“My muscles are so sore—so there really are aftereffects!”
The next day, when Sunset woke up, she felt like she could not move at all. Compared to yesterday, her legs hurt even more. It looked like she would not be able to work today.
Normally, Sunset’s part-time work on the shopping street consisted of helping whichever shop happened to be short on labor. Since she was a middle schooler, there was no steady contract. Both sides knew each other well, and if something came up and she could not go, the shopkeepers were usually quite understanding.
Speaking of which, spending one day earning a high hourly wage only to lose the ability to work the next day—did that count as a profit or not?
Sunset could not calculate it anyway. Whatever. Slacking time.
Although Sunset did wonder whether Okino might come looking for her again, he might not necessarily know where she lived, so she gave up thinking about it.
And so the day passed—
As if.
“Onee-chan, it’s time to get up! I heard the shopping street’s big-eater contest starts at noon. I want to go watch too!”
Sunset had only just fallen back asleep when Kita-chan forcibly pushed her awake.
“I really don’t want to move… Bring me a stretcher and I’ll go with you.”
“Uu…”
Looking at her dazed Onee-chan, Kita-chan puffed out her cheeks until they were round, then climbed straight onto Sunset and started pushing her.
In the end, Sunset still could not withstand Kita-chan’s harassment and reluctantly got out of bed.
“A big-eater contest… I’m not even entering, so why join the crowd?”
Finding herself a wooden crutch, Sunset followed Kita-chan out of the orphanage, limping the whole way.
“Are your legs really that sore, Onee-chan? Poke~”
“Wah! Don’t, don’t touch there!”
Seeing her sister’s pained expression, Kita-chan, as the good little sister who cared deeply for her older sister, naturally—
Poked her again.
“You brat, just you wait. I’ll get my revenge tomorrow—wah, I was wrong, Kita-chan! Spare me! Stop poking—!”
Behold: a paper tiger in its purest form.
Hearing her older sister let out such delightful wails, Kita-chan was in an absolutely fantastic mood.
…
When they arrived at the shopping street, a stage had already been set up on the small platform in the center of the road, and the contestants for today were being introduced.
Because this place was not too far from Tracen Academy, quite a few Umamusume could be seen gathered around, making the scene extremely lively.
“Speaking of which, Uncle Honda actually dared to hold a big-eater contest here? Isn’t he afraid of getting eaten into bankruptcy? It’s all Umamusume.”
The middle-aged uncle onstage was excitedly hosting the contest. That uncle ran a noodle shop.
It was impressive that he could still smile. If Sunset had been in his place, seeing so many Umamusume enter would have made her panic long ago.
“Oh, Sunset and Kita-chan are here!”
The other shopkeepers watching the fun on the shopping street noticed the two of them standing at the edge and began gathering over.
“I was wondering why Sunset didn’t come to work today. Did you get hurt somewhere? Why are you using a crutch?”
The shopkeepers all expressed their concern. After all these years, they had all watched Sunset grow up. Sunset and Neicha could be considered the shopping street’s two local treasures. Kita-chan had not grown up yet, so she counted as half of one.
“It’s fine. I just overdid it working yesterday, so my legs are a little sore.”
“Which shop was it? Who dares work our Sunset that hard? Tell me. I’ll go wreck the place.”
“Your Sunset? Isn’t she ours? And you, wreck a place? Out of everyone with a shop here, you’re the biggest coward!”
“It’s really not that serious, hahaha…”
Looking at the shopkeepers teasing one another in front of her, Sunset could only smile helplessly but politely.
“Oh, right, Sunset, why don’t you enter the big-eater contest too?”
“Exactly! One more or one less won’t matter. Honda’s bleeding money either way today, so he won’t miss yours.”
“I’ll pass. I’m not feeling well today, so I don’t have much appetite… Why not let Kita-chan enter?”
Seeing Uncle Honda on the contestant stage not far away enthusiastically introducing today’s important contestant—Oguri Cap—Sunset decided to retreat.
She could not win anyway, so why go up there and embarrass herself? Avoiding battle was also a form of wisdom. Definitely.
“Yay! I want to enter the big-eater contest too!”
Kita-chan, on the other hand, did not care about winning or losing. All she knew was that in the contest, she could eat as much as she wanted.
“Um, Uncle Honda! Remember not to let Kita-chan overeat!”
Seeing Kita-chan rush excitedly onto the contestant stage, Uncle Honda met Sunset’s gaze, then made an “understood” gesture.
