By Zephyria 
Without a word, Chrissy brought his hand to his waist. Nathaniel watched silently as his fingers slowly opened the buckle and pulled one strap of the belt. The clink of metal hitting metal sounded unusually loud. Chrissy didn’t want to reveal that he felt uncomfortable under that gaze, so he loosened the belt with a casual air, as if it were nothing. After a few coarse metallic sounds, he pulled the long, snake-like cheap leather from his waist. Then, as if to make a point, he dropped it on the floor and spoke while staring straight at the man opposite him.
“There, satisfied now?”
At the provocative question, the corners of Nathaniel’s mouth relaxed. For some reason, he looked genuinely amused. Despite the fact that he must have played countless chess games like this before.
“May I ask a personal question?”
When Chrissy asked before restarting the game, Nathaniel nodded, a smile still lingering on his lips.
“By all means.”
Chrissy had thought he might be more reluctant to answer personal questions, so this was unexpected. Chrissy spoke calmly.
“Why did you quit chess? Your record was quite impressive.”
In truth, he had completely vanished from the chessboard after his teens. One might think he quit to carry on the family business, but based on the Nathaniel Miller Chrissy had seen so far, there was likely another reason. An answer like ‘to become a lawyer, as per family tradition’ would be far too mundane.
“I’m sure it wasn’t just to devote yourself to your legal work.”
When he added that deliberately, Nathaniel let out a short laugh.
“You know me well.”
He said that, but he was wrong. Chrissy knew nothing about Nathaniel Miller. All he knew was that the man before him was bored to the point of madness. Thus, his guess about the reason was based solely on that.
“I just thought such a reason would be too simple.”
As he answered in a dry tone, Nathaniel shrugged one shoulder as if it didn’t matter.
“It just became tedious.”
As expected, he continued nonchalantly.
“Winning offered no pleasure, and I grew tired of the tedious way time was dragged out. I wondered if there was something new, but there was no such thing, so I simply chose the guaranteed path.”
“For someone like you, starting a new law firm or taking an entirely new path wouldn’t have been bad. You had the environment prepared for it.”
Did Ashley Miller oppose it, perhaps?
At the sudden thought, Nathaniel answered readily.
“I felt it wouldn’t have made a difference either way. I hated the idea of things becoming troublesome even more.”
Then, with a faint smile, he gazed at Chrissy.
“Thanks to that, an event like this happened, so it wasn’t a bad choice.”
Should he be glad that he could at least be the one to soothe this man’s boredom? Chrissy felt a complex mix of emotions, but he steadied his mind, deciding that as long as he got what he wanted, that was enough.
“It’s my turn now, right?”
When he shifted the topic, the man in his ear spoke immediately upon hearing Chrissy’s voice.
“Move the pawn to F3.”
Chrissy silently moved the piece. After placing the pawn, he stole a glance at Nathaniel, but saw no particular change. After Nathaniel moved the queen, Chrissy moved the rook. During the few exchanges that followed, nothing unusual occurred.
Was it just a natural sequence of moves?
Chrissy pondered, half-doubting. For someone with Nathaniel’s talent for chess, reading an opponent’s move would be easy. If he thought his intentions had simply been seen through, then it wasn’t something to be surprised by, nor something to be anxious about.
Anyway, all that matters is winning the match.
Whether that man noticed or found something out didn’t matter. The result was what counted.
Just as he thought that, an unexpected opportunity arrived.
“Take the rook at D2 with the knight!”
An excited voice rang in his ear. Chrissy immediately moved the knight and knocked over Nathaniel’s rook.
“Yes!”
The man cheered with joy. Only after losing an important rook did Nathaniel show a reaction for the first time.
“Oh dear.”
All he did was frown and let out a short sigh, but even that was a great achievement. Chrissy immediately removed Nathaniel’s rook from the board and posed the next question.
“What is the ‘Son of the Moon’?”
The reason he didn’t ask if he knew was that he didn’t want to waste time on a meaningless question. This man knew. Definitely, absolutely.
Chrissy stared straight at Nathaniel, but the man remained silent for a moment, still looking down at the chessboard with a frown. Just as Chrissy thought that losing the rook must have been quite a shock, Nathaniel spoke.
“You should have asked ‘who’ it is, not ‘what’ it is.”
“What?”
It was a person? That?
Chrissy almost let out a sigh of frustration at his own mistake. He had been certain it was the name of some organization or group, but it was a person? Then whose?
He was anxious, but the opportunity for the question had already passed. There was no choice but to capture the next piece. Chrissy focused on the game again.
The next piece was the bishop. When he easily knocked over Nathaniel’s piece, the man frowned again and muttered something softly. Without dwelling on what those words were, Chrissy immediately asked his question.
“Who is the Child of the Moon?”
As he asked urgently, Nathaniel scanned the chessboard and replied.
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
At the unexpected answer, Chrissy unintentionally raised his voice. However, contrary to the flustered Chrissy, Nathaniel continued to focus on the board, speaking in an indifferent tone.
“I don’t know either. I’ve simply heard the name.”
Damn, he had wasted another opportunity. Chrissy pressed his hand to his forehead. He thought he was finally about to uncover the truth, only for it to slip away again.
Though momentarily discouraged, he regained his composure and immersed himself in the game. Next, he took a pawn, and then the remaining rook. Chrissy was inwardly bewildered by the consecutive opportunities. Winning this easily? How?
The opponent was a former chess champion, and none other than Nathaniel Miller. It was unimaginable for this man to be pushed into such a defensive position. Especially against a novice like Chrissy.
But in reality, the opponent wasn’t Chrissy, but a computer. Humans simply cannot beat computers. Especially in a match requiring such thorough calculation. Nathaniel Miller’s stiff expression was the proof.
Surprisingly, when he knocked over the queen, Chrissy became certain of his theory. This man was clearly being rendered helpless.
As he thought this, excitement surged. To regain his composure, Chrissy deliberately clenched his fist tightly. As the nails dug into his palm and he felt pain, his mind cooled down somewhat. Now he had to choose the remaining questions carefully. There weren’t many opportunities left.
The Child of the Moon is the organizer of some secret gathering. Nathaniel Miller had merely been invited and attended; he had never actually seen the man. Regarding Detective Simmons, he had only heard that some detective had infiltrated to uncover the gathering and had been caught.
That was the extent of the answers obtained from Nathaniel. What he needed now was information about that gathering. Then, a name this man had mentioned once came to mind.
“James Barry.”
He murmured the name softly to himself, then spoke it again, this time with emphasis.
“Who is James Barry? What is his relationship to that gathering?”
His tone was somewhat faster than before, but he couldn’t help it. At Chrissy’s question, Nathaniel chuckled and said,
“Please ask only one question, Prosecutor.”
As if reading Chrissy’s impatience, he was composed. Indeed, since Chrissy was the only one desperate in this game, it was a natural reaction. Instead of glaring at him, Chrissy took a short breath in and out, then spoke in a subdued voice.
“Who is James Barry?”
At the calm question, Nathaniel wore a faint smile and spoke.
“An author. He wrote a famous book.”
At those words, Chrissy frowned and stared at him.