Chapter 229: Are You Calling Me Fat?
Before an important race, it was common practice for trainers to gather information about their opponents, including watching their training sessions. As long as they didn't interfere, it was perfectly acceptable within the industry.
There were other trainers outside the track as well. Some observed openly and confidently, while others, perhaps not yet used to this method, acted a bit awkward and hesitant.
However, there weren't many like Makoto who brought their trainees along to watch together.
Fortunately, training was happening everywhere at the moment. The dull thuds of footsteps on the track mixed with trainers' instructions, creating a noisy atmosphere. The two of them didn't attract much attention.
After watching for a while longer, Sounds of Earth clearly moved on to her next drill.
Behind the railing on the opposite side stood her trainer—a shy-looking middle-aged man.
Beyond the railing, besides Sounds of Earth, several other Umamusume were lined up with her at the entrance to a curve.
When everyone was ready, the trainer gave instructions similar to Makoto's to Kitasan Black. He counted down, raised his hand, then swung it down.
The difference was that after the first wave, he raised and swung his hand again.
At the first signal, Sounds of Earth didn't move. The other Umamusume dashed out instead.
They had clearly been briefed beforehand—this time they were acting as her pace-setters. When cutting into the curve, they all maintained textbook-perfect form.
Their strides were moderately short, their bodies leaned sharply inward, and their paths hugged the curve as closely as possible.
There were also subtle differences: each of the pace-setters kept varying distances from the inner rail, deliberately simulating the front-pack formations that might appear during an actual race.
Then, at her trainer's second signal, Sounds of Earth finally burst forward.
At the start, her steps looked almost casual, and her expression carried that same relaxed, flamboyant air.
But every footfall landed precisely.
Her body leaned slightly forward, her strides were smaller, and her angle of tilt was gentler.
And for this kind of curve, that was actually one of the most effective ways to accelerate.
Staring at the track, Kitasan Black frowned slightly, her fingers unconsciously tapping against the railing.
"Accelerating through the curve… Trainer, I feel like…"
Makoto had been focused on the track. Hearing her, he asked instinctively, "What do you feel?"
"I feel like Sounds of Earth–senpai's cornering and acceleration… might be a lot sharper than mine?"
As she spoke, Kitasan Black raised her arms and staggered her legs, trying to imitate Sounds of Earth's posture.
"I think her body lean is smaller than mine, and her stride's shorter too. And there's less change in her form during the turn… but I'm not sure if I'm right."
Makoto's eyes lit up. He nodded and encouraged her.
"Keep going, Kitasan. That's a very detailed observation."
Encouraged, her eyes shone brighter as well. Her tone lifted with excitement.
"So I'm wondering… is that just a difference in running habits, or a unique cornering style?
"Like maybe building up speed earlier in the other curves before the final straight, so she's ready to overtake on the straight?"
"Because in the notes, Super Creek–senpai mentioned that some runners use special curve strategies to widen the gap with their opponents."
That was indeed something Super Creek had written.
In a sense, running races were structurally simple—especially compared to sports like basketball or soccer with much more complex direct confrontations.
But precisely because it was simple, pushing it to the absolute limit was incredibly difficult.
From Makoto's point of view, Super Creek was someone who had pushed cornering technique to the absolute extreme.
This Umamusume herself was practically a "master of curves."
During races, her reactions to turns were almost flawless. Every time she entered a corner, she cleverly adjusted her stride to quickly bring her speed to the optimal state for turning.
The angle at which she cut in felt as though it had been calculated with precision—enough centripetal force to maintain high speed through the turn, but not so much lean that it affected her balance.
At the same time, her stride length and cadence were perfectly coordinated. That meant she barely lost any speed in the curve at all, and could even accelerate faster once exiting.
This wasn't something every Umamusume could do.
In fact, most couldn't.
Because most simply didn't have Super Creek's level of talent. They couldn't suppress that sense of losing control in a curve.
So their usual response was almost always to slow down, or drift outward with the centrifugal force to buffer themselves—and running extra distance like that was basically the same as slowing down.
If their skill level was worse, their footwork might even fall into chaos.
Even if they couldn't reach Super Creek's level, those with sufficient talent would adopt the method currently in front of them—the kind of curve acceleration Sounds of Earth was practicing.
"Your idea makes a lot of sense, Kitasan," Makoto said thoughtfully. "Sounds of Earth might really be using this style to set things up in advance."
"It carries some risk, but she's probably polishing it right now. And she clearly has the talent to back it up."
"A smaller lean angle and shorter stride can help her build speed, but since it's still a curve, it demands extremely high balance control."
"If something unexpected happens—like interference from another runner beside her—she could lose balance and her speed would suffer."
"But there's something you noticed that compensates for that."
"She really is lighter and more agile than you."
While Makoto was explaining, Kitasan Black had been nodding along, her face full of understanding.
But when she heard that last sentence, she suddenly froze.
Her cheeks puffed up, and she stared at him with a faintly resentful look.
"…Trainer, are you… saying I'm fat?"
"Of course not, I'm saying you're more—"
Makoto blurted it out without thinking, then abruptly froze, swallowing the word heavier before it could escape.
Kitasan Black really was heavier. Much heavier than the average Umamusume.
From early on, Makoto had compared the numbers. At the same developmental stage, her weight was roughly 15% above the average.
That was already a shocking difference.
Among other runners, even when weights varied, the gap usually hovered within single-digit percentages.
Not just this year, but previous years too.
In other words, Kitasan Black wasn't just heavier—
She was much heavier.
Of course weight affected speed. It was something to adjust and manage in training.
But after analyzing all the data, Makoto had helplessly realized this wasn't something that could really be "fixed."
Her bone structure and muscle density were simply larger than other Umamusume's. That was the source of her outstanding strength, stamina, and durability—and also the reason for her weight.
But no matter what, telling a girl she was "heavy" was obviously a terrible idea.
"…more solid. More grounded. More… powerful. Yeah, that's right—more powerful."
He forcibly changed his wording, waving his hands quickly.
Yet he didn't dare look at her. Instead, he stared at the track, pretending to observe the training with utmost seriousness.
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
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