Judging by Loki’s public personality, many would have expected her to play chaotically.
Bring out the queen too early.
Throw pieces toward the opponent without concern for losses.
Generate enough disorder that the other player could no longer follow the board.
Her first five moves destroyed that assumption.
She developed her knights carefully.
Claimed the center with pawns.
Opened her pieces without wasting a single tempo.
There were no unnecessary movements.
No holes created by carelessness.
Every cheerful hum and amused smile contrasted with the terrifying order developing across the white side of the board.
Lelouch answered with standard development.
He did not hurry to reveal his intentions.
Two black pawns contested the center.
One knight emerged defensively.
A bishop watched a long diagonal from the opposite wing.
Loki studied his position and chuckled.
“More cautious than your mouth suggests.”
“I simply see no reason to accept unnecessary risk.”
“Afraid of me?”
“Not underestimating a god is called common sense.”
“You were mocking me in front of an entire tavern last night.”
“That was not underestimating you.
It was assessing you accurately.”
Loki burst out laughing.
She sent a knight into black territory.
It attacked two pawns at once and opened a bishop toward a weakness beside Lelouch’s king.
Lelouch did not move either threatened pawn.
Instead, he developed his other knight.
“Not defending them?” Loki asked.
“You haven’t taken either.”
“What if I do?”
“You’re welcome to.”
The goddess narrowed her eyes.
Her fingers touched the white knight—
But did not lift it.
Three seconds later, she saw the problem.
If she captured the first pawn, Lelouch’s knight would fork her queen and rook.
If she captured the second, his bishop would pin the knight and leave it unable to escape.
Both pawns appeared undefended.
But taking either trapped something more valuable.
“Setting bait this early?”
“I merely placed my pieces where they belong.”
Lelouch’s expression remained neutral.
“You’re the one calling them bait.”
“Humility doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not being humble.
I simply see no reason to explain my plan to my opponent.”
Loki withdrew the knight.
Then she advanced a pawn on the edge of the board.
A move that appeared meaningless.
Lelouch studied it longer than any piece before it.
The pawn attacked nothing.
Opened no important route.
Changed nothing in the center.
Because it had not been moved for the current position.
It had been placed for a board ten—
Perhaps twenty—
Moves in the future.
“I see.”
Loki glanced up.
“See what?”
“You’re considerably more patient than you pretend.”
“Only just realized?”
“I had assumed everyone around you performed the patience on your behalf.”
Laughter came from the doorway.
Lelouch glanced over.
Gareth stood there with his arms folded, beard shifting with his broad grin.
Beside him stood Riveria, a book in one hand.
The High Elf did not laugh aloud.
Her eyes made it very clear that she had heard Lelouch’s comment and agreed wholeheartedly.
Loki whirled around.
“What are you two doing here?!”
“I heard you diverted Finn’s guest,” Riveria said.
“I came to ensure he was still safe.”
“I haven’t done anything!
We’re only playing a game!”
“Where are his documents?”
Lelouch pointed toward his bag, now resting on a table near the door.
“Still intact.”
“And Loki’s dignity?” Gareth asked, chuckling.
“Still intact as well?”
“What are you implying?
I haven’t lost!”
“I never said you had.”
Loki froze.
“You scheming old dwarf.”
Gareth laughed even harder.
Riveria approached the board.
“How far in?”
“Twelve moves,” Lelouch said.
“And not a single piece has been captured.”
“Because both of them are setting traps instead of taking anything,” Gareth said.
“If it were me, I’d have flipped the board and gone drinking by move six.”
“Which is why you never beat me,” Loki replied.
“I lose no sleep over that.”
Soft footsteps came from behind them.
Ais had returned.
Clean bandages covered her hands now.
The blood was gone.
Her golden hair, previously tied carelessly, had been fixed more neatly as well.
Perhaps the healer had refused to release her until everything was properly treated.
She stopped at the door.
Golden eyes moved to Lelouch.
Then to the board.
“What are they doing?”
“Playing chess,” Riveria answered.
“Loki against Lelouch?”
“Yes.”
Ais quietly approached and stood beside Riveria.
She did not ask who was ahead.
She simply watched their hands.
A few Loki Familia members passing the doorway stopped after seeing the scene.
News that their goddess was seriously playing chess against Astraea Familia’s first male member spread down the corridor with astonishing speed.
Soon—
Three spectators became eight.
Some stood in the doorway.
Some sat on the backs of sofas.
The latest arrivals had to peer over Gareth’s shoulder.
“Don’t any of you have work?!” Loki shouted.
One member answered immediately.
“Yes, Lady Loki!
But we’ve never seen you play seriously against an outsider before!”
