~Scene Continues, Soutarou POV~
*Click.
Clack.
Click.*
The clock and the pieces became a heartbeat.
No one spoke.
Tsubaki’s lips parted slightly.
Momo slowly placed her pencil down.
Sona’s fingers had begun the match with machine-like certainty…
Now they lingered a fraction longer above each piece before withdrawing.
Soutarou remained completely relaxed.
His left hand rested loosely near the clock while his right moved with calculated, measured, almost eerie precision.
He reached for the Rook in the corner of his queenside.
The piece slid to the b-file.
Sona’s eyes narrowed.
Her gaze swept over the Pawn structure.
Then she understood Soutarou’s plan.
Tsubaki inhaled softly and covered her mouth.
Tsubaki murmured, “A minority attack…?”
Rias leaned closer to the board.
Rias quietly asked, “What does that mean?”
Akeno smiled without taking her eyes from Soutarou.
Tsubaki carefully explained, “Soutarou-san intends to advance the smaller number of Pawns on his queenside against Lady Sona’s larger Pawn structure…
He isn’t trying to win material immediately.
He is trying to create a weakness that may not become vulnerable until much later.”
Rias blinked.
Rias looked toward Soutarou.
He’d already pressed the clock.
Sona answered the threat at once by pushing the Pawn in front of her Queen’s Rook to a5.
A direct challenge…
A warning…
And a way to slow Soutarou’s queenside Pawns before they could begin chewing through her structure.
Soutarou’s expression didn’t change.
He pushed his own a-Pawn to a3, supporting the b-Pawn from behind.
Yumi studied the board with the same focus she usually reserved for an armed opponent.
Yumi quietly observed, “They’re preparing attacks without attacking.”
Grayfia finally spoke from beside the banner.
Grayfia calmly confirmed, “Indeed…
They’re deciding which side of the board will become weak before that weakness exists.”
Serafall’s eyes moved rapidly between Soutarou and Sona.
Serafall whispered to herself, “Souta-chan looks so serious…”
Her expression fell.
Serafall mournfully added, “Why does he have to look good while stealing my contract…?”
Sona’s King’s Knight shifted forward to e4.
The centralized piece glared into Soutarou’s position like a drawn blade.
For the first time during the game, Soutarou’s expression changed.
A faint smile touched his lips.
His hand came down upon the Pawn in front of his Queen’s Rook.
Soutarou quietly announced, “B-Pawn to b4…”
The move landed with a soft wooden tap that sounded louder than the clock.
The pressure in the room thickened.
If Soutarou pushed that Pawn to b5, he could begin prying open Sona’s queenside and leave her with a permanent structural weakness.
Sona hesitated.
Her fingers rose toward her Knight…
Stopped…
Drifted toward her Bishop…
Stopped again…
Finally, she pressed two fingers against a Pawn and advanced it carefully, reinforcing the center and preparing her pieces for counterplay rather than reacting passively.
Soutarou didn’t rush.
He didn’t immediately attack the Knight upon e4.
He didn’t lash out through the center.
Instead, he improved quietly.
One piece at a time…
Each becoming slightly more active…
Slightly more poisonous…
His dark-squared Bishop adjusted.
His King’s Rook shifted.
His King’s Knight rerouted.
Every move appeared small.
Measured steps toward a position only Soutarou and Sona could fully see.
Then, at precisely the correct moment, Soutarou pushed the b-Pawn to b5.
*Clack.*
Tsubaki’s glasses slipped slightly down her nose.
Her brows rose.
The fingers gripping the edge of the couch tightened.
The move wasn’t flashy.
It was downright vicious.
Sona bit her lower lip.
The first trace of sweat formed near her temple as her eyes flickered across the board, calculating line after line.
If she captured, her queenside structure would loosen and leave a weakness behind.
If she refused, the pressure would remain permanently and worsen with every trade.
Sona’s expression changed several times within a few seconds before her lips pressed into a wary line.
Then her hand moved.
Fast…
Decisive… You are reading on g.com, the official source.
And slightly annoyed.
She chose the continuation that surrendered the least.
Soutarou responded almost immediately.
Sona’s brows twitched.
The queenside opened.
Only slightly.
Not enough for a decisive tactic…
Not enough for a direct attack…
But enough to produce one clear target.
A single backward Pawn in a position filled with pieces waiting to devour it.
Soutarou and Sona looked at one another.
Neither expression revealed anything.
Yet the room felt their battle intent rise.
Sona didn’t panic.
She countered through the center.
One of her Knights moved deeper into Soutarou’s position and forced a trade.
Her Queen repositioned.
Her Rook followed.
She created pressure of her own rather than allowing Soutarou to tighten his grip without resistance.
She wasn’t merely defending.
She threatened to seize the initiative if Soutarou overstepped or fell behind by even half a beat.
Soutarou’s gaze flickered.
For the first time, a small amount of tension entered his hand.
Only the slightest pause before he touched his Queen.
He slid it to a square that directly challenged Sona’s Queen while maintaining pressure upon her weakened queenside.
Sona’s eyes moved toward the kingside…
Then the center…
Then back toward the Queens.
She understood immediately.
If she refused the trade, Soutarou’s pressure would continue building.
If she accepted, they would enter an endgame where tiny structural weaknesses became mortal wounds.
And judging by the game Soutarou had chosen…
He would happily wait until that weakness was the only thing remaining upon the board.
Three more precise moves followed.
Then the Queens came off.
