69 - Chapter 13: Fortitude Does Not Give Up (11) ~The Absolute Emperor and the Laughing Shock King~
Meanwhile, as for the one running in the lead, Beosteral... Twin Jet.
"W-what's wrong, Twin Jet! The goal is just a bit further! Hang in there! Do your best!!"
He was decelerating as if to say, I can't do it anymore. It was a predictable outcome, one might even call it a form of aesthetic beauty. In fact, it was surprising he even made it to the fourth corner after flying that fast from the start. Had this been a mile or a middle-distance race, he likely would have at least placed on the board, which made it almost pitiful.
For the sake of his honor, let it be noted here that his misfortune was simply that his roof was an idiot (Beosteral).
"Coming through!"
『Sorry, but I'm going ahead!』
"What!? Serious Breakers!?"
At the start of the fourth corner, the lead switches to Fortitude.
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『Now the race enters the final corner! Fortitude has taken the lead! Overcoming the trouble, he continues to accelerate! Twin Jet's time in the lead ends here!』
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Aboard Ascand, who was keeping up with the lead group, Datt breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortitude, who was leading the way, was originally a horse he himself had ridden. No, before that, it was a horse from the Barclay Stable where he had belonged. Though they had parted ways, as a youth of the Barclay Stable, he had seen Fortitude's condition up close.
That is why he knew.
How much of a trauma Rag Barclay's falling accident had become for him. How he had not given up on racing even in the midst of despair.
While other jockeys were leaving the Barclay Stable, Datt, who remained until the end, had realized Fortitude's limits. Of course, Misora likely noticed the same thing. However, she was a trainer and simultaneously the owner... the manager. At times, dry judgments were required, and moreover, Fortitude was the last piece remaining in the Barclay Stable. There was no reason not to use him.
But Fortitude's heart was already cracked. That was clearly reflected in the race results. If another falling accident occurred, even if he didn't lose his life... he would completely break mentally.
Fortitude must not be allowed to race anymore... Just as he was agonizing over the decision to enter as a jockey, he was approached with an offer to ride Ascand. So, as if it were a godsend, he had left the Barclay Stable. If there were no jockey to ride, the entry would be cancelled. Fortitude would retire as it was, and the management would likely tilt for the time being. However, if Datt succeeded, he could spread the name of Barclay. It would become easier to gather funds. If that happened, there would surely be a chance for a comeback. He, in his own way, was searching for an alternative solution to rebuild the Barclay Stable.
That is why, when he heard yesterday that an unknown jockey would be riding, he felt a terrible anger toward Misora.
Putting an amateur with no skill or anything on board, if a fall happened by mistake, Fortitude would truly break this time. Even now, he blames himself for Rag's death.
As expected, some trouble occurred and he almost fell. He seemed to have recovered somehow, but it was so precarious that Rag Barclay's falling accident from two years ago flashed through Datt's mind. It goes without saying for Fortitude, the one involved. Though he didn't know the jockey's skill level, he felt relieved that it was someone with guts who saved him.
(But, that's as far as it goes...)
He recovered, but the saddle must have shifted. He cannot step properly in the stirrups, and his riding style has become reckless. At that rate, it's doubtful he can last until the end.
Since Fortitude is an Arima horse and is intelligent, it is obvious he is trying to protect the jockey. If that happens, deceleration is inevitable. From the start, it was a race progression reminiscent of the duo with Rag Barclay, whom Datt had admired, but that is as far as it goes.
And then.
"Let's go, Ascand."
He had already cleared the third corner. The straight of the Arima is short, so if he were to make his move, it would be by the middle of the fourth corner at the latest. The critical moment for a front-runner had come. He would break away here, take the lead by the time he cleared the fourth corner, and use up all his strength on the straight.
If he did that, first place...
"...Eh?"
A shadow suddenly cast from the left.
Yes, to the left while turning right, in other words, from the outside, a black horse body slid into view... and then, it passed the lead group with an almost vivid brilliance.
It was like a black flash.
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『The Absolute has come! The Absolute has come! Here comes the Absolute Emperor, Rotringen! He swings wide around the outside of the lead group and overtakes them all at once! No matter when I see it, it's a tremendous surge! He is closing in on the leader, Fortitude!』
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When looking at the horse called Rotringen, the word perfect comes to mind.
