Galileo found herself increasingly curious about the scent coming off Glorious Dyna. Still, since this was their first meeting, and since she was, for all her reputation as a notorious flirt, dealing with a friend of her family, Galileo maintained a perfectly elegant persona.
Her gaze did not linger too obviously on Dyna, and she stepped aside from the doorway with a gracious gesture.
"A distinguished guest of my sister, Sea the Stars—please, come in."
The refined courtesy was so different from the Galileo Dyna had pieced together from rumors, from Van Gogh's stories, and from her own imagination that she found herself momentarily thrown off. Still, she played along in kind. Dyna, after all, was a horse girl with manners.
Once she had taken a seat, it was Galileo who served as her host. Sea the Stars was busy and couldn't leave what she was doing, so Dyna ended up sitting rather stiffly on the sofa while Galileo boiled water, brewed tea, then sat across from her and regarded her with a frankly appraising gaze.
"Um… Miss Galileo, it feels like you have something you want to ask?"
In the end Dyna couldn't quite bear the scrutiny any longer and spoke first. She was a horse girl with sharp instincts, after all, and she could easily sense the curiosity in Galileo's eyes.
Galileo poured the tea, slid a cup over, and smiled faintly. "You're quite good at reading people, aren't you? Yes, I do have a few questions. But before that, let me introduce myself."
She settled back and continued with almost theatrical ease.
"I'm Galileo—winner of both the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby, a dual Derby champion, and also winner of the King George in my classic year. Though of course…" She smiled, elegant and self-aware. "Even those achievements still pale beside my younger sister, Sea the Stars."
Meeting someone and immediately throwing those accomplishments onto the table was clearly meant to test Dyna's mettle a little. Unfortunately, Dyna possessed the same kind of sky-high ceiling herself. So instead of shrinking back, she gathered her courage and replied:
"Glorious Dyna. Winner of the Marcel Boussac in my juvenile year, and currently the Japanese Satsuki Sho and Japanese Derby in my classic year. My goal is an undefeated Triple Crown, followed by conquering the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen."
Five G1s in a single year.
Galileo's brow twitched upward.
Still a step behind Sea the Stars, perhaps, but in comparison to ordinary horse girls, this was already an outrageous level of achievement. And… the Marcel Boussac from last year had actually been won by a Japanese horse girl? That alone was interesting. If Galileo remembered correctly, it was the first time in Japanese history.
"Oh? Very impressive." Galileo's tone shifted subtly. The faint, lofty superiority from before disappeared. She had not lowered herself, exactly—rather, she had elevated Glorious Dyna to stand on equal footing with her. It was, in its own way, a form of respect.
Maybe this girl had simply chosen to pursue a specific set of achievements in Japan instead of developing in Europe during her classic year. Galileo might be infamously frivolous in private matters, but because she had met so many people, she had become extraordinarily sharp at sensing hidden potential in other horse girls. Some girls just gave off an inexplicable feeling of possibility.
That sensation was especially strong in Glorious Dyna.
Galileo was convinced that if Dyna had developed in Europe, she would have become the next Sea the Stars.
Or perhaps… someone who could surpass even Sea the Stars.
"Sea the Stars! Don't make things hard for Dyna!"
Sea the Stars was still occupied with some household matter and couldn't free herself just yet, so she could only call out from the other room, warning Galileo not to tease or trouble Dyna.
"I know, I know." Galileo smiled brightly without taking offense, then leaned forward, resting her chin on her folded hands on the table, and asked with obvious interest, "Miss Glorious Dyna, you've met little Van Gogh already, haven't you? Or rather… you two have gotten quite close?"
"Eh? Well, that… that…"
Dyna had no idea how to answer. Galileo's sensitivity to another horse girl's scent was far sharper than she had imagined. Dyna had showered several times before coming out today, and logically, Van Gogh's scent shouldn't still be clinging to her.
But Galileo had noticed immediately.
The first half of the question she could answer honestly. The second half… well, Dyna suspected Galileo was not asking innocently.
Everyone knew Galileo might be a legendary womanizer, but at her core she was still a grand old single horse girl, with no wife, no settled partner. Saying the wrong thing here felt dangerous.
Still, Dyna chose to answer.
