The Game of Living Pieces

“We arrived in such a rush today that I forgot to bring a chess set. Thankfully, Miss Dalia’s divine art has allowed us to play!”

“Oh.”

Saranya crossed her arms, eager to see what Lucius would arrange next.

Dalia meticulously drew the lines on the ground using her divine art, the process itself quite thrilling.

What then?

Saranya found it hard to believe Dalia could conjure a set of movable chess pieces from thin air.

The chessboard beneath them was massive, and creating pieces to match it would consume far more magical energy than Dalia could possibly afford.

Unless…

“As for the chess pieces… I’ll have to trouble everyone to act as them!”

Just as Saranya suspected, Lucius, that debauched nobleman with his peculiar tastes, was no longer satisfied with merely manipulating ordinary chess pieces.

He needed to command living people for his own amusement to truly feel entertained.

“Now, I’m not one to criticize, little brother Lucius, but did you really summon everyone here with such fanfare just to make us your chess pieces?”

Harold’s enthusiasm was noticeably lacking.

The portly, slick-haired man clutched his belly, his face stern as he admonished his younger brother.

“Haha? Well, if you insist, Harold. A little stroll after dinner, a chance to stretch our limbs, wouldn’t hurt anyone!”

Malacar, the arena owner, much like Mitchel, was a burly man built like an ox.

Upon hearing of this unusual game, he wasn’t angered in the slightest; instead, he gleefully stepped into one of the squares drawn on the ground.

‘Pervert.’

Saranya mumbled, her gaze sweeping over the people gathered on her side.

It seemed adequate; a game of chess required thirty-two pieces, sixteen for her and sixteen for Lucius.

They had enough people for the task.

Not far off, Vireta led her gang members into the grand hall.

Her daughter’s face, initially taut, instantly brightened into a wide grin the moment she spotted Saranya and Kaelan standing together.

She swiftly hurried over to their side.

Cecilia arrived at the same time, leading several white-robed Silver Hands at the rear of the group.

“Don’t worry, pieces are just pieces. We’ll play a normal game of chess; the rules will be absolutely fair!”

With that declaration, Lucius hooked his arms behind his back and swaggered off into the crowd to select his “pieces.”

“Heh…”

Saranya offered a benign smile, then turned to begin arranging the human pieces on her side.

For the eight pawns in the front row, Saranya assigned the Redwater Gang’s own armored enforcers.

She instructed them to uniformly equip iron-wrapped clubs and slatted shields, which would make it easier for her to identify and move these “pieces.”

“Next, the bishops… you two step forward.”

Saranya surveyed the crowd, chin in hand, then called out to two white-robed Silver Hands, gesturing for the two brothers to join the game as her “bishops.”

“Phillo, Aivy, you two will be the rooks.”

“I want to play too! Me, me, me!!”

Seeing her companions take their places one by one, Vireta’s playful spirit surged.

She bounced and waved her hand high, clamoring to join the game.

Unable to resist her daughter’s insistence, Saranya simply had Vireta stand beside Aivy, filling the position of a knight.

Cecilia was chosen for the other knight’s spot.

“Then, I shall be your king!”

Saranya circled her “pieces,” lightly tapping each person’s chest with a clenched fist before returning to stand in the king’s square.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

She slowly turned to Kaelan, her lips curving into a slightly shy smile.

“But the king is still missing a queen…”

Kaelan shivered, sensing Saranya’s gaze, and her small mouth parted slightly.

“Hm… what…?”

“Kaelan, would you like to be my queen?”

“Eh?!”

Kaelan’s pupils rippled, and it took her several blinks to fully process the words.

Her cheeks instantly flushed a deep crimson, even the tips of her ears acquiring a faint coral hue.

“Q-queen… why is there such a thing… I…”

Having lived a secluded life, Kaelan had rarely engaged in activities involving more than one person.

She didn’t even recognize the pieces on a chessboard.

Hearing the word “queen” so abruptly, her mind subconsciously twisted its meaning, causing her exaggerated reaction.

“I don’t understand, I don’t understand your barbaric, foolish game rules! But you! How dare you be so bold… to offend me like this…”

Realizing her blunder, Kaelan was overcome with shame and irritation, then deflated, finally bowing her head deeply.

‘I should be the king, clearly…’

‘Then, Master, I’ll let you be the—’

“N-no! Queen is fine, just this once. Don’t tease me like this again next time…”

Seeing her Master in such a state, Saranya felt her head practically fuming; it was almost too much to bear.

