After parting with Sea the Stars, Dyna naturally found her way back to the resort with no trouble at all.
It was certainly a good thing that she no longer needed the navigation of the utterly shameless little sea-star in her head. Still, because she had not asked Sea the Stars for directions this time, the other girl seemed a bit sulky.
So once she found a seat on the train, Dyna closed her eyes and went to keep her company.
After all, in Dyna's heart, Sea the Stars was one of her great teachers too. She just had not expected someone like her to show such childish moods.
"Sea-Starrrr~ what's wrong? Are you upset because I didn't ask you for directions?"
Dyna used the nickname she had heard Sea City call her, and the reaction was immediate. The other girl practically exploded, her voice crashing through Dyna's mind like thunder.
"Don't call me that! Only Mother is allowed to call me by that name!"
When she puffed up in indignation, even her voice softened a little. At least it was much gentler than the mature, icy front she usually tried to maintain. This was better. This was lively, age-appropriate.
Dyna grinned. "I only used it because I was worried you'd ignore me if I called you something else. Looks like you can hear me just fine~ So then, can you tell me what you talked about with her?"
She was curious. After all, they were both Sea the Stars. What could there possibly be to say between two people who understood themselves so completely? The Sea the Stars in her mind had separated only after fulfilling all her wishes; there should have been no such thing as "regrets" left behind.
Sea the Stars clearly did not intend to tell her anything private, and simply brushed the question aside. Since it was obvious she did not want to talk about it, Dyna let it go.
In truth, only forty percent of their conversation had been about family and herself. The other sixty percent had consisted of the other Sea the Stars trying to convince her to hurry up, find someone, get married, and live a good life already.
As for Just a Way... no, not Just a Way. About Zarkava. No—about that person in her heart, the feelings Sea the Stars carried had never truly faded.
The "Sea the Stars" inside Dyna, however, no longer felt the same.
Long contact had allowed her to see every inch of Dyna's gentleness, and from that, feelings had naturally grown. Perhaps she acted aloof and untouchable on the outside, but deep down, she was just like every other mare who had never known love.
The problem was that there was an obstacle standing squarely in her way.
Codex of Light.
That blue-clad mare who had arrived so much earlier, who had occupied the longest stretch of time in Dyna's mental world. She always carried a faint sadness about her, but whenever she faced Dyna, she hid it completely. All she ever showed Dyna was tenderness. Over time, Dyna had come to regard her as her haven, something as natural as breathing.
Whenever something upset her in real life, Dyna always brought it to Codex of Light at night. Even if Codex herself had felt nothing special for Dyna, under those circumstances it would have been hard to say she had not unconsciously reverse-captured her.
"Tch. Figures. Girls in blue never have a single good one among them. Cunning to the core."
In matters of love, mares were no different from races. No one yielded.
Sea the Stars felt she had to do something. At the very least, she had to make Dyna rely on her too.
And so, during that train ride, Dyna slept, Sea the Stars brooded, and Codex of Light read.
After examining herself, Sea the Stars realized that aside from racing, the thing she had always taken the most pride in was smashing those so-called authorities right over the head. Before the race, she would tear them apart with words. During the race, she would shatter their schemes. And in the end, she would stand atop the podium in glory.
"Mm. The next time Dyna runs into a mare like Gold Ship—no. Gold Ship's not the problem. The next time she runs into Gold Ship's sort of arrogance... no. The next time she faces Orfevre, I'll help her."
Now that she was certain the other mare could never, in her entire life, reach Dyna's level, there was nothing left to hesitate over. The best answer for a powerful fool who did not even understand her own weakness was to trample what she took pride in underfoot.
The Gold family might be strong, but if Dyna ever truly stood against them, more than one great house would be at her back.
The Mejiros. The Symbolis. Even the rising Kitajimas and Satonos.
All of them could be her allies.
After all, in business, there were always rivals who disliked the Golds.
Only then did Codex of Light let out a nearly inaudible sigh.
"Still too simple. But for Dyna, that might not be a bad thing."
By the time Dyna returned to New Moon Golden Sands, dusk had already fallen.
