“There it is!” Marina said with her mouth wide open.

“Finally, we’re home free!” Linus continued her thought.

“The lodging!” And I completed it.

The wooden doors keeping the snow from entering this house had served its purpose to an extraordinary degree. I had wondered about its unnatural resistance to the cold even before, but upon further inspection it appears the wood this lodging was made out of is in fact Cinegal Wood, known for its high resistance to extremely low temperatures. The ITA must’ve imported it from Boreal…

Entering the actual house wasn’t nearly as exciting as we thought it was going to be, since we extinguished the fireplace before we left for Shaid’s Lair (Don’t want the house burning down). Although, even if only by a little, it was certainly warmer that it was outside in the blizzard. We quickly went to start a fire in the fireplace.

“So Lune,” The Old Man turned to me after placing the firewood, “Would you do the honors?”

He was suggesting I use either Spark or Fireball to light the fireplace. I was originally against the idea of him bossing me around, but I did make that promise to not be difficult until we make it home. I obliged, lighting the fireplace with Spark so as not to accidentally blow a hole in the wall (Fireball is highly explosive upon impact, even at a small size).

“WOOOOOHOOOO!” Marina jumped for joy as she huddled up close to the fire, “Haa, this feels nice and toasty!”

“Don’t go too close to the fire, you’ll get freckles on your hands!” The Old Man warned her.

“Freckles on my hands? Where’d you hear that outrageous claim?” She asked.

“Oh, I’m serious.” He answered back, “Everyone in my family warned me of the exact same thing. It’s very true.”

“Oh come on, that’s just your parents making stuff up to keep you from getting burned accidentally. There is no such thing.” Marina kept her hands firmly in place.

At this point their bickering was starting to get annoying. I’ve been with them for quite some time now and I know exactly how this’ll play out. First, Marina and Linus will start to back up their claims in this little back and forth, then Linus will play his “Adventurer’s Experience” card, and Marina will retaliate with her “Doctor” card. In the end, they’ll get fed up from the constant one upping and just ask for my opinion (Note: I couldn’t care less if it’s true or not).

In any case, I turned to look at our beds and noticed I still had my chess board from the boat ride to Sibirus that the Captain of the ship gifted me. It was a kind gest, and it certainly held fond memories within it, so I opted to use it to end this debate of theirs. I got up, picked up the board and plopped it in between the two of them.

“Best two out of three. Whoever wins is the winner of the debate and therefore their belief is what we’ll consider as true until the end of time. I’m the spectator and referee, do we have a deal?” I named off all the conditions without skipping a beat.

“What?” They both said at the same time, but for different reasons.

You see, Linus was confused by my actions because I had suddenly suggested such an outrageous idea as resolving a quarrel with a chess game, while Marina was confused by me suddenly plopping down a mysterious wooden board. Indeed, Marina has never even heard of, much less played, a chess game in her life. I wouldn’t ever make fun of her for it, though, since even I only heard of this amazing game a couple weeks ago.

Even still, it appears she won’t be able to play until we teach her, so with our combined efforts, we managed to teach Marina the basics of chess, as well as some openers.

“Alright, I think I got the hang of it. Seems like a simple enough game, but why chess?” Marina said as we started off the first round.

“It’s the simplest and most fun way to solve this dilemma. It reminds me of how we did things in ARA, we’d hold all sorts of competitions and games to resolve any and all issues.” I proudly remembered what gang life was like, “In order to prove something, you’d have to back it up sufficiently. This was our way to smarten up our gang members whilst still keeping things from getting too bloody.”

“Wait, you were serious about being in a gang?!?” Marina raised her voice in surprise.

“What an embarrassing lie that’d be.” I noted, “Come on, I wouldn’t lie about where I spent the last 2 years. You mistake me for some kind of lying asshole.” I slyly looked over at The Old Man.

“I even vouched for his story, since I saw it firsthand. This boy saved me from an enemy gang’s enclosure.” Linus pointed out.

“Yeah, and thanks for returning the favor in earnest, asshole.” I replied, “My pinkie finger that’s still in the dungeon thanks you as well.”

“…” He stood there quietly, unable to respond, “Let’s get started with the game.”

-Chess: Game 1-

The first game started as you would expect. Marina was playing the white pieces due to her being new to the game. She surprised both me and Linus by not going for the standard newbie play of using the Pawns. Instead she chose to go for the offensive and call forth her Knight.

“You moved the Knight as your first play?” The Old Man questioned her choice.

“Is it not allowed?” She asked rhetorically, “Either way, I’ve got a good plan brewing.”

This little jab at her opponent threw Linus off a bit. Was this a bluff, or was she serious? I mean, she is a medical professional, if homeschooled. She definitely has the brains to pull it off, but for this to happen on her first ever game of chess? I dunno…

“Alright then, I’ll go with… Pawn, D7 to D6.” Linus settled.

Wait, this is…? Could it be, the “Check in 2 moves trick”? I thought as I gave him a worried look as if to say You’re not serious, are you?, to which he simply looked at me and gave a shit-eating grin. I was fuming, to think he’d stoop so low against a beginner! Well, The Captain did the same to me back on the boat…

“Interesting…” She commented calmly as she followed his lead, “Then I’ll do the same on my end, Pawn to E3.”

