Rejected at the Doorstep of the Domain?
The sound announcing the result reached Kitasan Black's ears, and she jolted violently, an uncontrollable shiver running from the tips of her ears to the soles of her feet.
Then exhaustion crashed over her like a tide. She lowered her head, raised both hands, and slowly clenched her fists.
"Won—I won? That's... that's wonderful..."
As she whispered, delight gradually blossomed in her heart. At the same time, a faint doubt began to surface as well.
She could not help looking back. More than a hundred meters behind her stood the finish marker bearing the words "Tenno Sho Spring," while Horse Girls with unwilling, regretful expressions jogged across one after another.
Her gaze lingered on her opponents briefly before she looked at the Finish Line in confusion and slowly raised a hand.
The moments before she crossed the line replayed before her eyes like visions, along with that sensation of nearing her limit.
More specifically, that limit had not meant she could no longer sprint or keep running.
Quite the opposite. Her stamina had always surpassed that of most Horse Girls. Even in a 3,200-meter G1 Race, coupled with the special training of the past month, if all she had wanted was to finish the race, she felt she could have done so with ease.
The limit she had felt was a vague sense that there was no room left to retreat.
If she did not run faster, something terrible—something frightening—would surely happen.
Of course, reason told her that this had only been a race.
Especially now that the race was over, looking back on that vague sensation made her feel, uncontrollably, that the thought had been utterly inexplicable.
This was not the first time she had experienced that inexplicable feeling. During the turf