"Rice Shower, do you want to challenge the Arc de Triomphe?"
"The Arc de Triomphe? Why are you suddenly asking me this now, Trainer?"
Rice Shower was somewhat surprised by her trainer's question.
This kind of thing was usually brought up during contract negotiations, wasn't it? Asking about it now seemed a bit late. And raising the topic so suddenly—could it be that her trainer wanted her to register for the Arc de Triomphe?
Still, Rice Shower could understand why her trainer might think this way.
After all, for a trainer, the Arc de Triomphe was supposed to be the pinnacle of the world. Given the opportunity to glimpse the view from that summit, surely most people would want to climb up and see for themselves.
But unfortunately, that wasn't the pinnacle Rice Shower wanted to pursue.
To her, this world's Arc de Triomphe wasn't some grand pinnacle—it was nothing at all.
Rice Shower's eyes completely lacked the sparkle that most horse girls showed when they heard about the Arc de Triomphe.
Most horse girls would feel at least somewhat excited upon learning they could participate in the Arc de Triomphe. But Trainer P saw no such emotion in Rice Shower's eyes. He felt that her thoughts had become increasingly difficult to read lately.
Recently, P had been seeing shadows of The Overlord in the current Rice Shower.
He felt that rather than reverting to the original Rice Shower, it was more like the two personalities had fused together.
But this was actually just P's misconception.
It was simply because the current Rice Shower had accepted The Overlord, causing The Overlord's aura to manifest in her presence.
"I just wanted to confirm whether you currently have any desire to pursue the title of world's strongest."
P knew it was rather late to be asking this question now.
But as a rookie trainer back then, how could he have imagined his future would turn out this brilliant? How could he have predicted that his contracted horse girl would come this far? Back then, he simply hadn't dared to dream of such things.
Although Rice Shower had mentioned wanting to rest before, horse girls were competitive by nature after all. The more talented a horse girl was, the more fierce her competitive spirit.
The current Rice Shower was already Japan's strongest—and it wasn't even contested.
So would such a Rice Shower really have no desire to challenge higher-level competitions and reach for the world's summit?
"...I'm already very satisfied with my current achievements."
After careful consideration, Rice Shower still felt that the Arc de Triomphe held no appeal for her.
The world's strongest competition?
But she had already witnessed the world's strongest level of ability.
After all, barring any surprises, this year's Arc de Triomphe would probably be won by Venus Paques.
Was Venus Paques strong?
Yes.
At least within this world's level restrictions, she was probably a T0-tier powerhouse.
But unfortunately, there was still a gap between Venus Paques and her current self.
The thing was, even Rice Shower herself didn't know exactly how strong she had become.
The Overlord's power, combined with her own power—
She currently felt no limit to this strength.
Right now, she had no opponents in this world.
Right now, she felt absolutely no pressure in competitions. She had the feeling that she could win even while running casually.
This wasn't arrogance—it was simply stating facts.
This was also why she wanted to rest.
As for the so-called title of world's strongest...
While that might be the dream of many horse girls, Rice Shower had never had that goal from the start. She simply wanted to become a hero.
She had simply admired the sight of her seniors running on the racetrack.
She had never thought about becoming the strongest or anything like that.
Compared to becoming the strongest, what she actually wanted more was to catch up to her seniors.
So competing in the Arc de Triomphe to claim the title of world's strongest—she had never considered such a thing.
All the goals she had wanted to achieve in this world had already been accomplished.
Now she could probably understand how McQueen-neesan had felt when she retired from competition.
Since she had already achieved her goals, there was no need to remain on the track.
Because she would never feel any passion from this racetrack again.
Staying in such a place would be like guarding an empty throne, forever running alone on a course where she could see the finish line at a glance.
Such races weren't exciting at all.
Such a figure wasn't dazzling at all.
Such a stage—
Had no need for a hero's entrance.
After all, a race couldn't exist without opponents.
"Trainer, do you want me to participate in the Arc de Triomphe?"
