Chapter 55

“Grrr… gimme food! Scratch scratch…”

That short phrase of merely six syllables signals the start of Aru’s daily routine.

Whether it snows or rains, after faithfully carrying out her laziness and waking up late, Aru shakes Oscar awake and demands her breakfast from him while he’s still half-asleep.

But today was different.

“GRRR!”

When Oscar handed over the jar, a sharp, pungent smell tickled Aru’s nose. Carefully holding the jar to prevent spilling, Aru darted around at high speed.

Spreading the scent of Black Wyvern blood as widely as possible.

“ROOOAAARRR-!”

“Growl growl… AAAH!”

The monsters’ cries of alarm made even Aru’s body tingle despite her hundred years of training that brought her to near-master level.

Still, Aru didn’t stop. One thought remained crystal clear in her mind.

“Bark bark bark! Bark bark!”

‘Order! Assistant! First time ever!’

“Bark bark bark bark! Spread! The smell must spread!”

‘It’s not hunting! It’s magic! Magic!’

Aru doesn’t know what magic is. In the hundred years she’s known Oscar, he’s always been a hunter. Except for that one time when he tamed her.

Still, Aru vaguely sensed something fantastical was about to happen again, just like that day a hundred years ago. Remembering the thrill of that day, Aru happily bounded around.

With two pieces of paper tucked into her belt and the jar clamped firmly in her teeth, Aru ran wildly through the area. The occasional terrifying roars made her hesitate momentarily, but Oscar’s magic staff scared her far more than any monster ever could.

Thus, the southern part of Demon Forest was thrown into unexpected chaos by a single wolf under the midday sun.

***

As I’ve said before, everyone has desires. Hidden deep within, base desires.

Ordinary humans hide these behind masks. Some restrain them with morality and self-control. Most holy knights fall into this category.

Beatrice Constantinople of the Holy Order was no exception. She had lived an extremely restrained life, so much so that she was unaware of her own desires.

Fortunately…

Now those desires have become my tools. My tools for breaking Beatrice.

“Alright! Take a seat there! You said you know the rules of chess, right?”

“I do know them…”

“Then let’s begin! Sir Beatrix, you can take white! I’ll give you first move!”

“…Where did you get that chess set and pieces?”

“I carved them last night specially for playing chess with Sir Beatrix! Hehe, isn’t it impressive?”

Actually, I brought them from home to pass the time when I’m bored.

“Now, go ahead and make your move! I’m waiting right here!”

“Chess… forgive me if I’m not very good.”

Click.

“Having said that, let me move my pawn two spaces forward.” An aggressive opening. Very knight-like indeed.

Click.

I mirrored her move with my own pawn. Positioned diagonally to hers. Beatrice tilted her head in confusion.

“Are you offering to sacrifice your pawn? Why?”

“Hehe, call it a handicap.”

“…I don’t want any handicaps. Even if I lose.”

Click.

In chess, pawns can only capture diagonally. So when I deliberately placed my pawn where hers could easily take it, she refused and moved another piece instead.

Demonstrating her rigid refusal of anything dishonest.

But I kept going. As soon as her other pawn moved forward two spaces, I pushed another of mine forward too. Beatrice sighed in exasperation.

“Stop it.”

“Why? It’s my pawn, I can do what I want with it.”

“I already said I don’t want any handicaps.”

“Hehe, actually, it’s all part of my strategy.”

“Strategy? In chess, does such a thing as sacrificing pieces exist?”

“I thought it didn’t too… until I found it inside my brilliant mind!”

Smiling brightly, I declared this, causing Beatrice to click her tongue softly. She then moved yet another pawn forward two spaces. Again, I repeated the same process.

All this was why I gave up first move. To offer these opportunities. Beatrice’s expression grew colder.

“Your unnecessary consideration is quite annoying. Rude, even.”

“Rudeness is subjective. I’m following proper etiquette in my own way.”

“…Fine, I’ll take your pawn. Let’s see how confident you remain after losing this game.”

Burning with determination to crush my arrogance, Beatrice finally captured my pawn diagonally.

Click.

One of my pawns fell to hers. Unbothered, I made my next move, leaving the “doomed” pawns – now reduced to two – untouched.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Four moves exchanged. Two pawns lost, both mine. The balance of power on the board began to tilt. I just kept smiling.

Click.

Click.

Click.

I continued pushing my pieces toward their doom. Though puzzled by my consistency, Beatrice methodically captured them, carefully and deliberately.

Despite being a chess novice, she avoided falling for any tricks, capturing my pieces cautiously.

Admirable caution, but pointless. I wasn’t plotting anything sinister. Simply giving away all my pieces to Beatrice, purely and simply.

Until only the final two pieces needed to awaken her desire remained.

Silently, I kept sacrificing my pieces. Not randomly though. While throwing away all my pieces, I focused solely on capturing her single white queen.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click…

“…Honestly, I can’t understand your intentions at all.”

Looking at the two remaining black pieces in my camp, Beatrice broke the silence. I maintained my innocent smile.

“Why do you think that?”

“At first, I thought you had some grand plan.”

“Did I?”

“But what can you possibly achieve with only two pieces left? This was just a setup to let me win. Not particularly gratifying.”

Hmm, she thinks she’s already won.

Good.

That makes breaking her expectations all the more fun.

“Since I don’t know much about chess, I assumed your sacrifices were all part of some master plan.”

“Hahaha.”

“Nope. Being fed victory on a silver platter isn’t very satisfying.”

She’s completely certain of her victory.

My smile changes. The atmosphere shifts. The situation transforms. With a lecherous grin spreading across my face, I declare:

“Sorry to disappoint, but everything I’ve done was strategic.”

“…Don’t insult my intelligence. Sacrificing pieces like that isn’t strategy. Even someone who knows little about chess like myself can recognize that’s nonsense.”

“Hehehe…”

There are several pieces left on the board. On my side remains the king and queen. On Beatrice’s side, most of her pieces are scattered about after capturing mine, except for her queen which I managed to take.

The stage is set.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, about 40 minutes have passed since Aru left. Meaning I have roughly 20 minutes left to finish this chess game.

In a sinister tone, I spoke.

“Sir Beatrix, did you know?”

“What is it?”

“The point values of chess pieces.”

Click.

My queen took one of Beatrice’s pawns.

Given pawns can only move forward, the deeply advanced pawn has no chance of capturing my queen, even if it came back to life.

“…Point values? Never heard of that.”

“Haha, think of it as a kind of stat or battle power. Each piece has its own battle power, you see.”

“Why bring this up now?”

“A simple pawn, with its limited moves, is worth 1 point. A knight is worth 3 points. A bishop is also worth 3 points. Knights are more valuable early when there are many pieces, while bishops become stronger later when obstacles are cleared.”

After clearing away her captured pieces and making a random move, Beatrice listened without comment.

Continuing regardless, I explained.

“A rook is worth 5 points. The king, crucial to the game, is worth about 4 points in terms of fighting ability alone. But…”

Lifting my queen to take one of Beatrice’s bishops…

“This queen here is worth a whopping 9 points. It’s equivalent to the strength of nine pawns. In fact, since there are only eight pawns per side, the queen is technically more valuable than all the pawns combined.”

While the king must always be protected…

The queen performs the most critical tasks. Or checks multiple pieces simultaneously.

Moving freely in all directions, the queen attacks diagonally without hesitation. With such versatility, some chess masters refer to the queen as the “Joker Card” of chess.

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