Almond Eye's breathing quickened, her heart pounding like a little drum beaten wildly.
Not far away, a tall Umamusume was speaking confidently with her companions, her eyes gleaming with determination.
Almond Eye heard her say, "I'm going to pass this exam. I'm going to carve out a place of my own at Tracen Academy."
Off to the side, a short-haired examinee was stretching in place. Every movement was smooth and powerful, as if she were showing everyone around her exactly what she was capable of.
A little farther away, another burst of commotion rose. Almond Eye looked up and saw a nimble Umamusume surrounded by a group of people.
She stood tall and straight, her eyes sharp, every gesture brimming with confidence.
Someone nearby whispered, "That's Lily Noble. I heard her training results are outstanding. She's one of the favorites for this exam."
Hearing that, Almond Eye suddenly felt less nervous.
She opened her hand, wiped the sweat from her palm on her tracksuit, and looked at Lily Noble. A spark of fighting spirit flashed in her eyes as she silently made up her mind.
No matter who I'm up against, I won't back down. If I run into her during a test, or in the mock race later... then I'll just see how I measure up.
Her spirits lifted a little, she walked all the way to the check-in area, where a long line had already formed.
Some examinees in line had their eyes closed, resting and settling themselves. Some were speaking quietly with their companions, sharing their nerves and anticipation. Others were hopping lightly in place, warming up.
Almond Eye took a deep breath and tried hard to steady herself, silently thinking, I can do this. I'm going to show everyone what I can do.
Almond Eye moved slowly with the line until it was finally her turn to be checked.
The Umamusume in charge of the inspection had a kind face. After checking Almond Eye over carefully with practiced movements, she turned and picked up a number bib printed with a four-digit number from the table beside her, then handed it to Almond Eye with a smile.
In a kind, patient tone, she reminded her, "Don't lose this number bib, all right?"
"Every test you take after this will be ordered according to this number."
"The exact order of the tests is written in detail on the sign over there."
Almond Eye nodded repeatedly, thanking her again and again.
As she put on the number bib, she could not help studying it closely. The number printed clearly on it was "0806," and she silently committed it to memory.
After that, she walked in the direction the senior had pointed. Before long, she saw a large noticeboard standing ahead.
The board was densely covered with lists. Each one laid out information related to the inspections and tests, including not only the times for each item, but also the corresponding examinee numbers.
Almond Eye could not help marveling inwardly, It really is so thorough... No, now's not the time to be impressed. I need to hurry and write down the times.
She quickly reached into the pocket of her tracksuit jacket and pulled out a small notebook and a carrot-shaped ballpoint pen.
She had learned the habit from Kitasan Black. On ordinary days, whenever she saw her senior talking with her trainer, Kitasan would always hold a little notebook just like this and take notes seriously.
Almond Eye focused intently on writing everything down for a good while. Afterward, she carefully checked the contents of her notebook against the information on the noticeboard word by word, line by line. Only after confirming that there were no mistakes did she nod in satisfaction.
Just as she was about to turn and leave, a hand suddenly reached over from beside her, and a voice with an elegant Kansai accent sounded by her ear. "Excuse me, you dropped your tissues."
Almond Eye froze for a moment, then instinctively turned her head.
The first thing she saw was a pale, slender hand holding a pack of tissues. And that pack of tissues was the very one Kitasan had deliberately tucked into her hands before she entered the exam grounds.
"Thank you very much. May I ask who you are...?" Almond Eye hurriedly took the tissues. As she thanked her sincerely, she raised her head.
Only then did she realize that, at some point, an Umamusume with long cherry-red hair had come to stand beside her.
Just like her voice, this Umamusume's bearing was extremely elegant. There was even a faint air of nobility in her every movement.
"I'm also taking this entrance exam. My name is Lucky Lilac. It's a pleasure to meet you."
After introducing herself with an elegant bow, Lucky Lilac straightened and tilted her head slightly, studying Almond Eye. Curiosity shone in her eyes as she said, "Unless I'm mistaken, you... must be the Almond Eye that Kita-senpai mentioned, right?"
At the sound of Lucky Lilac's name, Almond Eye could not help freezing.
She had heard that name from Yasui and Kitasan, and she also knew that the Umamusume the two of them had gone to visit at the Gold family home a few days ago was her.
Originally, because both Yasui and Kitasan had praised Lucky Lilac so highly, Almond Eye had been filled with fighting spirit.
From time to time, she had wondered whether she might run into Lucky Lilac during the mock race. If she did, then no matter what kind of test it was, she would go all out to surpass her.
But now that they had actually met, and Almond Eye felt the friendliness around her, she could not bring herself to feel competitive.
Almond Eye quickly smiled back and said, "That's right, I'm Almond Eye. It's nice to meet you, Lucky Lilac. I've heard Kita-senpai mention you. She said you train really hard."
As she spoke, she carefully put the pack of tissues into her pocket, thinking to herself that Kita-senpai really was thoughtful. She had not expected this pack of tissues to come in handy now, much less in this way.
Lucky Lilac's eyes lit up, and she said happily, "Really? Kita-senpai praised me?"
"I've been training hard lately because I want to get a good result on this exam and enter Tracen Academy."
"I heard you've been training with Kita-senpai, so you must have learned a lot of amazing techniques." As she spoke, she unconsciously leaned a little closer, her eyes full of thirst for knowledge and experience.
Almond Eye scratched her head and smiled a little sheepishly.
"Not really. I've just been training hard with Kita-senpai and Trainer Yasui, slowly figuring out methods that suit me."
"Oh, right. How did you pick up my tissues just now?" She looked at Lucky Lilac in confusion, guessing she must have accidentally dropped them while recording the times earlier.
Lucky Lilac blinked, then pointed at the noticeboard and then at the ground.
"You dropped them while you were busy writing things down. You were probably so focused that you didn't notice."
As she spoke, she looked around at the ground. "Check your pockets again and see whether you dropped anything else. If you did, I'll help you look."
Hearing that, Almond Eye hurriedly felt through her pockets, lowered her head to look around her feet, and quickly thought back.
Everything in her pockets seemed to be there, there was nothing familiar by her feet, and after confirming that she had all her belongings properly on her, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's all right. Everything's with me. Thank you, Lucky Lilac."
After nodding gratefully, she looked at the number bib on Lucky Lilac, then at the noticeboard. "Oh, right. What number are you? I'll help you check your exam time... huh?"
"Mm? What is it, Almond Eye?" Lucky Lilac, who had been looking toward the noticeboard, quickly turned back to her with concern.
"Well..."
After hesitating for a moment, Almond Eye flipped through the small notebook in her hand and pointed at Lucky Lilac's number bib.
"It looks like... the two of us are in the same test group."
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