Rice Shower didn't realize that her eyes at this moment carried some of The Overlord's hollow quality, filled with intimidating presence.
Perhaps sensing Rice Shower's innermost thoughts, The Overlord's gaze also appeared in her eyes, awaiting the trainer's answer.
Rice Shower didn't want to run this race, but if her trainer strongly wished it, she would probably agree.
However, The Overlord would be very displeased about such a thing.
After talking with Rice Shower and seeing her current expression, P felt he had roughly understood her thoughts.
"No, from my perspective as a trainer, our current achievements are more than enough. There's absolutely no need to take risks by participating in the Arc de Triomphe. Let's continue working toward the Takarazuka Kinen as our final race of the year!"
Since Rice Shower didn't want to participate, there was no need to.
Besides, what he said was the truth.
Purely in terms of race grade, the Arc de Triomphe was just another GI. Even if they won it, Rice Shower's rating wouldn't increase by much.
The so-called title of world's strongest was merely a title with no practical significance—it wouldn't bring much real benefit.
Of course, the Arc de Triomphe's prize money and popularity were indeed very high, but did Rice Shower really still need such things now?
Even if the prize money was substantial and the rating points were somewhat higher than other GI races, it was completely unnecessary given Rice Shower's current standing. Winning wouldn't raise her world-first rating by much, but losing could cause her ranking to drop.
Unless Rice Shower herself had some interest in the Arc de Triomphe, participating now would be a thankless endeavor.
This was P's view on the Arc de Triomphe.
Although he felt somewhat apologetic toward the Chairwoman and the others, he couldn't just have Rice Shower participate in a meaningless high-intensity race for something as trivial as face.
A horse girl's world rating was calculated based on their career races, looking at race grades rather than which region the race was held in.
While some races did have slightly higher ratings than others at the same level—like the Arc de Triomphe—the Arc was still just a GI at the end of the day. Its rating was only two or three points higher than a regular GI at most.
The main reason the Arc de Triomphe was so popular was its prestige and prize money, not the rating difference.
This was also the biggest reason why many top competitors didn't consider overseas expeditions early in their careers.
After all, if you could easily dominate races in your own country, why would you travel overseas to compete?
Even someone as powerful as the Emperor had only challenged the world after completing her domestic races.
Yet even the Emperor, as strong as she was, still lost in overseas competitions—proof of how severely being out of one's element could affect a competitor's performance.
So from a trainer's perspective, P's first thought about this exchange race was that there was no need to participate.
The only reason he had hesitated was because he couldn't quite grasp Rice Shower's feelings on the matter.
After making his decision, P quickly sent his reply to the Chairwoman: Team Sirius would be withdrawing from the overseas exchange race.
But somehow, this news leaked to the public.
Upon learning that Rice Shower wouldn't compete in the exchange race, many fans felt very disappointed.
They had been certain that Rice Shower would represent Japan in this year's Arc de Triomphe. No one doubted whether she had the ability.
After all, she was The Overlord!
But now Rice Shower's trainer was saying she wouldn't challenge the Arc de Triomphe?
When this news broke, the fans' immediate thought, beyond their disappointment, was whether something was wrong with Rice Shower's health.
Why else would she give up this opportunity?
P soon received an apologetic message from the Chairwoman.
This information leak was clearly the work of the Committee.
After all, unlike the Chairwoman who valued staying true to one's original intentions, what the Committee cared about was that they had invested so much to host this event—they couldn't let it end in failure!
The pressure Venus Paques had put on the Committee's upper management was simply too great.
Based on Venus Paques's performances in the Satsuki Sho and Japan Derby, they had confirmed she was a "monster"-level genius.
Their reasons for holding the exchange race this year were twofold.
First, to prevent Venus Paques from running the Kikka Sho and claiming an undefeated Triple Crown, since the Kikka Sho's timing conflicted with the Arc de Triomphe.
