'The cat talked ......'
'Cool, cool ......!

There was a cat sitting on a table at the same height as my gaze.
A white cat with good fur. It looked like this.

I am a priest of the cat goddess Nyat See. You should respect me.

We looked at each other and bowed our heads.

'Ha-ha-ha'.
''Ha-ha-ha''

'They are surprisingly honest. Or maybe they're just in a good mood?

The latter.

The talking cat is dressed like a priest, as he says. Even though it is a cat. Even though he is a quadruped.

But he's good enough to listen to us. Humans these days have 'guild newspapers' and don't listen to me at all.

Blurting cat.
I, who can think of it, grunts.

'The guild newspaper. ......'.
'Didn't get to see a bit of it. ......'

Prine gave me the same scowl.
There had been a little incident yesterday morning.

So, Cat Priestess. Where are we?

When I asked him to proceed with the story, he answered with a meow.

He meows and replies, 'The second floor of the pyramid. There's a window there, isn't there?

At the tip of the paw that the cat priest raised, there was a small rectangular hole that looked like a window. I looked into it and saw the slope of the pyramid and the desert below.

'I thought we came down the underground stairs.
''It's indeed a dungeon, isn't it?
''As usual.''

I'm so dumbfounded.

The cat priest speaks.

'By courtesy of Master Nyat-Sea, I'm going to give you humans some advice. I'm grateful.

'Ha-ha-ha'.
Ha-ha-ha.

We bowed again, and suddenly the cat priest began to sing.

'Love's game Pyramid~ Sleeping Queen of Curses~ If you push and it doesn't work, try to pull~ '
What are you singing about?
'Cute~'

'Pyramid song meow! Don't you know?
'I've never heard of it.
'Cute~'

'This is a hint. This is a hint to get a certain item that lies ahead. Nyat-sama is so kind to write such a wonderful song for us humans.
'A certain item?'
What's that?

Well, you'll know it when you see it. It's just what you humans would like. But... the item is powerful, but it attracts huge enemies. The cat priest recommends that you sell it off to the guild, since they'll pay a good price for it if you take it to them. --Especially you fat-chested mage!

'Mmm, fat chest ....... Yes, what is it?

'You seem to have mastered Master Nhat Xi's cape coat. You're still young, but you're not so bad, I'll give you that.
'Thank you very much ......?'
'But I can sense a little bit of magic in you. I dare say you're in heat.
'is, estrus ......'
'I know you've had a hard time with all these different males courting you, but it's only going to get worse.
'Oh no. ......'

It is said that Prine's magical nature is raised by the item that lies ahead. Give me a break. What if the devil comes.

'Don't you rather not need that item ......?
Well, you don't have to take it or not. After all, it's only money.
'That's a little too much.

So, what are you doing? Regardless of the item, there are powerful guardians in the next level. You should cooperate with the people around you to get through.
'You mean raid battle ......'

That's what the humans say. I'm done giving advice. Let's get on with it! I even saved it for you!

Apparently, this was also a save point.

'Aah, thank you!
Thank you, Cat Priest!

'Nyahu. May the blessings of Lord Nyat See be with you.

A cat priest makes a praying gesture with his left and right paws attached to each other.
We imitate the same gesture and pray in return.
And so we continued on.



After a while, we came to a door.
We checked to make sure there were no traps--there were.
Underfoot. The kind that activates when you step on it.

Prine, get back.
Yes!
'A little further back ....... Just a little further back.



Seeing that my partner has retreated to the safe zone, I step on the switch.
Click. I hear a sound somewhere,

--Boo-hoo!

An oversized sickle came at me from overhead. But..,

'Tei'.

I easily catch it between my fingers. It doesn't matter if you know what you're doing. I mean, with my high plain level, I don't think it would hurt me even if it hit me.

Ra-kun, that's great!
'I'm an ex-sheikh and a martial artist.

Prine rushes over to me and hugs me, and I open the door. There was no more trap.

