When I opened my eyes…
Huh?
I twitched my neck when I saw the view. Obviously I was confused because we were in the club room.
Huh? Did the transport fail? But everyone besides me and Asia were composed and weren't even shocked about this situation. Also Grayfia-san was gone. Did she transport just by herself? Then…
Hello everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid from the Gremory household. Today I will be the arbiter of the Rating match between the Gremory household and the Phenex household.
Then another voice.
And good evening to all of you! I, Namikaze Haruto, will be acting as co-announcer for the wondrous Grayfia-sama! For the honor of our great masters, the Maous Lucifer-sama and Leviathan-sama, we shall oversee this match!
E-Eh? So Haruto will be announcing too? Well, he did say that he would be sharing Grayfia-san's duties. I guess this was one of them.
It is as Haruto-sama says. By using both Rias-sama and Raiser-sama's opinion we created this battlefield. The battlefield for this match is a replica of the school Rias-sama attends, the "Kuou Academy".
What! Then this club room is a replica? It's exactly the same! It has exactly the same objects and the scratches on the wall! Oh but if I look out of the window, the sky is white. It has to be very dark since it's midnight. Did they make a replica in a world of white? But making a replica of our school in a different space… How extraordinary can the power of devils be…!?
Alright then! Time for "Haruto Explains It All"! I will now explain to you your current surroundings!
I sweatdropped at the weird sing-song voice Haruto spoke in.
The location where both teams were transported will be their base! Rias-sama's base would be—Surprise surprise—the Occult research club room located in the old school building! Douchebag—Yakitori-kun's base would be the student council's room located in the new building! For the Pawns to use Promotion, please go to the enemy's base. That's what you gotta do if you wanna beat up Douchebag—Yakitori-kun's servants, Issei!
SHWEEEEEEK
There was a loud, screeching sound as if a microphone was dropped on the ground. We all covered our ears due to the painful sound.
OW! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! Awight, Gwafia-shama! Um sowwy! Um Sowwy! Pwease shtop pinchin my cheek! I'll do it wight!
Cue sweatdrop once more.
There was the sound of someone clearing their throat.
Alright, so much for having fun with thi—Ah ah ah! Kidding, Grayfia-sama! I'm just kidding! I'm doing it! A-anyway! The location where both teams were transported will be their base. Rias-sama's base would be the Occult research club room located in the old school building. Riser Phenex's base would be the student council's room located in the new building. For the Pawns to use Promotion, please go to the enemy's base.
That's me! So I can't promote unless I go to the enemy's base. It's just like regular chess. We were going to be at a big disadvantage if any of the enemy Pawns made it to our base! I am the only Pawn while Riser has eight! How is that fair?!
"Everyone please put this transceiver in your ears." Akeno-san gave everyone an earphone type transceiver.
"On the battlefield we will be using this to communicate with each other." Buchou explained
So we receive the orders through this transceiver. It's an important equipment so I have to make sure I don't break it.
Now it's the time for the commencement of the battle. Now this match will continue till dawn in the human's time. Then, game start.
Issei, Rias, Akeno-san, Koneko-chan, Yuuki, Asia…Please do your best!
RING
The school bell rang. So this is the ring for the start of the match. Like this, our first Rating Game started!
"First we have to take down Raiser's Pawn. It will be troublesome if they all promotes into Queen." Buchou said from her seat on the sofa.
"Buchou, you seem pretty calm…" The only other two people I know who could maintain this level of calmness would be Kaichou and Haruto.
"Issei, the battle just started. The Rating Game is originally a game that doesn't finish in a short time. There are times when it becomes a "blitz", but mostly it's a game that takes very long. Just like the actual chess game."
Is that how it's played? I thought it would be like those battle you see in films… I thought of those "Ultimate fight between monsters" types of things.
"The Rating Game has meaning only if you use the battlefield to the fullest. Usually the base would be a fortress, castle or a tower. There are forests and rivers between the two bases and we battle using those areas. This time the battlefield is the school. Yuuki."
"Yes."
Kiba spread a map after Buchou urged her to. Wow, the whole map of our school. It was divided into grids and there were English alphabets and numbers on it. That was when I realized that the map was modeled after a chess board.
"There's a forest near our base. It's safe to think that this is also our territory. In other words the new school building would be Raiser's territory. Its likely that there will be an ambush when you enter their territory. The school field is visible from the new school building. So it's dangerous to pass here."
She was right, since the school field is visible from the new school building. Once we enter the battlefield it's impossible to transport by magic circle. It would be easier to fly, but, unfortunately, I couldn't fly yet.
