Chapter 267: Another Strong Opponent
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 267: Another Strong Opponent
“Hah, hah…”
Miro gasped for breath, hands on her knees.
She’d barely managed to come in fourth, by half a horse-length. It was a good thing she’d built up a lead; if the track had been any longer or the gap any smaller, she would have been overtaken.
“Wow, Miro. You somehow managed to pass, huh? Looking at you, it seems you still haven't cured that mysterious illness of yours.”
“…”
“I feel so sorry for you about that. If it weren't for that, you could have become a great racer, second only to me. The heavens are so cruel, aren't they? Cursing the pitiful instead of blessing them. Don't you agree?”
“Shut up.”
Miro straightened up and walked away without giving Lua a second glance.
“Miro~ Let's be sure to race together in the next round~”
Ignoring Lua, who was waving at her, Miro returned to the stands where her companions were seated. Karami greeted the listlessly trudging Miro with a smile.
“Good work, Miro. That was a great race.”
“Great race? What are you talking about? I almost got eliminated.”
“But you passed in the end, didn't you? And you were doing really well before the finish line. You just need to work on your weaknesses and show an even better performance in the next race.”
“Trainer~ If you only praise her, she'll get fat and won't be able to run~”
“On a day worth celebrating, she can eat carrots until her belly bursts.”
His words managed to lift Miro's sunken spirits. Her once-drooping horse tail began to sway gently from side to side like a blade of foxtail grass.
-In a moment, the Group C race will begin.
“Looks like the next race is about to start.”
“Yeah?”
I wonder who's running and how fast they'll be.
Since they could be her next opponents, Miro watched with interest.
The racers came out onto the track.
“Huh?”
Just as Miro let out a sound of confusion, a murmur rippled through the stands as the crowd also noticed something strange.
“That person… isn't that Priestess Iris?”
“Look at the horn. It has to be her.”
Ears and a horsetail as white as her hair. Ceremonial robes that looked difficult to move in. But the most distinctive feature of all was the white horn on her head.
The high priestess of the Order of Balance in Vestia, the unicorn Iris. She had entered the race as a competitor.
“Why would Priestess Iris be here, Elize?”
“Priestess Iris is a horse beastkin, so perhaps she felt nostalgic and wanted to run. Why are you singling me out, Master?”
“I suppose that's possible. I just thought you put her up to it.”
“Well, I did put her up to it.”
“…”
“There are circumstances. You'll understand when you hear them, Master.”
Elize recalled the time she had gone to see Iris.
*
Back when Karami was planning the horse race and had purchased Miro, Elize, who had been pondering on her own, met with Iris in Vestia.
When she arrived, Iris, who was rumored to be prickly, rushed out barefoot to greet her.
“S-S-S-S-Saintess! I heard you were on a pilgrimage! What brings you to this humble place?”
“I stopped by during my pilgrimage. Is my visit too much of a burden?”
“A burden! Of course not! You are always welcome here, Saintess!”
The unicorn Iris, who had a weakness for virgins. And the Saintess, who could be called the pinnacle of virginity. Iris respected and loved Elize more than anyone in the world.
She took a deep breath.
Ah, that fragrant scent that only a virgin can produce.
This is sex.
“Priestess Iris, there is something I wish to ask of you personally.”
“Please, ask me anything! I will do whatever you ask, Saintess!”
“Are you aware that a race for horse beastkin is being held?”
“Yes, I am. I heard it's being hosted by that fellow called the Slave Reaper from the Merchants of Death. I still remember him. The sworn enemy of unicorns, a filthy man who only enslaves women.”
Crack.
“Hm?”
For a moment, it sounded like a bone was being crushed. But before her was only Elize, still wearing a benevolent smile.
But why do I suddenly feel a chill? It must be my imagination. Probably.
“So, Saintess! Why did you bring up the horse race?”
“…I would like you to participate in it, Priestess Iris.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Why? Do you not want to?”
“It's not that I don't want to, it's just so sudden… Why should I participate in a competition hosted by a human like him…”
“They say the winner will be able to form a close relationship with the Merchants of Death. And forge a deep connection with the Slave Reaper. We need a strong link to that man.”
Iris tilted her head.
Why would the Saintess need to form a connection with such a man? She didn't understand, but she was certain there was a deeper meaning to her words.
Iris, who thought of nothing but virgins 24/7, even in her dreams, finally put her brain to work for a change and quickly had an epiphany.
“It's to condemn him! It will be easier to pass judgment if you are close to him!”
