Chapter 60 – I Need to Discuss Something

“Saku-kun, there’s something we need to discuss. I’d like you to come to the training center as soon as possible.”

Okabe-san called me yesterday, so I caught a bus and then a plane first thing in the morning.

This was the first time he’d ever told me to hurry, and honestly, I had a bad feeling.

Two weeks had passed since the Kikuka Sho.

The world was still caught up in the excitement of “Sakurai Rudolf, Triple Crown Winner!”

The last two weeks had been incredible.

Newspapers.

Magazines.

The internet.

Telephone calls.

Interviews.

Flowers.

Sightseers.

Celebratory alcohol and sweets from people I didn’t even know.

To be honest, I’d been absurdly busy. But thanks to the new employees and the gate we’d installed, there was enough breathing room for me to travel like this.

“Hello, Saku-kun. Sorry to call you here so suddenly, but there’s a decision we need to make rather early.”

Okabe-san wore his usual calm expression, and his voice was as gentle as ever.

“Hello…”

I greeted him and braced myself.

“So, what did you want to discuss?”

“Well…”

Okabe-san laughed awkwardly.

“What should we do about the Japan Cup?”

“…What?”

I understood the words themselves.

The Japan Cup.

A major Grade I in which famous horses from overseas competed as well.

The public was already saying things like, “The emperor challenges the world in the Japan Cup!”

But…

“What do you mean, what should we do?”

“Well… it’s a little difficult to explain.”

As Okabe-san hesitated, another voice came from deeper inside.

“Ah, there you are, Triple Crown horse-owner boy. This way.”

Chloe-san.

My bad feeling grew slightly worse.

I was grateful that she was here, of course, but if the two of them had gathered together, this wasn’t going to be an ordinary discussion.

“All right…”

They guided me to Rudolf’s stall.

The moment I saw him, I instinctively straightened.

“…”

He had no energy.

His entire body looked listless.

His usual bossy aura had fallen by about forty percent.

“…What’s wrong?”

When I asked seriously, Rudolf looked away in discomfort.

“My stomach is upset.”

“Your stomach?”

Okabe-san explained with a slightly weary expression.

“The symptoms aren’t serious, so don’t worry. A veterinarian has examined him. It isn’t colic or an intestinal twist-he merely has diarrhea.”

“Thank goodness!”

Good!

I was so relieved it wasn’t a serious illness or injury!

Honestly!

“Did you pick up something strange and eat it?”

“I did not!”

Rudolf answered immediately.

Still, thank goodness.

Truly.

Chloe-san also shrugged with a tired look.

“Your Triple Crown winner has the runs.”

“Whimper…”

“Well, he does.”

That was true, but couldn’t she have wrapped it in slightly kinder language?

“Do you know what caused it?”

At my question, Rudolf very obviously looked away.

“…”

“You do, don’t you?”

“…”

“Rudolf.”

“…I may have drunk too much water the day before yesterday.”

I slowly closed my eyes.

“He says he drank too much water.”

The moment I translated, Okabe-san and Chloe-san both looked toward the ceiling.

“Ah…”

“So that was it.”

As expected of professionals.

They’d apparently suspected as much.

“Why did you drink so much?”

“I was thirsty.”

“There are limits.”

“It was more delicious than expected.”

“This isn’t a beverage review.”

Okabe-san cleared his throat and returned to the subject.

“So, the Japan Cup.”

“Right.”

“We still have two weeks, so preparing him isn’t impossible.”

“I see.”

“But he’s lost quite a bit of weight. It would be difficult.”

“Ah…”

In other words, he could run.

But he might not be at his best.

Okabe-san looked directly at me.

“The decision is yours.”

Those words tightened the air.

Ah.

Of course.

This had never been a casual consultation.

Enter the Japan Cup, or avoid it?

The owner had to decide.

Wow.

First, I asked the most important party.

“What do you want to do, Rudolf?”

He seemed to think for a moment.

His face looked a little like it had back at the ranch.

“If Saku and Grandpa want me to run…”

“Yeah?”

“Then I will enter, do my best, and win.”

Don’t say it so easily.

“So Saku should decide.”

It was a straightforward answer.

Very much like him.

He believed in himself, and he trusted Okabe-san and Chloe-san too.

“Hmm…”

The Japan Cup.

Of course part of me wanted to enter him.

While I was thinking, Chloe-san spoke gently.

“Honestly, I think he could run. But I also have concerns.”

“Right…”

“Choices like this always fall somewhere between dreams and reality.”

…I knew of a race like that.

A horse had shown his strength despite being short of perfect condition.

He had been so admirable in defeat that people said he was a horse whose loss deserved to be remembered.

And the winner had run an incredibly, unbelievably brilliant race.

“…Ah.”

Something occurred to me.

“Will Golden Beer be there?”

That would give Rudolf considerable motivation.

But Chloe-san shook her head.

“He won’t.”

“What?”

He wouldn’t run?

Why?

Okabe-san looked apologetic.

“It’ll be in tomorrow’s newspapers.”

“Yes?”

“Because of an injury, he’ll avoid both the Japan Cup and Arima Kinen and rest through winter.”

“He’s injured?”

My voice rose.

Rudolf’s ears pricked forward as well.

“Is he all right!?”

This horse truly did love Beer for some reason.

Okabe-san nodded immediately.

“Yes. It’s very minor, nothing serious.”

“Thank goodness…”

I released the breath I’d been holding.

Chloe-san shrugged.

“It’s only a rumor, but apparently Beer pushed himself too hard in training.”

“Beer himself did?”

“Finishing second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe must have frustrated him badly.”

Second in the Arc.

To be honest, that was astonishing.

Truly astonishing.

But from Beer’s perspective, it had probably been unbearable.

At the explanation, Rudolf muttered,

“…That idiot.”

My chest tightened slightly.

Kanemochi was surely worried too.

The Arc runner-up overtraining and injuring himself wasn’t funny at all.

But hearing about Beer helped me organize my thoughts.

“Rudolf.”

“Hm?”

“Are you truly leaving the decision to me?”

“Yes.”

I turned to the two professionals.

“Then, Okabe-san, Chloe-san…”

“Yes?”

“What if we skip the Japan Cup and concentrate on the Arima Kinen?”

For a moment, the air seemed to quiet.

Okabe-san immediately nodded.

“I have no objection. We’ll prepare him for the Arima.”

Chloe-san smiled too.

“Then I’ll do my best there.”

Their responses allowed me to relax.

Ah.

If they looked like that, then at least my choice wasn’t unreasonable.

“Thank you.”

The Arima Kinen.

The year’s grand finale.

A race filled with outstanding horses selected by fan voting.

I’d only just realized how extraordinary it was that we were discussing Rudolf’s participation as a matter of course.

Chloe-san grinned.

“All right, Rudolf-kun. For now, let’s fix that stomach.”

“Yes.”

“And then we’ll enter the Arima and win.”

“…Yes.”

So obedient.

Only at times like this.

Rudolf came a little closer and spoke to me in a secretly needy voice.

“Saku.”

“Hm?”

“Are you angry?”

“I’m not.”

“Then, if I heal properly and win the Arima Kinen, praise me.”

“Sure. Once your stomach is completely better, I’ll buy apples for when you return to the ranch.”

“Yay.”

…And if you ate so many apples that your stomach became upset again, Yayoi-chan would scold you.