Narita Road's breathing had finally steadied a little as she looked at Little Griseo.
All around them were cheers, whistles, shouts, and congratulations.
She was the same. A loss was a loss. She congratulated Little Griseo, even as she sighed inwardly.
"I once thought that although there was a gap between us, it wasn't impossible to close."
"I never imagined you would reach this level."
"..."
"Congratulations on breaking the turf record, the G1 record, the Japanese record, and... the world record."
"Congratulations on shocking the world with one brilliant performance. You left everyone stunned."
"..."
Narita Road included, as did the other Uma Musume.
Even the spectators and fans...
They all believed it!
This was the true strength of 'Mejiro McQueen.'
They said Rome wasn't built in a day.
Perhaps 'Mejiro McQueen's' strength was the same?
Although some time had passed since Mejiro McQueen's previous Autumn Emperor Award.
Even counting every day, it had only been two or three short months.
Even if she had improved.
It was impossible for her to improve that much!
So they were even more inclined to believe that Mejiro McQueen had already been extremely strong back then. She had simply lacked an opponent capable of forcing her to show her true ability.
At most, she had even pretended to struggle desperately.
What a performance. She had truly deceived everyone!
Naughty.
McQueen, you naughty girl!
They might say you could cheat on an exam.
But in an Uma Musume race, that was absolutely impossible.
Everyone could feel who had released a skill and how powerful it was.
Just that terrifying final explosion, which felt as if it were about to strip away all their senses, was enough to prove that 'Mejiro McQueen' and the rest of them were already on entirely different levels.
Every