Uma Musume: To The Top!!

After obtaining physical bodies, Byerley and Darley quickly pieced together most of what had happened during this period through their conversation with Godolphin.

"So in other words..."

The red goddess Darley clenched one fist and smacked it into her palm, looking as though she had finally realized the truth.

"Godolphin, you deliberately kept this from us so you could enjoy yourself alone in the human world, eating well, living well, and having fun everywhere."

"And then you tricked the two of us into wandering all over the world aimlessly for a full two months?!"

"..."

Faced with that soul-piercing accusation from an old friend, the blue-haired girl fell unusually silent for a moment.

Then she suddenly turned her head, moved closer to Kuroha, and tightly hugged his arm with both hands as she shot back with righteous confidence,

"Ahem! I wasn't just playing around, okay? I've been busy dealing with major life events this whole time!"

"Right, Yu-kun?"

"For March's wedding before, and little Inari's wedding a few days ago, I helped out a lot, you know!"

"...That part is true."

Kuroha's eyelid twitched slightly.

For some reason, this blue goddess had shown an extraordinary level of concern for his weddings.

Aside from Kuroha himself, the person most enthusiastic about the whole thing had been Godolphin.

Every day, she happily ran around helping with one thing after another, checking venues and picking decorations.

She had even dragged both brides aside before the ceremonies to give them emotional support, huddling together with them to whisper all kinds of lighthearted little secrets.

The way she had worried over everything, anyone who did not know better would have thought she was March and Inari's actual mother.

"So you're not denying that you deliberately sent us away, right?"

Byerley folded her arms across her chest and spoke sternly with that naturally imposing face of hers.

In the end, under the condemnation of her two friends, Godolphin honestly lowered her head and bowed in apology with suspiciously practiced ease.

After the internal "tribunal" between the Three Goddesses finally came to an end, the topic at last returned to the main point.

Kuroha.

After a brief exchange of looks, the red goddess and the yellow goddess immediately made the exact same choice Godolphin had made.

Obviously. If they could have real physical bodies, stay in this beautiful world full of life, joy, and laughter, and even have the chance to interact closely with their adorable Umamusume juniors, then who would willingly return alone to that dull prison of theirs, pretty scenery or not?

"Of course, we won't just freeload here."

Byerley straightened up and said in a deep voice, "Weddings and romance are Godolphin's specialty, so Darley and I do not intend to interfere too much in that area. However..."

She paused, then added, "Darley and I can act as your assistants and help train one Umamusume."

"Help train?"

Kuroha blinked, then turned to look suspiciously at Godolphin, who was still clinging to his arm like an accessory.

He knew perfectly well that in the worldview of the game from his previous life, when the Three Goddesses appeared, their original role was to support training.

If they did not know how to train Umamusume, that would have been absurd.

They were the ancestors of Umamusume, and gods who had existed for more than three hundred years.

Looking across the entire world as it stood now, aside from Kuroha himself and his cheat-like abilities, there was practically no trainer whose coaching ability could compare to the three of them.

Not to mention that their personal mastery over the Blessing Power, or divine power, was far more refined than his.

That was exactly why, back in the first few days after Godolphin moved into the Villa of Chasing Light, Kuroha had tentatively asked her whether she had any interest in helping train his girls.

Godolphin had refused with exceptional decisiveness at the time.

"Giving advice is fine~ But directly taking part in their training is not. That would be unfair to the other children."

Those had been her exact words.

So why was it that now, the moment Byerley and Darley arrived, they had proactively offered to help train?

Sensing the probing pressure in Kuroha's gaze, the blue goddess still showed no sign of guilt. She simply stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Before the Arima Kinen, of course it wasn't possible."

"As for after that... well, it was because I was busy with March's and little Inari's weddings and just didn't have the time~"

Before the Arima Kinen?

What did the Arima Kinen have to do with this?

Kuroha frowned at first, his mind racing through several key turning points.

Then a flash of insight struck him, and realization dawned all at once. His gaze sharpened as he looked straight at Byerley and Darley.

