"Protect... huh?"
"That girl loves giving her all for others, but never spares a thought for her own wounds. Without someone watching over her, she'd surely burn herself up without hesitation, just to light up someone else's path."
Admire Vega paused, her voice growing distant as she murmured with a sigh.
"Her name may be 'Dream Weaver,' yet she only ever weaves up other people's stars, other people's dreams."
"What could possibly remain in her night sky, besides an expanse of utter darkness?"
"Isn't that... just a little too pitiful?"
Hearing Admire Vega's soft lament, Mejiro Ardan fell silent as well.
In the other world she had experienced, Dream Weaver had broken her own wings and given them to Mejiro Ardan, all for the sake of Ardan's future.
It was exactly as Admire Vega described.
Dream Weaver always seemed to fulfill others' expectations of her, to grant their wishes, without ever considering whether she herself would be hurt.
Somehow, Mejiro Ardan felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest.
"Fortunately, it's not too late yet... There shouldn't be any issues for her debut year. As long as she becomes friends with that person before the classic races—"
Just as Admire Vega was muttering under her breath, King Halo rushed over and clamped a hand over her mouth, frantically blinking at her in warning.
Admire Vega's earlier remarks were already pushing it for a mere fan—though they could still be explained away as keen observation—but this next bit of muttering would be hard to justify.
King Halo didn't want their new fan to catch on that something was off.
But she needn't have worried too much, because Mejiro Ardan was already lost in the earlier description, unconsciously replaying in her mind the time she'd spent with Dream Weaver in that other world.
Unaware of this, however, King Halo assumed Mejiro Ardan had noticed the oddity in Admire Vega's words and quickly spoke up to change the subject.
"You still want to know more about Dream, right? I happen to know of a few Uma Musume who've been hanging around Dream lately. Observing from such a close distance should give you a fresh perspective."
As she spoke, King Halo glanced up at the classroom clock.
"At this hour, Dream should have already left the academic building. If you head to the Three Goddesses statue now, you'll probably spot them. Just look for a few peculiar Uma Musume trailing behind Dream, acting all sneaky and occasionally confronting each other."
After rattling off all that, King Halo hastily ushered Mejiro Ardan out of the classroom.
"Well, that's it then! Our club needs to conduct some internal discipline now. Let's chat again another time, bye!"
With that, the door slammed shut with a thud. Mejiro Ardan stood blankly outside, only able to hear the resumption of the heated conversation from inside, just like before she'd arrived.
But King Halo really didn't need to worry.
Given their behavior so far, Mejiro Ardan had already pegged them as a bunch of odd Uma Musume.
So, no matter what strange things they said or did, Ardan simply chalked it up to their unique group dynamic.
Besides, compared to Admire Vega's little mutter, wasn't King Halo's rapid-fire rambling actually way weirder?
And she even knew exactly when and where Dream Weaver would be? Wasn't that even more exaggerated than Admire Vega?!
But since they'd told her, she might as well go take a look. Mejiro Ardan was curious to see what kind of experts these Uma Musume—deemed 'peculiar' by King Halo—could possibly be.
She shook her head and left the noisy classroom door behind, setting off in the direction of the Three Goddesses Plaza.
Along the way, it suddenly struck Mejiro Ardan: if she went now, wouldn't she run into Dream Weaver?
Her plan for today was just to get a sense of the other girl's presence at Tracen Academy. She hadn't expected to be steered toward Dream Weaver's immediate vicinity.
Realizing this, Mejiro Ardan grew tense. She wasn't sure if she was truly prepared to meet the other girl face to face.
On her way to the Three Goddesses statue, Mejiro Ardan fussily smoothed her hair over and over, terrified that a single stray strand might give Dream Weaver a bad first impression.
So absorbed was she in this task that she barely noticed her surroundings. Before she knew it, she had already arrived at the plaza of the Three Goddesses.
She glanced around but didn't see any sign of Dream Weaver. Mejiro Ardan quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Anyway, knowing someone's exact movements that precisely was a bit too far-fetched. That Uma Musume from earlier probably just wanted an excuse to get me to leave.
This is fine. At least it gives me more time to prepare.
Mejiro Ardan patted her chest, trying to soothe the tightness that had settled there from the tension. She found a nearby bench and sat down.
For some reason, there were two cardboard boxes placed near the bench, but Mejiro Ardan didn't have the energy to dwell on that now.
The mere thought of possibly meeting Dream Weaver had made her unbearably nervous. Now that she was finally seated, she just wanted to calm her racing heart.
Looking up at the Three Goddesses statue before her, Mejiro Ardan was reminded again of what had happened in that other world.
Back then, Northern—no, Dream Weaver now—when she forcibly gave her own limiter to Ardan, she had said it was the blessing of the Three Goddesses.
"The Three Goddesses, huh…"
"Maybe this really is a miracle."
Just as Mejiro Ardan was murmuring to herself, the cardboard box beside her seemed to twitch slightly.
But lost in her memories, she naturally didn't notice. Seeing that Ardan remained deep in thought, the movements from the cardboard box grew more and more frequent.
If anyone had witnessed this scene, the Seven Mysteries of Tracen Academy might well have become eight.
Right then, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from the distance. Mejiro Ardan, previously lost in recollection, immediately turned her head. A certain premonition was screaming warnings inside her.
"No way... Could it be?"
She hurriedly adjusted her already impeccable hairstyle. Mejiro Ardan hadn't expected King Halo's words to be true. Her barely settled heart suddenly began racing again.
And at that very moment, the cardboard box at her side actually spoke.
"Hey... didn't you know this spot's taken?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! 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.