Chapter 116: The Man Who Will Absolutely Defeat Silence Suzuka

A few months ago—probably not long after Bourbon-chan and I finalized our racing schedules for this year—I remember my trainer telling me this.

"To be honest, there isn’t much left about you that needs fixing. That’s because the current Hoshino Wilm doesn’t possess any major weaknesses as a horsegirl."

"Your starts are solid, you don’t overextend, you corner well, your stamina is more than sufficient, and your finishing kick is sharp. As a runaway frontrunner, you could say you’re already at the peak."

"…Which is exactly why our next step is to focus on countermeasures specifically tailored to your natural enemy—the one who blocked your path at the Arima Kinen: Silence Suzuka."

Silence Suzuka-san.
The same-dimensional runaway runner I clashed with in the early stages of the Arima Kinen—the otherworldly escape artist, another extreme frontrunner just like me.

She’s Suzuka-san, after all—the one who showed overwhelming dominance as Spe-senpai’s predecessor in my previous life’s anime.
I knew she was absurdly strong. I was wary of her from the start… but honestly?

Once I actually raced her, she was several times more terrifying than I’d imagined.

She runs like someone who doesn’t even think about managing stamina—and apparently, as long as she’s in the lead, her energy just keeps refilling endlessly. So she probably really wasn’t thinking about it.
Even when I was using cheat-level abilities, she still felt fast enough that I genuinely thought she might get away from me.

Looking back now, I honestly think that at the time of that Arima Kinen, there was no way I could’ve surpassed Suzuka-san without using "Anime Reincarnation."
I barely managed it right at the time limit, with a headache already starting to set in.

Well… if you flip that around, then even if I did use a cheat, surpassing that otherworldly run is still one of my new points of pride.

…That said, I can’t stay stuck in junior mode forever.
My battle with Suzuka-san isn’t something for the endgame—it’s an early-stage fight. A warm-up, really.
I can’t just leave things as they are when I’m being forced to shoulder such a massive burden right out of the gate.

Spe-senpai and Suzuka-san have both stepped away from the Twinkle Series and moved on to the Dream Trophy League.
Which means I won’t be racing them for a while.

But that’s only for a while.

Once I advance to the Dream Trophy League, there’s a high chance I’ll clash with Suzuka-san again.
And when that happens, I’ll be forced to play my "Anime Reincarnation" trump card in the first half all over again—
which naturally puts me at a disadvantage in the latter half, where I’d originally want to use it.

So Ayumu-san and I started working on countermeasures.
What we were really aiming for was a way to beat Suzuka-san reliably—and with minimal strain.

…I mean, if such a method existed, you’d think every horsegirl would already be using it.
That’s what I thought—but the answer Ayumu-san gave me was surprisingly simple.

"Defeat Silence Suzuka in three steps."

"That… Hoshino Wilm, is the technique you need to master next."

---

The flashback ends, and I open my eyes.

What fills my vision is the dazzling white glare of turf stretching far into the distance—and the inorganic starting gate enclosing me.
And just one gate over—skipped by one—there’s the figure of a rival horsegirl fidgeting slightly.

…No, not just fidgeting. She’s totally looking this way.

That girl… she’s two gates inside from mine, so that’s Gate 4, Horse 7—ah, right. Daisangen-chan, the one who ran really well at the Arima Kinen.
She seems pretty conscious of me, sneaking glances in my direction.

But then her gaze suddenly cuts off.
Not because she looked away—but because another horsegirl entered the gate right next to me.

A calm-looking chestnut-haired horsegirl. Her most distinctive features are the beautiful blaze on her forehead and her glasses—fairly rare for a horsegirl.
Ikuno Dictus-chan, a named horsegirl I know well from my previous life’s anime.

She flicks a glance my way, then immediately turns her eyes back to the turf.

Man, I’m really being watched, huh.
Well, I am the overwhelming favorite for this race—being marked would be more suspicious if it weren’t happening.

And more than that… if we’re talking about being conscious of someone else, I don’t exactly have room to talk either.

…And so, just before the Osaka Hai, as we enter the gates, I wait for the moment to arrive, lost in thought.

"Suu… haa."

A light, deep breath.
…Alright. Time for a quick self-check.

Leg condition: perfect. No discomfort.
Mental state: good. No concerns.
The strategy is firmly memorized… and my mental rehearsal is flawless.

In short, I’m in top form.
Same as always—or rather, in the state where I can pour everything into the race.

