A familiar face

Two days after the tournament concluded, all members of both the men's and women's national teams gathered for a strategy meeting in one of Ryokoma's conference rooms. 

"Iyah, so good to formally meet you, teammate," Ginji sneered as he dramatically shook Okisato's hand.

"Likewise for you," Okisato snarled.

"Such a mean tone, Oki-chwan. I'm the better player here."

"And will that skill translate to wins, or will you be throwing at any chance you get?"

Ginji's droopy gaze widened ever slightly, as did his smirk. "That's a little uncalled for. I do want to do the best for my country."

Okisato shook his head. He was a good enough judge of character to know his perception of Ginji was spot on, yet there was little he could do about it.

"Great, the two aces hate each other. Maybe that'll take less scrutiny off me," a man with a pudgy face snarled as he read an adult magazine.

This was Morishita Moribe, an international master who had long since sought to become a grandmaster, yet as the years went by, that goal only slipped further and further away.

"Moribe-"

"Mori, just Mori. No honorifics."

"Mori, what's with the magazine?" an elderly man in a hakama asked.

"Porn. I'm an adult, I can consume content made for adults."

"There is a place for decorum."

This man was Ryonosuke Hobou, an international master and shogi dan. Like Mori, he had sought the grandmaster title, but found more success with shogi, and thus, focused more on that than chess. He was still an active chess player though, hence his appointment to the national team.

This was Okisato's first time meeting both him and Mori, but the member of the team he was most interested in meeting was the masked man. While said individual did show up, he spoke with a voice changer hidden within his mask, making it impossible for Okisato to discern his identity. Worse, his WWCF card listed his rating as only 101.

However, Okisato knew better than to take that rating at face value, especially if Daria was vouching for him. Not to mention, a man like Sodeshiro Azami would never allow someone truly rated 101 to participate on the national team.

"Now that we're all here, I think now is a good time to go over some of the top teams we're likely to face," Daria stated as she motioned towards a smartboard.

Images of players from various nations across the world were displayed. A table was also present displaying the names, ratings, and average team rating of the top 10 seeded teams.

"We'll start by going over the top seeded team in both sections; The United States of America. The men certainly have their work cut out for them. In addition to Maestro Wiley Frisch, current number 2 in the world, Peter Morphy is playing along with rising star Hubert Neuman and current world number 5, Luigi Carpani. The legendary player, Levi Aron is also on the reserve board, so needless to say, the line-up is stacked."

"I take it this means we'll sacrifice Ginji on board 1 if we run into them?" Okisato asked.

"Nay, if we come up against them, I'll play Wiley," the masked man declared.

Okisato shot the masked man a skeptical glare, but seeing as Daria was nodding in agreement, made him cease questioning the matter. Though naturally, he did make sure to declare that Peter would be his prey should he get the chance to face him.

"With maestros restricted to only participating in 8 games out of 11, that means it's likely Peter will be going strong for all 11 rounds. And even if he takes one round to rest, he'll definitely play if America faces Japan," Daria continued.

"And that's why we'll have Ginji play on a lower board. We'll maximize our chances of winning, and if we can beat a top seed like America, that will really help," Okisato nodded.

"No, no, no. I'm number 1, so board number 1. But for that masked fellow, I guess there's something special about him so I'll let him face maestros," Ginji shrugged before glaring directly at the masked man.

"If you're so good, rack up easy wins on the 4th board. There's no shame in the strategy, especially considering India's employing a strategy like that for it's men's team."

"They've also got a strong women's team, right?" Utami asked.

Daria nodded as she pulled up the data for the Indian team. "India's a rising powerhouse and it's talent is young to boot. Govindrao Dhavalikar, the current challenger to the current world champion, is only 18 years old and also one of the world's top 10 players. Though if there's anyone you need to worry about it's Arun Jhingan. He specializes in taking out players below 2700. There's also the talented Hanuman Dhoot as well as Vihaan Gosain who are both top players. Not to mention there's legend, Virat Joshi, who was said to have gone toe-to-toe with legend, Vshwananthan Anand in his prime."