“The next challenger is—Nice Nature!”
Then Nice Nature walked to the front of the stage and greeted everyone below with a slightly shy expression. The acquaintances below also cheered for her one after another.
“Do your best, Neicha!”
“As the only hope of our shopping street, go for it!”
“Please don’t get so enthusiastic, and don’t expect me to win, either. I’ll try my best, but I really only came here to make up the numbers. Ugh, this is painful…”
Poor kid.
According to the rumors Sunset had heard through gossip, that short Tamamo Cross and Oguri Cap were definitely going to take first and second. As one of the only three Umamusume contestants apart from Kita-chan, Neicha would probably end up in last place.
After the human division and Umamusume division contestants had been introduced, the contest officially began.
Incidentally, while there were plenty of ingredients around, Sunset slipped into the back kitchen and mooched a bowl of noodles. Free food was always the most delicious. Sunset deeply agreed with that statement.
Not long after the contest began, as expected, the first to leave was Kita-chan. Although Sunset had told Uncle Honda to take care of Kita-chan a little, by the time Kita-chan stepped down from the stage, she had already turned into “Kita Ball.”
Her plump belly was so cute. If Sunset poked it, she could probably make quite a lot come out, right? Eugh, that suddenly felt a little gross.
Seeing her Onee-chan keep a full body-length away from her with a look of disgust, Kita-chan looked wronged, not knowing what she had done wrong.
The contest quickly entered its climax. The human contestants had all been defeated, leaving only three Umamusume onstage.
Nice Nature, who clearly had no fighting spirit at all, decisively chose to give up the moment she felt her stomach starting to swell, earning an excellent third place.
After that, only Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross remained onstage.
Most of the food used in this contest was noodle dishes, and the back kitchen was still producing food at tremendous speed. However, there seemed to be a shortage of ingredients. Sunset noticed that supplies were still constantly being brought into the kitchen.
Uncle Honda’s face seemed a little awkward. Although he had brought this upon himself, Sunset still felt somewhat sympathetic toward him. If the ingredients ran out before these two Umamusume were full, this contest would definitely be laughed about by everyone on the shopping street for half a month.
If this were normal, Sunset would have volunteered to help restock and earn a little extra money. Unfortunately, with her current crutch, she could not do this kind of physical labor at all.
“It’s already been over an hour. When are they finally going to settle this…”
Sunset sat off to the side in the audience area, bored out of her mind, while stroking the ears of her little sister, who had fallen asleep after eating her fill.
Her ears were fluffy, and when Sunset touched a sensitive spot, they would smack against her hand with a pa. They felt very nice.
The other spectators were still cheering loudly for the two onstage. Sunset, at least, could not really understand why anyone would get that excited waving banners and shouting for two gluttons who had been eating for hours.
Still, although the two seemed to be eating at almost the same speed, Tamamo Cross was already showing signs of decline. It looked like the outcome would soon be decided.
“I ain’t losin’!”
Tamamo Cross, tears in her eyes, was still desperately swallowing noodles in huge mouthfuls, looking exactly like a bullied little dog.
Compared to her, Oguri Cap appeared much more composed, and even her speed was barely any different from when the contest had begun.
“Delicious. Being able to eat unlimited food for free… big cities are wonderful.”
As she spoke, she finished another oversized bowl of noodles in three bites. That was not even the important part. The truly terrifying thing was that she also drank almost all the broth while she was at it.
What did it mean to be a famous glutton? This was it. Tactical lean-back.
“Speaking of which, how on earth do those two fit that much food into their stomachs?”
“That must be a talent too.”
Lord Sunset and Nice Nature continued wearing expressions of disbelief below the stage.
“By the way, Neicha, after eating that much, don’t you need to walk it off?”
“To be precise, it’s not that I don’t want to walk it off. I already can’t move.”
Nice Nature patted her swollen stomach and explained with a red face.
Just then, an excessively lively voice came from behind them.
“Ah! It’s Neicha! You entered too? So sneaky, you didn’t even tell me!”
The voice was so sweet it was almost cloying, and it contained a lethal dose of liveliness. One listen was enough to know this was a little tyrant. Sunset turned around and saw a bay Umamusume with a single ponytail and a white streak. She was not very tall, probably a few centimeters shorter than Sunset, and that white streak could not help making Sunset think of Symboli Rudolf.