"Then do we have to go through the sports ground to get to the new school building?"
Buchou chuckled at my question. "Normally, yes. But the enemy will also know that. So he'll have his servant at the sports ground…..He'll have his Knight or Rook positioned in one of the club rooms located in the sports ground. No, if it's a sports ground you will need a person with 'mobility'. So he'll have 1 Knight and 3 Pawns, a total of 4 servants positioned here. Then he'll have control of the sports ground."
"The gym near the old school building. Shouldn't we occupy this location first?" Kiba said, voicing her thoughts. "If we capture it here then we will have a route to the new school building. The gym is a passage to both of the buildings so we could also restrain the enemy."
Buchou nodded at Kiba's opinion. "Yes, I also have the same opinion. First we will capture the gym…. In terms of location, the opponent may have his Rook positioned there. Since it's inside a building, it would be better to use the Rook with destructive power over Knight with mobility."
So the plans for strategy began.
"… Yuuki and Koneko. You two set a trap in the forest. Take another map with you and mark the places where you set the trap in. I will make a copy afterwards and give it to everyone."
"Yes."
"… Roger."
Koneko-chan and Kiba left the room straight away and took a map and a weird tool box with them.
"Everyone else will be on standby until they finish setting up the trap. Oh, Akeno."
"Yes."
"After Yuuki and Koneko return, can you cast illusions and mists around the forest and the sky? Of course, a trap that only reacts to Riser's group. The start of the match will be like that. We will have to move around during the mid-game, so I'll leave the mists and illusions to you, Akeno."
"I understand, Buchou." Akeno-san confirmed. The strategy had already begun, but I didn't know what Asia and I were supposed to do.
"Ummm… Buchou? What am I supposed to do?" I thought it was bad that I didn't do anything. I needed to do something!
"Yes. Ise, you are a Pawn so you have to use Promotion."
"Yes!"
I replied to her energetically. Buchou waved her hand towards me.
"Sit here." I sat next to Buchou because she told me to. She then pointed at her thighs. "Lay down here."
Wait! Is that… the legendary "Thigh pillow"!? …I can really use her white thighs as a pillow!? That kind of thing is allowed!?
When I laid my head down… truly there were no words to describe it. Is this the ultimate bliss given to the receiver of the legendary "thigh pillow"?!
"Geez. Why are you crying?"
"Getting a 'thigh pillow' from Buchou… I'm so moved that the tears won't stop. I will never forget this sensation. Sob…I'm happy that I was born."
"If it's just 'thigh pillow', then I will give it to you again. You seriously are an overreacting boy."
This is amazing! Matsuda and Motohama, I feel sorry for you! Never will you experience something like this!
"... would Haruto-san want something like that…?" Asia looked like she was staring off into the distance, her mind clearly on something (or rather someONE) else.
Then Buchou touched my head…
"… I unlocked a seal that I had cast on you."
"Huh? Seal?"
When I was wondering, I felt a change inside my body.
"Do you remember? The talk about where I used all my 8 pieces of Pawns to reincarnate you?"
"Yes."
"At that time, your strength as a devil was low so I had to put a limit on your power as a Pawn. You, who just reincarnated from human, didn't have a body that could endure the power of 8 pieces of Pawns. To put it simply, you would be the strongest after Akeno. So you needed to attain more power or else your body would break. So I just unsealed a bit of the seal."
So there was actually a meaning to that harsh training! I'm glad that I went through that training by training hard!
Buchou patted me on the head. "Ise. You have to beat your opponent even if they are girls, okay? You can't hold back. They won't hold back against you."
"Y-Yes, I understand!"
"That's a good boy. Use the Promotion to change into Queen. The battle will change if you promote into the ultimate Queen."
"But it feels weird for me, who is a guy to turn into a Queen."
I HEARD THAT, ISE! I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP ABOUT THAT!
WHA!
Haruto's sudden voice caused me to jump slightly from surprise. I didn't think that the observers would be watching even now!
There was a sound like a microphone being wrenched out of someone's hands.
Please forgive and ignore that previous interruption.
This time it was Grayfia-san's voice.
Trying to recover from the awkward interruption, Buchou continued. "It's just a name for a role in chess, so you don't have to think too deeply about it. We are already at a disadvantage by having less members than Riser. So you have to prepare yourself to work over the limit. If we lose even a single person, our situation will get even harder."
"Buchou! I will definitely make you the winner!" That's what I thought from the bottom of my heart. My true feeling. Yes, it's better to tell her your actual feelings.
Buchou smiled at me after I told her. "Yes, I will be relying on you. My cute, Ise."