The Trainer With Little Time Left Just Wants to Live [24]

“GOLD SHIP! NUMBER EIGHT, GOLD SHIP, WHO HAD BEEN RUNNING DEAD LAST, IS BEGINNING TO OVERTAKE! SHE’S FINALLY ACCELERATING AS THEY APPROACH THE FINAL CORNER!”

“GOLD SHIP IS COMING UP! NUMBER THREE, THE FRONT RUNNER, IS STILL FAR AHEAD OF THE FOLLOWING PACK, AND ONLY 500 METERS REMAIN! CAN GOLD SHIP CATCH UP?!”

It was finally here. At that moment, with the commentator’s impassioned words ringing out, the stands erupted. Everyone knew the fiercest clash of the race was about to begin.

Compared to the other spectators, Rudolf, C.B., Kitano, and the others—even Festa, who was racing on the same track—understood all too clearly that only now was Gold Ship’s true strength finally erupting!

The turf had been soaked through by yesterday’s heavy rain. With every step, water seeped up from the mud and drenched their shoes. Yet even in such awful conditions, that striking gray-haired figure advanced steadily, like a great ship holding firm in the middle of the sea.

There was no sudden burst of speed, nor any footwork so fast it left afterimages. But under everyone’s gaze, Gold Ship was steadily, solidly overtaking one exhausted opponent after another!

“Gold Ship… is accelerating? There’s almost no visible sign of it, but her rhythm really is getting faster.”

In the stands, Mejiro McQueen was the first to notice Gold Ship’s nearly imperceptible acceleration. Just then, Tokai Teio, who had been watching Gold Ship pick up speed, found the sight more and more familiar. In a daze, something suddenly occurred to her, and she hurriedly said to McQueen beside her:

“That way of accelerating—isn’t that your technique, McQueen? Why does Gold Ship know your technique?!”

“It’s simple.” Teio’s question was answered at once by Kitano, who had been watching the race the entire time. A confident smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and relying on his own knowledge, he answered with certainty:

“Because Gold Ship and McQueen are the same type of Umamusume. Both are extremely skilled in heavy turf and long-distance acceleration. For Gold Ship, this kind of heavy turf is an advantageous situation that lets her open a gap from the other Umamusume.”

This was also where Gold Ship differed completely from the other Gold Family Umamusume. From Stay Gold to Orfevre, the Gold Family Umamusume were all widely recognized as small in build, yet hiding tremendous stamina and explosive power. They were generally considered strongest in bursts and finishing kicks, the best at reversing defeat into victory and breaking through at the limit.

Gold Ship, however, was different. In the historical record of Kitano’s original world, Gold Ship’s bloodline had deep ties to the Mejiro family. Gold Ship’s damsire was Mejiro McQueen, who excelled at heavy turf and long-distance races, and whose results and performances were among the most stable of that era. Mejiro McQueen’s strengths, along with the Mejiro family’s inherited massive physique, could be said to have all been passed down to Gold Ship through that blood relationship.

Because of that, Gold Ship, who gathered the blood of both the Gold Family and the Mejiro family, had become a crystallization of their essence: the temper of the Gold Family, but a racing style belonging to the direct line of the Mejiros.

Compared with the rest of her Gold Family sisters, Gold Ship’s burst was not particularly fierce. In exchange, however, on heavy turf ike this, she could run more steadily than the other Umamusume and accelerate without hesitation!

“GOLD SHIP IS COMING UP! GOLD SHIP IS COMING UP! THEY’RE FACING THE FINAL CORNER, WITH ONLY 400 METERS LEFT! WILL GOLD SHIP OVERTAKE FROM THE INSIDE LANE OR THE OUTSIDE LANE? HER CHOICE OF LANE WILL DIRECTLY AFFECT THE RESULT OF THIS RACE!”

“HERE COMES GOLD SHIP! SHE’S CHOSEN—TO OVERTAKE FROM THE INSIDE!”

How is that possible?!

At that moment, the commentator’s impassioned voice fell into the ears of the Umamusume on the track, yet it made them feel a chill as if they had plunged into an ice pit. The Umamusume in the stands were also startled by Gold Ship’s action: she had stepped straight into the ruined turf of the inside lane, yet her speed remained completely unaffected.

Even accomplished Umamusume like Rudolf and Mr. C.B. instinctively felt their pupils shrink slightly. Soon, however, appreciation appeared in Rudolf’s eyes, and she said softly:

“Outstanding balance and power… Even in our era, Gold Ship’s talent would have been extremely rare.”