“Aha! Gotcha’ now, girlie!” The Old Man clenched his fist in victory, “Queen to A4! Chec-!”

“Nom.” Marina’s Knight gobbled up Linus’ Queen.

“Wha-!” Linus stood there, utterly shocked.

“Mind explaining to me exactly how that’d even be considered a check?” Marina smugly glanced at him, “You do understand I still had both my Knight and my Pawn to protect the King, I had a hunch you’d try something sly like this, so I planned ahead.”

“Impossible! You thought that far ahead?!” Linus couldn’t believe his ears, meanwhile I just laughed my ass off the entire time.

Seeing as he was missing his Queen, the first round was quickly ended with Marina’s victory. Linus seems to be the type of guy who's rendered useless the moment he loses his Queen.

“I’ll win the next one, just you wait!” Linus waved his clenched fist once again, but this time in anger instead of victory.

-Chess: Game 2-

This time Linus insisted (borderline demanded) to be the White Piece this time. Looks like Marina called his cheap tricks in the last game, but can she best his years of experience once more and take home the win?

“Knight to A3!” He huffed, “Let’s see you get outta this one!”

“Hmph.” Marina flicked her hair back, “Copying me? Hardly seems like a good idea. Pawn to C5.”

“Knight to C4!” The Old Man kept advancing with the lone warrior.

“Wow, someone’s confident.” I provided commentary on his unusual move.

“Just look closely.” Linus said as he eyed her Pawn on E6 and murmured “As long as she doesn’t...”

Marina immediately heard him and moved her Pawn forward, “Should’ve stayed quiet, Gramps!” She jeered, “Now I ruined your plan!”

“On the contrary, child, I’ve got you right where I want you.” He revealed his plan after another two moves, “I’ve got you in check with just my Knight! You’ve no choice but to surrender!”

Indeed, Linus had bluffed her out by looking at the piece he wanted Marina to move with a worried look. But wait, what does he mean by check? She should have plenty of ways to get out of this situation, no?

“Wait, is that so? Dang, I still don't understand the rules...” She slumped forward before shaking his hand to signify her forfeiting.

“Whoa, hold on!” I said after the fact, “Old Man, what do you mean check?”

“Well, that was a bluff too.” He smirked, “Truth is she knew in her heart that she could get out of the situation, but I used my seniority to make her think she had no other option but to forfeit.”

“What!?!” Marina yelled at him, “So you’re saying you lied to make me give up prematurely? You cheat!”

“Chess isn’t only a game of intellect, but a game of control.” He sounded serious, ”Take this as a lesson to trust no one but yourself.”

“Shut it!” Marina stopped his bullshit in just two words.

-Chess: Game 3-

This was the final game, this one was for all the marbles. Who would win? Marina’s intelligence, or Linus’ cunningness? Either way, this is gonna be one hell of a game…!

“Lune, hand me the Book, would ya?” Linus said right off the bat.

“Hey, use of external tools is forbidden, especially something as over-powered as the Book!” Marina immediately interjected, “You’re just gonna read what I’ll do next!”

“No…” The Old Man turned his gaze to the side, “I’m just getting tired, so I wanna check who wins and go to sleep. No use in playing if it says I’m gonna lose.”

“Ugh, can you really be that lazy?” I complained, “Well, if you’re gonna be that difficult, then…”

I picked up the Book, making sure neither of them take a peak and gain an undeserved advantage. I didn’t intend on telling either of them who the victor was, but I was curious on how the Book works and wanted to see it’s magical ability firsthand once more.

The Book’s writing stopped quite early in, and what I saw at the end of it was a jumbled paragraph, much like how it was back in the cavern when Miss Lionheart opened it. I waited patiently for the words to settle, but nothing of the sort ever happened. I got impatient and started speedily flicking through the pages in hopes of finding the answer I was looking for elsewhere.

Just then, I had found a little piece of paper peeking out from the pages. I saw a bit of ink written on it, so I excitedly pulled it out. The piece of paper simply read:

“Word of advice: Stay away from airplanes… and Issei.”

Reading that aloud, the other two adorned confused faces that resembled my own questioning gaze. First of all, what’s an airplane? Secondly, who’s Issei?

“Let me see that Book.” Linus gestured for me to give it to him.

“No way! You’re just gonna cheat again!” Marina spoke up.

“Forget about the game! This is serious, we need to figure out what this means!” The Old Man raised his voice.

He picked up the Book, but upon grabbing it, a scary sizzling noise was heard. We questioned what it was, but quickly noticed the distorted frown The Old Man suddenly donned. This sound was in fact the sound of his hands being burned off as he took the Book from me.

“AAARGH!!!” He screamed his lungs out, “AUGGHGHHHG…!!!”

“What’s happening!?!” Marina got up from her sitting position, “Gramps, toss the Book away!”

He quickly did as he was ordered, but the damage was already done. Both his hands had been completely burned off, leaving nothing but stubs in its place. He was rolling on the ground in pain, and quickly got outside to stuff his stubs in the snow.

We ran after him, since his screams of agony suddenly stopped. But when we got outside, all we found was him lying face first in the snow. We got scared and immediately ran to his side. Marina checked his pulse and started crying. This was all it took for me to understand the situation...

What the fuck happened? The Book... burned him to death? And what about that mysterious note? Airplanes... Issei...