The hours passed and the maids finally returned from their relaxation at the hot springs. But as soon as they walked out, they were welcomed with the sight of all the butlers huddled over a single table.
Not only that, they were quite noisy too.
“No, the best move would be to move the horse there.”
“Ah, but he’ll be captured by the bishop at that point.”
“You’re all missing the point. The young master is just one move away from cornering the King!”
Michael picked up the crude version of the queen piece to capture his opponent’s pawn, cornering the king and giving it no options left other than to surrender.
“Check mate,” Michael said, with a proud smile on his face.
Sebastian didn’t have the cool and dignified aura he always had. The man’s white hair was in disarray as he kept on rubbing his head every time Michael attacked him with his versatile Queen piece. Even his signature mustache looked like it had lost all its wax and ended up sagging to his neck.
“I…I surrender, young master.”
The rest of the butlers applauded at the young master’s convincing win. Sebastian was thoroughly beaten through twenty games, dispelling the thought that this ‘chess’ game was as easy as they thought.
Even though they were all proud of their intellect because of their training as butlers, they couldn’t seem to compare to the young master himself.
At the end, the rest of the butlers were convening with Sebastatian about the next smartest move, but even with their combined help, they couldn’t capture the Queen that decimated their pieces.
“Don’t feel bad. I had a headstart against you, after all.”
Michael peaked at around 1500 in online chess, which was considered quite good for an amateur. He didn’t even have to use ChatJK1 to figure out the moves to defeat Sebastian.
[There were a lot of errors with your end game positioning. Would you like me to point out your mistakes and give you the best moves to do in those situations?]
Not right now. These guys are way too weak to be my opponent right now. Maybe I’ll need your help once they get better. Probably in a hundred years, hahaha.
[I have estimated that Sebastian will be able to beat you in chess within two years. He has shown great talent in it.]
What?!
Michael’s pride was a little bit wounded when he heard that. After all, he spent more than five years playing online chess consistently before he got to the rating he was right now.
“Young master, just one more…just one more game…” Sebastian begged.
“Oh, look at that. The bell’s ringing. Guess I got to go to bed. See ya!” Michael said, moving his ears to the nonexistent sound in the air.
The butlers continued to play amongst themselves until the night came.
But even as Sebastian closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he couldn’t help but see the chess board in his dreams, with the young master opposite him. But even in his sleep, he couldn’t beat the young master.
…
…
…
The next day, Michael created more chess boards and pieces to satisfy the cravings of the butlers.
As soon as the bell rang and their work day ended, they quickly went over to the tables and played chess amongst each other. It was as if a frenzy appeared in the mansion, infecting all the intellectuals who wanted to test their mettle against others.
Sebastian proved himself to be a head above the others, as now he was the one who went undefeated against all the other butlers.
But as they kept playing and playing, the skill level among the butlers got higher and higher. The good camaraderie among them allowed them to learn from each other, with the winner teaching the loser about how to get better.
It wasn’t just them that got addicted, but some of the maids also got acquainted in the game. Castelle was one such person, and she quickly fell in love with the game and the complexity within the moves.
The mansion was now filled with sounds of pieces hitting the board, as well as the occasional yelps as they got their pieces taken because of a mistake.
…
…
…
More days passed and finally, it was time for another shipment of soaps and shampoo to their new customers. After the rich madames and their daughters showed off their new smell to their friends, it immediately sparked an intense desire to get one for themselves.
But because the Reborn soap and shampoo wasn’t available to the market yet, it became some sort of a local legend within the community of wives and madames. This, in turn, pushed demand through the roof.
Castelle was already contacted by the madames that their friends want to buy loads and loads of their product.
Thankfully, Michael was able to foresee this and upped the scale of production on the soap and shampoo.
Now, Castelle was on her way to deliver the crates of soap and shampoo to those new eager customers.
“Oh my! I can even smell it from here,” said a wealthy woman as Castelle dragged the crate right to her doorstep.
“Of course,” replied Castelle with a smile. “That is why Reborn soap and shampoo is so popular right now.”
“Well, I consider myself very fortunate that I was one of the few that can buy this item!”
Castelle smiled.
“Would you like to go in for tea?” asked the Madame, clearly trying to curry favor with Castelle.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose, Madam.”
“Please. It’s no big deal. And, there’s still so much we have to talk about. Some of my friends have been wanting to buy a box for themselves as well, maybe you can help them.”
Castelle, smelling the scent of gold, finally acquiesced and went in for a tea with the Madam.
The two of them sipped chamomile and ate biscuits near the garden.
“Oh…a guest…that’s perhaps the most interesting thing that happened today,” said a well-dressed man lounging in his chair.
“Please forgive my husband. He’s been too bored lately,” said the Madam.
But then, Castelle had an idea. She looked at the Madam’s husband and said,
“Bored, sir? Perhaps I might interest you in a little game called chess?”