"Hey!! What's here??? What's here???"
"Urara!! Please don't run around in the Mansion."
Team Minaz has recouped all of their stamina in the evening after sleeping in their own room. The bed that has been provided to them was 100 times better than the one in the dorm, so they feel extremely refreshed after only a few hours of sleeping.
"Do you have any maps we can use, Goldship?"
"Nah~~ Where's your sense of adventure, Teio? Let's walk around and get lost!! That's a true adventure!!"
The quartet Team Minaz was feeling adventurous since this was the first time they had ever been in the Mejiro Mansion. The mysterious sprawling complex grows the girls' sense of adventure, which pushes them off their beds.
"There has to be one of those secret doors that can be opened by pulling a particular book from these shelves."
"Should we start pulling random books?"
"There are tons of books here. We're going to need an entire year if we use that tactic."
"Then what do you propose, Goldship?"
"I'll use my seismic sensing from learning earth bending."
Goldship pulled her feet out of her boots before slamming her sole into the floor. Seismic imaging starts to form inside Goldship's head as the impact wave travels outward from his sole.
"Ooh!! I sensed an empty space behind that bookshelf."
"Urara!! Go pull off every book from that shelf!!"
"Okay!!"
"Wait!! We're going to get in trouble!!"
Suzuka quickly caught up with the little pink blob before the latter could do anything damaging to the shelf.
"Wait!! Stop flailing around!!"
Suzuka tried to restrain the blob with one arm, but that was a mistake, as the blob is known to be very hyperactive. In an attempt to maintain her balance, Suzuka accidentally grabbed onto a book from the shelf and pulled it out.
*Click*
"Ah…"
The sound of gears spinning can be heard from behind the wall as the shelf and the floor connected to it start to rotate.
"Wait!! Wait!!"
"Yipee~~~ Adventure~~!"
"Good job, Suzuka!!"
"You're pretty good at this, Suzuka!!"
The quartet was taken for a ride as the shelf completely rotated, and they were now standing on the other side of the wall.
The building behind the wall is different from the normal Mejiro Mansion. Stone walls, ceiling, and floors–everything looks exactly how a medieval secret pathway would look. The torches on the walls only heightened the vibes.
"What should we do? Should we go back?" The only sensible umamusume in the group tries to ask the crazies and stupids.
"What?! Where is your sense of adventure?!?! Let's go forward!!!" Goldship could not contain her excitement. Sharing a room with the most deadbeat father in the world who always travels around the world has helped nurture Goldship's sense of adventure.
"Bu–But we don't know where this will lead!!"
"So it's our job to find out!! Come!!" The Monarch feels the need to lead into the unknown. "Besides, there are ventilation shafts in here. We don't need to be concerned with not being able to breathe."
"Ughh…"
"Yaaay!!! Adventure!!!"
"Sigh… Okay…"
The pink blob's cheerful enthusiasm was the final nail in the coffin for the chestnut.
The quartet followed the stone pathway forward, and soon enough, they arrived at a massive wooden door.
The wooden door has steel frames and is made of sturdy wood. There is no window to check what is on the other side. Instead, a golden plaque bears an engraving that looks polished.
"Three double-u? Like the website?"
"That doesn't make any sense! Do they store the internet there??"
Teio's curiosity got the better of her as she pressed the door open. They expected to enter a room filled with cables, machines, etc., but what they found was something else.
"Whoah!"
They were met with an amphitheater stage. A grandiose, well-lit stage is the main attraction of the room, and surrounding it are tiered seating areas that can hold at least a thousand people. Upon closer inspection, there are several VIP platforms on the walls where more people can be seated.
"Oh, my Goddesses!! This is amazing!!"
"Why would something like this be hidden behind a secret tunnel!?!? There has to be treasure around here!!"
"Wait!! I think we are in over our heads!!"
"Of course!! That's why we have to keep on going upward until it strikes our heads!!"
With only one sane member, the quartet approached the stage with zero caution. Only the chestnutter has her guard up, even though there are only them in the room.
The careless members joyfully hop down the stairs until they arrive at the massive main stage. These umamusumes have performed in front of thousands of people at concerts after races, but standing on thisstage somehow puts more pressure on them than that.
"What kind of show do they put on here to justify its grandness?"
The Monarch had always dreamed of standing on the grandest stage, but even her imagination couldn't reach a stage such as this.
"An event the likes of you would not know of."
"!!!!"
A cold voice suddenly creeps out from behind the veil backstage.
*Thump* *Thump*
The elegant sound of high-heeled shoes gently hitting the wooden boards of the stage rings an alarm bell inside the umamusumes. It's the same feeling as when you're about to face the final boss that will whoop your ass.
"Kin'iro Ryotei!" Goldship summons her stand when she feels a shiver down her back. She prepares to stop time just in case things do go south.
*SSWWIIRRRLLL*
The Monarch collects and swirls a massive amount of mana in her right palm. It keeps on rotating and compacting to the point that it lets out a loud, high-pitched sound.
Unlike Goldship and Teio, Suzuka's stance is much more subtle and quiet. She calmly grabs a three-pronged kunai that she has planted her Hiraishin Seal on.
While that is happening, no one is watching the pink blob as they put themselves in front of her to protect her, but without anyone knowing, the pink blob has activated her Mangekyo Hanagan.
Safe to say, the quartet is ready for whoever is coming.
"May I ask what the four of you are doing here?"
The one who came from the darkness backstage is a member of the Mejiro Family, Mejiro Ramonu. She is wearing a casual shirt and pencil skirt, but her aura enhances it to an astronomical level of elegance.
"Uuuh… We… Uuuh…"
"Sigh… You remind me of Symboli Rudolf, Tokai Teio.
Did he send you here?"
He? Ah… She must be thinking of Trainer Igo.
The members of Team Minaz come to the same conclusion, considering how close their trainer is to Mejiro Ramonu. Because of that, they also thought that if they brought him into this, they wouldn't get into as much trouble as if they told the truth.
"Yeah!! He told us to go here!!" Goldship lied as naturally as she poop.
"Sigh… As expected."
Hehehehe!! We're here!!
"Tell that pathetic robber, Kaito Kid, to get the information he wants on his own rather than sending children."
Who?
"Nothing personal, kids. Just business. We need to ask you some questions."
After saying that, Ramonu brings her hand to her chest and peels off a patch of paper that has the same color as her skin. The patch was hiding a black, three-pronged emblem above her cleavage. She then placed her palm on said emblem as it glowed blue.
"Everything in sight will be encased in Ice."
"SHIT!!! ZA WARU–"
"Mahapdama."