Chapter 102 - Chapter 101: The Master of Buattre Heed
The second month of the wind, the first week, the day of the moon.
Only two months left this year. These days, I am starting to feel a bit concerned about the cold nights.
"The nanny is coming."
While eating, Cleiria said that with her shoulders slumped.
This is the dining hall for nobles.
I asked Cleiria what was wrong since she had been listless since morning, and she asked me to accompany her for lunch.
"The nanny?"
"Yes. She is a very nice person, but she has a bit of a nagging side...."
The Marquis Leventein, who had come to the capital a few days ago, returned to his domain.
I love my father and respect him, but he has some strict sides.
Just when I thought I could live freely again, it seems a letter arrived from that nanny.
"She is someone who raised me alongside my mother when I was small, but she is stricter on discipline than even my father...."
Yes, she is dejected.
(Did Mustajif go crying to the Marquis [old man]...?)
Right now, at the Leventein family's villa, no one can stop Cleiria.
So the pot was passed to Mika, but Mika had no intention of doing anything special for the "Leventein family".
Mika stops things he thinks are "too much" or "causing trouble to others," but not based on the standard of "behavior as a noble."
Mika would eat at a tavern, and he wouldn't mind if Cleiria imitated that.
Perhaps the Knight Captain Mustajif consulted the Marquis about this?
"The nanny has 'retired because she is old [age]' so to speak. Yet, suddenly my father said he wants her to live in the villa. My father, I wonder what he is thinking...."
Well, he must intend to have her watch over whether his daughter does anything unreasonable.
The nanny seems to be like a mother to Cleiria.
Normally, noble ladies do not raise their own children.
Such duties are entrusted to nannies or similar.
But Cleiria's three brothers were all older brothers, and she strongly wished to raise her first daughter herself.
This nanny was there to support that mother.
The nanny admonished the mother, who tended to spoil her first daughter, and disciplined her strictly.
Cleiria likes the nanny too, but she seems downcast imagining that the relaxed villa life will become a bit suffocating.
(Yeah, isn't that a wonderful choice?)
While listening to Cleiria's complaints, Mika sends praise for the Marquis's management.
And so, he puts a spoonful of food like a scallop steak into his mouth.
(This is delicious. Do nobles always eat such good things?)
In the noble dining hall, several dishes are served on large platters, and a servant pushing a cart comes to the table.
You signal with your hand to call them over, choose the food you want, and have them serve as much as you like onto your plate.
It feels like a buffet where you stay seated.
However, unlike a buffet, they do not put multiple dishes on a single plate.
At home, dishes come one by one like a course meal, but it seems this format is also common.
Mika has them serve him slightly less than usual and eats politely.
After all, he doesn't have the courage to gorge himself here as usual.
However, the main cutlery is a spoon, with a single stick like chopsticks as an auxiliary tool.
There are no knives or forks, so it is a bit difficult to eat.
Dinner knives are prepared, of course, but it is hard to cut with a stick to hold the food down.
It seems knives won't be active at the dining table until forks are developed.
And so, after finishing lunch, we return to the classroom.
Cleiria still seemed to want to complain, but Mika had given up.
The atmosphere of the noble dining hall doesn't quite suit Mika's nature.
Returning to the classroom much earlier than usual, a crowd had gathered in a corner of the classroom.
"What is that?"
"I don't know."
With Cleiria's arrival, the crowd naturally split left and right, and what they were doing became visible.
"...Really, you people never improve no matter how long it takes. Good grief... even though I am taking the trouble to guide you."
There was a boy said to be the third or fourth son of a noble, and another boy.
"So, it was impossible for commoners to understand this high-minded game, was it?"
Sighing like that, in front of the noble son [bon-bon], a Buattre Heed board was placed.
"What is it, Buattre Heed...."
I was forced to play with Kifrod so often.
I had never seen any enthusiasts other than Kifrod, but it seems nobles really play with this.
"Oh my, do you know Buattre Heed?"
Hearing Mika's mutter, the bon-bon looks toward Mika.
(Damn.)
It slipped out.
By the time Mika thought "this is bad," it was too late.
All eyes in the room turned to Mika, causing a slight murmur.
"Can Mika play Buattre Heed?"
"Ah, no, not that I can play...."
"Just perfect. Let's play a hand. I'll see your skill."
"No, well... There isn't much time either...."
Mika tries to bluff his way out of this place, but escaping while attracting so much attention requires a certain amount of courage.
He thinks if there is any good excuse, but nothing comes to mind at all.
"Buattre Heed often ends midway. Don't worry about it. Come on, let's start."
Originally, it is a game that takes time, so it often does not decide a clear winner.
Even on the real battlefield, it is not common for kings or generals to be slain.
Ending with a winning position, losing position, advantageous position, or disadvantageous position is accepted as quite ordinary in this game.
