"Polaris, I'm at your doorstep now. Are you free to come out and meet?"
On the morning of the last Saturday of September, Maruzensky suddenly sent a message.
At this moment, Polaris Glacier was sitting on a chair in the front hall, eating dessert and watching TV.
Hearing the message notification, she picked up her phone, read it, thought for a moment, and without delay, got up and headed towards the manor gate.
"Good morning, Maruzensky. Is something the matter?"
At the gate, Polaris Glacier looked at Maruzensky, who was leaning against her sports car, with a puzzled expression and asked.
"Good morning, Polaris."
Maruzensky smiled, first returning the greeting, then getting straight to the point:
"Rudolf has a race tomorrow! Do you want to come watch with me?"
After her summer recuperation, Rudolph Symboli's right leg injury had fully recovered, and after training, she was finally going to race again.
"Yes, of course I'll go."
Without a moment's hesitation, Polaris Glacier agreed.
It was a rare opportunity for her to watch other Horse Girl' races live, and it was Rudolph Symboli's, so she definitely had to go.
"Then tomorrow morning, I'll drive over to pick you up, and the three of us can go to the racecourse together, how about that?"
"Okay, what time tomorrow?" Polaris Glacier nodded. She just needed to tell the Head Maid and the others.
"Hmm... I'll come over at eight in the morning, is that okay?"
Maruzensky thought for a moment and suggested a time close to regular school hours.
"No problem, I'll be ready and waiting for you."
The matter was settled. Maruzensky glanced at the blue and white dress Polaris Glacier was wearing, then gave a wink and said:
"So now, Polaris, do you want to go for a drive with me?"
"Hmm... okay, I don't have any plans anyway."
After a brief thought, Polaris Glacier nodded in agreement, then opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat.
She sent a message to the Head Maid on her phone, briefly explaining the situation, and then the car started, launching forward with a powerful acceleration.
At eight o'clock the next morning, with the exact same feeling of being pushed back, but a different route, the car headed towards the train station.
According to Maruzensky, Rudolph Symboli had probably already taken a taxi and boarded the train, so they would arrive just in time to meet her.
Sure enough, after arriving and parking the car, they walked into the station and found Rudolph Symboli already waiting there. From her expression, she seemed to have just arrived as well.
"Ladies, time is limited. We can talk more once we're on the train."
The race was quite early, and they couldn't waste time after arriving; they had to quickly enter the venue and prepare.
On the train, the three Horse Girl sat in a row. Whether by coincidence or design, Polaris Glacier was once again in the middle seat.
Rudolph Symboli was resting with her eyes closed, while Maruzensky pulled out her phone and started looking at it.
It's worth mentioning that the race the former was participating in this time was the G3-Grade St. Leger Memorial, a 2200-meter race held at Nakayama Racecourse.
For the Emperor, it was a very suitable warm-up before the Kikuka-shō (菊花赏).
"By the way, I haven't seen Chitose Meiji recently. Maruzensky, do you know where she went?"
Feeling the atmosphere was a bit dull, the blue-haired Horse Girl thought for a moment and tried to start a conversation.
"I don't know. She rarely goes to the student council room. We haven't seen her much since the last mock race."
Maruzensky made a thoughtful expression and said with a smile:
"But you don't need to worry. Chitose Meiji is very free-spirited. She's probably playing somewhere right now."
"Exactly! Chitose Meiji often does some inexplicable things, like walking in the rain."
Rudolph Symboli's lips also curved into a smile as she recalled:
"If you ask her why she does it, she'll just reply that she simply wanted to, so she did."
"She really... is an unrestrained Horse Girl."
Polaris Glacier listened quietly, somewhat surprised that simply mentioning Chitose Meiji had opened up a conversation between the two beside her.
And what in the world is walking in the rain? Did Chitose Meiji really do things like that?
"It's not just that. One time, I even saw Chitose Meiji jump into the river from a bridge."
Maruzensky covered her mouth with one hand, as if trying to hide the smile that was about to escape her lips.
"When I asked her why, she replied that she wanted to try jumping off a bridge and swimming in the river to see what it felt like."
"Thankfully, nothing happened in the end. She really doesn't make things easy for us, does she?"
Rudolph Symboli smiled faintly and nodded in agreement, while Polaris Glacier's head once again had a question mark appear above it.
Jumping off a bridge? And swimming in the river? Is... is that right?
And she actually never had any accidents. Should I say, as expected of Chitose Meiji, everything was within her expectations?
In the midst of the two senior Horse Girl' reminiscences and the blue-haired Horse Girl's occasional bewildered expressions, they unknowingly arrived at their destination station.
The three of them exited the station, bought drinking water at a nearby shop, and then took a taxi to Nakayama Racecourse.
In the changing room of the lounge, they changed into their basic athletic uniforms. At Maruzensky's signal, Polaris Glacier helped Rudolph Symboli fasten her bib number.
"Rudolf, good luck!"
"Rudolf, let me see it, that strength of yours, the Emperor's strength."
The first sentence was shouted by Maruzensky, and the second was Polaris Glacier's attempt at speaking.
