Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement

The Empress, Vice President of Tracen's Student Council, Symboli Rudolf's right arm.

She wore sleek, shoulder-length hair, a yellow ribbon tied at her left ear. Her face was austere, her eyes stern beneath light orange shadow, like a queen who looked down on all.

Her mother had been an Uma who achieved countless great deeds, one who embodied her ideals. Under that influence, the Empress too forged her own creed: do everything well, balance all responsibilities, become a model who leads all Uma.

Though she seemed difficult to approach, sometimes harsh, words sharp and pressing—she was, in truth, a senior who was cold outside but warm within. She took particular care of freshmen Uma, often sacrificing her own time and energy to help them.

Those juniors who had been under her care respected her deeply, even calling her Big Sister Empress in private. In their hearts, her place might stand even higher than President Rudolf.

But ever since that day, the Empress had fallen, never regaining her stride—shut in her dorm room, spending her days in dazed aimlessness.

Her roommate, Marvelous Sunday, described it like this:

"From that day on, Empress-nee started cleaning the room constantly—she's completely obsessed now."

"If a single leaf blows in from outside, or if I spill even one drop of ramen broth, she'll clean the entire room from top to bottom!"

"From floor to ceiling, from the toilet to the window crevices—not a single stain or speck of dust is allowed!"

"And lately she's gotten addicted to embroidery too. In just a few days, the flowers she's stitched already fill half the room. At this rate, soon there won't even be standing space left."

Clearly, the Empress's mental state was dire. Left unchecked, who knew what dangerous thing she might do.

Fortunately, the "culprit" who had made her like this had, under Fortune's commission, finally resolved himself today—coming with Rudolf to stand before the Empress's dorm door.

"Hhh… hhh…" Mizuno took long breaths, forcing his nerves into a controllable state.

After all, what he was about to face—was an Uma who had witnessed the full force of his Uma Mint form!

Hayakawa-san had already been terrifying just from catching his scent. But the Empress had seen his looks, smelled his scent, heard his voice. Her danger level was on an entirely different scale—monstrous!

So Mizuno used the adrenaline his nerves secreted to boost every one of his stats.

Reaction power up!

Escape power up!

Begging-for-mercy power up!

Pelvic bone power up!

Only when every parameter was raised to max did Mizuno finally nod toward Rudolf.

"Mm." Receiving his signal, Rudolf knocked.

Tok tok tok.

"Empress, are you in?"

The room was silent, no reply.

A few seconds later, the door creaked open, and a dejected Uma appeared in Mizuno's view.

"Kaichou…" the Empress greeted Rudolf weakly.

The once crisp, commanding, ever-vigorous Vice President looked wholly changed.

Eyes vacant, black circles under them. Complexion pale, hair lifeless, ears drooping…

This ruinous state wasn't quite as bad as Fuji Kiseki's earlier, but not by much.

She didn't even notice Mizuno at Rudolf's side. And even if she had, she wouldn't have cared.

"Empress… are you alright?" Rudolf frowned, worried.

Her state was far worse than last time.

"…I'll manage." The Empress gave a faint nod, turned back to her bed.

The room looked exactly as Marvelous Sunday had described: embroidery piled all through her half of the space. Her bed had only the tiniest patch left clear—enough to sit on, but not to lie down.

She sat on that narrow seat, picked up an unfinished embroidery from the floor, needle in hand, and began stitching again.

What she was working on was a sunflower, radiating warm light. And every other piece scattered around followed the same theme.

All sunflowers.

"This doesn't look like 'I'll manage' at all…" Rudolf shook her head. She knew the Empress was only pretending.

To lighten her mood, Rudolf suddenly thought of an idea. She offered:

"Empress, how about I tell you a few puns? I came up with some good ones lately."

"No… no need…" At the mention of Rudolf's jokes, the Empress's whole body trembled, ears drooping lower.

"Kaichou, what did you come here for…" Even at rock bottom, the Empress still couldn't bear Rudolf's cold jokes. She quickly changed the subject.

"Nothing too serious…" Rudolf rested her chin on her hand, face stern. "I just want to introduce you to someone. In a moment, don't get too worked up."

"Alright." The Empress responded listlessly, ears lifting only a little.

As long as it wasn't her jokes…

"Mm." Rudolf, oblivious to her own joke's lethal power, thought the Empress was cooperating well. Satisfied, she nodded, and with a hand gestured to Mizuno at her side.

"This is Mizuno Sora, a first-year Trainer. He's also a friend of mine…"

"Oh." But the Empress seemed utterly uninterested in who the black-clad figure beside Rudolf was. She didn't even glance up, just kept her head down, threading her embroidery.

"…"

Seeing no reaction, no aggression, Rudolf and Mizuno exchanged a look and silently agreed to move to the next step.

Rudolf stepped forward, blocking the doorway.

Mizuno stepped back, hiding behind her.

"Ahem…" Rudolf cleared her throat, then spoke: "Actually, this Trainer may know where the one you've been searching for is…"

Snap!

Unlike her earlier indifference, at those words the needle in the Empress's hand broke clean in two, falling with two sharp clinks to the floor.

She snapped her head up, eyes locking on the strange black-clad figure hiding behind Rudolf.

Her aura shifted in an instant—from lifeless still water to a volcano ready to erupt, trembling on the edge of explosion.

The emptiness in her gaze surged with sudden waves.

"Him?"