|| TL: miyakriko ||
“uh-? Isuna-neesan?”
Fia peeks at her sister’s face in front of her
meanwhile, Isuna seems to be frozen in place her tail too
she stares at the board with wide eyes
“mo…”
“mo?”
“one more time! i held back too much in this match!”
Isuna extends her finger and challenges FIa to a rematch
“eh? one more time, what about this?”
in contrast to Isuan, Fia hasn’t realized this match is already over
“you won, so let’s reset the pieces and have a rematch”
“eh? i won? against Isuna-neesan?”
Fia seems more confused than happy, as if she didn’t sense she won at all
“i-it was just a fluke! this time i won’t hold back!”
“y-yes!”
pushed on by Isuna who lost, Fia sets up her pieces again
her moves are that of a beginner
was the previous match just a coincidence…
thinking this, i watch as the next match begins
“let’s go!”
“y-yes…”
Isuna who’s brimming with bloodthrist, and Fia who’s slightly intimidated by it
however, as the turn progresses, their expressions quickly reverse
every time a piece is moved, Isuna’s head and tail gradually lower
perhaps linked to her momentum, by the time the height of her head and tail falls below the height of the chair, the board was a pitiful sight
“it’s…over…”
at the same time her tail touches the floor, Isuna’s king loses its escape route
“eh? is this also the end?”
“yeah, it’s Fia’s win”
this time it ended even faster than before
“o-one more time…”
Isuna trembling challenges Fia to a rematch
however, the next match also ended in a even shorter amount of time
of course, in Fia’s victory
Isuna stares at the board looking so disappointed and dumbfounded
it’s said that one’s skill in this board game is depended on their basic knowledge
Fia’s academic performance is average or slightly below average overall
no doubt that Isuna who’s above average in terms of academic ability is superior
however, in this game it was the opposite, Fia who’s still a beginner overwhelmed Isuna
if this isn’t coincidence, it’s necessary to confirm the true nature of her ability
“Fia, can i ask you one thing?”
leaving Isuna in a daze for now, i recreate the situation on the board
“eh? yes… go ahead…”
“this is the scene”
it’s the first match with Isuna
“why did you place the wizard here?”
i ask about the one move that started to reverse it all
“uhm, well, its hard to say…”
Fia tries to put her intentions into words while holding her head
“it’s fine if you say what comes to mind”
“uhm… i just felt it best fits there…”
“it best fits?”
even after being told that, i can only see it as a strange move when i look at it again
however it’s also true that move completely dominated the board later on
“yes… that’s all i can think of… i’m sorry…”
Fia apologizes remorsefully
however it’s clear that she’s not just randomly making moves, but rather based on some sort of intuition
“switch! darling, switch!”
as i was thinking about Fia’s words, Isuna who returned to her senses grabbed my clothes and shook me
“what’s with that name…”
“please! avenge me!”
she begs with tears in her eyes, probably because she’s frustated to losing to Fia who’s a beginner
this may sound a bit exaggerated but as a player i can’t remain silent after seeing this in front of me
“then Fia, will you play with me next?”
“eh? y-yes! please go easy on me…”
as we sit across from each other Fia makes a tense stuff bow
however, to me she looks like some cute mysterious creature
“alright, Fia you can go first”
and so the match between me and Fia begins
the sound of pieces being moved alternately echoes
while i play a safe and standard opening, Fia responds with a unconventional opening that i never seen before
at first glance, it migh seem like a chatoic move typical of beginners
however it also seems like Fia’s happily flying around the board, freed from the burdens of the outside world
but that doesn’t mean i’ll lose to her easily
if this is just a glimpse of her talent, it’s my duty to give my it my all
the back and forth stalemate continued and the match reached midgame
it looks like this match will be a long one… just as i was thinking that–
suddenly Fia made a gamble
she suddenly made a offensive mode to try and checkmate my king
it’s too early. im not checkmated yet
deciding that, i continue defending
if i survive this, my victory is almost certain
i continue to defend with all my pieces
will she get through?
no, it wont be enough
even while desperately definding, Fia continues to calmly move pieces on the board without a change of expression
and after a long intense battle–
“…it’s over?”
Isuna staring at the board muttered in a small voice without rooting for either side
“yeah, it’s over”
the board looks like a battlefield
the result ended in my victory
however, it was a victory by a thin margin-a peper thin victory
my palm is sweaty
how long has it been since i’ve been exhausted from a one on one match, even if its a board game
in contrast to me who’s out of breath due to mental fatigue, Fia looks at the board with a confused expression seemingly not fully understanding what just happened
if this girl had more experience i would have lost
alternatively, it can also be said that it was only through her other abilities that she was able to push me this far
if we played a few more times, or even just one more i might not be able to beat her
as i look at the board again, i remember Fia said “it best fits” earlier
it’s clear this mess of a board was created solely on that feeling
however, even after finishing that match with FIa i still have no idea of what that feeling is, and i don’t think i’ll be able to understand it in the future
if i had to put it into words, it would probably be like “a prespective beyond human understanding”
that must be her talent
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