It was a small room.
On a table-like table, there was a square board, and on the board were numerous objects.
Simply put, it was a board game.
There was nothing else. No doors, no windows.
In other words, you are supposed to play this board game. .......

Is this "Wangqi" ......?

It is an old board game in the kingdom where players take turns to move pieces one against one, and the first one to get the king's piece wins. However,

There are not so many pieces for a game like 'Boom! I mean, who are you going to play with? Should I play with Prine?

There are only about four pieces on the board. One of them has a sword, a spear, and a bow, while the other has only one king. How am I supposed to fight with this?

Prine appears next to me, looking at me quizzically.

'Maybe this is ...... "Tsume-oh-gi", Ra-kun.
What's that?
It is a game in which you have to find a king move with a limited number of pieces. Yeah,...... yeah. For example, this is ......'

Prine's hand reaches out and grabs the piece with his fingers.
She moves the pieces with her fingers in a slow, sloppy motion, and then...

'Yes, that's a winning hand.

Prine then places the sword piece in front of the king. And then..,



The door, which had been completely integrated into the wall, opened with a ground-shaking sound.

I see. It's not how to fight, but how to kill, is the procedure, isn't it?
Oh, that's right. Good.
'That's what I'm talking about, Prine! Good, good, good.'
'Heh heh heh, heh heh heh!
'I didn't know you could play O-Gi.'
'I knew the rules. I'd never played before.
'That's great.
'That's because it was easy!

Head for the door that opens.
There's another small room.

'So, another Wangqi.

I sighed with disappointment.
The room seemed to be twice as big as the previous one, and there was a table with an O-go board sitting on it.

'The pieces are getting bigger, aren't they ......?
'I hope it's not the one that gets bigger and bigger. ......'

The number of pieces this time is eight. Two of them are outside the board. I guess they want us to use them in the right places.

Like this. ......?

Before I could give up, Prine, who had thought for only two seconds, moved her pieces quickly.

She makes her opponent take her sword, which can only move forward, and gets her bow, which allows her to move diagonally as far as she can. Using the bow, he made a move from a distance.

Zugogo .......

The door opens.
I look at it and mutter to myself in dismay.

'Prine, you're awesome after all......'.
'Heh heh heh. Wangqi, this could be interesting.

Next room.

It was just as I had feared.

'It's too big, no matter how big it is. ......'

There was a very large piece, the size of a man, and a board big enough to hold it, laid out before us.

The room has a high ceiling, and there is a gazebo right next to the wall. It seems that we were supposed to see the whole scene from there.

So, it's me who moves this big piece,' he said.
'Sorry, Ra-kun, I'm sorry. ......'
'I mean it! If anything, it's finally my turn! Come on, Prine!
Yes!

Prine squeezes her hands in front of her chest. So cute.

Photon Wing!

The magic is cast and Prine floats up. I don't dislike her cleverness in half unconsciously deciding that it is more efficient to float by herself than to use a prepared gazebo. In fact, I like it. I love it.

'It goes like this ...... and it goes like this, like this, like this, like this. --Mr. Ra.
'Oh, yeah!
'Take the 'bird' on A7 to F7! Then the other side's B6 "sword" is one step forward to B5!
I'm on it!

Holding the piece on the floor--what the heck, it wasn't very heavy ....... At my current level, it's not heavy at all. But it would take three people to hold this piece.



I am moving the pieces with a "zing, zing, zing".
Prine, who is mentally young but extremely smart, is quickly giving me instructions. There was no way I could make a mistake. It seemed like smooth sailing... but then...

'Oh, Ra, that's not C6! It's D6!
'Huh?'

Inadvertent mistake.
I placed the "spear" piece next to one of the places where I should have placed it. Then..,

'Giga, gogo-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go- ......!

The piece rose up and was quickly transformed into a monster of a spearman who looked three times my size.

'So I pay a penalty if I'm wrong. ......! I wish I could!''

I'll pay back for the mistake of misplacing it.
The giant spearman readies himself and I gather my chi at the same time.