Yeah. That’s how it has to be.

After all, the race I’m running today is… the Osaka Hai.

---

The Osaka Hai—the first senior-year race of the Tokai Teio generation.
This is Teio’s comeback race from my previous life’s anime.

After breaking a bone post–Japan Derby and being forced to give up on the Triple Crown, Tokai Teio still stood back up to preserve her undefeated record and challenged this race.
The result was a landslide victory.

She brushed aside the disadvantage of not having raced for nearly a year and proved her strength was still intact—leading into that Tenno Sho showdown with McQueen-san.

But the Teio of this world is a little different from the Teio-chan I knew in the anime.

For starters, her comeback race wasn’t this Osaka Hai—it was last year’s Arima Kinen. And more importantly…

"This race—I’ll be taking the win."

"I’m Tokai Teio. And I will be the one to overturn Hoshino Wilm’s ‘absolute.’"

Remembering those words sends a shiver down my spine.
Ah, no good—I need to rein in this joy, or my grin’s going to show.

That killing intent—almost literal—she fired straight at me during stretching.
But it wasn’t cold, painful hatred. It was hot, surging fighting instinct.

Not a desire to tear me down—but a declaration that she’d surpass me by constantly elevating herself.
My strongest rival, Tokai Teio, conveyed that boldly with nothing but her gaze.

And then those words.
That to prove herself—to prove Tokai Teio—she would defeat me.
Utterly egoistic, utterly self-centered… she declared it straight to me.

That burning gaze, that searing heat—I recognized it.
Or rather, Hoshino Wilm didn’t… but I did.

A champion chasing dreams.
The absolute emperor.
A symbol of miracles who kept clawing her way back no matter how many times she fell to injury or despair.

The object of my admiration back then.

Tokai Teio.

Stronger than she was at the Japan Derby.
No impatience, no sadness—just total focus on the race before her.

She was the brilliant light I had admired.

…And that’s exactly why.

I can’t lose this race.

I want to surpass you too, Teio.
Just like you see me as your greatest rival and want to pass me…
I want to surpass that light I saw back then—my admiration—with these very legs.

As a horsegirl born into this world.
I want to surpass you, the one I admired in my previous life—the emperor at full throttle… that miracle-like run.

…Come to think of it, I never really surpassed you properly, did I?
At least, not in my own heart.

Hoshino Wilm and Tokai Teio have only raced three times so far: the Satsuki Sho, the Japan Derby, and the Arima Kinen.
But in none of them did we truly clash from start to finish at full power.

At the Satsuki Sho, you weren’t fully serious yet. You weren’t fully focused.
Because you could win just by running normally. Because you hadn’t known defeat.
You ran as you always did… and lost to me.

At the Japan Derby, you eased up at the very end.
Because you wanted future victories, you didn’t choose the path of pushing yourself to the absolute limit.
That choice—made even at the cost of pride—was noble, and probably one correct answer for you.

But if I’m allowed one selfish complaint…
Not being able to race your full seriousness to the very last moment was a little disappointing.

At the Arima Kinen, you were still searching for your running form.
Because you truly wanted to win, you chose to use the year-end Grand Prix as a test.
Minimizing strain on your ankles while still maintaining speed—using the biggest race of the year as an adjustment stage.

We’ve never run a full, all-out race together from beginning to end.
I’ve never felt I truly "surpassed the emperor."

But now… now is that moment.

Since that Japan Derby, you’ve truly faced me—and racing itself.
At the Derby and Arima Kinen, your legs weren’t ready for a true, all-out clash…
but now your running style seems complete, and with lower injury risk, this race is the time.

The Osaka Hai—2000 meters.
For me, a stayer, it’s a distance where I might leave speed unused.
For Teio, a mid-distance runner, it’s the perfect range to exploit her explosiveness.

If I surpass a full-power Teio here, it’ll be a flawless victory—one no one can complain about.

That’s why this Osaka Hai is special.

It’s a race where the uncrowned emperor challenges the ash-gray dragon…
and at the same time, a race where a reincarnated soul challenges the horsegirl she once admired.

---

"…Phew."

I breathe out the excitement—and a sliver of anxiety.

…Can I win? Against Tokai Teio?

Forgive the self-praise, but honestly, I think I’m an absurdly strong horsegirl.
Thanks to reincarnation cheats, my physical specs are high, and my legs are sturdier than most.
On top of that, "Anime Reincarnation" massively boosts my thinking ability.

