls were watching a race replay.
On the screen, a race roared with cheers from the crowd, and through the speakers, the lively, thrilling commentary played.
The commentator was a dignified, serious middle-aged man. His voice carried power and clarity; even across the screen, it could pull the viewer right into the race.
"From the third turn heading toward the fourth, Symboli Rudolf is currently running in about seventh or eighth place, but hasn't made a move yet."
"Entering the fourth turn—past the fourth turn!" the commentator suddenly raised his voice, then kept building it higher.
"Onto the final stretch! Those behind are surging forward all at once!"
"Symboli Rudolf swings to the outside!"
"200 meters left!"
"Symboli Rudolf is coming from the outside!"
"Symboli Rudolf is coming from the outside!!"
"Symboli Rudolf is coming from the outside!!!"
"The Uma Musume up front are giving it their all! They're pushing too! But Rudolf's speed is unbelievable! The gap is closing!"
"Rudolf passes the pack running shoulder to shoulder! Spectacular! She's completely pulled ahead!"
"Symboli Rudolf crosses the finish line!!!"
The commentator ended almost screaming, but the thunderous cheers of the crowd overwhelmed even his voice.
Wha—!!!
Within the roar of over a hundred thousand spectators, the commentator's voice managed to push through, filled with undeniable excitement.
"A beautiful victory over eleven other Uma Musume! Six wins in a row! With an undefeated record, she takes her second crown!"
"To leap from a Japanese star Uma Musume to a world star Uma Musume—she, Symboli Rudolf, first stands at the very top of her generation!"
Wha—!!!
The deafening cheer of more than a hundred thousand continued, drowning out even the impassioned shouts of the powerful-voiced commentator.
In that moment in the spotlight, at the center of the racetrack, a bright green figure turned her back to the camera and raised her arm high.
Wearing pristine white gloves, facing the tidal-wave cheers, she held up two fingers.
"Oh, that's a replay of Rudolf's Japanese Derby."
One glance was all it took for Kitahara to see what they were watching, surprising him slightly. "Why are you watching this race?"
"That'd be me!"
From the sofa, Tamamo Cross turned her head, poked out, and flashed her little tiger teeth with a grin.
"We were kinda bored waiting for you and Super Creek to get back, so we just started chatting, and before we knew it, we were talking about our upcoming races."
Resting her arms over the back of the sofa, she looked pretty fired up. "I said my next two races are Pre-OP level conditions races. Can't help it—my recent results have been bad, so I can only enter these low-tier races."
"Then Light said she might focus on studying techniques after this and possibly stop racing, but she still wants to discuss it with you, old man."
"And Oguri Cap here, she said she can't remember what her next race is—seriously, what a scatterbrain… But she still remembered the Tokai Derby, so I had a random idea: let's watch the Japanese Derby! And they agreed."
"And now, right on cue, we just watched Chairman Rudolf winning that Japanese Derby."
Tamamo Cross rattled off the explanation in one breath, then suddenly smiled. "Not bad, old man. Just from seeing a little at the end, you guessed which race it was."
Kitahara hadn't even replied yet when Oguri turned to Tamamo Cross and said seriously:"Of course Kitahara's amazing. He's watched these race replays tons of times. Sometimes he even watches them while eating. I've watched a lot and learned a lot from him too."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, your trainer's awesome."
Waving dismissively, Tamamo Cross made a face that said, "What can you do," then turned back to Kitahara. "So, amazing Trainer Kitahara, what were you saying earlier? Something about… a commercial?"
"Right. There's a sponsorship deal—someone's interested in Oguri Cap and wants her as a brand ambassador. Once the contract is finalized, as usual, we'll need to shoot some commercials."
Kitahara briefly explained the unexpected opportunity he'd learned from Miyamura Kyoko. After a pause, he added, "It's for a stomach-soothing digestive tablet. I'm guessing the ad will probably just be Oguri Cap front and center on camera, eating and eating and eating, then eating some more. Shouldn't be hard."
"I see…"
Tamamo Cross had just nodded when, beside her, Oguri Cap shot up from the sofa so fast she nearly sent Tamamo flying.
"I can do it!"
Like a student rushing to answer a question in class, Oguri Cap raised her hand high, eyes sparkling, face serious, a confident grin tugging at her mouth.
It was as if the teacher had asked a question that just happened to be her specialty.
"I can do it, Kitahara!"
She repeated, excited: "I don't know what a 'commercial' is, but if it's about eating-eating-eating-eating-eating-eating-eating-eating-eating, I have no problem at all!"
Impressive. She even remembered exactly how many times I said "eating." As expected of Oguri Cap…
Not that I want to feel proud of her for this particular skill…
"Hey, hey, hey! Oguri! Watch it! You almost knocked me off the sofa!"
Tamamo Cross yelped, flustered. She hadn't been thrown off completely, but she had been jolted, bumping into Belno Light in the process.
But Light didn't get upset—on the contrary, she happily congratulated Oguri Cap.
"That's great, Oguri. Sounds like there are already three or four companies wanting you as a spokesperson."
"Huh? Oguri's that popular?" Tamamo Cross blinked, a flash of envy crossing her eyes.
Unaware of Tamamo's change in tone, Belno Light smiled naturally. "Of course. Oguri's the big star of Kasamatsu! Let's see…"
She counted on her fingers. "First off, my family's shop. Mom already said, once Oguri's free, she absolutely has to come to our store for a photoshoot—that counts as advertising, right?"
"And Norn Ace too. My family runs a sporting goods store, hers runs a dance studio. She mentioned maybe putting some photos of Oguri in the studio would be great."
"And there's also a clothing company in our area. I remember someone came to talk to Mr. Kitahara about a collaboration, but he said he was busy at the time and would discuss it later."
"There should be other companies too, but I can't really remember. Anyway, all that stuff is handled by Mr. Kitahara."
Tamamo Cross stared blankly at Light for a moment. After she finished, Tamamo quickly shot a glance over at Oguri Cap on the other side.
"…Oh, is that so? That's nice…" she muttered, then sat back down, picked up the remote, and absentmindedly turned up the TV volume.
Her voice was soft, and with the TV now louder, Kitahara didn't notice what she'd said, and his mind was already drifting back to the topics the Uma Musume had just mentioned.
"Since we're already talking about the Tokai Derby and endorsements…"
Kitahara looked at Oguri Cap, then Belno Light, then at Super Creek, who had been quietly, obediently following along since they came in.
"It's about time we head back."
"Sort out these endorsement-related matters, then get ready for each of your upcoming races…"
He intended to give a simple rundown of the next steps, but his words were abruptly cut off by a startled cry.
"Eh?! Y-you're leaving?! Th-then what about me?!"
The small girl who'd just sat down sprang up like Oguri Cap had earlier, staring straight at Kitahara.
(End of this chapter)