Dining in at the secret puzzle cafe

As the last few games in the playing hall finished up, the weather subsided enough for the buses to come and pick everyone back up. Mimoko was still flustered thanks to her encounter with Xiu, but at least the ride back was uneventful. Though the WWCF did issue warnings to numerous players, including Jad, Miralem, Tvrtko, and Ognjen among others, primarily for property damage caused by their piece hurling. Marco's shouting had also gotten him a warning, but it wasn't as bad as the aforementioned players.

By the time team Japan got back to the hotel, the pairings were up. The men were up against Bosnia and Herzegovina while the women were up against China.

"I hope Iori's gotten better. China's a team we need to be at our best to beat," Daria frowned.

"She hasn't been replying to my messages. Hopefully that means she's resting," Mimoko frowned.

Everyone was naturally hungry after the long stay at the venue, and luckily the dining hall was open late. But as with the past 4 nights, an incident was bound to occur tonight as well.

"Hurry, hurry! Bring those tomatoes out asap!" a staff member frantically shouted.

Everyone turned as an entire platoon of staff ran out of the kitchen, each carrying crates full of tomatoes. The destination was a woman sitting in a throne, being fanned by servants. She was clad in ancient Egyptian royal wear and had long wavy blue hair and an aloof look in her eyes.

"Food, bring it," she grumbled as she began outstretching her hand as if attempting to grab something.

When a crate arrived, she reached for a tomato, slowly stroking the tips of her fingers on one before suddenly latching onto it and gobbling it up like a voracious animal.

From a distance, Okisato scanned the woman with his WWCF card to find out she was Muna Neferneferuaten, one of the Neo Kingdom of Egypt's 3 co-pharaohs. Unlike with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt's co-pharaohs were on much friendlier terms, and had little political tension between them. That didn't mean there was no tension though as Muna in particular was the most adamant about trying to expand Egypt's territory through DESPER matches, even though the other two pharaohs were not too big on it. If another nation attacked, they'd happily defend, but they themselves did not want to do any attacking. Rather, they sought to make Egypt the best it's ever been, blending the ancient past with a high-tech modern era.

The tech sector had greatly expanded, making Egypt one of the more futuristic nations in the world. DESPERs most certainly played a role in this, but unlike others, all of Egypt's 3 co-pharaohs didn't appear to have a DESPER, raising the question of just who did to allow the three to get to where they are now.

As Okisato finished reading up on Muna, he decided it was best to seek food elsewhere. Apparently Muna was infamous for eating farms of tomatoes if she had a big appetite, meaning all the dining staff would be preoccupied bringing tomatoes to and from. She had also paid for everything, so there was no outbidding her either.

Luckily, the hotel had another restaurant. It was more pricey and had less seating than the grand dining hall, but it was an option. The secret puzzle cafe also offered food, and was big enough to accommodate all that would be unable to get into the fancy restaurant. And thus, team Japan opted to have dinner at the secret puzzle cafe.

"Well look who it is. So how'd your match go?" Safumi growled as she noticed everyone coming in.

"You didn't watch the broadcast?" Tenju scowled.

"I got shit to manage, especially since so many SPCMs and DSPCMs are competing. And now everyone's coming in here for dinner. The hell gives!?"

Daria quickly explained the situation in the dining hall, further frustrating Safumi.

"So some rich bitch is squatting there, hogging all the staff. Great. I can't serve every damn person here! Tenju, clock in!"

"I'm playing, so I'm exempt from SPCM duties until the tournament's concluded, same for the others competing."

"Tch, then I'm calling the cavalry."

A few seconds later, Carol, Mario, and Ignatz emerged from the back.

"Ah, you go the position after all," Daria smiled.

"Well, yes, but not in the city I wanted," Ignatx nervously chuckled.

"But aren't you competing as well?"

"I'm the reserve and was given the day off."

"No can do, you're competing, so sit down and relax. Sorry, Safumi, but you'll need to call someone else over."

Safumi grumbled and sent out the summons once more. No one else seemed to come, except for Robuddy. But this worked out well as Daria wished to speak with Robuddy on a certain matter.

"Any word on Ina?"

Robuddy regrettably informed her that he had no new information on the matter. Daria nodded and let him go, pondering all the information she had. Miga felt Ina was in Budapest, meaning the Fairy league, which was participating largely as the English women's team, most likely had her held captive somewhere. But that would mean someone would need to be standing constant watch over her, making it unlikely any of the 5 members of England's women's team would have the role, meaning there was likely an additional Fairy here in Budapest.

