13 – Hiding Talent – 3
“Oh, I missed a failing grade.”
He received failing marks in swordsmanship, spearmanship, archery, elemental magic, and divine magic, and avoided failing grades by placing high in politics, diplomacy, and mock warfare.
However, with an average of 41.2 points, it would have been a failure if it had been two points lower.
“It was a little dangerous.”
If it had been lost early because an unexpected variable had occurred in the mock battle. If you get two more questions wrong in politics. What if the graders don’t like this guy? and gave less points. I was really about to fail.
In any case, there was no problem with the promotion examination. Charles Jean Rochepole succeeded in promotion with a difference of 1.2 points, and could become a sophomore next year. It was fortunate. How long had I not graduated from the academy, so I almost had to suck my finger and watch the turmoil that was about to happen.
However, Charles was feeling a sense of crisis. Although I avoided failing, I almost failed. In order to be stable in the next test, you need to raise your score a little more.
“What… Let’s think about this slowly.”
Thinking so, Charles decided to lie down and rest. A lot happened in 2 weeks. Charles needed a break.
However, the break did not last long. Because someone knocked on the door.
“who are you?”
As I asked, a voice came from beyond the door.
“It is me.”
The beautiful voice of a woman can be heard from beyond the door. But who am I? When I opened it, there was Yuria Russell.
“Miss YuRia?”
At that moment, the emotions were mixed. Did you come to get revenge for losing the mock battle? I even heard that thought. However, Yuria’s words were different from what I expected.
“Her Highness the Princess wants to see you.”
“Is it this time?”
It was past 10 o’clock. It was now time to go to sleep.
“Your Highness is already waiting. I do not recommend wasting Your Highness’ time.”
Saying that, Yuria glared at me. Still great loyalty.
It’s not that I’m particularly afraid of Yuria, but I put on my clothes and followed her. The place Yuria guided me to was a tea house. Even though the tea house was closed, Yuria knocked on the door and opened it.
Inside the teahouse, the princess was waiting for me drinking tea alone. She was still reading my book. [Tactics of the new era, how should gunpowder weapons be operated?].
I sat across from her and quietly waited for her to read. Black tea and sweets were served, and I was enjoying the scent of the tea. After about 10 minutes, the princess suddenly spoke.
“Funny.”
“Fun? What do you mean?”
“I mean, there is such a tactic. Place the musketeers in the center and the pikemen on the four diagonals to be ready to defend the musketeers at any time. It’s so simple to explain in words, but why didn’t anyone come up with this?”
At that, I smiled. don’t you know? Just because you’re a genius doesn’t mean you know everything.
“There is a difference in difficulty between solving a problem with reasoning alone in a situation where there is nothing and solving the problem again after looking at the answer sheet. It’s just that Her Highness feels that this question is easy because she has already read the answer sheet.”
The princess thought for a while and nodded.
“As expected, a question you already know the answer to is easy to feel.”
“Yes. It’s surprisingly simple, isn’t it?”
“You are right.”
She chuckled.
“Did you call me to ask about it?”
“No way. I’m not that lazy either.”
“then?”
“Yuria.”
When the princess called for Yuria, she brought something from another table. For a moment I thought what it was, but after thinking about it for about three seconds, I got it. Although the shape is very different from the modern one, this was a chessboard.
“Do you know what it is?”
“In my hometown we call it chess.”
“It is called chess even in the system. Then you know the rules.”
“Yes.”
she let out a sigh of relief.
“I said Someday, I want to stick with you with all my might in a place where there are no spectators or obstructions.”
“You did.”
“It’s quite difficult to match in real battle, but can’t we play chess?”
Indeed, that was correct. I smiled.
“By the way, are you okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I am very good at this.”
“ha ha ha!”
When I picked up the phone, Princess Leonia smiled cheerfully and said:
“I will show you that there is a sky above the sky.”
—–
Chess is like war. Deploy formations and advance towards the enemy, reducing each other’s pieces one by one. And the side that reduces it even a little more efficiently wins.
The reason why chess resembles war is that the side that is well positioned wins. Move pieces in the limited space of the chessboard to gradually occupy the space needed to win, and in the end, the side that occupies a better position and forms a highly complete formation wins. That was chess.
So was the war. If you move troops in a limited space called a battlefield, occupy the desired space, and form a good formation, you will surely win. That was war.
That’s why Charles likes chess. Because no one can die and compete with the opponent. Because you can see who is a better strategist.
And in Charles’ eyes, the princess was a very good strategist. A classic strategist who pressures the enemy with flawless and well-developed tactics.
Meanwhile, Charles’ style was quite different from that of the princess. The princess tended to focus on her horse and the formation of her allies, but Charles tended to focus on the enemy.
He constantly comes up with difficult problems, and every time he gets them wrong, he drives his enemies into a corner. He prefers to shake the enemy rather than give perfection to his formation. That was Charles’ style.
At first, the princess seemed embarrassed by the unfamiliar style, but the more she went on, the more she got used to Charles’ style. And the princess used the necessary methods to deal with an anomalous style like Charles.
