Chapter 317: Only One Year Left—I’ll Become a Legendary Uma Musume! 2 [260]

So then, what exactly could you do at the beach?

Train, obviously. What, did you think this was a vacation?

Come on, this was summer training camp, summer training camp—not some sightseeing trip...!

Granted, in practice, summer training camp often did end up containing a whole lot of fun.

But!

At its core, summer training camp was still a group training camp that just so happened to be by the sea. So as the Umamusume leading the team, Gotham Song had naturally put together a very detailed training plan for every girl under her care.

In a way, that meant Gotham Song’s group was actually rather lucky.

Even in other groups—Symboli Rudolf’s included—the leaders could only train according to the preset plans at most. After all, those leading Umamusume were merely experienced seniors.

But Gotham Song’s team was completely different.

The reason was simple: Gotham Song was a genuine, bona fide trainer, the kind even Dancing Brave would call fully qualified!

And as a trainer, naturally she had the ability to make temporary adjustments to her girls’ training plans on the spot.

Easy.

Wasn’t that exactly the sort of premium protection service a famous trainer could provide? Hmph. Could the other lead Umamusume do that?!

Of course they couldn’t!

Gotham Song was a little proud of that, honestly.

Though then again... at the beach, maybe only the daytime hours belonged to the trainer, right...?

As night quietly fell and the sky over the seaside gradually dimmed, even Gotham Song—still in the water, furiously launching a personal campaign to improve her swimming so she could one day crush Satono Diamond outright—couldn’t help but shiver.

The temperature difference between day and night at the beach was pretty big.

Granted, with an Umamusume’s physical abilities, she probably wasn’t going to catch a cold or anything...?

Even so, Gotham Song hurried ashore with the assistance of the honorable Mr. Swim Ring, then bared her teeth at Satono Diamond, who stood in the distance smiling faintly at her.

What are you laughing at? Keep laughing and I’ll bite you later, got it...!

Right on the nose, too. I’ll make it so you can’t go out at all.

Gotham Song put on what she thought was an incredibly ferocious display of fangs and claws, only to make Satono Diamond’s smile grow even more obvious. But there was nothing she could do about that, so all she managed was a disgruntled little huff as she shrugged into her thin outer layer, trying to stop the sea breeze from stealing away what little warmth she had left.

Next time. Next time... no, forget that. Just you wait until you fall asleep, Satono Diamond!

Gotham Song had the absurd feeling that maybe being tough only in her head was all she was capable of now.

Her train of thought had only just begun before it was interrupted. Before Gotham Song could fully process how ridiculous that was, Gentildonna had come to stand beside her and helped pull her jacket tighter, closing up the gaps that still let in the cold wind now and then.

Her legs were still chilly, but at least the well-trained thighs of an Umamusume could hold out against that much.

Gotham Song tilted her head up and looked at Gentildonna in front of her.

Gentildonna hadn’t gone with Tracen’s near-traditional black old-school school swimsuit. Instead, she was wearing a rose-red two-piece that suited her bearing beautifully.

It wasn’t an especially daring design, of course.

But the pale, lovely skin of her bare midriff was still plainly visible right in front of Gotham Song.

To be fair, if a certain trainer stepped forward a little, she could probably bury her face straight into a certain soft place.

Of course Gotham Song was absolutely not going to do that.

"Donna? What is it?"

"Nothing, Trainer-sama. It’s just that the others are barbecuing over there. Would you like to join us?"

Barbecue, huh.

When Umamusume grilled things, it was usually light ingredients and vegetables.

But!

For Gotham Song, what mattered right now wasn’t what kind of food was on the grill.

It was that if there was barbecue, then naturally there would be fire, right?

And if there was fire, then she could dry the cold, wet seawater off her legs.

The cold moon over the sea was hanging there with painful clarity. The wind that came sweeping over the endless ocean, riding the roar of the waves, was equally cold, and it ruthlessly blew across the dampness clinging to Gotham Song, robbing her body of heat.

