I'm Ornn, and I'm about to be beaten to my knees by the Man-eating Horse Girl!

"sorry....."

The woman who was biting her handkerchief quickly stepped forward to comfort her, saying, "It's alright! It's alright! I know you've already tried your best!"

She then turned and bowed to Orn, saying, "I'm sorry, I was just too excited. After all, the first-place player suddenly carried our team's representative and ran towards the entrance. I thought..."

She looked at Oguri Hat and said gratefully, "Thank you so much for helping Chiyo! I'm really, really grateful!!"

"Come to the lounge first! I've already contacted the doctor, he'll be here soon!"

After escorting Sakura Chiyo to the rest room, Orn and Oguri Hat left the room. It was best to let them be alone for a while; it would be too awkward for the victors to comfort the losers.

Not to mention that Oguri Hat will be attending the winners' stage afterward, and Ornn himself doesn't want to stay here and bother others.

Looking at the girl beside him who seemed lost in thought, Ornn asked, "So? How are you feeling about winning your first G1-level tournament championship?"

"Judging from your expression, it seems that joy and happiness are not the dominant feelings in your heart right now?"

The girl's ears twitched. She looked at the winner's stage, which was gradually lighting up in the distance. After a long silence, she said, "Torenna, I should be very happy to have won."

"Chiyo Sakura is a very strong opponent. In the final sprint, the pressure she exuded forced me to re-examine my own mind. Even though I used all my strength, I could only barely get one body length ahead of her."

"If the pink, cotton candy-like light on her hadn't appeared so late, the final victory would probably still be uncertain."

At this point, the girl lowered her head.

The dark marble floor tiles reflected the light from the incandescent ceiling light, casting a reflection of Oguri's face.

"But when I crossed the finish line and looked back at my opponent, seeing her smiling and offering me blessings despite her obvious pain, it was hard for me to feel happy,"

“Unlike when competing in local tournaments, their emotions can be conveyed to me more directly,”

"Is this what real competition is like, dragging down Nadal?"

Ornn nodded and replied, "Yes, this is the real game."

After a moment's hesitation, Ornn continued, "Honor, hope, aspirations—once all the embellishments are stripped away, that's the cruel reality of competition; ultimately, there can only be one winner."

"Other contestants may work even harder and give their all for this once-in-a-lifetime competition, but there can only be one winner."

After saying this, Orn fell silent, and the two walked quietly towards the indoor performance stage.

As they approached the stage entrance, Orn asked, "Oguri, now that you understand this, do you still want to continue the competition?"

The white-haired girl stopped in her tracks. Orn continued, "Just as I said, not only you, but also March and Radiance, I hope you can participate in the competition without any worries."

"If you don't want to run anymore, then we won't run anymore."

Little Chestnut Hat stared at the ground, then suddenly took a deep breath, turned to her trainer, and said, "Torina, I... I don't really understand these things."

"Although you didn't say it to my face many times, I know that you often told Guanghui that I'm a bit silly."

Orn rubbed his hands together nervously, then scratched his head and asked, "Really?"

“I gave Guanghui a Kasamatsu limited edition macaron, and she told me about it.”

The girl looked at her trainer, her azure pupils staring directly into his brown eyes.

"I want to keep running, even if it hurts the dreams of other runners who are working just as hard,"

"Because that's what competitions are all about. As a fellow horse girl with the same aspirations, I should do my best to defeat my opponent. That's what I should be doing as a competitor."

As she spoke, Oguri Hat opened her arms and stood on tiptoe, as if waiting for something.

Ornn smiled helplessly and gently hugged the girl in front of him.

After watching Oguri walk onto the stage, the man stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Why do I keep feeling... that Oguri isn't so easy to fool anymore?"

"No, the fact that Oguri knows how to use food to exchange for information is itself quite incredible,"

"It's time to prepare new brilliance for stronger training, so she won't do any slacking off for me every day."

Shin Shinki, who was holding a light stick in the audience, shuddered. Fujimasa March frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Do you have a cold?"

"No, it's nothing,"

Shining Radiance glanced around suspiciously, then looked at Oguri, who had already taken the stage, and said with a smile, "I think I was just too excited after Oguri won!! Our Kasamatsu has produced a champion too!!"

"To be honest, three months ago, I was even anxious about whether I could succeed in my debut battle. My parents were even ready to take me back to open a shop."