To be blunt, against most horsegirls—even Triple Crown–level ones—I have no intention of losing easily.

But when the opponent is Tokai Teio… yeah, it’s only natural to feel uneasy.

The miracle comeback that overturned every disadvantage, every hardship, every impossibility.
Tokai Teio is the one who won races everyone said she couldn’t—purely through ability.

When she’s serious, impossibility stops being impossible.
Honestly… she’s far more of an "impossibility overturner" than I am.

No matter how much of a reincarnation-cheat horsegirl I am…
if you ask whether I can certainly beat Tokai Teio, I’d be lying if I said yes.

…But.

Right now, I’m not alone.

When I glance out from the gate, I see Ayumu-san—talking with Masa-san and Bourbon-chan.

A racing horsegirl doesn’t run alone.
We run in tandem with our trainer—the one who trains us, supports our daily lives, and guides us.

So… with Ayumu-san.
If it’s the two of us, I can believe we can beat Tokai Teio.

…No, that’s not quite right.

It’s not that I believe.

I just want to win.
You and me—together—against that rival, in the best race possible.

---

As I gather my thoughts while staring at the turf, the moment arrives.

"All horsegirls are now in their gates. Preparations are complete."

The announcer’s voice—and the creeping presence of the race—cool my heart.

But that chill isn’t unpleasant.

"…That’s a good kind of cold."

The flames welling up from my heart aren’t extinguished—but for now, they’re sealed away at the bottom, allowing me to focus solely on the race before me.

The raging excitement and anxiety gradually settle, my thoughts narrowing into a single, razor-sharp direction…

And so, my condition for the start reaches perfection.

Ah… I can feel it.

So many gazes. Expectations. Anxieties.

I can tell that Ayumu-san—and all the fans—are directing their feelings toward me.

They want me to win.
They want to see an even better run.
They want me to live up to their hopes.

Tens of thousands of people are dreaming of Hoshino Wilm.

Thank you.

Because we’re expected. Because we’re cheered on. That’s why we can keep running forward.

And precisely because of that, we want to answer those expectations.

Carrying everyone’s dreams as we run—that’s what racing horsegirls are.

The start is only moments away.

I lower my center of gravity and focus.

Facing forward, mind sharpened, body poised to sprint at any instant—

"Spring’s middle–long distance Triple Crown, opening round: the Osaka Hai! Who will seize the crown of glory!?"

"……And they’re off!"

Now—this is the moment to take flight.

"…!"

At the fastest timing a horsegirl can perceive.
With every ounce of strength I can bring to bear.
At the perfect balance for an extreme runaway runner.
…With everything aligned into an unshakable setup.

I kick off the ground.

One step.
Driving my body forward with all the power in my legs.

Two steps.
Stabilizing my posture as it nearly collapses from the speed—then accelerating even harder.

And then, three steps.
…I reach the target speed I’d set in advance.

Put into words, that’s all it is.
I kicked hard off the turf and got a phenomenal start.

But with just that…

I entered a world meant for me alone.

As if I’d leapt straight into the open sky.

"Hoshino Wilm gets her usual phenomenal start and surges to the front, immediately claiming the lead! All seventeen are away cleanly, but Wilm is simply too fast! Three lengths—four lengths—the gap keeps widening! Ikuno Dictus gives chase from the inside, but the difference in initial speed only stretches the distance further!"

"This is incredible. That start dash is outrageous—she looks like a sprinter. Perhaps learning from the Arima Kinen, it seems those wings haven’t dulled in the slightest."

…Silence Suzuka-san, the one I battled at the Arima Kinen, was—at least in theory—an invincible horsegirl.

A start dash timed to perfection, overwhelming acceleration to seize the lead, then endlessly fleeing at top speed without any stamina constraints.

If you could do that, of course you’d be strong. It’s literally a “dream run.”

In fact, even I—supposedly cheat-level strong—couldn’t overtake her without using the reincarnation cheat, "Anime Reincarnation."
And if she’d used her Domain in the late stages? No other horsegirl would’ve stood a chance.

Truly, the strongest in theory.
The classic “this is the strongest horsegirl I came up with” type.

…Seriously, are we sure that senior wasn’t a reincarnator too?

I mean, having “infinite stamina” is just absurdly broken.
Infinite stamina means you can sprint all-out from the gate to the finish line.
It outright denies the competitive essence of horsegirl racing, where stamina management is everything—a ridiculous natural cheat.

