The arrival of the second turn came with the southern border blinking in a warning orange, signaling nearby hostiles. At least it wasn't red yet. Tobias tilted closer to the map, rolling back his sleeves like this suddenly mattered to him.
"Looks like the green team wants that river crossing," he said. "And they're not subtle about it."
Riven clicked his tongue softly. "They're either confident or stupid."
"Or both," Luna cheerfully added.
Well atleast, the red team had left us alone for now... I looked up from the table and tried to catch who our opponents were, but another aspect of the game was that we didn't know who was with whom in terms of groups. The colors were the only actual prospect that made us different.
Kyla adjusted her glasses with a sharp push. "The river is the fastest route to attack in this scenario. Of course, they're going for it before us. Anyone would."
"Anyone sensible," Riven corrected.
"So not us," Tobias muttered, holding back a chuckle.
I ignored the jab, returning my focus to the map, as well as the shifting borders. This round was already different: instead of one enemy pushing against us, two teams were adjusting their positions, and it was painfully obvious that our group had drawn unwanted attention by surviving our western breach.
Riven squinted at the map. "I think they're targeting us."
Luna gasped. "Why? We're nice! Well, I'm nice. Elisha's tolerable. Most of the time."
"Thanks," I said flatly. What Riven said was true, nevertheless. We needed to make something happen and fast.
"It's probably because of your strategy last round," Kyla added.
"What strategy?" I blinked.
She stared at me over her glasses. "Pretending not to have one."
Ah. Right. That. When did everyone in my damn group become a comedian all of a sudden?
The teacher began pacing between the tables, arms folded behind her back, her boots tapping lightly against the stone floor. She didn't hover, didn't interfere—she simply listened. Sometimes she nodded at a group, sometimes she frowned. That frown was beginning to orbit around our region of the room.
Absolutely wonderful.
She stopped for a second, analyzing our position, and sighed. "I would be careful right about now," she announced calmly.
Careful?
As in rhythm with her words, the map shimmered.
Immediately, the green team's markers slid southward, claiming small outposts with surgical precision. The purple team began building fortifications.
Blue team—our team—was regrettably small in comparison.
Having been satisfied with her findings, the teacher walked back to her area.
"Alright," Tobias muttered, drumming his fingers. "We need something. Anything. Before we're boxed in. I feel like the punishment is waiting in some form if we come in last place."
Luna leaned closer, squinting. "We could fake a retreat? Make them chase us somewhere pointless?"
Kyla arched an eyebrow. "This isn't hide-and-seek."
"No," I instinctively blurted out, my brain somehow starting to turn on like a machine with cogs. Luna, up to now, has frankly been a greater obstacle than an ally. But her suggestion wasn't all that bad, honestly.
Before I could input my words. Riven beat me to it, musing to himself.
"I agree," he "but let's begin baiting them first."
"Bait them how?" I asked, arms crossing without realizing it. While we two were thinking in the same thread, having already thought up a plan was outrageous.
He tapped lightly on the southern edge of our territory. "We leave one province under-defended. Not empty—just weak enough to tempt them. If the green team bites, we collapse on them from both sides."
Tobias lit up. "A pincer move. Classic."He paused, squinting with suspicion. "Since when are you into classics?"
Riven didn't dignify him with an answer.
Kyla pushed her notes between us, revealing a mess of arrows and numbers. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Riven. It works only if purple doesn't interfere. If they push east while green hits south, we're done."
Tobias has just been lit up with excitement, looking to have the light of his drawn out from him. "Oh yeah. And frankly, purple and green being allies just puts us into the worst situation, doesn't it?"
That is true... as the sudden bad mood settled over our group, Luna beamed as she threw a finger against one of the southern regions.
"How about we throw all our force into green in an instant, and by the chaos, we maneuver our main force through green, then into purple?"
"Through green and into purple?" Tobias blinked. "That's not a strategy. That's… that's bowling."
Luna puffed up proudly. "Thank you."
"That wasn't—" He stopped. "Never mind."
Kyla adjusted her glasses again, but this time the push seemed more like stress than annoyance. "Luna, that plan is impossible. Even if we miraculously break through green's forces, purple would shred us the moment we step onto their border."
"But they wouldn't expect it," Luna said. "That's the point."
"That's also why they'd kill us faster," I muttered.
Riven, oddly, didn't dismiss her right away. He tilted his head, considering the map with a quiet intensity. "Breaking through green isn't the problem. The problem is timing. If we hit too early, green survives long enough to retaliate. Too late, and purple is already fortified."
"Meaning…," Tobias prompted.
"Meaning Luna's idea only works," Riven said, tapping the river crossing with one finger, "if green thinks they are the hunters."
I stared at him. "So… the bait plan again."
"Yes. But deeper," he replied. "We pretend we're panicking at the river. Pull back just enough."
Tobias whistled. "So they overcommit."
"And then we hit them at that choke point," Riven concluded.
Kyla ran numbers in her head, lips moving softly. "If we can eliminate Green's front before Purple moves, we get a clean flank for the final turn. It's reckless, but mathematically… possible."
Luna only shrugged, her smile still glowing brightly. "Uhm, I'm not so sure about the math part yet. But my heart is telling me to go full out!"
"Oh? So we're actually listening to Luna now?" Tobias asked, raising a brow.
"Ouch!" He gasped out as I kicked him in the shin. "Better than your ideas at least."
"Her idea was structurally awful," Kyla interrupted flatly. "But it's our only choice."
Luna pushed back her hair with a smug grin. "See? Genius."
"It was not genius," Kyla corrected. "Yes, it was," Luna countered. "No, it—"
"It so was—"
"Alright, both of you," I cut in before we spiraled into something painful. "Short version: we fake panic, we make green come after us, and when they commit, we trap them and throw all of our armies at them."
We all nodded, and in the same motion, we all put forth our hands at the playing board and started moving around our units. I just hoped that everyone knew what they were doing.
Seriously...