The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 7
The rules of this gambling chess are simple.
It is a best of three format, and the bettors just need to correctly predict the wins, draws, and losses of the three games.
If you get all three right, you can earn a huge amount.
And I was able to participate in this betting as well. As long as it wasn’t predicting the champion’s victory, it was possible.
I went all in, betting 1.6 million sillan on my victories in the 1st and 2nd games, and a draw in the 3rd game, and sat at the table.
Around me, the audience had formed like a golf gallery.
The number exceeded 100 people.
“Everyone, pay attention! Our champion of Grancel is entering!”
The champion was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his 40s. Judging by his attire, he seemed to be a noble.
He raised his eyebrows when he saw my appearance.
“Well well, it’s been a while since a great player showed up. Good to meet you. I’m Patrick Heims.”
“I’m a mercenary named Wade.”
“You’re not planning to take that helmet off? It’s making me uncomfortable just looking at you.”
“I’ll take it off if I lose the match.”
“Heh, that’s interesting. Then let’s start. Want to take white?”
“No, you take white first.”
My words caused an uproar.
—Giving white to the champion? That’s too arrogant!
—You fool.
Chess is a game that has an advantage for the first player, even if not as much as Go.
Giving that advantage to the champion was essentially overconfidence.
‘Not that it matters if I take black…’
Part of me was hoping to be defeated. I wanted there to be someone in this world skilled enough to beat me.
I had set aside 100,000 sillan as investment money, so even if I lost the 1.6 million sillan, I do not think it would bother me too much.
“It’s my policy not to refuse a handicap. Then I’ll start first.”
Patrick began the opening by moving a pawn. Unlike how I had been going easy up until now, I decided to show my full strength.
I wondered just how much this so-called champion could stand up to me.
To cut to the chase, it was disappointing.
“Check.”
“…!”
Patrick’s eyes widened.
The situation had already tilted heavily in my favor.
“Shall we continue?”
“…No, it doesn’t seem like I have any brilliant moves to turn this around. Wherever I move, it’ll be a checkmate. I lost.”
“If you’d like, I can review the game with you.”
The gallery became exceptionally noisy.
For the winner to offer a review meant they were offering instruction to an inferior player.
—That arrogant bastard! How dare he provoke Patrick!
—He just got lucky! It was a fluke!
Those in the gallery must have been stunned by what happened next.
“Then please, I would appreciate a review.”
Perhaps having keenly felt the insurmountable gap between us, Patrick humbly acquiesced.[1]
‘At least, he doesn’t have a pointless ego.’
I didn’t dislike people like that.
I reviewed the game in detail for him.
“In this situation, even if you had to sacrifice your queen, it would have been better to advance your rook. In that case, my bishop would have been pinned and immobile, and as a result, my invading knight would have had more force.”
“I see…”
“Shall we start the second game?”
Since it was already past 4am, I decided to wrap things up soon.
“Teach me a lesson. I’ll take white.”
Patrick’s attitude had changed.
He put all his focus into calmly making his moves, but ultimately had his limits.
I steadily took control of the situation and closed in on his king.
‘At this rate, it’ll be over in 20 moves.’
That’s what I thought, until…
“…?”
My master, who had been standing behind me, started glancing around anxiously.
Then she placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered,
“Ars, something seems to be going wrong. I’m starting to sense an ominous presence around us.”
“Surely they wouldn’t do anything stupid…”
Were they planning to use force to avoid paying out the winnings?
The payout I’d receive would easily reach over a few million sillan, so I could understand them being upset, but I didn’t think they’d resort to such childish antics.
Well, that’s why I had come with my master, just in case.
‘But I’d rather not see any bloodshed.’
No matter how many thugs they gathered, they’d be no match for me and my master.
As a hint not to do anything foolish, I glared at the manager of the salon, but his expression seemed blissfully unaware. If anything, he looked eager to welcome a new champion’s birth.
‘What’s going on? Then what was that presence my master sensed?’
Not long after, it happened.
“Fire–!”
Suddenly, violent flames and thick smoke erupted from all directions.
In an instant, the chess game descended into pandemonium.
The people inside the building rushed disorderly towards the exits, and some who were blinded by greed dashed to steal the pile of moneybags.
“Ars, let’s get out of here quickly!”
“Huh? But the winnings…”
“There’s no time for that!”
My master forcibly grabbed my arm and dragged me out through the shortest route.
It was the right judgment. Whether it was an organized arson or not, the speed at which the flames spread was unnaturally fast.
Because of that, the people who moved to steal the money bags ended up unable to get out and collapsed from suffocation.