That was what it meant to ‘keep one’s own pace’. Usually, young masters who have learned classic chess are embarrassed to follow an irregular style like Charles, and are bound to collapse. But the princess was different. Whether or not Charles played irregularly, he continued to keep his center, and pressured Charles more and more.
This was also similar to the way the two people lived. Charles always thinks about how to live according to the situation and the opponent, but the princess always keeps her own pace. thought Charles. Maybe chess might be similar to life.
The match was a whistle. There were times when Charles won, and times when the princess won. As time went on, the wins and losses piled up, and by the time dawn came, each other’s wins and losses had already exceeded double digits.
However, there was no record of wins or losses or asking someone to referee. That was also the case because neither the princess nor Charles were smart enough to remember each other’s wins and losses.
“You are the complete opposite of me.”
It was the princess’s sudden words, but I could understand them. If the princess’s strategy is good, then my strategy is the apostle. The way they fight and the way they live are completely different.
“Your Highness is a human who shines on his own.”
She uses her talents to find the most effective way. so light. But I can’t live the same way as her.
“But I am a human being who has no choice but to live in the shadows of others. I don’t have the strength or the background to stand alone. That’s why I abstained from the mock battle. Don’t give too much light.”
i want to live I want to go back home. That’s why I take every step carefully, regardless of means and methods. It’s far from being confident, but that’s who I am.
“You said Not everyone is born into the imperial family.”
Said so. The princess was born into the royal family. I grew up without any deficiency. Great talent and good origins. What could have been rough? He would have lived freely radiating all the light he had.
“But even though they are members of the royal family, they are not all members of the same royal family. The third daughter of a woman. In order for me to catch the eyes of my parents, I had no choice but to shine desperately. I had to work harder than anyone else and be more competent than anyone else. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to distance myself from the realm of succession.”
The moment I heard that, I couldn’t help but be surprised. I might have misjudged the princess. I had played Princess Leonia and cleared the game more than 5 times, but I knew it for the first time through those words.
“Your Highness, please… ”
“Don’t speak after that. I’m also aware that I said something embarrassing.”
Indeed, is it not just because of her own temperament that the princess has superior military strength and superior knowledge and political and diplomatic senses than others?
This is what she said. If the crown prince becomes emperor, there will be a purge of the other members of the imperial family, so in order to survive, he must somehow win against the crown prince, and to do so, he had no choice but to work harder than anyone else.
I have revised my evaluation of Leonia. She was not simply a gold spoon living freely. Rather, he was a human being struggling to live with me!
‘Even though the method is different, the purpose is the same… ‘
She shined desperately to live, and I hid in the shadows to live. We ran towards the same goal in different ways.
On the other hand, even while such a conversation continued, the match continued, and Yuria Russell was surprised to see the match between the two. It was because he had never seen anyone whose chess skills matched that of the princess.
Yuria Russell, even Isabelle de Poitier, was one step below the princess in chess. I also visited the chess club just in case, but the princess’ opponent did not exist.
But unexpectedly, Charles Jean Rochepole was the princess’ rival. Isabelle couldn’t keep her mouth shut while watching the match between the two.
and when the morning dawns
“Your Highness, it is time.”
said Yuria Russell. Before I knew it, the time was pointing to 5:30. It’s time for the students to come out.
“Sorry.”
“Iknow, right.”
Charles and the princess sighed at the same time. Actually, it wasn’t that strange. That’s because they were tied with 13 wins and 13 losses.
“Let’s break up with one more game.”
“good.”
Charles and the princess had their last match. The last match took a very long time. But this time, black and white were not covered. It was because after a long battle, it ended up being a draw.
And Charles and the princess went back to each other’s dormitory, leaving their regretful feelings behind. Returning to the room, Charles looked in the mirror and smiled at the dark circles in his eyes. It’s been a long time since I’ve been playing Gunpowder and Magic all night.
Charles recalled (rechecked) the match against the princess in his head, and recalled good and bad moves. Charles, who was happy to meet his opponent for the first time in a while, could not escape the afterglow of chess that had been played all night.
—–
Meanwhile, Princess Leonia, who had returned to her room, called Isabel de Poitiers into the room.
The reason why Isabel, rather than anyone else, was invited into the room was that Isabel was the second best chess player among the people the princess knew. The first was Charles.
The princess played chess with Isabel, but the result was a complete victory for the princess, 5-0. Isabel admired the number of princesses who were much sharper and more thorough than usual.
“Your Highness seems to be feeling good again.”
“is it?”
“Yes. It’s so strong that it’s on a whole different level than when I put it on before.”
The princess could guess the reason. The 27th edition of the match against Charles. Each round was risky, like walking on thin ice. Her senses, which had become as sensitive as they would become after experiencing such a great power, must have not allowed her to be defeated.
“Isabel. Chess is like war.”
“Is that so?”
Isabelle respected the princess, but didn’t really sympathize with what she just said. Chess is a game on a chessboard. How many variables do actual wars have, so how do you compare them? But I just couldn’t put it in my mouth.
“If you meet him on the battlefield, it probably won’t be easy.”
It was the princess who said that, but Isabel did not know who he was. He just had to keep playing chess until the princess was satisfied.