Time slipped quickly by.
One year later, thanks to her restaurant operating normally and her own excellent culinary skills, Tokai Natural's daily income was more than decent.
Under these circumstances, Tokai Natural's health gradually began to improve.
At least, compared to before, she was doing much better.
Consequently, her quality of life had significantly improved.
But as for that person on the opposite side of the globe… things weren't going quite as smoothly.
...
Symboli Rudolf lifted her newly adjusted schedule again, double-checking it.
"Rehabilitation training..."
After confirming once more that the revised schedule had no issues, Rudolf, sitting at her dormitory desk, finally shifted her gaze to the calendar.
Today was April 30th. There were still more than seven months left until the Dream Cup at the start of next year.
Whether her body could recover by then, even Rudolf herself wasn't entirely sure.
After all, Symboli Speed's disciplinary methods had seriously injured Rudolf's body.
This result was completely understandable.
In the past, even a small prank on her own mother had led Speed to chase after Rudolf and discipline her severely.
And this time could be considered a fundamental mistake.
Thus, Rudolf had no complaints about her current state.
After all, it was entirely deserved.
However, this punishment was now causing Rudolf additional complications.
About a week ago, when handing over a birthday present to Tokai Roman, Rudolf had heard Roman's request.
Tokai Teio was very interested in Rudolf's races.
Though Rudolf wasn't entirely sure if Roman's words were genuine, since Tokai Teio had made such a request, Rudolf would try her utmost to fulfill it.
This was why she'd begun to rearrange her schedule.
Looking at the timetable in her hand, Rudolf rubbed at the spot between her eyebrows.
The reason was simple: her Student Council duties consumed far too much of her time.
Every day, a significant portion of her schedule was occupied by Student Council tasks. Although her work efficiency had greatly improved after nearly two years of handling everything alone—and even though several new Uma Musume had recently joined the Student Council—otherwise, Rudolf wouldn't have managed to carve out enough time for training.
"Who even knows if I can still make it onto the track...?"
Though the Dream Cup was theoretically open to every retired Uma Musume, the number of retired Uma Musume was enormous.
If everyone participated, chaos would inevitably ensue.
Thus, the Dream Cup actually had a selection process.
Certainly, someone like Symboli Rudolf—a legendary Uma Musume in Japan—could directly qualify for the Dream Cup.
But…
The Dream Cup consisted of three races in total.
Rudolf wasn't particularly worried about the first round.
The main problems lay in the subsequent semifinals and finals.
"No idea how those two rounds will turn out, huh..."
Thinking this, Rudolf placed the schedule back on the table.
She needed to rest. If she truly intended to participate in the Dream Cup, then she had to give it her all every single day from now on.
News that Symboli Rudolf had resumed training quickly spread throughout Tracen Academy. This wasn't surprising, as Rudolf's training had practically stopped completely ever since she'd become Student Council President.
Even when spotted at the training ground, she'd only been doing maintenance exercises at best.
And during this past year, even those minimal exercises had vanished.
...
Standing outside the training grounds, Symboli Sirius merely sipped at her orange juice and shifted her gaze.
Sirius wasn't particularly interested in the Dream Cup, so she only stood quietly watching Rudolf from afar.
It was clear Rudolf wasn't currently in good shape.
After nearly a year without proper exercise, and given the earlier incident with Symboli Speed…
Training was undoubtedly painful for Rudolf now.
Seeing Rudolf struggling even to breathe properly, Sirius turned her eyes slightly away.
Symboli Rudolf had already decided to leave the racetrack behind.
Sirius was fully aware of this.
Precisely because of that decision, Rudolf had stopped even basic maintenance exercises.
To make her pick it back up now meant something had come along to directly contradict her original resolve.
Thinking about this, Sirius took another sip from the juice carton.
Only the hollow sound of air sucking through the straw reached her lips—the juice had long since run out.
Soon enough, Sirius thought of a likely possibility.
"Teio, huh…"
The uncertain words quietly left Sirius's lips.
At present, there was only one Uma Musume in all of Japan who could make Rudolf alter those decisions: Tokai Teio.
If she linked this fact to recent dates, perhaps everything could be explained.
Rudolf would never directly meet Tokai Teio.
The only time each year Rudolf even approached that area was on Tokai Teio's birthday, and even then, she'd merely leave a present with Tokai Roman before quickly departing.
Thus, even if Sirius wasn't exactly clear how Rudolf had learned of Teio's wish, it wasn't difficult to piece together a plausible explanation.
Confirming her suspicion, Sirius again turned her gaze toward Rudolf.
Unlike earlier, when she'd been doing simple warm-up exercises, Rudolf's current expression had subtly changed.
Though outsiders might not recognize it, as her sister from the same family, Sirius could clearly see that Rudolf was enduring some kind of pain.
It's that incident with Speed again, isn't it...?
Of course, Sirius knew exactly what was causing Rudolf's suffering. Precisely because she knew, Sirius, leaning heavily against the training field railing, could only sigh softly.
She knew exactly which competition Rudolf was aiming for.
If rehabilitation training was already beginning, then in about six months' time, Rudolf's body could recover to a suitable level.
And after those six months passed, there were only a handful of races Rudolf could still participate in.
"The Dream Cup, huh..."
Quietly uttering the name, Sirius considered it silently for a moment before averting her gaze again.
She herself had previously thought of participating in the Dream Cup, but due to Rudolf's circumstances, Sirius had set aside her own plans.
Now, watching Rudolf pushing herself to race despite being in such obvious pain…
Sirius found herself considering the Dream Cup once more.
---
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