"Th-this—this can't be the legendary phantom Issue 233 of Champion's Gear?!"
Artisan Bell held a mysterious-looking magazine with a red-and-black cover, her eyes shining with excitement.
She carefully turned the pages, as if afraid the precious publication might vanish any second.
"The one that urban legends say was recalled for leaking way too many secrets from gear companies?!"
"They say this issue has detailed records of all the equipment specs used by the 'Miracle Generation' back in the day—it even has Oguri Cap-senpai's training data! This is basically the holy grail of Uma Musume gear!"
Before she could even process the shock, a shriek even higher-pitched than her own shattered the quiet of Kasamatsu Tracen Academy's dorm.
"Triple Crown?! That legendary makeup brand only the royal family of Uma Musume uses?!"
Nanno Sumire clutched a delicate gift box, her fingers trembling as they traced the embossed golden crown logo.
"No way?! Isn't this stuff supposed to be exclusively for royalty and top-tier Uma Musume?!"
The entire dorm erupted over the sudden appearance of such luxury goods. Nishimoto Makusa and Kobayashi Kaze crowded around Nanno Sumire, curiously eyeing the cosmetics they'd only ever seen in magazines.
Just then, Gold Ship poked Dream Weaver with a deeply serious expression, holding up a robot model.
"This PG Unicorn Phenex… wasn't it a limited edition from that expo back in the day? It's going for insane prices on the resale market now. How'd you even get your hands on this?"
Gold Ship's words landed like a bomb, instantly grabbing everyone's attention.
Nanno Sumire and the others immediately swarmed around Dream Weaver, firing off questions left and right.
"Dreamy, you didn't blow all your Satsuki Shō prize money on this, did you?"
"But so many of these items are limited edition—even with tons of money, how could you possibly gather them all in such a short time?"
Artisan Bell suddenly gasped, covering her mouth in horror.
"Don't tell me Dreamy signed some unfair contract with Central Tracen and sold herself off just to get us these gifts?! Nooo, Dreamy, don't go—!"
Bombarded from all sides, Dream Weaver felt her head spinning. She opened her mouth to explain, but had no idea where to even start.
Just as she was floundering, Gold Ship let out an exaggerated cough, pulling everyone's attention.
She'd somehow produced a ridiculously oversized pair of sunglasses and put them on, the dark lenses reflecting mysterious glints of light.
Pushing the shades up confidently, Gold Ship pointed at Dream Weaver and announced in a perfect imitation of a certain famous detective:
"There is only one truth!"
"Just a friendly reminder—that detective doesn't actually wear sunglasses."
Watching Gold Ship suddenly go into character for no reason, Dream Weaver twitched her lips and replied flatly.
"Silence! The suspect has no right to speak!"
"Left and Right Guards, seize Dream Weaver! I shall now reveal the truth with irrefutable evidence!"
The moment Gold Ship finished, Nanno Sumire and Artisan Bell squeezed in on either side of Dream Weaver, looking fully prepared to drag her off to execution once Gold Ship was done.
"Seriously? You're really going to arrest me based solely on the word of this chestnut-haired brat?!"
"Well, it's mainly because you finally mentioned an anime I've actually seen… I just got carried away…"
Nanno Sumire stuck out her tongue apologetically, and Artisan Bell immediately nodded in agreement.
Earlier, when Dream Weaver, Gold Ship, and Chizuru Haibara were going on about old robot anime arcs, how were the other high school girls supposed to keep up? Now that something she could actually recognize had come up, she'd instinctively played along with Gold Ship.
Seeing Dream Weaver already surrounded, Gold Ship grinned confidently. She carefully took out the contents of one gift box, turned the box upside down, and showed everyone the sender's information.
"Ta-daa! This was sent from the Gold Family! You all know what that means!"
Gold Ship let out a triumphant, cheeky laugh. In her mind, her family sending these gifts could only mean one thing: Dream Weaver had caught their attention as a notable Uma Musume. Maybe she was even being invited to join the club! That way, Dream Weaver could stay by her side and keep her company forever—was there anything more perfect in the world?!
After Gold Ship's reveal, the dorm was thrown into an uproar.
Every Uma Musume's eyes locked onto Dream Weaver, their intense gazes practically burning holes through her.
They weren't saying or doing anything, yet Dream Weaver could faintly feel a pressure even heavier than T.M. Opera O's zone.
Even though May weather should've been warming up, for some reason, she felt a chill run down her spine.
"Let me explain, alright?"
Facing the blazing stares of the Uma Musume, Dream Weaver spoke up, sweating nervously.
Their looks were so intimidating that Dream Weaver held nothing back. She told them everything—from accidentally running into Orfevre on the street, to her conversation with the retainer lady, her own analysis of Orfevre's mindset, and finally, her confrontation with Orfevre herself.
"So… these gifts were actually sent by Orfevre."
Dream Weaver concluded, cautiously watching her friends' reactions.
An eerie silence fell over the dorm. The Uma Musume glanced at each other, seemingly digesting this shocking news.
After a long while, Nanno Sumire finally let out a sigh, shook her head, and facepalmed with a 'what am I going to do with you' expression.
"You know perfectly well that if you hadn't said those things downstairs, your chances of winning the Japan Derby would've been much higher. You really are a fool, aren't you?"
As Nanno Sumire spoke up, the others chimed in one after another.
"And this isn't the first time you've let your emotions take over like this, right? I remember the day after your debut race, your face was so red it looked like it was on fire."
No sooner had Artisan Bell finished than Oguri Roman added:
"It was the same when she talked to me before. She said such cunning things under the sunset, but then avoided me for days after returning to Kasamatsu."
Piece by piece, the Uma Musume put together all the incidents Dream Weaver had been involved in. They cross-checked the details, surprised by just how many examples there were.
With all the evidence laid out before them, they turned to look at Dream Weaver with identical, odd expressions.
"Wh-what? What is it?"
Their stares made Dream Weaver uneasy, and she instinctively took a step back.
The Uma Musume exchanged glances, then spoke in unison, voicing the obvious conclusion:
"You… might actually be a total idiot."
"Hah?!"
--+--
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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.