The Arcanum Gambit
The bearded man moved his piece. The central soldier advanced two squares. In response, the man across the board shifted his own piece. The piece at the very edge slid forward two squares. This was…
“A clash between the College Defense and the Royal Gambit, I see. Both openings are notoriously late-game oriented, so this match is going to drag on.”
“Anyone know who that girl is?”
“No idea. I don’t.”
The exchange of captures continued until the game finally reached its conclusion. The victor was the man on the opposite side, who had employed the Royal Gambit.
“Even Pirentz lost?”
“At this rate, there won’t be anyone left in our pub who can beat the young master.”
The young master, having defeated Pirentz, took a leisurely sip of his wine and spoke.
“Is that all?”
“Everyone worth challenging has already tried.”
“I don’t mind facing the same opponent again.”
Despite the young master’s words, the onlookers merely exchanged glances and stayed put. The gap in skill was simply too vast; no one felt like playing anymore.
“It can’t be helped, then.”
Reading the crowd’s reaction, the young master reached into his coat and placed something on the table. Clink. A clear, ringing sound echoed through the room. As every eye fixed on the table, he spoke.
“I’ll give this to whoever defeats me.”
“You’re offering gold coins? Are you out of your mind?”
“People tend to get serious when there’s a reward involved. Besides, this money came from my own wagers with others. I won’t regret losing it.”
Every gaze in the room sharpened. One gold coin. That was worth a hundred silver coins. For such a casual bet, it was an enormous sum.
The bearded man who had opened with the College Defense and watched his fortress crumble was the first to step forward. Yet he was defeated before the midgame even began. Next came a man who, like the young master, favored the Royal Gambit. This time the loss came even faster—he couldn’t even survive the opening. One by one, the young master dismantled the Magician Game, the Adorian Defense, and the Kraken Knights Game. Then he raised a finger.
“I’d like to add some smoked sausage.”
“Understood.”
At his words, the bartender approached the chess table and set down five glasses of mead. The young master spoke in a bewildered tone.
“I believe I ordered smoked sausage?”
“I ordered these.”
I took a seat and lifted one of the meads, pouring it straight down my throat. A refreshing chill that felt like it could rattle my brain swept through me. I felt a little more alive.
“I’ll have some smoked sausage too!”
“And you are?”
“The greatest Arcanum Chess player in history.”
I looked up. Brown hair and brown eyes met my gaze—the most common combination in this world. His face was ordinary, exactly the sort of look one might expect from the third son of a rural farming family, just as he claimed. I asked,
“One gold coin if I win, right?”
“If you can win.”
The young master’s eyes lingered on my face for a moment before shifting to the board. He didn’t so much as twitch. It had been a while since I’d met someone like this.
“Miss, what happened to your face? It’s all burned.”
See? That was the normal reaction.
“It’s the price of a contract.”
“What kind of contract? If it’s with an evil god, you’ll be branded a heretic.”
“I only ever make legal and sensible contracts.”
After giving a suitably vague answer, I gathered the pieces in front of the young master and arranged them neatly on my side. He stared at me intently. What now? Had I done something wrong?
“Is something the matter?”
“No, nothing.”
Maybe he’d finally noticed my face and was belatedly horrified. How slow. Slower than a turtle. I finished arranging the black pieces and spoke.
“Shall we begin?”
The young master advanced the edge pawn two squares. The Royal Gambit. If there was a correct answer in Arcanum Chess, this was probably one of them. It was an opening designed to evolve the strongest piece, the Royal Knight, as quickly as possible. I moved my right knight toward the center. He responded by developing another pawn. It was the original, unmodified Royal Gambit. In that case…
I advanced the pawn beside my king one square. The spectators murmured.
“It’s the All-Magician variation.”
“She’s actually using that?”
The All-Magician variation was an opening that poured everything into the ‘Magician’ piece. Its strengths were obvious, but so were its weaknesses, which was why it saw little use. By forgoing the advantage of moving pawns two squares on the first move and instead advancing them only one square at a time, it was sometimes called the classic opening that rejected evolution. Even though I had chosen a rare opening, the young master’s play remained unchanged. He continued his textbook, solid development. In contrast, I kept making irregular, improvisational moves. The result was…
“I’ll evolve the Magician into an Archmage. Checkmate.”
