Chapter 16

Neila powered through the night, while Kakashi, Astill, and Syorin took turns standing guard. They spent the entire night traveling. It didn’t look like their pursuers chased after them, although maybe not yet. They did manage to knock out a large portion of their group, and considering the contents of the experiments, they might not be publicly supported by anyone in Monemai.

Even if they managed to gather their men, they would need carriages to transport them all, which would take a while. Either that or horses, but if only a few of them came with horses, then they could be taken out by the girls. There’s nothing to worry about, at least not yet.

By midday, the city came into sight.

“Phew… we’re finally here,” Syorin said, looking out the carriage’s front gap.

“Yeah… I’m heading to bed straight after this.”

“Sorry, none of us can drive, Neila.”

“It’s alright, it’s not too bad.”

The city guards let them through, meaning they didn’t know about what had happened the day before. Neila brought the carriage to an inn, where they rested. They picked the rooms on the uppermost floor, giving them a good vantage point to watch over the city streets. After checking in, Neila headed straight to bed.

“I’ll go gather intel,” Astill said, heading toward the stairs.

“I’ll go with you,” Kakashi said, but before he could leave, Astill stopped him.

“Don’t. You’ll be deadweight,” she said coldly, then turned around and left.

“Haha… she’s… what do you call it again? A tsundere?”

“That term won’t really apply to this scenario, I think.”

“Why?”

“I doubt she actually wants me to come with her.”

Considering things, her acting like that made sense. It’s a lot easier for a single person to slip through the crowd. If someone went after her, she would have an easier time escaping when she’s alone. Besides, since she knocked out people stealthily, there was a chance that their enemies didn't know about her. If any of their pursuers came around, they wouldn’t know if she was involved. Besides, not like Kakashi had any skill that could help her if things went dire.

Kakashi knew well why Astill rejected him, but being rejected so directly like that still hurt, even if only for a bit.

“So… what do we do now?” he asked. Unlike Neila, the two of them got a good amount of sleep the night before. Besides, one of them needed to be awake just in case something happened.

“You don’t want to sleep?” Syorin asked.

“How about you?”

“I got plenty.”

“Same here…”

The two stared at each other, leaning their backs against the hallway’s walls.

“... Want to play a game?” Syorin pointed toward two sofas tucked in a corner near the stairs. In between those sofas was a coffee table, with some board games stored underneath.

“Sure.”

Kakashi and Syorin made their way to the table. Syorin took the available games out, none of which he recognized. Some did have similarities to games back on Earth. One of them had a black and white board, similar to the board of chess and checkers.

“How do you play this one?” Kakashi asked, pointing to the board. He expected a widely different game, but as it turned out, it was similar. The names of the pieces, their positions, and some rules were different, but the game itself was similar to chess. Two sides try to capture the other side's ‘lord’. Unlike chess, though, winning wasn't just about who got the other’s lord first, but which side lost the least amount of pieces.

They still needed to capture the other side’s lord, while keeping as many of their pieces as possible. The side that got their lord captured could still win if the board balance tilted to their side.

“Is that all?” Kakashi asked after hearing Syorin’s explanation.

“Yep, that’s all.” Syorin smiled. For some reason, that smile felt sinister, although he couldn’t put why.

“What happens if I lose?” he asked just to make sure.

“Nothing happens. It’s just a game.”

“No bets, right?”

“You want to?”

“No… but… Is this really just a game?”

Syorin averted her eyes. “Well, what else do you want it to be?”

Kakashi sighed. His color was black, so he got to move first, which, thinking about it, was a terrible choice. He never even played the game before.

Syorin grinned like a ferocious tiger, moving one of the soldiers, equivalent to a pawn, forward. It was a single move, yet it looked frightening for some reason.

Something's definitely up.

Kakashi made his next move.

“That's not how you move that.”

“Oh.”

He accidentally moved the knight, in this game called horse, in an L shape. Unlike in chess, the horse moved in a V shape.

“My bad.”

That single mistake messed up Kakashi's head. Syorin used this chance to make more moves that constantly put Kakashi in the corner. Every time he thought he could turn the tide, Syorin shut him down.

It didn't take long for him to admit defeat.

“Yesss! I won!” She shouted happily. Kakashi couldn't help but think of her as cute, although as a gamer, the loss insulted his pride. He couldn't admit defeat so easily.

“The rulebook.”

“... Eh?”

“Give me the rulebook.”

Syorin looked reluctant, which told him all he needed to know. Kakashi reached out and yanked the rulebook off her, then read through it.

“...” He stared sharply at her. Syorin averted her gaze.

“Really? You cheated against someone who just had their first game?”

“Y- you know…”

“Come on, I'll wait for your excuses.” Kakashi folded his arms and leaned back on the sofa.

“You look terrifying right now.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I don't even know you can make a face like that.”

“I don't know, either.”

“... I'm sorry.”

After that, Kakashi went on to beat Syorin three times in a row.