Soutarou’s Queen captured Sona’s.
Sona’s Rook recaptured.
The board suddenly appeared calmer.
The most powerful pieces were gone.
No immediate mating attack remained.
No dramatic sacrifice threatened to tear open a King.
Yet everyone who understood the position felt the danger increase.
There was nowhere left for the weakness to hide.
Momo swallowed.
Tsubaki audibly gulped.
Sona’s gaze paused for one moment as a real possibility crossed her mind…
Momo looked toward her King.
Sona Sitri…
The girl Momo believed unbeatable upon a chessboard…
Might lose.
The realization transformed the game from dramatic into terrifying.
There were no Queens left…
No obvious attacks…
No screaming tactical threats…
Only pieces…
Pawns…
And a silence so taut that every tap of wood sounded increasingly violent.
Soutarou’s Rook slid to the c-file and stared directly at Sona’s weakened queenside Pawn.
Sona brought her own Rook across to defend it.
Soutarou moved his King off the back rank.
One square closer to the center.
Then, after Sona’s response, one square more.
Yumi’s blue eyes narrowed.
Yumi softly recognized, “His King…”
Tsubaki nodded without looking away from the board.
Tsubaki quietly explained, “In an endgame, the King is no longer only something to protect.”
Yumi completed, “It becomes a weapon.”
Sona understood the same principle very clearly as her own King advanced with measured grace, refusing to be outplayed in the phase where precision mattered most.
Neither Soutarou nor Sona looked at anyone else.
Their eyes remained fixed upon the board…
Upon the pieces…
Upon dozens of futures branching from every possible move.
Soutarou’s Knight circled toward a more advanced square.
His hand lingered over it for one heartbeat before placing it down.
Sona shifted her Bishop onto a defensive diagonal, covering two weak points simultaneously.
Soutarou’s light-squared Bishop stepped forward.
It attacked nothing directly.
Instead, it quietly removed squares from Sona’s Knight and cut off the route her King wanted to use.
The move looked harmless.
Momo missed its intention.
Tsubaki almost missed it.
Sona didn’t.
Her fingers froze over her Rook.
They moved away…
Hovered over her Bishop…
Stopped again…
For the first time since the opening, she had to calculate everything.
Not the strongest move among several useful possibilities…
The single move that allowed her position to continue breathing.
Tsubaki felt a chill move down her spine.
Momo lifted a handkerchief and wiped the faint sweat gathering near her brows.
Both understood what they were watching.
Soutarou hadn’t trapped Sona with a trick.
Neither player had made a blunder.
No one had fallen for an opening trap.
Soutarou had simply improved his pieces until one of Sona’s could no longer breathe at all.
Sona finally answered with a careful Rook move, remaining active while keeping her weakness defended.
Soutarou gave one small nod in acknowledgment.
Then he made the position worse.
One quiet…
Cruel…
Perfect move.
His King stepped one square closer.
Sona saw the consequence immediately.
Her vision appeared to darken.
Her brows furrowed.
Her lips parted before closing again.
Her right hand rose…
Lowered…
Her nails clicked against the edge of the table.
Barely audible…
Yet inside the room’s silence, the sound resembled a crack spreading through ice.
The position had changed.
If Sona moved her Bishop incorrectly, Soutarou’s Knight would jump into the abandoned square.
If her Rook moved too far, his King would invade.
If she pushed the wrong Pawn, the weakened queenside Pawn would fall and the remainder of her structure would collapse one file at a time.
Momo unconsciously moved closer to Tsubaki.
Momo whispered, “Is…
Is Lady Sona cornered?”
Tsubaki shook her head.
The movement seemed intended to reassure herself as much as Momo.
Tsubaki answered just as quietly, “Not yet…”
She paused.
Her eyes remained fixed upon the board.
Tsubaki reluctantly continued, “But I’m afraid she is running out of useful moves.”
Sona found one…
Of course she did, but unfortunately Soutarou found the answer.
Sona found another narrow continuation, only for Soutarou to calmly meet it.
The clock dropped beneath two minutes for both players.
The rhythm changed.
Their moves came faster…
But not sloppier.
Hands moved with brutal control.
Press the piece down…
Release…
Strike the clock…
Repeat.
*Clack.
Click.
Clack.
Click.*
Sona’s Rook became active for one brief moment.
Her Knight threatened counterplay upon the kingside.
For four consecutive moves, the balance appeared ready to tilt back in her direction.
Rias leaned forward until Akeno lightly caught her shoulder to prevent her from falling into the table.
Serafall slowly unfolded herself from the corner.
Tsubaki stopped breathing.
Soutarou didn’t become greedy.
He didn’t chase a Pawn.
He didn’t lunge toward a tactic that was not present.
He fixed another Pawn with his Bishop.
Blocked another square with his Knight.
Improved his King one final step.
Then his hazel-golden eyes glinted.
The faint upward curve of his lips said enough.
He had reached the position he had been building toward for most of the game.
Sona saw it one breath later.
Her fingers hovered over her Rook…
Then her Bishop…
Then her King…
Nothing worked.
Tsubaki inhaled sharply through her teeth.
Tsubaki half-muttered and half-exclaimed, “N-no…
No way…”
Momo finally caught up.
Her bright blue eyes widened before slowly shifting toward Soutarou with open admiration.
If Sona moved the Rook, Soutarou’s Knight invaded.
If she moved the Bishop, Soutarou’s Rook penetrated.
If she moved the King, Soutarou won the weak Pawn immediately…