?


    "Hey, I think things are turning around!" one of the goons who somewhat knew chess eximed just then.


    "Turning around? You''re saying that Lugh Frankton might lose?" another goon asked.


    "Yes." The chess goon nodded. "He would soon tear through the nket shielding ckie''s castling, but ckie is already spreading his pieces loose. That means that Lugh is too locked on ckie''s defenses that he allowed ckie free rein on his left nk."


    That only left the other goons confused. "And that means..."


    Pax smirked and exined, "That means Lugh may have talent, but he failed to see the bigger picture, allowing ckie to lure him into the kill zone." Everyoneughed, finally understanding.


    One of them even gloated. "Let''s see how he''s going to strut now! It''s a fact that he''s strong, but he stillcks wits!"


    "All of you, shut up," Pax snapped in annoyance right then. "Can''t you be more patient?"


    Everyone was silent right then.


    Meanwhile, ckie was wiping the sweat off his brow even as he stared at Frank, whispering, "Don''t worry, I''m not going to beat you—even chessmasters blunder, let alone someone like myself.


    "Moreover, we''re equal in skill. I just have to miss a strategy and it''s checkmate, and Pax Jaric would be none the wiser."


    Frank shook his head. "No, it''s alright. You just y as best as you can."


    ckie nodded but did not really agree.


    It was not as if he was being kind-it was the first time they had met, and he would not care if Frank lived.


    He could certainly watch someone die, but it was a different story if he had a hand in it.


    It would be game over if he ended up being charged for the crime, which was why he was both seriously ying against Frank while considering how he could throw the game.


    On top of that, Pax was a decent


    chess yer though he was not at


    ckie''s level, he would be able to tell if ckie was obviously throwing. When that happened it would be ckie''s head that rolled.


    Nevertheless, before ckie actually found his chance, the unexpected happened.


    Frank''s chess pieces, which seemed to be ced on a whim earlier, were suddenly lining up.


    They sliced through ckie''s pawn nket like a hot knife through butter and soon rallied to clear up the board.


    "I''m shocked..." ckie eximed,


    smiling as he tipped over his king in surrender. "This is amazing from a casual yer! Well, it spares my conscience the weight of taking a soul."


    "That''s a win...?" Alda was delighted.


    Meanwhile, in the control room, a goon snarled. "ckie must have thrown! I''ll fuck him up right now, Mr. Jaric!"


    "Wait," Pax told the goon even as he whipped out his dagger, ready for blood. "It''s true that ckie had every reason to throw since he''s a coward, but I can see that he wasn''t throwing. If anything, he was trying very hard to y well so that he didn''t look like he was throwing while waiting for the right moment to throw.


    "However, Lugh simply wasn''t a pushover like he expected. He made short work of ckie, and I''m sure that I''d be beaten too."


    "What?!"


    Everyone was shocked that Pax was praising Frank so generously.


    The kid was still only human no matter how good he was in a fight-how could he have mastered everything?


    However, that was the reality they all could see for themselves, and there was no doubting it.