"Oguri Cap, what do you make of this? These results are… unusual."
Trainer Ginjirou pointed at the section of the report describing Nearl's overwhelming lead, his tone heavy with gravity.
"Hmm, really strong?"
Oguri Cap tilted her head, a look of pure confusion on her face. She couldn't quite grasp what her trainer was driving at. Wasn't it just normal for Nearl to be this powerful?
"A Uma Musume who can open up a lead of over twenty lengths on her rivals in a mile race… we've never seen one before. Even though this was just the lowest grade of race, that number is simply excessive."
As he spoke, Trainer Ginjirou deliberately scratched a line on the newspaper with his fingernail, emphasizing the point.
"Look here, at the Uma Musume who finished second. She was eight lengths clear of the pack. It might seem insignificant compared to Nearl, but if you think about it carefully, you can see her genius."
"With a front-runner like Nearl, who's practically from another dimension, setting such a frantic pace, this one's rhythm must have been completely thrown into disarray. Yet, she still managed to lead all the other Uma Musume by eight lengths. That shows exceptional talent."
Seeing Oguri Cap listening with a serious expression, Ginjirou Musaka continued.
"But here's the problem."
He put down the newspaper and looked at Oguri Cap, who still wore a slightly dazed expression.
"Did you notice how far ahead of the third-place finisher Nearl was in this race?"
Not waiting for Oguri Cap to answer, he let out a heavy sigh. "Thirty-eight lengths."
"One length is 2.5 meters. Thirty-eight lengths is 95 meters. And this was just a 1400-meter race. She led the third-place finisher by 95 meters."
"What if it were a 2400-meter race? Or the longest, 3400 meters? How big could that lead become? Just the thought of it is terrifying."
"Oguri Cap. The strongest of the new generation might be right before our eyes."
Ginjirou Musaka marveled, his mind flashing to the image of that always-gentle, smiling young girl. He simply couldn't reconcile that image with the winner in the photo, whose eyes were vacant and whose face was frozen in ice.
"This can't be described with just the word 'monster.' Ordinary Uma Musume aren't even on the same plane of existence as her."
"It's almost like she has wings on her back."
Trainer Ginjirou had pinpointed the crux of the report, and other trainers weren't slouches either.
Everyone who got their hands on this report was either praising in awe, trembling in fear, or questioning its authenticity. Without exception, none of them could remain calm.
"Oguri Cap, which race is that Nearl running next? I need to see it in person!"
Putting away the newspaper, Trainer Ginjirou asked Oguri Cap. He needed to see Nearl's performance live to make the most accurate judgment.
"Margaret didn't say."
But Oguri Cap shook her head, indicating she didn't know either.
He was silent for a moment before finally instructing, "Then make sure you remember to ask her for me tonight."
"Okay."
Hearing Oguri Cap agree, Ginjirou nodded, stood up, and picked up his cane.
"I'm heading out for now. I plan to find a few old friends to have a good, long chat about this."
"Oh, and Oguri Cap, your training regimen needs a slight adjustment. Let's put the hill training on hold for now. I'll give you the revised plan tomorrow. Take the afternoon off today."
Just before putting on his hat and pushing the door open to leave, Trainer Ginjirou remembered something. He turned back to give his instructions and only left after seeing Oguri Cap nod, leaving her alone in the training room.
'I'll go find Tama.'
Looking around and finding herself alone, Oguri Cap decided to go find another rival she acknowledged.
--+--
Student Council Room.
The newly appointed president, the "Emperor" Symboli Rudolf, who had only been in office for a year or two, was buried in paperwork. Piles of documents obscured most of her figure.
"I know it's my duty, but is this amount of paperwork really necessary?"
Rubbing her wrist, Symboli Rudolf complained slightly.
As the Student Council President of Central Tracen Academy, and with the Chairwoman currently deliberately delegating authority, she was practically the sole authority of the academy—a veritable emperor.
There are no two suns in the sky; Tracen has only one sun, the Emperor!
But power came with responsibility, and absolute power came with a mountain of it.
The corrupt would shirk their duties, but Symboli Rudolf was not that kind of person. She was perfect, like a balanced scale, meticulously handling affairs big and small every day.
But the paperwork lately was just too much.
She had completely abandoned her own training now, devoting almost all her time to work, and even then, she was barely keeping up. If this continued, her body would break down.
"Mr. C.B., are you finished with your documents? Could you lend a hand?"
"…"
"Mr. C.B.?"
There was no response. Symboli Rudolf's call echoed lonely in the Student Council Room.
'Has she fallen asleep?'
Puzzled, she moved the mountain of documents in front of her to clear her line of sight and looked over at the vice president's desk.
There, another pile of documents was stacked high, obscuring the desk, with only the familiar uniform visible.
"Heh, it seems she's exhausted and fell asleep. It's not good to sleep like this."
So saying, Symboli Rudolf stood up, intending to help her senior to the sofa.
But after taking a few steps, she noticed something wrong.
'Why isn't there any movement from that body?'
A bad feeling flashed through her. Symboli Rudolf quickly strode behind Mr. C.B.'s desk, only to find a lifelike dummy dressed in the school uniform slumped over the desk.
"…"
She felt her blood pressure spike. She quickly took several deep breaths to suppress the dizziness washing over her.
"Heh… heheh… My dear senior, so this is how you slack off?"
Yanking the dummy off the chair, Symboli Rudolf laughed, the sound dripping with fury.
Especially when she saw that the documents on Mr. C.B.'s desk were all photocopies of her own—not a single one was different.
"No wonder the paperwork seemed to have doubled recently. It was never this much before."
"I saw just as many documents on your desk as on mine and thought the workload had genuinely increased. I was even secretly grateful you were sharing the burden. But you never had any paperwork here at all?!"
"And it's not enough that you dumped all your documents on me? Now you can't even be bothered to keep me company? You put a dummy here to fool me!"
Symboli Rudolf's ears were pinned back flat in anger. Her already authoritative face grew even darker, as if shrouded in shadow.
She slammed her hand down, scattering the fake mountain of documents Mr. C.B. had piled up to block the view.
A large number of papers scattered, messing up the desktop. Among them, one news report slipped out and caught Symboli Rudolf's attention.
"Today's report… Did Mr. C.B. bring this in?"
She picked up the report and skimmed it casually. But that one glance made her angrily flattened ears slowly, unconsciously, return to their normal position.
"These results…?"
Her hand gripping the newspaper tightened. Symboli Rudolf's face was furrowed in a deep frown.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 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.