This was the first time Glory Dyna had ever gone through a winner's performance feeling genuinely unwell.
The duel with Orfevre on the track had taken too much out of her. Even after several hours of rest, her body still had not recovered enough for the kind of big, energetic dance movements the stage normally demanded.
So after some discussion, Glory Dyna still appeared on stage as scheduled—but instead of performing the full choreography, she remained in one spot as the lead vocalist. In contrast, it was clear that Orfevre had spent a little less of herself on the race than Dyna had. Even so, compared to the other girls on stage, Orfevre's exhaustion was still obvious, and her movements remained awkward and stiff. She had none of the sharpness she'd shown back when she'd only been a backup dancer.
"So tired... and I still have to go to the press conference after this. Why can't they just cancel that part?" Dyna grumbled after the winner's stage ended, by which point the sky had already darkened considerably.
After returning to the dressing room, she showered in silence. She neatly folded her stage outfit and set it into a basket, then changed into khaki jeans and a coat that covered her up from top to bottom.
As for the undefeated Triple Crown itself, Dyna did not feel as much as she thought she would. The strongest emotion she could identify was probably that she had finally fulfilled the promise tied to that old goal. Now that it was done, the path ahead would shift toward two new promises: the one she had with Van Gaal, and the one she now had with Dan Shanmeng.
She had never spoken to Dan Shanmeng face to face again, but the promise had already taken root in her heart. If it existed, then she intended to see it through.
At the upcoming press conference, Glory Dyna would formally announce that she would indeed run in the Japan Cup.
And after completing the Triple Crown, Wada would no longer continue guiding her. From here on, every future race entry, every piece of schedule planning, would be something Dyna had to decide and carry out herself.
She sat on the sofa, blow-drying her hair while she turned those thoughts over in her mind. It was then that the two people at the center of them arrived.
Wada and Opera O came together. They were here to say goodbye, yet both still wore the brightest smiles they could manage.
"It was a close win, but a beautiful one," Wada said, full of emotion. "To think that a clumsy trainer like me could help guide an undefeated Triple Crown horse girl... I'm lucky beyond words."
For him, being able to guide even one G1-winning horse girl would already have felt like outrageous good fortune. Someone like Glory Dyna—an undefeated Triple Crown winner—was far beyond anything he would ever have expected.
And yet she still wasn't officially part of his own stable. Since Dyna had already matured into her own kind of runner, there was no longer any need to keep up this half-guidance arrangement. Wada and Opera O had already taught her everything they possibly could. There was no experience left for them to pass on.
If anything, clinging too tightly to old habits and outdated ideas might only hold her back. As a trainer, Wada understood that he had to know when to let go. Besides, Central Tracen had no shortage of talented horse girls. He would still have his chance to produce another G1 winner—as long as he himself didn't give up.
"Please don't put yourself down, Wada-san. You really are excellent," Dyna said softly as she finished combing her hair smooth with a wooden brush. Then she shot Opera O a look. After all, no one had stayed with Wada longer than she had. No one knew him better.
Opera O understood the cue immediately.
Partings were always sad. Some people were openly emotional, others were better at taking it in stride. Wada clearly belonged to the former type, so it was probably best for Opera O to handle the comforting side of this farewell.
In any case, from now on, Glory Dyna would become a truly free horse girl.
When she stepped before the press corps, she stood alone in the glare of an endless wall of flashing lights.
Normally, there would have been a prepared script on the podium in front of her—but Dyna had brought none. So every answer she gave came entirely off the cuff.
Question: "Miss Glory Dyna, from your debut all the way to this point, were you competing without any trainer or formal guidance at all?"
Answer: "No, I did receive guidance. But at that person's own request, I can't reveal their name. What I can say is that they're the person who helped me more than anyone else after I became a horse girl. Without that support, I absolutely could not have won the Kikuka Sho."
A wave of amazement spread through the room.
So the one who had helped shape an undefeated Triple Crown horse girl was also someone outside the system? Had Central's trainer certification really been so strict that a person capable of helping produce a runner like Glory Dyna had still failed to get in?
But if they had the ability to help create an undefeated Triple Crown winner, how could they possibly have failed the exam?
