So there was absolutely no way she'd enroll! The Tracen Academy could go hang!
With that conviction firmly in mind, Platinum said her goodbyes to Tokai Teio.
"Um... Can I ask you something, Platinum? Why did the president keep bringing up your racing schedule?"
"What races are you planning to run?"
Before Platinum left, Tokai Teio couldn't resist her curiosity and asked one last question.
Platinum turned her head, held up three fingers, then lowered her hand and turned away again.
Faced with Miss Heavenly Horse's unusual, wordless gesture, Tokai Teio stood there, stunned.
"Huh? What... does that mean?"
"She can't be planning to run in the Classic races, can she? Tachyon already took the first leg of the Classic Triple Crown, and the first leg of the Fillies' Triple Crown is over too."
"Neither Triple Crown is complete anymore, so it shouldn't be the Classic races... What could it be?"
Tokai Teio was utterly fixated on the Undefeated Triple Crown, and naturally considered Platinum a kindred spirit.
If Platinum had a shot at the Undefeated Triple Crown, why would she come compete with Tachyon for the mere two remaining crowns?
The difficulty aside, even if she went through countless hardships, the best she could hope for was to become just another "Two-Crown Uma Musume"—a title many had achieved throughout history. The cost and reward simply didn't compare.
So, logically speaking, it was impossible!
"Then what did Platinum mean by holding up three fingers...?"
Tokai Teio, golden goose · fracture count: 2 · Undefeated Two Crowns, was left a little perplexed!
"Forget it. If I can't figure it out, I shouldn't waste time thinking about it. I'd better go back to the training grounds and prepare for the races."
As Tokai Teio's thoughts turned, she remembered the young doctor she'd seen several times earlier in the infirmary.
"I have to win the next GI Race and get a good result."
"Then I can give more of my prize money to that kind Doctor Lin!"
Inside the chairman's office.
"Tell me, how did it go?"
The little girl chairwoman, Akikawa Yayoi, asked Symboli Rudolf as she opened her folding fan and gently waved it.
Shunkawa Tazuna, who was helping with paperwork nearby, also looked up with interest and paused her work to wait for an answer.
"I failed."
"She was firm in her stance and absolutely confident she would win. Even knowing that her youth put her at a natural disadvantage, she wasn't afraid in the slightest."
Symboli Rudolf spoke earnestly, sharing her impression of Platinum and her admiration for her.
"I believe that even if a spirited, confident youngster like her loses to Tachyon..."
"She'll still be able to reach the summit in the future, and may yet get her revenge."
"Not that she's necessarily going to lose."
Akikawa Yayoi nodded gently and smiled.
"She sounds like a very interesting filly."
"Good. I'll reply to URA in a moment and tell them not to hesitate or worry. They should approve Platinum's race entry directly."
"I wonder if such an interesting youngster will join Tracen..."
Not long after.
Back in his room, the crooked young doctor didn't immediately flop down on his bed.
Something seemed to be on his mind, so he went straight to his desk instead.
After turning on his computer, Lin Anran headed straight to the official URA racing website.
He wanted to see when his application would be approved.
To his surprise, as soon as Lin Anran logged in, he saw an email stating that his entry had been approved.
"Not bad... They weren't especially slow."
"Then all that's left is..."
"To pay the remaining entry fee?"
Lin Anran stared at the approval notice and the listed additional fee, and his whole body stiffened!
Even when the crooked young doctor had become Platinum, raced on the track, and won, his emotions hadn't run as high as they did now, seeing that exorbitant fee.
Damn it, why was the entry fee so expensive?!
Expensive entry fees were a blight on civilization!
As Lin Anran remembered it, Europe was where hefty entry fees were most common. Rather than qualifying through "recent prize money," races there used astronomical entry fees as the barrier to entry.
As a result, many internationally open European GI Races had only single-digit numbers of Uma Musume competing. Those who weren't strong enough knew better than to risk getting no prize money and losing their entry fee too.
Some rich young heiresses who wanted to see the world's top talent could also pay to "sightsee" in a race.
Japan, on the other hand, still decided eligibility based on "recent prize money" or "fan votes."