As expected of the Saintess. For her sake, to defeat the Slave Reaper, she could do something as trivial as running, anytime.
And that was Elize's story of how Iris came to participate in the horse race.
Karami nodded.
He understood perfectly.
Which meant he had no idea what she was talking about.
“I still don't understand what you hope to gain from her participation, though.”
“Think of Iris and me as a racer and her sponsor. In other words, if my Priestess Iris wins, shouldn't you give me, her sponsor, a prize as well?”
To think that was her plan. This just added another unnecessary competitor.
“If Priestess Iris wins… my wish is for you to drink my blood, Master.”
“Miro, you now have one more reason you absolutely must win.”
“Eh.”
The Group C preliminary race began.
Iris, whose soul was mixed with that of a unicorn—a legendary steed of myth—pushed through with her overwhelming physical class, even though track and field wasn't her specialty.
Cheered on by the crowd, Iris easily came in first without any difficulty.
After the Group D race, it was Group E's turn. Once again, a distracted murmur rose from the crowd.
“What's that now? Clouds? Fire?”
“I think I've seen that person somewhere before.”
One of the racers who came out onto the track for the match. She wore silk that fluttered like the winged robes of a celestial maiden, was wreathed in clouds, and had flames enveloping her feet.
The horse yokai who had once invaded Vestia. It was Wu, the Horse of the Twelve Zodiac Spirits.
“Why is she here…?”
It was obvious there could only be one reason why.
“Rin?”
“Same reason as the big-butted Saintess, I guess?”
Rin couldn't shapeshift and participate herself, nor could she just grab anyone and twist their fate.
After some thought, she'd come up with the idea of having one of the Twelve Zodiac Spirits participate as her proxy. Of course, it was closer to a horse yokai than a horse beastkin, but to the uninformed, they looked the same.
Wu, who had entered the gate, ground her molars.
“To think that I would be used as mere entertainment for some lowly humans…”
As a being somewhere between a god and a yokai, Wu was extremely displeased with the situation. She wanted to flip everything over right then and there, but how could she refuse an order from the king of yokai?
There had even been a threat that if she didn't win, she'd be turned into a puppet, so she had to give it her all.
And so the Group E preliminary race began.
Wreathed in flames that blazed with fury, Wu went all out, and the race was over in an instant. It was an overwhelming record, the fastest of all the races so far.
Rin curled her lips in a satisfied smile.
“Kehehe, Rin's horse is faster, isn't she? Well~ there's no way a horse that doesn't even know the beauty of mating could win.”
“Hmph, that was just the preliminaries. You never know the outcome until it's over.”
The two of them, meddling in someone else's story.
Karami watched them with cold eyes and sighed.
Miro's mood, which had just started to improve, sank again.
“Trainer, I've suddenly lost all my confidence. Please take care of my siblings.”
“Don't go entrusting your siblings to someone else when you're their older sister. You can do it, Miro. …Probably.”
*
“Big sis!”
“Miyuuu!”
Miro caught the small child who leaped into her arms.
A horse beastkin whose fur was a slightly grayer shade than Miro's, but whose face was an exact copy. It was Miyu, the youngest of the four siblings she had left at the orphanage.
Just as he'd promised, Karami had brought her after Miro passed the first preliminary round.
“Have you been well? You haven't been starving, have you? How's your illness?”
“That big sister over there cured me! I'm not sick at all anymore!”
Miyu pointed to Elize.
“What kind of illness was it?”
“Who knows? I just treated it, and she got better.”
At Elize's concise answer, Miro let out a hollow laugh. To think an illness that had caused her so much suffering could be cured so easily.
What had all her suffering been for? She was relieved that it was cured, but she couldn't help feeling a sense of emptiness.
“Thank you, Saintess.”
“What's there to thank me for? We're both slaves to the same Master, and I only did it because he told me to.”
“Thank you, Trainer.”
“If you work hard, Miss Miro, you'll be able to save your remaining siblings.”
“Yeah, that's right.”
Now that she had saved Miyu, the frailest of them all, the most urgent fire had been put out.
Three siblings remained.
Of course, she had to save them and intended to try, but despite her will, she honestly felt it was arrogant to think she could win.
There were far more skilled competitors than Miro had anticipated. In comparison, she had barely scraped by in fourth place in the preliminaries. And her body couldn't even run properly.
Even if she somehow made it to the finals, there was no way she could win in her current state.
She needed some kind of groundbreaking training.