It’s troubling if you die, and even if you live, you might cause inconvenience, so when it comes to worrying about someone like that, the feeling becomes rather complicated. Such is the hardship of being employed by such a person.
—
Imagine my surprise—half a month has passed since then. Though Eliza has been receiving instructions for reading, dictation, and recitation via butterfly letters, Lady Agrippina has not returned to the workshop despite still being alive.
—
Then, yesterday during the regular outing, Lord Raizenitz had the both of us siblings dragged off to a tailor’s. When I mustered the courage to ask, all I received in return was an enigmatic smile and a song-like remark: “She is merely taking appropriate medication, you see.”
—
It was terrifying. It was so frightening that I instantly realized, “Ah, you’re the mastermind behind this.” The constant cheerful demeanor from yesterday wasn’t just because we were dressed up in cosplays of her choosing.
—
By the way, I don’t want to recall what happened beyond that. For some reason, that lunatic tried to have me dressed up as a woman. And while saying something incomprehensible like, “I want a feminine outfit that makes it obvious he’s a boy,” they were completely nonsensical. I’ve heard that when someone becomes a ghost, their personality may twist due to grudges against the living. But what in the world happened for them to develop such a twisted fetish?
—
I refused outright, decisively. Though I’ve practically sold off nearly all my pride, there is still a final line to protect, even if it’s for my own benefit. If I sell everything, the only thing left would be to sell my rear, wouldn’t it?
—
Setting aside the troubling memories I want to erase from my mind for the next few decades, today is another day of the blue-sky market.
—
After paying the 25 as token fee, I’ve reached a point where I can comfortably earn four to five silver coins, but my stock of pawns and my pride have nearly run dry. I’ve been doing intensive practice with the “Invisible Hand,” processing four pieces at once during nighttime as a form of ascetic training, but even that doesn’t suffice. When it comes to crafting larger pieces, it takes about two hours with focus, and an hour for the finishing touches and painting, so production has started to lag behind.
—
I’ve been contemplating whether it’s time to shift my focus to commissioned work. As I was pondering this, she appeared today as well. The priest of the God of Night Shadow, cloaked deeply, continues to arrive during our short, predestined meetings.
—
“You’ve come today. Shall we play a round?”
—
“Yes, please.”
—
And so, with the board between us, we faced off in the customary game of rapid chess. As of now, I am leading with a record of four wins and two losses, but given the lack of easy victories, our skill levels will likely even out soon. The more one knows about the opponent, the harder this game becomes.
—
Clack, clack, we exchange moves in perfect timing, the formations shifting, the pieces falling. Determining which pieces to sacrifice, which to pick up, and which to capture within five seconds is challenging. Every misstep has significant impact, but instead of stress, there’s a comfortable tension that feels cleansing to the mind.
—
Still, I wonder what kind of person this priest is. I’ve heard that many who serve and pray to the God of Night Shadow also enjoy this game during their free time, but their casual appearance around this hour is puzzling. Most of the ceremonies and services for the God of Night Shadow start at dusk.
—
They come almost every day, even checking up on days when I’m not present, so they don’t seem to be just any busy underling…
—
Ah, well, we only engage in simulated combat over the board. Asking about their identity might be tasteless. After all, a common foot soldier can still defeat a noble knight in the game.
—
Because of a timing error in my offensive, I fell short by a single move and wasn’t able to checkmate, resulting in me toppling their Emperor. Hmm, I was too fixated on capturing the heir when I should’ve conserved my major pieces. If I had kept at least one knight or dragon—an extremely powerful piece that can move over another piece once in any direction—this wouldn’t have happened.
—
“Did you hold back?”
—
Upon hearing my denial, the priest, who had picked up the Empress piece—a motif inspired by a female vampire—unexpectedly rearranged the pieces while reviewing the game. They recreated the board about fifty moves earlier, quickly advancing several moves, then presented a completely different game state.
—
“If the pawn had pushed through here, couldn’t you have reached the Emperor?”
—
“Yes, that’s true, but capturing the Emperor with a pawn is… improper.”