…Though, coming from someone who can pull off a stamina-unlimited monstrosity for 600 meters, maybe I shouldn’t be talking.

In any case, Silence Suzuka is strong.
No—strong doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Honestly, the only ones who could surpass her are someone like me with cheats, or another extreme runaway runner willing to use Domain right from the opening stages.

And to begin with, there just aren’t many extreme runaway runners among the current G1-class Twinkle Series horsegirls or those in the Dream Trophy League.
Suzuka-san and I use it as our core strategy—and if I’m being generous, maybe Turbo.

I don’t know what Turbo’s Domain looks like, but she’d probably struggle against Suzuka-san.
Which means, realistically speaking, I’m about the only one who can beat her.

That’s an honor.
Being able to say I can defeat the otherworldly escape artist—it’s genuinely gratifying.

But…

That doesn’t mean I can overlook the situation.

Someday, I have to get my revenge on Silence Suzuka-san.
Someday, I’ll have to surpass that escape artist head-on.

And beyond that, after beating her, I’ll still have to defeat the other horsegirls too.
That’s why I need to surpass Silence Suzuka in the most reliable way possible, with the least amount of wear and tear.

And as far as I can tell, there’s only one way to do that.

Never—not even for an instant—allow Silence Suzuka to take the lead.
To surge far ahead of her right at the start dash.

To make that happen, under Ayumu-san’s guidance, I trained my starts relentlessly.
Using the accelerated thinking of "Anime Reincarnation," I absorbed the newly taught techniques into my running, chasing ever-faster start dashes.

And the result of all that is this.

Perfect timing. Perfect acceleration. Perfect racing instinct.
Launching in the best possible state—

And reaching my set speed by the third step after the race begins.

This is the complete assembly of my new technique, built by Ayumu-san—the crystallization of months of training.

Its name is "Three-Step Flight."

One of Hoshino Wilm’s new trump cards, forged to rip the lead away from Suzuka-san, who swears by striking first.

"The Osaka Hai is underway with Hoshino Wilm’s outrageous start dash! The second favorite, Tokai Teio, is watching from the outside of the leading pack. Meanwhile, third favorite Heart Blow Up is sitting third from the back, calmly assessing the situation. As the roar of the crowd trails from the finish line toward the first corner, Hoshino Wilm now enters Turn One—400 meters passed!"

Just as planned, I got a perfect start.

I left the footsteps of those behind me far away—currently a nine-length lead.
Before long, even without further acceleration, it’ll widen into a massive gap.

The race is unfolding flawlessly.
The plan to stretch the distance from second place into a decisive gap by the 500-meter mark should proceed without issue.

…Though, well.

Starting that fast naturally puts a load on the body, of course.

"…………"

My newly acquired technique, "Three-Step Flight," is—put simply—about accelerating beyond your limits right at the start.

Beyond your limits means exactly that: pushing past what my legs are normally allowed to handle.
Ah—no, not in the sense of long-term damage or anything like that.

It’s just that using this technique burns through a fair amount of stamina all at once.

…That said, in this race, it’s not really an issue.

According to Ayumu-san, I’m a pure stayer with stamina on par with McQueen-san herself.
For someone like me, burning out my legs over a mere 2000 meters is basically impossible.

Which means—

At least in this race, "Three-Step Flight" is practically zero risk.

"Fff…!"

I keep my momentum, bleed off centrifugal force, regulate my breathing, and cycle my legs at a steady rhythm.

My breathing’s still calm. I’ve got stamina to spare.
At this pace, I should be able to finish cleanly without any problems.

…No—actually.

There’s a strange, hard-to-put-into-words sense of discomfort.

"Leading the charge through the second corner is the newly outfitted Hoshino Wilm, stretching the field! In second place, well behind, is number eight Ikuno Dictus! Third is Casual Snap, followed on the outside by Tokai Teio!"

"It’s a vertically stretched-out formation, but considering Hoshino Wilm is involved, this is an unusually low-paced race. After that start dash, this development is unexpected. Is this the dragon’s strategy—or something else?"

…Am I… a little slow?

I thought I was running as usual, but before I realized it, my pace felt just slightly below what I’d planned.
This isn’t an issue with "Three-Step Flight"—I adjusted it properly, and Ayumu-san even gave me his seal of approval.

Am I off my game? No, impossible. If I were, Ayumu-san would never miss it.
Did Teio’s pressure get to me subconsciously? Doesn’t feel like it—if anything, I’m having so much fun my grin might slip.

