259. To kill (3)
“You know that even if someone comes, they can’t do anything about me.”
Your Majesty is not an idiot who cannot properly assess the difference in military power.
The devil whispered under the white moonlight.
“I’m sure you’re not planning on wasting your troops in vain.”
“….”
“Well, if you promise to stay calm and not call people for no reason and make a fuss, I will let you go. If you agree, please blink twice.”
“….”
As if he was surprised at some point, his calm eyes disappeared twice and then reappeared. With a satisfied smile, Deon removed his hand covering his mouth and took a step back.
Yeonhwa rubbed her chin with the back of her hand as if she was displeased and glared at him fiercely. A low, muffled voice rang out.
“…What are your intentions?”
“I told you, I’m just going to play games quietly.”
“There’s a lot I want to say… but before that.”
Blatant hostility and irritation were evident.
“It’s not fun, so get rid of awkward honorifics.”
What an honorific term for a king of a human nation who is on the side of the demons.
It is very unpleasant to hear that the honorifics that are used in a topic that clearly shows belittling the other person seem to be saying that I have not given up on being human yet.
“How dare you speak to the king of a country?”
Yeah, it looks like this.
“You speak well to a subject who has turned his back on humanity. He has no desire to hear honorifics from you.”
“….”
Deonhardt closed his mouth. Although he was still backlit and couldn’t see his expression, I could feel the atmosphere surrounding him calming down a little more.
I shouldn’t provoke you further here. Yeonhwa looked at something in his hand, satisfied that he had gotten a kick out of it.
Did you say you came here to play a game? I’m not sure, but it’s probably a game-related tool.
“Are you playing the game with what you have in your hand?”
“…That’s right.”
“This room is not suitable for playing games, so we will proceed in the office.”
Originally, this was a place to get some sleep while working in the office. It’s a small space that only fits one bed, so there’s no space to play games. The other person also nodded obediently, as if he knew that the location was not appropriate.
A game board was laid out on the desk in the office.
Deon didn’t bother to remove the communicator even though it was nearby. It was a type of confidence that told you to call someone if you wanted to.
Yeonhwa also knew that calling in clumsy people would only result in scratches and crumbs, so the situation passed peacefully without unnecessary conflict.
“Then let’s get started.”
After giving a rough explanation of the rules, Deon grinned at her.
“…okay.”
When I saw it from afar, I thought it had an unusual appearance, but when I saw it up close, it didn’t look like anything special. Feeling like she would be possessed if she continued to look at his face, Yeonhwa only stared at the long hair vaguely, then took her gaze away and looked at the game board.
Did you say that before the actual start, you take turns pushing the boards to determine the terrain? Two 20-sided dice were placed on one side and a cup covered them.
Deon shook the cup lightly first.
“For the sake of fairness, Your Majesty, please shake it once.”
“….”
Yeonhwa placed her hand on the cup and gave it a strong kick. The dice shook inside the cup.
The result is 24.
You just have to move the board alternately 24 times.
“Who will go first?”
“You go first.”
I don’t know why he suddenly came and wanted to play a game, but he probably had some ulterior motive. Won’t you find out as the game progresses? Yeonhwa opened her eyes sharply.
The plates began to move and the terrain began to change.
As she placed the food storage in an advantageous position, she glanced at Deon.
“It’s a unique sliding puzzle-type game board. Where did you get it?”
“I made it.”
“…and all the rules of the game?”
“It’s based on chess, but for now, yes.”
“Does it have a name?”
“It’s Chess.”
“chess…?”
“Ch-s-s-syo.”
“….”
That was roughly written. The quality of the game itself is good, but…
It was my turn again and I pushed the board without saying a word. The terrain changes again, and Deon Hardt, looking at the changed plate, pushes another plate to change the terrain again.
Yeonhwa’s eyes narrowed at the strangely familiar feeling.
‘I guess this is…’
It seems like they are creating the terrain of this place where the Mountain Kingdom and the Demon World are currently clashing. I thought it seemed to strangely induce the movement of the board, but it seems that this was the purpose.
I stretched out my hand. I feel a persistent gaze glued to my fingertips. Conscious of the gaze, she picked up a plate and pushed it. The terrain was moved to a location that was not very advantageous.
And when I raised my head, I made eye contact with Deon Hardt.
“also.”
He was smiling with his eyes wide open as if he had guessed the answer.
“You’re quick-witted.”
“I guess you’re not going to tell me what your intentions are.”
“Then let’s continue the game.”
“…Tsk.”
I understand the intention, and things progressed quickly after that.
We calculated the remaining number of times and took turns pushing the boards. As soon as we pushed the last board, the intended terrain was completed.
Deon Hart pushed the white pieces he had gathered outside the game board in front of her.
“Then let’s really get started.”
“….”
I have to recreate this hopeless situation with the enemy commander through a game. Yeonhwa looked down at the game board with complicated eyes and then spoke.
The real game has begun.
And how long has it been?
“…It’s a really detailed game.”
Yeon-hwa, who had moved her horse and captured some of Deon Hardt’s troops, expressed a low expression of admiration.
“It will be useful in many ways.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“But are there no rules regarding deserters? The longer the war lasts, the more the number of deserters increases.”
“It’s not that I didn’t think about that, but there was no room to include it. In particular, the number of deserters increases the more you are on the defensive, so how can we add that to this game?”
“I guess that’s true… but.”
Sharp eyes scanned the board.
The situation is that Yeonhwa’s camp is being pushed out. But…
“They treat their troops too ruthlessly.”
