I only have one year to live, so I must become a legendary horse girl!

I can’t accept it, I can’t accept it, I can’t accept it…How can anyone accept something like this…!!!

At the very end, when Xingmu, who was Donna's dance partner behind her, was on the glorious winner's stage and looked at the horse girl in front of her who had defeated her, she felt only deep resentment in her heart, which was so deep that it could even accumulate and explode.

Sooner or later, sooner or later...! Donna, I will completely defeat you and make you my dance partner... No, I will make sure you have no right to go on stage with me. I will make sure you can only look up at my dancing from the audience...!

Gotham Ode saw Xingmu's almost unconcealed struggle clearly from the audience, but she didn't care about such things.

Let’s not talk about whether Xingmu can defeat Dongna with her there. Even if there is such a possibility, and it is actually not very low - that is a matter for the future.

Although it may sound a bit decadent and negative, but...!

But today's victory undoubtedly belongs to Donna. There is only one name that can win the Oak Competition, and that is Donna, not you, Xingmu!

Gotham Carol was also looking at the winner's stage above. To be honest, compared with the last cherry blossom viewing, the gap had actually narrowed and Miss Xingmu was in terrible condition. However, Gotham Carol didn't have any thoughts about such things. She just recorded the scene of her horse girl dancing, and then prepared to welcome Donna back to Mejiro Castle.

However, now that the Oaks Tournament is completely over, what should we do in the days to come?

It's not that Gotham Carol doesn't have other things to do... well, she seems to have plenty of free time in her days, at least for now?

On his own racing schedule, Gotham Carol's next race is the Breeders' Cup.

Well, I have a competition scheduled, so how can I have so much free time?

The problem is, the Breeders' Cup isn't held until almost the end of the year...! So, when is it now?

It's late May, damn it! She still has six months left, plenty of time to do whatever she wants. All she needs to do every day in terms of running is maintain her form, so there's no need for extra training... So, judging by Gotham Carol's own schedule, she can't even say she has plenty of time. It's more like she has so much time that she doesn't even know what to do, and instead has to find things to do...!

So, what is the most important thing right now?

Now that I'm holding hands with Donna and getting in the car, I should start preparing to help Donna formulate a battle plan for the last stop of the Three Queens' Crowns, the Qiuhua Award, right?

Gotham Carol has begun collecting information that may be useful in this regard.

Kyoto Racecourse, a 2,000-meter track... I feel like Donna still has the upper hand. Although Xingmu does have more strike zones on this course, but ah but.

But the track at Kyoto Racecourse also has slopes, which are a killer weapon that will test your endurance.

After returning, I will ask Donna to intensify her slope training. After all, our horse girl has such a terrifying talent in endurance. It would be a waste if we don’t make good use of it...!

Sitting in the car, although it has not been considered in more detail, Gotham Anthem has already preliminarily considered and completed the necessary battle plan. What remains is probably to review the game?

"Donna, how do you feel about this competition, the head-to-head Oaks Tournament with Xingmu?"

"Very easy...? When Miss Xingmu accelerated to catch up and activated her domain, she was actually fighting for her life. So, I was more careful not to get caught up in the vortex of haste."

That was a good judgment. Donna was so calm on the field that she didn't seem like a novice horse girl...

Generally speaking, even if the opponent's weakness is discovered, the horse girl will inevitably fall into a state of anxiety, especially in the last section of the distance, where Xingmu and Donna are actually running parallel.

But the horse girls in my own team are so reliable that as long as they get the battle plan, they can clearly complete it to the utmost limit...

Gotham Carol couldn't help but raise her hand, and Donna lowered her head slightly as if she realized her trainer's thoughts.

So for the first time, and the first time, Gotham Carol placed her hand on the top of her pony girl's head, gently stroking and feeling the overly soft touch of her hair.

"However, I have a feeling that Miss Xingmu seems to be even more determined to defeat me."

"Is that so? Then, Donna, would you feel scared or something like that?"

Donna blinked, as if feeling that a pat on the head was not enough and she wanted more. She pushed the car door with one hand, using it to move closer to Gotham Carol.

Hmm, that's strange, did Donna want to get close to me so much before...?

"Not at all, Trainer. Rather... I'm excited?"

Excited about being forced, chased, and targeted by the opponent... It would be really boring if Xingmu was defeated so easily... ?

Donna is not afraid of challenges. She is absolutely not afraid of any challenge. Rather, for a horse girl like her who pursues the strongest and is confident in her own strength.

Wouldn't it be more difficult to accept without a challenge?

Don’t be so boring…hehe.