Then that leaves…

Did I get baited?

"…Well, now."

So what is this, really?

If my guess is right, I’ll be honest—I’m impressed. I didn’t think they’d go this far…

…No, scratch that. Of course they would. It’s Teio.
Even if she suddenly whipped up a Nature-level scheme, it wouldn’t surprise me.

But if that’s the case…

Then this puts me in a pretty bad spot within Ayumu-san’s plans.

For the opening phase of this Osaka Hai, Ayumu-san had anticipated six possible routes.

Route A: A flawless opening—everything goes smoothly.
Route B: "Three-Step Flight" overshoots expectations and turns into an excessive high pace.
Route C: "Three-Step Flight" misfires due to inexperience, resulting in a less-than-perfect start.
Route D: I end up running at a lower pace than usual.
Route E: A careless mistake causes a delayed start.
…Route F: An accident or unforeseen incident occurs.

The earlier the route, the more favorable the situation for me. The further down the list, the worse it gets.

This time, we’re in Route D.

Not the worst possible outcome—but definitely not a good one.

And Route D is troublesome in a different way than E or F.
E and F are bad luck or my own mistakes… but D almost certainly means I’ve fallen into another horsegirl’s trap.

Ayumu-san warned me. I thought I was being careful… damn it, was I really slowed down that much?

Honestly, I couldn’t tell at all. If it were just one or two runners, I’d have noticed from their footsteps—
but did Teio really manipulate the entire pack?

Nature-level instigation? Laying groundwork in advance?

…No, that’s not it.

Maybe it’s because everyone—every single person—was watching Tokai Teio.

Honestly… I have to give her credit. At this point, it’s hard to tell who the real favorite is.

…But that alone isn’t enough.

I’m not losing to you over something like this, Teio.

"We’ve entered the backstretch, with Hoshino Wilm still in the lead! Her deep-blue coat shines brilliantly against the turf!"

"It’s hard to tell given the distance from the rest of the field, but she’s slightly increased her gear. Is she planning to raise the tempo from here?"

…Alright. Okay.

Now I’m back on the prescribed pace Ayumu-san and I agreed on.

From here… passing the furlong marker. 1200 meters to go.

Getting shoved into a bad route hurts, but it’s far from unrecoverable.

And besides… no—rather than that—

Zzzap.

A blue flame, like a wavering heat haze, flickers at the edge of my vision.

…I see.

So that can happen too.

Come to think of it, there’s no rule saying it has to open in the final stretch.
Apparently, many do activate after the final corner, but I’ve heard from Nature that some open in the early or middle stages.

Their effects vary wildly too—breaking speed limits, explosive acceleration, restoring fighting spirit.
Truly, there are as many Domains as there are people.

My first Domain—Ayumu-san called it "Celestial Star Serpent Dragon," I think.
That one opens in the late stages when I feel heat from other horsegirls, boosting my overall specs—lifting speed caps, increasing acceleration, that sort of thing.

…but a second Domain doesn’t necessarily have to open at the end either.

Sometimes, like now, the timing comes around mid-race.

"…Heh."

Little by little, more blue flame seeps into my vision.

I know this sensation.

A sky filled with countless stars, burned into the backs of my eyelids.
A world packed full of everything that warms me.

This flame is the same as those stars.

Ayumu-san would say the "form" is different—but the "color" flowing into it is the same.

Blue flames crackle across my vision like fractures.

This is something that warms me. Heat that sets me ablaze.

Ah—just a little more.

Just a little more, and I can grasp it.

My second Domain—right here, with my own hands—

────Or so I thought.

The Domain I should have grasped slipped through my fingers and vanished.

…Ah. Damn it.

So that’s how it is.

I really was on the verge of opening a Domain.
Just like with "Celestial Star Serpent Dragon," I poured my "color" into the blue flame’s "form."

…but it didn’t fully open.

Just a hair’s breadth short—blocked by a decisive wall—the timing passed me by.

And when the lingering remnants brushed against me, I understood clearly.

This Domain tied to my second racing outfit—

At 2000 meters, at this low a pace…

I haven’t built up enough exhaustion to use it.

Ah, seriously.

Sure, I get it—people want a continuation of the Derby.
I know Teio and I are racing this with the feeling that we’re picking up where that day left off.

But did you really have to recreate the part where the Domain won’t activate too!?