"I never imagined that someone on our team would actually win the Japanese derby championship!! I still think I'm dreaming!!"

"Yes, the champion..."

Fujimasa gripped her cheering stick tightly and suddenly said, "Kouki, we can't slack off anymore! Now that Oguri has successfully won the G1-level Japanese derby, let's go and win the other G1-level matches!!"

"Eh?"

The newly radiant woman looked hesitantly at the spirited blue-haired horse girl beside her. Under the gaze of the other's scarlet eyes, she nodded and asked tentatively, "Can I win a G1-level match?"

"If...maybe...perhaps...suppose...it shouldn't work, right?"

The deer-haired horse girl's momentum was waning, but the atmosphere around them was growing stronger.

The winners' stage has begun.

Chapter 92 The Third Modification of the Motorcycle

"Um....."

In the break room, the doctor secured the end of the bandage with a safety pin.

He stood up and said to Sakura Chiyo and her trainer, "Judging from the current situation, she has a severe muscle strain in her right foot, with varying degrees of damage from the tibialis anterior muscle in her calf all the way to the Achilles tendon in her heel. Did this problem occur during the final, forced fourth acceleration sprint?"

Sakura Chiyo nodded, while the doctor shook his head, saying, "I also watched the entire race live, and even considering the strength of the horse girl, the final sprint was far too intense."

He turned to Chiyo's trainer and said, "Her leg muscles are severely strained. After recovery, there is a possibility that she may develop ligament inflammation and flexor tendinitis."

"Ligamentitis!?"

Upon hearing the doctor's diagnosis, Chiyo's trainer couldn't help but purse his lips.

On the field, ligamentitis is arguably the biggest enemy of female riders. Currently, there are almost no safe and reliable treatments for this inflammation. Even Anxinze Cicimei, the self-proclaimed disciple of the "Bamboo Needle Master" from Central Treisen, is not confident in completely curing this disease.

However, her bamboo needles can indeed relieve the inflammation, and there are quite a few female athletes in the school who still insist on competing despite suffering from ligamentitis.

If we're talking about unsafe, obscure remedies... Chiyo's trainer couldn't help but think of those mysterious figures at the school, then quickly shook his head.

The doctor picked up his backpack from the sofa and, before leaving, said, "Of course, this is just one possibility; it doesn't necessarily mean it's ligamentitis."

"The equipment I have for testing is too rudimentary. To get more accurate results, it's best to go to the hospital for testing immediately to prevent the situation from worsening."

After the doctor left, Sakura Chiyo looked up at the television in the room; the winner's stage was still playing.

She asked softly, "Tuoruna, have I disappointed you?"

"I've waited a long time, a very long time, for this opportunity to realize our dreams and for Maruzen-senpai's dreams."

"Before the competition, I was confident that I could win,"

The girl's ears twitched, and she forced a smile as she looked up, saying, "But now it's not just the competition, my body is also failing me. I might... not be able to continue creating my own mottos..."

A rather thick notebook was gently tapped on Sakura Chiyo's head. The trainer said in a gentle voice, "Open this notebook you wrote yourself. Page seven, the third maxim."

The girl took the notebook and obediently opened it, following her trainer's instructions.

She looked at the third maxim on page seven.

Then, the girl's body began to tremble.

The trainer said softly, "Say it out loud, Chiyo-oh."

"These are proverbs you wrote yourself, aren't they?"

Sakura Chiyo bit her lip tightly, her head lowered, her ears drooping forward, and her trembling began to intensify.

The girl tried to speak, but her voice seemed to be constricted by her own throat; no matter how hard she tried, she could only manage whimpering sounds.

"【The two pursued their dreams together, leaving behind four footprints】"

"This motto was created to encourage me, wasn't it?"

"........Um."

"So, do you want to give up?"

"........."

"………No."

Large drops of water fell onto the notebook. The girl's eyes were slightly red, but she remained strong and did not make a sound of sobbing.

She simply sat quietly on the sofa, letting her surging emotions pour out through her tears.

The woman pulled the girl into her arms, gently patting her back, and said, "Chiyo-oh, you don't want to give up yet, do you?"

The pink head nodded up and down, and she stroked the girl's ear: "As your trainer, the luckiest thing in my life is meeting you."

"Let's cheer each other on again in the next competition, okay?"

".......good."

Outside the lounge, Maru Zenki leaned against the wall, and after a long while, she let out a long sigh.