"Um… yes, Little Van Gogh was the first horse girl I met after arriving in Europe. She's very cute, very beautiful, and also really kind. Most of the time, being around her feels very comfortable. As for whether we're close…"
Come on, brain, think! This is not the time to give one of those vague answers you used with Sea City and Sea the Stars! Dyna, think!
Then it burst out of her mouth.
"She confessed to me!"
"Huh? Con—confessed?!"
For the first time, Galileo looked genuinely shocked.
No one had ever taught Van Gogh that sort of move—Galileo herself had certainly never confessed to any horse girl. Van Gogh was much younger than she was, yet somehow already more advanced in this department?
Galileo suddenly felt like she needed a moment.
She had half been thinking that if Van Gogh couldn't lock this girl down, maybe she herself might get a chance to try for her. And now the girl was telling her not only that Van Gogh had already made a move, but that she had come all the way here, to Sea the Stars' home, to casually tell them so?
Van Gogh, where are you?!
…Oh. Right. Off preparing for her race.
Galileo remembered belatedly, but that didn't make Van Gogh's sins any smaller. Leaving the girl she liked to come explain the situation herself to the family?
When the race was over, Van Gogh would be judged.
Galileo was already picturing how she was going to string her up and interrogate her properly.
"B-but I didn't agree right away," Dyna added quickly. "It was our first time meeting. If a relationship develops that fast, it's not really a good thing, right?"
She was desperately trying to phrase things in a way that preserved the facts while also steering Galileo into a mindset that would keep Dyna herself safe.
Galileo nodded gravely. "Mm. Exactly. Girls have to protect themselves. Don't let yourself get tricked by other girls—or by boys either. Little Van Gogh doesn't understand anything, so don't take it too seriously."
"Oh, it's not like that either. So what we're doing now is… just spending more time together, and I'll think about it after that, maybe? I mean, Van Gogh's accomplishments are amazing, and her family background is incredible too, right? It's hard for me to completely reject those conditions." Dyna forced a small, embarrassed smile. "I'm actually quite a materialistic horse girl, you know?"
Saying that made her internally shrivel, but for the sake of her own safety, she felt she had to set the two of them up to hold each other in check.
"...Well. That's true."
Frankly, in terms of conditions, Van Gogh really was almost unmatched. There were hardly any horse girls in the world who could rival her. Most horse girls would probably have caved at first sight. The fact that Glorious Dyna hadn't just accepted the confession outright already made her seem unusually rational.
At least, based on the information Galileo had at hand, that was how it looked.
When she realized the conversation had veered onto the track Dyna wanted, Dyna quietly let out a breath of relief. She had finally gotten through that danger zone. Talking to someone like Galileo—someone who carried around a built-in aura of attraction—was honestly terrifying. The longer Dyna sat there, the more her horse-girl body kept responding instinctively.
Why did the Three Goddesses give womanizer horse girls an actual attraction field? This is terrible…
At that moment Sea the Stars finally finished what she had been doing and came into the living room, only to find the two of them sitting there in a bizarre, chilly silence. She tilted her head.
"What is this… did you two have a fight? Why does the air feel so cold?"
"Nothing like that," Galileo said serenely. "I was just thinking about hanging Van Gogh upside down and beating her."
Sea the Stars stared.
She had not expected that answer.
All right, Van Gogh had confessed, but she hadn't committed some unforgivable crime. Did she really deserve to be hung up and beaten?
Still, the more Sea the Stars thought about it, the more she could understand why Galileo might react like this.
Dyna, meanwhile, nearly choked. Sorry, Van Gogh. But for my own safety, you'll just have to suffer a little in Galileo's mind. Besides, your family dynamic is already weird enough as it is.
"My sister is always like this—sometimes she comes up with extremely strange ideas," Sea the Stars explained. Dyna nodded, pretending that was a perfectly adequate explanation.
"Mm."
After all, what else was she supposed to say?
By noon, Dyna had ended up shamelessly mooching another meal there. Galileo didn't stay long that day; after lunch, she left. But rather than going out the front door like a normal person, she climbed out through a side window—tossing her suitcase out first, then slipping out after it.
"See you at Christmas~ Though I might come back a few times before then."
"Goodbye," Sea the Stars said flatly. "Try to stay alive, Sister. I'd hate to see you on the news one day, chopped into pieces, and then have to go crying while collecting your corpse."
