kscans

Chapter 763 - Meanwhile, with the Group at the Ryokan

"—I concede."

With the loser and the instigator off on their penalty game, the larger of the two people facing each other across the game board in the vacated common space bowed his head deeply in admiration and surrendered.

What was laid out on the board was a perfect game, so complete in its devastation it was almost beautiful. The exposed king, with nowhere to run, had no choice but to raise the white flag—

"Sora-chan, you're amazing!"

"...Not bad."

Before the match, the nineteen-year-old boy had boasted, "I know a thing or two about this," but...

"Ehehe..."

...the innocent young girl had just spectacularly demolished him.

They had heard about it. They had all been told about this beforehand... but still. Earlier, their partner had left them with what seemed like a massive exaggeration, saying, "Don't challenge Sora to Go, Shogi, Chess, or any of that." It turned out he wasn't exaggerating at all.

It was a complete shutout, a perfect game. A defeat so thorough he couldn't even muster a groan.

"That was insane... It felt like she was reading my every move. Seriously. In fact, just realizing 'she's reading my moves' was a first for me in my life. It gave me chills."

"............For reference, how many moves ahead could you see?"

"Um... about ten, I think."

Of the three people praising the young girl, Mizuki, who couldn't hide her awe, took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose upon hearing the answer to her question.

"Against an opponent you're seeing for the first time, whose habits you don't know, ten moves."

"Y-yes..."

"I can kinda tell that's amazing, but how amazing is it?"

Kaede's question was met with an answer from the eighteen-year-old girl who, unlike Toshiki, really did know a thing or two. Her voice was tinged with a mix of awe and exasperation.

"I wouldn't say she's top-tier, but she could probably pass for a professional player. At the very least, she's definitely not at an amateur level."

"For real?"

"Sora-chan, you're incredible...!"

As her elders showered her with praise, however, the girl didn't try to be modest.

She seemed a little embarrassed, but the slight smile on her cheeks showed that she was genuinely pleased—another thing that confirmed what her friend and partner had said. She wasn't just a quiet, graceful young lady.

This girl truly had what it took to soar to the 'top' in the virtual world.

"If Nozomi-kun wasn't exaggerating, then it's not just shogi, but Go, Chess... and other games are the same, I assume?"

"I wonder. I can't think of any that I'm particularly bad at."

"I see... That's more than just amazing. Are you really fifteen?"

"Y-yes. Um... ahaha."

She seemed both happy and troubled.

She was on the receiving end of a slightly rude line of questioning from an older girl—a look that almost questioned her very existence—which, in a way, was also proof that they were getting along well.

"Ah, that's just like Nozomi-kun."

With a polite laugh to smooth things over, she brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ear.

It wasn't that she scratched her cheek the way he often does when he's troubled. But to Kaede, who had murmured the thought aloud, the flow of her movements seemed to overlap with his perfectly.

And then...

"Heh...—Uu..."

With a perceptiveness that was truly astounding, the young girl must have understood everything from that single murmur. After a brief pause, her cheeks flushed, and she looked down in embarrassment.

At that, the reaction from the others was a foregone conclusion.

"What should I do, Mizuki-chan, this is bad. The cuteness is unstoppable."

"Her talent for board games might be less of a threat than this."

Including the one guy who was refraining from making any crude remarks out of consideration for the younger (and high-class) girl, all eyes were fixed on her with nothing but warm affection.

Even the young girl couldn't maintain her composure... The way she kept her flushed face down and fiddled with the pieces on the board as if to distract herself was simply adorable.

It was one more thing that made sense—of course Nozomi was always so gentle with her. It was only natural, with a girl like this.

...But, that aside.

"Stop. It's too early to put it away."

"Pardon? A-ah, um..."

Mizuki, having taken the seat of the previous loser, put her glasses back on and stopped the girl.

Perhaps she'd misread the mood due to her embarrassment, or perhaps she was unconsciously following the precedent Nozomi set when he challenged her for the first time and declared, 'I'm never doing that again.'

Thinking the shogi game was over, the young lady blinked in surprise and stopped her hands. At that, Mizuki gave a very rare, confident smile...

"It must have been boring playing against a wannabe expert. I'll be your next opponent."

"Hey, was there any need to diss me just now?"

"Unlike Toshiki-kun, I really do know a little something."

"Could you please not ignore me and then pile on?"

Leaving the boy to protest with a forlorn look on his face, one girl tilted her head, intrigued by Mizuki's confident declaration.

It was her best friend and childhood companion, waiting beside her, who revealed the secret.

"Mizuki-chan's grandpa, you see, is a former professional shogi player."

"Eh... That's amazing!"

"Thank you. ...So, I won't lose so easily."

And so began the match between the eighteen-year-old college girl, who truly had been taught the game, and the high school girl who made everyone wonder if she was really just fifteen—

Ten minutes later.

"I concede."

"Th-thank you very much...!"

Mizuki, having been defeated just as swiftly, wore a rare look of frustration.

---

It's easier to deal with a skilled player than an unpredictable novice, so it can't be helped. It's by design that she can see ten-odd moves ahead against Toshiki-kun, but dozens of moves ahead against the protagonist.