Uma Musume Girl, I'll tell you about my Santa Hat special move too?

"Huh?"

This unexpected answer left Kawashima stunned for a moment.

However, his professional instincts allowed him to immediately realize what had happened and write it down. This veteran reporter had a feeling that this amusing anecdote would be very popular with fans:

"It seems like that retired 'Strongest' guy has been doing something similar lately..."

"—!"

Suddenly, a heavy pressure enveloped the poor middle-aged man.

Stardust Illusion's pupils dilated as she stared at the reporter and asked, "[The strongest]...? Who is that? Which racehorse girl?!"

"Put away your arrogance!"

Toyama Scarlet picked up a senbei from the table and stuffed it into Stardust Illusion's mouth. The terrifying pressure that had been lurking deep in the mud, making it hard to even breathe, vanished instantly.

Kawashima and Sato gasped for breath, finally managing to recover.

"What I meant by 'strongest' is just a title..." Kawashima could tell that the racehorse girl was reacting to those two words, so he immediately explained:

"As for the real body, you must know Stardust Illusion, right? Her name is... Tamamo Cross."

"As the second generation of the Oguri Hat, you must have heard the anecdotes from the past, right?"

"A third encounter at the end of the year, a duel between the 'Monster' and the 'Strongest'. The two runners battled to the very end of the track, almost wearing down the grass—"

"After retiring, she has now switched to a solitary gourmet journey, which is why I said that you and Tamamo Cross are doing similar things..."

--------------

"Wow! This is delicious!"

The short, bushy-haired man sat at a roadside stall, stuffing a steaming piece of fried tofu from his chopsticks into his mouth, and couldn't help but let out a middle-aged man's exclamation of praise.

Tamamo Cross, the shop she chose today is a mobile izakaya set up in a street-side business area.

Since it was a temporary mobile shop, the area was not included except for the back office where the owner was located, and there were no more than ten seats in the entire room.

However, though small, it is fully equipped. This pushcart shop called Hachika not only serves oden, ramen, and drinks, but also has a large pot that can be used to cook various dishes at any time.

For example, there's a plate of Mapo Tofu, a Chinese dish, placed in front of the Tamamo Cross.

Tamamo Cross has been traveling all over Japan for a year or two, planning to film a program about traveling around Japan, trying different foods, and sharing her life.

She has been in Hokkaido for some time this month, and today is her first time visiting this town.

Having just stepped off the Shinkansen, Tamamo Cross excitedly dragged her photography team to the street and found this shop to sample their food.

"Hahahaha! How was it, Miss Tamamo? My cooking didn't disappoint you, did it?"

The owner, who was standing behind the stove, looked to be in his early fifties. He was bald and had a fleshy face, which made him seem unapproachable at first glance.

But when he smiled, the flesh on his face jiggled, which put the photographer's mind at ease.

"Yes, it's really good—don't worry, we'll include this episode in the series!"

Tamamo's loud voice was a stark contrast to her petite frame; her voice was no softer than the man's, and she patted her chest confidently to assure him.

This small shop not only has seating for people to eat, but also a small TV on the side wall that plays the news for customers to pass the time.

A special interview about Uma Musume Pretty Derby was playing on TV. Since the shops in front of him were basically all occupied by Tamamo Juji and her team, the uncle was happy to have some free time after serving everyone the dishes, and just then he heard the host's voice:

[The highly anticipated Satsuki Sho, the first match of this year's Triple Crown tournament, is drawing ever closer.]

Recently, we also arranged for a reporter to interview the supernova runner known as "Oguri Hat 2.0," Stardust Illusion, and filmed some training and daily life footage. Let's take a look...

Hearing this, the shop manager seemed to remember something and turned to look at the girl who had already started eating her ramen in small bites:

"Miss Tamamo, you had that epic showdown with Oguri Hat back then, didn't you?"

"Haha, of course!" Tamamo Cross, hearing that he was being talked about, quickly put down his chopsticks and became smug.

"That girl with the little chestnut hat is so persistent. It was only with great difficulty that we agreed to compete with her again."

"But in the end, we were indeed slightly inferior."

Thinking of this, Tamamo Cross couldn't help but smile.

As she said, the final three-way battle between the two runners ended in her defeat.

However, she sincerely believes that those three matches were when she truly reached her peak and fully immersed herself in the game.

"Stardust illusion... I didn't expect Oguri Hat to already be training disciples."

Tamamo Cross gazed at the racehorse on TV, where two reporters were watching her frantically showing off her fried rice, and a look of reminiscence crept into her eyes.

Back then, due to her mental state, her appetite would decrease as the competition approached, and Oguri would seize the opportunity to come over and eat all the remaining food...

It feels like those days were just yesterday.

