episode_0056

Tuk-.

Tuk-.

… Tuk.

Tuk-.

… Tuk.

Tuk-.

Beatrice’s horses are dying quickly. My Queen, who invaded her camp, single-handedly took control of Beatrice’s horses.

Rook can only move in a straight line forward, backward, left and right. If the queen attacks from a diagonal angle, she becomes instantly helpless. Of course, you can avoid it by moving your location.

The same goes for bishops and knights. Each has some drawbacks in terms of mobility.

On the other hand, Queen is a horse that can attack in all directions. No matter where you place it, it is possible to place other pieces within attack range in most locations.

“… This is Won, I’m helpless.”

“Giggle.”

“If you avoid the rook, the knight dies, and if you move the knight, the rook dies… Tsk.”

In terms of value alone, the Rook is more expensive than the Knight. Beatrice, who had little chess experience, moved her rook three spaces forward and discarded her knight. Instead, I kept the look alive.

Tuk-.

I immediately grabbed Beatrice’s knight. A short sigh escaped Beatrice’s mouth. This is because my queen, standing where the knight was just a moment ago, is checking Beatrice’s white king.

If that were all, I could just move the king and avoid it, but the real problem was that my queen was diagonally targeting the rook that Beatrice had just moved.

“Well, I guess I have no choice.”

Beatrice chose to move the king. I couldn’t help it. I immediately caught Beatrice’s look, and this time it was a similar situation. My queen is targeting Beatrice’s king and knight at the same time.

Beatrice’s silence flowed through the silence. With a gulp, dry saliva ran down her neck. The momentum that had passed over to me was clearly making her nervous as I was playing chess with only two pieces to play.

After that, similar situations were repeated several times. Every time that happened, Beatrice helplessly handed over her words to me, and the gap between me and Beatrice gradually narrowed.

The expression ‘moving across an endless chessboard’ would be a perfect fit. My queen was the predator on the chessboard. Also, an overwhelming predator.

The pieces were pieces, but the difference in chess skills was also large. I could see the future that Beatrice couldn’t see, and if my queen moved just three times, Beatrice’s horse would die without fail.

So, after exchanging dozens of moves.

Tuk-.

Tuk-.

flinch-.

Tuk-.

Beatrice habitually flinched whenever I held the queen. Because every time my queen moved, her words died, over and over again. Beatrice was a bit indifferent at first, but soon became quite immersed in it.

Engraved fear.

The fear felt by the weak.

The feeling of superiority felt by the strong.

Defeat, despair, awe, fear, helplessness.

Victory, glory, superiority, carnage, excitement.

Chess is like a small war. The emotions that are intersecting between me and Beatrice come rushing out on a square chessboard.

Tuk-.

And, Beatrice’s last guard horse has just died, and now only Beatrice is left with the King. It’s checkmate. Just one word is the result of using only one’s strength.

If Beatrice had had even a little bit of chess experience, this kind of production would have been impossible, but I’m glad it turned out as expected. I was taking a gamble by saying that there was no way a hard training enthusiast like Beatrice would have ever played a game like chess.

“… I lost.”

Beatrice clearly admits defeat.

Beatrice’s brown eyes, as she took out the king with regret, were full of awe toward me. A feeling that only I think of as awe.

“You are doing well. I’m embarrassed to be so proud.”

“Ahaha. I’ve been playing chess for quite a long time.”

“I never thought I would lose because of just one queen, but this is amazing.”

“I’m kind of amazing.”

Beatrice compliments me after losing. Normally, I would have accepted it generously, but what Beatrice has to send me now is not a compliment.

“Amazing, right? Queen.”

“It’s definitely amazing. I didn’t give it a 9 for nothing.”

“The sight of him walking through the enemy lines alone and bravely becoming unmatched… The queen seems like a really cool piece. Or was it just my control that was good?”

“I would say both. The queen’s abilities were extraordinary, and your chess skills were also outstanding.”

“Hmm… .”

Really, that’s full of praise.

Now, let’s start the engine.

“It’s unexpected.”

“Moore?”

“I thought Sir Beatrice would envy me.”

“… I only lost based on my skills, so why would I be jealous?”

“Giggle kick.”

The iron skin is thick.

I need to remove it so it looks nice.

“But, even though she clearly says that, why does the emotion of envy ooze out of Sir Beatrice’s voice?”

“Stop saying strange things.”

“That’s a strange thing to say. I’m just telling you what I felt after seeing the entire scene. You even have a blush on your face? Be honest. You wanted to win chess, right? Even in a small game like this, you wanted to be the winner, right?”

“Don’t guess. There’s no way I would feel envious of something like chess. It’s true that I wanted to win, but.”

“So what you mean is, if it was something other than chess, would you be jealous?”

“… .”

“I am jealous of the knowledgeable Lord Beatrice. I wonder what on earth she is jealous of. Let’s take a guess?”

When I first saw Beatrice.

When I heard about Beatrice’s past history.

Afterwards, when ‘Beatrice Constantino of the past’ was indirectly shown through chess.

I recalled Beatrice’s appearances in three memories.

“Actually, I wanted to show the old Lady Beatrice through chess.”

“I had a guess.”

“Sir Beatrice runs wild as if she were invincible alone among countless soldiers and generals who fought for the country, and the soldiers who fought for the country feel fearful that their lives are threatened due to this. And Sir Beatrice, who feels a strange sense of superiority. I tried to capture these three beats.”