Thinking about it carefully, the latter had never directly called Rudolph Symboli by her name before; this was the first time.
Rudolph Symboli also noticed this and was somewhat surprised.
She first nodded to Maruzensky, then looked at Polaris Glacier, a smile appearing on her lips as she said:
"Then you might be disappointed. It's only a G3-Grade Race, not enough to make me use my full strength."
"Is that so? That's truly a pity."
Polaris Glacier briefly closed her eyes, then opened them again after a moment and said:
"Then let me see it clearly, the sight of you crushing your opponents."
"Of course."
As time drew near, after seeing Rudolph Symboli off onto the racecourse in the athlete's passage, Polaris Glacier and Maruzensky moved together to the spectator stands.
Nakayama Racecourse, turf, 2200 meters, clockwise, track conditions good.
Ten Horse Girl participating, clear weather.
Rudolph Symboli drew gate number 5 and was the most popular participant.
There were many spectators present. Polaris Glacier and Maruzensky's positions were somewhat blocked, surrounded by people all craning their necks to try and see more of the situation on the racecourse.
The commentary and live broadcast for this race were also by a male and female announcer. At this moment, the Announcer (Female) was speaking:
"The weather is perfect; Nakayama Racecourse is sunny today. Among the ten participating Horse Girl in this race, the most anticipated one is undoubtedly—"
"Having already won two Classic Races, undefeated since her debut, currently on a six-race winning streak, the Emperor, Rudolph Symboli!"
Listening to the Announcer (Female)'s voice, Rudolph Symboli, standing on the racecourse, turned towards the stands and looked up.
"Oh oh oh oh oh!"
She was met with enthusiastic cheers from the audience, so powerful that the entire racecourse seemed to tremble.
"Are Rudolph Symboli's races always like this?"
From the stands, Polaris Glacier turned her head slightly to look at the packed audience seats behind her, speaking with some emotion.
"It probably became like this after her Satsuki Sho victory."
Maruzensky had a slight smile on her lips, her gaze fixed on the brown-haired figure on the racecourse.
"A racer like her who can ignite the audience's passion is very rare."
Soon, as the opening music began, the participating Horse Girl successively entered their gate lanes.
"All Horse Girl have entered their gates."
The Announcer (Female)'s voice continued:
"The St. Leger Memorial Race..."
"Now..."
"Clang!"
The sound of the gates opening suddenly rang out, and all ten Horse Girl, including Rudolph Symboli, immediately burst forward.
"They've started!"
Two Horse Girl in this race adopted a leading strategy. One rushed very far ahead, while the other slowed down after securing a good inner position.
Rudolph Symboli followed closely in the Leading position, in third place. The pack of Horse Girl behind gradually stretched out, and the situation slowly became clear.
"I'll stay in this position for now."
Looking at the two leading Horse Girl ahead, Rudolph Symboli was in no hurry, feeling no pressure at all.
"Entering the first turn, the leading Horse Girl has already opened up at least four horse lengths from the back, the pace is slightly fast."
The Announcer (Female) reported the race situation, describing it to the audience.
"Rudolph Symboli is in third place, at the front of the trailing Horse Girl pack, firmly holding the inner lane."
Not long after clearing the turn, the Horse Girl pack ascended the gentle, long slope before the mid-section of the race.
At this point, the leading Horse Girl in front had already opened up at least five horse lengths, and Rudolph Symboli was also about three horse lengths behind the second-place Horse Girl.
However, after a brief flat section and entering the downhill straight, Rudolph Symboli and the trailing Horse Girl pack gradually increased their speed, and the distance to the front began to shrink.
"That child running at the very front is a bit too impatient."
From the stands, Maruzensky suddenly spoke.
"Opening up a lead at the start is good, but once her stamina is mostly depleted, it's inevitable that she'll be caught up to in the latter half."
Saying this, she turned her head to glance at Polaris Glacier, a subtle expression in her eyes.
Polaris Glacier didn't respond, concentrating on the situation on the racecourse.
After the leading Horse Girl was caught, the entire pack suddenly became compact.
"Almost there."
Passing the final 600-meter marker, Rudolph Symboli suddenly surged forward to snatch a good position, forming a four-way tie with two other accelerating Horse Girl and the original leading Horse Girl. They maintained this position through the final turn.
Arriving at the final straight, there were now only about 350 meters left to the finish line.
Soon passing the final 200-meter marker, Rudolph Symboli exhaled slightly, her strides gradually quickening, and she quickly broke away from the three Horse Girl she was originally alongside, launching her final sprint.
One horse length, two horse lengths, three horse lengths... the distance rapidly widened.
After confirming that the Horse Girl behind her could not catch up, Rudolph Symboli did not accelerate further, instead maintaining her current speed and crossing the finish line.
Her race time was 2 minutes and 13.4 seconds.
After stopping, Rudolph Symboli exhaled and quickly brought her breathing under control.
Anyone could see that it was an easy victory.
Just as she herself said, it was only a G3-Grade Race, not worth the Emperor using her full strength.