Chapter 40: The Battle for the French Team Exchange Rights Begins!
"What exactly is going on? Weren't we notified that Team Rigil would discuss the exchange study with the French team today? That's why I made time to come."
Toujou Hana, Team Rigil's trainer—a professional woman with glasses and a high ponytail—glared angrily at Ryu Nishizaki and Toyama Hikaru sitting on the sofa in front of her.
"Why are both of you here? Wasn't it said only one team could participate in the exchange?"
"I… I don't know either, Hana."
Ryu Nishizaki, Team Spica's trainer, shrugged, equally confused.
"Then it must be your doing, Toyama Hikaru! You're causing trouble again!!!"
Toujou Hana slammed her fist on the wooden coffee table with a thud, pointing directly at Toyama Hikaru, who was busily devouring senbei.
The three of them had been classmates at the same trainer academy since their student days and knew each other well.
Toujou Hana and Ryu Nishizaki were closer, while Toyama Hikaru had been a troublemaker since her student days, never doing things by the book.
Sensing something amiss, Toujou Hana immediately pinned the blame on Toyama Hikaru.
She snorted coldly, leaning back on the sofa as she warned the man and woman in front of her:
"No matter what you're planning, Toyama Hikaru."
"I'm warning you, the exchange with the French team represents the honor of the entire Japanese horse girl community. It must be handled carefully. Team Rigil, whether in terms of active or retired members, holds the most honors in the entire academy. Choosing us is the most logical decision."
"That's quite harsh… Hana, our team's strength isn't bad either, and Special Week did defeat that Montjeu."
Ryu Nishizaki sounded helpless. Although he had been receiving help from Toujou Hana recently, even his rebuttal lacked conviction.
But Toyama Hikaru was different. She laughed heartily, pointing a finger directly at Toujou Hana's nose, raising an eyebrow provocatively as she made a face:
"Hahaha! Of course, it should be our Team Draco participating in the exchange. Hana, your team can just train among yourselves, right?"
"Or you could train with Ryu's team. After all, you two have already teamed up long ago. Leave the French team to~ me!"
Seeing Toyama Hikaru's infuriatingly smug expression, Toujou Hana clenched her fists, barely restraining the urge to punch her.
Gritting her teeth, she said, "Stop joking around. Team Draco currently only has two members who can train and compete. One hasn't debuted yet, and the other only debuted a month ago. With that level of skill, how could they possibly participate in an exchange with the French team?"
"It's like she's about to become the shame of Japan!"
Haha, the fish has taken the bait.
Toyama Hikaru's heart was bursting with joy, but she kept that provocative, mismatched-eye expression on her face. Like a true villain, she continued to provoke Toujou Hana, who was never known for having a good temper:
"Huh? Are you saying the racers in your team are more suitable than mine?"
"Isn't that obvious?! Even Nishizaki's team is stronger than yours!"
Toujou Hana pointed at Ryu Nishizaki, who was sitting nearby, speaking through gritted teeth.
Ryu Nishizaki, however, wanted no part in this argument between the two women. Seeing both of them look at him, he hurriedly raised both hands to show he wasn't taking sides.
"Let's all calm down, okay? Calm down, Hana. Can we talk this through properly?"
He stood up from his seat, trying to reason with his two old classmates.
But Toyama Hikaru just leaned back on the sofa, a look of smug satisfaction on her face as she addressed Toujou Hana:
"If that's what you think, then why don't our three teams have a little contest?"
"A showdown to decide who gets the study exchange opportunity with the French team!"
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"Run faster! Don't you want to compete for the Classic Triple Crown, Stardust Mirage?! The Kikuka-shō is a full 3000m! With the pitiful stamina you have now, what good will it do?!"
Transformed into a demon, Toyama Hikaru chased after Stardust Mirage on a balance board, shouting loudly to drive her through hill training.
"Watch your posture, Stardust Mirage! Running like that, how are you supposed to increase your speed?!"
"Control the range of your arm swing. That's the only way to maintain better balance while running, which allows you to increase your stride power and ground push-off force. Keep your feet, legs, waist, body, and arms in a coordinated, unified rhythm. Mastering every detail is how you improve!"
Stardust Mirage gritted her teeth, gradually adjusting the movement of her arms.
Although Toyama Hikaru's words were harsh, she had to admit the trainer's techniques were genuinely useful.
During her previous training run alongside Oguri Cap, she had noticed how much more coordinated the other's movements were.
The difference in arm swing amplitude, upper body stability, stride frequency, and length clearly highlighted the gap between her and Oguri Cap.
But at the time, she hadn't paid it much mind, simply thinking Oguri Cap's movements were very beautiful. Now, with Toyama Hikaru pointing it out, she added arm swing habit reinforcement to her hill training.
"Don't get distracted, Stardust Mirage, look at me!!!"
Toyama Hikaru shouted again. She rode the white balance board to a spot about fifty or sixty meters from the finish line, jumped off, and started running alongside Stardust Mirage.
