Chapter 69. Berenburg (7)

Personally, I didn't think I had many abilities that were superior to others.

The talents I could boast of were lost during my high school years through an accident and a long period of rehabilitation.

If there was one skill I had left, it would be my concentration.

And if I had to pick another, I could also include my analytical skills.

These skills shone when I faced a crisis I didn't know about.

Just like now.

“……”

There were two.

The effects of this spell that covered the lord’s castle.

The first was to create a separate spatial dimension, separating people the moment they entered.

It seemed that it didn't just separate space, but also tampered with time.

The scenery outside the window I had glanced at.

The white smoke from the mortar that had risen in the distance was still, like a still life, without scattering, which made it certain.

Did it separate the space and almost stop time?

I didn't know how.

With my short knowledge of magic and lore, it didn't seem possible.

However, this was a fantasy world.

A place where mysteries like magic and divine power openly defied the laws of physics.

Above all, what had already happened was reality, and an excellent commander should be able to accept it.

The second effect was a psychological attack.

To be precise, it seemed to be a type that showed the past.

This one was a bit more familiar.

Showing illusions by delving into the user's memories was not a high-level skill, and it was a trick that many mages favored.

For a trick, its effect was considerable.

Who had a completely upright past?

Even such a model citizen would have a nightmare or two.

As for me, I had wasted my entire twenties as a gaming addict, and behind that were two setbacks.

Click.

I opened the reception room.

No one was there.

Next was the banquet hall.

Marquis Ricardo liked banquets.

Anyway, although those two abilities alone made it a formidable magic, I personally had some doubts.

Marquis Ricardo was a hero who faced the iron-blooded Emperor head-on.

It meant he wasn't a desk-bound noble ignorant of strategy and tactics.

Tampering with space-time was certainly a great ability, but to the extent of sending all the Rose Knights guarding the lord’s castle outside, well.

Wasn't it a bit lacking for a magic cast by a cornered commander to protect his command center?

Unless it was a labyrinth created for fun by a curious transcendent archmage.

“He's not here.”

The banquet hall was also empty.

The only remaining candidate was the office.

He could be hiding in some strange warehouse, but the Marquis wasn't that kind of person.

Anyway, there was surely another hidden purpose to the ability, be it magic or something else, that covered the lord’s castle.

Thinking so, I climbed the stairs while maintaining my guard.

Marquis Ricardo's office was on the 4th floor.

He was there.

I could feel a presence even from outside the door.

I immediately raised my staff and opened the office door.

A slow clapping sound greeted me.

“You’re fast. Really fast.”

Marquis Ricardo was a middle-aged man.

A bushy head of hair.

A brown goatee.

A liver spot on his left jaw.

Strong eyes.

I stared at the man who possessed the same features as the game illustration.

The Marquis greeted me with admiration instead of a greeting.

“10 minutes. No, was it a little over 5 minutes? At this rate, I’d have to assume you knew the way beforehand.”

It was a familiar voice.

Come to think of it, I had heard it in this reality, not just the game.

It was when I was cosplaying as Tribus in the past.

Marquis Ricardo had warned Count Calvenia of a head-on clash with the Imperial army through the Princess of Blood.

“Mental manipulation doesn't seem to work at all. Just like our damn Emperor.”

The Marquis shook his head.

He was sitting at a table in the center of the office.

Two plush sofas faced each other with the table in between.

It was a nice arrangement for a chat over tea, but I hadn't come for a private conversation.

I was about to raise my staff when I hesitated.

“……Ha.”

I could feel it.

A powerful magic was cast on the entire room.

All skills were sealed.

Not only spells and swordsmanship, but also non-combat skills like horse management.

Feeling a cold sweat run down my back, I lowered my staff.

This seal was probably the core of the magic that covered the lord’s castle.

I hadn't come for a meaningless private conversation, but I had to ask.

“The ability of the sacred relic?”

I omitted the subject, but the Marquis answered the question readily.

“That’s right. This place is currently fixed in the present moment. Force cannot be used. I made it so with the help of a god’s power. Ah, of course, most of my force is also sealed.”

“I see.”

“If you wish, we can have a duel to the death with a single sword. It would be a sight to see.”

The Marquis smiled.

“Or you can play a game with me. A game of chess.”

What kind of nonsense was this.

Watching his somewhat performative gesture of spreading his hand to indicate the chessboard set on the table, I checked my hand.

My skills were sealed, but my traits remained.

However, I couldn't use [Warrior’s Binding].

I had unsummoned the troops just before entering, so it was still on cooldown.

