Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Academy's First Day
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The elementary academy I would be attending was located in Leggram, an hour away.
I hitched a ride on Max's carriage as he headed to work and made my way to Legram.
"If anything's tough, come consult with your brother. Don't just suffer in silence."
"I'm fine. It's just the elementary academy, after all."
"Even if it's elementary, there'll be a bunch of kids together. Plenty of them will be from prestigious families."
Max rambled on about his own academy experiences.
Thanks to Als's ingrained memories, these were things I already knew, but it was still helpful.
The academy was divided into elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. Up through the intermediate academy, commoners and nobles basically took classes together.
"That's why there are often conflicts between the commoners and nobles. In the end, no matter what, it always gets pinned on the commoners as their fault, and they have to bow their heads."
"I see..."
"Still, keep this in mind. They're just people like us. We shouldn't look down on or despise them just because we're nobles. That's an outdated mindset."
"I know."
"Good, that's all that matters. ...Ah, looks like we've arrived. Then, Ymir, take care of Als."
Max got off midway to head to his post, and I alighted two kilometers further on.
Before my eyes stood the officer cadet division of Leggram Elementary Academy.
A line of kids who looked about my age stood in front of it.
Including me, there were seventy in total. Including me, eight looked like nobles.
"Hm, seems everyone's here."
Was I the last one? A man who appeared to be the escorting officer nodded and began leading us to the training grounds.
"Do your best, young master."
"It's fine. It's just the first day anyway."
I'd probably just sit around listening to explanations.
Or so I hoped.
They say even military boot camps skip training on the first day.
But here, they dove straight into merciless training from day one.
"One!"
Snap!
"Two!"
Crack! The kids moved in perfect unison to the commands.
The first day's training was, predictably, drill practice.
The kids moved their bodies with desperate expressions, as if a single mistake wouldn't be tolerated.
From my perspective, having actually served in the military, it was yawn-worthy.
"The ranks are getting sloppy! Snap to attention! Again, one!"
The kids' movements started getting sloppy midway through the training. Their concentration was waning, and the formation was breaking.
Thinking they'd get chewed out for the failure, the kids' faces grew more tearful by the second.
As if it were a routine occurrence, the officers wrapped up the drill just before the kids burst into tears and brought out some entertainment to change the mood.
The carrot-and-stick approach.
"Everyone, eyes front. Do you know what this is?"
The officer pointed to a black-and-white checkered board. A chessboard.
The kids nodded, saying they knew.
The officer continued.
"Chess is one of the games widespread across the continent, and it's related to our military too. Does anyone know why?"
Countless kids raised their hands, but the officer pointed to a noble boy at the front.
"Because the chess pieces are modeled after soldiers!"
"Correct. More precisely, they model an entire army. The army that protects His Majesty the King."
In this world, chess was considered one of the accomplishments befitting a noble. Thus, nobles skilled at chess earned fame.
Much like how a kid good at math back home would be called a prodigy, here a kid good at chess was hailed as one.
"Heh, since it's the first day of training, even this instructor has no intention of being harsh. So, any cadets willing to step up and play chess?"
In the sudden silence, one kid shot his hand up first.
It was the same one who'd answered loudly earlier.
Seeing him, the instructor narrowed his eyes in interest.
"Oh ho. Casper Millias. You're stepping up...? Fine. Come forward."
The kid marched to the chessboard with crisp movements.
The instructor asked again, his eyes showing no expectations.
"Any cadets willing to be his opponent?"
Some commoner kids raised their hands, but the officer ignored them completely.
His gaze was fixed solely on the noble kids.
But those noble kids, wary of the one now seated at the board for some reason, hesitated to raise their hands.
"It's fine even if you're not that good. Raise your hand."
At the officer's blatant words, the commoner kids who'd had their hands up drooped and lowered them.
'Well, might as well kill some time.'
If things stayed like this, I'd be late getting home, so I raised my hand.
"I'll do it."
"You...?"
His eyes asked who I was.
He'd instantly recognized the house of the kid who'd just spoken, so he'd assumed I was obvious too.
"I'm Als Chasing Ilrain."
"Ilrain...? Ah, right. The son of Baron Ilrain's house. Good. Come forward."
I sat at the chessboard and, just in case this world's piece setup was different, mirrored my opponent's placement exactly.
Seeing this, he sighed, figuring I was a newbie, and looked bored.