“Who said I’m serious?
This is just for fun!”
She said it without blinking away from the board.
Lelouch advanced the pawn on the opposite wing from Loki’s earlier pawn.
Gareth scratched his head.
“Now he’s moved another pawn that doesn’t seem involved in anything.”
“It is involved,” Riveria said.
“He’s preventing Loki from expanding on that side later.”
“But that won’t matter for ages.”
“Neither of them is playing for the next move.”
Ais stared at the small pawn.
“When are they playing for?”
Riveria was quiet for a moment.
“For an ordinary player—perhaps ten moves from now.”
Her gaze moved between the goddess and the young man.
“For these two…”
“…possibly the end of the game.”
Loki castled.
Lelouch did the same on the opposite side.
Both kings disappeared behind walls of pawns.
Their armies remained almost complete.
And yet—
The atmosphere in the room slowly grew heavier.
The game had entered a phase in which one movement could destroy the balance of the entire board.
Loki attacked first.
A white knight leapt over the defensive line and captured a central pawn.
The piece clicked against the board.
The first blood.
“Finally,” Gareth said.
Lelouch recaptured immediately with another pawn.
At first glance, Loki appeared to have traded a knight for an ordinary pawn.
Then her bishop cut along an open diagonal.
It captured the pawn that had just moved—
And opened a line from the white queen toward the black king’s castle.
“A knight sacrifice,” someone murmured.
“No,” Riveria said.
“She bought an entrance.”
Loki grinned.
“Your front door is open.”
Only two pawns remained around Lelouch’s king.
A bishop pinned one.
The queen waited behind it.
A rook could join the assault within two moves.
If Lelouch attempted to preserve material—
He would be strangled until his king had nowhere left to breathe.
So he did not defend.
His knight attacked Loki’s queen instead.
She moved the queen forward.
Not only evading the attack—
But threatening mate on the next move.
Lelouch interposed a rook.
Loki captured it with her bishop.
His king took the bishop.
The white queen immediately checked.
The black king was driven into the open.
Within only six moves—
Loki had sacrificed a knight and bishop in exchange for a rook, two pawns, and the right to hunt Lelouch’s exposed king across the center.
On raw material, the balance remained close.
Positionally—
Black looked miserable.
No shelter around the king.
Only one rook remaining.
Most of the army still trapped behind its own line.
“I think Loki is winning now,” one spectator whispered.
“Quiet, she’ll hear you.”
“I heard that!”
Loki never took her eyes off the board.
Lelouch remained motionless.
One finger lightly touched the edge of his knight.
His eyes traveled over every square.
The queen’s route.
The rook.
The remaining bishop’s diagonal.
The escape squares available to his king.
The pieces ceased to exist as isolated objects.
They became a network of possibilities.
If the knight moved left—
Loki checked with the rook.
If the king retreated—
The queen captured another pawn and constricted him.
If he brought the queen back to defend—
He surrendered the center and became pinned until he could no longer move.
Dozens of branches unfolded in his mind.
One by one—
They were discarded.
Until only one route remained.
The one that appeared worst at first glance.
Lelouch picked up the knight.
And placed it directly on a square where Loki’s queen could take it immediately.
Murmurs spread through the room.
“A mistake?”
“No.”
Riveria’s eyes narrowed.
“He meant to do that.”
Loki did not touch the piece immediately.
She looked at the black knight.
It blocked the line her queen had been using to chase the king.
If she captured it—
The attack continued, and black lost a piece for free.
Too simple.
Too obvious.
Therefore—
Something had to be hidden underneath.
The goddess spent nearly a full minute examining every line.
If the queen captured the knight, Lelouch’s bishop could insert a check—
But her rook defended.
If the rook captured that bishop afterward, his queen could recapture—
Yet she could trade queens and enter an endgame where her pawn majority remained favorable.
No hidden checkmate.
No pinned piece.
Loki smiled.
“You think I’ll fear a trap simply because you’ve left something hanging?”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“Your face said it.”
“If you’re confident, take it.”
Loki raised her hand.
Before her fingers reached the queen—
She stopped.
Her red eyes shifted toward the pawn Lelouch had moved on the edge of the board near the beginning.
Far from the battle.
Apparently irrelevant to the king she was attacking.
At least—
For another five moves.
The goddess slowly lowered her hand.
Instead of taking the knight, she moved a rook in to increase the pressure.
“That was close,” Riveria murmured.
Gareth turned.
“You saw it?”
“Not all of it.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because Lelouch wasn’t watching the piece being threatened.”
Riveria’s eyes shifted toward the young man.
“He was looking at the other side of the board.”
