Chapter 1917: NO.537：Thus I recall the original intention of everything

NO. 537：Thus I recall the original intention of everything.

Although many literary works eagerly stress the role of effort, even upholding a pure effort theory and presenting some abnormal external settings—like using magic power to mindlessly prop open the limits of enhancement, or using willpower to prop open a corner of a miracle—

But unfortunately, the Holy Terra Federation, which has communicated with many worlds and dimensions, has yet to see such an ideal world.

In the contemporary horse racing world, the horse girl lineup most deeply ingrained with 'effort' under Trainer Aomo Lindun actually numbers two.

Mihou Bourbon and Aimu Zhiji—the former, with the second‑highest intensity training in the horse girl circle, managed to change hoof quality suitability; the latter, famed in Central for training described as almost reckless, even when the trainer stops and corrects her, the renewed training intensity does not return to the horse girl circle's average. On the contrary, because she is on the same team as the former, she is somewhat influenced by competitiveness, often agreeing to mutually supervise self‑disciplined training, to the point that the trainer has repeatedly caught her standing at the gate.

All that's left is to hang another tag on her neck.

All that can be said is that, fortunately, at that time Aomo had not yet treated the Chaldea culture he learned from observation as something to be done casually.

But even so!

Indeed, compared with the vast majority in the industry who still rely on trainers to 'force' themselves to study and train, these two not only maintain self‑discipline but also dare to push themselves; athletes who can muster genuine resolve have won far too much, to the point that trainers now have to restrain them—this, relative to the usual interaction between other horse girls and trainers, is a complete overturning of the natural order.

But can you therefore say they lack running talent?

Of course not!

Rather, one could say that horse girls who manage to enter Central have no lack of talent in the ordinary sense.

This harsh fact is especially pronounced among local horse‑girl groups; but as a Central trainer or someone related to Central horse girls, one feels fortunate from the beneficiary's standpoint, and gradually overlooks it because neither party can reach it, eventually regarding the situation as a matter of course.

By this point, the classic 'dark under the lamp' phenomenon appears.

You no longer compare it with local horse girls, but simply compare it with other Central horse girls and other strong contenders, concluding that the other side has no obvious advantage; after a few more losses, you will even use the habitual mindset of looking down on the weak to cut away whatever advantage the other side originally had.

The weak deserve to be utterly useless; even when it comes to talent, they ought to be inferior to the strong by the slightest margin—a prejudice that is extensive in scope and deep in transmission, rooted in society and history, essentially a small sore in the fabric of civilization.

But precisely because it is a small sore, healing it at the individual level is quite easy.

All that is needed is a sufficiently objective viewpoint.

If that cannot be achieved, having someone show the way works just as well.

When Aomo points out the problem in a single sentence, the sharp‑witted Ghost‑Ye Xiao Mei can immediately react—Qianming representative is a pure instinct‑type athlete through and through. Even her meticulous side is merely paving the way for further strengthening of instinct; that continually expanding strength is precisely why she 'can always break the norm,' and it will also become an advantage that can be further expanded now.

"But is this okay?"

"Don't you feel that Suzi needs a victory right now to emerge from the gloom, yet the current direction is not ideal?"

She stared at the ever‑widening gap, suddenly asked, and Aomo replied with a counter‑question, explaining why those words came out of the blue.

"Well, if that's the case, wouldn't Miss Suzi's situation become even worse?" She glanced over, her eyes slightly altered by magic showing clear worry, "The one who is about to compete is her, not Miss Qianming."

"I don't think winning or losing will hinder the effect of venting; it only influences mood, and mood is usually a short‑term state—only the more extreme can delve deep into the heart."

"…" That remark was as good as confirming that Suzi would lose, leaving the pink‑haired fox who cares more about Suzi's mental state than Qianming's feeling conflicted inside.

Just as Ailisuzhi's expressive reactions remind her of a departed person, she often sees another departed person's shadow in Aomo Lindun's presence, though occasionally this shadow becomes tangled with the current one.

When one departed person's shadow is present and another's shadow becomes entwined and merged with other shadows, it feels like watching another world, a simulation of a different development.