Every Umamusume knew the inside lane was the shortest distance to the finish line. Whenever a race began, the closer an Umamusume was to the inside lane, the greater her advantage, and fighting for a good position there was an essential lesson for any Umamusume. But none of that had shown itself in this race.

The reason was simple: the heavy turf was far too severe. The inside lane still bore the footprints of the Umamusume from the previous race, and even the turf itself was no longer fully intact. One look was enough to know that the inside lane was not a place where anyone could run at full power. If you tried to burst forward there, what awaited you might not be your next push, but the tragedy of overexerting yourself and slipping straight to the ground.

And if an Umamusume fell while running at full speed, what awaited her went without saying: a fracture, or even a fate that ended her entire racing career.

Because of that, from the very start, this slick, ruined inside lane had been treated almost like forbidden ground by every Umamusume. They would rather collectively go around to the outside than gamble on whether they could handle turf this bad.

Yet now, an Umamusume who truly did not care about any of that, drifting steadily across the ruined turf like a warship, appeared right beside them, cutting through the edge of their vision!

“This race—is mine!”

Gold Ship drifted through the inside lane, controlling the course with her innate balance and stability. As her steps grew more vigorous and powerful, she overtook one Umamusume after another on the corner. Those unwilling yet helpless Umamusume could only watch with their own eyes as Gold Ship passed them on the turn.

“No way—!”

“How are we supposed to beat a monster like that?!”

“Why is her balance that strong?!”

One exhausted Umamusume after another, drained by the heavy turf, slowed down after Gold Ship overtook them, as if the last breath had been knocked out of them.

The road ahead began to open up. After the corner would be the final straight, the field Gold Ship was best at. With her current speed and the stamina she still had in reserve, she believed that on the final straight, no Umamusume would be able to keep up with her speed!

If so, then that guy Kitano should be safe for now, right…? That thought flashed through Gold Ship’s mind, but before even a hint of joy could cross her face, Gold Ship’s whole body suddenly shuddered, and she immediately locked her gaze to her side.

“Not bad… Golshi-chan.”

In an instant, Festa and Gold Ship were almost parallel. Their eyes clashed fiercely in midair. Both saw in the other’s eyes a determination to win. Although their thoughts were different, in the end, both had chosen that they had to win for one person, for one purpose.

Only, compared to the resolve in Gold Ship’s eyes, Festa’s gaze now held something more—a determination willing to stake everything!

“But I have to win! Kitano bet everything on me—I can’t lose! This gamble is one I absolutely cannot lose to anyone!”

“Golshi-chan, since you’ve already gone all in, then now, all I can do is call!”

“Let’s have ourselves one grand, blazing gamble and see who’s truly worthy of being the chip he staked everything on!”

The instant Festa’s roar fell, a mad light surfaced in her eyes again, as if she were a gambler driven to the brink, left with only one final chance to turn everything around. In that instant, the pressure exploding from Festa’s body actually stunned Gold Ship slightly.

And before Gold Ship could react, Festa proved it through her actions—she was an absolute mad gambler. A gambler willing to stake everything she had for even the chance of a possibility.

All she knew was that person was worth gambling this once for, worth dragging everything she had into a bet on this victory.

BANG!

Festa’s powerful step struck out in that instant. Amid a burst of splashing mud mixed with grass, she unleashed every bit of strength in her legs!

“SHE’S SPRINTING! NUMBER TWO, NAKAYAMA FESTA! SHE’S SPRINTING!”

“AN INSIDE-LANE SPRINT, JUST LIKE GOLD SHIP! AS THEY’RE ABOUT TO PASS THE FOURTH CORNER, NAKAYAMA FESTA HAS FINALLY MADE HER MOVE! SHE’S DRIFTING THROUGH THE INSIDE LANE TOGETHER WITH GOLD SHIP! AND SHE’S TAKEN THE INNERMOST POSITION!”

“NAKAYAMA FESTA IS SPRINTING AT FULL POWER! UNBELIEVABLE! SHE AND GOLD SHIP ARE SPRINTING OVER THE MOST BRUTAL TURF! ONLY THE FINAL 200 METERS REMAIN!”

“SHE’S LOST HER MIND!”

At that moment, Festa’s reckless move could be said to have frightened everyone. Even Symboli Rudolf could no longer stay calm. Her expression rarely lost control as she gripped the railing with both hands and shouted in extreme anxiety:

“Gold Ship can do this because her physique and power can support it, but Nakayama Festa—how dare she? She isn’t an Umamusume with Gold Ship’s build!”

Rudolf and C.B. had also run in heavy turf back in their day. In fact, several of their duels had taken place under heavy-going conditions. But for that very reason, they understood all too well that going all out in heavy turf was a matter that depended heavily on luck. A strong physique, powerful legs, excellent balance… every personal advantage added a little more fortune to their performance in heavy turf. Conversely, the fewer of those advantages one possessed, the more the danger rose.