Ais followed her gaze.
Lelouch’s violet eyes were not tracking Loki’s hands.
He was looking at empty space.
Squares no piece had reached yet.
As though watching a battle that had not happened.
Lelouch showed no disappointment when Loki refused the bait.
He moved his queen and immediately offered an exchange.
Loki declined.
The knight returned to safety.
The goddess’s first attack ended without mate.
Yet black had lost a rook.
The pawns around his king were shattered.
And several moves would be required to reorganize.
Loki still held the advantage.
“You survived,” she said.
“Your attack was impressive.”
“So you finally admit I’m good.”
“I’m saying that sacrificing a knight and bishop to destroy my king’s shelter was efficient.”
Lelouch’s voice remained perfectly even.
“I offered no opinion on your other qualities.”
“Your compliments are irritating.”
“You gave me the same kind earlier.”
“That seems equitable.”
Laughter came from the spectators.
Loki frowned.
The enjoyment in her eyes only increased.
The game continued.
This time—
Lelouch attacked.
Not the king directly.
Territory.
His bishop occupied a long diagonal.
A knight reached an outpost where no pawn could drive it away.
His queen moved from the center to the left edge—
Then across to the right—
Forcing Loki to adjust defensive pieces in response.
No single move seemed immediately threatening.
Yet white’s safe space shrank one square at a time.
Loki still held more material.
But she was beginning to lose freedom of choice.
“He isn’t attacking the king,” Ais said quietly.
“Not yet,” Riveria corrected.
“Then what is he doing?”
“Making Loki move where he wants her.”
Ais stared at the board.
“But Loki chooses.”
“That is the dangerous part.”
Riveria folded her arms.
“Crude coercion tells someone they are being controlled.
But if every option except the one you prefer appears worse…”
She looked at Lelouch.
“…the opponent walks into your trap believing the decision was their own.”
Ais went quiet.
Her gaze toward Lelouch changed slightly.
There was no overwhelming strength radiating from him.
No speed too fast for her eyes.
No swordsman’s hands.
If they fought directly, she could probably defeat him within a single breath.
Yet on a board where everyone followed the same rules—
The physically weak young man was gradually making a goddess walk the road he had prepared.
It was another kind of strength.
One Ais had never thought to search for.
Loki advanced a pawn to attack the knight.
Lelouch retreated.
She pushed another.
He retreated again.
Loki smiled as though controlling the engagement.
“Your wolf looks like it’s being driven back into its cage.”
“It’s a knight, not a wolf.”
“The piece looks like a wolf.”
Lelouch studied the carving.
The artisan had indeed given it a sharp, predatory appearance.
“Then the wolf isn’t being driven back into a cage.”
“Where is it being driven?”
“To the square it wanted from the beginning.”
The black knight jumped across the pawn line.
Check.
The white king had to leave safety.
Loki did not panic.
She moved the king into a prepared square—
And brought a rook to attack the knight at the same time.
“I knew you wanted it there.”
Lelouch stopped.
Loki smiled.
The two pawns that had seemed to chase the knight had actually opened the line connecting both white rooks.
The black knight had advanced deeply—
But now possessed no safe retreat.
If it captured one rook, the other would recapture.
If it escaped, Loki’s queen entered from the opposite side.
The goddess had followed Lelouch’s path—
Because she had laid a second trap over his first.
“They both knew?” one spectator whispered in disbelief.
Riveria answered without moving her eyes.
“At least now, they do.”
“Then who’s ahead?”
“Whoever reads the next move.”
Lelouch looked toward his trapped knight.
The piece could not survive.
He could use it to capture a pawn before destruction—
Reducing the loss.
Or withdraw his queen to save it—
Giving up all the pressure he had spent multiple moves creating.
Instead—
He chose something Loki had not expected.
He did not save it.
Did not exchange it.
Did not create an escape.
Lelouch advanced the same edge pawn again.
The little pawn stood almost an entire board away from the white king.
“Again?” Gareth muttered.
Loki narrowed her eyes.
“You’re abandoning the knight?”
“And this one’s purpose is to die?”
“Its purpose was to make you keep your rook there.”
Loki’s smile diminished slightly.
She looked at the rook attacking his knight.
From that position—
It could not return to stop the edge pawn in one move.
But the pawn remained far from promotion.
There was plenty of time.
Loki captured the knight.
Lelouch advanced the pawn again.
Loki centralized her queen, preparing both an attack and a route back to stop the pawn.
Lelouch attacked her other rook with his queen.
She moved the rook aside while creating a mating threat.
He defended with the king.
She swung the queen across.
He advanced the pawn again.
