"Finally, finally—" El Condor Pasa, dressed in her crimson racing outfit and wearing a mask over her face, spread her arms wide at the entrance of the racecourse and declared excitedly, "this day has finally come. This is the first stop on my campaign to conquer the world. From here, I declare my arrival to all of Japan, to all the world. The Strongest in the World [Arc de Triomphe] will be no one but me!"
Tojo Hana watched El Condor Pasa cut loose with such drama and shook her head helplessly behind her. Off to the side, more than a few of today's spectators were pulling out their phones to take photos, and many of them were El Condor Pasa's fans. Debuting with a Crushing Defeat margin and then last month at the Aoba Sho (GII) easily taking the win with overwhelming strength — those two performances were enough to demonstrate El Condor Pasa's monstrous ability.
What's more, they'd recently released El Condor Pasa's background information to the public, building up hype for her. El Condor Pasa would represent Japan this year on overseas campaigns, challenging the world's top races.
So El Condor Pasa's popularity for today's race was very high — higher even than Silence Suzuka's, just barely behind King Halo, who held the number-one popularity spot. El Condor Pasa was a super prodigy certified by the American Tracen Academy in the U.S., and had even received guidance and acknowledgment from Secretariat herself! The moment that information was released, people couldn't help but speculate whether El Condor Pasa was that royal one's disciple.
And unlike King Halo, El Condor Pasa also had Japanese uma musume bloodlines, which naturally made it easier for her to gain the support of Japanese fans. So receiving this many popularity votes wasn't surprising.
But once they'd done all that, it also meant—
In this race, El Condor Pasa could only win!
If they were going to make her a god, then this god could not be allowed to fail!
Knowing King Halo's strength, Tojo Hana and her team had still made the decision to push forward. Because at this point, there was no way to alter the original plan — the contracts had long since been signed. They had only one choice left—
Trust their own judgment!
Trust El Condor Pasa's strength!
Tojo Hana was actually quite confident about this.
After all, in her view, while King Halo's physical attributes were strong, El Condor Pasa's physical attributes weren't far behind.
Tojo Hana had [Analysis Eyes] too, but her eye could only roughly perceive an uma musume's physical strength — basically just Speed, Power, and Stamina. The Guts stat, which was tied to a degree to willpower, and the Wisdom stat, which was tied to mental power, she couldn't analyze. After all, the gap in mental power between humans and uma musume was simply too vast.
Even with the same ability, in the hands of an uma musume versus a human trainer, the effect could never be exactly the same.
And in pure Speed, Power, and Stamina, the gap between King Halo and El Condor Pasa wasn't all that big. After all, El Condor Pasa's Speed, Power, and Stamina were S+, A+, and S respectively, while King Halo's were SS, S, and S+. On the surface, the gap wasn't that wide — at least it was a gap Tojo Hana could accept. And when uma musume were close in raw ability, what determined the outcome of a race was the trainer's tactical setup.
Tojo Hana didn't think a trainer who went by P could measure up to her. She thought back to King Halo and her trainer that she'd seen last time, and concluded that King Halo had merely found someone to serve as a tool to carry her bags and submit her race entries. Whatever that trainer's name was, whatever abilities he might have — none of it was worth her attention.
She believed that under her tactical analysis, El Condor Pasa would absolutely defeat King Halo. With that thought, Tojo Hana reached up and lightly adjusted her glasses, a flash of light glinting across the lenses.
At this same moment, Team Spica's Nishizaki Ryu had also arrived at the racecourse with this race's competitors, Silence Suzuka and Special Week. If he'd been thinking rationally, he would have advised Spe-chan and Suzuka to drop out. But Nishizaki Ryu couldn't bring himself to do that. Once he'd confirmed that both Suzuka and Spe-chan still wanted to compete in the Japan Derby, he'd made up his mind that even knowing they would lose, he would still let them race.
Of course he didn't want them to lose. But even more than that, he didn't want Suzuka and Spe-chan to miss a race like this one and feel regret about it later in life!
When they reached the entrance.
The first thing they spotted was Tojo Hana and El Condor Pasa.
Although today only those two were here — the rest of Team Rigil didn't seem to be present — Nishizaki Ryu's gaze immediately locked onto El Condor Pasa. Ever since Spe-chan's debut race, he'd been refreshing the racer entry list online basically every day.