She did not bother messaging Wada or Opera O. Instead, she took her luggage back to her room herself. This trip had tired her out so much that she did not want to spend any extra energy walking further than necessary. So she simply stopped by the convenience store inside the resort and bought a few sandwiches for dinner.
"Dyna~"
Just as she was paying, someone wrapped their arms around her from behind.
Because she was dressed lightly, she could distinctly feel two soft mounds pressing against her back. Dyna sighed.
"So it's you, Troph. You didn't go out shopping at this hour?"
She recognized the voice instantly. She had no interest in playing childish games like guess who.
"Hehe. You figured it out so fast. That means you pay a lot of attention to me, huh?"
After letting go, Troph paid for her own things, and the two of them left the shop side by side. In the glow of the streetlights, Troph gazed at Dyna's face and, for a fleeting instant, felt as though she were looking at something almost holy.
Even though those crimson-brown eyes should have made her seem more like a devil than an angel. In the dark, Dyna's eyes almost seemed to emit a faint glow.
"Hm? What are you staring at so intently?"
Dyna half-thought Troph was, like in France before, staring at her chest again. Even if she had stopped doing that lately, once a first impression was lodged in someone's mind, it was difficult to shake.
Troph shifted her gaze just slightly, from Dyna's eyes to her chest, and answered with complete seriousness.
"Your eyes. That reddish-brown color. It's so unusual. I've seen bright red eyes and pale red eyes before, but never anything like yours."
"My eyes? What's so special about them..."
Dyna did not really understand, though she could accept that certain mares just instinctively noticed unusual things. What she had not expected was that it had taken Troph this long to look at that part of her.
Their rooms were basically next door to each other.
When they stopped in front of Dyna's door, Troph called out before disappearing.
"Oh, right—remember to check the storage box. I picked out your swimsuit, okay? Beach training starts tomorrow, doesn't it?"
And with that, she ducked back into her room.
Seeing how evasive she was, Dyna could already tell it was probably nothing good.
Still, it was only a bikini. She could accept that, couldn't she? Especially since there were no other tourists on the beach. That alone made it much easier.
When the sun had only just risen, Dyna woke up.
It was chilly by the water in the morning. Since real training was starting today, she put on the swimsuit someone had prepared for her before even leaving her room.
There was nothing particularly outrageous about it: an off-white string bikini.
Still worried it might not be secure enough, Dyna had added a few transparent shoulder straps herself.
Then she threw a huge coat over it, one long enough to cover her from head to ankles.
But when she stood in front of the mirror fully dressed, she could not help feeling that the whole outfit looked strange.
It gave off the exact sort of vibe those people with exposure kinks wore at night or something...
How weird.
Her footwear was a pair of strappy sandals, though "shoes" was honestly too generous a term. They were little more than thin soles to keep the rough sand from scraping her feet.
Once she finished getting ready, she headed out for breakfast.
The thought of what she was wearing under the coat made her cheeks burn, but when she entered the dining hall and found Opera O and Curren Chan already calmly sitting there in swimsuits, Dyna suddenly felt like a complete country bumpkin visiting the beach for the first time.
Curren Chan wore a standard swimsuit with a sheer little jacket layered over it, reaching to her waist and upper arms. Opera O, on the other hand, was in a bikini too.
When they saw Dyna, they greeted her cheerfully.
"Good morning~ Dyna. Welcome back," Curren Chan said in her usual unhurried tone.
Opera O, as exuberant as ever, voiced the question directly.
"Morning! Hm? Why are you still wearing that weird coat? Don't tell me you never got the swimsuit Miss Van Gogh prepared for you?"
"Morning... Of course I got it! It's just... this is my first time wearing something like this, and I'm having a bit of a fight with my sense of shame. And also..."
Dyna trailed off.
The memory of herself in front of the mirror, the bikini pushing her chest up into obvious cleavage, left her unable to finish the sentence. Seen that way, Opera O's famous figure suddenly did not seem so outrageous after all... right?
"Well, naturally. It's a swimsuit. What's there to be shy about? If you can't loosen up, how are you supposed to train? Back then, Ryuuji and I both got through it!"