“Who did you say you contracted with? The god of chess?”
“This girl’s actually insane.”
Everyone erupted into excited cheers. I had worn down the young master—who had seemed like an impregnable fortress—with endless guerrilla tactics and won. The atmosphere felt as though I were the hero and he the demon king, but it couldn’t be helped. After all, who told him to play so defensively? A professional’s job isn’t just to be good; they also have to entertain the fans.
“I’ll put this gold coin to good use.”
Looking at the sparkling coin lifted my mood. With this, I’d earned roughly enough to cover the tip of a pinky toe’s worth of treatment costs. As I tidied the pieces, I slipped a pipe between my lips.
“Next?”
“Let’s play another round.”
The one who answered was the young master. He humbly arranged the white pieces, and the sight was oddly satisfying. I exhaled smoke toward the ceiling and smiled.
“So you finally realized white suits your skill level?”
“……Let’s just play.”
“Very well. However—”
Clink. I placed the gold coin on the table and continued.
“It would be a shame if the others found it boring, so why don’t we keep the wager going? I’ll stake the single gold coin I just won.”
“That’s fine.”
The young master produced another gold coin from his coat and set it down. Hmm.
“I’ll begin.”
His play had changed. Instead of the edge pawn, he advanced the pawn in front of his king two squares. That was the most standard, stable opening. He intended to watch my moves and respond accordingly, but I ignored it and deployed the All-Magician opening anyway. As if he’d been waiting for it, he countered with the Knight Gambit, attempting to capture the Magician with his knight. However—
“I’ll be taking this gold coin. Like a gentleman.”
Midgame. His knight was captured in the formation I had secretly completed, and he lost. The young master downed his wine in one go, his face flushed, and met my eyes.
“One more game.”
“All right. The stakes are two gold coins.”
“Understood.”
Next game. He opened with the All-Knight variation outright. Since I kept using the All-Magician variation, he was trying to counter with a tailored opening, but I responded with the Royal Gambit instead. The young master fell silent, staring at the board.
“……”
“What’s wrong?”
“This girl didn’t contract with the god of chess—she made a deal with a demon.”
I struck him down cleanly with the Royal Gambit’s signature solid, heavy blow. His eyes widened.
“I’ll switch colors. Black is my specialty.”
“Every color is my specialty.”
“I’ll wager ten gold coins. After this, I won’t play any more matches. What do you say?”
“That’s fine with me.”
I placed the white pieces on the board and thought. Which opening would the young master enjoy the most? Hmm. That one would do. I advanced both edge pawns two squares. The Royal Gambit. In response, the young master took a deep breath and mirrored the move. It was indeed the Royal Gambit. Normally, the second player’s Royal Gambit would have the advantage of being able to react, but I had a variation in mind. Instead of moving the opposite pawn two squares, I advanced the pawn in front of the Royal Knight one square. A variation of the Royal Gambit—the Accelerated Royal Gambit. It sacrificed many of the Royal Gambit’s advantages, but it had one clear benefit: it was faster.
“This girl really can’t stand losing, can she?”
“Young master, you’ve finally met your match.”
Using the unevolved Royal Knight, I gradually gained small advantages, survived his evolution turn, and delivered a single decisive counter to win. I collected the ten gold coins and stood up. Gulp. I downed the last of the mead, then placed five gold coins in front of the young master. He looked up blankly, still dazed. In a quiet voice, I whispered,
“I only take half of what I win.”
“Ah.”
“And, Master? Use these four gold coins to feed everyone in the pub until the money runs out.”
In the end, I had only five gold coins left, but it was enough. Money earned easily should be shared with others. That was my personal rule. Leaving the cheers behind me, I stepped out of the pub. A lukewarm breeze brushed against my face. I looked up at the clear sky, fiddling with the five gold coins, and muttered to myself.
So the high-and-mighty one’s whereabouts ended up with a mere merchant. He had no intention of hiding it in the first place. Some farmer’s son got angry and wagered ten gold coins. Might as well put up a billboard. Convinced that Chris had succeeded in her gamble, I headed toward the inn. She must have made a fortune this time, so I’d make her treat me to something nice.
*
“Lady Ruina, there’s a problem. The territory’s wine reserves have overflowed.”
“Oh dear.”
Today’s lesson: never gamble.