"Maybe I, this old man, was just being nosy."

After washing the plates in his hands, the manager casually picked up a wine glass that was soaking in hot water and handed it to him.

"Consider this a request for Miss Tamamo's... or could we exchange two autographs? By the way, have you considered training a disciple or successor?"

“Signature is no problem… but why ask that?” Tamamo Cross asked back, somewhat puzzled.

"Ah—I have two regular customers at my stall who are fans of you, Ms. Tamamo. They often come here to drink together, and I sometimes hear them complaining that they can no longer see the White Lightning. It's such a pity."

"White...lightning?"

Tamamo Cross picked up the glass the manager handed her, her azure pupils reflecting a rainbow of colors through the wine.

Her lips suddenly curled up, and she asked in return with a smile:

How do you know there won't be any more white lightning?

"We haven't just been filming documentaries all over the past two years..."

"The second generation of Oguri Hat, the second emperor... Hey, if that guy hadn't refused to call himself 'Tamamo's successor' to the death, how could he have ended up with almost no popularity?"

"【Tamamo's successor】? You mean..."

The shop manager gaped, his face filled with astonishment.

“That’s right, Satsuki Sho… This competition won’t be so simple that Oguri Hat will be the only one to steal the spotlight.”

Tamamo Cross withdrew his gaze and downed the sake in his glass in one gulp:

"Our Tamamo has also nurtured a promising talent; she'll definitely surprise everyone!"

Chapter 211 Preparations for Synchronization

Time always slips away unnoticed during training, and soon it was early April, with only three days left until the Satsuki Sho.

At Draco's private training ground.

"Huh...huh...huh..."

Stardust Illusion stood panting heavily beside the finish line of the curved track.

Her heart felt like it was about to explode. The weighted suit she was wearing, which was already a burden, now felt like a mountain pressing down on her, making it almost impossible for Stardust Illusion to straighten up.

Mi Yu and Bo Bang, standing to the side, looked at their teammate with some concern.

Super Stream, this senior is also wearing a racehorse girl's tracksuit today, giving Stardust Illusion a parallel run so she can learn cornering techniques.

However, this situation is clearly not going too smoothly.

"Let's rest for a while."

Super Stream's eyes showed heartache. As her running partner, she knew better than anyone how hard Stardust Illusion trained.

Not only is it exhausting, but Super Stream itself knows that kind of cornering technique, which is quite difficult to maintain without mastering the trick. Stardust Illusion has fallen several times while trying to imitate her.

This wasn't even the first time he'd been hospitalized.

Such a slow, even non-existent, learning pace, coupled with the number of injuries and exhaustion, would have completely ruined any other racehorse girl.

However, this racehorse girl... this runner never complained even once.

No matter what difficulties it encountered, Stardust Illusion simply gritted its teeth and persevered, then made a plea to itself—

Let's do it again.

After adjusting her breathing, Stardust Illusion took the water bottle handed to her by Mi Yu, took a big gulp, and then poured the rest of the water over her head to cool herself down.

Then she gazed again at the somewhat dazed Superstream, her eyes filled with the same unwavering determination:

"Please, please come with me for one more roundabout race!"

"Then...at least give the weighted suit to..."

"Just say yes to her."

Alice shook her sleeve, interrupting Super Stream's refusal:

"According to my calculations, Stardust Illusion's body does not show any signs of hidden injuries, which proves that her body can withstand the current training."

"Stardust Mirage is not a computational runner who excels in theory and research, and he is particularly bad at cornering."

"But why did she repeatedly ask you to keep running?"

Alice, through the eyes of the Stardust Illusion, explained to the Super Stream:

"She wants to use those eyes to memorize all your techniques, to imprint them on her bones... At that point, even if she still doesn't know exactly how the 'Circular Artist' runs, her instincts will make her body move."

"But no matter what, I shouldn't force myself..." Super Stream was still a little hesitant, but couldn't find a suitable reason to refuse.

"Let me run."

Stardust Illusion grabbed Super Stream's wrist, his face dripping with sweat, but the flame in his eyes burned even brighter:

"Please, let me keep running!"

--------------

Da da da da da.

"From 1200m to 2400m, I never felt completely exhausted. Although my performance at Shigemachiba was slightly worse, it was still excellent."

"Especially her start and finish, both have powerful explosive acceleration, with the best time for the last three waves being 32.9 seconds."

"Starting from the first victory match, the Kyoto Special Tournament, the Mainichi Queen Cup, the Yomiuri Miles Tournament, the Yayoi Prize... If you also count the Japan-France exchange qualifying tournament and the Japan-France exchange tournament within the academy, we have already achieved a terrifying record of 7 wins and 7 losses in 7 matches."