Cleiria, like a fighting pose, puts in a lot of strength,
"Mika, fight!"
And sends cheers like that.
(Wait, that's not cheering, that's just filling the outer moat!)
Thinking he will pull her cheeks later, Mika takes his seat.
Well, the escort knights are scary, so he really can't do that anyway.
"Then, let's start setting up the pieces."
With the bon-bon's declaration, they begin setting up the pieces.
(...No choice. Let's finish this quickly.)
Like he did with Kifrod, Mika sets up a fast-attack, offense-focused formation.
He smashes his army into the enemy territory, expanding the damage.
Against Kifrod, he would save his major pieces, set traps, and do various things, but this time the goal is to finish quickly.
If the bon-bon [this guy] sees Mika losing pieces with reckless attacks, he will lose interest in Mika.
"Oh my, isn't your piece setup heavily biased toward offense? Are you sure that's okay?"
"Ah... well...."
And so, the piece setup ends quickly.
The bon-bon's piece setup seems to be a balanced type.
He is prepared to deal with whatever Mika does.
(I probably won't use them anyway...)
Thinking that, he safely chooses the reserve card closest to his own territory.
"Come on, let's start. I'll yield the first move."
The bon-bon shows off his confidence, saying he will let Mika go first.
Mika bows and says "Thank you," then moves a piece.
Without hesitation, Mika and the bon-bon take turns moving pieces.
"Um, this and this, simultaneous action."
"Hmm. You seem to grasp the rules well."
The troublesome part of Buattre Heed is this simultaneous action.
Depending on the combination and arrangement of pieces, two pieces can be moved at the same time.
Whether you remember this well or not changes your strength dramatically.
In extreme terms, you can finish moving a piece that originally takes forty moves in just twenty moves by moving two at once.
It is possible that while you have only moved twenty times, the opponent has moved forty times.
Well, it is natural that the strength differs by a huge margin between those who know and those who don't.
Also, even if conditions are met, one might choose to move only one piece.
So, even if you notice the opponent meets the conditions, there is no need to tell them.
It is a rule that you can move, not a rule that you must move.
Mika chips away at his defensive pieces, luring the leading attack force.
The bon-bon watches Mika's movements and stalls the movement of his attacking pieces.
Presumably, he plans to rush in all at once after Mika's defensive pieces are gone.
He leaves his own defensive pieces untouched and waits for Mika.
Mika's defense in his own territory is like paper, so if he can just hold on for a bit, he can rush in and checkmate in no time.
It seems he read that.
"Who is currently in the advantageous position?"
"No, the battle hasn't even started yet."
Cleiria, watching from behind Mika, asks.
"My father often plays against Magnus, but I can't understand it even when I watch."
"Well, memorizing the rules is difficult too."
While talking to Cleiria, Mika advances his attacking pieces.
Naturally, using simultaneous actions.
Mika also struggled to memorize these special rules like simultaneous actions and combined attacks.
But Mika memorized them desperately. These complicated rules.
Why?
Of course, to finish quickly.
If an action that takes forty moves can be finished in twenty, that means time is shortened.
Mika, who was half-forced to play by Kifrod, memorized these troublesome rules just to settle things quickly.
"Eh? What are you doing, Mika-kun?"
"Oh, Rimliche. Everyone has returned, haven't they?"
There, everyone from the Leventein group had returned from the dining hall.
After hearing the situation briefly from Cleiria, everyone from the Leventein group makes somewhat complicated faces.
'Why does he know the rules of such a troublesome game?'
'Again, getting bothered by a troublesome guy.'
Something like that.
Only Rimliche looked at Mika with concern.
"Well, it's just a game."
He smiles at Rimliche like that.
"...Well, since everyone has returned, it must be time. Then, I'll be going now."
"Yes, come."
Mika has roughly finished his attack formation, and his defensive pieces that moved far from his territory have almost caught up to his attacking pieces.
Mika uses simultaneous actions to attack the bon-bon's territory.
At that time, using another special rule called combined attacks, he also includes adjacent other pieces in the attack.
This allows him to move two pieces simultaneously with simultaneous action, and two more with combined attacks, moving a total of four pieces at once to chip away at the bon-bon's defense.
"Hmph... not bad. I never thought you knew the rules that well."
"...Thank you."
The bon-bon hurries the movement of his attacking pieces.
However, since he waited for Mika's defensive pieces to disappear, it seems he still needs a little time to prepare his attack.
In the meantime, Mika continues to attack relentlessly.
He moves pieces under meticulous calculation so that four pieces can always attack.
And then—
"W-what..."
In the blink of an eye, the bon-bon's territory was annihilated.
The bon-bon's attack force barely reached Mika's territory.
Noticing his own territory couldn't hold out, he sent his faster units ahead.
But the units trying to rush straight were stopped by randomly chosen reserve cards.