My equipment was a staff, a sword, potions and a dagger, three bottles of holy water, silver steel armor, and a pansteel robe.

As I was debating whether to rely on my armor and robe and engage in close combat, the Marquis spoke again.

“Then how about this? If you win, I will release the restrictions on this space. If I win, hmm, I would like to hear all your secrets.”

“Secrets?”

“Mercenary Commander Ash. No, human necromancer Tribus. Either way, you’ve accomplished amazing things, haven’t you? I’m curious about that secret.”

I wasn't that surprised.

It was partly thanks to my traits, but I had also imagined such a situation.

Assuming the worst possible situation was a long-standing habit.

When I showed no reaction, the Marquis seemed surprised for once and fell silent for a moment.

“Alright. I will swear it on the sacred relic. If you just agree to this match, I will tell you how I found out your identity.”

He said so, taking out a statue from his pocket and placing it on the table.

It was the figure of a woman holding two spears, the size of which fit in one hand, just like mine.

An alien energy flowed out of the statue and wrapped around the Marquis' wrist.

For some reason, I could tell that that energy was related to the vow he had just made.

“Now you are a proper owner of a sacred relic, a member of our Theocracy. You should at least know how to use the power of the gods.”

- For a novice, you sure talk well for someone with an open mouth.

Of course, now that things had come to this, there was no reason for me to hide the existence of my sacred relic either.

Kkumteuli said, wriggling its tentacles as if it would tear through the subspace at any moment.

- ‘The Maiden Who Heralds the Time’. Did you use your authority to place a restriction on my guardian just now?

- No. I placed it on this space. My guardian is under the same restriction. I did not violate the contract.

- A bad taste. To stake your authority on something like chess.

- Not as much as you.

“How strange. Can you feel it? I don’t know for sure, but it seems your sacred relic and my god are resonating.”

“……”

“Judging by your expression, it seems this is not the first time. You are indeed interesting. Can you perhaps eavesdrop on the conversations of the gods?”

I ignored the Marquis' curious question and turned my gaze.

I looked at the wide window on one side of the office.

The scenery beyond the window, the faintly brightening sky and the inner castle where the battle was taking place below, was still moving very slowly, like a video with a slow-motion effect applied.

Time outside was still flowing slowly.

That meant I had time.

“Oh, are you going to take the challenge?”

I sat on the sofa.

It was not a bad condition.

There was enough time.

It was also an opportunity to extract information.

And the Marquis' own force was not that great.

It meant that I could win as long as the skill restriction was lifted.

Above all….

“Choose. Black? White?”

“I’ll take black.”

…chess was my long-time hobby and specialty.

***

“Don’t worry. I’m the only one who knows you have two identities. And I just found out.”

As soon as I sat on the sofa, the Marquis spoke as if he had been waiting.

“Chincharina said that Tribus had betrayed her. I thought it was possible. But it turns out you are the one with that statue. A subspace, right?”

There was a question that needed to be addressed at this point.

A subspace, which was a trait, was normally not something that could be accessed by spells.

“How did I know? It’s simple. The time and space here are under my control. I can tell that there is a passage connected to another space, and that a familiar scent of a god is flowing from that passage.”

A surprisingly straightforward answer came back.

I didn't know what he was thinking, but it wasn't bad for now.

He was a dead man to me anyway.

The Marquis would die at my hands.

The option of keeping him alive was completely ruled out the moment an individual hostile to me found out about my two identities.

Sitting at the chessboard now was not much different from summoning a ghost in front of a grave to extract information, a kind of necromancy.

“The sacred relic bestows the power of the gods upon a qualified guardian. There are stages to that qualification.”

Listening to the Marquis' explanation, I slowly looked around.

In the spacious room, which could be called a sports field with a little exaggeration, various splendid furniture and ornaments were arranged.

“When you obtain the first qualification, you can recognize each other through the sacred relic. It is also possible to set a meeting place and summon each other. When you reach the second qualification, you can draw out the abilities of the gods, the true owners of the sacred relic.”

An antique drawer. A leather-finished desk and chair. A cupboard full of liquor. A plaster statue. A painting. A large organ. A harp decorated with ivory and gold.

It was a sight that seemed to prove that money was overflowing.

In fact, it was true that the Ricardo family was overflowing with wealth.

“When you reach the third qualification, you can distort reality with the power of the gods. Just like me.”

“You mean holding people back with illusions of the past?”

“A little bit of seasoning. It’s quite effective.”

“How do you reach the third?”

“That’s a secret. It wouldn't be fun if I told you everything.”

The Marquis turned over the hourglass.

He moved a piece.

A white pawn.