In an instant, the building was engulfed in flames.
The security force that was dispatched after detecting the incident could do no more than prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings.
“Huh…”
A resigned laugh escaped me. Of all the timings for something like this to happen.
It didn’t seem purely coincidental.
“Come to think of it, Master. You said you received a request and came to Grancel.”
“…Yeah.”
“Is it related to this situation?”
“It probably is. From what I hear, there seem to be malcontents targeting the Saleon duke family. I received a request to help identify and suppress them. I didn’t expect them to move so boldly like this, though.”
“Well, in terms of inflicting damage, I’d say they did a pretty good job.”
Even if I don’t know for sure, this salon is probably generating the highest sales in the territory.
Burning it down must have been a severe blow to the Saleon duke family’s position.
“Ars, you return obediently to the mansion. Consider today a good lesson.”
“What about you, Master?”
“I have to get to work.”
“…?”
Before I knew it, Master dashed forward like lightning and tackled someone to the ground.
“Guh! Who are you!”
“Did you think you could escape my notice? Guards! Apprehend this man! He’s one of the arsonists!”
Upon confirming Master’s identity, the guards arrested the man. They also began questioning the people who were in the salon.
Although I had my face covered, I too was subject to questioning, but thanks to Master’s arrangements, I was able to slip away quickly.
After the commotion ended, when I returned to the duke family’s annex around 6am, I had to endure a sigh from the butler, Joan.
“Elaine, just where have you been until now?”
“What’s the problem? I had permission to stay out, didn’t I?”
“It doesn’t seem like you just slept obediently. I told you to gain some experience, not cause trouble.”
She approached me and patted off the ashes clinging to my clothes.
“Don’t tell me you went to the place where the fire broke out?”
“Haha… Of course not. The ashes must have drifted over by the wind and happened to get on me.”
“Well, if you say so. But remember this. Your training as a butler isn’t finished yet. Until that training ends, you are a member of the Saleon family. Please refrain from any actions that would disgrace the family.”
“I’ll be careful, but… Do you really need to worry so much about someone like me?”
“I’d prefer not to, but you tend to draw a lot of attention in various ways.”
Joan glanced around warily.
There were maids holding their breath and peeking in here.
I couldn’t help but sigh too.
“Haa…Yes, I’ll be careful.”
“Also, starting today you’re permitted access to the main residence, so feel free to visit if you’re interested. You’re also allowed in the library, so you can read as many books as you like.”
“How did you know I like books…?”
“Just how many maids do you think are keeping an eye on you? Some things can’t be avoided no matter how much you don’t want to know.”
As Joan emphasized this, the peeking maids scurried away.
“Honestly, those girls too.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“You don’t need to apologize. Well then.”
With a nod, Joan turned and walked away briskly. I decided to return to my room and get some shuteye for now.
***
At the point when the initial butler training was finished, the number of butler candidates, which had reached over 100, had dropped to around 30.
I could have just returned home, but there were merits to commuting to the academy, so I remained.
However, that was gradually becoming inconvenient.
“Excuse me…Mr Elaine? If it’s okay, may I have a word with you for a bit?”
A woman who appeared to be a maid approached me as I was reading a book in the annex’s library.
In the distance, other maids were watching this place with keen interest.
“It’s not okay. I don’t want my rare reading time disturbed.”
“Ah, yes…I’m sorry!”
The maid’s face reddened as she hurriedly left. From afar, I could hear suppressed giggles.
‘Honestly. This isn’t some kind of zoo.’
As the number of butler candidates staying at the annex decreased, reducing the maids’ workload, this tendency was becoming more pronounced.
‘I can understand, but this is just too much.’
To them, I was a sort of premium commodity.
A nobleman, sure, but practically unable to be called a real nobleman as the third son of a mere baron family. Unlike confirmed nobility from other families with a clear class gap, I was in a position where things wouldn’t end with just a simple fling, making me worth considering for the future as well.
Add Ars’ stunning looks on top of that, and this situation was created.
It was completely impossible to calmly read a book in this condition.
“What are you all doing! Everyone return to your positions at once!”
It was only after the chief butler Joan rebuked them that the crowd finally dispersed.
Joan, who appeared in the study room, sighed deeply as she looked at me.
Once again, I felt unjustly treated.
“I’ve told you so many times, it’s not my fault.”
“I know. I know, but…”
She held her forehead, saying it was giving her a headache.
“I never thought even the maids from the main residence would come gawk…”
She seemed to have made up her mind as she spoke to me.
“Elaine, if you’re going to read, I’m sorry but please use the study room on the 2nd floor of the main residence. The maids can’t freely enter there, so you’ll be able to read in peace.”
