In the thick fog of the night, hundreds of red-eyed crows flew from the deep western forest of Shinlan Castle, and they quietly descended through the thick fog and landed one after another on the roof of the "Kagura Restaurant", almost covered with a miniature plane tree transplanted by hand.

Dozens of pairs of eyes stared at Douglas as he enjoyed his meal, and the silent crows had already stabbed their claws deep into the trunk of the tree.

"It turns out that the mysterious manager of Kagura Restaurant turned out to be an old friend of mine, and if I knew this, I wouldn't give money a few times before. Douglas took a sip of his beer.

"If you like, you are always welcome. ”

Shinkawa gracefully wiped his palm and put the freshly baked delicacy in his hand, and then several crows flew over, grabbing the two handles of the tray and carrying it to Douglas's table.

"You really like crows as always," Douglas touched his round belly, "Is that white-capped crow from the early years still there, it must have grown from a small age to a big one." ”

"Well, it should remember you, after all, you were the first human to free it from the quagmire. ”

"It's just that it was saving an innocent young life," Douglas said lightly, "I just didn't expect that a few years later that the young bird would be involved in the murder of other people's lives, and I should have cut off its last bit of nostalgia for the world in the first place." ”

"Douglas, are you still used to going to sea alone these days, I remember you don't seem to know how to swim. ”

"Don't try to divert the topic, Koyuki Shinkawa, a top assassin with an eastern face but grew up in the Western Continent, the last time we met was a few years ago," Douglas seemed to reminisce about the past, "I let you go because I also hated that executioner who did all kinds of evil, and I didn't have a problem with Nolan when you killed him, so even the king at the time didn't order a thorough investigation into this matter." ”

Suddenly, Douglas retracted his indifferent expression as he stared down at the bustling street.

"But today, you should know why I came to you on purpose, Xinchuan, you should stop. ”

"Can you turn back with the arrows you shot?" Shinkawa Furuyuki smiled and calmly, "I'm really sorry that incident caused you and Nolan to lose the opportunity to be promoted, you can come to this restaurant often in the future, so it should be my small compensation for you." ”

"That's enough, Shinkawa, do you want the entire Raven Order to be buried with you?" Douglas's voice rose sharply, "Wouldn't you despair if those children who call your dad all day long die in front of you?"

"Despair... It seems that I haven't experienced that feeling for a long time, since the executioner brutally tortured my wife and children, all the feelings about despair have been cut off by me," Shinkawa's energetic face always seemed to carry a warm spring breeze, "I have nothing but my "children" now, so even if I die, I will protect them. ”

"What the hell are you trying to do to assassinate so many Imperial officials in recent days," Douglas questioned, "or should I ask you who hired you to do this." ”

"Those people, their greatest ability is probably to harm the people, since the empire is unwilling to take action, then I have to deal with it on my behalf," Shinkawa Furuyuki cleaned up the iron plate used for cooking, "As for the employer, I can only say that it is a group of guys with ideals and pursuits." ”

Furuyuki Shinkawa expertly cuts a piece of thawed beef into cubes of the same size and marinates them in a special spice.

"The next target for assassination is not Cook the warden of the Sea Prison. Douglas asked bluntly.

"Yes," Furuyuki Shinkawa replied categorically, "act on time at midnight, you can't keep him, he must die." ”

"Haven't you considered the consequences of assassinating an important official of the empire during the 'Lantern Festival'?" Douglas's face was furrowed, and he looked a little old for a while, "Let the empire lose face in front of many foreign nations, the Eaton Empire on the western border is eyeing us." ”

"That kind of thing has naturally been considered, but what is the belief of the assassins, is to carry out orders, Cook has relied on the support of Crusader Sergeant Major Furman and Duke Arondaite in recent years, and it is believed that most of the Xinlan people are already dissatisfied with him, and killing him is the will of the people. ”

"Rights need to be checked and balanced, Xinchuan, the existence of the Raven Organization is a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of those vicious officials, which can restrain their behavior of harming the people without scruples, and prison is also a sword to restrain those who do evil, both are indispensable. ”

"And what about the royal family, where is the meaning of their existence?"

"They are there, the Josephs Empire has cohesion and soul, although I also hate those mediocre guys, but a country can't be without a leader, otherwise it will be a plate of scattered sand that will only fight inwardly, and slowly disintegrate itself from the inside. ”

"But how much actual control does the Imperial Family have now?" Shinkawa Furuyuki put down what he was doing and set his eyes on the Imperial Mansion in the dark night, "Douglas, don't you know who is responsible for all this?"

"Shinkawa, I want you to think it through," Douglas admonished, "I don't know how many of these thousands of visitors have evil intentions, and I don't know how many people are waiting to see the jokes of the Empire, but I know that your purpose is much more than that, and that a little Cook would not make such a big deal out of you, and it is not a smart decision to choose to do it during the heavily guarded 'Wanbang Lantern Festival' by any means." ”

"Douglas, I heard that you liked to play chess when you were younger, I wonder if you still remember the rules. Once again, Furuyuki Shinkawa took the conversation elsewhere.