This lets her thoughts and feelings not be confined to a single point; even if she tried to express the simulation with a fan‑shaped statistical chart, she could not quantify the exact proportions.

But perhaps her thinking is too fast.

Just then, in the next second, Aomo shifted his tone:

"But having said that, is it really okay to decide the advantage will determine the victory just after the opening?"

"Eh?"

The day's doubts probably exceed all the confusion accumulated since arriving in this world; clearly it's not her first foray into this line of work, yet in these few minutes she feels as if she's been thrown back to childhood, becoming an apprentice who understands the world like a blind man feeling an elephant. As soon as she realizes this, even she will feel a little embarrassed and slightly bow her head, using the edge of her usual hood to hide some of her awkwardness.

But fortunately, Aomo doesn't mind.

He didn't even glance over; he remained the trainer who constantly watches his horse girls' running posture, his eyes filled with their steps, arm swings, the slight shift of their center of gravity, constructing their little abacus.

"An advantage laying the foundation for victory is practically a universal truth, but a horse girl's race is neither long nor short; with only one‑third of the three‑stage course completed, both sides still have a chance to build up advantage—don't you plan to wait until the end?"

But……

But Qianming representative is already a fully graduated veteran; even if she regains her usual pace, she is still faster than Ailisuzhi's average speed and already leads by three horse lengths—how could a newcomer challenger, even if placed among the front of the new generation, possibly compare?

Given that the opponent has far more experience and yet has made no mistakes, what could possibly win? Especially since you yourself are still erring, persisting in a stride and frequency even more exaggerated than usual—it's as if you've never run a long distance… indeed, the race record shows you haven't, which is also a major difficulty of the Kikuka Sho, a classic leg of the Triple Crown.

Even a horse girl of a classic year who can run the Deranged Cup like a battle‑hardened veteran—say, a classmate from Senlinbaoxue—has few chances to accumulate long‑distance race experience.

Moreover, leaping straight from short‑ or middle‑distance to long‑distance is never something that can be solved by casual training; in the race process competing against 17‑19 opponents, every added hundred meters introduces countless variables, so crossing several kilometers of long distance is obviously troublesome. Although Ghost‑Ye Xiao Mei's studies have not reached this level, even by common sense she does not think a newcomer like Suzi can out‑perform a veteran rich in experience.

But she did not voice that.

She is not the type to rush into right‑or‑wrong arguments, nor does she think it a good idea to tell a trainer that his assigned horse girl is inadequate.

Although it's unclear what confidence the other side still holds, just watching will make it clear, right?

For her idea of 'first observe,' Aomo, who is intimately familiar with it, chose to cooperate—without feeling the need to give an unsolicited explanation or spoiler—and simply said lightly:

"Suzi's pace is beginning to ease."

"What about the lost stamina?"

"It can be replenished directly with the Three Goddesses skill, or leveled by the opponent's excessive consumption; coincidentally, the latter can also be achieved via the Three Goddesses skill."

"...?"

"Even more coincidentally, she has mastered both of the skills just mentioned, while Qianming representative's skill set is concentrated on speed enhancement."

This is why she initially could create the impossible with astonishing burst power and duration, and at the same time it became the main reason for her repeated failures in challenging the Emperor—when her base values fall short of the opponent's and she cannot out‑do him in self‑enhancement, pursuing a newborn king after her prime has passed leaves only the stubborn persistence of willpower to sustain that unwilling‑to‑fade remnant.

"But shouldn't concentrated enhancement also include stamina replenishment?"

"Yes, but before the parallel run began, to ensure fairness she not only promised me she would keep her distance and not let her feet get injured—thereby implicitly limiting her output—she also restricted her own learned skills to those given by Suzi's skill set, which did not include any stamina‑related abilities."

"In that case……"

"The comparison of effort, the comparison of talent, and the portion of talent cultivated and strengthened through artificial means—all point toward the instinct that leads to victory."

Aomo spoke each word clearly, as if counting his own treasures.

"In other words, it means comparing diligence, talent, and even fortune; the various 'unfair' realities of life are often displayed more directly in horse‑girl races, and these are usually upheld by an overly extreme, perhaps obsessive will."

"Look, Xiao Mei, my assigned horse girl is about to show her pathological drive."