The small black piece crossed the middle line and entered enemy territory.
Every time it moved—
Loki had to choose.
Stop the pawn—
Or continue attacking the king.
And every time—
The immediate threat looked more important.
“He’s using everything else to keep Loki looking away from it,” Ais said.
Riveria nodded.
“Yes.”
“Like making an opponent watch the sword in your right hand and stabbing with the left?”
“Similar.”
Riveria watched the board.
“Except on a chessboard, the feint may begin twenty moves before the strike.”
Ais looked intently at the pawn.
It was the weakest piece.
The slowest.
Almost incapable of retreat.
Yet if it survived to the far edge—
It could become any piece.
Including the most powerful queen.
“A weak soldier can become strong,” Ais murmured.
“If it survives long enough to reach the end,” Lelouch said without looking away from the board.
The sentence reminded Ais of their conversation outside.
Train to become the person still alive after the enemy dies.
Her bandaged fingers curled gently.
On the board—
Loki began her second assault.
This one was more violent than the first.
The white queen checked from the flank.
A rook controlled the rear rank.
Her remaining bishop blocked escape.
The black king was forced to stand in front of its own army.
Lelouch had one rook.
One bishop.
One knight.
A queen.
Five pawns.
Loki had two rooks.
One bishop.
A queen.
Four pawns.
In fighting strength—
Loki was ahead.
In king safety—
Loki was ahead.
And although Lelouch’s edge pawn was only three squares from promotion, the white queen could return and destroy it once the attack ended.
The problem—
Was that the attack might end with the game.
Loki checked with a rook.
The black king retreated.
The queen checked again.
Lelouch blocked with a bishop.
Loki took it.
Lelouch’s queen captured hers—
But a white rook took the black queen.
Murmurs erupted.
Lelouch had lost his strongest piece.
He could capture the white rook with his king.
But if he did—
Loki’s remaining queen would attack from behind, with no safe square left for him.
“Mate next move,” one observer murmured.
“Not yet,” Riveria said.
Her brow tightened.
“He still has one move.”
Loki leaned back slightly.
“Well, Black Prince?”
The phrase stabbed through Lelouch’s head.
Prince.
Black.
The board.
Someone calling him another title he could not hear clearly.
A vast city beneath a black mask.
Countless people moving according to commands.
Himself standing above a board that did not use wooden pieces—
But actual human lives.
Blood covering a white floor.
Lelouch inhaled slowly.
The room returned to focus.
“Do not call me that.”
Loki caught the change immediately.
“Why?”
“I dislike how it sounds.”
The goddess did not tease him.
She merely watched—
And stored the reaction away.
“Your move.”
Lelouch looked down.
His queen was gone.
His king was surrounded.
His remaining pieces were scattered.
And if he captured the rook—
Loki would finish the game exactly as everyone expected.
So Lelouch did not capture it.
His hand moved toward the edge pawn.
One square forward.
Two squares remained before promotion.
Silence covered the room.
Gareth looked between the pawn and the black king.
“He’s not answering the attack?”
“The rook itself isn’t giving check,” Riveria said.
“The queen is threatening to close the net next move.”
“Then what does moving the pawn accomplish?”
No one answered.
Even Loki paused.
She calculated.
If the queen checked according to plan, the black king had one escape square.
Then the rook closed the line.
Mate.
The pawn did not have time to reach the end.
Even another move would still leave it one square short.
Black would be checkmated immediately afterward.
“I’m not falling for another trap.”
Loki moved her queen.
“Check.”
Black had two options.
Capture the exposed rook—
And die to the queen and remaining rook.
Or retreat to the only available center square.
Lelouch retreated.
Loki picked up her final rook.
“It’s over,” someone said behind her.
The rook came down on the same line as the king.
“Check.”
No retreat behind.
The white queen controlled the left.
The rook controlled the front.
A white pawn blocked the right.
Only one square remained—
Occupied by Lelouch’s own knight.
If he moved the knight, the king could escape.
But there was no knight move that also answered the attack.
Loki smiled like a victor.
“Looks like your hands don’t remember everything after all.”
Lelouch said nothing.
He picked up the black knight.
But instead of moving it away—
He used it to capture a white pawn near Loki’s queen.
That square placed the knight directly across the queen’s diagonal.
The king gained one escape square.
At the same time—
The knight attacked Loki’s queen.
Loki’s eyes narrowed.
“Good struggle.”
She moved the queen—
Continuing the check.
The black king moved to the final available square.
Now it stood on the edge of the board.
No supporting pawns.
One more rook attack and the game ended.
But it was Lelouch’s move.
He advanced the edge pawn again.
One square from promotion.
