Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely Chapter 95

Published at 21st of October 2021 07:00:53 AM

Chapter 95: Shogi

So, day after day, we visited Mr. Ricardo’s yard and trained till we were drenched in sweat.

And this afternoon, I invited Forte and Paul to a Rishu-Style Chess match called Shogi. Today, Jend and Ashley still had energy left, so it was a tournament between the 5 of us.

We took over one corner of the Bear’s Keg Inn, and although it was sad that there were 5 beefy guys huddled in a crowded area, it was during a time when there were less customers, and we ordered a lot of food and drinks, so I hope they’ll forgive us.

So, it’s time for the tournament. Well, everyone except me basically learned all the rules for the first time today, so of course, I’m going to dominate and win consecutively. Since everyone is a beginner, no one wanted to place any bets, but I washed away yesterday’s bitter loss with today’s victories and was satisfied.

Paul: “But Henry, you’re seriously being childish.”

Forte: “According to the rule book, it says that when veterans face beginners, they remove key pieces from their own group as a handicap.”

Paul and Forte are griping about their losses, but I have no intention of hearing their protests. Besides, I’ve never done a handicap game, so I could very well lose trying that for the first time.

Henry: “C’mon guys. I lost in Poker pretty badly yesterday. Why can’t we play a game where I have a little advantage……?” Forte: “A little……?”

Henry: “Hey, hey, c’mon. Let’s forget about that and see how the 2nd place match goes.”

This will be the final match in the tournament ー Jend vs Ashley. Whoever wins this round will be the runner-up.

Ashley: “..........Jend, wait, I want to take that move back.” Jend: “Brother Ashley, that’s your third time to recall a move. I can’t let you have any more than that.”

Ashley: “Tsch…….I’ll let the King escape this way.”

Jend: “Then I will……..there……”

And though it was an even game at the beginning, during the middle of the match, Jend checked the King and the rook in a pincer and took the advantage. Now, Ashley is barely getting away by the skin of his teeth.

Looking at Jend’s captured pieces vs Ashley’s…….it’ll be difficult for Ashley to flip this around. Jend will have to make a pretty critical error right now because he can win this game in about 4 more moves.

And as I make these predictions, the entrance to the Bear’s Keg Inn opens. It’s rather uncommon to get customers during this time…...and I look towards the doorway.

Cyril: “Oh, it’s Henry. Are you hanging out here today?” Ferris: “Hey Jend. Mr. Henry and Mr. Ashley. Are those the rumored friends of Mr. Ashley?”

Teo: “Hello.”

The other 3 members of our Party arrived.

They were not wearing their everyday, casual clothes but wore their expedition gear.

Henry: “Oh? Did you guys go out on an expedition today?” Cyril: “Yes. We knew that you would be busy with the training, but we didn’t want to pause going on expeditions for too long and get rusty. This was all to keep our Adventurer instincts sharp.”

Ohー, I guess that’s true.

But Cyril is really serious as an Adventurer. Compared to others, she displays a higher level of motivation.

Teo: “.......Miss Cyril, those were the exact words I told you before, isn’t it?” Cyril: “Oh, um, well…...IーI was thinking the exact same thing. That’s all.”

Teo: “When I invited you yesterday, weren’t you first saying how you had a Flowtier City snack tour planned all day today?”

Cyril quickly looks away as Teo continues her interrogation. ……..hey, you don’t have to try to look good in front of us.

Jend: “What did you go after today?” Ferris: “Oh, we knew it would be too dangerous to go to Altohern without you two, so we hunted some Griffins in the Flowtier Forest.”

Ferris answers Jend’s question.

With those 3, they should be able to hunt Griffins without too much risk. If they did challenge the Altohern region as we usually do and went to the mid-region, I would have had to sit and have a talk with them, but it was an unnecessary concern.

Paul: “...........hey, Henry, hey.”

Henry: “What?” Paul keeps poking me in the back.

Henry: “What is it?” Paul: “..........you got 3 girls in your party? Leave the two children out, but that sister’s an incredible beauty.”

Oh, Cyril is naturally getting downgraded to child-status.

Well, she is short and has no chest, but she’s almost a year after reaching adulthood technically. She said she was born in the 1st month of the year.

Henry: “Ferris over there is Jend’s girlfriend. Don’t go hitting on her.” Paul heard the news and dropped his shoulders in severe disappointment.

Paul: “Seriouslyー? Ahhhhh, that’s too badー She’s dead on my typeー”

Henry: “And Cyril…...the Magecraft Spellcaster girl over there is technically an adult. If you call her a kid, she’ll get mad so be careful.”

Paul: “Oh, is that right? …….hmmmmmmm, but I’ll still have to wait 3 years for her to see how she turns out.”

Paul kept making his own judgments an assessments…….and well, he’s free to do so as long as he just keeps it in the realm of imagination.

Lana: “Oh, Teo and Miss Cyril and Miss Ferris too. Welcome.” As she heard more voices in the dining hall, Lana who was resting in the backroom came out to greet the girls.

Lana: “Teo, did you come over for some tea?” Teo: “No, not that. Lana, didn’t the Bear’s Keg Inn put out a Quest? You said you wanted someone to hunt boars.”

Lana: “Oh, yeah. There were a lot of customers as of late that were requesting for the boar dishes we put out..”

He’s now retired, but Teo’s grandfather used to hunt in the Flowtier forest, and being well acquainted with this inn, he would bring in the boars and rabbits he hunted here.

