The promotional film for the Coronation Cup was still playing across Epsom Racecourse as Offside Trap and Shinji stepped onto the grounds.
The cheers of the fans mixed with the driving, energetic music from the video, setting the whole venue ablaze and sending the blood of every competing horse girl boiling.
Moisture hung over the turf. As forecast, rain had fallen before the race, and although the course looked slightly flatter than it had the last time they inspected it, the mud and slickness in the ground could still be clearly felt.
Shinji, however, felt only relaxed.
Offside Trap could bring out her greatest strength on a track like this, so even against opponents like Dolce, Royal Anthem, and Good Dream, he had no fear that she would be at any real disadvantage.
His gaze shifted to Royal Anthem, who was currently listening with complete focus as Cecil laid out her race tactics. Over the past few days, that girl had truly broadened Shinji's horizons.
She had genuinely synchronized her life with theirs, all so she could observe and analyze her opponents as much as possible.
Shinji had even noticed that there had been moments when Royal Anthem had looked utterly baffled by Offside Trap's training, on the verge of coming over to ask him about it.
That girl was a little too studious—so studious that she had no emotional intelligence left to regulate her behavior.
Cecil was still carefully walking Royal Anthem through his analysis. Truth be told, Shinji was a little tempted to eavesdrop, just to get a firsthand feel for the standards of a champion British trainer. Unfortunately, that was not an option.
He turned to look at Offside Trap and smiled.
"Take it easy out there. Honestly, the one with the least pressure in this field is us. We're not defending anything. We're not representing anything. And we have more than enough ability. All we need to think about is how to win."
Offside Trap's ears flicked forward and back at his words, and she blinked.
In truth, she had never been under any pressure to begin with. She felt only excitement—excitement at finally being able to display her strength on one of Europe's premier middle-distance stages.
So Shinji's reassurance did not really have any effect, but that only made him feel more at ease.
"Just like I told you, keep the key points in mind. Don't overthink it. There are only eight runners in this race. Secure a good position, then go."
He made victory sound simple.
Offside Trap took a deep breath and, from the corner of her eye, saw the banners waving in the grandstand.
Many Japanese fans had come all the way here, intending to witness a Japanese horse girl claim victory in a European middle-distance race.
Following the direction of her drifting attention, Shinji saw them too.
By now, Offside Trap had an enormous fanbase. Besides those who had traveled from Japan, quite a few local European fans were holding up Purple Star flags or signs cheering for Offside Trap.
That was exactly the kind of reception a world-class horse girl should receive.
Shinji lowered his gaze, letting it travel from Offside Trap's slender, fair calf down to her ankle.
"You're wearing it?"
"Of course~"
Offside Trap bent her leg and lifted her calf back behind her, and Shinji's eyes went to the anklet swinging there. He smiled faintly.
Then he pointed toward the starting gates.
"I'll be watching your show."
As she looked at his retreating back, Offside Trap nodded seriously before heading toward the gate area.
The officials were still giving the staff their final instructions. Even before the race began, Shinji could sense the tightly wound tension in the air. Once every horse girl had loaded smoothly and the race had broken cleanly, those staff members would finally be able to release all the nerves they had carried these past few days and enjoy the event as ordinary spectators.
Dolce arrived not much later.
She seemed just as aware as anyone that there was nothing more to watch now.
This race was going to be a straightforward clash of hard power.
For Dolce, the most important thing now was adjusting herself to peak condition.
The rhythm of her breathing was clear enough for Offside Trap to hear. That was evidently one of Dolce's pre-race habits.
Offside Trap, by contrast, preferred silence—she liked to sink all her attention inward, into her own thoughts.
She began stripping away every distracting notion, trying to narrow her focus entirely onto the race that was about to begin, when she heard Good Dream's voice drawing near.
"Get a good spot, get a good spot. Good position first. Save leg power."
Good Dream was practically reciting her strategy to herself.
Dolce did not think much of it. Everything Good Dream was muttering was something every runner in this field would be trying to do anyway. There was no truly useful information being revealed.
Dolce looked over at Offside Trap. Of the girls standing near the gates, she was probably the only one who could understand what Good Dream was saying.
By then Offside Trap had already finished settling her thoughts. When the official called to them, she was ready—and because of her, a young interpreter had been specially stationed nearby.
They had probably found the girl from some local university. Offside Trap had heard her quietly reviewing vocabulary earlier, and her accent was a little awkward.
"No need to rush. You can circle around the area behind the gates for now and keep yourselves warm. Loading will begin once the signal comes from over there. Estimated time is after all the runners have finished their warm-up."
As the interpreter relayed the message, two more horse girls—one from Germany, one from Britain—arrived.
Their faces were heavy with tension. For them, this race truly carried immense pressure.
But a race was a race. Before the result was decided, every possibility still existed.
Offside Trap's gaze did not linger on them for long. Instead, it slid to Royal Anthem, who was slowly making her way over from the rear.
The girl's behavior over these past few days had left Offside Trap with a poor impression. Royal Anthem was far too self-centered, acting with no regard for how others might feel.
That said, it did not change the fact that she was still a rival who deserved extreme caution. So Offside Trap studied the rhythm of Royal Anthem's approach.
With every measured step the girl took, the pressure radiating from her seemed to rise.
Every first-rate horse girl really did have her own way of welcoming a race that had come so close.
The corner of Offside Trap's lips lifted slightly.
That made it more interesting.
Shinji climbed up to the high viewing platform above the stands.
Cecil and Bally were already there, along with many others who would be watching the race from above.
"So? How's Offside Trap's condition?"
Bally's tone held genuine concern, but also a trace of probing.
At this point, there was no longer any practical use in probing. Even if he learned something now, he would not have time to relay it to Good Dream.
In the end, he was just looking for a little peace of mind. After all, Good Dream had been named Europe's best horse girl the year before. If she could live up to that expectation, all the better.
Seeing Bally blink at him, Shinji sighed helplessly.
"Normal enough. Fine, I guess."
It was an answer so vague it bordered on meaningless, but Shinji was already being charitable just by entertaining the question. Even Cecil, merely listening in, could not help smiling.
"Good Dream's in decent form, then. Sounds like we're in for quite a race."
Shinji only shrugged.
Then, down by the gates, the runners had begun to gather. The horse girl in stall one was already loading.
"In that case, let's enjoy it," Shinji said. "They've started loading."
Join here to read ahead.
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