Chess craze

Hours passed.

When the maids finally returned from their relaxation at the hot springs, they were met with an unusual sight—all the butlers huddled over a single table, deep in discussion.

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 if you do that."

"You're all missing the point! The young master is just one move away from cornering the King!"

Michael calmly picked up the crude version of the queen to capture his opponent's pawn, cornering Sebastian's king, and leaving him with no other option than to surrender.

"Checkmate," Michael said with a proud smile on his face.

Sebastian didn't have the cool and dignified aura he usually had. The man's once-pristine white hair was a mess since he kept on scratching 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, as if in defeat.

"I…I surrender, young master."

Applause erupted from the rest of the butlers as they acknowledged the young master's undeniable victory. 

Twenty games.

Sebastian was thoroughly beaten through in these twenty games, dispelling any of their illusions 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 for years, they couldn't seem to compare to the young master himself.

In 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 had decimated their pieces.

Michael chuckled, crossing his arms. "Don't feel bad. I had a head start against you, after all."

Michael had peaked at around 1500 in online chess, which was considered quite a good rating for an amateur. He didn't even need to use ChatJK1 to figure out the moves to defeat Sebastian.

[There were a lot of errors with your endgame positioning. Would you like me to highlight your mistakes and suggest the best moves 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.

[Based on my analysis, Sebastian will be able to defeat you in chess within two years. He has demonstrated 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 to reach the rating he stood 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, perking his ears to the nonexistent sound in the air.

The butlers continued to play amongst themselves until the night. 

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' growing obsession. 

As soon as the bell rang and their work day ended, they quickly went over to the tables, eager to test their chess skills against each other. It was as if a frenzy had appeared in the mansion, infecting all the intellectuals who sought to test their mettle against others.

Sebastian quickly proved himself to be a head above the others since he was now the one who went undefeated against all the other butlers without losing even once.

But as they continued playing, the collective skill level among the butlers rose higher and higher. The friendly rivalry among them allowed them to learn from each other, with the winner teaching the loser about how to get better and learn from their mistakes.

It wasn't just them who got addicted, even some of the maids got acquainted with the game. Castelle, in particular, was one such person, the woman quickly fell in love with the game and the complexity within its moves and strategies.

The mansion soon echoed with sounds of chess pieces clicking against the boards, as well as the occasional yelps and gasps as they lost their crucial pieces because of a mistake or a clever move.

_____

Days passed and finally, it was time for time to ship another batch of soaps and shampoo to their new, eagerly waiting 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 weren'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 whose friends wanted to buy loads and loads of their product.

Thankfully, Michael had anticipated this and had already scaled the production of the soap and shampoo.

Now, Castelle was on her way to deliver the crates of the sought-after soap and shampoo to those new eager customers.

"Oh my! I can even smell it from here," a wealthy woman exclaimed as Castelle dragged the crate right to her doorstep.

"Of course," Castelle replied with a confident 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 who can purchase this item!"

Castelle smiled.

"Would you like to come in for tea?" the Madame offered, 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."

Smelling the scent of gold, Castelle finally accepted the invitation and went in for tea with the Madam.

Seated in the garden, the two sipped chamomile and nibbled on biscuits.

"Oh…a guest…" a well-dressed man murmured, lounging in his chair. "That's perhaps the most interesting thing that happened today."

"Please forgive my husband. He's been too bored lately," said the Madam with an exasperated smile.

But then, a spark of inspiration flickered in Castelle's mind.

She turned to the Madam's husband and said,

"Bored, sir? Perhaps I might interest you in a little game called Chess?"