“Phew… I guess I’ll have to do that.”
Even though it wasn’t my responsibility, I felt bad for causing more trouble for Joan.
The maids’ gazes were also a burden, so I decided to obediently stay in the main residence’s study room until my master’s business was finished.
From then on, I spent time only in the main residence’s study room outside of academy class hours. Sure enough, as befitting a duke’s residence, various rare books were casually shelved.
What caught my attention were stories about outlying countries that aren’t commonly covered.
‘Was the Holy Kingdom of Kurabel associated with elves? This might be covered in content that will be updated later.’
Since I could find clues about the story from books, I focused on reading history books to build up my knowledge.
Then one day, this happened.
“Hey you.”
A girl spoke to me while I was reading a book.
Thinking it was nothing out of the ordinary, I decided to ignore her.
“…”
“Hey, can’t you hear me?”
“I’ve decided to act like I can’t hear you. I don’t want to converse with an uncultured person who casually disturbs others’ reading.”
“Ah…!?”
“So could you please be quiet?”
She looked dumbfounded, then furrowed her brow and said, “Ah, I apologize for that part. But don’t you think you’re the one with the problem? I had taken that book out to read it myself. Isn’t it rude of you to read it without saying anything to me?”
“…?”
Only then did I look up at her face.
I didn’t know who she was, but her face seemed vaguely familiar.
“Sorry, but who are you?”
“What…!?”
The girl opened her rabbit-like eyes wide. She then said warily, “Is this some new strategy to trifle with me? I won’t fall for it!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but can we discuss this later? I’ve been disturbed a lot recently while trying to read, so I’m a bit annoyed.”
“You. Do you really not know who I am? I properly introduced myself to you on the first day!”
“…”
Wait. If she’s talking about the girl who properly introduced herself on the first day, only one comes to mind.
Gulp! Cold sweat dripped down my neck.
The fact was, I couldn’t actually remember her name.
Well, I had only met her briefly for about 10 minutes that day, and hadn’t seen her for over two months after that.
Since I had no intention of becoming a butler or pursuing a career, I had completely stopped paying attention to her.
‘The other kids did seem to refer to her by some honorific though.’
Racking my brain like a salmon swimming upstream, I finally arrived at the answer.[2]
“Of course I haven’t forgotten. You’re Miss Jeina, right?”
“You only got some letters right! I can’t believe you actually forgot!”
“Tch. What a hassle…”
“D-Did you just say hassle?”
“Of course not. So, what is your full name?”
“Hmph… I won’t tell you.”
“Well, I can’t help that then.”
To be honest, I didn’t care either way. Unlike the other kids, I had no purpose with her. It didn’t matter to me whether I made a good impression or not.
It was Joan who had shown me to this study room anyway. If she has something to say, she should say it to Joan.
I pushed the book I had been reading towards her and decided to read a different one instead.
She bit her lip and sat down across from me, glaring at me intently.
30 minutes passed like that.
She didn’t seem to actually think I would just keep reading books, as she was starting to look bored.
“You really are just going to read books… Why did you come to take butler lessons at our residence?”
“It’s an unsavory reason. An annoying marriage proposal came in. These butler lessons were the perfect excuse to decline it.”
“Such an unbelievable thing…”
“For a minor noble, these are the troubles of a minor noble. Just like how you can’t treat me disrespectfully despite disturbing my reading.”
“I think I’m treating you quite disrespectfully though.”
“So what did you say your name was again?”
“I won’t tell you.”
“Hmm, from the look of it, you seem to remember my name though.”
“…!”
Looks like I hit the mark.
“To remember the name of someone you only met once. You have quite the memory.”
She seemed even more shocked by my words.
“Just once, you say? Don’t you remember occasionally having classes together at the academy? Like when we discussed the battle of joak!”
“Was there a time like that? Sorry, I don’t really remember such personal details.”
The fact that she remembers parts of class content in such detail gives me chills.
“Personal details, you say…! Hmph!”
For some reason, she seemed extremely offended in her pride.
At that moment, a new presence entered the study room.
“Erina, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”
It was duke Altior Saleon who suddenly barged into the study room.
I hurriedly stood up from my seat.
“My lady! What was the title of the book you were looking for?”
Indeed, I couldn’t show this sort of behavior in front of my superiors.
I put on a forced smile as I spoke, but she just glared at me with disgust. Then she said to duke Saleon, “Grandfather! I want to take this man on the next bear hunt too!”
Footnotes:
1] Acquiesced means accepted.
2] Activate overclock
The unspoken rizz