"Would you like some biscuit?"
I nudged the tin across the table as we settled into our seats.
Ai barely glanced at it.
"No, I am fine."
Her fingers were already resting on one of her pawns as though she wanted the game finished before it had even begun.
I withdrew the tin and popped one into my mouth.
Crunch.
The room was quiet enough for the sound to carry.
The Liaison Building always seemed to swallow noise. Even when people spoke, the walls somehow kept everything subdued.
A little unsettling, if I was being honest.
Across the room, Miss Noi continued working at her typewriter.
Click.
Click-clack.
Pause.
Click.
The rhythm had become part of the furniture.
Ai sat opposite me with her back straight, silver ears twitching occasionally whenever someone moved or spoke. My experience with cultivators remained rather limited. Most of what I knew came from stories, hearsay, and the handful of individuals I had met.
Which was why she felt strange.
Not because she was a cultivator.
Because she refused to fit neatly into the image I had formed.
I wondered if she would let me play with her ears and tail if I won.
The thought appeared suddenly.
My leg immediately began bouncing beneath the table.
Probably unrelated.
Maybe.
"Who do you think would win?"
Mr Bao's voice drifted over from his desk.
He had set his pen down and was watching us with mild interest.
Qiang looked up from his book and actually considered the question. His gaze moved from Ai to me and back again.
"I'm not sure."
The answer seemed disappointingly reasonable.
A wooden tap sounded.
Ai had already moved.
No hesitation.
No deliberation.
Just confidence.
The kind that was either earned or incredibly annoying.
Miss Noi glanced over without stopping her typing.
"Pawn to d4."
I blinked.
Was that what the squares were called?
I still could not remember them properly. The board made perfect sense while looking at it and immediately stopped making sense once someone started naming coordinates.
I leaned forward.
"Hmm."
My fingers found a pawn.
"Pawn to e6."
Qiang nodded slightly.
Apparently that was correct.
Ai immediately pushed another piece.
"Pawn to c4."
Then she looked up.
"So, are you a mage?"
The question caught me off guard.
The game had barely begun.
"No."
I moved another piece.
"I am not."
Her gaze returned to the board.
A knight moved.
The pieces clicked softly against the wood.
"I see."
Another move.
"And you are clearly not a cultivator."
I stared.
Then sighed.
A pawn disappeared.
I had taken one of hers.
"Are you just going to be interrogating me?"
Ai's lips curved slightly.
"Can I not get to know you?"
I immediately looked up.
"I thought I was an uncultured foreigner."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Silence.
Even the typewriter paused.
Part of me immediately regretted saying it.
Not enough to take it back.
Ai blinked.
Then her shoulders lowered slightly.
"Ah."
She looked genuinely embarrassed.
"I apologize. I spoke out of turn."
I wasn't entirely convinced.
Still, it was more than I had expected.
I adjusted my hair and moved my knight.
The game continued.
The board slowly became crowded. Pieces developed. Pawns advanced. Plans formed.
At least on one side of the board.
Possibly not mine.
"Do you play chess often?" Ai asked.
I frowned at the position.
"I did not think you would know how to play chess."
Her smirk immediately returned.
"Not only chess."
Another move.
"But also Go and Shogi."
The smirk somehow became even more annoying.
I stared at it.
Briefly.
Very briefly.
I should have slapped her pretty face during the duel.
The thought arrived with surprising clarity.
Then vanished.
Mostly.
I moved a bishop.
She responded immediately.
The game settled into a rhythm.
Move.
Question.
Move.
Answer.
Move.
Silence.
"What else are you interested in, Victoria?"
Her queen attacked one of my pieces.
I frowned.
"Novels."
The answer came easily.
Perhaps too easily.
I searched for something else.
Nothing came.
I had hobbies.
Probably.
Maybe.
The realization was mildly concerning.
I pushed a pawn.
The game opened further.
Pieces exchanged.
The center became messy.
Ai seemed to know exactly what she wanted.
I mostly knew what I wanted to avoid.
Which felt different.
Not ideal, either.
My leg continued bouncing beneath the table.
I ignored it.
The board demanded attention.
Ai captured another pawn.
I immediately recaptured.
Tea sat beside my elbow.
Forgotten.
Cooling.
Waiting.
"So..."
I leaned back slightly.
"What kind of cultivator are you?"
Ai moved without looking up.
"I am from a sect in the south."
I stared.
That answered absolutely nothing.
It was somehow worse than saying yes.
There was a pause while I tried to interpret the response.
Failed.
Then failed again.
"How many sects are there?"
Ai castled.
"There are five major sects."
Her fingers released the king.
"The Sect of the Blazing Light is one of them."
"Oh."
That was at least an actual answer.
I picked up my tea.
The cup felt pleasantly warm.
I took a sip.
Then immediately regretted it.
"Ouch."
The liquid hit my tongue.
