Chess, to say she was unfamiliar with it would had been a lie, in fact she was pretty skilled at the game! Then again, one might often ask themselves why in the world a mercenary would be skilled at chess… The answer to that was quite simple really: It was a good exercise to train the mind into formulating strategies. Lycoris her brother was someone who often believed that chess represented a battle, or a war so to speak and the pieces were your army. Each action, each decision had a consequence and as a result it was important to be able to formulate a lot of different tactics, but what was equally important was the user’s ability to think quickly, in the end in the middle of a duel you had little time to think about what to do!

It was for that reason Lycoris had often played chess against her brother, to the point their current record stood at 351 wins for Lycoris and 350 loses, and she genuinely loved those type of days. The days she could just relax in the company of her brother, without a single care in the world… Unfortunately, those days were no more and Lycoris had become forced to accept that as a reality. Her brother was dead, and no matter how much she wished for it to be otherwise, those days wouldn’t ever return.

Then why in the world had she come here? A question Lycoris idly asked herself as she walked into the park. She had heard rumors of a genius boy, a prodigy who was quite skilled at chess, and for some reason she had found herself fascinated by the rumors to the point she came to investigate the scene herself. “CHECKMATE!” an excited voice called out, making Lycoris look to a nearby table where a man had been playing a game of chess against a teenage boy. “God damd, that’s the third time I lost in a row!”

However, noticing the man had forked over a bag of jewels left Lycoris a bit curious, had they been betting? As the crowd around the table dissolved the boy heaved a sigh as he prepared to gather his goods, certain that after that display nobody would be interested in challenging him anymore, but to his surprise he found Lycoris taking a seat across from him, tossing a small bag of jewels on the table beside the chess board. “25,000 jewels, enough for a match?” The boy’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he grinned smugly at her. “Don’t come to regret it miss!” Lycoris merely smiled at him as she folded her arms beneath her breastplate and declared in a confident tone. “I don’t regret my choices.”

The boy placed one of the pawns forwards while he hummed softly. “My name is Bart, what’s yours?” Lycoris moved her piece also while she replied in a calm tone. “Lycoris, of the Gardenias Mercenaries.”

It seemed this stirred some interest from the boy, whose eyes focused onto her for a moment. “You’re a mercenary? What does the name stand for?”

The question made Lycoris smile briefly as she watched Bart move yet another piece on the board. “Our leader, his name was Gregory Gardenias, we all became a part of his family upon joining the crew.” It appeared the tale of her mercenary origins stirred a more fluent conversation from Bart as he spoke. “A mercenary… that sounds kind of cool really.”

He smiled briefly, moving his piece into position for his strategy, the odds currently looking to be even. “I envy that type of freedom, you see my elder siblings are all great and accomplished scholars, so my parents expect for me to do just as awesome as them.”

Another pawn was moved as Lycoris inquired with a hint of curiosity. “You don’t want to become a scholar?” Bart nodded his head lightly, explaining as he bested one of Lycoris’ pawns. “I don’t really want to become like them… I mean I admire my brothers but I don’t want to become a scholar.”

As the battle progressed it seemed to be slowly going into Bart’s favor, and from a look of the board one would assume he was driving Lycoris onto the defense. “Then what do you want to be?” Lycoris’ question made the boy frown for a moment, as if he was deeply considering the question she asked him. “A professional chess player.” He answered, yet it was at that time their conversation and the game changed entirely. Lycoris had figured out a strategy, and as her pawns moved into the formation of her tactic Bart felt the pressure steadily building up. “Then you should tell your parents that. Professionals earn a lot of wealth and prestige, so I’m sure your parents will approve of the idea. Besides any good parent supports their child’s ambitions if they are of the good sort.”

Slowly Bart felt his entire game collapse, whenever he tried to do a move Lycoris countered him, as if her early defense had been just her toying with him, and slowly but certainly his forces were shattered till only a few pieces remained.

“Life is all about pursuing your dreams and ambitions, a person without a dream to pursue isn’t even truly alive.” Lycoris admitted as she placed her piece into formation and smiled at the boy. “Checkmate~”

Bart’s eyes widened in disbelief as he placed a pouch on the table, causing Lycoris to grab both and store them away. “How in the world did you become so amazing at chess?” His words made her chuckle briefly as she replied. “My leader was rather fond of the game, forced me to play with him whenever we had a break.”

Turning her back at Bart she raised a hand lightly, a playful little wave following as she prepared to start walking away from the park, but not before giving the boy some encouraging words. “Best of luck with your parents, I’m sure it will work out.”

The boy waved a hand at her as she walked away, shouting in response. “Thanks for playing with me Lycoris!”