The horse body is close to a lightweight breed (Thoroughbred), but compared to other horses in the Arima, it is somewhere in the middle. The coat color is shadow. He possesses sufficient stamina to function as a stayer (long-distance runner), and though not recorded in this world, he possesses a closing speed (3F) approaching under 33 seconds, and can switch between various running styles like leading, front-running, inserting, and closing at will.
As a set of specs, he is already complete, but the essence of this horse lies elsewhere.
This horse knows the race... more accurately, he knows the Makayana course intimately.
Imagine seeing a racecourse on a television broadcast. There are straights, there are corners, and it looks as if they are running on flat ground, but in reality, it is different. The arrangement of straights and corners differs by racecourse, but every racecourse always has a gradient. Even the Sapporo Racecourse, which is said to be relatively flat, has slight differences in height.
This Makayana Racecourse, which modeled itself after the Nakayama Racecourse, also has a slope. The so-called Nakayama specialty, the longest in Japan, continuing for about 140 meters with a height difference of 2.2 meters, also exists at the Makayana Racecourse.
Rotringen knew this. He knew the goal he aimed for lay beyond it.
Therefore, he did not fly through the early and middle stages. He did not waste his stamina needlessly and saved his strength. For the short straight before the goal. To conquer the heart-breaking slope that would likely bare its fangs to every horse.
Normally, that is something the jockey remembers and guides the horse through.
But Rotringen remembered it himself. He performed the perfect pace distribution himself without needing to be told by the jockey, and had decided the place to make his move was the moment he began turning the second fourth corner.
This is the true essence of Rotringen.
Knowing the course intimately, performing perfect pace distribution, using up his overflowing stamina without excess or deficiency, and crossing the goal with a closing speed like a flash that could be called his signature move.
A race progression that is almost perfectly flawless.
Therefore, Absolute.
The absolute emperor reigning over the Makayana Racecourse... Rotringen.
The black flash cuts through the horses in front.
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By the time they cleared the fourth corner, both Later and Fortitude noticed a presence closing in on their backs.
It was close. They could hear the footsteps without even looking back. The four consecutive tapping sounds carved into the turf were at a speed they had never heard before.
『Later! Amazing! "Absolute"!!』
"Yeah, he's just a tiny bit behind us! He's sticking right to us as a windbreak! This bloodlust is no joke! Is that guy really a horse!?"
When Later looked back over his side while burying his head in Fortitude's mane, the other had already closed in to within one horse length. When he witnessed that, the image of a warrior holding an unsheathed sword crossed Later's mind. Because of the pursuit that was far too demonic to be called a horse, he saw a hallucination that made him feel a crisis for his life.
This is strong.
He lives up to the grand alias of Absolute Emperor.
However.
『But!』
"Yeah!"
Even so.
『Today, the one who wins is NOT "Absolute"---!』
In the raging wind, they believe in each other.
『---It's us!!』
That Fortitude will never give up.
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And then, the entire audience of the Makayana Racecourse saw it.
『Now for the final straight! The first to jump out is number 15, Fortitude! The Arima straight is short! Will he hold on!? Immediately, number 9 Rotringen attacks from behind! And now he captures Fortitude and---』
The final straight of the Arima. As the predictions suggested, the Absolute (Rotringen) had come. Everyone thought he would tear through and cross the goal in first place.
Everyone thought so.
But.
『He can't break through! Surprisingly, Fortitude will not yield the view from the lead! He is completely side-by-side with Rotringen! Indomitable will, obsession, will not allow the Absolute to break away!』
The most popular and the least popular remained side-by-side on the final straight.
『Fortitude persists! Fortitude persists! Indomitable! Indomitable is burning his soul at the Arima!』
Rotringen's speed had not changed. No, rather, it was increasing. Despite that, Fortitude was running alongside him.
Why?
『Before the goal, a fierce clash between the two has begun!』
Because Indomitable (Fortitude) has not given up.
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"This is the final critical moment! Show your guts! Partner!"
"Go! Ringen!"
He heard his partner's voice from his back, and he heard Rotringen's partner's voice from beside him.
That's right, Fortitude thought. Everyone wants to win. Even Rotringen has someone who wants him to win.
But.
However.
"Forti---!!"
Among the massive crowd, a familiar voice was heard from the main stand. A horse's eyes see well to the sides. So he could tell without even turning his head much. No, he could tell by the voice without even looking. It was Misora. She was leaning over the railing and screaming. While crying messily.
Don't cry that much, Fortitude thought.
Because from now on, I...
『Because you won!!』
A final whip flew into his heart. The reason for losing retreated. The final fire was lit in Fortitude's indomitability.
