Walking into the school building, Dream Weaver turned right on the first floor and stepped into the third classroom as if it were second nature. Pushing the door open, she saw Chizuru Haibara holding a pen, scribbling something in her training notebook.
Hearing the sound, Chizuru looked up. Recognizing Dream Weaver, she smiled and waved her over.
Without any hesitation, Dream Weaver pulled up a chair and sat down across from Chizuru. "Sis Chizuru, have you decided on the central races?"
The question of how to approach the Classic Triple Crown had been a point of contention between Chizuru Haibara and Kitahara Jo since last year. But after the Kyodo Tsushin Hai, they could no longer delay—the registration deadline was approaching, and a decision had to be made.
"Yes." Chizuru nodded. "Trainer Kitahara and I couldn't convince each other, so we've decided to leave the choice to you. We'll both share our thoughts with you so you can make the best decision."
"Whether to start with the Satsuki Sho... or wait until the Japanese Derby to face Orfevre."
"It has to be decided today."
Chizuru closed her training book with a sharp thump. Her expression grew unusually serious, and Dream Weaver even caught a glimpse of the melancholy she'd seen when they first met.
Sensing the shift in Chizuru's demeanor, Dream Weaver straightened her posture, ready to hear what her trainer had to say.
Why had Chizuru Haibara, once a central trainer whose insight and data-collection skills earned even Kitahara's respect, returned to Kasamatsu? Why had she been so despondent at first? And why was she so insistent on facing Orfevre in the Japanese Derby?
Dream Weaver had a feeling that all these mysteries were about to be unraveled today.
After a long silence, Chizuru finally spoke. "I never told Trainer Kitahara the reason I wanted to avoid Orfevre."
"I intended to keep this buried forever..."
"But then... you came to Kasamatsu. You made that vow and fought your way to where you are now."
"For your sake, I have to tell you."
Chizuru pulled out her phone, scrolled through her photos for a moment, then hesitated briefly before handing it to Dream Weaver.
Taking the phone, Dream Weaver's eyes widened in surprise the instant she saw the photo. She stared at Chizuru's face, momentarily speechless.
"As you can see, I once spent some time with Orfevre."
The screen showed a photo of a younger Chizuru, her eyes brimming with the passion of a rookie trainer. Beside her stood a young Uma Musume who hadn't yet undergone her growth spurt—a girl with a proud lift to her chin and hair shimmering gold and white under the sunlight. It was Orfevre as a child.
Handing the phone back, Dream Weaver asked, "But that's Orfevre. If you were her trainer, why did you come back to Kasamatsu?"
Chizuru laughed bitterly. "Trainer? You give me too much credit."
"When I tested into the central program, all the Uma Musume from that year had already been chosen. With nothing to do, I stumbled upon a part-time job ad from the Orfevre family's club. I applied just to earn some extra living expenses."
"Thanks to my central trainer credentials, I was easily hired as a training assistant. That's when I first met Orfevre."
Chizuru paused, then changed direction. "Dream, how much effort do you think someone would put in for victory?"
"That depends on what kind of victory it is."
If it was a victory that determined whether her main mission succeeded, then she'd fight for it with everything she had—even if it meant risking her life. Dream Weaver quietly answered in her heart, recalling her first scripted mission.
"Measuring the effort by the weight of the victory... that's an interesting way to put it." Chizuru pondered for a moment before continuing. "If that's the case, then Orfevre has been carrying a weight as heavy as the sky since she was a child."
"The pride of a prestigious family, the future of Japanese racing, the hope to break a curse—these titles didn't just appear recently. They started circulating as soon as her talent was recognized."
"From a very young age, she's been carrying everyone's expectations."
As she spoke, Chizuru's expression grew increasingly somber. "And what shocked me was—"
"Orfevre didn't show even a hint of pressure from bearing those expectations."
"On the contrary, she thrived on them, proudly believing she was destined to become the ruler of her generation."
Listening to Chizuru's description, Dream Weaver was reminded of T.M. Opera O. She too had that indescribable confidence and called herself a queen. But hadn't Dream Weaver defeated her?
She looked up and interrupted, "Even queens can be defeated."
To her surprise, Chizuru didn't disagree but nodded in agreement, though her expression remained grim. "You're right. Orfevre isn't invincible. She's an Uma Musume, and she can lose."
"The Orfevre family occasionally invited central Uma Musume for joint training sessions. Orfevre wasn't undefeated, but—"
"Every time she lost, she'd improve at an almost abnormal rate, quickly shattering her opponents' confidence in the next session."
"I... I witnessed countless moments where dreams were crushed."
Chizuru's dark eyes grew wide with fear and confusion as she recalled those memories. "Can you imagine? An Uma Musume who hadn't even hit her growth spurt, already breaking girls who'd given their all to make it into the central program. She grew stronger at a pace they could never hope to match."
"After seeing that, their dreams—dreams they hadn't even had a chance to fight for—were snapped in two."
"Facing a monster like that, how could they ever hope to win? And if they couldn't win, why even run? Their competitive spirit, their drive to succeed—all of it was torn to shreds against Orfevre."
"In the past, even though the central scene was dominated by elite families, there were still geniuses who could win G1 titles."
"But after Orfevre repeatedly crushed those budding talents, the confidence of the central Uma Musume was completely shattered."
"By the time the older generation retired, how could those whose dreams had already been broken by Orfevre possibly compete? In the end, they just kept losing."
"All of this was because of Orfevre. It was as if she single-handedly crushed the entire Tracen Academy."
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.