The chess tournament was held in the dance hall of Serendia Academy.

Even though three representatives from each school would be playing at the same time, the dance hall, which was far too large, was chosen as the venue to provide seating for the spectators.

The spectator seats are set up at a certain distance from the players to no interrupt their concentration.

However, as the distance was too great for the spectators to see the match, the student council had prepared three large boards to resemble a chessboard. Pins that looked like pieces were fastened to these boards to show the situation of the game in real-time.

Third-year students taking an elective chess class at Serendia Academy took turns managing the board and hosting the games. While both teachers and student council members were watching the game from separate seats, as were the rest of the spectators.

"Let me inform you, this year's "Temple" is strong. After all, we've got an excellent newcomer from a neighboring country, who came all the way to study at the "Temple" to pursue chess studies. Among the students from the neighboring country of Randall, he is said to be an unbeatable chess player."

As Redding, the teacher from "Temple" rambles on, Pittman, the teacher from Minerva, seated next to him, softly chimes in.

"Coming all the way from a neighboring country to study in "Temple"? Now that's amazing."

"Indeed, practically he's a very talented student, but he's a little hard-headed, you see. I have intended to make him captain of the team, but he stubbornly insists on becoming the front player because he is a newcomer. Well, I feel a little sorry for the front player of Minerva and Serendia Academy."

Redding didn't look very apologetic—in fact, he looked somewhat proud of himself as he said this, and looked at the two men sitting at the front player table.

Representing the "Temple" side was a promising newcomer, Roberto Vincere. In contrast, the "Serendia Academy" front player was Monica Norton, the sole girl in that group.

"Well, oh, well, what a poor girl. As a girl, she seems to be able to play a little bit, but against our ace, it must be a bit much for her."

With that, Redding glanced at Boyd's stern face. With a grim face as if he were on the battlefield, Boyd responded with a low voice.

"Let me apologize in advance."

"Well, now, what are you apologizing for? Could it be that girl is too weak to be an opponent?"

"I apologize for making Monica Norton the front player."

"Oh, I suppose Serendia Academy went out of their way to choose female students to liven things up? Or perhaps that girl came from a family with a large donation? Well, I guess Serendia Academy has a different school culture from the meritocratic "Temple". I'm sure that's the case, yes."

Boyd didn't even look at Redding when he rambled on. He just kept his eyes straight on the students before opening his mouth.

"I've chosen Monica Norton as the front player because she was too inexperienced."

"Right, ladies rarely have the chance to play chess. So how long has she been playing chess? A year, maybe?"

Boyd showed him two of his thick fingers as Redding asked with a chuckle.

"Two weeks."

While the teachers were having their conversation, a certain person had overheard them. He was the Minerva representative, Barney Jones. He raised his thin eyebrows and glared at Monica, who sat in the distance, with glinted eyes.

＊ ＊ ＊

Monica took a seat at the table provided, holding her aching stomach.

The pain in her stomach was not due to the pressure of the game. It was caused by the nervousness of knowing that Barney might discover her true identity and the anxiety about whether Nero and Lynn would not cause a ruckus while watching over His Highness.

Although she wanted to believe that Nero and Lynn would be fine because she had repeatedly reminded them… she was still worried because they both seemed to have taken a liking to that outfit.

As she let out a sigh, a male student from "Temple" sitting in front of her expressed his concern to Monica.

"Are you not feeling well?"

"I-I'm fine."

"Really?"

The boy who introduced himself as Roberto Vincere was apparently sixteen years, a year younger than Monica, but his appearance seems to say otherwise. Not only was he tall, but his muscular figure looked more suited to swords and spears than chess. Along with his stiff black hair was cut short and his earnest look, he has represented the very typical figure of the student of "Temple".

For now, I need to focus on what's in front of me.

"It's time. Let's have a good match."

"L-let's have… a good matck—"

She bit her tongue.

Oh, this is so embarrassing. I hope there's a hole for me to hide… she thought in depression, but it only took a few seconds for her to regain her composure. When she looked up and faced the chessboard, the embarrassment and anxiety in Monica's mind disappeared, and only the chessboard occupied her mind.

Roberto was slightly surprised to see the apparent change in Monica's atmosphere. But not even his response can be perceived by Monica now. All she could see now were the pieces on the board.

And so, Monica picked up the white knight and moved it with a curt motion.

＊ ＊ ＊

As the match began, Glenn Dudley (an always energetic seventeen-year-old guy) was sitting in the spectator section, made an O shape with his palm over his mouth, and tried to give a cheering… Noticing this, Neil, who was sitting next to him, covered his mouth.

"Don't shout during the game!"

"Ogbh… I just wanted to say, ‘Good luck, Monica.'"

"No means no."

As Lana's cheeks twitched at their exchange, Claudia smiled sinisterly. This was a smile that definitely didn't have anything good in mind.

"… so cheering loudly for Monica here will getting a mouth covered by Neil's hand… how vexing…"

"I don't find any of this to be vexing about. Hey, more importantly, how's the match going? Who's winning now?"

Claudia looked at Lana's words with a look of utter dismay.

"…How can you expect to know the winner at this early stage?"

Lana, who didn't know much about chess, fell silent in embarrassment. Then Glenn, who had been released from Neil's hands, said in a slightly lower volume of voice than usual.

"Hey, don't you think the match in Monica's table progressing too quickly? It seems like the pieces are shifting twice as fast as the other tables."

As Glenn had said, only the front player's pieces' live board, which imitated their progress in chessboard were moving at an unusual speed. Students who were in charge of moving the pieces on the live board looked at the board and the chessboard alternately in a hurry.

Lana asked Claudia, aware that question could lead her to be ridiculed.

"Hey, does chess follow a rule that the faster you play, the more advantage you get?"

"…Chess has a time limit, so there's nothing wrong with playing fast. But what happened at Monica's table was clearly too fast."

Mónica always took less than three seconds to make her next move right after Roberto made his move. From an outsider's point of view, she seemed to be moving her pieces without thinking. So Glenn clapped his hands.

"I get it! With that fast pacing method, you can put pressure on your opponent!"

At Glenn's words, Neil gave him a difficult look.

"…Certainly, there are some people who take that approach… but…" Neil trailed off and let out a small exclamation of admiration at the unfolding board.

"I doubt Miss Norton was thinking of putting pressure on her opponent or anything like that…"

Lana and Glenn, being amateurs, couldn't tell, but Neil and Claudia's expressions clearly changed when they saw Monica's match.

Not just these two, but everyone who understood chess was watching the front player game with rapt attention.

——On the chessboard, a terribly high-level match was being played at a frighteningly fast pace.

When Roberto was on the offensive, Monica handled him with extreme precision. It was as if Monica had known the move was coming all along. The next move, and dozens of moves beyond that, progressing by reading each other's hands.

The difference in the level of the front player match with the other player matches was obvious to everyone, except for about two people, Lana and Glenn.

Sitting at the teacher's station, the "Temple" teacher looked very pale and said, "Two weeks? What? Two weeks!?" And Barney Jones, sitting at Minerva's section, casting his glaring dark eyes not at the board but at Monica.

"Checkmate."

After Monica quietly declared, Roberto clenched his fists on his lap and hung his head.

"…I lost."

The match, which was the most high-level game in the tournament, was over in a surprisingly brief period of time, and with nearly an hour to spare, the "Temple" won the middle player and captain matches.

The final outcome was two wins and one loss for the "Temple" side. But everyone in the room understood.

—who's the strongest person in this place was.