“Sense of superiority! How cruel and barbaric war is! How can you feel superior while fighting a war?”

Beatrice stands up and refutes my words. For her, for whom the war against her country left behind her as a kind of trauma, the story I am telling you now will not be a pleasant story at all.

But I don’t stop talking.

“Didn’t you know? Humans are inherently barbaric. When you kill people in war, you feel a sense of disgust at killing the same life, you feel fear of lives dying before your eyes, and you also feel the instinctive joy that comes from trampling on those who are weaker than you. The world calls the last of them a sense of superiority.”

“You got the wrong person! I am not that kind of animal! The reason I picked up a sword was simply because I wanted to protect the kingdom and my family! There is no other meaning!”

“Really? But why were you polishing the great sword?”

“… !”

When I first saw Beatrice. She was chanting quietly and polishing her great sword with a handkerchief.

The great sword that pierced his father’s heart.

“Don’t you usually put things that remain as your trauma in a corner and not even bother to look at them? Why was Sir Beatrice polishing the great sword so carefully?”

“Because it’s my father’s memento… .”

“At the same time, it is also the sword that took the life of Kyeong’s father. Isn’t it strange? A sword that is no different from an enemy is treated with such care by the Lord.”

“… .”

“Like a person who is ready to fight at any time.”

The control of the conversation passed to me. And Beatrice’s resistance diminished.

I continue speaking.

“There is another strange thing. When Sir Beatrice talked about her past, she clearly said, ‘I became a knight because I wanted to be loved by my father.’ My father said, ‘I treated my daughter coldly because I wanted to make her dream of becoming a knight come true.’ Then, I guess the Pope treated Sir Beatrice kindly until she realized her dream of becoming a Holy Knight?”

“… That’s right. My father a long time ago was a good man.”

“Huh? Then the story gets a little strange, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Sir Beatrice, who was already receiving enough love, to say, ‘I want to be loved, so I become a knight!’, but rather to say that she became a knight with the thought, ‘My father, who is a great knight, is awesome!’”

A paladin is a being who must not harbor desires.

They serve the Lord and the Seven Great Goods, and unlike ordinary warriors, they value training both mind and body rather than training only their arms.

Beatrice herself didn’t know. To be precise, he was deceiving himself.

One’s true intentions.

The Pope whom Sir “ had seen at close range since he was young was the most powerful man in the Holy Kingdom. They defeated all foreign invasions with force and always raised the glorious banner of victory. People are passionate about stories of heroes. I empathize with the ‘hero’, not the loser. They want to be intoxicated by the emotions of the winner, and they yearn for the winner’s superior position looking down on the kneeling loser. Kyung must have felt the same way when he was young.”

“… .”

“Don’t be shy. A sense of superiority is a feeling that one must naturally feel since one is born as a human being. why? Because people are animals too! Feeling superiority by trampling on animals that are weaker than you, or feeling pleasure while watching the entertainment of those in a lower position than you are all natural human desires! It’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!”

“… .”

“A universal hero who confidently drives away the oncoming enemy forces! Kyung wanted to become that kind of person! To be precise, I longed for the looks of awe and fear that I received while driving out the enemy army! The subsequent looks of envy and longing! It’s so attractive that anyone would want it! Place your hand on your heart and think. When you single-handedly wiped out the fighting warriors with the power of Lucifer, did you really not feel any sense of superiority?”

Beatrice, a priest, has a conscience.

Normally, it would be a conscience that raises the standard of morality.

For now, it is a hook that brings out her ugly inner thoughts.

“Dozens of people fly around with a single slash! Hundreds of people fall to the ground with just one punch! You really didn’t feel anything! I feel like I’ve become great! The instinctive feeling of superiority felt by the strong among the weak! Can you really say that Sir Beatrice didn’t feel anything at all? haha… .”

Maybe it’s because I’m talking so excitedly, but I’m thirsty. So, I was trying to catch my breath for a moment, but Beatrice, who had been listening with her mouth closed all along, opened her lips.

“There is no such fact.”

“Giggle.”

“Even if I felt it, I am not a Holy Knight. You can’t be proud of feeling something like an obscene desire.”

“Really, you are being disingenuous. As expected, the scene is fun.”

Beatrice calmly denies my words.

It doesn’t go beyond this level. It’s not easy either.

Well, if you want to seduce a strong paladin like Beatrice, you need to prepare more.

So, I prepared more.

A real-life version of the chessboard we just played.

Kuaaa!

Kieeek-!

“Hmm? The monster is howling, right? Which guy is it?”

“Oh, I don’t think this is just one or two people?”

It seems that Aru properly carried out the mission I gave him. Just by lightly spreading the energy, hundreds of monsters were captured within the energy.

After all, it’s a black wyvern. The seduction performance is solid.

“Qu… Is this place my grave?”

“Yes? Why is this the place of Sir Beatrice?”

“That’s right, because the enemies are coming. I have no intention of fighting. I would have rather died like this. I’m not even qualified to kill those monsters.”

“Thoughts can change at any time.”

Dudududududu-.

The floor is shaking. A huge army of monsters is running towards this place. I stood up, holding the trump card in my hand.

“I will fight first. Whenever you feel like it, you can come out.”

“I clearly said I would not fight.”

“I will make you feel again the feeling of the strong among the weak. It’s a bonus that it gives you back the meaning of life.”