Second, because Rice Shower was currently at her peak, they believed that having her compete would give them a solid chance of defeating Venus Paques.
So when they learned Rice Shower had withdrawn, they immediately thought of using underhanded tactics.
However, things developed somewhat unexpectedly for the Committee. They had leaked this information hoping to use fan pressure to influence Rice Shower.
But instead, these fans were now worrying whether Rice Shower's withdrawal was due to health problems. The few discordant voices that arose were quickly drowned out.
Rice Shower's popularity was simply too high.
She was The Overlord who had ascended to godhood by stepping over Tokai Teio, Mejiro McQueen, and all those foreign competitors at the Japan Cup!
The Committee's attempt to use public opinion to apply pressure was completely ineffective.
You're saying Rice Shower is avoiding the match because she's afraid of losing?
Don't make me laugh. With Rice Shower's current track record, do you really think someone this strong would avoid a match out of fear of losing?
What about using patriotism to guilt-trip her?
Unfortunately, that approach didn't work in the horse girl world.
Because horse girl racing had no national boundaries—it was a purely competitive world.
All that "fighting for your country" stuff...
Individuals could think that way privately, but you couldn't morally blackmail competitors into doing so.
After all, too many countries had horse girls who were foreign nationals.
P glanced at the online discussions and the messages on the team account, not paying much attention to the Committee's petty schemes.
The Committee's remaining options were actually quite limited.
First, they could ban her from racing, but that posed no threat to the current Rice Shower.
Second, they could keep pestering her, which was even less threatening.
So P simply made a post on the team account and then stopped concerning himself with the matter.
The content of his post was simple.
Rice Shower's health was fine—she was perfectly healthy and currently preparing for the upcoming Takarazuka Kinen.
As for why they were giving up on the overseas exchange race: it was because the training and competition intensity over the past two years had been excessive, so they planned to let Rice Shower rest for a while.
After seeing this message, most fans expressed understanding.
After all, this was only Rice Shower's second year since debut. If she wanted to challenge the Arc de Triomphe, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future—there was no need to rush.
As for potentially losing the exchange race without Rice Shower competing?
Everyone said they were used to it.
After all, it wasn't like they'd never lost the Japan Cup before.
Surely they wouldn't make Rice Shower compete in a mere GII exchange race while exhausted?
Anyone who thought that way should really reflect on themselves.
Besides, it wasn't like Rice Shower had never brought glory to the country—that Japan Cup victory trophy wasn't fake.
The trolls the Committee had hired hadn't even managed to stir up any drama online before being thoroughly lambasted.
Neither the fans nor the horse girls supported their rhetoric.
Plus, the trolls themselves didn't dare go too far.
After all, in this world, the gods were watching.
As a result, attention on the exchange race dropped sharply, and everyone shifted their focus to the Takarazuka Kinen instead.
Because Rice Shower's trainer had said this would be Rice Shower's final race of the year.
"Can't you reconsider?"
"I'm sorry, I have other matters to attend to. Let's talk another time."
Faced with the Committee staff's persistent pestering, P chose to ignore them.
These workers didn't dare bother Rice Shower—after all, if they angered a horse girl, their bodies couldn't withstand even one punch from her.
So the Committee's harassment could only be directed at trainers like him.
But P obviously wasn't someone who'd fall for that tactic either.
And so, while P dealt with the Committee's pestering on one hand and helped Rice Shower gather intelligence on opponents on the other, the day of the Takarazuka Kinen arrived.
On that day, there wasn't a single empty seat in the entire venue.
A full 200,000 spectators had shown up.
The passionate atmosphere was proof of just how anticipated this race was.
And all of this was undoubtedly due to Rice Shower's popularity.
Of course, it wasn't just Rice Shower's doing alone.
Venus Paques had also registered for this Takarazuka Kinen after learning that Rice Shower wouldn't participate in the exchange race.
Also competing in this race were Tokai Teio, Mejiro McQueen, Mihono Bourbon...
It was truly a grand feast.
...
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