Opera O was magnificently forthright, instantly bringing up her own past as evidence. Only now did Dyna realize that even the self-proclaimed Overlord had this kind of side.
At last she took a deep breath, beat down her embarrassment, and shrugged off the coat.
The moment the coat left her shoulders, the cold morning air raised a spray of fine goosebumps across her skin, but once she adjusted, they quickly disappeared.
"Wow. Okay, I get it now. I'd be jealous too."
Opera O sized her up. The comparison was immediate.
Yeah. About that size...
Maybe just a little smaller than Narita Taishin's? No—smaller than Matsurida Gogh? No, wrong lane. In any case, if Dyna had actually attended Tracen, she probably could have claimed a place in the school's top five assets ranking.
Right. In that case, her embarrassment made perfect sense.
Wada came wearing sunglasses.
From a trainer's perspective, summer camp was basically just a time to set up training plans for his racers while half-vacationing and half-working. Or maybe just working. In any case, he had not expected to rest. He had his eyes on Dyna and Curren Chan.
Especially Curren Chan. With a rare opportunity like this, he absolutely had to make her take full advantage of it.
Wada's body was in excellent shape. Though only in the mid-160-centimeter range, the abs normally hidden beneath his clothes were now fully on display. Combined with the handsome face that only seemed to improve as he got older, he had a surprisingly compelling presence.
At least, that was how Opera O saw Wada Ryuuji.
That kind of thing was hardly rare. To someone in love, their beloved always appeared in the best possible light.
Opera O still had not confessed yet. A true Overlord saved the main event for the grand finale. That was what she kept telling herself. Once he finished guiding this generation of racers, she would declare in front of the newcomers that Wada belonged to her alone.
"Yo. You're up early. Make sure you eat extra breakfast. This is your first time doing this kind of specialized training. Your body's probably not going to take it well. But I'm not going to let either of you leave early."
Wada lowered his sunglasses slightly, his scrutinizing gaze sweeping over Dyna and Curren Chan and sending a chill down their spines.
Had they just smelled the scent of demonic training?
Still, Dyna could not help clinging to one last thread of hope. Wada was usually such a nice guy. Surely he would not be that merciless to her and to a mare who was not even technically his own trainee, right?
A lovely thought.
Reality, however, was brutal.
The moment Dyna saw the stack of tires—towering almost as high as a two-story building—she looked toward Wada with visible, desperate hope.
"Wada-san... what exactly is that...?"
Leaning casually against the tires, he gave her a wide grin.
"See that marker over there?"
"I... do?"
Over there? Dyna very much doubted her own sense of distance. Was that really what counted as "over there"?
Then Wada held out a specially made tow rope and placed it in her hands, his expression full of encouragement.
"Come on. Tie this around your waist. Then use every bit of strength in your body and drag it all the way there."
"..."
Dyna should never have gotten her hopes up about the word special training in the first place.
No wonder Wada had told them to eat extra in the morning.
The rope was tied around Dyna's slender waist. Thankfully it was not rough, and the sensation against her sensitive skin was cool and smooth. She walked to the end of the line until it drew taut, then planted one foot forward with tremendous force, her fighting spirit blazing so fiercely it almost looked imposing.
But in reality...
All she achieved was a set of frantic skid marks in the sand where she stood.
"Wada-san... do we really have to go that far?"
Dyna still clung to a little hope, but it shattered the moment she saw Wada's back disappearing into the distance.
Fine.
Clearly there would be no slacking off.
Still—what exactly was this supposed to improve?
She could not make sense of it. All she could do was trust Wada's program and hope to move on to the next phase quickly.
She had not expected, however, that the tire-dragging alone would keep her stuck for an entire week.
What started as simply dragging it to the finish point gradually became a timed challenge. Each time the standard increased, Dyna could feel the malice behind it more and more clearly.
And yet—
the results were immediate.
By the time she finally cleared the tire training, her abdominal lines were already clearly visible.
Of course, waiting for her after that were beach pursuit runs and endurance swimming in the sea.
And that was only the beginning.
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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