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After that, my tiny little residence's piece basket was less one black stone.

It was merely... broken, in that accident.

And after that, I thought and thought. About what I should do, and what I even could do.

The current Grand Tutor... The first time I saw him, he was but a deprived student, led by that teacher of prestige past the stagnant city, gazing towards that towering estate wall...

You have no freedom of movement. You shouldn't have seen the Grand Tutor before.

He's an intriguing one. He said something that lodged deep within my heart, at a time when I'd gotten sick of these stone-cold counters.

You seem very boresome.

To the point of stiffness.

Behind Lee, at this moment, are many people.

Friends, companions, high officials just met, and adversaries for the time being.

But Lee still can't see the person before him clearly. This person who appears as a false image of himself.

His features are indistinct.

So indistinct it puts shivers down the spine.

One more move, and even if I somehow understood less about board games, I'd still be able to tell it was your win long ago.

If you and I agreed to identical rules, what victory or loss could lie on the board?

Well, that's some sophistry. You need to apologize to every grandmaster in all the realm.

So be it. All in all, I've enjoyed my days carried at your side very much.

This match is your win.

It seems we haven't quite finished playing.

I simply underestimated my... little sisters.

Our match has no real meaning. Call this my surrender.

I thought you'd be the type who never likes losing.

Hm? Ah... yes, I did indeed lose.

And you, Cautus, name of Kroos.

Nian has an ulterior motive in choosing Rhodes Island.

I wish you'd used a bit more positivity to describe Nian and our's relationship, ya know.

Mm... no matter. Understand it how you want to.

You've no way to uninvolve yourselves anymore.

*Sigh* Should little Dusk catch sight of your squalid garden, I predict she'll be of quite some temper.

You've arrived.

Your tone, to my ears, does not welcome me.

Having so many about you to keep you company with game and talk? What could it be? Have you been too lonely?

You saw through that mirage. If so, Nian and Dusk must not have been able to beat it.

So you had guessed... Kroos, now allow me past. Let me be closer to my brother.

Uh... alright.

(Come to mention it... when'd she ever learn my name?)

You played black. Who played white?

I cast myself as the piece, contested with the common folk, and was restless without victory.

Was Jie's disappearance the cause?

I've surrendered now. You all needn't stay longer. Only, Ling, there's a small present I've sent you that you haven't noticed yet. Once you witness it, come find me again.

Your regard for her...

Has nothing to do with this.

I only fault the human realm for being so exceedingly dull.

Let's continue.

What were you doing while we were stuck inside that strange place?

I wanted to choose a handy staff. I didn't find one.

Unfortunate.

Hey! Are you still about to go at it?! You had so long to rest, and you couldn't cool your tempers one bit?

Lummox! Master Shen! Come, now, give them a piece of your minds!

A change in the summits. This means what Mr. Liang briefed us about has come true.

Sui-Xiang has manifested. Higher priorities first.

I'd better go up the mountain too.

Then go ahead.

*Sigh*... Will you really not listen to what I have to say?

Urgh! What happened up there—

—Watch your heads!

Ugh––!

Stone comes rolling down.

Zheng Qingyue brandishes his blade.

If only twenty years ago—no, ten years ago, he had the self-confidence to cleave apart these boulders as great as his head, not a speck of dust on him.

But he is old now.

Dad! Watch out!

—Ye, my girl!

He is old, and his child has grown up.

No thoughts plague Zheng Qingyue. A rock strikes his daughter in the head as she moves to save him, and she falls off the cliffside. Yet without the slightest hesitation, he jumps down after her.

Innkeeper!!

Tch.

Hey, now, hey! What are you doing—

—Why did he jump down along with her—

Shen Lou!

Cheh. I'll look below, and you get up there! Don't act without thinking, no matter what you see at the summit!

I'll go with you!

Ugh... how... Ye! Ye!

Ye!

Thank heaven, she's only unconscious...

If I wasn't deflecting at the critical moment, you two would have long fallen to your deaths.

...Shang Zhong.

Once again, Zheng Qingyue, once again!

Back then, you couldn't protect my son, protect Du Yaoye's father, protect that damned goblet!

You should know the blame you carry. It's still not time for you to bemoan yourself, and you can forget having any right to.

Your arm is hurt, and so is my leg. You and I are even.

Let us continue, before they get in the way again.

One move will be enough.

It's so tall. You really never sense it, walking ordinarily on the roads, how steep this peak truly is.

People should not always walk on the given path.

Your move just now counts as having saved my life.

I saved the child.

Yes, you saved the child too. So how am I going to duel you for life or death now?

Why you!

Come on, then.

Deep in the forest, white snow still rests. The two face each other in silence.

The sound of a zither passes them by, its notes mournful.

Who is it?

Ling does not speak. She simply, quietly, sits cross-legged, seated upon an ice-cold boulder.

The wind blows aslant in the twilight, the sun about to set beneath.

This pair of enemies faces each other anew.

A zither's single pluck sounds, as if from the heavens. Even so, the girl is not holding one.

*cough* *cough*... Did we... make it out from that weird guy's grasp?

Looks like we're still not out of the woods yet.

Getting blackmailed by myself really isn't a happy experience...