While the Uma Musu were quietly carrying out their plans, the equally idle Chizuru Haibara noticed Dream Weaver sitting by the water, idly kicking her feet.
She hesitated for a mont, but soon made up her mind and walked over to Dream Weaver.
"Thinking about the Japan Derby? Since we're out here to have fun, why not just set those thoughts aside for now and really enjoy yourself?"
Dream Weaver's ears twitched at the sudden voice. She turned around and, recognizing Chizuru Haibara, replied with a smile.
"A trainer telling an Uma Musu not to think about racing? How irresponsible."
Though it was clearly a joke, Chizuru found herself pausing oddly before sitting down next to Dream Weaver.
"Maybe I really am an irresponsible trainer then—I didn't even have the heart to believe in my own charge."
Chizuru was referring to what happened before the Satsuki Sho. Blinded by Orfevre's overwhelming strength, she had chosen to avoid the race altogether.
It wasn't until after watching the Satsuki Sho that Chizuru truly realized how flawed her past self had been. Not only had she failed to encourage her Uma Musu, she had actively urged retreat.
Planning this outing was, in part, Chizuru's way of making ands.
But to her surprise, Dream Weaver actually began comforting her.
"That was the rational choice, though. You know my base abilities are nowhere near Orfevre's. If we only had one shot at victory, of course the Japan Derby would be the better option."
"How could a trainer who guides her Uma Musu to victory be called irresponsible?"
As she spoke, Dream Weaver even pointed at herself self-deprecatingly.
"If anything, I'm the one who's too stubborn. I talk about pursuing victory rationally, but I always let my emotions drive and make the races harder. You must be at your wits' end handling a Uma Musu like ."
Hearing this, Chizuru couldn't help but smile.
She'd heard from the other Uma Musu—Dream Weaver had gone to encourage her rival Orfevre, actively making the Japan Derby more challenging.
"So you knew you were making things harder for yourself? Then why did you do it?"
Dream Weaver thought for a mont but found it difficult to put her feelings into words. She could only shrug.
"Maybe it's so kind of bond between Uma Musu."
"She's such a promising Uma Musu, yet she might lose her chance because of a montary lapse in mindset—how could I just stand by and do nothing?"
Her gaze drifted to the stream at her feet, her tone growing distant.
"We've stepped onto the sa track. We've felt our rivals' burning desire to win."
"On that course forged from fire and iron, driven by rivalry and the thirst for glory, we are opponents—but in a way, we're also friends."
Chizuru watched Dream Weaver closely, seeing emotions in her eyes that she couldn't quite understand.
"The world inside the races... those of us on the outside can only ever grasp a part of it."
"Just like how I can't comprehend how you managed to defeat Orfevre head-on. In the end, trainers are just trainers—we can't step onto the track in place of our Uma Musu."
"But—"
She suddenly smiled, patting Dream Weaver on the shoulder.
"I trust that your choices won't lead us astray. After all, it's you who's brought us all this far."
The pat seed to pull Dream Weaver out of her wistful mood. She pointed at herself in surprise.
"Even after all my stubborn decisions?"
Seeing her disbelief, Chizuru grinned and pinched her cheek.
"But it's all those stubborn decisions that brought us together."
"If you hadn't said what you did in your debut race, Kasamatsu Tracen wouldn't be what it is today."
Hearing this, Dream Weaver seed to rember sothing.
"Because I'm carrying everyone's expectations."
She looked up, eting Chizuru's eyes, and spoke with deliberate seriousness.
"I will win the Japan Derby."
"I believe in you."
No reasons needed this ti.
Chizuru added the latter half silently in her heart.
Just as the two shared a smile, a startled cry from Gold Ship further downstream suddenly reached them.
"I'd better go check it out. Who knows what kind of trouble Gold Ship has gotten herself into now."
Dream Weaver rose to her feet with a resigned sigh. She nodded to Chizuru and headed in the direction of the noise.
Chizuru watched Dream Weaver walk away and couldn't help but sigh.
Dream Weaver was remarkable. She carried the hopes of everyone in Kasamatsu, the dreams of all regional Tracen academies, and had fought her way to the Japan Derby almost entirely on her own.
But sotis, Chizuru wondered if all this was too much pressure for Dream Weaver.
What the Uma Musu called "expectations" felt more like responsibilities to Chizuru. All along her journey, Dream Weaver had shouldered everyone's hopes, constantly adding more weight to her own burden.
"She's too mature for her own good."
Chizuru frowned, murmuring to herself as she watched Dream Weaver's retreating figure.
Other Uma Musu her age pursued victory either out of competitiveness or to et others' expectations.
Their hearts were still unford, often disheartened by the pressure rivals placed on them during races. That was when trainers needed to step in and guide them.
But Dream Weaver was different. She seed to have found her purpose early on, willingly taking everyone's hopes onto her own shoulders.
Kasamatsu's, regional Uma Musu's, even Central Tracen's—with each victory, the weight of expectations she carried grew heavier.
Unconsciously, the dia had painted her as a champion bearing the dreams and hopes of all regional Uma Musu, a lone warrior striving to break the monopoly of the elite schools and defeat the reigning tyrant, Orfevre.
If you were to map out the Japanese racing world right now, half would undoubtedly be dominated by the pride of the elite, Orfevre, and the other half by Dream Weaver.
Under such imnse pressure, not only did Dream Weaver not falter despite her long-stagnant base abilities, she even found the strength to comfort and guide her own hesitant trainer.
"But you're still just a kid, too."
Chizuru whispered the words in her heart.
This outing had given her an idea. Chizuru was now determined to find a way to help Dream Weaver decompress during the long break between the Japan Derby and the Kikuka Shō.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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