Obviously, Donna showed a very scary expression, but Gotham Carol didn't care much about such things, and her own performance also made her fall into deep sigh.

So, horsegirls are truly amazing. It's such a terrifying thing, but she doesn't seem to have any difficulty adapting to it. After all, that's what horsegirls are, after all...

"But, Master Trainer, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Please me? Just tell me, I'll listen."

Donna curled up the corners of her mouth, like a devil showing his fangs.

"Please let me formulate the tactics for the Qiuhua Award. You only need to check whether they are appropriate at the end."

I want to... tear everything in Xingmu apart with my own hands and do this with my own means.

"I see... If that's what Donna thinks, then I agree to this."

In a sense, maybe Donna is also quite bad in this regard? Gotham Carol thought so.

Why would she refuse? After all, it wasn't like she wasn't caring or offering help at all; it was just that the responsibility of the matter was left to Donna.

She was also looking forward to it...

She looked forward to what kind of plan Donna could show her… As a trainer, how could she not pray to see growth?

Seeing the growth of the horse girls in my team!

........................

While Donna was still discussing this matter with Gotham Carol, Xingmu walked out of the arena alone. She returned to her home, turned on the lights, and then huddled in the corner of the room with her hands on her knees.

Honestly, the gap was too big. When she first stepped onto the field, she was aiming for the Gotham Anthem, but now, let alone challenging the Gotham Anthem, she didn't even have the strength to defeat or surpass Donna...

At least that's the case for now.

Why is this happening?

When the cherry blossom viewing failed, Xingmu didn't actually have any deep feelings. She was just unwilling and unconvinced... How could she accept such a failure that came so suddenly?

But failure is failure. Xingmu admitted her failure at the Sakura Festival very straightforwardly and thoroughly. Donna had used such beautiful tactics to crush her to the point where she had no room to struggle and could only watch her opponent cross the finish line.

As the future legendary horse girl, Xingmu certainly has the courage to admit her failure.

But the problem is, it is quite normal to fail due to tactics at the Sakura Viewing, but, but...!

But what about this Oaks Tournament?

Unlike the sudden surge last time, Xingmu couldn't really be said to have the advantage in this match. It could only be said that before Donna's start, she was the one with the greatest advantage among all the horse girls running on the field, right?!

No matter how you look at it, she shouldn't be the one who failed, right?

The legendary trainers hired by Ura had said before the game that as long as she could bite Donna hard and prevent her from having the opportunity to suddenly accelerate like in the Sakura Viewing, she would definitely be able to firmly grasp the victory of the Oaks Competition with her speed advantage.

But the result?

Xingmu really kept pace with Dongna, and her grip was very steady and firm, not being left behind. But even so, even if she paid full attention to the precautions she was reminded of before the game...

She still failed.

It was completely different from being defeated by tactics at the Sakura Festival. This time, Xingmu was defeated by hard power...completely and undisputedly, he was severely trampled underfoot.

The gap is too big...

A strong and confident horse girl like Xingmu certainly won't assume that she will fail before the game. This has its benefits, as it will make the performance on the field more stable and powerful, and reduce the fluctuations caused by the state. So, what is the price?

The price is that after failure, there will be more severe side effects, and you will fall into deeper sadness and pain.

It would be fine for ordinary horse girls, after all, objectively speaking, they have experienced many failures. However, for a horse girl like Xingmu, who has had a smooth journey but has met two opponents in a row in two games that she is determined to win, the experience of adjusting herself after failure is really a blank in many senses.

She lowered her head and put it on her knees. Xingmu's originally plump body curled up into a small ball in her home. She began to think about how she should face the upcoming competition and how she should face the content of the Qiuhua Award.

What if I lose to Donna again?

For the first time, Xingmu tasted an emotion that was originally unfamiliar to her.

Fear of failure.

Chapter 217: Xingmu is reborn in the sun.

How to describe it?

As a Uma Musume contestant, what is the most embarrassing thing you could encounter in your career?

After hugging your opponent on the court, is it that you have to not resist anything that happens next night, as if to help him vent his anger? Or is it that after losing on the court, you have to be hugged by your opponent and disappear in front of everyone to comfort him privately?

Both might be quite embarrassing, but for Gotham Anthem at this moment, perhaps not as embarrassing as what he will face next.

Why did things turn out like this? She froze in confusion, staring at the figure sitting on a bench in the small park in the distance, his hands resting on his knees, his head lowered, his eyes lost in thought.

The thing is, she had returned home and had a celebration party with Donna and others, and then went into her room. As expected, she saw the new universe occupying her bed. When she was about to rest as usual, a phone call suddenly interrupted her schedule.