So he was very clear that El Condor Pasa was one of their opponents today!
While his Team Spica's most-wanted target right now was King Halo, after watching El Condor Pasa's race footage, Nishizaki Ryu also clearly understood that this secret weapon Tojo Hana was preparing to send overseas was extremely strong — probably no weaker than King Halo.
But this guess, he hadn't told Special Week and Silence Suzuka. The pressure King Halo was already putting on them was enough as it was. If he added this prediction on top of it, it might completely shatter their confidence.
"El Condor Pasa?"
Special Week looked at her friend, puzzled.
Her sluggish brain hadn't yet processed the situation — she just thought El Condor Pasa's outfit today was a little odd. Why was it different from her usual dress? Special Week hadn't even bothered to memorize the entry list for this Japan race, because she'd long since decided that her two opponents in this race were Suzuka-san and Halo-chan, and no one else!
Besides, her brain couldn't handle that much information. Just thinking about how to defeat Suzuka-san and Halo-chan was already taxing her brain's processing power to the limit. If she tried to factor in any more information, it might actually affect her performance in the race. That was why Nishizaki Ryu hadn't pressured her to memorize the other competitors. He understood very well that Special Week didn't have that kind of capacity.
"You came, Spe-chan. I told you last time, didn't I?" El Condor Pasa said, an arrogant smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "I'd be waiting for you at the front. That's right — this is that time!"
"Eh?"
Special Week still hadn't processed it.
El Condor Pasa gave her the answer outright: "I'm in this race today too. But let me make it clear up front: even if we're friends, I won't go easy on you in today's race. You'd better start mentally preparing yourself right now to lose this race. Don't go running off to that dead tree hollow in the courtyard to cry afterward."
"You're racing today too? No, wait — you're the one who's going to lose! You're the one who needs to mentally prepare yourself for losing to me!"
Special Week was angry now.
Who do you think you're looking down on?
Saying I'll lose before the race even starts?
I debuted before you did!
If we're going to talk seriously, I'm your senpai!
"I'll grant that you have a talent for telling jokes, Spe-chan. But — what you just said is absolutely impossible. I won't lose. If you ask why, it's because I'm the strongest."
El Condor Pasa's expression brimmed with confidence, as if she truly believed she was the strongest. Combined with the [Aura] she was displaying right now, it was indeed convincing. But Special Week was, after all, an uma musume who could enter ZONE — there was no way she'd be cowed by El Condor Pasa.
"I can talk big too!"
Special Week stood her ground, holding firm against El Condor Pasa's [Aura].
El Condor Pasa watched this excitedly. As expected, Spe-chan, you do have what it takes to be my opponent. But the current you is still too weak. Train up, get stronger, and then come challenge me again!
She turned to look at Silence Suzuka beside Special Week. She'd originally wanted to say something to Silence Suzuka too, but recalling Silence Suzuka's performance in the last race, she suddenly lost interest. She'd misjudged her — Silence Suzuka wasn't actually strong.
Silence Suzuka's weakness was simply too fatal.
Now that she knew about that weakness, El Condor Pasa was certain she'd never lose to Silence Suzuka. So she had no interest in Silence Suzuka anymore — her priority ranking was now even below Spe-chan's.
Silence Suzuka: "..."
"She's here."
Tojo Hana suddenly spoke up.
El Condor Pasa immediately understood who her trainer meant.
Sure enough, just like last time, King Halo arrived at the racecourse by taxi alongside her trainer. As soon as she got out of the car, she walked straight toward the racecourse entrance, with no intention whatsoever of exchanging pleasantries with these classmates and competitors. How could El Condor Pasa let her walk in just like that? At the very least, she had to make King Halo notice her!
So El Condor Pasa deliberately blocked King Halo's path.
King Halo's voice was cold. "Did you need something?"
The originally confident El Condor Pasa, the moment King Halo's indifferent gaze landed on her, instantly felt a wave of unease and irritation. But she would never admit to that feeling!
"I'm here to tell you — I hope you'll use your full strength in this race. Because I'm racing in this one too!"
