Chapter 43

Roughly thirty minutes had passed since then.

The long afternoon sunlight climbed over the weathered wooden window frame and spilled into the shop.

A white piece was placed on the chessboard.

Click.

The game had moved past the midpoint.

Mikhail, who had been carefully studying the board's layout and lines of movement, raised his head and looked across the table.

Julien was the picture of restless anxiety—rubbing the back of his neck, shifting in his seat—as he asked tentatively.

"Mikhail, you're not mad, are you?"

"......"

"It's just, Haeron kept going on and on about how amazing you are at games... I had no idea you were a beginner. But hey, it looks like you're finding your rhythm now, so..."

"You little snot-nose! Why are you dragging me into this all of a sudden!"

Haeron barged into the conversation and yanked Julien's cheek sideways. Julien let out a pitiful whine.

Mikhail watched the scene, then turned his gaze back down to the chessboard.

"......"

Just as Julien said, the position had tilted considerably against him.

The number and type of remaining pieces, the control of the center—it all favored Julien.

...But even so.

It's not like there's no way to turn this around.

Click.

The sound of polished edges meeting cut through the noisy commotion.

Mikhail moved a black pawn forward one square, then spoke in an even voice.

"Julien. Your turn."

The bickering between Julien and Haeron stopped dead at the prompt.

Julien checked Mikhail's expression one more time, then inched his hand toward the board.

A white knight was placed to pressure the boldly advancing black pawn.

Click.

Mikhail studied the white knight for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Julien across the table.

Julien's violet eyes rolled as they swept the board, then locked onto the black knight.

To anyone watching, it was clearly the most threatening piece on the board at this point.

"......"

Mikhail turned his eyes back to the chessboard and picked up the knight.

Click.

The black knight landed on the board. But the square Mikhail had chosen was far from the best move.

If anything, it ranked a step or two below even the second-best option—the kind of move that invited confusion before admiration.

"...!"

But Julien's lips, which had been studying the board, soon pressed into a hard, flat line.

The square where Mikhail's knight had settled.

It was a position that shielded the black pawn's advance from a blind angle.

Click.

Julien moved immediately, dismantling the formation Mikhail had just created.

Mikhail countered instantly with another pawn.

It slipped through a gap that Julien's hasty response had just opened up.

Julien flinched at the sight of the pawn finding new life, bit down on his lip, and moved his piece.

"......"

Back and forth.

The exchange continued a while longer.

Click. Click.

Julien still held the advantage. But the tension running between them was nothing like before.

Every time Julien tried to press forward, he hesitated—as though someone had grabbed the hem of his coat—while Mikhail advanced step by methodical step.

With each exchange, the central territory Julien had claimed and the solid formation he'd built began to fray at the edges.

"Tsk."

Julien clicked his tongue, brow furrowed with mounting frustration.

His narrowed gaze couldn't tear itself away from the black pawn on the verge of promotion.

"......"

His violet eyes contracted once, as if gauging the situation.

Then a soft sound of admiration escaped his lips, and a spark of recognition lit up behind his eyes.

He'd found a new path. Most likely a way to take down the black pawn that had been plaguing him.

So on his next turn, Julien would—

Click.

"—It's over."

Mikhail announced the end calmly and looked at Julien across the board.

Julien raised his head, dazed.

Mikhail smiled faintly and rested his interlaced fingers on his knee.

"Look."

He gestured toward the pieces with a tilt of his chin. Julien blinked blankly, then dropped his gaze to the board.

It was exactly as Mikhail had said. The white king sat hopelessly isolated.

"...Wait, when did—"

Julien mumbled in disbelief. Mikhail tilted his head slightly.

"You react too sensitively to pawn advances. Way more than you'd need to if you were just worried about variables."

Julien drew in a sharp breath, slowly lowered his gaze, and clenched the hands resting on his knees.

His fallen eyelids trembled—the look of someone whose weak spot had been laid bare.

"......"

A stretch of silence followed.

Then Julien let out a sigh, his shoulders dropping, and hung a hollow grin on his face.

"Ha, what an embarrassment. I called you a beginner and everything, then got completely destroyed. I can't even show my face."

"See! What did I tell you! I said he was good, didn't I?"

Mikhail glanced between Julien and Haeron, then opened his mouth with a meaningful smile.

"Well then, now that the game's over, shall I collect my winnings?"

"...Huh? W-winnings?"

"What, you thought we were playing for free?"

When Mikhail said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, Julien instantly turned fidgety, tapping his fingertips together.

"Oh, well, the thing is... the traveling merchant said he'd dug up some new protective charms and stuff... I spent all my money buying relics. Sorry. If it's okay, maybe next week..."