The reporters were already scheming. By tomorrow, their editors would surely be ready to stir up public pressure on the JRA's trainer certification process. Was someone that talented really being left to drift around outside the official structure alongside Glory Dyna?
Question: "Now that you've completed the undefeated Triple Crown, what are your plans from here? Will you rest and point toward next spring's Tenno Sho?"
Answer: "No. I'll still be running in two more races this year: the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen. Their importance on the autumn calendar hardly needs explaining. And in the Japan Cup, I intend to answer Dan Shanmeng, who just won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe."
In the reporters' eyes, that sounded like one fool reckless enough to issue the challenge, and another fool reckless enough to accept it.
True, classic-year horse girls received a favorable weight allowance in the Japan Cup, and there had indeed been three-year-olds who won it before. But a horse girl who completed the Triple Crown and then immediately went on to win the Japan Cup as well?
None of them could recall such a case.
"And as for the Arima Kinen, that race matters to me because of a promise I made at Nakayama at the start of the year. It's a stage that carries the dreams of everyone. For me, it's incredibly important. That's why the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen are both races I must run."
After that, the questions were almost entirely focused on those two races.
By the time she was finally done answering them all, it was already deep into the night.
Once she left the venue, Dyna let out a long, tired yawn. Instead of staying in the accommodations the organizers had prepared, she checked into a hotel on her own. She simply wasn't used to being taken care of like that. At night, she preferred deciding for herself where she would sleep.
So the moment she lay down fully dressed on the soft hotel bed, she lost consciousness almost instantly.
Was she asleep?
Of course not.
"Uwaaah! I was just about to sleep! Sea the Stars-san, Cody's Wish-san, what are you doing?!"
Glory Dyna wailed in protest as she found herself pulled once again into her mental space.
There was no fatigue there. But that also meant she wouldn't get the satisfying feeling of having actually slept once she woke up in the real world again. So she glared resentfully at the two horse girls in front of her, cheeks puffed up.
Cody's Wish was holding a bouquet made from the bright red flowers that had once invaded Dyna's mental landscape, extending it toward her.
"Congratulations," she said. "It's technically already the next day, but that shouldn't make it too late to celebrate your Kikuka Sho win, right?"
Dyna's mind had grown much healthier lately, and her mental environment had largely returned to normal. The problem flowers that had once spread everywhere had mostly been cleared away by that burst of light during the Kikuka Sho. Only a small portion remained—specifically the small patch Cody's Wish had deliberately preserved.
She'd even called them "driving force."
Sea the Stars still had no idea how those things qualified as any sort of motivating force, but since Cody's Wish—the senior resident of this place—had insisted, she let it go. Still, she didn't understand it at all.
So it had just been a celebration?
Dyna accepted the bouquet with a smile. The flowers had been carefully bound in a special wrapping, so even if she touched them, they would not suddenly sprout thorns and stab her. At this distance, she could even smell them.
It was odd, really. If they hadn't grown inside her own head, maybe she could've opened a flower shop and made some money off them.
"Thank you," she said brightly. "I definitely couldn't have won without your help. Next up is 2400 meters, huh? Guess I'll be relying on you again, Sea the Stars-san?"
Hearing that, Sea the Stars turned away slightly.
Not because she was refusing.
Just because the sight of Dyna smiling with that bouquet was almost enough to make her nose bleed.
"Of course," she said at last. "No one can beat me at 2400 meters. Not on any course, anywhere. I am absolute at that distance. So you have to be first too."
It sounded a little tsundere, but Dyna liked that side of her very much. For someone so genuinely adorable, Sea the Stars spent a lot of time pretending to be colder and more mature than she really was.
Meanwhile, Cody's Wish adjusted her monocle and watched the whole thing with a deeply satisfied expression.
For the most part, she treated Glory Dyna like a daughter—or perhaps a granddaughter. Seeing Dyna come so far filled her with pride. The only shame was that Dyna had no real desire to run on dirt. Otherwise Cody's Wish could have helped her more directly. As it was, all she could really do was care for her in other ways.
A bit like a lonely retiree, perhaps.