Two squares forward.

Click.

He laid down his own hourglass and set mine upright.

There were two hourglasses on the table.

They seemed to be used to the time of each player.

My time was running.

“……”

It was a strange feeling.

Even though the scenery outside the window was almost at a standstill, the sand in front of me was falling quickly.

Come to think of it, Kkumteuli had also stopped time when facing Chincharina.

Could all the Outer Gods tamper with space-time?

It wasn't important right now.

Swish.

I moved my hand familiarly.

I picked up a piece.

A black pawn.

Two squares forward.

Click.

A few turns passed.

A front line was formed.

It was around that time that the Marquis opened his mouth.

A white knight moved.

“Your strategy was excellent.”

Tap.

The knight penetrated the front line.

The scenarios that that variable would create branched out in my head like branches.

I could see his aim.

It was a position that threatened the rook in two moves.

“I had expected an intruder to infiltrate the rear. Well, we sent a few units too. I just thought it was a small-scale scout or a mercenary band. So I thought of it as a pawn like this.”

I decided to sacrifice a pawn instead of the rook.

I took the knight that had taken the pawn with my knight.

That knight was then taken by a bishop.

A slight loss.

“But a red light emanated from the sacred relic. The god I serve, ‘The Maiden Who Heralds the Time,’ showed an ill omen.”

The left front collapsed.

I looked at the sacred relic the Marquis had mentioned.

It was the figure of a woman holding two spears.

A large crystal was embedded in the statue’s abdomen, and it was blinking with a red light every now and then.

“Anyway, the first time I learned about you was when Count Maenenwood reported it. He said a mercenary band had infiltrated the rear.”

“Was it the result of Indika’s eavesdropping?”

“That’s right. Chincharina’s subordinates who backstabbed me soundly. I didn’t know then.”

“When did you find out?”

The Marquis smiled bitterly.

The rook I had been trying so hard to protect was taken by his queen.

“Quite recently. I found out only after hearing the story that Count Maenenwood had been possessed by Chincharina, and that you had exorcised him and brought him back.”

“I see.”

“I was just slow on the uptake. It was obvious what they were after.”

“What were they after?”

“What else could it be.”

The Marquis raised his hand.

Instead of moving a piece, he tapped the head of the statue.

“They coveted this.”

The game had progressed quite a bit.

The entire front line had collapsed.

I was the one being pushed back.

I had a single-digit number of pieces left.

On the other hand, the Marquis' side was intact.

The number of pieces was different by almost double.

“……”

I felt a twinge in my head for the first time in a long while.

I set a trap as a final counterattack.

So that if he fell for it, I could checkmate him in five moves.

The Marquis raised his hand.

He picked up a bishop.

It was the moment he was about to move the bishop to where I wanted it, where I had placed a tempting knight as bait.

Flash.

The red light flashed once more.

It was the crystal on the statue.

The Marquis thought for a moment, then smiled and moved the knight to a different place.

Then the red light disappeared.

“…That’s a convenient ability.”

“Isn’t it? But I can’t use it like this normally. It’s a shame. If I could, I wouldn’t have had to face you like this.”

A white rook penetrated deep into my camp.

The trap collapsed from the side.

A clean defeat.

One of the ten chips stacked in front of me moved to his side.

“Nine more to go.”

Nine in front of me.

Eleven in front of the Marquis.

The match would be decided when one side ran out of chips.

“You’re skilled. I would have lost if the gods hadn’t helped me.”

The Marquis said, fiddling with the statue.

I didn't protest that using the sacred relic’s ability was cheating.

I was on the side that believed it was right to use everything available for victory.

“Next.”

“Oh, right away without a review? Alright.”

The pieces were reset.

It was automatic, so I didn't need to move them myself.

Was the chessboard itself a magic tool?

A wealth of money.

“Eight more.”

Defeat again.

This time, I dragged the match out a little longer.

Until only a pawn and a king were left on my side.

“Again.”

This game ended quickly.

Like the orcs, I threw all my forces in, inducing a chaotic battle.

Looking at the result, it was a close match.

The difference in pieces was only three.

However, anyone who knew how to play chess would say that this was a confirmed defeat.

I spoke of the next game dryly.

The Marquis laughed lowly and provoked me.

“Are you just going to keep losing?”

I didn't care.

What was important was the ten chances.

If I lost nine times and won nineteen, it would be my victory in the end.

I lost a few more times in a row.

I passed the chips to the Marquis.

I had only two chips left on my side.

Click.

The pieces were set automatically.

The Marquis moved a white pawn.

I was starting to get the hang of it.

I knew how to face him.