Caïssa's blessing

Back at the school, Okisato nodded as he watched Grigori's motorcade drive off. However, he was not quite in the clear, as he soon came face-to-face with an angry Mimoko.

Slap!

"And what was that for?"

"Your reckless playstyle. I just heard from Utami-chan how recklessly you were playing with her life on the line."

"I did this for your sake too. You would have lost horribly if you played instead of me. it was pawn and move odds with Enoki-san imprisoned in my b-pawn. If she got captured, she'd die."

"And you think I couldn't have protected her!?"

"Perhaps you could, but even though you'd mate Kazuya, Enoki-san would have probably died."

"What do you mean!?"

"When you came, you saw me in a position where I would have won if I promoted the pawn Enoki-san was in to a queen. Would you have promoted it?"

"Yes, I- Wait... He said if the pawn was promoted-"

"Enoki-san would have died. I imagine he would have only told you that she would be killed if her piece was captured. You and Enoki-san would have both agreed to promote her to a queen, then she'd explode to bits much to your horror as Kazuya killed himself to become a martyr."

Mimoko began to tremble. "H- How evil. How could he do something like that!?"

"Because he's scum. In your current emotional state, I doubt you'd have realized he was trying to goad you into promoting Enoki-san and fallen right into his trap. Though don't worry, I saw through everything and pulled off a win."

"How'd you even get up here before me?"

"Simple, as everyone was running down, I went up. After all, I was able to see you arrive and figured the principal's death might be used as a weapon to slander the entire chess club. And as I was heading out, I noticed Shion hiding in the shoe locker area, confirming my suspicions. Then as I was heading up the stairs, I phoned my sister, Otona, and told her to bring out the airbag from the sports shed. I wasn't expecting Svetlana to be here though, but it ended up working out, as her blind rage towards me forced Kazuya to challenge me instead of you. It sucks though that Tsar Grigori arrived and took the two away before they could get arrested."

"Svetlana? As in the same Svetlana you told me was a robot?"

"I said she might be a robot, but yes, that was Svetlana Smirnova. And the bearded guy that drove off with her and Kazuya was Tsar Grigori Ivan Vasilyevich I of Russia."

"A 'tsar'? But I thought Russia no longer had a monarchy."

"They didn't until just a year ago. I guess he emerged from the shadows and took over. Though I think he truly does have royal lineage."

"Then does that mean Svetlana is a princess?"

"Yes, since she's apparently his biological daughter, thus it stands to reason she has royal blood too."

"Then why'd you call her a robot?"

"Due to her abnormal strength, and the fact that despite her having some free-will, she's ultimately a DESPER wielding proxy for Tsar Grigori. You see, Tsar Grigori doesn't actually have a DESPER, but Svetlana does and he controls Svetlana. Thus, whenever he himself plays a DESPER match, Svetlana's DESPER is always the one that activates. The worst part is that Tsar Grigori rivals me in both physical prowess and chess. In addition to his high normal rating of 2818, he's also the number one chess boxer in the world."

"How could someone as horrible as him be number one!?"

"Remember, ANYONE can be good at chess, and the WWCF does jointly manage chess boxing with the wWorld Wide Boxing Association, thus all they care about is how good the player is at the sport, not how good they are as a person.

Mimoko went silent as she digested the information, however, there was still one more burning question on her mind. "How did you parry that blow from the sledgehammer?"

"I guess it's time I tell you about something important. Pull out your WWCF card and go to the badge tab."

Mimoko nodded and did as she was told. Okisato stared at it before nodding and zeroing in on one of the badges.

"See this? This signifies you have Caïssa's blessing."

"Caïssa? She's the goddess of chess, right?"

"Yeah, and that badge affirms you have her blessing, meaning you won't die from unnatural causes outside a chess match nor will you suffer life-threatening injuries that prevent you from playing chess ever again. The big exception though is if you lose in a DESPER match. That's essentially the only way to kill a good chess player before they die of old age."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know. Maybe Caïssa herself is doing the protecting. It's possible that's why she made the WWCF cards and the DESPERs."

"Caïssa made those!?"

"Well, I guess more like she had a hand in them I guess. Sorry, I don't know. But I do know that the only way to get Caïssa's blessing is to become a talented chess player. Usually it means getting a rating of over 2200, and once you receive the blessing, you have it for life."

"So then was the DESPER made to counter that?"

"Most likely."

Mimoko let out a sigh as she digested all the information. "Very well, I'll let you off the hook for now, but I WILL analyze that game you just played and prove to you that I would have won without losing Utami-chan."

"Well naturally now that you know about not being able to promote her, you'll formulate a strategy around that."

"C- Could I say something?"

The two turned to face Utami, who was still trembling, but seemed to have a look of determination in her eyes. It turned out that while she was upset about Okisato's reckless playstyle, she was also upset at herself for being too weak to stop Kazuya. Thus, she made two requests. The first was for Okisato to refer to her by her first name like Mimoko, and the second was for both him and Mimoko to help train her, so that she could improve.

As soon as the two accepted the requests, Utami fainted on the spot, causing Mimoko to rush over to her as Okisato began heading out.