Loki stared at it.
At last—
The smallest piece could no longer be ignored.
If allowed to advance once more, black would gain a new queen.
Even so—
Loki still possessed options.
Her queen could return along a diagonal and capture the pawn.
But doing so would release the black king from pursuit and allow Lelouch to regroup.
She could continue checking with the rook—
Force him to spend another move defending—
Then return the queen afterward.
Loki lifted the rook.
“I won’t let one little piece buy you this much time.”
She began to place it for another check.
Then stopped.
Something had caught her eye.
The black knight blocking her queen.
Lelouch’s bishop was gone.
The queen was gone.
The only black piece capable of creating an immediate attack was that knight.
And its current square did more than block the queen.
It controlled two escape squares around Loki’s own king.
The goddess froze.
She looked back toward her king.
It still stood behind pawns.
But the shelter had been opened earlier when she chased Lelouch’s knight.
One rook was deep inside enemy territory.
Her queen was far away hunting the black king.
Only two pawns remained around her king.
And one of them was pinned by the black rook that had been sitting quietly in the center.
“When…?”
Loki whispered.
Lelouch answered calmly.
“Since you used your first rook to capture my knight.”
“No, the pawn…”
“Move thirteen.”
The move when he advanced an edge pawn with no obvious purpose.
Before the knight sacrifice.
Before Loki broke open her own formation.
Before the real battle had even begun.
Loki slowly returned the rook to its previous square.
She had not released it yet—
So the move was not final.
Her red eyes swept over the board.
If the queen returned and captured the pawn—
The black knight produced a fork, captured the rook, and opened a path for the black rook toward her king.
If she moved a pawn down to stop the promotion—
The pawn was pinned and could not move.
If she returned the rook—
Lelouch’s pawn could capture diagonally and still reach the final rank.
If she moved the king first—
She lost the initiative against Lelouch’s king, which would escape.
No single move preserved both the attack and the pawn blockade.
Yet Loki had not lost.
She still possessed more material.
If she abandoned the black king and returned to destroy the pawn, the game would enter an endgame where she retained an advantage.
The goddess moved her queen back.
She captured the black pawn.
The tiny piece that had crossed half the board disappeared—
One square before reaching the end.
Ais blinked.
“It died.”
“Yes,” Riveria said.
“Then Lelouch’s plan failed?”
“Watch.”
Lelouch did not look at the captured pawn.
He picked up his black knight.
The knight jumped forward with check—
At the same time attacking the white rook stranded too deeply in his territory.
Loki moved her king onto the single square not controlled by the knight.
Lelouch captured the rook.
Now—
Their material was nearly equal again.
And Loki’s queen was far from the battlefield.
The goddess spent three moves returning it.
During those moves—
Lelouch seized an open file with his rook.
Captured a pawn.
Forced Loki’s king out from the corner.
The battle reversed.
Black—
Once hunted to the edge of defeat—
Became the attacking side.
But Loki was not an opponent who would fall to one plan.
The moment her queen returned, she forced a sequence of exchanges.
The pieces disappeared one after another.
White queen took rook.
Black knight took queen.
White king took knight.
When the final piece struck the board—
Both sides were left with kings and pawns.
Three pawns for Lelouch.
Three for Loki.
Nearly symmetrical positions.
The kings far apart.
Neither side able to attack without opening something in return.
“A draw?” Gareth asked.
“Not yet,” Riveria replied.
Loki rested her chin on one hand again.
Her smile had returned.
This time—
No comedy remained in it.
“You intended for that pawn to die.”
“I intended for you to be forced to use your queen to kill it.”
“Since move thirteen?”
“I saw the possibility then.”
Lelouch corrected calmly.
“That does not mean every event followed my plan.
Your second attack forced several adjustments.”
Loki narrowed her eyes.
“That sounds suspiciously humble.”
“It is factual.
Had you placed your rook differently on move thirty-two, I would likely have lost.”
“You remember the move number?”
“Yes.”
Several spectators made quiet sounds of disbelief.
Loki chuckled.
“Good.”
She moved her king toward the center.
“Then let’s see how good you are without queens and rooks to hide schemes behind.”
The endgame began.
No spectacular attacks.
No expensive sacrifices.
Only two kings.
Six pawns.
And empty squares where every step mattered.
Loki tried to create a passed pawn on the left.
Lelouch blocked it with his king.
He advanced his center pawn.
She forced it to halt.
They changed positions repeatedly—
Each trying to force the other into moving first at a point where any movement lost critical ground.
The spectators who had once commented constantly began to fall silent.
Even those without deep knowledge of chess could sense that the entire game now hung from a single mistake.
