Beyond countless challenges lay a wide room.
Black-and-white checkered pattern spread across the floor. And beyond it stood the thief.
“Long time no see, Ciel. Never thought you'd actually come through all the challenges.”
“Ha. Piece of cake.”

Despite my words, honestly it was quite tough.
Lack of exercise, probably...
So even though I was almost out of breath, I didn't let it show.
The thief fortunately didn't seem to notice, since the room was very big.

“Congratulations. You have proved yourself," she said.
Taken aback by the unexpected words, I was a bit stunned.
The thief kept going while I was flustered.
"You know, in the end, you need to take this, right?"

The thief said as she took something out.
The lucky pendant, with the cubic gemstone glowing blue.
My body unconsciously reacted as I saw the real thing.
The thief, seeing my reaction, gave a faint smile before taking the pendant back.

“But for my real plan, Ciel, I need you to do something.”
“Real plan? What is that-”
“It's boring if I just tell you.”
The thief was always like this. Feels like she's always looking beyond the horizon.

Is she hiding something else, other than the pendant?

Regardless of my thoughts, the thief once again gave me an offer.
“So, let's play a game.”
“A game?”
“Yes. If you beat me in a game, I will give you back the pendant, without any conditions.”

Why?
The offer was so tempting that it raised my suspicions.
There's no way things can go this easily.

But it didn't seem like the thief was lying.
She could've ran away while I was struggling, yet she is standing right here.
She must be hoping for something.

Then, I guess I have nothing to lose.
There was no turning back anyways.
Might as well put my last shred of pride as a detective on the line, and try to win this game.

“Sure. I accept your offer.”
“I knew you would. Then, I introduce to you the very game that I prepared.”
The thief said as she snapped.
With it appeared thirty-two pieces of a well-known board game.

“Let's play a game of chess. But normal chess isn't fun, so let's spice things up a bit, shall we?”

With those words, the vast chessboard surrounding me and the thief began to shift.
The showdown had begun.