I Stole the Heroines’ Tragedy Flags

"Chess, huh, it’s been a while."
"How long has it been?"
"The last time I played with Sharin... was that 30 years ago?"

Maybe it was because I knew her age, but despite it being quite a long time, 30 years seemed like nothing to her. It felt like an instant for her.
"Shall we go with the most basic, Empire-style?"
"I don't mind."

"Then—"
Click!
With the sound, a chessboard appeared on the table. It was the most widely known Empire-style chessboard in this world. It looked almost identical to the chessboards I used to play with in my past life.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than .net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
I looked at the chessboard with interest, but subtly glanced at her. Until just a moment ago, she seemed somewhat indifferent, but as soon as the chessboard appeared, her face brightened noticeably. I had already known that chess had a lot of significance for her.
‘If only she would smile like that more often...’

"Are you good at chess?"
"I never lost once during my adventurer days."
"Hmm~ Really? That’s just perfect."

Finally, she showed an expression more fitting for her appearance, like a child. I wondered what the real reason for that bright smile was. Was it simply because she enjoyed the game?
"I’ll let you go first."
"Thank you."

No matter what, I had to win at least once to ask my questions. I reached out and picked up one of the pieces on the chessboard.
.
.
.

"Checkmate."
"…"
With her single word, the first round ended in an instant. The sight of my king being effortlessly defeated by a knight was pitiful.

‘I kinda expected it... but damn, she’s really good.’
No matter how much chess I had played, I could never beat her with just a few years of experience. Even though I had been playing it almost daily for years, she had likely played for thousands of years. Every time I made a move, she had already calculated several moves ahead.
Like the old adventurers used to say, our skill levels were on entirely different planes.

"Heh, that was easy~?"
"...I lost."
"Then, I get one question from you, right?"

"What do you want to ask?"
"Shall we move on to the next round? I’ll win again anyway, so you can ask all your questions at once later."
"..."

For some reason, hearing her words sparked a strange competitive urge in me. After hearing that, I really wanted to land a hit on her.
"Then, should we change the chessboard?"
"Huh? You can play other versions too?"

"Let’s switch to Caldeia-style chess."
Caldeia. It was the name of a region inhabited by beastkin, a different race that ruled part of the continent.
"...Did you have ties with the beastkin? This style of chess is hard for the Empire people to understand."

"It’s the one I’m most confident in."
"You’re truly an odd one."
I used to play chess with the tribal leaders when I was in the beastkin territory, so this was the version I knew best.

Click.
"Checkmate... That makes it 11-0, huh?"
"..."

I looked sadly at my pieces, now scattered across the board. Instead of landing a hit on the headmaster, I had ended up being defeated 11 times.
‘What the hell? Did she have an AI programmed into her head? How is there not a single mistake?!’
"...Should we call it quits? We've covered most of the chess rules."

"..."
"It was fun though. I never imagined you’d know niche versions like Spirit Chess or Teeth Chess."
She looked genuinely happy, with a smile unlike her usual demeanor. …Meanwhile, I was dying inside.

"Are you really going to send me off without telling me anything?"
"Of course. I said I’d answer your questions if you won, right? You didn’t win, so it’s over."
"..."

"Actually, since I won 11 times, I should be the one asking the questions~?"
She said that with half-closed eyes, and I really wanted to smack her.
‘Damn it, what should I do...?’

Knowing her twisted personality, there was a good chance she wouldn’t tell me anything. She had too much confidence.
‘But I don’t want to leave here with nothing.’
Fortunately, I still had one card left to grab her attention. It might have been a bit early, but I finally made my decision.

"...One more round."
"Here? The rules are almost the same for all the other versions, so the result won’t change."
"Let’s play Randell-style chess."

Click.
The headmaster, who had been lazily eating candy on the sofa, froze in place. She even dropped the candy from her hand and looked at me with wide eyes.
"...What did you just say?"

"Randell-style chessboard. You have one, don’t you?"
"..."
"Let’s play a round with that."

It was almost like a gamble, but I threw down my final challenge.
"Alright, it’s set up."
"...Oh."

While I was distracted for a moment, the chessboard was already set up. Unlike the typical Empire-style chess, this one had a different size and the pieces were anything but ordinary. They looked almost dragon-like.
"I’ll let you go first. The victory conditions... you already know, right?"
"Yes."

