“I’m good with bets…”
“This scaredy-cat is the T-party host? I guess Trinity really is like that.”
“…Hoo. Just looking at it, I feel like Natsume Iroha is going to tank, so why am I the only one working? I can’t help but think that—”
“Honestly, that raccoon from Manma Battle might be better. At least it would have bravely slammed the table and shouted ‘Bring it on!’ Unlike some scaredy-cat over here.”
“Hey, Aco-chan. Even I’d get a bit… well, a tiny bit mad if someone crosses that line, you know~ Ahaha!”
As I pushed the documents away, our overly competent Hanako, with her impeccable timing, slid the chessboard into the middle of the table.
“I don’t know what kind of bet this is, but sure. Let’s just play a game. Oh, and just so you know, you have 30 seconds per move.”
“Wait?”
“Time limit.”
“…Do as you wish.”
“White? Black?”
“…Black.”
Even with options given, she chose black. Is it confidence or pride?
Either way, I’m grateful.
I know from experience how strong and tricky black can be, and which moves counter white’s effectively, but I overwhelmingly have more experience playing as white.
While I was setting the timer on my phone, Iroha twisted around and lay on her side. Holding a book up like that can be tiring.
Hanako was now sitting by the couch, her gaze toward Aco not quite as friendly. It seems she didn’t like how I was being provoked.
Honestly, if I had just compared her to Makoto, I would’ve laughed it off. I can tolerate a lot, but not Makoto. I’d rather die than tolerate that.
After pushing my pawn to e4 and starting the timer, Aco moved her pawn to c5 without the slightest hesitation and reset the timer.
I honestly thought she might go with something standard like e5. When Nagisa played c5 as her first move, it usually led to a tiring game; so I decided to engage more seriously in this match.
*
“Th-this can’t be right.”
“Heueng. For someone who boldly challenged, isn’t this a bit underwhelming?”
“Mika-san, what’s your rating?”
“What rating?”
“Of course, I mean chess rating! I’m about 1800, you know? That’s not a skill to be taken lightly…!”
I didn’t know there was such a thing as a chess rating. I guess it would be odd if Kivotos didn’t hold chess tournaments or something.
“Haha. Sounds like nothing special.”
“Can we rematch?”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt, but then I’ll be black this time—”
“No thanks?! Let’s do it again like this. This time, I’ll definitely win. Now that I know Mika-san isn’t a pushover, I’ll go all out!”
“Uh, I’ll cheer for you.”
“Hehe…!”
Wait, I thought I was sincerely cheering. Why does she look so mad?
“Hey, Mika-san.”
“What?”
I responded lightly as I heard Iroha’s voice from below. She turned over and dropped the book beside her.
“I was thinking of taking a quick nap. Please make sure not to disturb my legs. Haaa…”
Wow. Is this her secret hideout?
While I was pondering this, I couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been a normal occurrence if Iroha had actually been brought here.
Having Hanako, who’s probably unmatched in Kivotos in terms of capability, as my secretary, it’s hard to deny that switching that role to Iroha would be a downgrade in terms of skills and job efficiency. I could see her coaxing me to skip school on a whim.
Hanako, who treats me with a level of loyalty that I can’t even understand, takes care of things I never asked her to do, truly an ultra-secretary. Iroha, on the other hand, has a clause in her employment conditions guaranteeing rest time that defies common sense, so there’s no way to make a proper comparison here.
Ah, but I’ll admit, she’s cute. If this secretary clings to me begging for a lap pillow every day, I might just surrender quickly.
“…You have it made, don’t you?”
“Does Aco-senior public servant feel sorry for being utterly defeated after provoking?”
“Have you said everything you’d like, Iroha?”
“Koo…”
“If you’re going to pretend to sleep, shouldn’t you at least show some effort…! Haah.”
Aco, pressing her forehead hard, renewed her determination and looked at me. Her eyes were filled with a burning desire to win.
“This round…”
“…Are you going to try again?”
“What’s this? You’re not pulling out just because you won once, right? One match doesn’t settle anything. So the loser this time has to…”
“Ride the other player like a horse and run five laps around the field!”
“Aco-chan, can you even manage that with your stamina? I have a hard time believing that.”
“I can do it?! What are you saying? Do you think I’m just a decoration as senior public servant of the Student Council?!”
“Ugh, what a bothersome girl.”
“…?! How dare you say that!”
To silence Aco, who seemed to be revving up for another round of remarks, I again moved my phone to e4.
