During her lunch break, jiro Ardan found a rather out-of-the-way room, following the directions Oguri Cap had given her.
A clumsily made wooden plaque hung by the door, with several large characters written on it.
"Kasamatsu Uma Musu Club?"
Reading the words, jiro Ardan tilted her head in confusion.
This looked for all the world like a clubhouse for Uma Musu from the sa hotown to hang out. What did this have to do with Dream Weaver? Could Oguri Cap have given her the wrong address?
Though puzzled, jiro Ardan decided to knock on the door anyway.
Well, she was already here. Might as well give it a shot.
She had only knocked twice when a sowhat whiny voice called out from inside the room.
"Sumi-chan, what took you so long? I'm practically lting waiting for that ice cream—"
The voice was followed by the tap-tap-tapping of hurried footsteps, and the door swung open. However, Kobayashi Kaze, who had opened it, found that the person outside was not Nanno Sumire.
She looked up at the figure who cast a shadow over her and said, confused.
"...Huh?"
At that mont, Nanno Sumire, who had just returned to the hallway carrying two bags of ice pops, tilted her head in confusion at the two figures frozen in the doorway.
"Thank you."
jiro Ardan accepted the ice pop offered by Nanno Sumire before turning to the group of Uma Musu with a perplexed expression.
"Why does the naplate outside say 'Kasamatsu Uma Musu Club'?"
Nanno Sumire, who had just finished handing out the ice pops to everyone, gave an awkward smile. Before she could figure out how to respond properly, Oguri Roman chid in.
"Because the Student Council Vice President—that 'Empress'—would never approve a club called sothing like the 'Dream Weaver Support Association.'"
"So we just changed the na. It's all the sa anyway, since we're all definitely Uma Musu from Kasamatsu."
Kobayashi Kaze added this between licks of her ice pop. Seeing they had already spilled the beans, Nanno Sumire could only shrug at jiro Ardan as if to say, 'That's the situation.'
"Haah—"
jiro Ardan really didn't know what to say to that.
Getting that Vice President, the one known as the Empress, to approve such an odd club was indeed pretty much impossible.
So she just nodded and made a noncommittal sound of acknowledgnt.
But she quickly rembered she hadn't co here to learn about the club's origins. There was sothing far more important she wanted to ask these Uma Musu.
jiro Ardan placed her ice pop on the table in the middle of the room. Sitting formally, she gazed intently at the Uma Musu before her and said earnestly.
"I want to know about her... about Dream Weaver."
Hearing her words, the group exchanged so rather strange looks. Nanno Sumire was the first to speak up.
"We can do that... but first, I'd like to know why you ca to us?"
"Oguri Cap and I are classmates. She's the one who referred here."
Nanno Sumire glanced back at Oguri Roman, then at Kobayashi Kaze beside her.
After a few seconds of silent eye contact, they seed to reach so unspoken understanding and their strange looks faded.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just that we haven't had any visitors here in so long, we got a little wary. But you want us to talk about Dream Weaver? Where to even start..."
"And you probably already know about her debut race and the Niigata Junior Stakes from Oguri Cap-senpai, right?"
As the Kasamatsu Uma Musu struggled with how to describe Dream Weaver, jiro Ardan provided a focus.
"Just tell what she's like in your eyes."
The Kasamatsu Uma Musu fell into thought again, as if searching for the right words.
jiro Ardan waited quietly for their response.
A few minutes later, Kobayashi Kaze, the first to organize her thoughts, spoke up.
"For , Dream Weaver was soone who inspired to chase my dreams."
"I was just drifting aimlessly through each day. It was only after seeing Dream Weaver on the racetrack that I felt encouraged to pursue my own dream."
"Now I'm different from that idle person I used to be. My goal is to beco the best Winner's Outfit designer at Tracen Academy!"
After declaring this bold ambition, she added in a quieter mumble, "Of course, it'd be even better if I could make a Winner's Outfit for Dream Weaver again... I an, not just for her, but... hehehe."
As she spoke, Kobayashi Kaze rubbed her cheek sowhat sheepishly.
After she finished, Oguri Roman continued.
"I've always admired Oguri Cap-senpai. Precisely because of that, I placed her on a pedestal, soone I could never hope to reach."
"It was Dream Weaver, through her own presence, who showed that wanting to get close to your idol doesn't just an following behind her. You can strive to reach the sa place she stands."
"It's because of her that I rediscovered the courage to want to stand on the sa track as Oguri Cap-senpai."
"I'm incredibly grateful to her."
jiro Ardan was taken aback. She hadn't expected Northern Dreams to have helped so many people in real life too.
Before she could ponder it further, Nanno Sumire, who had been preparing for a while, took a deep breath and spoke to jiro Ardan with seriousness.
"In the past, I was the most listless one among my friends. No matter how much they slacked off due to our environnt, they all had sothing they truly loved in their hearts."
As she spoke, Nanno Sumire glanced at Kobayashi Kaze. Even Kaze, laid-back as she was, really loved fashion design. It was just that Dream Weaver finally gave her the courage to actively chase that dream.
And then there was Nishimoto Makusa, who was helping out at ho now, and Artisan Bell, who was still holed up in the training room polishing equipnt even though it was a holiday today.
They all had things they were passionate about.
But before eting Dream Weaver, Nanno Sumire had nothing.
"Back then, I had even given up the desire to race—a desire that's practically instinctive for Uma Musu."
Hearing this, jiro Ardan couldn't hide her surprise. She had never t an Uma Musu who would abandon running itself.
Even with her own glass legs, she always yearned for the track. What had this Uma Musu before her experienced to make her want to give up racing?
Seemingly understanding her look, Nanno Sumire's eyes grew distant with mory as she murmured.
"Maybe I just felt there was no hope."
"Hope?"
"Yeah. Back then, I felt like even if I tried my hardest, it wouldn't matter. I'd fallen into endless pessimism about the future."
"But it was right around then that I t Dream Weaver."
"It was her, with her presence on the racetrack, who showed —"
"Don't give up."
-- --
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.
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