El Condor Pasa could naturally tell that King Halo had been holding back at the Satsuki Sho. And she didn't want to see King Halo do the same in today's race. Because if King Halo didn't take it seriously, even if El Condor Pasa won, she wouldn't feel happy about it.
King Halo: "..."
So this was the El Condor Pasa of this world? When she was at school normally, she was no different from the El Condor Pasa King Halo remembered. But here in front of the racecourse, El Condor Pasa's behavior had turned arrogant — that was a small divergence from the El Condor Pasa of other worlds.
Confidence, arrogance — none of that was inherently bad.
Provided you had the strength to back it up.
"If that's what you want, then I hope you'll prove it during the race rather than running your mouth about it."
King Halo dropped that line and ignored El Condor Pasa's reaction, walking past her toward the racecourse from a different direction. El Condor Pasa's strength wasn't simple, but King Halo still didn't consider her worthy of attention. And before El Condor Pasa could challenge her, she should probably win against Silence Suzuka and Special Week first. Those two had grown a fair amount stronger since the Satsuki Sho.
El Condor Pasa watched King Halo's back with a sour expression. This girl genuinely wasn't taking her seriously.
'Hmph!'
'Fine — let's let our racing prove it!'
She believed that once the race began, King Halo would see her real strength, and then there was no way she'd be able to stay this calm.
"El Condor Pasa, remember to do as I instructed!"
Tojo Hana reminded her.
She really was worried El Condor Pasa would let it go to her head and forget the tactical plan she'd laid out.
"I know. But Trainer, if I find your tactics aren't working, I'm going to run my own way!" El Condor Pasa was making it clear that yes, per the contract, she'd temporarily follow her trainer's instructions, but if her trainer didn't have the ability to actually direct her, then her trainer wasn't qualified to give her orders!
Tojo Hana nodded.
"Fine."
She didn't mind El Condor Pasa being unruly.
If anything, this was the kind of pride a prodigy ought to have.
And she was very confident in her own tactical setup!
"Good. That's the kind of mindset suited to being my trainer."
El Condor Pasa was satisfied with Tojo Hana's response too.
If Tojo Hana had shown a lack of confidence, that's when she would have been displeased. A trainer who didn't even have the confidence to direct her — how could a trainer like that ever make her the world's strongest!
Nishizaki Ryu watched El Condor Pasa.
He looked at Tojo Hana with a hint of confusion.
Hana was awfully indulgent of this kid.
But he could understand it too. After all, she was a super prodigy they'd paid a huge price to acquire — they couldn't treat her like an ordinary student. Still, he had his doubts. Would an El Condor Pasa like this really faithfully execute Tojo Hana's tactical plans? Unlike a trainer like himself, Tojo Hana's tactical setups were extremely strict.
Strict meant detailed, which also meant a very low margin for error.
The difficulty of execution was much higher than your average tactic.
Even if El Condor Pasa really had the ability, as long as she wasn't fully cooperating, mistakes could happen.
But Nishizaki Ryu noticed that Tojo Hana seemed to trust El Condor Pasa quite a lot. So he thought, perhaps the El Condor Pasa they were seeing now wasn't her true nature, and she really was capable of perfectly executing the tactics Tojo Hana laid out. If that was the case, then El Condor Pasa's strength was outright excessive.
She might even be stronger than he'd initially predicted!
Around that time, the moment for racers to enter the field was approaching. Nishizaki Ryu led Special Week and Silence Suzuka into the racecourse, with Tojo Hana and El Condor Pasa following behind. They only parted ways when they reached the corridor leading to the racers' backstage area.
Because each racer's locker room was separate. Only racers from the same team were assigned to the same locker room.
Out front, meanwhile.
The commentator and the host were testing the broadcast system.
Then came the usual presentation segment.
After skipping past that segment.
The competing racers came up to the gates at the race site.
The commentator now began calling: "We're now into this year's Japan Derby. Let's take a look at the popular racers competing today. The third most-popular pick is this one—"
"From Team Spica's roster — Special Week!"
Special Week, who'd been warming up, heard her name and jerked her head up in surprise toward the spectator stands. Many fans were calling her name loudly. She hadn't even noticed that her popularity this time had surpassed Suzuka's, with her landing in the third-place popularity spot. For a moment, she was so excited she couldn't speak.
...
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