Nov 30, 2025
Author's Commentary #639:
Time to talk about Chapter 639: Racing kings.
My apologies for the unfinished state of the initial upload. I've since rectified things and given the head of the Inashiki family a different name that I feel is more fitting than the one she initially had. Speaking of which, let's discuss her.
稲敷 紅桜 (Inashiki Benichiyo) is how her name would be spelled in kanji. 紅桜 means "crimson" and "cherry blossom".
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is December 1st. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Though shogi is her main forte, she did play chess just for intellectual training in her youth. As such, she has an official rating, but is not a WWCF member. That being said, she has the ability to wield a DESPER should she so choose to as DESPERs only need wielders to have a rating, not WWCF membership.
As for the game, it's a chess variant known as racing kings. Just as stated in the chapter, the goal is to race your king to the 8th rank, but you're unable to give checks, both discovered and not. I actually had a longer game initially planned, but since I was rushing to get the chapter out, I used a short game. It ends up working though, as I managed to frame the story around it, and showcase the no checking rule of the game. As for that game I originally played, perhaps it'll show up as early as next chapter.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
