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Episode 56
Final Exam (3)
[Phone to G3.]
Woof, slurp─.
[Knight to D2.]
Woof, slurp─.
[Bishop to C7.]
Woof, slurp─.
.
.
.
[Phew… … .]
I looked down at the chessboard and sighed.
[… … Now I’m starting to get the hang of it.]
Is it because it’s been 300 years since I played chess?
At first, mistakes were frequent.
There were many times when I fell for obvious traps and lost the right to attack to my opponent because of an unexpected move.
But as time went by, my sharp sense of the game gradually returned.
It’s already been two hours since the game started.
The match, which had started off extremely unfavorable, was now showing signs of becoming somewhat even.
[… … .]
I took my eyes off the chessboard for a moment and looked straight ahead.
On the giant throne.
A relaxed posture was seen on Jan Lantes’ body.
Why is that?
Even though the game was as close as walking on thin ice, he wasn’t looking at the chessboard.
Instead, the guy just looked at Riley with interest.
“Hey kid.”
“… … .”
“Do you know what the colors that follow each tower mean?”
It was a somewhat random question. Do you know the meaning of the colors that follow the five major towers?
[You don’t know, do you?]
‘I learned it from Artemis.’
[Well, that’s good.]
As Jan Irantes said, the names of the five great towers are always followed by a color.
Blue.
Purple.
White.
Red.
And these colors meant only one thing.
“These colors represent the characteristics of each tower.”
“… … .”
For example, it was like this.
Dwight Matap, who seeks pure mana itself, is white, and Yadon-Grantan Matap, who seeks the power of destructive magic, is red.
Gaya-Violet Magic Tower, which insists on magic power imbued with elegance and beauty, is purple.
And the Ucria Magic Tower, which walks the path of magic with a firm yet principled mindset, is blue.
“hmm.”
Well, after hearing Riley’s answer, Yann Lantes nodded with a satisfied expression.
“That’s correct.”
Each tower had its own unique color that represented it.
The color itself was a strong symbol that expressed the identity of the tower.
It wasn’t for nothing that each tower displayed these colors through their patterns and uniforms.
“But, kid.”
“… … .”
“Our Irantes Tower has no color.”
But unlike the other five towers who express themselves through color.
Colorless.
The Irantes Tower was colorless.
“Do you know why?”
“… … .”
Riley thought for a moment after hearing Jan Lantes’ question.
Soon she gave the answer.
“Isn’t there a solid identity that can be expressed through color?”
“That’s correct.”
Nod.
Jan Lantes nodded again.
“Child, as you said, the Tower of Irantes is colorless. That is why we are colorless.”
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“… … .”
“The only thing this tower boasts is that I am a disciple of Martha Pargerich and that I have succeeded in the magic of immortality through this. However, that does not constitute our identity.”
[……under.]
As I listened to Jan Lantes’ words in silence, I couldn’t help but snort.
He claims to be a disciple of Martha Pargerich.
They succeeded in creating an immortality spell there.
[… … You’re joking in front of me and no one else?]
Even the sole pride that the Irantes Tower had been holding up was shattered in front of me.
“Did you say it was colorless? Yes. That’s right.”
“… … .”
“But, my child, this also means that we can become any color we need.”
But there was no way that Jan Irantes could hear what I was saying. He continued.
“While others were falling behind the times by insisting on their own colors, we have been changing to match the colors that the times demand.”
“… … .”
“Sometimes pure like white, sometimes passionate like red, sometimes elegant like purple, and sometimes simple like blue.”
According to Jan Irantes, the Irantes Tower had the following characteristics:
Open and.
There are no old farts who are insensitive to the changing times.
Fluid, adaptable to change, and continually evolving at a frightening pace… … .
“Hey kid.”
“… … .”
“We have lived like that for 300 years.”
okay.
It was exactly what Becky explained to me last night.
That was exactly the gaze of the general magicians towards the Tower of Irantes.
But Riley and I knew their inside story.
“The art of living, yes. The art of living. That is the real secret that allowed us to grow into the Five Great Towers in just 300 years.”
“… … .”
[… … .]
Jan Irantes attributed their growth to their worldly wisdom… … .
[… … You’re lying.]
We knew.
How did those guys end up on the top five towers?
What disgusting things did those guys do to get in that position?
-However, unlike the image known to the world, the reality of the Irantes Tower is completely different.
-… … Those sons of bitches murdered my mother and Sharon.
[Phew… … .]
Knowing all that, I could only sigh when I saw Yann Lantes speak so shamelessly.
At times like this, it’s fortunate that there’s no mouth or face to hide.
* * *
“… … .”
[… … .]
A long time has passed since then.
The game was reaching its final stage. Black and white. Both sides had few chess pieces left.
From now on, it’s a one-on-one fight.
One small mistake can determine the outcome of the game.
Woof, slurp─.
Woof, slurp─.
Woof, slurp─.
We were just concentrating on the game for a while without saying anything.
“Hey kid.”
Just then, Jan Lantes asked another unexpected question.
