"Trainer, what are you doing? Stop spacing out!" Seiun Sky pushed through the crowd until she found him.
"Oh, Seiun, you're here?"
"Hurry up, the stage presentation is almost over." She grabbed his arm and yanked him forward.
They squeezed through the sea of bodies, and before long, Hayato finally spotted his team.
"Took you long enough." Daiwa Scarlet was the first to call him out the moment she saw him.
"The trainer was probably held up by something." Silence Suzuka thought for a moment before defending him.
"It was something important," Grass Wonder said with a knowing smile.
"Shopping?" Oguri Cap mumbled between bites of her snacks.
Seeing her back safe and sound, still as energetic as ever with her appetite fully intact, Hayato felt a weight lift off his chest.
How nice to have so many uma musume waiting for me, worrying about me... Wait, where's Urara?
"You're all wrong. He wasn't busy at all. He was just chatting with other uma musume." Seiun Sky spread her hands and shrugged. After teasing him, she laughed and struck her signature pose, both hands behind her head.
"Hold on, where's Urara-chan? I don't see her anywhere. Didn't anyone tell her about this?" Even as Hayato asked, he knew the question sounded strange.
Whose fault was it that Urara didn't show up? Shouldn't he be asking himself that?
"Ah! Trainer, don't worry. Urara-chan is probably just sulking." Grass Wonder tried to comfort him, but somehow made it sound even worse.
That just made him more worried!
Urara, King Halo's roommate and partner in crime, didn't come to King Halo's Derby? What could possibly be more important than this?
"Ah! I think I remember now. The school has selection races today. Selection races to welcome the new students," Seiun Sky said, bringing her hands down from behind her head with a serious expression.
"Selection races? But it's not even June yet."
Seiun Sky continued her explanation.
"These selection races are different from the usual ones. Tracen's enrollment periods are April and September. After enrollment, the uma musume have an exchange race between upperclassmen and freshmen."
"It's called an exchange, but really it's more like a beatdown. They crush the newcomers' spirits right away, letting uma musume who come from all over place, thinking they're talented uma learn what Central Tracen really means."
"Also, April's new students are all direct admissions. That means local uma musume getting into Tracen, plus some specially recruited ones. Transfers happen in September."
"At regional Tracen schools, when talented uma musume show up, they arrange transfers. But those transfers are incredibly difficult. My hometown school goes years without producing a single one. And yet, despite how hard it is, I'm one of them!"
She proudly tapped her chest. Silence Suzuka, Oguri Cap, and the others were also transfers, proving that transfer students were never weak.
At worst, they were uma musume capable of running Grade-level races.
"Has your sister arrived already?" Hayato remembered her sister, more accurately, Seiun Sky's cousin, Nishino Flower.
"Not yet. She's a regional special recruitment, not central. After finishing the exam, she can transfer here in September." She paused, then continued, "That's why she asked me about it. If she'd gone regional, she'd already be in her class now. Coming here means passing an exam. If she fails, she can only attend the regional school next April."
With Nishino Flower's grades, passing was obviously no problem. Otherwise, they wouldn't have felt confident letting her take the test.
That level of exam... people might not believe it, but a year ago Seiun Sky had given Nishino Flower the practice papers. She'd just barely met Tracen's admission requirements.
In other words, a year ago, Nishino Flower was already qualified to enter Central.
Even more impressive was Seiun Sky herself. This girl wasn't interested in Central at all. She'd deliberately skipped three major questions worth a combined 65 points on the exam and still passed easily.
After joining Tracen, she slacked off hoping she'd eventually get expelled. Unfortunately, her natural ability wouldn't allow it. Despite skipping class every single day, she still maintained decent grades.
Later, she started wondering if she'd gotten it all wrong. If she was already like this without even trying, wouldn't races be pretty easy if she actually worked hard?
"So yeah, Urara probably went to educate the new underclassmen."
"Educate the new underclassmen?" Hayato felt somewhat speechless.
"Trainer, don't be like that. Urara-chan works hard too!"
"That's true..." Hayato felt embarrassed and lowered his head.
But could she actually win?
Recently, Urara had improved a lot, but whether she could win was still hard to say. If it were a dirt sprint...
Hayato sucked in a breath, thinking of an uma musume who might have already enrolled. He really hoped she wouldn't be running a dirt mile.
That uma musume was El Condor Pasa. El Condor Pasa was different from ordinary uma musume. From the very beginning, her path was never the Classic route. She skipped the Japanese Classics entirely, carving her career through mile and open-class races instead. After conquering Japan with her victory in the Japan Cup, her focus shifted completely to the world stage. France, Europe, international competition.
Underage uma musume?
To El Condor Pasa, it didn't matter if you were a senior, an expert, or even a world-class uma musume. All the same. Before even making her debut, she'd already declared her intention to compete at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
If those uma musume ran into the North American Phantom Bird, they'd definitely be in trouble. Even Grade-level uma musume would be useless, let alone Urara-chan's current stats.
For Urara to race now was rushing things way too much. She shouldn't think new uma musume were easy targets. When you encounter a freak of nature, no matter how much older or more experienced you are, you still have to bow down.
Besides, Urara wasn't that much older, her mental maturity wasn't there yet, and her experience was only recently gained.
Thinking about all this, Hayato's heart clenched tight.
"Does the trainer want to rush back to school?" Seiun Sky saw right through his thoughts. "That trick of kidnapping young uma musume won't work a second time, you know? Plus, this is King Halo's G1 race!"
Hayato knew it wouldn't work. This race was too important for King Halo. No excuse would be good enough. He silently looked toward the race track, hoping this race would end quickly.