When Shiro brought the other party to the door they had just visited, Sora Ginko got down, her face slightly red, adjusted her school uniform, then frowned and gave him a sharp look.
Shiro faced her gaze with a sense of helplessness.
"Ginko, you have to understand that I can't control these things. After all, while I'm flying, I have to hold you, and my hands naturally end up in those places."
Without hesitation, Sora Ginko immediately began scolding him.
"Can't you just hold me by the knees and waist?"
Shiro looked as if he realized there was no way to defend himself here, so he admitted honestly.
"These are all subconscious actions, you can't blame me. Of course, if you were a little uglier, I would have carried you."
Sora Ginko watched how this person didn't hide her appearance and body at all, feeling helpless. She thought and decided it was pointless to argue.
After all, from that unexpected encounter until now, this guy had never hidden the fact that he desired her.
The terms of the agreement had already been clearly set.
However, she decided not to bother with it anymore. Compared to those things, even though they mattered to her, now she couldn't make any progress because of that stagnation; she even thought about death. It could be said that those things were completely secondary compared to anything that could help her improve.
After Sora Ginko opened the door and let Shiro in, she first made him a cup of tea, then took out a chessboard.
At that moment, Shiro waved his hand, and she immediately felt that something was wrong.
"What are you doing?"
"I've significantly slowed down the flow of time around us, so I'll have enough time to train you into a top-level chess player before our wager or contract ends."
Seeing this stance and after hearing Shiro's words, Sora Ginko was stunned, then subconsciously said:
"Wasn't our agreement that you'd help me improve and win this competition with my own strength?"
Sora Ginko hadn't expected that the other party's goal was to train her into a top chess player. And he even directly slowed down the flow of time around them; she could feel how everything around them had become incredibly slow.
So the other party was serious, and he did this just to gain time. It had to be admitted, it was truly a grandiose move, extremely exaggerated.
Shiro shrugged after hearing her confused and questioning tone, then answered honestly.
"Indeed, my wager with you is to help you improve and reach a higher rank with your own strength."
"However, first of all, you must understand that since I am teaching you, if I let you improve just a little, I would feel ashamed, ashamed of my teaching ability and strength."
"And secondly, you're not just my student; in my eyes, you as a whole person are destined to be mine."
"For my people, I will wholeheartedly help them achieve everything they want. You want to develop in shogi, you love playing chess, so I will wholeheartedly help you become stronger, to improve."
"After all, you don't like to use other methods and want to rely on yourself, so I'll help you in this way. I said, as long as my people ask, I'll give them the best of everything."
"Of course, provided that my lower limit is not violated."
"So, do you have any problem with my plan to train you into a top-level chess player?"
Sora Ginko was astonished after hearing Shiro's words, not expecting that the other party had such intentions.
"Our agreement was that we'd talk only after I improved. Aren't you afraid I'll intentionally lose to break the contract or something like that?"
"And competitions are unpredictable; what if some accident happens?"
"Most importantly, nothing is certain yet. Can you stop sounding so confident? As if you've already won me over."
Sora Ginko spoke honestly; she wasn't completely indifferent to Shiro's words, but the way he spoke, as if he had already conquered her, annoyed her greatly.
Shiro smiled after hearing her words.
"A person who can't make progress, who doesn't even want to live and wants to die, I don't think would intentionally yield in such a matter."
"And do you think you are such a person?"
At that moment, Shiro lifted her chin and looked into her eyes while speaking, his expression full of confidence.
"Tsk!"
Sora Ginko still decided to turn her head and shook off Shiro's hand.
"Pervert!"
With Shiro's words, Sora Ginko gave a two-word judgment, then sat down and began arranging the chessboard.
Shiro also sat down and spoke directly.
"First, play a full game against me. After that, you'll probably understand what I want to teach you and what I want you to learn."
Sora Ginko didn't waste words after hearing that and immediately began.
At first, everything seemed completely normal, but by the 45th move, she felt that something was wrong.
By the 57th move, she felt doomed to lose, and by the 79th move, she directly surrendered the game.
Sora Ginko didn't feel anything strange about losing to Shiro; it was completely normal. But she constantly had the feeling that her defeat was unclear.
Shiro then spoke.
"Although I don't know if you realized that you actually lost, your intuition is quite sharp."
"However, what I want to say is that you discovered it too late."
"Already at the 32nd move, you lost, because I had already finished my setup by then. It could be said that the entire rest of the game was conducted under my guidance, or rather, according to my expectations."
"I think titleholders would probably surrender around the 50th move."
"After all, their calculation ability is very strong, but you reached 79, which is decent."
Sora Ginko was completely confused after hearing that. Usually, a setup would last fifty, sixty, seventy, or eighty moves.
Only then could it be said with full confidence that everything was going according to plan. But Shiro said he had finished it already by the 32nd move. What kind of thing was that?
Shiro looked into her eyes, which had at some point turned icy blue, and spoke in a helpless tone.
"Don't be surprised. This is already slow. After all, I haven't played very, very long. Under normal circumstances, it would have ended around the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth move. Now it's a few moves late."
"Do you want me to explain it to you?"
Sora Ginko was still confused about how she had lost. She knew she didn't surrender because she clearly saw defeat, but because her intuition told her she had already lost, in a way that couldn't be reversed at all.
At that moment, Shiro played the game again, holding her hand and teaching Sora Ginko, who listened carefully. After finishing the explanation, her eyes were filled with disbelief.
"This method of yours has never appeared before; it could even be called inhuman."
Sora Ginko's tone was full of emotion as she said that.
At that moment, the young girl wondered if she could really learn something like this. Or was it something that only exceptional people like him could play?
"Are you sure that this kind of chess is something I can play, or something ordinary people can play?"
Sora Ginko was still asking this question. Honestly, she really lacked confidence. After all, this kind of thing was in complete contrast to traditional play, a complete reversal.
Shiro looked at her expression of disbelief and still gave her reassurance, because this was an AI method, and he happened to be able to teach it.
The main reason was that this method, for people like them, before the appearance of artificial intelligence, could be called inhuman.
"Yes, I can guarantee it. After all, this is within the scope of ordinary people. Anything deeper than that, I don't know, or I haven't specialized in it. I said, this is top-level for ordinary people, and this method is not the real peak."
"Of course, it's not something that ordinary people can truly learn, but you have the qualifications and talent, so you can learn it."