Chapter 33 – Mister Crown
Fourth corner.
“Crown.”
A voice came from behind.
“Let’s go.”
Yeah.
I snorted briefly and surged forward.
I still had plenty left.
Today, too, I could fight all the way to the finish.
The home stretch.
The view opened up before me.
The crowd roared from the grandstands.
The announcer was shouting something.
Just forward.
Further forward.
Only a hundred meters left.
My legs still had strength.
But there were horses ahead.
And more closing in from behind.
Fifty meters.
One more stride.
Just one more.
Twenty meters.
Can I reach them?
…No.
I can’t.
I know.
I know I can’t.
But even so, I keep stretching forward until the very end.
Until the very last moment.
The finish line flashed past the edge of my vision.
It’s over.
Fifth…
Maybe sixth place.
I didn’t win.
But I ran all the way to the end.
At least I could say that.
My breathing was ragged.
My lungs burned.
My legs felt like lead.
Still carried by my momentum, I slowed gradually, breathing heavily.
A horse that had been running ahead of me came alongside.
“Good race.”
A low, slightly raspy voice.
An old veteran I’d raced against many times.
“Yeah.”
“Heard this is your last one.”
“Looks that way.”
“I see.”
He snorted once.
“It’s gonna feel lonely without you.”
That was all he said before walking on ahead.
Another horse also passed by and called out to me.
“With Crown gone, there’ll be one less loudmouth before races.”
“Am I really that noisy?”
“You never shut up in the paddock or during the warm-up.”
“Well, of course I talk.”
Laughter echoed nearby.
One of the younger horses chimed in.
“Mister Crown has never been injured even once.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
“That’s because idiots don’t get hurt.”
“He always took racing seriously, though.”
“Oh? You youngsters don’t know? I wasn’t always serious.”
“Really?”
Everyone was talking to me.
Horses I’d raced with countless times.
Horses I hadn’t seen in ages.
Horses that made me think,
“You’re still around?”
“…You guys don’t get hurt either.”
I said it almost absentmindedly.
Everyone fell silent for a brief moment.
Then several amused whinnies rang out.
Truth be told…I liked this world.
Tenzan Sakura once said we were comrades who’d eaten from the same pot.
Racehorses were kind of like that too.
We’d all been showered in the same dirt, rounded the same corners, lost over and over, and won every once in a while.
I’d met these horses again and again.
Before I knew it…I’d found my own place here.
The jockey gently stroked my neck.
“Good job.”
Even his voice sounded softer than usual.
“You ran well.”
Yeah.
He’d ridden me countless times too.
At least this once, I could accept his praise without arguing.
I gave a small snort.
This…
This was my retirement race.
November. An Open-class dirt race at Kyoto.
I’d attempted a graded stakes race once before.
It hadn’t even been close.
Sister Stone really was incredible.
After that, I occasionally won open races and mostly lost, but I still regularly finished in the money. Before I knew it, I had made it this far.
An undefeated Triple Crown?
That dream died with my very first loss.
Conquer the dirt racing world?
Didn’t happen.
The Emperor of Dirt?
…Only a self-appointed title.
Still…
I think I ran well in my own way.
At the very least…
I never broke down.
Not my legs.
Not my heart.
Not my pride.
I’d come close to giving up many times, but every time, I’d managed to get back up.
I felt that was something to be proud of.
â—‡
I was being led toward the weighing room.
The excitement of the race had already faded.
All that remained were the heavy breaths of exhausted horses…
And the scent of relief coming from the humans.
Among them, I sensed someone familiar.
“Good job, Crown.”
Ah.
So he’d come.
It was Saku’s voice.
Just hearing it made something deep inside my chest grow strangely warm.
“…Sorry, Saku.”
Those were the first words that came out.
Even I was surprised.
So that was what I’d wanted to say first.
“Hm?”
Saku tilted his head.
I still couldn’t breathe properly, but I kept talking.