“Is it true that your attribute flowering has finished?”
“Yes.”
Despite the unexpected question, Riley answered without being flustered.
“Hmm… … .”
Knock, knock knock─.
Jan Lantes smiled faintly, his meaning unclear.
He opened his mouth and tapped the armrest of the throne lightly.
“Child, you are a genius. You have such talent that you know it yourself.”
“… … .”
“But while geniuses are naturally gifted with wit and humor, you have a slightly different disposition.”
In a slow but clear voice, he continued.
“I have been watching your every move carefully since the second test.”
“… … .”
“You showed maturity beyond your years. You never panicked in any situation and always remained calm.”
Jan Lantes paused for a moment.
He slowly opened his mouth and looked up at Riley.
“But, kid.”
“… … .”
“I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but there was a momentary gap between your actions.”
A momentary gap.
I knew what that meant.
When Riley faces a problem, she starts by talking to me to discuss how to overcome the difficulty in the future.
As a result, there was always a small gap before taking action.
“So rather than your actions seem like instinctive movements… … . Oh, okay.”
Yann Lantes, with an expression on his face that suggested a good expression, continued speaking slowly.
“It’s as if a seasoned wizard told you what to do and you just followed suit.”
“… … !”
Jan Lantes’ remarks hit the nail on the head.
As soon as she heard those words, Riley’s pupils constricted momentarily.
‘no way…….’
Whoosh─.
Riley, who was looking down at the chessboard, quickly looked up at Yann Lantes.
“Hmm.”
“… … .”
[… … .]
But Yann Lantes was no longer looking at Riley.
His gaze was now turned towards the chessboard.
Rather than saying that he was poking us in the face with some ulterior motive, it seemed like he was just expressing his honest feelings about Riley.
“It’s strange. It’s really strange.”
“… … .”
“Your unique personality is now even more evident on this chessboard.”
I slowly turned my gaze back towards the chessboard, following Jan Lantes.
[… … .]
chess.
A board game where you use 16 pieces to conquer your opponent, and a small war fought on a 64-square battlefield.
This game allows players to infer the tendencies of their opponents.
Is it reckless?
Are you calm?
Aggressive.
Defensive.
Are you pursuing a stable path?
Or do you take the risk of taking a gamble every now and then?
[… … .]
And me too.
Through this match, we were able to vaguely guess the personality of Yann Lantes.
Woof.
Ssuk─.
“Okay, kid. It’s your turn.”
“… … .”
“Quick, put a number on it.”
Jan Lantes’ numbers were consistently aggressive.
The guy always made biting us his top priority, regardless of whether it got him hurt or not.
To put it metaphorically, he was like a mad dog.
I’m talking about a mad dog that, intoxicated by its aggressiveness, rushes at its opponent without looking back.
But I knew.
That aggressive appearance is just a mask.
[… … .]
This meeting was like a final interview.
It was said that it was a place to match the tendencies and values of the applicant and the top.
And before starting chess.
Jan Lantes said clearly that this was the second test.
-Then come closer.
-… … .
-You have to come so I can take the second test.
Surely the test isn’t simply about winning or losing a game of chess.
Likewise, it’s not like I’m evaluating Riley’s wit.
That was too one-dimensional an approach.
[… … Then what could it be?]
What on earth is Jan Irantes trying to test through this game of chess?
I looked at the chessboard again with such questions in mind.
[… … .]
It was truly a gruesome sight.
Fragments of pieces were scattered across the chessboard.
I looked at the faces of the surviving artifacts one by one.
Pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, etc… … .
Regardless of the value of the object, they were all terrified.
-… … !
-… … !!!
Moreover, even the Kings of both sides, who had been silently surveying the battlefield with solemn expressions when the game began, were in a state of serious panic.
Well, that can’t be helped.
Those fragments, which to us are nothing more than pieces of marble, will appear to them as pieces of the corpses of their comrades and enemies.
In this situation, it would be strange not to panic.
[… … .]
I suddenly realized that it was fortunate that this was a game.
If this were reality, this would have been a brutal battlefield filled with blood and gore.
[uh?]
Right then.
Something suddenly occurred to me.
battleground.
It was a brutal battlefield, seething with blood and the scent of blood… … .
[Battlefield, battlefield… … .]
I repeated that passage in my head.
Then, for some reason, the scenery unfolding on the chessboard began to feel very familiar.
[… … .]
A vague hallucination flashed through my mind as a strange sense of foreboding gripped me.
Gyaaaah!
bang!
Phew──!
Woof, quaaaaang!
scream.
explosion.
The sound of something collapsing.
[for a moment.]
Only then did I realize what this feeling of discomfort was.
The corpses of the contestants were strewn everywhere, as if the objects had been shattered into pieces.
As the chess pieces trample and crush each other, the contestants kill and kill each other… … .
‘ah.’
Only then did Riley let out a sigh, as if she had realized something belatedly.
‘This is… … .’
She said.
‘It looks just like a historic site.’
okay.
Above the chessboard, the tragedy we had witnessed at the ruins was unfolding.