Then, Aco’s hand lingered over the pawn in the E file for a moment before she moved to the C file.
c6…?
This is a bit interesting.
I know exactly what she’s thinking; there are fewer openings not learned from Nagisa, so I recall most of them.
It seems she intends to support the pawn at c6 by advancing the pawn at d5 behind it to attack.
So, I’ll just play d4, taking control of the center, while I select one of the options to defend against the inevitable black attack.
With that, I played d4 sharply and handed the timer over.
That limit of 30 seconds per move isn’t really what it seems.
If I predict the following moves and lay out the plan, then the time I invest in each subsequent move, as well as the time the opponent spends on their move, all counts as usable time for me.
Because of that, reducing the time I use based on my understanding of the opponent’s moves is beneficial. It forces both players to use their time wisely, but since I’ve already read the moves, I have nothing to lose.
There were times playing against Nagisa when unexpected moves popped up and threw my tempo off, but generally, it tended to bring about better results.
As I moved my pawn quickly, Aco took her time to move her pawn to d5.
Whether I take with my pawn from e4, push to provide an attack, or bring my knight to c3 for a possible pawn exchange.
Looking over my options, I decided that moving the knight to the center would be the most effective, sending the timer back to Aco to make her move, she immediately drew her knight out.
“…Why are you playing so hastily all of a sudden! It’s 30 seconds, right?!”
“Well? Perhaps I’m just playing without much thought☆”
Though she says that, she must be considering her next move after the pawn exchange. Typically, she’d be inclined to attack my knight that moved to the center.
Then, she could move her dark-squared bishop to f5 through the open space to attack the knight or bring her g-file knight to f6 to initiate an exchange.
For some reason, Aco seemed excited, quickly snatching my pawn on e4 with her pawn from d5. I responded silently with Nxe4.
Depending on what choices Aco makes now, I’ll have to invest a bit more time…
“Heueng?”
In contrast to what I expected, Aco delayed her tempo with Nd7. This seems… a choice to exchange the knight while preventing her e-file pawn from blocking the knight during the process.
Ah, the g-file pawn is a non-issue. That line doesn’t need to be opened.
But you know, this is… fun.
Looking at Aco’s current state, her eyes seem a bit unfocused. It’s typically at these moments that judgment becomes cloudy, and it’s easier to fall for traps set by the opponent.
Thus, rather than moving the dark-squared bishop to g5, I switched my focus to moving my queen to e2. This took a time max of 10 seconds.
The moment I made the move, Hanako, as if reading my move, turned her curious gaze to Aco.
To be honest, I was intrigued to see how Aco would respond. If there’s even a smidgen of calmness left behind that annoyed face, she’d see right through the trap. If her composure has slipped, then…
“Haha.”
“What’s wrong? Why’re you suddenly laughing? It’s really uncomfortable, you know?!”
“But it’s checkmate.”
“…Huh?”
Regrettably for Aco, she seemed to have completely lost her composure.
Caught in my pace, she failed to read the trap and advanced her knight intending to push for an exchange…
The moment I advanced my knight from e4 to d6, check. The only spot to evade my attack was at d7, where Aco had positioned her knight blocking the king’s path.
Though the knight threatening the king had a soldier’s spear aimed at its neck, the soldier can’t take the knight. The second that it moves, my queen would pierce the heart of the king.
“Ah, ah…?”
“By the way, Aco-chan, would it be rude to call this boring?”
“I-I don’t accept this! To fall for such a basic trap…!”
“And who fell for it? It was none other than the renowned senior public servant of the Student Council, Amau Aco-chan!”
I could hear Iroha snickering from below as Aco’s stunned expression twisted into an enraged face.
“A-ahh…! One game. One more game. Let’s go again!”
“…Aco-chan, how about you get some pointers from Hanako-chan this time? Might spice things up a bit.”
“…”
Although I thought I was being earnest, after shooting me a sharp glance, Aco began repositioning the chess pieces to their original spots.
“…The loser here has to wear a maid outfit and serve the other player during the exchange student experience period!”
Hmm. Is this the perfect time to strike with a faint “Nope, not doing that~”?
“If you run away just because you’re scared…”
…Looks like she’s really aiming for a showdown today. But now throwing the “scared” comment around? The reality stands at 2 wins to 0 losses, y’know?
“If you accept, I’ll share my prized collection of photos of the ‘Head’!”
Ah, I can’t resist that. If I lose here, I’d just end up serving her in a maid outfit.