Then, without even asking, he spun the board to give me the white pieces.
He was yielding the first move.
"Go first."
"..."
Had I ever seen such a manners-lacking brat.
I'd been planning to go easy since he was a kid, but it seemed he'd need a firm lesson.
"Alright, I'll start then.... Don't cry midway, okay?"
"Cry? Ha! You think I'd lose to a loser like you?"
"Yeah, yeah. If you're a real genius, even I couldn't beat you. If you're truly one, that is."
Clack! I advanced a pawn to open.
Chess was a complex, subtle game to me.
It was the game that let me be called a genius a bit longer after failing at go, and in a way, the thing that completely ruined me.
If I hadn't started chess in middle school and just lived as an ordinary student, my life might've turned out entirely different.
Back then, my father insisted I study normally, while my mother pushed for chess, and it tore the family apart.
It was a bitter past for me, but now I didn't regret playing chess much.
I figured even if I'd studied to become a judge or doctor, my life satisfaction would've been the same anyway.
Unlike go, which made me break out in hives just looking at the board, I played chess occasionally to keep my skills sharp.
"Check."
"Urk!"
Clack! My knight captured his bishop and declared check.
I unleashed aggressive moves, luring it into a melee.
When a melee like this complicates the calculations, kids show one of two reactions.
Either they bulldoze through with boldness and creativity. Or they lose composure and expose weaknesses.
The former is the mark of a true genius. The stories of ten-year-olds becoming chess world champions are about them.
Fake geniuses, on the other hand, do the latter.
"Ugh...!"
"No good. If you go there, checkmate in six moves."
"Sh-shut up!"
The kid dithered. In the end, to put out the fire in front of him, he made the worst possible move.
Clack! Bishop and knight fully surrounding the king.
"Double check. Wherever you go next, it's checkmate. Game over."
"Uh, ah...."
"Good job. You're pretty good for your age. Skill-wise... yeah. Between beginner and intermediate AI level, maybe."
That was solid for his age.
Wooo! Cheers erupted from all around.
"Casper Millias lost? What the...!?"
"Who's that kid?"
"Baron Ilrain's house, apparently."
"First time hearing of them."
The atmosphere grew rowdy.
The instructor, who'd been closely observing the match, spoke to me.
"Als Ilrain, was it?"
"Yes."
"Impressive skill. To toy with Millias's prodigy and crush him like that."
"...Prodigy?"
I was dumbfounded.
Kids with that level of skill came by the truckload back home. Parading around as a prodigy with that would've gotten him laughed at.
Apparently, while chess had a broad base here, the average skill wasn't that high.
***
That evening, after the first day at the academy, the Ilrain family dinner grew noisy.
Max cautiously asked me.
"Little brother, did you happen to play chess at the academy?"
"Huh? What're you talking about, Max?"
I feigned ignorance and kept eating.
But when Max persisted, our father finally spoke up, fed up.
"Max, what's this about?"
"Well.... This guy's gone and caused a scene at the academy."
"Caused a scene? Did he hit someone? Well, kids fight sometimes. If it was a high noble, I'd have to go apologize myself, but..."
"Not that kind of scene. Als here beat the son of the Marquis Millias house at chess."
"The son of Marquis Millias? If he's around Als's age, then surely..."
"Yes, Casper Millias. The prodigy."
At that, Father and even Miller widened their eyes.
"Is that true, Als?"
"Not really sure. I just moved pieces randomly and somehow won, I guess."
"Hm? Chess doesn't work that way. Maybe because it was kids' play."
Father tilted his head.
I regretted playing the game so impulsively.
Making a name for myself after meeting the protagonist was one thing. But I didn't want the prodigy label from childhood.
I was sick of hearing it, and it risked derailing the story I knew completely.
'Who knew that kid was such a big deal.'
Unlike modern times, not just anyone got called a prodigy here. Nobles especially gave prodigies real influence.
Father nodded, intrigued.
"Come to my room after dinner. I want to check your skill myself."
"Yesss...."
I hated the prodigy label as much as anyone, so I planned to sandbag and lose appropriately.
But even that seemed decent to him, as he wanted to hire me a chess tutor despite our tight budget.
"It's fine. I'm not really into chess."
"What a shame. Won't you reconsider? I see talent in you."
"Even if you say reconsider..."
A chess tutor. Talk about a waste of time.
After all, in this world, there probably wasn't anyone good enough to teach me.