Still, Cody's Wish didn't mind. She had crafted a role for herself here that she liked very much. Only with her could Dyna fully relax, curl up against her, and pour out her unhappiness without holding anything back. That alone was enough.
On the steps nearby, Sea the Stars sat off by herself in silence again. Ever since Dyna's visit to the real Sea the Stars' house, she had been like this from time to time. No one really knew what the two versions of Sea the Stars had spoken about.
Dyna had only heard from Cody's Wish that this sort of mood was apparently called lovesickness.
So Sea the Stars had fallen for someone?
That honestly felt a little surprising. She had always seemed like the sort of horse girl who only cared about racing.
Well, maybe that wasn't a bad thing.
Holding the bouquet, Dyna settled beside Cody's Wish and took another soft breath of floral scent.
"Um, Cody's Wish-san? There's something I wanted to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Besides America... where else are there high-level dirt races?"
"Dirt?" Cody's Wish blinked. "Why ask that all of a sudden?"
At first she thought she'd misheard. A horse girl who could run on turf normally had no reason at all to bother with dirt unless she had some strange fixation. But after seeing how serious Dyna looked, Cody's Wish answered properly.
"If we exclude America, then the internationally famous dirt races would probably be in Dubai. The Dubai World Cup and the Dubai Golden Shaheen. Two thousand meters and twelve hundred meters—top-level dirt races."
"But if we're talking about the single most important dirt race of the year, that's still the Breeders' Cup Classic in America. Of course, I couldn't run that far myself. What I won was the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile."
Those were the major dirt races she could think of. It wasn't many, but it was enough to give Dyna a reference point.
Then, unable to help herself, she asked, "Why are you suddenly asking this? You can't seriously be thinking of trying dirt next year, can you?"
"Well..." Dyna rubbed her cheek. "I've kind of been considering it? My dirt aptitude doesn't seem bad, and Dubai feels like it'd be a good place to test the waters. Plus, the prize money's incredible. If I won, it'd be millions of dollars all at once!"
What had really caught her eye was the money. If she won there, she could make a fortune in a single go.
Those were oil-money races, after all.
No matter what else she entered, Dyna already intended to go to Dubai at least once. And with Van Gaal's connections, she could probably get free room and board while she was there too. It was hard not to see the appeal.
Cody's Wish sighed and patted Dyna's head.
"In that case, think it through carefully. Dirt racing follows a different logic than turf, and it demands more power too. If you can stay on turf, you should stay on turf."
Switching surfaces casually was never a wise decision.
Though… in Dyna's case, raw power might just bulldoze over all that. Her duel in the Kikuka Sho had already shown that she possessed enough strength to rampage through a 2000-meter dirt race if she wanted.
The only real concern was whether she'd end up eating a face full of kicked-up dirt because she still hadn't learned how to avoid it.
"Don't worry, I'm just thinking about it for now," Dyna said, nuzzling lightly against Cody's hand. "If dirt doesn't work out, I'll just go for the Dubai Sheema Classic instead. That pays really well too."
Dubai was certain to be on her schedule somewhere. It was just a question of which race.
"Right now, focus on resting," Cody's Wish said. "It's less than a month until the Japan Cup. You're strong, but that doesn't mean something unexpected can't still happen. For all you know, Dan Shanmeng might come looking for you before the race."
"Hm? Why would you think that?"
"Think about it. She said all that stuff right after the Arc, didn't she? That means she'll probably come to Japan early. And she's not likely to spend the whole time doing hard training. More likely she'll be resting, sightseeing… and her first priority will probably be tracking down the horse girl she's been thinking about before the race."
Dyna felt a strange silence settle over her.
So that was how it looked from the outside.
Cody's Wish really did think about these things.
Too bad Dyna herself could be dense as a brick whenever the topic turned in that direction. One day someone might seriously talk her into anything with just a few sweet words.
"Ahh, Dyna-chan really is more and more adorable the longer I look at her…" Cody's Wish thought fondly.
Then the strange red flowers rustled softly in the quiet.
And far away, beyond all of this, the next battle had already begun.
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! (Chapter225)
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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 195
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 225
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 210
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 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
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
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 35
After Maxing Out Every Class 35
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