Loki brought her king forward.
Lelouch refused to retreat.
He advanced a pawn on the opposite side.
She captured his center pawn.
He recaptured with the king.
Loki created a passed pawn.
Lelouch had to choose—
Stop it—
Or protect his remaining pair.
He stopped it.
Loki captured another of his pawns.
Now she had two.
He had one.
“This really is over now,” the same spectator murmured.
Gareth answered quietly.
“You’ve said that three times.”
“But the piece count really is different now!”
“I’ve stopped trusting the piece count in this game.”
Ais stared at the kings.
Lelouch had fewer pieces.
His king stood farther away.
And Loki was close to creating a pawn that could not be stopped.
Yet the young man’s face remained calm.
Not the calmness of surrender.
The calmness of someone who still saw something invisible to everyone else.
Loki pushed one pawn.
Lelouch moved the king diagonally.
She advanced the second to support it.
He pushed his final pawn.
Loki paused.
If she advanced the front pawn—
The rear became undefended and could be captured.
If she used the king to support them—
Lelouch occupied the critical square and blocked both.
If she captured Lelouch’s pawn—
His king recaptured and entered directly in front of her pair.
She possessed more pieces.
But they obstructed one another.
Lelouch’s lone pawn pinned her king to a decision.
“Opposition,” Riveria murmured.
Ais looked at her.
“What is that?”
“A king endgame position where the kings face one another.”
Riveria indicated the squares.
“Whichever side is forced to step away first loses control of the important space.”
“Loki has to move?”
“Yes.”
Loki took longer than on any previous move.
At last—
She did not capture Lelouch’s pawn.
She moved her king diagonally aside.
If she captured immediately, Lelouch’s king would recapture and slip in front of both pawns.
Instead—
Her move forced the black king to choose between protecting its pawn and stopping Loki’s connected pair.
“You cannot defend both sides,” Loki said.
“Correct.”
“You admit that easily.”
“Denying reality doesn’t change the board.”
Lelouch moved his king toward Loki’s pawns.
He abandoned his final pawn on the opposite side.
Loki narrowed her eyes.
“You’re abandoning it?”
“Not yet.”
“If you spend those two moves.”
Loki studied the new position.
Lelouch’s king now blocked her two pawns.
If she spent time chasing the black pawn—
He would have enough time to destroy both of hers.
If she advanced her pawns—
His king could blockade them.
A position that appeared superior had split into three separate objectives.
And Loki received only one move at a time.
“You’re making me choose again.”
“You possess complete freedom.”
“I’m beginning to hate hearing the word freedom from you.”
Loki pushed the front pawn.
Lelouch blocked with the king.
She brought the rear pawn forward.
He stepped diagonally back.
Her two pawns remained connected—
But now one was forced to protect the other continuously.
Then Lelouch advanced his own pawn.
For the first time in several moves.
The lone black piece began walking down the opposite edge of the board.
“He’s turning it into a race?” Gareth asked.
Riveria measured the distance.
“Loki’s pawn is closer to promotion.”
“Then he loses?”
“But Lelouch’s king is close to Loki’s pawns.”
Riveria pointed toward the other side.
“Loki’s king is far from his.”
Ais counted squares silently.
“Who reaches first?”
“That is what they’re calculating.”
Loki advanced the front pawn.
Lelouch’s king followed.
She advanced the rear.
Lelouch advanced his black pawn.
The endgame split into two battlefields.
On one side—
The black king hunted two white soldiers.
On the other—
One black pawn ran toward the far edge while the white king attempted to intercept it from a distance.
Every move traded time.
Every square became the difference between victory and defeat.
Loki moved her king toward the black pawn.
Lelouch’s king captured the rear white pawn.
She advanced the front.
Two squares from promotion.
He advanced his pawn.
Three squares remaining.
Loki moved diagonally.
One more move would place her king inside the route needed to catch the pawn.
Lelouch did not push it.
He moved his king instead—
Closing in on Loki’s final white pawn.
Loki stopped.
“If you don’t keep moving, my king will catch yours.”
“If I move now, your pawn promotes first.”
“So you lose either way.”
“Not necessarily.”
Loki’s king advanced.
It was now close enough to intercept the black pawn.
At the same moment—
It had moved farther from the future escape squares around the other side.
Lelouch’s king captured Loki’s final pawn.
Now—
Loki had only a king.
Lelouch had a king and one pawn.
In principle—
The side with the pawn held the advantage.
But if the defending king reached it in time—
The game could still end in a draw.
“Five moves,” Lelouch said.
Loki looked at him.
“What?”
“The game ends in five moves.”
“Confident.”