"Watch my movements! Use your shoulders as the pivot, let your arms drive your forearms, control the amplitude each time!"
Amidst the rustling friction of Toyama Hikaru's tracksuit, Stardust Mirage watched as she ran ahead with remarkable lightness, her arm movements full of rhythm and cadence, each motion perfectly standard.
"Your movements are too crude! That's not the arm swing a proper Uma Musume should have; it's like an old hen flapping its wings! Your body is just flailing your arms; it's meaningless!"
Having reached the finish line first, Toyama Hikaru spread her arms wide toward the approaching Stardust Mirage, exaggeratingly describing how ugly her movements were.
"After you start swinging, your elbows are almost parallel to your shoulders! What, are you trying to elbow your opponents?! That seriously affects your speed!"
"Control the amplitude; your hands shouldn't go past your chin, understand?!"
Stardust Mirage finally completed her fourth hill training session of the day, standing weak-legged as she recalled everything Toyama Hikaru had just said.
This kind of knowledge comes from scientific research conducted by major Uma Musume organizations. Ordinary Uma Musume would never be able to summarize these principles on their own, which is a key reason why central-level trainers are so highly sought after by them.
Although she hadn't fully mastered correcting her running form yet, just making slight adjustments allowed Stardust Mirage to feel a noticeable improvement in her performance. The feeling of improving herself every day was exhilarating, enough to make her forget the hardships of training.
"...I understand."
Looking at Toyama Hikaru, who was also sweating profusely from demonstrating the proper movements for her, Stardust Mirage nodded in agreement.
"Good. Take a break first. This is a good time to talk about something else."
Toyama Hikaru tossed a sports drink to her and then said:
"In one week, you and Mihono Bourbon will compete against five active Uma Musume from Team Spica and Team Rigil."
"From Rigil, participating will be Hishi Amazon, who excels at coming from behind, Narita Brian, who primarily uses a Pace chasing style, and the Mile-distance king, Taiki Shuttle. From Spica, Tokai Teio won't participate as she's just recovered from injury. The others are Gold Ship, also skilled at coming from behind, and the rising long-distance star, Mejiro McQueen."
"You'll notice none of them specialize in leading. So, you and Bourbon have the inherent advantage."
Toyama Hikaru pulled up the simulated race plugin on her tablet and reviewed it with Stardust Mirage.
"This race is a 1400m short-distance event, which I specifically chose because whether it's mile or middle-long distance, those are others' areas of expertise. So, when the time comes, you and Bourbon need to cooperate fully, leverage your lead-running advantage, and crush them!"
With Toyama Hikaru's bold declaration, the little avatars representing Stardust Mirage and Miho Bourbon in the simulation software on the screen suddenly turned around, pulled out two Chicago Typewriters, and mowed down the entire group of competitors behind them.
"Cr-crush?"
Stardust Mirage was dumbfounded. Did she mean to fight on the track? A real elbow strike?
Seeing her expression, Toyama Hikaru flashed an evil, villainous smile and said to Stardust Mirage:
"The operation for this race will be called 'Heartbreaker.' Listen well to my tactical arrangements! Once we win, I'm going to mercilessly mock that honor student, Hana!"
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"Why do you always fall for her provocations so easily, Hana? And you drag me into it." Sitting in the café, Ryu Nishizaki complained helplessly to his friend in front of him:
"How many times is this now? Don't let Hikaru's tricks work on you every time."
"Hmph, it's just as well."
Toujou Hana, with the demeanor of an elite office lady, elegantly sipped her coffee, no longer showing her earlier flustered anger:
"The Emperor probably thought it was difficult to choose between our two teams, so she had Toyama Hikaru step in, letting her turn this exchange opportunity into a competitive showdown. That way, none of us can complain."
"What do you mean? So Hikaru is just here to stir things up?" Ryu Nishizaki asked suspiciously.
Toujou Hana assumed an all-knowing expression:
"Whether she was commissioned by the Emperor to provoke our teams into deciding the spot through a race, or whether she has her own plans, it doesn't matter. Making newly debuted Uma Musume understand the gap in strength is also our responsibility as seasoned trainers."
Hearing this, Ryu Nishizaki also took a sip of his coffee and advised:
"That Stardust Mirage is now called the [Oguri Cap II]. She might not be so easy to beat, right? And you let Hikaru choose the short-distance track. Maybe it's better to take this a bit more seriously..."
Toujou Hana pursed her lips at his words, tossed the small teaspoon into her coffee cup, and said seriously to Ryu Nishizaki:
"Are you trying to divert my attention away from the two in your team?
It's useless. Hikaru thinks choosing a short-distance track will limit my racers, but Taiki Shuttle isn't just the ruler of the mile class. Add Narita Brian and Amazon to that..."
"Whether it's your team or Toyama Hikaru's newcomer, we at Rigil will treat you all the same—we will absolutely defeat you!"
"Hmph, when that time comes, I'm going to mercilessly mock that overconfident fool!"
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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