Chapter 3 – Story 82: Shogi

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“Hey, what’s that?” A guard called out as he watched the direction of the revolting slave army’s encampment from atop the city wall.

Drawn in by his voice, his comrade next to him looked in the same direction, just to spot a small group walking towards the city. They numbered around five or six people. The guards couldn’t believe that the enemy would use such a small number to attack them. But, whatever they might be up to, the enemy was definitely on the move in some way.

At once, the city’s guard captain and Regimental Commander Adomius, who had been gathering the soldiers of the former subjugation army after they dispersed in the city, were briefed on the situation.

When both arrived atop the wall in great hurry without having prepared anything, the group had already closed the distance so much that you could identify the faces of their members. The ones having arrived were an old man with a white beard who was riding a donkey, and four men who were shouldering baggage.

“You over there, stop! If you don’t, you will be shot!”

The guard captain warned the approaching group. Having arrows pointed at him, the old man in the lead――Solon――violently swung his cane and answered, “I’m a messenger. A messenger! Rather than pointing arrows at me, use the time to prepare a welcoming reception!”

While the soldiers were dumbfounded by his impudent response, Solon arrived at the city gate. But, once he understood that the gate wouldn’t open, Solon began to knock against the gate with his cane.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you young people to make an old person wait out here! Show some respect to the elderly! Hurry up and open the gate! Or what do you plan to do if I suddenly croak after you made a frail old man like me wait outside here!?”

At this point, he ran his mouth as he pleased. Far from suddenly dying, he appeared to have easily more than ten years of life left in him. But, going by the fact that he named himself a messenger, it’d be wrong to keep him waiting.

They removed the stacks of sandbags, freeing up enough space for one person to pass, and ushered Solon’s group inside.

Although he was an old man, he was a messenger of the enemy who had killed many of their friends just the other day. Holmea’s soldiers looked like they’d immediately beat the group to death with the weapons in their hands, if something happened.

But, without showing a fraction of fear while surrounded by a bloodthirsty pack of soldiers, Solon passed through them with an aloof expression while telling them, “Thank you for welcoming me.”

“Well then, could I have you guide me to your Lord?”

It might have been charming if he had behaved a bit more modestly, but if he was being so blunt about it, the soldiers couldn’t resist going beyond anger, becoming utterly appalled.

It was decided that Adomius would lead him to the lord instead of the guard captain who couldn’t leave the city wall. Adomius told Solon to follow with a sour look.

Thereupon, Solon pointed with his cane at the attendants who had been following him.

“The only ones going to the Lord’s place are me and the luggage carrier over there. The other three are men who surrendered to us a few days ago. They have family in the city.”

Hearing that, the surrounding soldiers started to look awkward. And the ones who had actually shot their arrows upon Alexius’s order openly averted their faces.

“These men carry letters and other things of our other prisoners to let their families know about their safety. Please allow them to pass them on to the respective families.”

This was nothing they could refuse in this situation. But, Adomius grabbed a nearby soldier and whispered into his ear, “Keep these guys isolated. Don’t allow them to get in contact with the city’s residents, not matter what. Also, check the content of all letters. If they contain even the slightest hint of criticism against His Highness or us――”

At that point, Adomius made a short break, before adding with a firm tone, “――Don’t mind it and burn the letter.”

◆◇◆◇◆

The lord of Luoma was a man in the prime of his life called Mythos Boron. The Earl Boron family was a house with a long history which had been serving as rulers over Luoma for many generations. And as might be expected from his family being entrusted with a city that served as keystone of Holmea’s west and trade hub for the public roadways, the king’s trust in them ran deep, too.

Moreover, in his younger days, the current family head Mythos had directly studied under Great Prime Minister Ponpius, who was praised as right hand of the late king. Furthermore, he was well-known as an extraordinarily great lord among the successive generations of his house. On top of that, he was known for having the spirit of a warrior.