First of all, as the "immediate boss" of the entire ura, people who have close relations with ura can actually get the contact information of Gotham Carol very easily, so Gotham Carol will occasionally receive some calls from there.

Of course, when Gotham Carol saw the incoming message, he certainly didn't know who would make such a request to him in the middle of the night. With the idea that it didn't matter if he answered the call, what if it was something urgent, Gotham Carol pressed the answer button.

Then she knew she was in big trouble.

How can I describe the voice coming from the other end of the phone?

Cowardly? Fragile? Gotham Carol's life experience is not shallow. As a horse girl who has experienced a lot in various senses, Gotham Carol can imagine what kind of state the horse girl on the other end of the phone is in just by listening to the other party's voice.

Those whose pride had been shattered could only curl up together, unable to even think further. Like autistic people, they could only instinctively grasp at straws that might save the current situation.

In every sense, she truly had a completely different image from her usual self. It looked like the apricot-eyed lady had been psychologically broken by two sudden and tragic failures, to the point of even seeking help from someone like her, a semi-enemy?!

However, this kind of thing also indirectly illustrates two things, right?

One is... it seems that Xingmu has no one to rely on... and the other is.

I didn’t expect that my status in Xingmu’s heart was unexpectedly high?

In short, Gotham Carol didn't know whether to describe her feelings as helplessness or sighing about such things. In the end, she just gave her own response.

She couldn't just ignore a poor cat that was meowing at her, right? She had plenty of time for that now.

Um, can this be considered as a counter-pressure on Donna? Yes, that's fine, she sacrificed her time and freedom for her own ponygirl!

Donna, you have to grow up well.

Sob, sob.

Having made up his mind, Gotham Carol agreed with Xingmu last night, which was this morning in a park near the Tokyo Racecourse.

In short, since we are here, we might as well leave. Although Gotham Carol was a little nervous about doing such a thing to a strange horse girl for the first time on the way here, when she thought about it carefully, she found it funny.

This may be the first time for Xingmu to be enlightened by a senior, but young Ma-girl, this is not the first time for me to be enlightened by a junior as a senior, so there is no need to worry at all.

Ah, I still need to be a little more careful, in some aspect...

She is just here to be a senior and guide the little ones. Their relationship should be a pure senior-junior relationship, and special attention should be paid to maintaining this bit of etiquette!

After being in this world for so long, especially with people around him clearly reminding him, Gotham Carol had long since seen through part of the nature of the world he lives in, and realized that if he did too much, he would end up with an outcome he had never imagined.

In short, she is here to enlighten others, and doesn't want to do anything else!

Taking a deep breath, Gotham Carol patted her cheeks to adjust her mood. Then, she walked over quietly and sat on the other side of the bench, wanting to look but not daring to, or not knowing whether she should look up.

“What a nice day today…”

“If only the people around me were in the same good mood.”

Gotham Carol looked up at the sky, and then she turned around and added the second half of a clichéd pick-up line that couldn't be more clichéd. She looked at the still indifferent almond eyes beside her, and felt a little helpless for a moment.

In fact, before getting close, Gotham Carol could feel Xingmu's condition, or in other words, any horse racing girl with a certain professional career could feel and resonate with such a poor little pony, right?

Think about it, as an invincible genius, he emerged out of nowhere with a huge mission, almost crushing the entire New Year of Horse Racing. Until the minute before the first battle of the Classic Year officially started, he was the biggest favorite to win... Many people even reserved Xingmu the championship of the Sakura Viewing!

But the final result was not satisfactory. An undisputed crushing defeat marked the end of the entire Sakura Viewing. And if Xingmu's heart at that moment was still filled with resentment and the desire to win—

Xingmu is certainly not a fragile horse girl. If she were the kind of fragile child who couldn't withstand any setbacks, she might have been devastated after the cherry blossom viewing was over, right?

She was able to enter the Oaks Competition and maintain a good enough state until the results were announced, and even reflected on the failure of the Sakura Viewing Competition and made strategic adjustments. This just shows that Xingmu's psychological defenses had not collapsed at least before the end of the Oaks Competition. She was not yet that fragile!

It hasn't even completely collapsed yet, right?

People who have completely given up won't send out a distress signal to strangers...

Thinking of this, Gotham Carol was deeply moved. After all, it was like completely collapsing, or rather, not asking for help from those around you...

Xingmu may not have experience, but she has definitely experienced it.

Well, it seems that we can't use too gentle means, in this case...

Gotham Carol pressed the back of Xingmu's hand with her fingers, then gently rubbed it inwards, and was about to use a slow but firm force that could not be resisted to grab the palm of the horse girl next to her, which was actually bigger than hers.