"There are two rest days. An odd format, but I assume there's some reasoning behind it. Assuming we get paired against an easy-enough opponent in either rounds 7,8, or 9, I could sit that round out and use one of the rest days to go after Ina. But it's probably best if it's on the 1st rest day. In years past, there's only been a single rest day following the 6th round, so why are there 2 this year? The president was tight-lipped as usual on the topic, but him being just that makes me feel there's a greater purpose to the second rest day than meets the eye. There's also no leads on Baba or Mari. I don't doubt the intel that they're participating in the tournament, but without actually encountering them, it's difficult to truly pin them down. I have some suspects, but they could all just be red herrings."

As Daria went deep into thought, Okisato and Mimoko took a look at the standings. "Looks like there's quite a few teams still unbeaten in both sections, but the real intriguing thing is that you're not the only team with perfect 4-0 victories. Norway, the US, Prussia, and China all have achieved the feat as well," Okisato stated.

"And that's not to discredit all the teams that have won all their matches thus far."

"But the key is the tie-breaks."

"Correct, since the teams we beat had higher average ratings than those of our opponents, we got a good tie-break score compared to the others."

"Which would make it all the more appetizing for China to beat you," a voice sneered.

The two turned to notice Ginji standing behind them with his trademark smirk.

"And you think they'd lose?" Okisato glared.

"But of course, it's an uphill battle. Iori-chan's still out sick, and without her, the team will get wiped by China."

"Now that even I have to disagree with. Sure, China is formidable, but the others are skilled enough to at least hold a draw," Mimoko scowled.

"Not at all. Maestro Xiao Lin will beat Himitsu, Xiu will beat you, and then Bao and Jia will clean up on the lower boards," Ginji chuckled as he walked away.

While both Okisato and Mimoko thought his prediction was rubbish, the fact that he seemed eerily confident made them uneasy. Both thinking the same thing, they tried calling Iori, and when she didn't pick up, they tried calling Maida. Also no reply. The two began rushing out, but found the exit was blocked off by some women arguing with each other.

"Zsa Zsa does not believe it! Zsa Zsa know you better than that! Surely you have not turned coward!" Zsa Zsa fumed.

"I was not feeling well, thus I made the better judgement call to sleep in," Collette grumbled.

"Oh please, you look fine! You know what this idiot did? She threw the match. I bet you sat out knowing that would happen!" Tünde fumed.

"Not at all, in fact I'm disappointed Zsa Zsa would do such a think. Poor Fifi's still in tears and is beating herself up as we speak."

"Zsa Zsa cares not for an insufficient spec of dust. Collette is the only rival at the top of the world, in fashion and chess. Play Zsa Zsa now. I'll ante up a pot and make it a spectacle if I have to," Zsa Zsa glared.

Okisato and Mimoko, meanwhile tried to squeeze their way through, but in doing so, triggered Zsa Zsa's reflexes, resulting in her slamming her fist into Mimoko's face, bloodying her lips instantly.

Mimoko let out a scream and fell to the ground in pain as Okisato glared Zsa Zsa down. "The hell was that for?"

Zsa Zsa completely ignored both him and Mimoko, at least partially, as she began standing atop Mimoko, causing her more pain. With little choice, Okisato prepared to charge her, but Daria stepped in.

"Zsa Zsa, mind stepping off my daughter?"

Zsa Zsa stared at Daria for a bit before walking off Mimoko and getting up close to her face. "Usurper. Zsa Zsa had never heard of maestros before, yet here the WWCF claims are the "real" top chess players in the world. A thousand shits of bulls to that! Only Collette and Zsa Zsa are the best. You're just an usurper!"

"You know the girl you just stepped on and hit beat Collette fair and square-"

"LIES! Collette is Zsa Zsa's rival. She did not lose, she deemed her insignificant, and thus adjourned herself from the farce!"

As tensions seemed to rise once more, Collette took notice of Okisato, stealthily looking something up on his miniaturized WWCF card. Getting an idea of what it might be, she let out a heavy sigh.

"Zsa Zsa, I'll play you."

Zsa Zsa's mood instantly shifted as she giddily spun around.

"I'll play you, but only if you can first beat that boy as Black."

Zsa Zsa frowned as she slowly turned her head towards Okisato, venom and bloodlust already oozing it's way into her eyes. "This insignificant trash?"

"Yes. And I'll even allow the match to be Armageddon. And as an added incentive, 1000 euros upfront to the winner."

"Armageddon? Then Zsa Zsa will assert her dominance. But if the trash refuses to even play-"

"Oh I'll play, so sorry to disappoint, but you won't be winning by default," Okisato glared.

"Mocskos patkány [Filthy rat]," Zsa Zsa snarled.

"Hmm? What was that? I couldn't quite understand it."

"Trash like you does not deserve to know, now set up the match, posthaste. Zsa Zsa wants to face Collette as soon as possible."