"I'm not after money."

Mikhail cut him off and tilted his head slightly.

"I just want you to do me one favor."

"Hm? A favor?"

"Yeah, so here's the thing..."

Mikhail drew out the pause deliberately, watching Julien's face as he waited for what came next.

Violet eyes that held nothing but anticipation and nerves, with not the faintest guess of what was coming.

"......"

But Mikhail was looking past that. The useful branching points he'd be building from here on flickered across his mind.

A brief moment passed. Mikhail crossed his arms and spoke to Julien.

"You know the free mission period starts soon, right?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, yeah. That's right! It's already that time. Wow, it really flew by. But why do you—"

"Team up with me for it."

Julien faltered, as if doubting his own ears. Then his mouth fell open and his eyes went wide.

"...!"

Julien shot to his feet and the chair he'd been sitting in crashed to the floor behind him.

But he didn't seem to care in the slightest.

Vivid color bloomed across both cheeks, and his answer burst out in a voice brimming with excitement.

"—Yeah, let's do it! Where are we going? If it's with you, anywhere's fine!"

---

Two or three hours passed after that.

【Quest: [Sub] Establish a Useful Contact Point Complete】

• Completion Reward: Shop Currency +1

His meeting with Julien seemed to have gone smoothly.

Mikhail glanced at the golden message floating in the air, then continued along the main road.

His next destination was the campus dormitory building.

Though not the one where his own room was.

There's one more person I need to see.

Before long, Mikhail stepped into the dormitory entrance and walked along the polished corridor.

He stopped in front of a door at the far end of the hall.

Lloyd Cloelle.

After checking the nameplate, Mikhail lowered his eyes to the door itself.

It was slightly ajar, and from the darkness inside, not a single sign of life could be felt.

It looked as though someone had forgotten to lock it.

"Hmm."

Mikhail pulled his gaze from the door and turned around.

Forgetting to lock his door. The idea was absurd on its face.

The owner of this room was Lloyd Cloelle—someone who never let his personal information slip carelessly.

There was no way he'd simply forget to secure his door. This wasn't a time when any incident concerning Lloyd's safety was supposed to occur, either. Which meant...

He's hiding nearby.

Mikhail scanned the corridor, then walked toward the large pillars lined along its edge.

Past the first, the second, the third—he peeked behind the fourth.

A familiar silhouette stood leaning against the window.

"Hey."

Mikhail greeted Lloyd first.

The sky-blue eyes that drifted slowly toward him were dry and barren, like an early winter sky.

"Hey. Hi, Mikhail."

But the unusual edge lasted only a moment.

The familiar hint of a smile settled onto Lloyd's face, and out came his usual smooth, easy voice.

"Well, that's deflating. I was hoping I'd at least get to see you look a little surprised... How'd you know I was here?"

Instead of answering right away, Mikhail glanced at Lloyd, then turned his eyes to the window.

He opened his mouth in a tone that said it was hardly worth mentioning.

"Just a feeling."

"...Just a feeling?"

Lloyd's echo tilted upward, incredulous. Mikhail let out a quiet sigh and added one line.

"You're not someone who does things carelessly."

Silence followed. Mikhail shifted his gaze from the empty air to Lloyd.

Lloyd seemed unable to find a response. Arms crossed, he simply stared down at the glossy floor without a word.

But only for a moment. He soon pushed himself off the window and smiled, composed as ever.

"So what brings you here?"

He was deftly steering the conversation, but Mikhail didn't press the matter.

He already knew why Lloyd had been uncharacteristically sentimental.

Mikhail recalled the messages from the Cloelle family that had been reaching Lloyd from time to time, and moved to a new topic.

"I'm buying you dinner. Come on. If you've got the time."

---

The sunset draped over the horizon, announcing the day's end as it settled across the harbor city.

Mikhail and Lloyd stepped into a weathered old tavern packed with fishermen wrapping up their day's work.

Mikhail took one look around the rowdy interior and said to Lloyd.

"You're really okay eating somewhere like this? Doesn't seem like it'd suit your palate."

"Come on, I told you it's fine. There's something to be said for a rough, unrefined kind of flavor every now and then."

Lloyd shrugged as if it were nothing, then strode over to an empty table and sat down.

Mikhail watched him, then followed and took the seat across from him.

Click.

A plate and a menu landed on the table.

Mikhail glanced at Lloyd's hand reaching for the cheap bar snacks, then raised his head.

"......"

His excuse for inviting Lloyd out was to thank him for the gift.

But it also served a second purpose—to confirm, while he had the chance, that the main storyline's progression was moving along smoothly.