As soon as he heard about the city of Bolnis falling into Souma’s hands, he quickly increased the city guard’s personnel, sent reinforcements to Fort Garaf and the garrison at the bridge point, and enhanced the city’s defenses. In addition he was warned by a friend that the movements, which seemed to confirm General Darius’s worries, incurred the king’s displeasure, but Mythos pushed it aside, answering that only the safety of his own city really mattered to him.

In short, Mythos was a man who wouldn’t shy away from talking back to the king, if he disliked something.

If I let him meet with such a rude, old geezer, it likely won’t result in anything you can call a negotiation, while thinking that, Adomius guided Solon to the audience hall.

Once they arrived there, Mythos was already waiting for Solon at a table, which had been set up in the hall, after the lord had been earlier informed by a runner about the arrival of a messenger.

“Lord Mythos, a messenger has come,” Adomius introduced Solon while wondering how things would pan out, but his eyes immediately flew wide open.

“It is an honor to meet you Your Excellency Earl Mythos Boron. I have received the command from Sir Soma Kisaki, the lord of Bolnis, to act as messenger. My name is Solon.”

Not only did Solon’s behavior make Adomius wonder where the clown of an old man from a few moments ago had gone to, but he sensed a refinement from the old man he couldn’t have expected, making him believe that he was actually facing a sage. His wording, etiquette, and respectful behavior were all masterly.

This caused even Mythos, who had considered the revolting slave army to be a gathering of filthy brutes, to be flabbergasted. When Solon further extended his seasonal greetings fluently and profoundly, Mythos had no choice but to admit that he couldn’t afford to mock this man as a brute at all.

After finishing his long, seasonal greetings, Solon finally broached the main topic.

“Now then, there is but one reason why I came to have an audience with you on this fine day: I wish to offer you surrender, Lord Mythos.”

The instant Solon menthioned this, Adomius roared, “Don’t fuck around! As if we’d yield to the likes of revolting slaves!”

But, this had been disrespectful. Even if he might be a regimental commander of the Black Wall, Adomius is nothing more than a military officer. As such he had absolutely no right to speak up on his own volition in a place where Mythos, an Earl and the lord of this city, was negotiating with a messenger of the enemy army.

However, Adomius was well aware of that. Adomius’s outcry had two objectives: first, he threatened Solon that they intended to keep fighting and second, he warned Mythos that simply giving in wouldn’t be allowed.

Yet, Solon replied to that with a smile, “Hyo hyo hyo, it looks like at least your bravado is going strong.”

“You damn, geezer! Do you want me to lop off your head here and now!?”

Adomius threatened by placing a hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. But, this made Solon laugh even harder.

“Give it a rest with the bluffs. I don’t know about the situation up to a few days ago, but at present you won’t be able to kill me, the messenger of Lord Soma.”

Adomius immediately was at a loss due to Solon’s words. Up until a few days ago, they’d have been able to cut down the messenger of some revolting slaves, if they tried to speak to them as equals. But, after the crushing defeat against those slaves, it was plain as day that they were in an inferior position. It wouldn’t be odd, even if Luoma fell to the revolting slaves any day now.

Slaying the messenger would mean to reject any talks from then on. This would automatically mean that the option to surrender, if the city were to fall at some point, would be gone as well. What would be awaiting everyone in the city, and not just the soldiers, would be a brutal and indiscriminate massacre.

He couldn’t dare to slay Solon in front of the city’s lord. And sure enough, Mythos raised a hand, reining in Adomius.

“Sir Regimental Commander, it is as this old gentleman says. I shall not allow you to slay this man for the sake of my people’s safety. Besides, considering your standing, I approved your presence in this place, but I don’t recall having given you the permission to speak.”

Adomius answered, “Please forgive me,” and bowed his head at Mythos. After making sure of that, Mythos pointed a stern gaze at Solon.

“However, I have been entrusted with the rule of Luoma by the king of Holmea. As such, I cannot surrender to revolting slaves,” declared Mythos.

The lord had clearly turned down the messenger’s recommendation for surrender. Adomius expected the negotiations to genuinely start from now on. After all, both sides in this place were pressed by time.