"Oof, looks like the guys got it rough. What about us?" Iori asked.

Daria shifted the screen back to America. "While the American women don't have the might of a maestro, they are still the top seed and have the might of Kuon Nanya, who just swapped federations a few days ago."

Mimoko began to grow somber as she stared at Kuon's photo. "She even shaved her head and eyebrows... She must really be distraught."

"Kuon aside, the Americans do have some noteworthy talent, namely grandmasters Elenora Broadstone, Agatha Broadstone, and SPCM Mililani Paina. SPCM and international master, Katie Knox is in the lineup too. India's also a doozy. Commentator and top player, Saloni Madhok is heading board 1, while the frequent co-host of her broadcasts, International master, Indira Bhambri, is on board 4. Grandmasters Ishika Hirani and Vibha Jaisi are on boards 2 and 3 respectively, while International master Mona Atel is on the reserve. We may be higher seeded than them, but that line-up is nothing to scoff at. I'd argue America's the bigger threat, though that doesn't mean we should underestimate India."

"So India and America are the two teams both the men's and women's teams will need to look out for," Mimoko nodded.

"Yes, and there's one more powerhouse nation that both need to look out for as well, the German Empire of Prussia."

...

A bound and gagged man cried as a blonde-haired woman clad in imperial German military attire slapped his ass with a riding crop.

"What a weak man. Prussia only has need of strong men, not sobbing pigs like you!" the woman sneered as she smacked the man again.

"Ah? That a reserve or just some prisoner of war?" a woman with long green hair that obscured one of her eyes sneered as she walked up.

"The latter of course. He was a strong Austrian man, until I broke him! Now he's just another muscly slave for me to play with."

"Ingrid's gonna yell. We're supposed to be training the new recruit."

"I thought Sibylle was."

"That woman's practically your twin. You think she'll train the recruit, or humiliate her?"

The blonde-haired woman thought for a moment before maliciously smirking and assuming it would be the latter. "It matters not, especially since I need to train our own secret weapon we just got."

"Ah, yes, Hannelore. We really scored big when we managed to bag her. Especially considering the fact that she's..."

...

"The Prussian men's team is the third seed and they've got a nasty lineup. Board 1 is naturally headed by the kaiser himself, Red Reaper von Richthofen, who appears to have gone on a rampage, jumping to 4th in the world with a new rating of 2881. His teammates are no slouches either. Prodigies, Volker Keiner and Diederich von Richthofen, along with grandmasters Übel Bähr and Hans-Ulrich Müller all round out the team. And then there's the number 2 seeded women's team..."

Everyone stared oddly as Daria paused and appeared to be trembling. However, they soon figured out why as she began listing the members of the Prussian women's team.

"First off, there's talented players like Magdalena Yock, Sibylle Wizner, and Ingid von Hessel. With the exception of Sibylle, who still needs one more norm, they're all grandmasters, but all are rated 2500 or over so they'll be no pushovers. The biggest problem is their top female player, Edeltraud Ulbricht. I'll likely be facing her due to her being on board 1."

"Is she that terrifying? Her rating's only 2739," Iori scoffed.

"That's respectable, but no, I can easily beat her. What's got my wits trembling is the one on board 2. Maestros are only allowed to play on board 1, meaning I can't face Hannelore Schroeder."

"Why's that a big deal?"

Daria sighed and zoomed in on Hannelore's photo. Hannelore looked as though she had been cleanly shaved, then allowed to slowly regrow her hair. Her eyelashes and eyebrows were thin, with auburn peach fuzz beginning to sprout out of her head. Yet despite it all, her purple eyes were a sight many had seen before.

"Her rating is 2808, however, I've never heard of this woman before. But when I accessed her game logs, I came to a horrifying realization. This woman... is Hagemi."