And especially the gamey boar meat roast became a very popular item, and when it comes out on the menu, most of the regulars will order it first thing. I’ve only ate it a few times, but I remember that it was incredibly delicious.

Teo: “Before we left for the expedition, I found one so I took some time to hunt it down. You’ll still need to let the meat ferment.”

Lana: “OH! Thank you!”

Teo nods with a “yeah” at Lana’s gratitude and starts looking through her bag at her side.

When Teo draws her hand out, a piece of meat that was clearly much larger than the size of the bag suddenly appeared.

She continues to bring out the different pieces and sections of the boar meat, and Teo draws out a cloth and places it all on it………….and since she’s been hunting with her grandfather since she was very young, even though it was a big prey, she butchered it very well.

Teo: “Can you confirm? I’m pretty sure I withdrew the blood correctly.”

Lana: “Oh, sure. I’ll bring my dad over.”

With a “Daーd,” Lana went back to the kitchen to call for Mr. Nord.

Hm, well. ……...there will be some time before the meat is fully ready, but maybe I’ll be able to have some boar roast in the near future.

As I looked excitedly at the future boar roast in my mind, Ashley spoke up to me.

Ashley: “Hey Henry. That bag that girl is carrying. Is that…?” Henry: “......yeah, it’s a [Dimension Expansion] godly equipment. Plus it has [indestructible] casted on it.”

Ashley: “GーGeesh. That’s amazing…..”

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Since I’ve been using it frequently, I’ve gotten desensitized to it, but just as Ashley says, [Dimension Expansion] enchanted godly equipment is one of the greatest treasures an Adventurer will drool over. The fact that you don’t have to worry about your carrying capacity is an advantage that is never overlooked.

Paul and Forte look envious at the bag as well.

But no matter how much they want it, the godly equipment can only be used by the individual who earns it.

………..but I better make sure Teo doesn’t get poached.

Cyril: “So, Henry, Henry. What are you doing here?” Henry: “Ohh, I guess you wouldn’t know this game. This is called Shogi, and it’s one of Rishu’s games. It’s close to chess, but you can re-use and place captured pieces which is a big difference.”

Cyril: “Huh…...so it’s like chess, yes? I’ve～ never been good at these kinds of games.”

Yeah, this game requires a lot of forethought, and she’s more of the charge in head-first type.

Ferris: “Ohh, and what’s this? A tournament sheet? Mr. Henry won all his matches…….and Jend, you haven’t lost to anyone except Mr. Henry.”

Jend: “Yeah, and after I beat Brother Ashley in this match, I’ll be second place.”

Ashley: “This game isn’t over, Jend.”

Ashley makes his next move.

Teo: “Shogi, is it? Let me see.”

And Teo, who is usually not as interested in things, looked unusually very intently at the board. She stares for a long while, and ……..well, this game is pretty much over though.

Jend: “Brother Ashley, this is checkmate.”

Ashley: “.......I surrender.”

And as I predicted, in 2 moves, Jend won.

Well, Ashley did a good job hanging in there, but it would have been hard turning that game around for anyone.

Teo: “.......excuse me for a moment. If we go back 2 moves, why not let the King escape this way?” Teo takes a piece and rewinds the board a few moves back and with a few taps of her finger, begins to lay out a different scenario.

ーー oh…..hey…look at that…

Teo: “If you run this way, you would be able to escape, and from here, you should be able to turn the game around.”

All the men let out an “OOOOOHHHHーー” of wonder at the realization. …….Cyril and Ferris don’t know the rules so they’re not quite up to speed.

Jend: “......but what if I make a move like this? I would cut off your escape route.” Teo: “In that case, I would do this.” Teo responds immediately to Jend’s move………..and Jend, you’re starting to make some scary moves. I know I beat you in the first round, but I might lose to you if I play you now.

Jend: “I see……….yeah, I wouldn’t be able to finish the game. Oh, so Teo, you play too?”

Teo: “I used to play against my grandfather often.”

Oh yeah. Teo’s family sells Shogi boards, so I guess it’s natural for the store owner’s daughter to know how to play the game.

Paul: “I see…….hey, little miss.” Teo: “It’s Teo.” Paul: “Excuse me, Teo. If that’s the case, could you play against Henry over there? He beat up some beginners and is all up on his high horse right now.”

OH, DANGIT! PAUL! HOW COULD YOU?!

Teo: “.......I don’t mind. Now that I recall, I haven’t beat Mr. Henry at all during training.”

Henry: “TーTeeoー? If you’re upset about losing in training, shouldn’t you try to win against me in a training match then? I think that’s only fair.”

Forte: “Says the man who is taking out his frustration from losing in Poker with Shogi.”

Forte, you too?!

Teo begins to line up the board and pieces…….and as I look around, I see no room for escape or a helping hand.

All the men are looking smugly at my predicted demise, and Cyril and Ferris are too busy reading the rule book and not looking over here.

Mr. Nord came out to take a look at the boar meat, so he’s busy with work, and Lana who came back with Mr. Nord is innocently looking at Teo arranging the board.

Teo: “.........please, Mr. Henry. You can have the first move.”

Teo gestures a polite hand to the seat before her.

DーD-D-DANGIT!! If it’s like that, I won’t loseー!!

…………..it was a one-sided defeat.

And Jend, who played Teo after me had a better game with her, so that only rubbed salt in the freshly opened wound.

ARRRGHHH!!

Chapter end