Although Luoma possessed a thick and tall wall, you couldn’t call their preparations perfect at present, where things were apparently heading for an unforeseen siege battle. Especially because the city had taken in thousands of fleeing soldiers, it was unclear how long the provisions stocked in the city would last.

Moreover, the motivation of the revolting slaves, who had routed the subjugation force, was soaring right now. If they attacked this place seriously while riding that spirit, even the impregnable city of Luoma would be in danger.

Yet, the fact of them not having attacked thus far probably meant that the revolting slaves hated to waste their soldiers too, guessed Adomius.

Nevertheless, even the revolting slaves couldn’t afford to indefinitely sit around because they hated losses. The more time passed, the sturdier Luoma’s defenses would become. Furthermore, one couldn’t exclude the possibility of a reinforcement army coming from the capital.

As such, the revolting slaves wanted to take Luoma and grasp Holmea’s west before reinforcements came. On the other hand, the city of Lord Mythos wanted to stall for time until some sort of order or reinforcements from the capital arrived.

Thinking that the bladeless battle would start from now, Adomius held his breath while watching intently.

Solon spoke up, “Well, that makes sense, I guess. If I consider your position, it’s only natural. ――But,” a sharp glint crept into Solon’s eyes, “――I have been granted full authority over these negotiations by Lord Soma. I cannot afford to go back right away without any results to show.”

Tension started to fill the air. However, Solon’s grave face fell apart right away, just to be repaced by a broad grin.

“With that said, won’t you let me have one match of shogi to kill some time?”

For a short while Adomius and Mythos were both dumbstruck. At first they didn’t believe their own ears and next they doubted the sanity of the old man in front of them.

“Excuse me, but did you just say shogi?”

Mythos asked half in doubt.

“Of course,” agreed Solon at once, “I have heard that you like shogi, Lord Mythos. Accordingly, I thought I would love to play a match against you by all means.”

With those words, Solon ordered his attendant to prepare the shogi board.

Seeing that, Mythos was terribly confused. Just when he was sure they’d let each other conditions and demands clash against each other, it turned into a shogi match all of a sudden. But as he wanted to stall for time anyway, it wouldn’t cause him any loss to humor Solon and thus he saw no reason to refuse.

But, this sort of proposal coming from the slaves, who ought to be hard pressed on time, was more that strange. However, as soon as he saw the shogi board and pieces Solon brought with him, his confusion was blown away like an ethereal dream.

“Hoh. These are splendid…!”

The board and pieces were crafts of a masterly quality as Mythos had never seen before. The board had been carved out from excellent wood, said to grow in the continent’s center, by an elven carpenter. It was a wood that gave the board a heavy, massive feel and its grains were a sore for sore eyes, too. Moreover, if you brought your face close, you could smell a faint trace of fragrant, unique wood scent.

On top of that, not only the wood used as material was excellent. The delicate carvings applied to the board’s surface immediately took Mythos’s breath away. To top it off, decorative metal fitting made by dwarves out of gold and silver had been added to spice up the coloring.

Moreover, the pieces were magnificent as well. They were made out of white and black glass. But, one ought not belittle this for just being glass. This was an era where glass was considered a substitute for gems. The surprise of Mythos at this time could be compared to modern people being told that all these pieces were made out of diamonds.

Mythos couldn’t help but be astonished.

The rumors had spoken about the revolting slaves being a gathering of savage zoan, but it couldn’t be any further from the truth. He assumed that no country in the west, even not Holmea, was storing such an item inside its treasury. Because Bolnis was fairly close to Mythos’s Luoma, he had heard of the rapid development in that city. But, being shown something like this, forced him to believe that even those whispers were underestimations.

Solon calmly lined up the pieces in front of Mythos who was entranced by the beauty of the craftsmanship. And then he said with an attitude as if this was nothing worthy of mention or attention, Solon said, “Okay, I’ll take the first move.”

Solon moved one piece forward without a hint of hesitation.

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