For example, Mejiro Ramonu, who was not present, would naturally have a lower chance of an accident than Rudolf or C.B. if she participated in a race under heavy turf. Like Gold Ship and Mejiro McQueen, she possessed a physique and power extremely well suited to performing on heavy turf.

But Festa was different. Born into the Gold Family, she had inherited the various negative traits passed down through that family: small stature, poor resistance to physical clashes, and no advantage in physique. What she was doing now was, without a doubt, an incredibly dangerous gamble. The moment she lost her balance, what awaited her would absolutely be the end of her entire racing career!

“Why does she dare? How can she dare do something like this? Does she not realize she can’t afford even one mistake?!”

“…Perhaps, in that child’s heart, there is something more worth gambling on than her own safety.”

Yet while Rudolf sank into anxiety, C.B.’s eyes were fixed unmoving on Festa as she raced down the track, watching that madness with which she gave everything she had, watching her disregard all risks to win for the sake of a promise.

Festa’s conviction felt unprecedentedly familiar to C.B. It was as if, in some corner of her memory, she too had once staked everything just like Festa, heedless of the consequences, wanting only to win a single victory.

But… for whom did I do something that reckless? …Could it have been him?

C.B. slowly closed her eyes. In a daze, a voice seemed to echo in her mind… That voice gradually replaced the commentator’s voice now, as if she herself were standing on the track, and that voice was announcing a victory that belonged to her.

“THE TENNO SHO (SPRING)! MR. C.B.! MR. C.B., AFTER MULTIPLE DEFEATS AND REPEATED CLASHES, HAS MADE A MIRACULOUS COMEBACK IN THE TENNO SHO (SPRING)!”

“SYMBOLI RUDOLF HAS BEEN DEFEATED! TRIPLE CROWN VERSUS TRIPLE CROWN—MR. C.B. HAS CLAIMED THIS VICTORY! SHE HAS FULFILLED THE PROMISE SHE MADE WITH HER TRAINER! THEIR BOND HAS ALLOWED THEM, IN THIS MOMENT, TO SURPASS THE ‘EMPEROR,’ SYMBOLI RUDOLF! WITH HER FINAL FINISHING KICK, MR. C.B. HAS DEFENDED HER TITLE AS JAPAN’S STRONGEST UMAMUSUME!”

Amid the illusion, C.B. seemed to return to several years ago, to her final clash with Symboli Rudolf. That had originally been the race where she, as the “Emperor’s” stepping stone, would help Rudolf firmly secure her position as “Japan’s strongest Umamusume.”

Why? Why did this illusion say I won? And my Trainer? Who was that?

Within the illusion, C.B. could not see that figure clearly. She tried hard to open her eyes wider and make out that person’s face, but she only woke from the haze and returned to reality.

What pulled her back completely was the commentator’s passionate voice from the venue. This cruel, fierce debut race finally had its result!

“ACROSS THE FINISH LINE! UNBELIEVABLE! NAKAYAMA FESTA ACTUALLY WITHSTOOD GOLD SHIP’S COUNTERATTACK AT THE VERY END! HER POWERFUL FINISHING KICK ALLOWED HER TO BEAT GOLD SHIP BY A HEAD! AND THE TWO OF THEM HAVE OPENED A FULL FOUR-LENGTH GAP FROM THE THIRD-PLACE UMAMUSUME!”

“NOT ONLY THAT, BUT BOTH NAKAYAMA FESTA AND GOLD SHIP HAVE SIMULTANEOUSLY BROKEN HAKODATE RACECOURSE’S 1,800-METER TRACK RECORD! THEY HAVE JUST DEBUTED, YET THEY’VE REFRESHED THE TRACK RECORD! THIS IS SIMPLY UNPRECEDENTED! WHAT ASTONISHING STRENGTH, OVERWHELMING SO MANY UMAMUSUME OF THE SAME GENERATION!”

“LET US CHEER FOR THESE TWO UMAMUSUME, BOTH BORN INTO THE GOLD FAMILY! THEY HAVE SHOWN US THE MOST BRILLIANT DUEL AMONG THE UMAMUSUME OF THEIR GENERATION! WITH THEIR STRENGTH, THEY HAVE PROVEN ONE THING: THE FUTURE OF THE GOLD FAMILY WILL BEGIN RISING FROM THEM!”

T/N: andddddddddd festa winsssssss

This is a fan translation of 时日无多的训练员只想活下去 by 许氏子谦 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!