Mangaka will often times do something special when a 100th chapter rolls around.  It is rather a milestone after all, all the more so for a monthly (not even) series like Otoyomegatari.  Not so Mori Kaoru, at least not in this case.  Her worst chapters are better than most author’s best, but this was very much of the moment rather than landmark.  It picked up where 2021’s final chapter left off and offered no pomp and circumstance about it.

That means we got another largely dialogue-free chapter chronicling the high-speed, high-stakes, high-octane race between Azel and his cousins and the rival clan’s daughters and their Teke horses.  One imagines Mori could write this sort of thing in her sleep, though she most certainly did not.  It’s not an exceptional chapter story-wise and it even strikes me as having less than her usual level of background detail, but it’s still gorgeous.  To be honest I spent most of it worrying that one of those horses was going to break their leg on that rocky course.

“Nice Horse” has a strategy to carry the day, even as Azel gets to the designated arrows first.  She slices one out of his hands, then grabs the rest of them and fires them away into the hills – keeping only the one necessary to win the race.  This certainly changes the dynamic of the contest, but Azel is nothing if not stubborn – he’s not going to be put off by this.  Who knows, that might even have been the real purpose for Nice Horse – test Azel’s resolve, and see just how badly he wants to win this thing.