—
In the southern regions, capturing the Emperor with a pawn is considered disrespectful—hence avoided due to local customs. It’s perfectly fine to put the Emperor in check, but it’s believed that a king’s final moments should be handled by someone of appropriate stature for aesthetics and respect. Finishing the checkmate with a pawn would be regarded as tasteless.
—
Although it isn’t a rule here, I haven’t managed to shake off this habit from my hometown. My inner tabletop RPG player that tells me “Kill them all” clashes with the romantic part that wants to preserve some elegance, and the latter has won over when it comes to the game.
—
“…If that’s your preference, it’s understandable. However, there is no nobility in death.”
—
Her words were contrary to her dissatisfaction as she adjusted the pieces, leaving behind a remark that didn’t seem quite clerical before she stood up.
—
Or, perhaps those words were the most clerical of all?
—
Whatever the case, her refined speech and manner seem quite contradictory, but her utilitarian thought process inspires a certain kind of awe. Though a dagger might be handled by a noble or a commoner, being stabbed in the back still equally ends life for most beings.
—
Still, as a commoner, I’d prefer the nobility to maintain an appropriate dignity, even in their death. Surely, it would be unsettling to see those in control of our futures dying in such trivial manners?
—
“I’ll take my leave, then… and let’s not count this match.”
—
With that, she seemed quite irate to have overlooked a winning move and proclaimed that it should not count. Though personally, I think it counts just fine as a victory…
—
Ah, but the surprising thing is this: despite visiting frequently and behaving as though the outcome didn’t matter, it seems she’s been secretly keeping track of our win/loss record.
—
How delightful, or otherwise… She behaves like a graceful lady but has quite a childish side.
—
As I was considering such impolite thoughts, I sent off her retreating back…
—
[Note] Pawn Checkmate. A local rule from the south originating near the birthplace of the Founding Emperor Richard. In the southern Threefold Empire, it’s acceptable for pawns to put the Emperor in check but not to deliver the final checkmate. This is cited among political scholars as an example of imperial popularity influencing games.
The gap between fixed and immortal beings runs deep, particularly in how they perceive “life.”
It’s not simply about living long or leisurely; time usage and one’s approach to living diverge entirely.
Humans occasionally neglect sleep and food for entertainment, but we still need to eat, excrete, and rest to make the most out of our hobbies.
Fundamentally, humans exist to live, with every other activity being supplementary. Without the premise of life, the rest wouldn’t exist.
However, those without mortality differ.
Long-lived beings don’t require food, and even vampires’ sole sustenance—blood—isn’t necessary for mere survival. With high base stats and obsessive goals, “living” becomes a mere appendage to their leisure.
There’s such a difference in the essence of life.
—
“Your grace, if we can open a space and transfer objects, couldn’t we select and transfer accordingly? Thus, forming a tube-shaped barrier…”
—
Facing the perpetually energetic and fast-talking handsome man, the outsider reflected on how much time had passed while maintaining their intelligent thoughts.
—
“By constructing a spatial transition array at one end and using limited transfer to squeeze out air?”
—
“Absolutely! You’re sharp, your grace! And using anti-gravity arrays to “sideways drop” the ship, we could do without thrust or worry about air resistance, couldn’t we? How about it, am I not a genius!? Regular routes would make airships the fastest means of transportation in the world!”
—
“Indeed, an excellent idea, sir. Provided we overlook the point that, at this stage, even a thousand of us combined wouldn’t have enough mana.”
—
How long had they continued their unnecessarily high-concept, dreamy, needlessly complex, and impractical magical theory discussion? Even if immortal beings who theoretically live forever disregard the passage of time, their constant talk and testing of theories disrupts one’s sense of timing.
Though Agrippina wasn’t uninterested or lacking in stimulation, the time spent was burdensome. Facing someone whose presence could socially or physically extinguish her wasn’t pleasant for her disposition. Further, their adept tactic of sparking her curiosity and drawing out her thoughts was annoying.
—
It wasn’t appropriate to remain silent before such nobility, yet asking “When will we finally get to the topic?” required an equal amount of courage.
