Morning sunlight streamed through the wide open wooden window of the inn. Outside, the village appeared misty with curved roofs still wet from the dew. The sound of waterfalls roared softly in the distance, mingling with the chirping of birds in the trees around the cliffs. Below the window, dragon citizens began their activities at the market; the sound of footsteps and their chatter reached the second floor. The sharp aroma of black coffee and broth rose from the table.
"Ho ho, take it! Take it! I hope you did not realize," Zalvarich said while moving a wooden pawn with a confident gesture.
In truth, he was trapped, having just made a blunder that threatened his queen. Zalvarich leaned back against the wooden chair, grinning widely at his opponent.
"Oh? Does the young master want me to take it?" the dragon in front of him asked.
The man named Tian sat calmly while propping up his chin. His long white hair fell past his shoulders. His blue eyes stared sharply at the chess board beneath a pair of large purple horns curving from his forehead. He wore a deep purple silk robe with intricate gold embroidery.
Beside them, 01, who had pink hair, sat casually while holding a tea cup. He watched the game with a furrowed brow.
This man blundered but he is intentionally acting as if it were a trap. Is he really that stupid?
01 thought. 01 offered a thin smile toward Zalvarich before slowly shaking his head.
Zalvarich, seeing that reaction, raised his eyebrows. He shifted his sitting position slightly forward.
Why? Why is that dude looking at me like that? Could he have realized? Zalvarich thought.
"Hmm, I feel that taking this would be beneficial," Tian said. He slowly stroked his chin while continuing to observe the wooden pieces on the board.
Zalvarich chuckled with confidence. "Heh, just take it. You have fallen for my plan."
"Hmm, after I take this, it will go like this, then you move like this," Tian said. He used his finger to point to the wooden pieces on the board to show his predicted moves. "What could go wrong?"
"Hahah, there it is!" Zalvarich pointed at the dragon with enthusiasm. "You did not realize it!"
Oh shit he So stupid. I suspect his intelligence has declined since losing to Fyar. But still, he is quite impressive to have conquered this area within a week. 01 let out a long sigh. A free vacation, though I still do not know what he is actually planning.
Tap tap tap.
The sound of rhythmic footsteps approached from the stairs. A woman with long blonde hair appeared at the doorway. She wore a dark blue outfit with red accents on the collar in an Oriental style. That figure was 02.
"01 01!" 02 greeted cheerfully. She then stepped closer and looked at the chess board. "Morning, Boss!"
"Morning, 02," Zalvarich answered casually. He waved his hand without taking his eyes off the board. "What is it? Oh right, training."
Zalvarich sighed deeply. "I will follow after this."
"Okyyy," 02 replied with a wide smile.
"Morning, Tian!" 02 greeted the inn owner.
"Morning, Miss," Tian replied briefly with a polite nod.
01 stood from his seat and stretched both arms wide to loosen his muscles. "Alright, I am going first. Have fun, you two."
"Where to today?" 02 asked.
"Hmm," 02 looked at Zalvarich. "Ask the boss."
"Ask 07," Zalvarich replied casually, leaning forward to focus on the game again.
"Eh..." 02 looked confused by that answer.
"Oh right, is there a report from Whitening?" Zalvarich asked. He lifted his chin slightly while looking at the blonde woman.
02 nodded quickly several times. "Yes, there is, there is!"
"Hmm hmm, the Guardians formed a special team to find Fyar, and then word is..." 02 smiled very wide until her rows of teeth showed white.
She then hopped excitedly where she stood. "They raised your bounty to two million gold coins!"
Zalvarich, hearing that, only offered a thin smile. He let out a low chuckle from his throat. "Hihi, is that so."
"Yeeee! Not only that, but all the bounties for the Zero Zero captains also went up by a hundred percent!" 02 cheered while punching the air.
01 raised his hand and covered his entire face with his palm. He shook his head slowly while taking a deep breath as if embarrassed by the cheering. "Ughh."
"Why ugh?" 02 looked strangely at 01 "Aren't you happy because your name is rising? And we are becoming big?"
"Yeah, for psychopaths who don't want to live a peaceful life like you, maybe Happy, but hey, I'm not you, I like to live a peaceful, quiet life...ughh I hope they draw my face wrong," 01 he said.
"Hmm hmm hmm Okay!!, thanks for the info. You two may go, shoo shoo," Zalvarich said. He flicked his fingers in the air as if shooing an annoying insect.
"Fuck you bos" Said 02 while raising his middle finger
"Oh my gosh fuck me? When?" Zalvarich raised his eyebrows
"T-thw fuck?"
Said 02 with disgust
"Aigh aihh let's go 02"
01 stood from the wooden chair followed by 02 who still appeared enthusiastic.
"Okey okeyyy"
Both walked away from the second floor toward the dark wooden stairs behind a large pillar. The sound of their footsteps creaked softly on the old floorboards.
Zalvarich focused his attention back on the chess board in the middle of the dark brown wooden table. He saw Tian who was thinking hard while stroking his smooth chin. Tian stared at the pieces on the board with cold blue eyes.
Tian reached for the chess board with very neat hand movements. He ignored Zalvarich's queen, which was intentionally left unguarded in the center. His fingers pinched Zalvarich's wooden knight and moved it out of the game.
Seeing that, Zalvarich let out a long sigh. He leaned back weakly against the hard wooden chair back while staring at the ceiling. "Ughh, damn it, you did not bite!"
Stupid man, you're really stupid!! Haha it turns out there's no harm in copying Fyar, hmm hmm pretending to be smart is fun..eh wait I'm smart.. why pretend...
Agh fuck it,