“Teio? Why did you come here to play today too?”
It seemed she was an acquaintance of Nice Nature.
“Hehe, when I went out, I happened to see Prez heading this way, so I came with her! Ah, hello! I’m Tokai Teio.”
That Umamusume smiled and greeted Nice Nature, then suddenly noticed Sunset sitting beside her and gave her a bright greeting too.
Although she was too lively, she was unexpectedly not annoying. She felt like a child in about the same category as Kita-chan. But that name… wasn’t it a little too showy? Though Sunset had no right to say that herself.
“I’m Lord Sunset. Hello. By Prez, do you mean Symboli Rudolf?”
“Mm! As soon as we entered the shopping street, Prez said she had something to do and split off from me. Uuu, I originally wanted to come out and play with Prez.”
Tokai Teio must really like Symboli Rudolf. When she spoke about separating from Rudolf, even her ears drooped.
Still, would such a famous Umamusume as Symboli Rudolf come to an ordinary shopping street like this to buy things?
Sunset looked at the two famous racing Umamusume still locked in battle onstage—well, in truth, it was a one-sided massacre—and found herself no longer wanting to comment.
THUD.
That was the sound of Tamamo Cross’s head crashing into her bowl.
She had not even managed to shout “no way” before burning out on the battlefield. What a respectable competitor!
Sunset was so moved by that never-say-die sportsmanship that she almost cried. You say it was because the event could finally end? I’ll sue you for slander.
The battle that had lasted more than an hour finally came to an end. Oguri Cap, who had won, did not seem to have eaten enough yet and wanted to eat the noodles that had already been prepared in the back kitchen but not served. The backstage area became somewhat chaotic again.
But Sunset did not care about any of that. Right now, she was simply an emotionless lie-flat machine who only wanted to wake Kita-chan and go home together for another nap.
“Kita-chan, wake up!”
After patting Kita-chan awake and saying goodbye to the people she knew nearby, Sunset led the dazed little Umamusume toward home.
“Prez, where did you go just now? I couldn’t find you anywhere!”
“Sorry. I went to look for someone, but unfortunately, I didn’t find her. Let’s go to the park together this afternoon.”
“Yay!”
Hearing the conversation between the two not far away, who sounded like mother and daughter, Sunset could not help looking back. Was the one wearing all-green casual clothes Symboli Rudolf? She did look pretty cool, and just like on TV, she seemed like a kind, good person.
No! A solo Mr. C.B. supporter would never lower her guard against the Demon King!
Damn you, Symboli Rudolf!
…
Symboli Rudolf watched Tokai Teio, who was walking ahead of her and hopping around, with a wry smile.
Although Tokai Teio had been very dissatisfied with Rudolf abandoning her earlier, after Rudolf bought her favorite extra-thick, extra-rich, extra-honey special drink, Teio forgave her beloved President very easily. One could say it was a very childish temperament.
“So, Prez, who were you looking for on the shopping street?”
Taking a sip of the honey special drink, whose sweetness was just right, Rudolf fondly stroked Teio’s head.
“A Trainer recommended an Umamusume to me yesterday. I originally wanted to come meet her today, but unfortunately, I missed her.”
“Who, who? Is she stronger than me?”
“She is an Umamusume named Lord Sunset. As for whether she is stronger than you, that can only be known after you race. But right now, you are certainly stronger. She has not received professional training yet.”
Hearing that name, Tokai Teio immediately thought of the blond Umamusume she had just met. To be honest, Teio rather liked her. She had a mature and steady feeling, like an older sister.
“Ah, I met her! Her long golden hair was super pretty, just like Gold City-senpai!”
“Is that so? Then it seems my luck was poor. I missed her.”
Hearing that, Rudolf could only shake her head with a wry smile.
“Then do you want to go back and look for her now? I can show you the way!”
Although she said that, Rudolf noticed that Teio’s mood had dipped a little.
“No, forget it. We already promised to spend the afternoon together, so I won’t think about work. Where do you want to go this afternoon?”
“Yay! Prez is the best! Let’s go to karaoke! I’ve been practicing Prez’s cheering song lately, and I want to sing it for you!”
“All right. I’m looking forward to it.”
Although she had not met the person herself, today she had already asked about quite a bit of information regarding Lord Sunset. Perhaps there was something she could do, Rudolf thought.
This is a fan translation of 迫于生计，赛马娘登上赛场！ by 扶风三尺 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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