Did she even need to think about it? In a situation like this, there was almost no reason to refuse.

Gentildonna, clearly unsurprised, even took her trainer’s hand of her own accord and walked on the seaward side of her, using her much taller frame to block the chill ocean wind.

"Still, barbecue... somehow it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long since the last time. Ah, but I can’t quite remember."

"Is that so? That really does sound like you, Trainer-sama... though yes, we did do this before. Would you like Donna to take care of things for you again this time?"

So what did it mean, exactly, for something to be "very Gotham Song"?

Gotham Song’s memory was a mess. The reason she could answer like that was simple: she didn’t clearly remember most day-to-day experiences. Unless something had been especially striking, it was usually the sort of thing she forgot entirely.

So for Gotham Song, it made sense that she had almost no impression of what exactly had happened the last time they barbecued.

Gentildonna didn’t actually mind that at all.

To her, it was nothing more or less than this: her Trainer-sama needed something.

That was all.

"If Donna’s willing, then that would be the best possible outcome. Please, I’m begging you, help me out!"

"Yes. As you wish, Trainer-sama."

A faint smile tugged at Gentildonna’s lips, and she herself didn’t seem to notice it in the slightest...!

And what was the reason for that?

Well now, if Trainer-sama had personally requested and authorized it, then she could openly and rightfully punch away every other Umamusume who wanted to take over the task of feeding her, couldn’t she?

Gentildonna’s vision was beautiful.

Unfortunately, was anything ever really going to go that smoothly?

By the time the two of them arrived side by side beneath the small tent on the rocky shore where the barbecue was going on, the sun had completely vanished from the sky. Under the deep black of full night, the only visible light was the flame burning like a lighthouse.

The charcoal crackled, sending out waves of heat that reached Gotham Song’s nose.

Though honestly, more than the charcoal, what she truly wanted to feel was that blazing warmth itself—the sort that could drive every last trace of chill from her legs.

That sensation made Gotham Song shiver slightly, and the feeling of coming back to life swiftly rose through her mind.

Perhaps because the fire had been burning for a while, even the medium-sized rock Gotham Song sat on still held a little warmth, as if the heat of daytime hadn’t yet completely faded. It pressed directly against her fair skin, pleasantly warm.

In any case, once the chill from the seawater was gone, she no longer felt nearly so miserable.

Actually, it wasn’t as though the seaside at this time of year was that cold to begin with.

Especially not when there was also a giant heat source sitting right beside her.

Meanwhile, the other Umamusume nearby were still chatting noisily.

Whether it had been training during the day or just fooling around, after all the chaos of an entire day, everyone had entered the fairly exhausted stage. Only Kitasan Black, that monster of boundless energy, still seemed just as lively as ever, fully capable of dealing with everything around her.

As for the rest, whatever their usual relationships might have been, at least for now they all seemed to be getting along peacefully.

Of course, Gentildonna recovered far faster than the others. At the very least, she was managing enough barbecue for two people on her own, and doing so with complete ease. There wasn’t the slightest sign of strain.

Gentildonna had many things to do.

But Gotham Song had very little to think about.

She only had one job, and that was to tuck aside the hair near her ear and lean over to bite into whatever Gentildonna held out to her.

Gentildonna wasn’t exactly a barbecue master or anything, but then again, how should one put it? As long as barbecue wasn’t catastrophically bad, it was generally hard to make it truly disgusting.

Crisp slices of potato and carrot, grilled until they had just the right bite and dusted generously with barbecue seasoning—it had to be said, a mouthful of that was tremendous enjoyment.

Off in the distance, Satono Diamond looked restless the whole time, as though she wanted to make a move. But in the end, for whatever reason, she didn’t actually do much.

Instead, Almond Eye and Verxina, as if they were fighting Gentildonna for the right to stay by Gotham Song’s side, also started acting with complete shamelessness.

You two are competing for victory over details like this even outside the racetrack? Honestly, Almond, Verxina...