And then, the few defensive pieces Mika had rushed in with a banzai attack and crushed them.
In the end, there wasn't a single defensive piece around Mika's king, a naked single rider state. Truly, the naked king.
And while buying time like that, Mika's demon-like attack rushed into the bon-bon's territory.
With a storm of simultaneous actions and combined attacks, he tore the bon-bon's defense to shreds.
"Um..."
Mika's hand stops, leaving the last combined attack.
With this piece, attacking the bon-bon's defensive piece results in checkmate.
The game will end on Mika's next turn.
(...His defense is too much like paper?)
To Mika, who always faced Kifrod's defense solidified like concrete, there is no other word but tofu.
Mika attacked using simultaneous actions and combined attacks, but that is not something only the attacking side can do.
Even the defending side can counterattack with simultaneous actions and combined attacks if they arrange their positions well.
Mika just attacked as usual.
Moreover, even doing all this, he couldn't break through Kifrod's defense.
An awkward atmosphere flows.
Even the surrounding gallery doesn't say a word.
Well, it's the same naked king situation, but there are no enemy pieces around Mika.
On the contrary, the bon-bon is completely surrounded by Mika's pieces.
Even an amateur can see who is winning.
(What do I do with this...?)
I thought I would lose quickly, but I ended up trampling him one-sidedly.
At that moment, the children of the class who were in the hallway came in with a rustling sound.
Probably the teacher has arrived.
"T-the next class seems to be starting, so maybe this is enough. Ah, ahaha...."
Mika's dry laugh echoes in vain.
Let's just leave the match itself as it is.
Just as he thinks that.
"...No, this is my complete defeat."
Looking at the board, the bon-bon says such a thing.
"I will cleanly admit my loss. It was a wonderful game."
Yes, he looks straight at Mika.
"I never thought a master of such skill was in the same class."
"...Huh?"
Master?
"You must have studied under a famous master. It was a wonderful performance."
Master?
Kifrod?
"You are, I believe, Mika Noisheim-kun. I am Stellan Segerbaum. I am from House Segerbaum."
Saying that, he extends his right hand.
"Gratitude to the gods who gave me this fateful encounter, meeting a worthy rival. Next time, I will surely show you that I can win. You too, strive not to lose to me."
Stellan shakes hands with Mika, then quickly clears away the Buattre Heed board.
Mika watched the scene with a somewhat dazed face.
Somehow, I was made a worthy rival.
...But, just because I wasn't called a "comrade" [tomo], is that still better?
"Mika, you are strong at Buattre Heed."
"Amazing, Mika-kun."
Cleiria and Rimliche are honestly impressed.
At that moment, the teacher arrived.
Mika and the others hurriedly took their seats.
(But, I see... Kifrod was a master of Buattre Heed.)
He thinks such a thing.
He used to say "wait" when he was in a disadvantageous position.
And he was annoyingly happy about winning against an eight-year-old child.
He said things like "not yet" and boasted about winning.
With an inexplicable feeling, Mika listens to the afternoon class.
■■■■■■
【？？？？？？？？？】
It was a dimly lit room.
A familiar room overflowing with luxurious furniture.
Looking down, a middle-aged man was lying on the floor.
That man is familiar.
(........................?)
He didn't understand the situation well.
Why is this man lying down?
(.........................)
Strange.
Why?
No matter how much he thought, he couldn't understand.
"...nn...nnn...."
After thinking for a while, it seems the man's consciousness returned.
The man slowly opens his eyes and scans his vision slightly.
"...Fallen...? What happened to me...?"
The man slowly gets up, supporting his staggering body with the desk as he stands.
And so, he looks around the room with a suspicious expression.
"...Office...? But, this is...?"
The man, looking confused, busily looks around.
At that moment, he notices a brand new wooden box placed on the desk.
"This seal...?"
Looking at the seal engraved on the lid of the wooden box, the man makes a suspicious face.
He gently opens the lid of the wooden box.
"Hic!?"
Gatan!
The man dropped the lid of the wooden box.
"W-what... what... why is this here!?"
Inside the wooden box were numerous old, old pieces of parchment.
Heavily discolored, the characters written on them are now obsolete.
They were what is commonly called ancient documents.
But if they were just ancient documents, the man's fear would be too abnormal.
The man has lost his legs and is sitting on his bottom.
Someone was watching the man like that.
(...................)
And he realizes that just watching is useless.
Yes, just do it again.
Any number of times, any number of times.
Until now, he has done it that way...
The man stands up, picks up the fallen wooden box lid, and closes it carefully.
And so, he gently traces the seal engraved on the wooden box.
"Yes... any number of times...."
The man mutters that, sits on the chair, and leans heavily against the backrest.
He slowly takes a deep breath, exhales deeply, and closes his eyes.
In the dimly lit room dominated by silence, the man also sinks into that darkness.