In Randell-style chess, there were no kings or queens. Therefore, the victory condition was to eliminate all the pieces. In other words, it was a total annihilation game.
"...Then, let’s begin."
"Yes."

With that reply, a heavy silence filled the air. Unlike before when we were casually playing for fun, the atmosphere between us was now tense.
I silently moved my piece in the quiet, focusing on my next move.
Click.

The sound marked the beginning of our intense game.
.
.

.
Click.
The irregular sound of pieces moving filled the air. She and I naturally continued the game, like water flowing.

‘Tch, it’s going to be hard to win just by straightforward tactics.’
Click.
Randell-style chess had the most complicated structure of all the chess variations. With various types of pieces, terrain effects with different layers, and region-specific bonuses tied to color, it was far more challenging than Empire-style chess.

It was almost a completely different game.
"You’re actually pretty good at this."
With her turn finished, the headmaster spoke in a dry voice, offering me a compliment.

"...Could you go a little easier on me?"
"Why would I?"
"You’re trying so hard to beat a young student..."

"I take everything seriously."
Click.
My turn ended, and it was her turn again. The situation on the board was, as usual, one-sided despite her earlier praise. More than half of my pieces were gone, while hers were still at around 70% intact. At this rate, the game would end in no time.

‘This method might pull too much attention, but...’
I steeled myself and continued moving my pieces.
"Hey."

While I was carefully making my moves, she fiddled with a piece and spoke again.
"You’ve lost to me every time so far, so why not ask me one question?"
"...What is it?"

She stared at the piece in her hand for a moment, then glanced at me and said.
"Since you know about Randell-style chess, do you know its origin?"
"...A little. I’ve heard some things while learning it back then."

"Explain."
"Suddenly?"
"Hurry."

"...Well, let me think..."
Randell-style chess. Another name for it... was "Chess Created by Dragons."
Long before the Empire was even founded, dragons actually existed in this world. The land they inhabited was called Randell, which in dragon language meant "Dragon."

They were so full of self-love that they created pieces modeled after their own form, adding several fun elements to create the Randell-style chess we know today. The dragon kin played this game right up until their extinction.
"And the Dragon Wars... is a great catastrophe that everyone learns about when studying the history of the continents."
"..."

The full details of the story were never passed down. For some reason, they fought and killed each other, eventually leading to their extinction.
"Most people believe that. But those who know about Randell-style chess, they think differently."
Those who had only skimmed over the Dragon Wars in their studies believed that the dragon kin had completely vanished. But those who knew more details understood that this wasn’t true.

"Originally, Randell-style chess was only known to the dragon kin. And the way this chess style became known among humans was after the Dragon Wars."
"..."
"So, the one who spread this chess style across the continent... probably wasn’t a dragon, right? Although no one has seen a dragon since the war."

"...I guess. They all died in the war—"
"Not all of them."
While many dragons died in the war, some undoubtedly survived. If so, where did they go? I moved the last piece I had left on the chessboard.

‘Thank goodness I managed to make the right move.’
Click!
"...This is."

"In Randell-style chess, there’s a special way to win, right?"
This wasn’t a rule that existed from the beginning. It was likely a rule added by the dragon who spread the chess style across the continent.
"How did you—"

"When only one special piece remains, if you place it on a specific square, you win."
That specific square was the one where I had just placed my last piece. There was a familiar word written on it.
[ Ella ]

Ella Academy, and the neutral land where the academy stood. This chessboard was modeled after the lands that were split before the continents of Albrasia merged due to the aftermath of the war.
And Ella Academy was the last trace of that war.
"The dragons weren’t extinct. They were just sent to a distant, different dimension."

"..."
"And even now, the dragon kin still remain in this world."
I looked at the chess piece that remained in my hand. It was the most insignificant piece on the board, with the weakest ability of all the pieces.

When this chess was created, she was just a young hatchling.
But given the special conditions now, this piece would hold special significance.
I remembered her character name from the setting book.

[ Exiled of My Kin - Dimension Dragon Lily ]
She had exiled her own kin to that far-off dimension.
And now, she waits endlessly here to meet them again.

Ella. In the dragon language, it means "Waiting."
Ella Academy was both her responsibility and the prison of waiting for her dream of liberation.