Chapter 48 – He’s Definitely Wearing a Face That Says, “Naturally”
“OOOOOH! IT’S STARTING!!”
The one getting pointlessly overexcited, as usual, was Crown.
It was early afternoon. Ignoring Crown, I claimed my place in front of the small television in the stable.
“What’s a debut race?”
“Is it tasty!?”
“Is it stronger than a butterfly!?”
“I made my debut!”
Apparently, one of this year’s foals had already debuted in something, but today was Rudolf’s debut race.
That selfish little emperor was finally going to race.
A two-year-old maiden race at Niigata in July.
Sixteen hundred meters on turf.
I hadn’t been able to go watch in person this time, but one way or another, everyone had gathered around the television.
The humans were Yayoi-chan and me.
The horses were Stone, Crown, the broodmares, the yearlings, and the foals who had wandered over because something interesting seemed to be happening.
Taken on its own, the scene made very little sense.
…Maybe I should buy a bigger television for the stable.
“Isn’t the old man watching!?”
Crown asked suddenly.
“He’s not feeling his best today, so he said he’d watch in his room.”
Crown gave a slightly dissatisfied snort.
“This is an important day!”
“That’s probably why he wants to watch it somewhere quiet.”
Lately, Grandpa’s health had begun fluctuating a little, as you would expect at his age.
He was still remarkably healthy considering that he worked on a ranch, but today he had said he wanted to watch “somewhere that isn’t noisy.”
Grandpa had always watched horse racing in silence.
He never shouted. The only signs of emotion were things like setting his teacup down a little harder or suddenly uncrossing his arms.
And by “somewhere that isn’t noisy,” he probably meant anywhere other than beside Crown and me.
A wise decision.
◇
On television, the horses were just beginning to enter the starting gate.
One of the foals tilted its head at the screen.
“Is that Rudolf?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t he small?”
“That’s because he’s inside the screen.”
“Did he get taller?”
“He did, and he’ll probably keep growing.”
“Amazing!”
The foals really could describe absolutely anything as amazing.
And annoyingly, that only made them cuter.
Yayoi-chan sat beside me and raised the television volume slightly.
“Saku-san, Chloe-san is riding him this time, right?”
“Yeah.”
“The person whose autograph is displayed in your room?”
“That’s her.”
I answered while puffing out my chest just a little.
Chloe-san’s autograph.
I was proud of it.
Behind us, Stone gave a faintly self-satisfied snort.
“Oh, her. She was good.”
“I told you back then. She’s one of the best jockeys in Japan—first or second.”
That wasn’t an exaggeration.
It was probably true.
Yayoi-chan nodded, impressed.
“Rudolf is amazing. Someone like that is riding him from his very first race.”
Not to be outdone, Crown thrust his head into the conversation.
“The guy who rode me all those times was good too!!”
“Yes, I know.”
“Whenever I thought, ‘Now!’ he made sure to go, ‘Now!’”
“Your vocabulary needs work.”
While we talked, all the horses finished entering the gate.
Without realizing it, I had clenched my fist.
Yayoi-chan fell silent and stared at the screen as well.
CLANG!
The gates opened.
“Oh.”
Not a bad start.
Rudolf came out normally and looked ahead normally.
Good boy.
“That’s it.”
The words slipped out, and Crown cried excitedly,
“He came out properly!! Good boy!!”
“You sound like his parent.”
“That’s important in a debut race!”
He was right.
I’d thought the same thing during Crown’s debut: maiden races tend to be short.
Once they start, they’re over in an instant. There’s hardly time to think.
Third turn.
Fourth turn.
What happened next was fast.
By the time I thought, Huh? Rudolf had glided forward.
Almost effortlessly.
“Did he break away?”
He did.
The horses behind him tried to hold on.
But they couldn’t close the gap.
Then they entered the stretch.
Chloe-san didn’t even use her whip.
And yet—
“Huh?”
“Huhhh?”
“Rudolf’s so fast!”
“Sakurai Rudolf wins comfortably on debut!”
He crossed the finish line in front.
“…”
For one instant, the stable went still.
Well, the foals didn’t.
“He won!”
“Rudolf won!”
“Yaaay!”
“Treats!?”
So noisy.
But the older group—the ones who understood what they had just seen—remained frozen for a moment.
At last, Crown recovered from the shock.
“RUUUUDOOOOOLF!?”
Too loud.
“HE’S WAY TOO STRONG FOR HIS DEBUT!!”
“Crown, shut up.”
“Golden Wing casually beat me in my debut, you know!?”
“I watched it.”
“But Rudolf just went out there and won like it was nothing!”
“He did.”
“And he still looked like he had plenty left!”
“He did.”
I understood how Crown felt.
I felt much the same.
Still staring at the screen, Yayoi-chan quietly asked,
“…Is Rudolf actually very strong?”
“Honestly, I thought he might just be a big fish in a small pond…”
I really had.
There had always been a chance he would leave the ranch and professionals would say, “He’s a nice horse, but nothing extraordinary.”
Crown had worked incredibly hard too.
Things hadn’t gone the way Tenzan Sakura wanted after the Asahi Hai.
Even Golden Wing hadn’t won the Derby.
That was the world of horse racing.
Or so I had thought.
I had thought that, but…
Behind me, Stone murmured,
“I know that expression.”
“Hm?”
“I saw Rudolf’s father make it on television.”
“Custard?”
“Yes.”
Stone looked strangely displeased.
“Even after winning a Grade I, he wore a face that said, ‘Naturally.’”
Ah.
Stone probably wouldn’t like that.
“…Good grief.”
She even sighed.
“Aren’t you happy?”
“Of course I am.”
Stone deliberately narrowed her eyes.
“But imagining him coming home with that expression makes me a little annoyed.”
I understood.
Rudolf was definitely over there right now wearing a face that said, “Naturally.”
At that moment, the landline in the main house began to ring.
Riiiiing.
Yayoi-chan and I exchanged looks.
“…Who do you think it is?”
“Kanemochi-san, Tenzan-san, or Okabe-san.”
“Probably one of those.”
“Who’s your guess?”
“Kanemochi.”
He seemed the most likely to be loud about it.