"Chiyo is indeed a very strong child. Given time, her achievements may not be inferior to ours."

"Maru Zen, you don't need to worry too much. You're the senior she admires, aren't you?"

Rudolf and Chiaki walked over from the other end of the passage. Maruzensky nodded, and the three of them quietly left the area where the lounge was located.

The red-haired horse girl glanced at the passage behind her and said, "By finally stepping into the domain, Chiyo has already proven that she has the ability to compete for the world."

"I'm not particularly worried about physical injuries. Although An Xinze is a bit unreliable, she's still very authoritative when it comes to important matters like this,"

"Once Chiyo has recovered, I will have a match with her, in the form of a legendary match."

Rudolf glanced at his friend with some surprise, then asked with a smile, "Are you planning to pass on your mantle? It seems you really value Chiyo-oh."

Maru Zenki laughed too, then looked somewhat forlornly at the crowd leaving the winner's stage not far away, and said, "Yes, it's precisely because I valued it so much that I also feel resentful."

"Because of the legal restrictions at that time, I was unable to participate in classic Japanese tournaments, and even after several years, I still find it hard to let go of that matter,"

"The president of the URA Association at the time was a genius. Even though I tried my best and the fans petitioned, I could only get that disappointing result in the end. I..."

Representative Qianming suddenly said, "But it's precisely because you haven't let go that you've put in so much effort to stay at the Dream Cup and wait for us, right?"

"You're still very happy now, aren't you?"

Maru Zenski was taken aback by his words, then she smiled and shook her head, saying, "That's true. If it weren't for you guys, I would have gone back to England long ago, wouldn't I?"

"Let's not talk about that anymore, Rudolf. What are your plans now?"

Rudolf crossed his arms and said, "Let's go back to the central government first, and take care of the special admissions matters while we're at it."

"Oguri and her trainer proved their strength with their actions, using the resources of the local Treisen to win the Japanese derby title, so they naturally have the right to go to Central Treisen for further training, there is no doubt about that."

“It’s already the end of May. In another month, we’ll be preparing for this year’s summer training camp. The materials we need to prepare can’t be handled by just the gas tank and me. Shirai is rarely seen… Chiaki, don’t even think about sneaking away now. I’m watching you.”

Chiaki's face showed disappointment. She spread her hands, displaying a roguish air of having nothing to lose.

The horse girl with deer fur waved her hand and said, "Rudolph, don't try to use your so-called student council president title to intimidate me. In terms of seniority, I'm your senior! You can't treat me like this!"

The horse girl, also with deer fur, suddenly laughed. She took out her phone, swiped to a number that Chiaki recognized very well, and said, "Of course, I am indeed Mr. CB's junior, so I asked someone else to persuade you."

"Qianming, you don't want your serious and rigid father to find out that you sneak back to school every night, wander around the school late at night, and dress up as a campus legend, do you?"

Representative Qianming's expression changed, and she immediately perked up and said, "President, what are you saying? Even if you make me work overtime until the early hours of the morning, I won't have any objections!"

Watching the two clowns joking around in front of him, Maru Zenki couldn't help but laugh, and his somewhat depressed mood eased a little.

She turned to look at the lounge, which had already disappeared from sight, and then followed Rudolf and Chiaki as they left the scene of the Japanese derby.

At the other end of the Tokyo Racecourse, a window on the first floor was suddenly pulled open, and a brand-new, radiant body was thrown out like a ball.

"Ugh!! My butt!"

The girl scrambled to her feet, somewhat disheveled. Before she could even complain, a second white figure flew out of the window, slamming the still-recovering, newly radiant light back to the ground.

"Oguri! Waaah! You're pinning me down!!"

"Oh, sorry, I'll get up right now!"

Little Chestnut Hat quickly stood up, steadying himself on his newfound brilliance. Then, a third blue figure leaped out of the window.

Fujimasa patted the dust off her clothes and looked up to ask, "Auen, why did we have to run out of here like thieves? Couldn't we just go out the front door?!"

Orn tossed his backpack out of the window and replied, "I had no choice but to run! As a local horse who won her first G1-level race, didn't you see the looks in those reporters' eyes?!"

"They're like crazy guys who've tried 600 times in a row and still haven't gotten the limited-edition character. And Oguri Hat is the safety net right now. If they can just shove the microphone right next to Oguri Hat, they'll definitely charge this way like they've got rabies!!"