"Secretariat is a truly, truly awful individual."
Sham sat on the edge of the bed, while Agnes Tachyon took the seat opposite her.
"Are you referring to Secretariat's racing style being awful?" Agnes Tachyon furrowed her brow.
"You're the Uma Musume who got closest to Secretariat's level. Coming from you, that carries undeniable weight."
"No, I wasn't talking about her racing style. The track is a battlefield; no matter what, winning the race is what counts. Besides, Secretariat's ability is the real deal. Even I have to admit she's the undisputed number one."
"There are only two kinds of Uma Musume in the world: Secretariat, and everyone else."
Sham raised her right hand to touch her jaw. It had once been severely injured, forcing her to replace almost all her teeth and leaving her jaw with permanent damage.
Since then, her facial expressions had become stiff.
"I'm simply saying that Secretariat, as a person, is a thoroughly malicious being."
"Secretariat being born as an Uma Musume in this world is a blessing, both for her and for everyone else."
"On the track, her malice can only be unleashed on her fellow competitors. That creature is filled with an endless desire to inflict suffering, and without an outlet, she suffers like a thirsty hyena. If she didn't have racing, she'd be an even more twisted individual."
"Secretariat... I seriously doubt she has any genuine love for competition. She only stands on the track because she wants to crush others' dreams. For her, satisfying that sadistic urge and gaining pleasure is far more important than victory itself."
This was the first time Agnes Tachyon had heard such a description of Secretariat—though, truth be told, she had never really understood Secretariat to begin with.
"But what I've heard— No, I've said too much." Agnes Tachyon quickly caught herself.
Secretariat was an Uma Musume, yet more than just an Uma Musume. She could almost be called a symbol of America, representing an entire era.
In the United States, some might not know who the current president is, or which party is in power. Some might not listen to rap or play basketball, but absolutely everyone knows Michael Jackson and Secretariat.
A hero like that simply cannot have a negative image. Whether one exists or not, it must not be allowed to surface.
Perhaps only from someone like Sham could one learn the truth about Secretariat.
"That creature... there's absolutely no one who can restrain her. Secretariat is a complete monster, doing as she pleases. Everything in her eyes seems as fragile as glass..."
Sham continued.
"Sometimes, when I met her gaze, I could almost hear the question in her mind—"
"She was thinking: 'If I am so perfect, so powerful, the most beautiful being in this world, why should I obey these people, running back and forth on this little track just to amuse them?'"
Listening to Sham's description, Agnes Tachyon shuddered involuntarily. She felt a sense of absurdity creeping in.
If what Sham said was true, then Secretariat... was truly a being from another dimension. Not just physically, but in spirit as well.
"Of course, just describing it like this might not make it feel real to you." Sham fell silent for a moment, allowing Agnes Tachyon to process the information before continuing.
"What I'm about to say next is all hearsay, things I haven't witnessed personally. You can treat it all as speculation and just laugh it off."
"But since your target is Secretariat and Flightline, I advise you to take it seriously."
Agnes Tachyon pinched the bridge of her nose, still reeling from the shocking revelations. "Is there anything else that could shatter my worldview even more?"
"Heh." Sham let out a sudden, hollow laugh. Different from before, this smile was full of mockery and derision, appearing both bizarre and frightening.
Sham interlaced her fingers in front of her. "Ever since she announced her retirement, Secretariat has been searching for a successor, a student to inherit her legacy."
"And that student is Flightline."
"Yeah, is it incredible luck, fate, or Secretariat's keen eye for talent... that she managed to cultivate another monster..." Agnes Tachyon was also concerned about Flightline.
After all, the one who would face Platinum in the future wasn't Secretariat, but Flightline.
"Heh." Again, that eerie, unnatural smile, laden with endless scorn. In everyone's memory, Sham had always been someone with a fierce face but a kind heart. But this version of Sham...
Agnes Tachyon narrowed her eyes, studying her. Was she... truly angry?
"Although Secretariat publicly claims she only has one student, Flightline... from what I understand, she has actually taken on many, many students."
"Since her retirement, Secretariat has probably accepted over six hundred Uma Musume as her students. That number already exceeds the student count of some branches of Tracen Academy."
Agnes Tachyon was speechless. "But... that... doesn't make sense..."
"Then what happened to those six hundred-plus students? Why has only Flightline emerged?"
"Because Secretariat doesn't acknowledge the others." Sham's voice turned hoarse. "She accepts students indiscriminately. As long as they're willing to come, Secretariat doesn't care about their talent; she takes them all."
"Of course, once they become her students, the treatment they receive goes without saying. Those Uma Musume endure the strictest, almost abusive training, filtered through Secretariat's proud elimination system."
"Those children who become Secretariat's students think their future is bright, but in reality, a nightmare is about to descend."
"Naturally, regardless of whether their talent is good or bad, they're all treated the same under Secretariat. Her ultimate goal isn't to train them all to succeed, but to make them fight amongst themselves, to select the single most outstanding individual from the group."
"The others are just discards. After the elimination process, they're heartlessly cast aside by Secretariat."
"And the one who won the final victory, the one who became the last survivor, is Flightline."
Even Agnes Tachyon found this all hard to believe.
"That... that's impossible..." Agnes Tachyon shook her head, reflexively denying it. "With so many Uma Musume being broken, how could there not be even a single negative report..."
"Because she is Secretariat." Sham looked silently at Agnes Tachyon, repeating the phrase. "Because she is Secretariat."
"Moreover, she produced Flightline. She cultivated an ultra-dimensional Uma Musume who can rival herself."
"That is the opponent you must face. An opponent born from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood."
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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 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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