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Mia said in a loud voice that Ruby could hear. This was, of course, a trick. She was lying through her teeth on purpose to get Ruby to run headfirst into her own destruction.

This time, I don’t have to scratch my brains. I just have to talk. Easy-peasy.

And talk she did, going on and on about how she was going to leave Ruby behind right away. She even hummed a song to make the point.

Before, a trick like this wouldn’t have worked because Kuolan might have thought she was giving it orders and done what she asked. She couldn’t really teach the animal what bluffing meant.

Kuolan was smart, but it was still a horse. She couldn’t expect it to understand subtleties of verbal strategy, so she would have had to be very careful about what she said.

But not any longer. Its uncontrollably fiery spirit had gone away, leaving a calm shadow of what it used to be. She said nothing to make it happen.

Neither encouraging him nor making him angry was enough to make them want to compete. So she was free to talk as much as she liked!

“It’s fine, Kuolan. Listen up. We don’t have to play by the rules. All we need to do is win. To win is to love! Life is all about winning! All that matters is to win! “You get it?” she asked.

“Do you hear me? It’s all about the beginning. Victory will be decided at the start, so go as fast as you can down this lane as soon as you can!”

She was telling Ruby that she didn’t think she had to follow the common idea that she should hold back until the second half of the race. She was going to start running at full speed right away.

Kuolan whined as soon as she finished her sentence. Slowly, it stretched its neck toward her and smiled as if to say, “Gotcha, boss.”

“…Hm?”

Mia had a sudden bad feeling about her near future, but before she could think about it more, she was told to get in place.

So, Mia, who was riding Kuolan, and Ruby, who was riding Skyred Hare, lined up next to each other.

“So, Your Highness’s plan is to get in front and stay there?”

With a smile, Ruby asked.

“Absolutely. I think the most important thing in competitions like these is to get ahead early.”

“Hah. I did not expect you to be so brave.”

Ruby gave the course a hard look.

“As for me, I’m going to take it slow and steady. Going too fast at the start of a course like this will make it hard for you to finish.”

So, Mia’s plan failed as soon as it was put into place.

“Huh? Oh, really? You can’t—”

“On your marks, competitors! Get set! Go!”

The start of the race was announced by a sharp voice and a quick swing of a flag.

Before she even had time to realise that her plan had failed, the horses started moving. Ruby’s horse moved more slowly and steadily, just as she said it would. Its steps were steady and sure, with no signs of fear or uncertainty.

On the other hand, Kuolan…

“Wha— Sto— No, Kuo—”

Mia shouted, but it was hard for her to say anything because the wind was hitting her face so hard. Kuolan broke at full speed, just like she said she would.

Faster, even. It broke at full speed, or even faster.

“Too fast! You are moving too fast! “Aaaaaaah!” she screamed in a primal voice of fear as her horse charged forward. To her horror, it kept getting faster and faster.

In just a few seconds, a big space opened up between it and Skyred Hare.

Oh no, if we start out this fast, we’ll get tired and lose too much speed by the end. Even if we make it to the end! We’re going to trip over something if we keep going like this.

Then Kuolan did two things that she didn’t expect to see.

“Wait, what are you doing? Not that way!”

She noticed all of a sudden that they were getting close to a big puddle of mud. In fact, it was that puddle of mud. Kuolan had, in fact, run down the course diagonally and was now in Skyred Hare’s lane.

Mia’s horse looked like it was out of control to anyone who saw it. She was even more confused by this because she had been getting better at taking care of Kuolan recently. Her thoughts moved as quickly as the scenery around her.

She screamed, “Why are you running in the harder lane?” in between shrieks of terror.

Kuolan took a quick look at her, blew some air out of its nose, and then jumped right into the mud.

“Gaaaaaaaaah!”

As the hooves hit the ground, clumps of mud and muck shot up into the air. Mia stiffened and tightened her grip on the reins just as Kuolan reared up. Its back leaned forward, which made her fall toward its neck. The sudden movement almost made her fall off, and it took a lot of effort for her to stay on.

She saw the mud being kicked up by Kuolan’s strong back legs, as well as where it was going. Ruby and Skyred Hare were hit with pinpoint accuracy by a jet of brown splatters.

The red horse neighed in surprise and slid to a stop, losing its sight and speed at the same time because mud was covering its eyes. Ruby, who was also hit by the sludgy projectile, just missed being thrown off.

“W-What the…”

Mia stuttered in confusion until her mind caught up with her eyes and she realised what Kuolan was doing.

That mad dash so he could get in front of Skyred Hare and kick mud back at them, he ran like crazy. He must have planned to do this from the start.

That was all she could think before her horse started to move again. Now, it swerved around some of the puddles in front of it and jumped right over others as it sped down the course at a breakneck speed.

It was, to be honest, a terrible example of good sportsmanship. After all, kicking mud at a competitor was pretty much the textbook definition of playing dirty.

But the crowd didn’t jeer her for it. Rather…

“Huh. Damn. You go, girl.”

Malong spoke for almost all of the people who were watching.

To understand how they felt, you have to think about what horsemanship is. What was horsemanship? Was it just pastime for the rich people? A sophisticated way for young noble girls to spend their free time?

No! Definitely not!

At its core, horsemanship was a martial skill. It was meant to be used in war, and its main goal was to defeat an enemy.

It wasn’t enough to just ride fast. It was to do everything possible to get the other person off their horse. To win the engagement.

Many people in the crowd missed this point because they had come to see an imperial princess and a duke’s daughter perform in a proper way. They thought it would be a quiet event with two girls who looked like they knew how to ride, weaving carefully around muddy spots and keeping their horses’ energy up until the final stretch, where a straight-line sprint would decide the winner.

Clean, normal, and without any colour at all.

Mia’s suicidal gambit was the last thing they were expecting. To their delight, Ruby had gotten over the surprise attack and was now chasing her with great speed. Right away, there was a lot of energy in the whole place.

“Now that’s a fun way to ride!”

“I’m going to bet on the princess!”

“However, don’t count out the Redmoon girl. See how close she is staying? It’s pretty great. There was some very rough riding there.”

Even Mia’s desperate shrieks and shaky riding—she often had to scramble to pull her behind back into the saddle after almost falling off—seemed to be part of her plan in their eyes.

Of course, it wasn’t.

But anyway…