"When you say help train... do you mean any Umamusume?"

Just as expected, both goddesses shook their heads in unison.

"Only her."

Darley gave a light smile and raised a hand, pointing toward the elegant purple figure sweating it out on the track not far away.

McQueen.

Byerley added gravely from the side,

"Aside from her, we can offer suggestions for the others' training plans and help fill in gaps."

"But we absolutely cannot directly interfere in the course of their growth."

As expected, it was exactly the same logic Godolphin had used before.

Why... was McQueen the only exception?

Kuroha narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking it over.

What was the essential difference between before and after the Arima Kinen...?

Then he froze.

Of course there was a difference.

After that legendary Arima Kinen, McQueen had already transformed.

She had become, within this generation, not just the undisputed number one in the Far East, but perhaps in the entire world.

The only possessor of the third step of Domain.

"That child is now, without question, the strongest in the world as it currently stands."

Looking at McQueen on the track, Byerley's eyes showed the approving warmth of an elder.

"What we can do is simply help her take fewer detours on the road to the summit."

"So that her journey is less full of hardship, and she can walk it more steadily."

Darley and Godolphin nodded as well, silently reinforcing the point with their eyes.

Their meaning was perfectly clear.

Because McQueen had already stepped into the third step of Domain, almost no one in this generation could challenge her in terms of raw ability anymore.

She had already moved beyond the category of "normal competition."

So helping McQueen did not count as breaking the balance.

"..."

After hearing the explanation from all three goddesses, Kuroha finally understood the implication behind their logic.

To put it simply, if the person receiving their help were switched to Teio instead, then with Teio's current strength, she already had a very high chance of taking the undefeated Triple Crown.

And if the Three Goddesses directly intervened in Teio's training, then every aspect of her physical ability would improve even more steadily and even faster.

Her grasp of skills and techniques would become smoother.

She might even never suffer injuries like fractures at all.

"...I see..."

Kuroha nodded in understanding.

So they would only help the absolute number one?

Well... it was not as though that was useless, but it really was a little subtle.

Still, handled that way, it was indeed fair to the other Umamusume.

For the past three hundred years, the Three Goddesses of the Umamusume had loved every successor equally.

Truthfully, whether the Three Goddesses could help or not, Kuroha would never have refused to let these three girls stay by his side.

The Villa of Chasing Light was enormous. Did it really matter if there were three extra bowls and pairs of chopsticks at the table?

But as things stood now, this outcome could be considered a happy one for everyone.

"In that case..."

Kuroha smiled and extended his right hand, looking sincerely at the three gods before him.

"Welcome to Chasing Light. Darley, Byerley, I look forward to working with you."

The red goddess and the yellow goddess exchanged a glance, then both smiled and reached out their hands as well.

"Yu-kun, take care of us too!"

...

Once the Three Goddesses of the Umamusume decided to station themselves with Team Chasing Light in full, the other girls on the team were thoroughly shocked.

They had never imagined that their trainer was this outrageous, to the point that he had somehow lured the other two goddesses back home as well.

But after the initial shock passed, no one showed even the slightest rejection. Instead, they welcomed the three gods with overwhelming enthusiasm.

And from that point on, McQueen's daily training immediately entered an unprecedented state of intensity.

With the Three Goddesses acting as ultimate support, the training plans Kuroha had designed, already harsh to begin with, were not only perfectly absorbed by McQueen, she was even able to exceed them.

Whether it was deeper excavation of the third step of Domain, finer control over her power, or adjustments to her skills and running technique, the Three Goddesses could provide astonishingly precise and constructive guidance.

At this moment, the girl carrying the glory of the Mejiro family on her shoulders was charging at full speed toward the absolute peak of her career.

...

Time slipped away quietly amid the blazing intensity of training.

Before anyone realized it, the calendar had already turned to March.

March 3.

Nakayama Racecourse.

The venue was roaring with voices, and colorful flags fluttered everywhere.

As the most important trial race for the first gate of the Classic Triple Crown, the G2 title race, the Yayoi Sho, was about to begin here.

(End of Chapter)

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