“I counted.”
Loki moved toward the pawn.
Lelouch advanced it.
“One.”
The white king approached diagonally.
If the pawn continued straight—
It would be captured one square before promotion.
Instead—
Lelouch moved his king.
From far away—
He brought it into alignment with the white king.
“Two.”
Loki frowned.
The black king remained too distant to directly defend the pawn.
But its position controlled one square on the white king’s escape route.
She moved aside.
Lelouch pushed the pawn.
“Three.”
Two squares from promotion.
Loki moved directly in front of it.
If the pawn advanced—
It died.
Then Lelouch’s king stepped closer.
“Four.”
The kings faced one another with a single square between them.
Loki could not move forward to capture the pawn—
That square was controlled by the black king.
She had to step aside.
The instant she moved—
Lelouch advanced the pawn.
“Five.”
One square remained.
Loki looked at the board.
Her king stood beside the pawn.
Not in front.
Lelouch’s king controlled the square required to blockade it.
Whichever direction she moved—
The pawn would promote on the next turn.
“When did you calculate this position?”
“Before you decided not to capture my pawn earlier.”
“And if I had captured it?”
“My king would have taken both your pawns.
Draw.”
“If I had pushed mine faster?”
“I would have captured the rear pawn and entered the front pawn’s square in time.”
“If I had chased yours from the beginning?”
“Then I would have taken both of yours, and our roles would have reversed.”
Loki traced the lines.
She had possessed many choices.
But they all produced only two outcomes.
Draw.
Or loss.
The winning route had already disappeared when she chose to use her superior pawn count as pressure without preserving her king’s position.
And now—
Even the draw was gone.
Loki stepped aside.
Lelouch pushed the pawn onto the final rank.
He retrieved the black queen captured earlier—
And placed it where the little pawn had stood.
Ais’s golden eyes lit.
The weakest soldier had survived the entire board.
And become the strongest piece.
Loki still tried to prolong the game.
Her white king escaped along the edge.
The black queen cut away territory one line at a time.
The black king approached to close the remaining route.
The cage shrank with every move.
At last—
The goddess’s king was driven into a corner.
The black queen controlled the final line.
The black king denied the side square.
Lelouch released the piece.
“Checkmate.”
No one spoke immediately.
Even Gareth—
Who had been laughing throughout the game— stared at the board in disbelief.
Riveria checked the position.
Left—
Closed.
Right—
Closed.
Forward—
Impossible.
The queen could not be captured because the black king protected it.
No other piece remained.
The game truly was over.
Loki had lost.
Because of a single pawn—
A piece that had survived long enough to reach the other side.
The goddess remained motionless.
Her normally narrow eyes were open wider than anyone present had ever seen.
Ais looked at Loki.
Then Lelouch.
A small light appeared in her golden eyes.
To Ais, Loki was a goddess.
The person who had taken her into this home.
The leader of Finn, Riveria, and Gareth—
People overwhelmingly stronger than ordinary adventurers.
Even if Loki caused trouble, harassed her children, and was frequently dragged away by Riveria—
She still seemed like a being who knew more than mortals and saw things others could not.
Yet Lelouch had beaten her.
Not through strength.
Not through Magic.
And not because Loki had allowed him to.
He had won after being hunted until no escape seemed possible.
Won with the smallest piece on the board.
Won because he had seen a difference of one square before anyone else even realized the final race had begun.
Ais drifted closer.
“Lelouch won.”
She said it as though confirming reality.
“It would appear so.”
Lelouch leaned back.
Externally—
He remained composed.
His palms were damp with sweat.
The game had not been easy.
If Loki had made one different rook move during her second attack, he might never have forced the endgame.
Had she recognized the opposition sooner—
His pawn could have disappeared.
Had she preserved her king’s position one tempo earlier—
The best he might have achieved was a draw.
The victory came from skill.
Calculation.
Patience.
And several tiny mistakes from the opponent.
Much closer than the spectators understood.
Loki slowly raised her head.
“Again.”
“No.”
Lelouch refused instantly.
“I wasn’t ready earlier!”
“You invited me, moved first, and chose the timing.”
“I only miscounted one square at the end!”
“A commander’s mistake remains part of the battle’s result.”
“That game doesn’t count!”
“You said one game.”
Lelouch folded his hands.
“You did not specify that the game counts only if you win.”
Loki snatched the pieces and began resetting the board.
“Again!
This time I take black!”
Lelouch stood.
“I agreed to one game.”
“Best of three!”
“No.”
“Best of five!”
“Even less likely.”
“Best of nine!”
“Increasing the number of games is not making the offer more attractive.”
Several Loki Familia members burst out laughing.