And what kind of response or attitude did Gentildonna have toward those two rivals of hers?

Clearly, Gentildonna had gone completely, utterly ablaze...!

It was hard to put into words, but in Gotham Song’s eyes, the flames burning fiercely in Gentildonna’s gaze at that moment might well have outshone both the campfire beside them and the moon overhead.

So then, who was doomed?

Naturally, Gotham Song.

To skip the beginning and the end and go straight to the point, barbecue was generally hard to make truly awful. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

But no matter how exquisite the food was, there was one "problem" for the person eating it that didn’t even really count as a problem.

If too many people fed you at once, you got stuffed...!

Gotham Song’s appetite actually wasn’t very large to begin with, and that already modest capacity suffered inhuman abuse under the relentless bombardment of three Umamusume.

Gotham Song was almost certain of it.

If she’d been the type who couldn’t speak up, they might very well have fed her until she literally burst on the spot.

And this wasn’t even meat. If it had been, there was a good chance she’d have died of sheer grease instead. If something that embarrassing had happened in front of everyone, that would have been unbelievably pathetic...!

Still, this farce didn’t go on for too much longer in the end.

The reason was simple: once Gotham Song was full, the barbecue itself was naturally entering its closing stages anyway.

So then, after dinner during a seaside training camp night, according to traditional Japanese custom, what happened next?

Gotham Song drove the remaining Umamusume back to the lodging area assigned to them, then struck a pose like she was about to undertake some great campaign and set to work properly organizing the place and laying out the bedding.

That’s right.

For a Japanese-style training camp, the indispensable final step was, of course...

The training camp!

Ahem.

More precisely, the part where everyone slept together at the lodging.

Tracen had, of course, generously provided the complete bedding set, so all Gotham Song really had to direct was the cleaning up and the laying out of the futons.

And by the time that was done, it wasn’t especially early anymore. Everyone changed into pajamas, washed up, and climbed into bed.

As for Gotham Song, as the Umamusume leading the group, she took on the solemn responsibility of turning off the lights.

Only...

She had a strong feeling something weird was absolutely going to happen.

Her finger rested on the light switch, and Gotham Song sank into deep thought.

Summer training camp. Japanese-style training camp. One big shared sleeping space.

Then what was the next keyword that usually followed?

Gotham Song rarely watched film or television, but even so, she still felt like she’d faintly caught hold of something. If even someone as unobservant as her had been left with a deep impression of it, then it had to be something pretty famous...

What children who didn’t want to sleep did at summer training camp nights was...

Ah...

A pillow fight?!

Ahh!

The instant she realized it—or rather, the instant the thought occurred to her—Gotham Song immediately understood that realizing it now was already too late.

Because she had already felt the air pressure from something flying at her from behind.

She turned, caught it, and lowered her eyes.

As expected, it was a fluffy white pillow.

And judging by the Umamusume lying over there...

That pillow had actually come from Kitasan Black, of all people?

Well, well. So even you, with those honest-looking thick brows, have turned traitor?!

Kitasan Black put on a deeply embarrassed look, but before she could say anything, Satono Diamond—smiling delightedly at the whole thing—smashed a pillow right into her face.

After that, the scene gradually dissolved into total chaos.

Verxina clearly wasn’t that interested—at first, anyway. But Almond Eye seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit, becoming the second person to join the Anti-Kitasan Black Suppression Alliance.

Meanwhile, Gentildonna narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and raised her own pillow in Verxina’s direction.

That positioning was either intentional or a sneak attack in the making...

Gentildonna’s competitive instincts were becoming stronger and stranger by the day.

Looking at the pillow in her hands, Gotham Song let out a helpless breath.

This actually... doesn’t seem so bad.

But first of all, Kitasan Black, you don’t seriously think you can ambush me and get away without retaliation, do you?

Bare your teeth and prepare yourself...!

Swinging her pillow, Gotham Song charged into the battlefield.