"The old man has a good memory. ”

"Well, in that case, why don't you play a game with me," Furuyuki Shinkawa smiled, "If I win you, then you don't meddle in this matter again, if I lose, I can promise you one thing within my ability, how about it?"

"Well, old man, accept your challenge," Douglas replied cheerfully, "I, Douglas, have never lost. ”

In a short time, the two men were lined up on either side of the wooden dining table, and in front of them lay a black and white chessboard, sixty-four squares arranged in a row, with sixteen pieces on each side of the game.

"Kings, queens, bishops, knights, chariots, soldiers, heaven and earth are like a chessboard, and all beings are chess pieces. ”

Shinkawa Furuyuki holds the black side, he sits quietly on the tatami mat like a transcendent Zen master, the shape of the chess pieces is shaped lifelike, and you can feel that Shinkawa Furuyuki's favorite thing in addition to cooking food is to play chess.

"Why did you take the initiative to choose the black side, preemptively, as a veteran assassin, white should be more suitable for you. ”

"What's the difference between white and black, this world can't tell the difference between black and white," Xinchuan Guyi waved his hand, and the crow feathers fell from nothingness, and the black and white on the entire chessboard were covered with a faint layer of silver gray, "Look, this is the original appearance of the world." ”

"Xinchuan, you are still as pessimistic as ever. ”

Douglas was the first to move the chess pieces, the unknown "soldiers" were the first to attack, the moment the chess pieces fell, it was like a fire falling from the sky, a wave of air was stirred out around the chessboard, and the nearby tables and chairs were directly overturned to the ground, and the silver-gray illusion returned to nothingness, replaced by a layer of distorted red.

"This is a new era for young people, and those children are passionate and have the power to change everything that our generation has never changed. ”

A few steps later, Douglas's two "soldiers" who went deep behind enemy lines were cornered one after another, and they were about to be "eaten" by the black chess pieces.

"These two pawns are a little overconfident, and since they have run into my jurisdiction with self-righteousness, I will definitely entertain them. ”

As soon as Nishikawa Furuyuki's words fell, the crows on the plane trees fluttered their wings, flapping their wings noisily, and flying towards the "Fraor" bar, which was only a block away, like a black ribbon through the mist.

The crows flew by, the crow feathers filled the sky, and the red on the chessboard melted at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Where the night falls, the raven's feathers fly?" Douglas, who crossed his legs, with that indecent flower dress, really looked like an "old ruffian" who had been in the market all year round.

"But are you really confident that you can easily eat those two humble creeps?" Douglas grinned, an old fritter alive.

After a few more moves, although the "knight" on the white side had gradually approached the "king" on the black side, the "bishop", "knight", and "chariot" each had only one left, and the "soldiers" who had struggled to persist were struggling to move forward although they were hovering around the enemy's hinterland.

On the black side, the situation is not much better, only the lonely "knight", "bishop", and "soldier" each guard the "king" and "queen" strongly.

The final decisive battle between the two sides is approaching, and the sound of war drums can already be faintly heard in the air.

"Xinchuan, you can't win the old man, so it's better to surrender. ”

Douglas looked a little proud, because judging from the remaining chess pieces, it was clear that he had a much better chance of winning than Furuyuki Shinkawa.

However, Shinkawa Furuyuki only laughed and did not speak, still putting his mind at the mercy of the chess pieces, and the whole world seemed to stand still, and only the sound of breathing and heartbeat of the two could be heard quietly.

After a few minutes, the "knights" and "soldiers" of the white side were already in the city, and they were about to attack the heart of the black side, and directly take the "king" and "queen".

In the eyes of others, the only thing that Koyuki Shinkawa can do is to defend passively for a long time, and then be eaten away by Douglas little by little to lose his last combat power.

However, Shinkawa Furuyuki's next behavior was incredible, he did not choose to let his few remaining chess pieces shrink around the "king", but chose to take the initiative.

"I'm sorry, I won. ”

The only "knight" under Shinkawa Furuyuki pushed all the way, and finally exchanged his life for a seemingly inconsequential "bishop" on the white side.

"Shinkawa, when did you start to cheat," said Douglas, pointing to the lonely "king" on the other side, "do you want to wear a pair of reading glasses and take a closer look at who wins." ”

"In your opinion, perhaps only by killing the opponent's king can you achieve victory, but in my opinion, as long as you kill the 'bishop' in your hands who is second only to the 'king' and 'queen', you will be considered victorious," Shinkawa Furuyuki stood up with a smile as a huge white-capped crow landed on his shoulder, "I said that the chessboard is our world, in fact, the white side you are in charge of has long since lost its 'king'." ”

Then Shinkawa Furuyuki came to the railing of the corridor, and looked at the tallest building in the administrative district from the railing, and the line of sight was ethereal and blurry.

"Am I right? ”