Loki pointed accusingly toward them.
“Stop laughing!
I was careless!”
“You spent almost an hour on that game,” one woman said.
“One hour isn’t enough for my brain to warm up!”
Riveria closed her book.
“Yesterday you claimed to possess divine wisdom accumulated over longer than mortal civilizations.”
“I do!”
“And today that brain needs an hour of warming?”
“Riveria!
Whose side are you on?!”
“The side that would like our guest to complete his actual business.”
Loki ignored her.
She grabbed the edge of Lelouch’s coat.
“Sit down!
One more game!”
“That sentence was only valid before the first game.”
“I’ll give you the report immediately if you play again!”
“Finn is preparing the report, not you.”
Lelouch gently pulled his coat free.
“Your proposal therefore contains nothing that belongs to you.”
Loki froze.
“And if Orario’s public-safety cooperation depends on my agreeing to let a goddess demand a chess rematch…”
Lelouch’s eyes sharpened slightly.
“…I may have to record that fascinating condition in the official minutes.”
“Are you threatening me?!”
“I’m proposing transparency.”
Gareth’s laugh was the loudest sound in the room.
Loki looked ready to leap over the table.
Then—
A voice came from the doorway.
“If the transparency evaluation is complete, may I finally reclaim the author of my paperwork?”
Everyone turned.
Finn Deimne stood at the entrance.
Three folders rested beneath one arm.
His expression carried its normal calm smile, though his thumb twitched faintly—
As though he had sensed the trouble from the far end of the corridor.
Loki immediately pointed toward the board.
“Finn!
Perfect timing!
Tell him to play me again!”
Finn examined the checkmate.
Then Lelouch.
Then the spectators’ expressions.
“Who won?”
No one answered.
Ais did.
“Lelouch.”
Loki whipped around.
“Ais!”
The girl tilted her head.
“He did.”
“I know!
You didn’t have to answer that quickly!”
Finn covered his smile with one hand.
“I understand.”
“Don’t laugh!”
“I haven’t.”
“Your eyes are laughing!”
“Lord Loki,” Lelouch said, “Finn has arrived.
I’ll excuse myself and attend the meeting I came here for.”
“No!
We need a rematch!”
Loki caught his wrist again.
Finn walked over—
And took Lelouch’s other wrist.
“Apologies, but these documents have to reach the Guild before noon.”
“We can delay them!”
“They bear your seal.
If we send them late, the Guild may assume you’ve changed your position.”
“Let them wait!”
“Didn’t Lelouch say he would include the chess condition in the meeting record?”
Loki immediately released him.
Finn used the opening and pulled Lelouch free.
“Let’s go.”
“Thank you.”
“Finn!
Traitor!”
“I’m performing my duties as captain.”
“At least leave the board!
Nobody touch this position!
We’ll play again after the meeting!”
Lelouch turned.
“The game is over.”
“A new game!”
“I have not agreed to one.”
Finn opened the door quickly.
“This way.”
Lelouch walked out.
The Pallum closed it before Loki could change her mind and pursue him.
Her protests still penetrated the wood.
“Lelouch!
Come back!
I’ll give you rook odds!”
“That sounds more insulting than generous.”
“Then one pawn!”
“That is somehow worse.”
Finn walked down the corridor.
Lelouch followed.
Behind them, Riveria began ordering spectators back to work.
Gareth was still laughing.
Finn waited until they were sufficiently distant from the lounge before speaking.
“I intended to retrieve you half an hour ago.”
“I assume something prevented you.”
“Loki sent someone to tell me she was ‘evaluating the reliability of Astraea Familia’s representative’ and that no one was to interrupt.”
“You believed that?”
“Not entirely.”
Finn smiled.
“But I wanted to see how she intended to evaluate you.”
“So you waited for the result as well.”
“I’m captain of a Familia.
Available information should be used efficiently.”
Lelouch looked at him from the side.
“You truly are one of that goddess’s children.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You’re welcome to.”
They walked several more steps.
Finn’s thumb moved.
“You actually beat her?”
“Barely.”
“Loki has played board games longer than several surface nations have existed.”
“Experience does not prevent someone from miscounting one square.”
Finn stopped.
Then—
For the first time—
A short laugh escaped him.
“I’m beginning to understand why she wants a rematch.”
“I hope you can make her understand that one game means one game.”
“I’ll try.”
Finn smiled sympathetically.
“No guarantees.”
“That answer does not reassure me.”
….
I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
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….
I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length.
If you’re following a particular series, please wait your turn a little If there’s a particular novel you’re enjoying on Patron, please give it a ‘like’ so I know to focus on it