Watching the scene before them, both Daiwa Scarlet and Agnes Tachyon found the same rather dangerous thought rising in their hearts:
…If only tonight would never end.
This was precious time—time spent close to Seiun Ryoka, admiring beautiful scenery together. There might only be one night like this all year.
If this date never had to end, wouldn't that mean they could stay together forever?
But what excuse could they possibly use to keep it going?
Other than horse-jumping, there really did not seem to be any.
And yet Seiun Ryoka looked as if she had not noticed their feelings at all.
Her gaze followed the drifting sparks as she said softly, "In Japan, summer's when they hold fireworks festivals, right? Usually on the night of a temple fair or a festival?"
Ryoka only knew about that from anime, so she was vague on the details and did not say much more.
Daiwa Scarlet froze for a second, then hurriedly picked up the conversation.
"Y-Yeah, that's right. Though if a place is holding some kind of special event, they'll do fireworks too. It's just that most of them really are in summer."
She used to wonder why fireworks festivals only happened in summer and never in winter.
Then, at some point, she had forgotten the question herself.
Now that Ryoka had suddenly brought it up, Scarlet felt a flicker of worry.
What if Seiun-sama was wondering the same thing?
Then, in the next instant, a flash of inspiration crossed her mind.
Ryoka was from Kasamatsu. Of course she knew how lively summer fireworks festivals were.
Did that mean this was homesickness? Had the scenery reminded her of home?
That made sense. Seiun Ryoka was still only a Classic-year horse girl. In human terms, just barely an adult. Counting from the beginning of her overseas campaign, she had already been away from home for half a year. Most horse girls would not be able to withstand that swelling tide of homesickness.
At that thought, the tension in Daiwa Scarlet's chest suddenly eased.
If Ryoka was starting to miss home, then she would definitely go back to Japan.
And if that happened, they would have more chances to be together.
The problem was that Scarlet had gotten the whole thing completely wrong.
Seiun Ryoka did not feel even the slightest homesickness for Japan. Kasamatsu Tracen was only her point of departure. Japan was not her hometown.
Agnes Tachyon saw through Scarlet's train of thought in an instant—and reached the exact opposite conclusion.
She thought Ryoka's hesitation was proof that she didn't understand the cultural association between summer and fireworks festivals.
To keep Daiwa Scarlet from stepping right onto one of Ryoka's landmines and marching herself straight into loser-heroinedom, Agnes deliberately altered her step, pretending she had misjudged the distance, and bumped her shoulder into Scarlet's.
That sent the girl stumbling right into Seiun Ryoka's arms.
Only after doing all that did Tachyon say, in a tone with absolutely no sincerity at all, "Ah, sorry. I guess I zoned out a little."
Zoned out?
In truth, she was warning Scarlet:
Don't overthink things in the wrong direction.
Beneath their feet was a city of glittering lights. Above them was a sky bursting with fireworks.
They stood right on the border between dream and reality.
And yet Agnes Tachyon had personally shattered that dreamy filter.
It was, honestly, a little annoying.
Most importantly, Daiwa Scarlet could not make heads or tails of such aggressively cryptic behavior. She turned and glared at Agnes with a distinctly unkind look in her red eyes.
The colors of the fireworks flickered across her lovely face. She drew in a breath, about to speak—
But Seiun Ryoka suddenly reached out with both arms and looped one around each of their necks, pulling them close against her shoulders.
No—"leaning" was too mild.
They practically ended up buried against her neck.
Daiwa Scarlet's whole body stiffened. For a second she was so tense it felt like her limbs were about to shake.
Then a very bold idea flashed through her mind—and her body moved before her thoughts could catch up.
Her arms had already slipped around Ryoka's waist, and her chin was nearly resting on Ryoka's shoulder.
Being this close to the person she admired—this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Agnes Tachyon?
Hmm… who was that again? Some senior she did not know.
Of course, the truth was not quite that exaggerated.
But Ryoka's sudden intervention really had blown away all of Scarlet's earlier urge to confront Agnes. She decided there was absolutely no reason to say anything now.
This was the moment to devote herself entirely to enjoying the rare closeness she had been granted.
Agnes Tachyon stood on the other side, her slender body pressed lightly against Ryoka's.
She knew full well that Ryoka's sudden move had cut off Daiwa Scarlet before the girl could start anything.
She approved.
Quite a lot, actually.
So she leaned her head against Ryoka's shoulder without the slightest hesitation.
For a moment, the three of them gave off the strange impression of a happy little family.
Under the flickering bloom of fireworks, their bodies overlapped in shifting light and shadow, and the warmth passing from skin to skin spoke more powerfully than words ever could.
At that moment, the final volley of fireworks roared into the sky in astonishing density, lighting up all of London as if it were broad daylight.
The entire world seemed to fall silent within that thunderous brilliance.
As though, for that one moment, only the three of them existed.
The next day, the sun was already well up by the time the girls finally returned to the castle.
No matter what, they had to thank Elizabeth for her hospitality, then gather up the rest of their group before leaving. Simply sneaking out alone and meeting up with everyone halfway would have been far too rude.
Naturally, Seiun Ryoka was "harassed."
Because Elizabeth truly was her loyalest of loyal fans—and a rabid one at that.
She desperately wanted Ryoka to accept an exclusive newspaper interview. She had even thought up the headline already:
Seiun Ryoka Arrives This Day in Her Loyal London!
For a moment, Ryoka genuinely could not tell whether Elizabeth was making a joke at France's expense or Britain's.
Surely, as a great British noble lady, the proper headline should have been something like Soon to Arrive in Her Loyal Paris.
After all, she had already won the Grand Prix de Paris, and she fully intended to head to France again later for a few more GIs—while taking the opportunity to flatten that gorgeous Timepiece Beauty she had once met in Dubai.
Sure, the other girl was an older horse girl specializing in short-distance races, and yes, she had passed along a useful bit of information back then—but Seiun Ryoka was not the sort to go easy on anyone for that.
She would flatten everyone equally.
"By the way," Ryoka asked, now genuinely a little interested, "which papers are these?"
At that, Elizabeth brightened at once.
"The Times and the Daily Mail. Their editors know how to behave. The Financial Times smells too much of money."
The petite girl snapped open her fan and used it to conceal her distaste, openly displaying that old-money contempt for nouveau riche types.
Hearing that, Seiun Ryoka quietly let out a breath of relief.
Though, to be honest, she had been a little tempted to have a chat with someone from The Sun.
There was something she wanted to ask them:
"Are you telling me British horse girls just… don't come in curvier models?"
Where was the grand legend of the big, statuesque Western beauty, exactly?
Join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 180)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl 285
"Is this chat group even serious?" 150
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 255
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 305
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (This matter is completely finished.)
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 130
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 155
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 120
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 155
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 110
Still playing traditional Honk 96
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi 51
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 105
Checking In in Demon Slayer 95
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 105
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (This matter is completely finished.)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 90
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 100
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 120
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 105
After Maxing Out Every Class 110
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 95
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 60
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 69
From Trilobites to Titans 57
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 75
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 86
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 70
Honkai: The Fire Devil 70
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume2/30
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 60
Uma Musume Has No Weird Fan Le 74
At age 8, she co-starred with 45
Honkai: Schicksal Media 53
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 30
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