In a mysterious space of blue and violet, a dark figure lay on the ground. Her chest heaved violently. Though she had no need to breathe, a habit leftover from her human days made her gasp desperately for air like a severely ill patient.
"Have you reached your limit already?"
Sunday Silence sat beside the slumbering form of Sunday Serenity, gently combing through her hair, which continuously dissipated and reformed.
She was undergoing treatment that would last several days.
Sleep during the day, go out to heal her body at night.
This race hadn't been easy for her.
Experience, knowledge, and technique—these abilities were like instruments converting power.
The richer her skills, the higher the efficiency of that conversion.
In Sunday Silence's view, the strength Sunday Serenity had displayed during the day shouldn't have required pushing her body to such an extreme. After leaving the track, Sunday Silence had practically had to shove her back here.
Once inside, Sunday Serenity, too exhausted to even open her eyes, had fallen asleep almost immediately.
It was just like those Uma Musume.
The ones who poured every last bit of their strength into a race, collapsing into slumber the moment they left the arena.
After the intense mental focus, fatigue washed over them like a tidal wave.
"It seems there's still a long road ahead," Sunday Silence mused.
If her goal was merely to win races, that outcome would be far too dull.
However, this race had brought Sunday Silence some excellent news.
The Central association was finally making a move.
"They can't stand these repeated appearances, so they're starting to change the Central participation rules."
As she spoke, Sunday Silence swiped her finger, flipping through images on a mirror-like surface.
"Was this Symboli Rudolf's proposal? 'As long as you can defeat her on the track, she will never appear again...'"
"Heh... Hahaha!" Sunday Silence let out a clear, ringing laugh.
"Exactly. 'If you can defeat me on the racetrack, I will never appear again.'"
If you think you can do it, come and try.
A pleased smile played on the girl's lips.
Don't let me get bored—
"Big sister..."
Just as Sunday Silence was browsing through information from the physical world, that soft, weak voice sounded again.
She appeared to be a graceful young lady, but her movements were full of childish innocence.
That ghostly girl had appeared again.
Even if the mirror in this restroom wasn't too different from a shop window outside the racetrack, she shouldn't be able to find it so easily. Did she have some special trick?
Barefoot, the girl walked over and crouched beside the sleeping Sunday Serenity, her crystal-like amethyst eyes gazing blankly at her.
Then, the girl began waving her hand, pushing at Sunday Serenity's body.
"You won't be able to wake her now."
Sunday Silence spoke.
The voice, coming from a completely invisible source, startled the girl.
She curled up, blinking her eyes, looking around fearfully.
"Where are you looking?"
As she said this, on the raised mirror surface, Sunday Silence appeared with her arms crossed.
Clearly, the ghost girl's experience and knowledge were insufficient to process the current situation. Seeing two identical dark-haired girls—one in the mirror, one on the ground—left the ghost utterly bewildered.
"Well then?"
Sunday Silence asked.
"What do you want here? Just craving the company of your own kind, seeking a sense of security?"
Her stern tone immediately made the ghost girl lower her head, not daring to meet her gaze.
But, even though she was afraid, she still sat down beside Sunday Serenity, refusing to leave.
"Just as I thought. No matter how long you wander outside, without proper education, you can't speak properly. But that can't be helped. What could a ghost who died before even being born possibly know?"
Be thankful for this desireless, wanton ghost world. If a human child this small got lost, even death would be a luxury.
Watching the brown-haired girl lying down next to Sunday Serenity, copying her posture, Sunday Silence moved closer to her.
"Speaking of which, it's entirely because of you that my other half ended up in this state. If you dare to show up here so brazenly, you should be prepared for retaliation."
She pinched and pulled at the girl's cheeks until she let out a muffled 'Mmph! Mmph!' before finally letting go.
"Hmph. That'll do for now. You're forgiven."
Only after the girl clutched her face and, like a child, tightly hugged Sunday Serenity's arm, did Sunday Silence turn her attention elsewhere.
In front of her, a small, floating mirror reflected, from a chandelier's perspective, a rather spacious room.
Two girls were inside, deep in conversation.
--+--
"In response to Central's policy, we will hold a joint competition with training center schools that host [Local Area Series] races, such as Tracen Academy in Kasamatsu, Tracen Academy in Kawasaki, Tracen Academy in Saga, and others."
Sitting in the center of the spacious room, a girl with dazzling orange hair and white highlights read from the document submitted by Symboli Rudolf.
After reading the contents word for word with her blue eyes, the rather short, loli-like girl adjusted the white bowler hat on her head and then snapped open a folding fan in her hand.
"Do you understand, Symboli Rudolf?" the girl began. "The [Local Area Series] is completely different from the [Twinkle Series]. The gap between them is no smaller than the difference between inter-school races at Tracen and the official Central races."
The former, whether in terms of prestige, strictness of rules, or importance of the events, couldn't possibly be compared to Central.
And Tracen Academy, specializing in nurturing Uma Musume for the [Twinkle Series], possessed educational and student resources far beyond what those local schools could hope to match.
To put it bluntly, Central Tracen is the most prosperous metropolis, while the local Tracen schools are the impoverished backwaters.
They're worlds apart.
And now Symboli Rudolf was proposing an inter-school joint competition between them?
What difference was there between that and having armed adults fight unarmed children?
"Chairman," Symboli Rudolf spoke, explaining her idea to the highest authority in Tracen.
"Heroes can come from anywhere. I want all Uma Musume to have the chance to compete on the same stage. Oguri Cap made me realize that perhaps there are many undiscovered strong competitors within the local circuits. They also have potential; they just lack an opportunity, a chance to be discovered."
"The local circuits are all dirt tracks. How many Uma Musume have been buried because they weren't good on dirt? How many never even got the qualification to step onto a turf track?"
"Let's ask ourselves honestly: are we able to stand here today in part because those with the potential to become strong Uma Musume never even got the chance to set foot on the proper track?"
"So I hope that, taking advantage of Central's relaxation of race conditions, we can hold a joint competition to seek out those Uma Musume with hidden potential."
Hearing Symboli Rudolf's words, the Chairman looked thoughtful.
"Do you truly believe there are buried talents?"
"They absolutely exist."
"This would be... a great reform unlike anything Tracen has experienced in a hundred years since its founding."
"Yes," Symboli Rudolf nodded slightly.
"But right now, this reform is precisely what is needed."
Hearing such a serious reply, the Chairman finally rose from her seat.
Snap.
She closed her folding fan.
"Symboli Rudolf, Student Council President. Your proposal is approved!"
--+--
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!
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