After discussing numerous magical theories and intertwining their sense of time and thought through debates, the vampire joyously slapped their thigh and formed a youthful smile.
—
“My, what a meaningful time indeed! Naturally, I couldn’t stay idle when faced with troubling matters.”
—
The main subject had been the drawbacks of airships.
It had been only fifty years since the foundational theory’s completion and the maiden voyage of the first ship, the Yadviga, which suffered a terrible incident involving young dragons. Thirty years later, the second ship, the Creamhilt, encountered a tragic failure with repeated attacks from dragons and griffin-like creatures during low-altitude stabilization experiments, reminding the world of the difficulty in simply flying.
What’s needed is a method of stable flight, protection from enemies, and the capability to reliably reach destinations, even alone. A vehicle’s value comes from its ability to return, not merely its departure.
But meeting these conditions is extraordinarily difficult. Humans are inherently earth-bound beings. Attempting unnatural feats comes with its burdens.
Initially, the sir had considered spatial transition for barriers or short-distance escapes, mentioning he just wanted to “get an opinion” from an introduced expert.
Thinking to wrap up the discussion quickly—by their standards—their interest had only grown more fervent. The guards waiting outside were truly “waiting and waiting” in hopes of their departure.
—
“Ah, yes… if the professor found some joy in this discourse, then the knowledge from this novice can be deemed worthwhile.”
—
“Come now, don’t belittle yourself, your grace. Nonetheless, it’s quite perplexing that someone with your talent remains hidden.”
—
Just as Agrippina began to feel relieved that the end was near, the sir gathered his papers with a dreamy gaze.
—
“Each of these—magic-based thermal dissipation, proposing non-axiomatic concepts in spatial systems, and the non-contradictory coexistence in theoretical magic—these are all themes worthy for any scholar to dedicate a lifetime of research. How unfortunate they’ve been summarized into mere essays!”
—
The passionate breathing was heating his vampire mind to the point of orgasmic fervor. The outsider immediately recognized the danger—”Ah, this is bad!”—and instinctively attempted to use a spatial transition to escape.
—
It was a few seconds too late, it seemed.
—
“This must be fate. Rest assured, I’ll ensure you’re properly introduced to the faculty under my name! I can imagine how difficult it must have been as the daughter of a foreign noble, but worry not! As one of the three imperial houses, Erlstraich will support you! Ungraceful titles like these occasionally prove useful!”
—
The outsider heard a sound like something crumbling in their mind.
—
Academics is a role the outsider deliberately chose to maintain.
Without the professorial duty of lecturing, they could avoid forming cliques or getting closer to the elite, yet still had sufficient rights to conduct research and experiments as they wished and enjoyed the privilege of accessing archives. With the financial support of their family, this was a perfect position for research.
—
Honor is unnecessary. Money is redundant. Fame is unneeded. That’s why, despite having skills that would typically place them under intense scrutiny and forced into an academic position, the outsider had happily evaded attention thanks to their life-praising ideology.
—
“No, it’s wasteful to confine a talent like this within academia… wouldn’t it be better as an assistant for my daughter… or as a minister…”
—
Hearing the dangerous thoughts about how many unreasonable demands they might make, an even more alarming idea flashed in the outsider’s mind.
—
Would killing this person and fleeing make everything disappear?
—
It wouldn’t, would it… it certainly wouldn’t… The gentle reasonability sighed in resignation, and Agrippina imagined the twisted laughter of a life-exalting ghost…
—
[Note] Normally, researchers dream of shocking the academic world with sensational research themes and writing intriguing papers that others will scramble to read, purely because acknowledgment is necessary for professorial endorsements. By concealing their research, staying in their current position would have been achievable, but…
—
Things have been hectic lately, and my physical strength didn’t hold up after overtime, so the updates paused, but I’m still hanging on.
—
For RPGs, it’s typical that NPCs end up in nasty situations due to another introduction and cry to the PCs for help. Even a master detective, despite probably having an 18 or so in their Charisma stat, can’t do much against a suspiciously handsome suitor.
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I’ve also started tweeting small anecdotes and leftover settings on Twitter. If you’re interested, feel free to follow and take a peek.
