The Great Zelkova Tree at Tokyo Racecourse had an enormous canopy. From the stands, it looked as though nearly two hundred meters of track lay beneath its shade.
As the canopy completely obscured Kitasan Black, the racecourse, which had seemed to fall silent, appeared to have some hidden switch flipped. In an instant, it erupted into commotion.
From within the pack behind the tree's shadow, a golden figure was the first to make her move.
Already near the front of the pack, she tilted sharply in the blink of an eye like a sword drawn from its sheath, slicing through the air with unstoppable momentum as she raced toward the Great Zelkova Tree.
Even from several hundred meters away, the dull rumble of a war machine starting up could faintly be heard.
As though answering the Horse Girl's sudden acceleration, Gold Ship suddenly slapped the railing on this side of the track.
Then, amid a loud bang and a continuous buzzing, ignoring the startled looks of those beside her, Gold Ship shouted toward the racers:
"It's finally here! I thought Artisan was going to slack off in this race!"
Startled by Gold Ship's slap against the railing as well, Ichiryu Tsushi had been about to complain. But after hearing what came next, her expression turned strange instead.
"Slack off... How could that be? Do you think Artisan-senpai is like you? Besides, Teio-senpai and the others are here. Even if you wanted to be lazy, A-Fun, you probably wouldn't have the nerve, would you?"
Normally, Gold Ship would definitely have fired back at Ichiryu Tsushi's words without yielding an inch.
In fact, for a moment, she had wanted to grab her friend by the collar and shake her back and forth, demanding, "What do you mean, you thought Artisan was like