Chapter 71.2: Short Break (1) Last ! Thank you to Zaped, Baccano998, and transhumanist Sykes for the donations!
One day, while walking around the castle alone, I encountered an unexpected sight.
In the corner of the outdoor gymnasium, some soldiers were gathering and playing chess.
“···Huh? Huh!”
The soldiers who saw me got up and saluted.
I gestured to them and looked down at the chessboard.
“Never mind me, and just keep going.”
“Yes? Yes, milord!”
When I tried to watch them, the soldiers’ hands shook and could not move their pieces properly. It was like their lives were suddenly at stake.
Eventually, I left them alone and returned to the castle.
Chess…
Well, in this world, when it came to board games, chess was probably the best.
Out of curiosity, I had the butler prepare the chessboard and the chess pieces.
Actually, I knew how to play chess quite a bit.
When I was young, my brother had various hobbies, and I often accompanied him to play. Chess was one of them.
The first thing that came to mind when thinking of whom to play with was Asher.
“···”
Asher, who came into the room after receiving my call, looked at the chessboard on the table with a bewildered look.
I motioned to the other side.
“Do you know how to play chess?”
“Yeah, I know, but…”
Asher looked like she didn’t understand why they suddenly have to play chess, but she sat down anyway.
She said that while she was an apprentice knight at the Overlord Castle, she learned from the other knights and tried it a few times.
She’s a beginner.
It wasn’t bad, though.
It was because there’s a unique feeling of teaching a beginner while playing against each other.
“We’re just going to play lightly, so don’t feel burdened. If there’s something you don’t know, I’ll teach you.”
“Yes···”
For some reason, Asher answered with a strange expression on her face.
I let her took the white pieces, and I took the black pieces.
The game started with Asher moving a pawn first.
How many minutes have passed like that?
“···”
I stared blankly at the chessboard. My King, completely trapped by Asher’s chess pieces.
···What?
Why was she doing so well?
Wasn’t she just a beginner?
As soon as I moved a chess piece, Asher moved one of her own and said,
“Checkmate.”
“···”
I admitted defeat with a hard face.
“I lost.”
The shame came later.
Before starting the game, I even said that I would teach her if she didn’t know something.
“It was a good fight.”
As she looked at me, she said cautiously.
Of course, it only stimulated the shame even more.
I was silent for a moment, then asked, not understanding.
“Did you really learn how to play chess just a few months ago?”
“Yes.”
Asher replied with a puzzled expression.
With her personality, there’s no reason to lie about something like this.
So, was this really the skill of someone who only had learned to play a few months ago?
Is she a genius?
The information that Asher was good at chess was a fact that had never appeared in the game.
I thought she was a character who couldn’t do much other than use her strength. Why did I think that way?
In any case, it’s difficult to acknowledge the level difference between the opponent with just one match.
“One more match.”
“All right.”
And she defeated me in the second round much faster than the first.
A third match followed immediately.
***
“···”
Asher looked at the Seventh Lord, looking down at the chessboard with a cautious face.
She felt like she was about to burst into laughter, so she bit her lip and held it in.
She had never seen him so focused on something, it seemed that he was really serious about chess.
···He’s a very mysterious person.
What was this person’s purpose, and what did he want from her?
At first, she was constantly thinking and doubting.
But all those worries had now disappeared.
The time she spent with him wasn’t that long, but it wasn’t too short either. At least it was enough time to be sure of what kind of person he was.
In order to save two human siblings who he barely knew, he allowed himself to be dragged to the Overlord Castle.
But he came back as if nothing had happened and was just living as usual.
Asher only vaguely guessed. How heavy a burden was now placed on his shoulders.
Perhaps playing chess without meaning right now was to lighten the atmosphere that had become heavy recently.
At times, he was infinitely cold, but at other times, the goodwill and kindness within him were evident.
…..
Asher thought and shook her head, startled.
What useless thoughts…
When she looked up, the Seventh Lord, who had completed his move, was looking at her with puzzled eyes.
“It’s your turn.”
“Oh, yes.”
Asher moved a piece immediately.
“Checkmate.”
“Ha…”
