"And I suppose our 'Blooming Full Moon' is currently stuffing her face with meat buns, smiles and all?"
Rampage muttered the question to no one in particular, his eyes glued to the newspaper while the girl in question, Machikane Tannhauser, sat nearby happily devouring a steamed bun. By winning the Japan Cup—the same prestigious G1 victory claimed by Flora—she had finally reached the summit. Per their agreement, Sunday Silence had promised to treat her to a feast of meat buns if Tannhauser managed to beat her. True to her word, Sunday had bought a mountain of them, and now the two were eating side-by-side in strange, harmonious silence.
"Damn it all, this is good!" Sunday barked, her mouth full. "What's in these things? They're freaking delicious, and I feel like I could eat them forever. Dammit!"
"Right, right?!" Tannhauser chimed in, beaming. "The buns from this shop are absolutely divine! They're usually so popular it's a struggle to buy even one, but Sunday-san put in a special reservation for us. Being able to eat this many… oh, it's pure bliss~♪"
"And you were okay with not keeping them all for yourself?" Rampage asked, glancing up.
These weren't just any meat buns. They were the specialty of a butcher shop in the local shopping district that Rampage himself frequented. The shop changed the blend of meat daily, meaning the flavor profile was always a surprise, making them a perennial sell-out item. While they were usually strictly limited, Sunday had apparently negotiated directly with the owner to produce a massive batch. Though the deal was supposed to be for twenty buns, the pile looked bottomless—even with the entirety of Team Canopus gorging themselves, the stack barely seemed to shrink. Even Sunday, a notorious meat-lover, was attacking them with singular focus.
"Of course!" Tannhauser chirped. "Everything tastes better when you share it! I always planned on splitting the twenty buns with everyone anyway."
"Turbo loves these buns too!" Twin Turbo yelled, mid-bite.
"Yeah, these really are the best," Nice Nature added with a satisfied sigh. "The seasoning is perfect, and they're so juicy. Even with all this fat, they don't feel heavy at all. I guess the rumor about the old man being a former sous-chef at a high-end Chinese restaurant might actually be true."
"Mmph… the calorie count is egregious," Ikuno Dictus noted, her glasses fogging slightly from the steam. "I shall have to revise the upcoming training menu to compensate."
"But they're so good~!" Rice Shower cried out happily.
"Really… delicious…!" came a muffled voice of agreement.
"I wish we could have invited Chiyo-san and Bakushin O-san as well," someone added.
As the members of Canopus continued their culinary celebration, Rampage returned to his paper. While the headlines were dominated by Tannhauser's upset victory, he noticed a suspicious number of articles already trying to whip up a frenzy for the year-end G1 races.
"Hmph. Looks like the URA is pulling the strings on the news cycle again."
"In-fo-may-shun what? Why?" Turbo asked, her mouth full.
"Swallow before you speak—"
"—Gulp! Swallowed!"
"Chew your food, kid… Look here. Every single article is obsessed with hyping up the Arima Kinen."
"But isn't that just the usual end-of-year tradition, Senpai?" Ticket asked, and most of the room nodded in agreement. As the year closed, attention naturally shifted to Japan's biggest G1 race, and by extension, the Dream Trophy League—the ultimate stage where dreams were realized. Calling it 'information manipulation' felt like a stretch for something that happened every year.
"Think about it," Rampage countered. "The Japan Cup just ended. We still have the Juvenile, the Futurity Stakes, and the Champions Cup on the calendar. Why bypass all of those to prioritize the Arima? Especially when the Champions Cup features the main event: the clash between Lynx and the two monsters leading the Japanese dirt circuit, Lady and Dyna."
"Now that you mention it…"
"The reason is simple," Southsaka interjected. "The girls the URA wanted as the centerpieces for those two races have all opted to participate in the Legend Race instead."
That silenced the room. It made perfect sense. The 'Emperor' Symboli Rudolf, the 'Treasure of the Mejiro' Mejiro Ramonu, and the 'Turf's Conductor' Mr. C.B.—the three Triple Crown winners who had been dominating the Dream Trophy League—had all declared for the Legend Race. Given the grueling schedule, it was expected they would skip the standard G1 circuit.
"I intend to run, provided my condition allows for it," the Iron Lady, Ikuno Dictus, noted calmly.
"You're the only outlier," Rampage shot back. The fact that the 'Iron Lady' was ready to jump into the Dream Trophy League immediately after the Legend Race was a testament to her absurd durability.
"Teio-san and Turbo-san, who just conquered the Breeders' Cup, are also entering the Legend Race," Southsaka continued. "To be blunt, the hype for this year's Dream Trophy League is projected to be much lower than usual. The URA is desperate. They're trying to milk the rivalry between the 'Undefeated' Brian and the 'Arc Runner-up' Laurel to keep the ticket sales up."
"Still, starting the hype train this early is overkill," Rampage grunted. "It's the Arima. People are going to show up regardless of what the URA does."
"Even so, the numbers will likely fall short of their projections. They're just trying to count their chickens before they hatch."
The URA had clearly banked on a massive event featuring the Brian-Laurel rivalry, the Hayahide sister-feud, and the return of the BC-winning duo of Teio and Turbo all on one stage. Losing half that roster to the Legend Race was a stinging blow to their bottom line.
"I mean, it's only the second year of this event, but the lineup is already more insane than last year," Rampage admitted.
"President Rudolf, Vice-President Ramonu, C.B.-san… then Teio, Turbo, Flora, Ikuno… Silverstone from overseas, and then finally, Ran…" Nature ticked them off on her fingers. "Just the ones we know about make for a terrifying roster."
"Don't go forgetting me!" Sunday barked.
"Oh, right. Sunday-san too."
"Actually," Rampage added, "because the URA officially recognized your entry, we've got a flood of international talent coming in too."
From names he recognized to genuine powerhouses that made his skin crawl, the roster was getting crowded. Rampage found himself questioning his life choices daily: Was the Legend Race I wanted to build really supposed to be this chaotic?
"Besides, since the TTG trio aren't coming this time, we've got a bunch of people signing up specifically because of the President. That woman… her jokes are ice-cold, and she causes nothing but headaches."
"Turbo thinks it's rich hearing Ran complain about people being a headache," Turbo teased.
"Whatever. I'm already dreading the second press party… Why do I have to feel this depressed right before the Champions Cup…?"
Rampage let out a long, heavy sigh. Just then, the door to the Canopus clubroom swung open. The visitors were none other than Fine Motion and Lynx—the girl hailed as the strongest overseas challenger for the upcoming Champions Cup.
"Ran! Come practice with us!"
"Bestie! Show me how you run!"
"Yeah, yeah… I guess I need to get my own training in too…"
Rampage allowed himself to be dragged out of the room. Southsaka waved a hand to Lynx as they left. With the Japan Cup over and the Champions Cup looming, he couldn't help but feel a spark of anticipation. What kind of battle would they witness next? He truly couldn't wait to find out.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"