Once the window closed behind her, Dyna could only conclude that the sisterly affection in the Sea City household was somehow even stranger than it appeared on the surface.
At the very least, the two sisters clearly spent a lot of time needling one another.
No sooner had Galileo left than there was a knock at the door.
Dyna turned, puzzled, but Sea the Stars made no move whatsoever to answer it. Instead, she explained calmly:
"The ones outside are here to hunt down Galileo. No need to worry about it. They'll leave on their own soon enough. I actually thought she'd be able to hide here a while longer. Apparently not. But then again, she did come home once, so I suppose that made it easier to track her."
Almost immediately after, Dyna heard muttering outside.
"Looks like she's already run."
"You found the place late. Of course she got away. But I'll keep hunting her down. Doesn't matter where she runs."
There were several girls' voices layered together outside, all murmuring in low, dangerous tones. Dyna even thought she heard the crackling buzz of electric batons.
Instantly, goosebumps rose all over her body.
Apparently, when it came to catching Galileo… these horse girls were serious.
If those batons landed a few times, Galileo would probably come out perfectly crispy.
It was terrifying.
And it taught Dyna a valuable lesson: when it came to finding a partner, one had to be serious.
The girls stayed outside the door for barely a minute before following some trace of Galileo and hurrying off again.
"I'm used to it," Sea the Stars said with a shrug. "That's just what happens when you enjoy scattering flowers everywhere."
As long as Galileo didn't die, Sea the Stars didn't really care.
If she did die, Sea the Stars would just find dealing with the body a tremendous nuisance.
"All right, hurry up and ask her already? I really want to talk to her."
The other Sea the Stars—inside Dyna's head—had started urging her again.
Dyna realized she really couldn't keep putting this off, so after steadying herself, she said:
"Um, Miss Sea the Stars… actually, there's something I want to let you… well, to let you talk to a certain horse girl."
Sea the Stars blinked. "Hm? One of your friends? Sure. I've been pretty free lately."
"No, not that." Dyna took a breath. "It's… you. Talking to 'Sea the Stars.' Another you."
Sea the Stars' expression turned thoroughly baffled. What did that even mean—talking to herself? She was right here. Was Dyna planning to conjure up another Sea the Stars out of thin air?
In response, Dyna pulled a card from her pocket—the one that bore Sea the Stars' horse-girl soul. Wearing the expression of someone marching bravely to her death, she cut her fingertip open on the card's edge and let a bead of blood smear across its polished surface.
As for why she didn't do the dramatic "bite your finger and bleed onto it" thing, the answer was simple:
Dyna hated pain.
That would have made the cut much worse.
The card began dissolving into points of light, which then reassembled in midair into the shape of a horse girl.
Even before the figure had fully formed, Sea the Stars recognized her.
It was herself.
The version of herself that had once stood on the racetrack.
"…At last, we meet." The manifested Sea the Stars smiled and walked over, circling the real one halfway and lightly patting her shoulder. "I'm the piece that carries the soul of the racetrack. After all… we're both Sea the Stars."
"...Hello?" the real Sea the Stars replied, oddly uncertain.
This version of herself carried the full pressure of her racing-era presence. Of course, the Sea the Stars standing here in reality was already fully matured too; even without that sharp racetrack edge, she could still easily stand against herself.
What followed was a conversation between the two Sea the Stars.
Dyna had no special interest in their self-dialogue about horse-girl souls and related matters, so she poured herself tea on the side and shamelessly eavesdropped only halfway while leaning into Cody's Wish's lap to seek comfort for her injured finger.
"Do you know how much damage a wound like this does to a horse girl?" she thought pitifully.
Cody's Wish could only smile helplessly and pat her on the head.
An hour later—no more, no less—the conversation came to an end. The soul-version of Sea the Stars began to fade from sight.
"It really is a strange feeling, talking to yourself," the real Sea the Stars said quietly. "But according to her, if I were still actively racing, this wouldn't have been possible, right?"
"Mm, that's right," Dyna answered. "Even for things like Dream Cup races and Masters Tour events, you still wouldn't get your own horse-girl soul appearing."
Now that her business here was done, Dyna needed to head back to the training grounds and get started.
After all, she had come to England to get stronger.
Very much stronger.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter222)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 190
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 215
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 200
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 61
Checking In in Demon Slayer 65
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
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