Deliberation

Okisato let out a sigh as he flopped down on his hotel bed in Okinawa. He had just completed a high-stakes match which saw his opponents resorting to cheating via mercury poisoning, and was naturally tired out. The Okinawa trip had been sudden, but he had decided to make the most of it and take his time heading back to the mainland as he figured Mimoko would likely make it through the qualifying round tomorrow anyway. His bigger concern was the Chess Olympics.

Since he was one of Japan's top male chess players, he was naturally drafted to be part of the national team. His new status as grandmaster meant he'd be only the 2nd grandmaster on the team, but the biggest problem was the other grandmaster, Ginji Inohara.

While Ginji's ban would be over by the time of the Olympics, having Ginji on the same team as him was a problem in of itself. Worse, Ginji's skill would be essential for medal hopes as maestros were now allowed to play, meaning Maestro Frisch was likely to play for America alongside Peter Morphy. The American team was by far the team Okisato wanted to face and beat the most, but even then there were other strong teams as well. India and Uzbekistan were top contenders for the gold with the latter being the defending champions. Not to mention, nations led by Desperados such as Russia and Prussia also had formidable forces at their disposal, and had historically been chess powerhouses to boot.

Japan would either need to find some incredible talent fast, or get lucky in order to have a chance at the podium or even the chance to challenge some of these top teams.

"Seems like the Olympics will be a pain. Sucks we can't have mixed gendered teams, then we'd dominate. Well, if Inoue-senpai, her mother, and Iori-chan are all on a team, they should be able to win as well."

The women's competition was just as competitive as the men's, perhaps more so since maestros like Daria and Amelia Stavanger of Norway would be participating. While qualification was still a factor, Daria was realistically going to qualify with ease. The bigger question was who would qualify alongside her. Mimoko and Iori seemed like a given, however teams were required to have a total of 4 players plus one alternate, so the remaining two spots were still up for grabs.

Okisato had no clue who would qualify for those spots, however he did remember that SPCM Himitsusan, Safumi Bouzi, was a grandmaster. However, it was unknown if the injuries she had received from the Michiko incident had truly destroyed her entire chess career. She still had yet to even return to her SPCM duties and according to Daria, was struggling just to complete basic day-to-day tasks.

Okisato didn't really know her, but he did feel bad that her entire life had been ruined all because of Michiko. "I can see why Redfield gets so touchy about snuffing out talent. I wonder how much that irreversible clause affected Himitsusan. Perhaps I'll use my hero's status to ask Maestro Himitsu for more info."

...

"'Complete nerve damage'?"

"Correct. It's not just the nerves in her wrists, it's the nerves in her entire body. Safumi has always had health issues since birth, with mobility issues being at the top. You wouldn't know this, since you barely know her, but she often can't walk for long periods of time. She tends to disguise this fact with her eccentric walk, but now she can't even do that. The poor girl just wanted the freedom not to be chained by her body's limitations, and found a way to do so with chess, but now, she's lost even that," Daria sighed.

"And there's no way to heal her?"

"Sadly no. Michiko was malicious in her conditions."

"What were they, specifically?"

Daria pulled out her WWFC card and pulled up the wager data from Michiko and Safumi's game. Just as Daria said, there was nothing that could be done to reverse Safumi's punishment. However, he saw some hope in the fact that Michiko hadn't put in any specifications about preventing Safumi's pain from at least being mitigated. While Safumi would never return to how she was before, she'd at least be able to play chess normally and be able to do more basic things again in life such as holding things without dropping them.

There was a caveat however. As with all the women she brainwashed, Michiko had implemented a condition that would allow her to assume control over her at any given time. While this condition had seemingly been nullified both by Safumi and Michiko's defeat, there was cause for concern that Michiko could still transfer her consciousness to any and all of her proxies should she die. Hence was the viable reason Raymond had decided to have her reduced to no more than a sentient brain in a jar.

"Himitsusan is currently at WWCF HQ, right?"

"That is correct. She's been held there ever since the incident, mainly due to her forcibly being registered with a DESPER. Tenju, Himitsutan, was also held there, however, she managed to heal to the point where she went back to Kyushu, yet I doubt her mental state has healed in the slightest, in fact she was causing so much trouble someone was actually sent out to drag her to the holding facility and incarcerate her there."

"And Himitsukun?"

Daria bit her lip and scowled. "No clue. I can't even pull up her wager data."

"Why's that?"

"Because I don't have the authority. Maestros are allowed to view match data of both normal WWCF members and SPCMs. This includes Desperados and wager conditions. However, we are forbidden from looking up any matches involving an executive board member unless we ourselves played against them."

"So that means you can't look up the match between Peter and that executive board member or any matches against Pewler?"

"Pewler's the exception as he was also a Desperado. I was also able to view the match data for the match you just mentioned, though I feel it's more rooted in the fact that I witnessed it live, and that it was part of a team bout. The executive board is still very much a mystery."

"Is it possible that whoever played Himitsukun was actually an executive board member?"

"Highly probable."

Okisato nodded and began compiling everything in his mind. It seemed like the best course of action was to try and save Safumi first then focus on the other two. Though he felt it would be best if someone other than him dealt with Tenju as he was responsible for her sister's death in a sense.

"Can you take me to WWCF HQ to see Himitsusan?"

"Yes, however, non WWCF officials need to be accompanied by someone at all times. Due to the tournament, I won't be able to accompany you, however, Himitsudono can. Thanks to Rodeo-kun, his workload has been lightened so he doesn't need to manage everything at once."

Okisato nodded and turned towards the counter. Himitsudono nodded and headed over.

"Then we shall depart immediately."