His heart neighed. His second heart (legs) took on a heat as if they were burning up. His blood boiled like magma, and his muscles roared.
At the same time he began to exhibit a closing speed that could be called the fastest of his life, something within him was being scraped away. That alone felt as if his physical strength would be exhausted. His spirit felt as if it would break. His willpower felt as if it would end.
Despite that, the Absolute was still beside him. He thought it was tremendous. But the other side must be suffering too. The proof was that he had not yet overtaken him.
A contest of endurance had begun. To break this, one more move was needed.
So search. For something to fuel your own heart.
What is left, what can be burned... now, what is it.
(Ah, I see. What's left at the end is me. There's only me)
Perhaps because he had begun to exceed his limits. In the tachyspsychia phenomenon where his vision slowed down, Fortitude arrived there.
(I am Fortitude. My body was weak from the time I was born, and it took a while to even stand. I was abandoned by my parents, and if not for human help, I wouldn't have lived this far)
Around the time he was picked up by Rag Barclay and began receiving training, he once told him that he liked running but hated the pain, and hated the hardship.
At that time, he would say with that smile.
『In times like that, you laugh. Especially when it's painful, especially when it's hard, you just laugh it off. If you do that, before you know it, the pain and the hardship are over』
It might have been a deception. It might have been just looking away.
But even so, Fortitude began to laugh. Especially at the end of a race. When he had run and run until his strength was gone and it became painful.
To encourage himself, saying hang in there, just a little more.
Yes, that is why he is the Laughing Shock King.
(The one who didn't give up was me. The one who didn't crumble was me. The one who is running now, the one trying to overturn the "Absolute"---)
Everything that composed him was being stripped away. However, only the history carved into his own name remained at the end.
His name is Fortitude.
The meaning of that name is.
『---Indomitable (I)!!』
With one burst of spirit, the front leg he stepped with transformed his body like a switch. His hooves gouged the turf. The horseshoes that clawed the earth sent soil flying backward like bullets.
His body surged forward.
His head naturally lowered. He accelerated. The fatigue vanished. He accelerated. His stride lengthened. He accelerated. He could see nothing but the goal. He accelerated. Even the Absolute (Rotringen) running alongside him was no longer in his sight. He accelerated. Without even caring about his roof (Later). He accelerated. The rotation of his legs increased. He accelerated. Just to prove one thing, his indomitable (own name)---Fortitude now hammered in his final acceleration.
Ah, it's painful.
Ah, it's hard.
Ah, it's the limit.
That is why...
『Laugh, Fortitude』
In the June wind that had turned into a tailwind, he felt he heard the voice of his partner (Rag Barclay) who had passed on first.
『Ahha...!!』
The horse who could no longer laugh now laughs.
『Ahahahahahahaha!!』
Speed was gained. Taking the wind like never before. He was liberated from the pain. The unreasonable (Absolute) was broken, and the unreasonable (Indomitable) arrived. Cheers mixed with screams flew from the spectator seats.
The embodiment of indomitability (Fortitude) now once again takes the lead where no one else is.
The goal is already right before his eyes.
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『Absolute!? Indomitable!? Absolute!? Indomitable!?』
The clash between the two continues. They have been running side-by-side for the two hundred meters since entering the straight.
In the midst of that, a wave of emotion echoed loudly through the Makayana Racecourse.
『Indomitable is...! Indomitable is laughing...!?』
It was Fortitude's thought-wave. What was transmitted was the sound of laughter. At that sound of laughter, which had not echoed in the racecourse for two years, the announcer instinctively lost his words...
『---It's a Laughing Shock for the first time in two years!!』
He recovered immediately. Truly professional spirit.
『One hundred left! Indomitable! Indomitable has broken away! Along with the Laughing Shock, it's a tremendous closing speed as if to say I am the one who will laugh last!』
Rotringen gradually falls back. No, that's wrong. Fortitude is accelerating.
One step, two steps, steadily widening the lead, pushing the Absolute away.
『Fifty left! Even that Absolute cannot catch up! The Laughing Shock shakes off the Absolute and goes ahead! He has completely broken away! The gap is widening! One horse length, two horse lengths!』
And then.
『Fortitude! Fortitude has come! Along with the Laughing Shock, he has defeated the Absolute! First place is, surprisingly, Fortitude! The horse once called the Laughing Shock King has made a miraculous comeback here!!』
On this day, the Absolute was overturned by the Laughing Shock.
Next time, same time next week.