‘No, how did Master become so easy to bully? Was she swapped out when I wasn’t looking?!’

Shaking off these stray thoughts, she took Kaelan’s hand and led her Master onto the chessboard.

“As the queen, you stand here… As the king’s personal guard, you can capture enemy pieces along diagonals…”

“Mm…”

She tried her best to explain patiently to her Master, repeatedly reminding herself of the importance of the current situation.

Yet, each time she caught the faint scent of Kaelan’s body, her heart pounded wildly.

‘Damn it, it’s been too long since I’ve ‘eaten’; I’m truly starving.’

As she explained the rules, Saranya’s gaze inadvertently drifted to her Master’s collar, where she saw, for the second time, the chain-like marks on Kaelan’s delicate skin.

Connecting this with the purplish, striped bruises on both of Kaelan’s palms, Saranya instantly deduced the origin of those marks.

Her mind immediately raced with wild fantasies, and she felt as though she could breathe fire.

“Did you… do this to yourself?”

‘When did Master develop such a penchant? How lewd…’

Saranya felt both excited and pained.

She couldn’t resist reaching out to gently rub the spot, feeling Kaelan’s skin twitch beneath her fingertips.

“Ah, ah… this is… I fell by accident…!”

“Fell…?”

Saranya was amused, keenly wanting to press further, eager to witness Kaelan blush to the point of utter collapse.

“Mom! Are you two done yet?! We have a formidable opponent right in front of us!!”

Vireta’s impatient complaint abruptly pulled Saranya back to reality.

“Oh! Coming!”

After patting her cheeks with the back of her hand to clear her head slightly, Saranya returned to the “king’s” square and straightened her posture.

With that, her side’s formation was complete, with four rows of human pieces forming a clear standoff on both sides.

“Let’s determine who plays white and who plays black!”

Lucius called out from a distance, and Dalia immediately reacted, launching a hemispherical orb of light towards the center of the field.

“Aivy, hit that light orb!”

Aivy scoffed, clearly displeased by Lucius’s command, but nevertheless raised her long staff and fired a cone of light that struck Dalia’s orb.

The silver hemispherical orb rapidly spun in the air until it finally came to a stop, its full, rounded side facing directly towards Lucius.

“Then this young master shall play white!”

In chess, white represents day and black represents night, with day preceding night.

Thus, Lucius, playing white, would make the first move.

“Let us begin!”

“Woo-hoo~”

Lucius loudly declared the start, and his pieces raised their weapons, cheering boisterously.

Saranya’s side, however, immediately erupted into chaos.

“What the hell? Why can’t I move out of my square?!”

“Are they cheating?!”

“Damn it all!!!”

The Redwater Gang enforcers in the front row struggled frantically, banging against the edges of their squares, making a spectacle of themselves.

This naturally drew mocking laughter from their opponents.

Even before a single piece had moved, their morale had already plummeted significantly.

“It’s Lenix’s doing. Dalia created the chessboard to prepare for the dryad’s ritual magic. Now that the ritual is active, everyone on both sides is within its influence. She likely did this simply to prevent the ‘pieces’ on the field from running around.”

“Both sides are under the influence… that’s a relief then.”

After Kaelan explained why they couldn’t move, Saranya felt a slight easing of her worry.

Just then, a square chessboard made of silver light suddenly appeared before her, displaying thirty-two pieces in silver and emerald green, clearly mirroring the current game.

The opposing piece on the small silver chessboard moved.

Simultaneously, a magical light flared on Lucius’s side, and a “pawn” played by a Holy Fire Knight instantly teleported to the center of the field, perfectly matching the situation on the small board.

Evidently, Lucius had made his first move.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Saranya pushed her opposing pawn forward, forming a Sicilian Defense.

Silence fell.

A few seconds later, another flash illuminated the field.

Mitchel, playing a knight, leapt past Lucius’s pawn line, a longsword resting on his shoulder, the flesh on his face jiggling with his movements.

The Redwater Gang enforcers in the front row immediately erupted into a fresh commotion.

“How is it?”

Saranya looked up to find Kaelan on tiptoes, her small, delicate hands gripping the boundary of her square, her head craned forward to peer at Saranya’s chessboard.

“Why are you smiling? What’s so amusing?”

Seeing her Master’s displeased expression, her brows furrowed, Saranya quickly suppressed the upturn of her lips.

She slightly narrowed her icy-blue eyes, her gaze towards Kaelan almost tangible.

“Rest assured, my Queen, we will certainly win…”