Platinum's entry fee was so high mainly because she'd missed the regular registration period and had to pay an extra charge.
"Looks like... I absolutely have to win the Oaks and Derby and earn back several times the entry fee!!"
The entry fee had forced him to get serious!
A moment later, as Lin Anran was about to turn off his computer...
He suddenly seemed to remember something. He quickly closed URA's official site and typed in the address for the American horse racing website.
"Right, Big Red should've had another Debut Race by now."
"Let's see how she did in her second Debut Race..."
After opening the site, Lin Anran instinctively searched for Big Red, but quickly realized his mistake and deleted it. Then he typed in Big Red's name as an Uma Musume: Secretariat.
"Secretariat!"
After searching—
Lin Anran saw the latest information about this Uma Musume, and his eyes widened.
Ten days ago: second Debut Race, a commanding win!
Yesterday: first stakes race, another commanding win!
"????"
Lin Anran leaned forward until his face was right up against the screen.
"Come on, man?!"
Was I being played??
Secretariat's Goal! Fulfilling a Promise!
"Come on, man?!"
"Were you playing me????"
Most of the time, Lin Anran, the crooked young doctor who could stay calm and collected, with his thoughts focused solely on how to make Uma Musume pay up, would have taken it all in stride. But now he couldn't stay calm at all!
His computer screen was showing the impressive record of a promising young Uma Musume named Secretariat.
Secretariat had not only made her debut—she'd even won a GIII stakes race?
Before he left, she'd been a bottom-feeder who'd crashed out of the gate and lost her Debut Race miserably!
How had Secretariat's record gotten so good by the time he looked back?
Wasn't this all a little too ridiculous?
Lin Anran stayed with his head pressed against the computer screen for several seconds before finally sitting back down.
The crooked young doctor's eyes had gone completely vacant.
"If she'd started winning sooner, I wouldn't have had to come all the way to Japan..."
But a lot of the time, the more you regretted something, the more likely you were to find excuses to comfort yourself and convince yourself you'd made the right choice.
"W-well, it's only one GIII race."
He refused to back down. He was going to keep insisting he was right.
"American dirt racing is the strongest in the world! Secretariat's only won one low-level stakes race. Even if I hadn't left, my share of the prize money wouldn't have amounted to much."
"But now that I've become Platinum, I can keep all the prize money from my wins! Coming to Japan wasn't a mistake!"
After reassuring himself like that, Lin Anran gradually calmed down.
And now, he couldn't help but change his mental image of that familiar Big Red from a bottom-feeder.
It was more like—
A bottom-feeder with some value.
In short, she had some value, but not much—not nearly enough to make the crooked young doctor regret his decision.
Once he'd calmed down, Lin Anran continued reading what was on the screen.
Besides information about Secretariat and her recent results since her debut, the page also included a post-race interview and a reporter's commentary.
Curious, Lin Anran kept reading.
Reporter: Congratulations on your commanding win in your first stakes race.
We understand that you started competing again just one week after your Debut Race. You certainly seem full of fighting spirit.
May I ask why you've been racing so frequently? Or do you have a goal or reason that's driving you to do so?
In the written post-race interview, the reporter asked Secretariat about the reason or goal behind her frequent racing.
Secretariat's answer was...
Secretariat: I made a promise to someone. Once I become the strongest, it'll be fulfilled.
Secretariat: That's why I've been taking my races a little more seriously. That's all.
A brief answer to a brief interview.
After all, this had only been a low-level GIII stakes race. Not to mention the world, even Japan or America alone held more than a dozen races a day.
This was America, a place widely regarded as the world's top destination for dirt racing. It was the last place to lack seemingly gifted young talents.
To truly prove yourself, to become a famous and widely recognized elite talent, you had to perform well in multiple stakes races at the very least.
So Secretariat hadn't yet received much attention.
After reading the very brief post-race interview, Lin Anran's expression turned strange.
Huh?
Could it be...
Had his departure spurred Big Red on?
Was that why she'd performed so well and hit such a hot streak in her subsequent races?
That promise, which he'd casually made just to soften the blow of leaving for those American fillies—could it end up coming back to haunt him?
Lin Anran had to remember that Secretariat wasn't the only one he'd made that promise to!
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