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“Is this the memento you mentioned?” Natsume Chikei asked, pointing at the shogi record book that Kondo Miyuki was still tightly hugging against her chest.
“Mm… mm, yes.” Kondo Miyuki’s cheeks were slightly flushed.
She nodded a little awkwardly.
She knew very well that Chikei was only pointing at the record book to cover up his earlier burning gaze, but she didn’t call him out on it.
After all, she was an adult.
She should at least leave some dignity for a young man…
She just hadn’t expected that once the two of them were alone, Chikei’s gaze would become so intense.
Could it be that compared to her beautiful daughter, he was more interested in her?
That shouldn’t be the case…
But… it didn’t seem entirely impossible either.
Kondo Miyuki remembered that Chikei’s mother had passed away very early.
He had basically been raised by his father alone.
In a single-parent environment, she had heard that many boys, due to a lack of maternal love, would instinctively be attracted to mature women.
Perhaps that was exactly what was happening right now…
Thinking about this, Kondo Miyuki felt complicated emotions — both pity and heartache for Chikei’s situation, mixed with an indescribable sense of shy fluttering.
For a moment, she didn’t know how to face the young man in front of her.
After all, her original intention had been to match her daughter with Chikei.
But who could have predicted that things would develop like this…
Seeing her lowering her head in thought, Chikei couldn’t help but ask, “May I take a look?”
“Oh… of course.” Kondo Miyuki snapped back to her senses and, with a hint of embarrassment, handed over the shogi record book.
“Or rather, I was planning to give it to you in the first place.”
Chikei took the record book.
His fingertips brushed across the slightly worn cover.
When he flipped through the pages, what met his eyes were densely packed, detailed knowledge about shogi, records of classic games, and brilliant solutions to famous endgame puzzles.
He knew almost nothing about shogi.
After all, he had never seriously studied it before.
How could he understand its deeper meaning?
Still, that no longer mattered.
[You have obtained ownership of this item.
Register the equipment?]
[Yes / No]
The moment this message appeared in his mind, Chikei felt a surge of wild joy!
He had only come to retrieve one of his father’s mementos.
It was truly a case of searching high and low only to find it effortlessly!
But he was still somewhat curious about the origin of this memento.
“Aunt Kondo, why did this memento end up in your hands?
And why are you returning it to me?”
A trace of nostalgia flashed through Kondo Miyuki’s eyes as she explained gently, “I mentioned before that I was your father’s junior back in school.”
“We were in the shogi club together at the time.”
“Before he graduated, he gave three shogi-related items to us juniors as mementos.”
“The one I received was this record book.”
“The other two people received the shogi board and the shogi pieces respectively.”
“The explanations about shogi inside are very advanced.
Unfortunately, I don’t have much talent for shogi…”
“Since I ran into you, I thought you might have talent in this area.
It felt more appropriate to return it to its rightful owner.”
“I see.” Chikei finally understood the full story after hearing her explanation.
To be honest, he needed this special equipment very much right now.
Once he registered it, he would only be one piece away from obtaining a precious attribute point!
Combining what Kondo Miyuki had just said, a bold guess suddenly surfaced in his mind.
“Um… according to what you said, besides the record book in my hands, the other shogi board and pieces — do they form a complete set when put together?”
Kondo Miyuki blinked and nodded to confirm.
“Yes.
These three items were originally a complete set.”
“I heard your father mention that he bought them from some roadside stall.”
“As for the more specific origin, I’m not very clear.”
Chikei understood.
As expected!
Since the item in his hands was a special piece of equipment, the other two were very likely special equipment as well.
His panel had shown that the synthesis condition for this equipment required three pieces of the same type.
If he could collect the complete set, perhaps he could synthesize something even more powerful!
“Um… actually, my sister cares a lot about the mementos our late father left behind,” Chikei carefully chose his words.
“If possible, I’d like to collect the other two pieces as well.
Could you please tell me the contact information of the other two people who received them?”
Kondo Miyuki thought for a moment, then shook her head with some difficulty.
“They were classmates from a long time ago.
We’ve basically lost contact by now… How about this?
If I find anything, I’ll let you know.
But it’s best not to get your hopes too high…”
“Thank you.
Thank you so much!” Chikei said sincerely.
“Meeting you today, Aunt Kondo, is definitely the greatest luck I’ve had these past few days!”
“There’s no need to be so polite.
I’m only returning what belongs to its owner,” Kondo Miyuki said, but her cheeks unconsciously flushed red again.
Returning a shogi record book and helping to ask around for some information — was that really worth such sincere gratitude and such obvious joy from him?
He even called it his “greatest luck”…
The way he said it almost sounded like there was another meaning behind his words…
At that moment, Chikei’s peripheral vision swept across the shelf in the storage room.
His breathing suddenly stopped—
A magazine emitting a strange faint glow was quietly standing in the corner!
[Collector’s Edition Fighting Magazine]
[Quality: Green]
[Effect: After equipping, you have a chance to discover weaknesses on your opponent!]
[Description: I… have already burned out, turned into white ash.]
[Synthesis Condition: Requires at least three pieces of equipment of the same type!]
Chikei’s pupils shrank slightly — this was actually a green-quality equipment, even higher than the blue shogi record book?!
But the effect was only “a chance to discover weaknesses”?
Although Chikei didn’t particularly like fighting, this equipment was undoubtedly the highest quality he had seen so far.
Special equipment was already rare and hard to come by.
Since he had encountered it, there was no way he could let it slip by.
He had to get it!
The prerequisite for obtaining special equipment was gaining the owner’s consent.
That meant if he wanted this magazine, he would need to obtain approval from either Kondo Miyuki or her husband, Kondo Masayuki…
“Um… are the items in this storage room usually managed by you, Aunt Kondo?” Chikei probed while trying to stay calm.
Kondo Miyuki looked a little confused.
She didn’t understand why he was suddenly asking this, but she still explained, “Yes.
My husband basically doesn’t touch anything in here.
It’s all left to me to manage.
Is there a problem?”
Chikei secretly let out a breath of relief in his heart.
Fortunately, the items were managed by Kondo Miyuki.
She was also an old acquaintance of his father and had a much friendlier attitude than the rest of her family.
There was still a chance!