Far hotter than expected.
I nearly dropped the cup.
"What happened?"
Qiang looked up.
"Nothing."
I placed the tea down very carefully.
My tongue disagreed.
Ai said nothing.
She simply moved.
The game continued.
Mr Bao had returned to writing.
Miss Noi had resumed typing.
The room settled into a comfortable quiet.
Paper rustled.
Pages turned.
Keys clicked.
Outside the window, the grey afternoon slowly drifted toward evening.
People really did a lot of reading in this era.
The thought arrived as I noticed every single person in the room holding either a book, a document, or something equally educational.
Meanwhile I was playing chess.
And burning my tongue.
A proud representative of intellectual excellence.
Ai developed another bishop.
The piece slid forward with purpose.
One of my knights suddenly became very uncomfortable.
I moved a pawn.
She retreated.
I advanced.
She attacked again.
The pressure built gradually.
Not dramatic.
Not obvious.
Just persistent.
The kind that only became apparent when you realized three pieces were staring at the same square.
I frowned.
The board looked dangerous.
Something about the position felt wrong.
My knight retreated.
Then she immediately checked my king.
The realization arrived one second before the move.
The bishop landed.
Ai looked up.
Smirking.
Again.
I narrowed my eyes.
The game had become serious.
At least to me.
Especially to me.
The board slowly emptied.
One exchange became two.
Then three.
Then five.
Pawns disappeared.
Minor pieces vanished.
The center dissolved.
The position transformed.
At some point, conversation stopped entirely.
Nobody interrupted.
Nobody commented.
The only sounds were pieces moving and the occasional turn of a page.
The game looked hopeless.
Then promising.
Then hopeless again.
I lost track.
All I knew was that somewhere along the way I had ended up with very little left.
A queen.
A rook.
A bishop.
Two pawns.
That was it.
Ai's position looked significantly healthier.
More pieces.
More space.
More options.
I didn't like those odds.
Then she moved a pawn.
A tiny move.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing flashy.
Just one square.
I stared.
Looked again.
Counted.
Checked.
Counted again.
My heart jumped.
There.
A weakness.
A line.
A move she had overlooked.
Or maybe I was seeing things.
I leaned closer.
The position unfolded inside my head.
One move.
Then another.
Then another.
A fork.
Forced responses.
Checks.
Limited squares.
The realization spread slowly.
No.
Not slowly.
Relentlessly.
I looked up.
Ai was already staring at the board.
She had seen it too.
Her expression shifted.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
The confidence disappeared.
For the first time all game, she looked uncertain.
The room seemed quieter.
Miss Noi stood, walked over, and looked down at the board.
"Finally."
She folded her arms.
"After thirty-two moves, we have a winner."
Ai did not move.
The board remained untouched.
The result was obvious.
Any move led to the same ending.
I sat very still.
Then a smile tore across my face.
Victory.
Actual victory.
Not accidental survival.
Victory.
A ridiculous amount of satisfaction hit me all at once.
"It would seem you won."
Ai tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear.
I looked back at the board.
Honestly?
I had not played particularly well.
Several moves had been terrible.
Some had been outright suspicious.
But a win was still a win.
And I had never claimed to be a knight in shining armor.
I would happily accept a victory earned through someone else's mistake.
The room had grown darker.
The weak winter sun was gone.
Only lamps illuminated the office now, casting warm pools of light across desks and papers.
Outside the windows, evening had fully arrived.
"You lost."
Qiang's smile was tiny.
Almost invisible.
But it existed.
Ai glared.
Only slightly.
"We should return to the hotel."
He stood and closed his book.
"A rematch."
Ai pointed at me.
The declaration sounded more like a challenge than a request.
I immediately nodded.
"Of course."
The next victory would be even better.
Hopefully.
Or at least less stressful.
"What do you even want for your win anyway?" Ai asked.
I paused.
A grin slowly appeared.
The answer came to mind instantly.
Several answers, actually.
None of which I intended to share.
"I'll tell you next time."
That only seemed to make her more suspicious.
Good.
Mr Bao finally stood and stretched.
"We should also head home."
I remembered the Jokers.
The mission.
The reason we were all here.
The questions we still did not have answers to.
The pleasant mood dimmed slightly.
I looked at him.
He simply shrugged.
Nothing more.
No explanation.
No clarification.
Just a shrug.
I sighed.
That felt increasingly familiar.
Outside, the night greeted us with cold air and silver moonlight.
The city lights glowed in the distance. Carriages rolled along damp streets while people hurried home beneath coats and scarves.
We had spent the entire day accomplishing almost nothing.
No missions.
No revelations.
No great discoveries.
Just waiting.
Reading.
Talking.
Playing chess.
Yet as I stepped into the cold and watched my breath drift into the darkness, I found myself smiling.
Maybe not every day needed to be important.
It had been a good day.