“In the end… Open class was my limit. I couldn’t become an undefeated Triple Crown winner… I couldn’t even win a graded race…”
As I said it aloud, the words tasted bitter.
It felt like I was saying my own dreams in past tense.
I hated that.
“If this was all I amounted to, then people wouldn’t pay more attention to you… and I couldn’t even make things easier for Grandpa!”
The moment the words left my mouth… I surprised myself.
…Ah.
So that’s what had been weighing on me all this time.
I wanted to win.
I wanted to climb higher.
I didn’t want to lose to Golden Wing or Tenzan Sakura.
Of course that was part of it.
But it wasn’t everything.
If I won…
People would respect Saku more.
Grandpa would have an easier time.
Maybe the noisy bunch back at the ranch could even eat better food.
Those thoughts had always been somewhere in the back of my mind.
Saku’s eyes widened slightly.
Then he smiled awkwardly.
“So that’s what you’ve been worrying about.”
“What do you mean, ‘that’?!”
My voice rose before I realized it.
“That”?
It wasn’t just that!
It mattered!
“It wasn’t just ‘that’! It mattered! I wanted to…”
After all, I was the strongest active racehorse at that ranch.
If that was true, I wanted to go farther, to reach somewhere incredible, to lighten the burden on Saku and Grandpa, even if only a little.
But reality…
In truth, I had finished fifth today and never won a graded race. I sometimes won an open race and sometimes came heartbreakingly close, but in the end, that was all I had.
As I struggled to put those feelings into words, Saku stepped closer and gently stroked the back of my neck.
His touch was as familiar as ever.
He always knew exactly where to scratch.
“It’s okay. Thank you, Mister Crown.”
It was only a short sentence.
“But…”
Just as I was about to say something, Saku smiled slightly and said,
“Thanks to you…”
“…we’ve finally saved up enough to reach our goal.”
“…?”
I really didn’t understand what he meant, so I tilted my head.
Saved up enough?
What was he talking about?
I think I probably had a pretty dumb look on my face right now.
Seeing that, the corners of Saku’s mouth curled upward.
It was a rare look.
He seemed almost proud.
“All right, then. I’ll show you what your accomplishments have made possible. Let me make a call.”
He pulled his smartphone from his pocket.
Ring… Ring…
Only a few rings passed before someone answered.
“—Hello? Kanemochi?”
At that name, my ears twitched.
The loud young master from Gold Farm?
On the other end, I could practically hear him shouting, “What’s this all of a sudden?!”
“As promised… I’d like you to let us use one of your stallions.”
I stared at Saku, not understanding what was happening.
But even if I didn’t understand…
There was one thing I did realize.
…Ah.
Everything I’d run for…
It really had led to something.
Even though I’d never won a Grade 1.
Even though I’d never won a graded stakes race.
This wasn’t the end.
The years I’d raced…
The distance I’d covered…
They would become part of our ranch’s future.
Maybe my name would never become a legendary title.
Maybe I’d never be remembered as the strongest horse everyone knew.
But…I’d remain part of the ranch.
“…I see.”
Some of the tension finally left my shoulders.
The regret hadn’t disappeared.
Part of me still wondered if I could have done more.
But maybe this was okay.
Saku ended the call and looked back at me.
I gave a quiet snort.
“Saku.”
“Hm?”
“…Was I… pretty amazing?”
The instant I asked, I regretted it. Man, that sounded pathetic.
But Saku answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“You were really amazing.”
…Damn.
You should’ve said that a lot sooner.
I lifted my head proudly.
At least for my final moments, I’d act all high and mighty.
Because if I didn’t, I felt like I might cry.
After all…I was Mister Crown.
I never became an undefeated Triple Crown champion.
I never became the king of turf.
Or the Dirt Emperor.
Or the strongest horse in the world.
But…
I was Sakurai Ranch’s star horse.
And if that’s the case…then that’s pretty damn cool, isn’t it?!