“hmm?”
If this were a real situation and both sides were commanding humans, a large number of deserters would probably have appeared in Deonhart’s camp. Yeonhwa wouldn’t have been pushed this far either.
Maybe we won in reverse.
“I don’t think rebellion was considered because it’s a game, but in real life, if that were the case, there would definitely be voices of dissatisfaction. Perhaps, in the worst case scenario, a rebellion could break out.”
“aha.”
Takkak.
Deon, who opened a new route to replace the blocked supply route, laughed.
“If even the commander himself does not spare his body and rolls on the battlefield, such a thing will not happen.”
“….”
Yeonhwa did not answer.
The subsequent games were played in silence.
After the game was over, Deon stood up after organizing the game tools he had brought with him. Yeonhwa, who was watching as she seemed to be about to leave through the window, asked suspiciously.
“Are you really just leaving?”
“So do you want me to do anything more?”
“…No way.”
But he’s so obedient.
While I was thinking about replaying the game from earlier in case I missed something, Deon Hardt, with his feet on the window frame, looked back.
I heard a voice spitting out words.
“I’ll come again next time.”
“…also?”
When Yeon-hwa looked up and couldn’t believe her ears, he was already gone.
With only the wide open window showing its presence, a peaceful silence came over me, as if what had just happened was a dream.
***
“Are you here?”
“Why weren’t you sleeping?”
“You didn’t come back, so how can I catch you?”
Grunting lightly, Dan took the game-related item from Deon’s hand and glanced at the other person’s expression.
“How was it?”
“He’s got a good head, but he’s not at a level where he can’t win.”
Due to time constraints, the game ended in a draw, but the situation on the board was in Deon’s favor.
Of course, the situation could have been changed depending on the capabilities of the person holding the horse, but Deon was confident after understanding the tendencies of the king of the mountain country while playing the game. She has a fatal weakness.
“What can I say, there is a limit. It’s so tough.”
“…?”
“I should say that I am extremely reluctant to have blood on my hands. I cannot easily abandon my troops.”
For that purpose, I would have to abandon some of my troops, but I couldn’t.
The meticulousness of taking care of every single soldier and the determination not to do anything dirty or petty even to death.
“So it’s easy to predict and easy to respond to.”
Even if Dan had come forward, he would have easily won.
Well, I didn’t go there for this purpose in the first place, so there’s no need to pay that much attention.
“Anyway, I’m not oblivious, so I think I’ll figure it out if I just give it a few more.”
“I don’t know what it is, but… is it good?”
“huh.”
“Then that’s good.”
“yes.”
However, the evaluation of the King of the Mountains was in vain.
The day dawned and some time passed, and in the next battle, the Demon King’s army suffered great damage from Sanguk, who threw away some of his troops as bait.
***
Yeonhwa told the story about Deonhardt’s invasion only to Saerin, the bookkeeper.
Of course, there was an uproar at first. Starting with why you didn’t call someone, going through extremely personal feelings such as “I should have killed you when you came alone”, to admiration, not just admiration, that it was amazing that you even played a game in the meantime.
And when she calmed down a little, she realized that she had no choice but to do that and began to act like a tactful person.
[You played a game with Deon Hardt?]
[Yes.]
[In that case, you must have read His Majesty’s tendencies.]
[I guess so.]
You must have read his commanding style when commanding troops.
Even if it isn’t, it’s an honest style that’s easy to predict, so if you look at it, it’s the same as revealing a weakness.
[It doesn’t matter.]
Saerin also knows Yeonhwa’s weakness. Of course, we are also prepared for this.
So I said.
[In the next battle, we will have to clearly show the king why he has a cunning man by his side.]
Even though the country of San is currently on the defensive, it does not mean that it cannot even land a blow.
So why not give it a try?
[Your Majesty, please come up with a clever plan. I will take charge of the petty and vicious plan.]
Afterwards, she used some of her troops as bait to attract Deonhardt’s attention and toyed with the Demon King’s army that was far away from him.
The attitude was terrible, as if the screams of the abandoned people could not be heard.
Image management that sacrificially abandons dedicated remarks.
What is there to gain by doing this? The remark that Yeonhwa made inadvertently elicited an explicit response from Saerin.
[Deonhardt’s death.]
I will sacrifice everything, which means I only wish for his death.
‘…Yes, the death of the person behind me right now.’
While looking at the map on the wall, I suddenly noticed a human-shaped shadow hanging next to my feet and turned around. A white-haired man was sitting on the window sill and waving his hand.
“The prank the other day was quite funny.”
“Really… you’re back again.”
“Then maybe I was talking nonsense.”
His long, untied hair fluttered in the cool wind. When he turned his head, his beautiful face was exposed under the moonlight.
An uninvited guest who came as the white moon rose.
Even though the unusual face combined with the dreamlike background made it a scene that could have appeared in any popular novel, the reality is completely different from reality.
‘I can’t believe that after becoming king, I can’t fulfill even a single wish of the strategist and have to just watch helplessly like this.’
Rather than granting his subject’s wish, his own life is at risk right now.
Yeonhwa smiled bitterly.
“Were you looking at the map?”
“then?”
“I would say that was an excellent decision.”
I was thinking that the game board was not made with actual terrain for no reason, so I tried to recreate the game situation by overlaying it on a map, but it seems that this is correct.
“Are you here to play games again?”
“yes.”
You can get a clearer clue and confidence about what you want to say from this game.
“I’m going to the office, so follow me.”
She turned her back without hesitation.
