"Requesting leave?"
Toujou Hana crossed her arms, looking at the determined El Condor Pasa before her, her words caught in her throat.
It was common enough for the Uma Musume under her charge to request leave ahead of an upcoming race to focus on training.
But El Condor Pasa was different.
Her academic performance wasn't something Hana, as her trainer, needed to worry about, nor did she need to fret over whether she'd fall behind in her studies.
The real issue was that El Condor Pasa's usual training load was already maxed out.
Aside from the regular Team Rigil training, Hana was well aware of the other sessions she put in.
She understood the fierce competition among this generation of Uma Musume.
If the Narita Brian of the past had rivals like Mayano Top Gun and Hishi Amazon, then the opponents El Condor Pasa needed to worry about now were even more numerous.
Special Week and King Halo currently seemed a step behind El Condor Pasa, while Seiun Sky was still an unknown.
But just Grass Wonder, now recovered from injury, Barbatos, and Silence Suzuka, who had left Rigil, were already formidable opponents that couldn't be ignored.
Rigil was Japan's strongest team.
Teammates didn't deliberately avoid appearing in the same races; Grass Wonder and El Condor Pasa were bound to face each other eventually.
While El Condor Pasa's desire to take leave to prepare for a race was a good thing from a trainer's perspective, what if her training volume increased too much? What if she got injured during this period?
How devastating could an injury be for an Uma Musume?!
Her red lips parted slightly, intending to sternly refuse the leave request.
But seeing the look in El Condor Pasa's eyes, she ultimately let out a soft sigh.
"Approved. I'll speak to Rudolf about it."
"I'll be the one to design your training plan from now on. If I catch you doing any extra sessions on the side, you're going straight back to class. Understood?"
"Got it!"
El Condor Pasa pumped her fist with vigorous enthusiasm.
Since Hana had agreed, she would undoubtedly devise a plan offering the greatest benefit with the optimal training load.
"Good. Then next, you'll run a race against Maruzensky."
"Maruzen, is that alright?"
Hana called out to Maruzensky, who was warming up not far away.
"Of course."
Maruzensky agreed as if she'd been expecting it.
During the New Year period, having stayed at Tracen Academy like El Condor Pasa, she'd done several running exercises with her and was very clear about her current condition.
Perhaps within Rigil, besides Hana, she was the one who best understood El Condor Pasa's talent.
She might really have a chance to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and become the world's number one Uma Musume.
"Huh?!"
"A race against Maruzensky-senpai? I'll give it everything I've got to win!"
El Condor Pasa declared confidently. Even knowing a gap still existed between her and her senior, her confidence remained unshaken. Only an Uma Musume who believed she could win could create miracles and grow stronger.
--+--
"Do you think El-chan has a chance to win?"
Taiki Shuttle held a snack box from the cafeteria, bought specifically upon hearing about the race between El Condor Pasa and Maruzensky.
As someone who could compete in eating challenges against Oguri Cap and Special Week, she didn't worry about her weight or performance being affected by a little snack.
Watching a race without something to eat always felt like something was missing.
"Maru will definitely win. The main question is how many lengths behind her El Condor Pasa will be."
Narita Brian chewed on a blade of grass, offering her certain assessment.
This was undeniable. Given El Condor Pasa's effort and talent, she might be able to challenge them in the Dream Cup in another year or so.
But for now, El Condor Pasa was still a bit green, much like Barbatos had been during the last Dream Cup.
Besides, the opponent she faced was the "Supercar" herself.
It was no exaggeration to say that among the legendary Uma Musume, if the Emperor was the absolute ceiling, then just below her were Narita Brian herself, T.M. Opera O, Oguri Cap, and Maruzensky.
This was the second tier, ranked based on past Dream Cup results.
Of course, that was just based on past records. In every Dream Cup, the rankings below the Emperor were always uncertain and unknown.
"By the way, where's that Amazon girl?"
Narita Brian asked, puzzled not to see Hishi Amazon.
Fuji Kiseki beside her replied helplessly, "She's still being forced to cram by Air Groove."
Last time, during their study session, Amazon had been daydreaming. Now, with Air Groove personally supervising her forced tutoring... was it even okay to talk about a legendary Uma Musume failing her academics?
"Look, it's about to start."
Taiki Shuttle reminded them, her voice muffled by food, though she sounded a bit puzzled. "But why did Hana agree to El-chan's training leave only to have her race Maruzensky-senpai?"
"It's about gauging her strength. I think we've all underestimated how powerful El-chan can be at her full potential."
A real race was different from private training. The feeling of standing on the track during a competition could allow an Uma Musume to perform beyond her limits.
But that was hard to see during ordinary training.
"So, Hana wants El Condor Pasa to race Maruzensky to see, as much as possible, where her limits are and what she's lacking, in order to design the training plan."
It wasn't that Hana hadn't watched El Condor Pasa's races. As a trainer, she naturally followed every race of her charges.
But El Condor Pasa's victories, much like Barbatos's, were almost always overwhelming, making it impossible to discern her true limits.
--+--
On the track, El Condor Pasa and Maruzensky made their final preparations.
"Maruzensky-senpai, please run with your full strength against me this time."
"Really, full strength?"
Facing the request, Maruzensky smiled and asked in return. She knew what El Condor Pasa meant by 'full strength'—it wasn't just about running all out.
It meant running with full power, like in the Dream Cup, with her Zone activated.
Even though El Condor Pasa couldn't yet see the Zone, hadn't crossed over to their side, she was already impressive enough.
When an Uma Musume reached her limit, under certain special conditions, she could activate her Zone. But El Condor Pasa hadn't activated it yet, couldn't even perceive its existence, only able to sense it through aura and pressure.
This indicated that El Condor Pasa hadn't yet reached her limit in her normal state—a true genius Uma Musume.
In this regard, Barbatos was the exact opposite. In terms of expanding the use of her Zone, Barbatos was even above legends like them, capable of enhancing her own Zone.
'What a wonderful generation, to have rivals to compete against like this.'
Maruzensky thought to herself.
Not far away, Hana held a stopwatch and a tablet. "Three! Two! One!"
"Begin!"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 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.