Gambit - Night Stalker Chapter 8
Sep. 30th, 2024 04:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Winter
---
Location: Hanging Garden
Leo: Tomorrow will be the first Judgment held in a while, spearheaded by ES.
Tsukasa: Yes... So I have heard. Knights and King Slayer are to duel face-to-face and put an end to the current uproar once and for all.
The winning unit shall be the righteous and the true; the losing unit shall be the wrong and false.
In order to put this debacle to rest, we've requested aid from ES through Substitute President Aoba.
We chose to lean on the authority that is ES because we are now helpless to help ourselves.
Leo: I mean, problems like these should be handled by the agency in the first place.
Tsukasa: I agree. I believe that, if we were to take things to court and provide objective evidence, we would prove beyond doubt that we have been speaking the truth.
However, ES came to a different conclusion... that we idols must settle things as idols should.
A court case would harm ES's reputation—rather inconvenient for the company when it is aiming to grow further with the beginning of the new fiscal year.
Knights would, in theory, win in a legal battle. But, King Slayer's side is unusually strong—they are employing every scheme in the book.
Thus, we cannot say that our victory in court is certain and incontestable.
In fact, such actions may indeed invite suspicious gazes from the populace; the very fact that we were once tried before a judge would become a flaw upon our persons.
In essence, our public image is suffering. Those governing ES, who resent this fact, have expressed their wish for us to solve our problem in secret.
Rather than blowing things out of proportion by bringing everything into the court of law, they wish to set everything up as some trivial internal argument.
Or, perhaps, they wish to make it seem like it was all staged as a rather extreme performance, like the sort you often see on TV.
That is the gist of ES's opportunistic—no, cowardly response.
Whether Knights or King Slayer prevails, ES has chosen to stand in a position that will benefit itself in either scenario.
Should we win, ES will claim its interference allowed us our victory, and will demand our gratitude for it.
Should we lose, well, it appears that ES has already exchanged contracts beforehand with King Slayer's agency so that it can bring King Slayer under its umbrella.
We pathetic failures in Knights will be flung into the trash bin as King Slayer rise in our place as a new golden goose for ES...
This proposal came from King Slayer's representatives; they have leveraged their influence to get ES to swallow these conditions.
From ES's perspective, as long as the company earns a profit, it does not have to be Knights who achieves that.
ES will easily switch saddles if King Slayer can net the same or better gains compared to Knights. With the current situation, I now understand that to my very core.
I see now that, in the end, ES is just another business seeking to turn a profit.
They were never our steadfast guardians—only a business contact, nothing more.
Leo: That just goes to show how cleverly the King Slayer people were going about this. Might sound ironic coming from me, but those guys have been hatching an evil scheme for a long time now.
They drew up a meticulous plan and made all sorts of preparations in order to corner and crush Knights.
That's what a gambit is all about.
It's the tactic I just used to defeat you, Suo~. They took on a tiny loss in the beginning in exchange for total control of the chessboard.
Tsukasa: ......
Leo: They guessed correctly that Knights would ask ES for help, then made their move first. If they didn't, ES wouldn't have sprung into action so quickly.
ES is a huge enterprise, y'know. They usually take forever to do anything.
Tsukasa: So, you mean to say that even that was all part of King Slayer's script?
So the ending to our epic tale is soon upon us, is it not?
Tomorrow, we shall hold a Judgment. The victor shall claim all spoils, earn the favor of ES, and walk the path of glory.
Leo: Yeah, but Judgment is originally Knights' method of internal purge. It's a trial by duel, in which allies face off against allies to see whose opinion will ultimately be respected.
Did you never stop to wonder why tomorrow's fight is a "Judgment" and not a "Duel", which is used when fighting enemies outside our circle?
Tsukasa: ...? In the event that King Slayer wins, do they not intend to employ Knights as a subordinate organization?
Then, they can proclaim to the public that this was all simply a case of internal misconduct—that this was no bloody war, but an argument amongst allies.
In that way, they can avoid bloodying King Slayer's name. Is calling this performance a "Judgment" simply not part of the plan?
Leo: Well, who knows! Maybe you're right! Wahaha, that sort of political talk is way beyond me!
Lemme give you the biggest hint I can from my position right now. Duels and Judgments may be Knights' specialty, but we don't have a monopoly over them.
This trial-by-duel system didn't even originate with Knights.
Tsukasa: ......
Leo: You see, Suo~, this is a tale that has stretched on since long, long ago.
All it means this time is that we need to finally reach a verdict in an unfinished trial.
Tsukasa: What exactly do you mean, Leo-san...?
Leo: You'll understand everything tomorrow. Don't throw in the towel right now.
There's a stage waiting for you in the coming day.
I'll take things seriously, just as you asked of me today.
And you, Your Majesty—take things seriously too, as you always have.
Tsukasa: ......
Leo: As far as I've researched, you've been undefeated in Judgments up to now.
That just means you've always been right. So prove it this time, like your life depends on it.
---
< Night Stalker Chapter 7 || Masterlist || Night Stalker Chapter 9 >
---
Location: Hanging Garden
Leo: Tomorrow will be the first Judgment held in a while, spearheaded by ES.
Tsukasa: Yes... So I have heard. Knights and King Slayer are to duel face-to-face and put an end to the current uproar once and for all.
The winning unit shall be the righteous and the true; the losing unit shall be the wrong and false.
In order to put this debacle to rest, we've requested aid from ES through Substitute President Aoba.
We chose to lean on the authority that is ES because we are now helpless to help ourselves.
Leo: I mean, problems like these should be handled by the agency in the first place.
Tsukasa: I agree. I believe that, if we were to take things to court and provide objective evidence, we would prove beyond doubt that we have been speaking the truth.
However, ES came to a different conclusion... that we idols must settle things as idols should.
A court case would harm ES's reputation—rather inconvenient for the company when it is aiming to grow further with the beginning of the new fiscal year.
Knights would, in theory, win in a legal battle. But, King Slayer's side is unusually strong—they are employing every scheme in the book.
Thus, we cannot say that our victory in court is certain and incontestable.
In fact, such actions may indeed invite suspicious gazes from the populace; the very fact that we were once tried before a judge would become a flaw upon our persons.
In essence, our public image is suffering. Those governing ES, who resent this fact, have expressed their wish for us to solve our problem in secret.
Rather than blowing things out of proportion by bringing everything into the court of law, they wish to set everything up as some trivial internal argument.
Or, perhaps, they wish to make it seem like it was all staged as a rather extreme performance, like the sort you often see on TV.
That is the gist of ES's opportunistic—no, cowardly response.
Whether Knights or King Slayer prevails, ES has chosen to stand in a position that will benefit itself in either scenario.
Should we win, ES will claim its interference allowed us our victory, and will demand our gratitude for it.
Should we lose, well, it appears that ES has already exchanged contracts beforehand with King Slayer's agency so that it can bring King Slayer under its umbrella.
We pathetic failures in Knights will be flung into the trash bin as King Slayer rise in our place as a new golden goose for ES...
This proposal came from King Slayer's representatives; they have leveraged their influence to get ES to swallow these conditions.
From ES's perspective, as long as the company earns a profit, it does not have to be Knights who achieves that.
ES will easily switch saddles if King Slayer can net the same or better gains compared to Knights. With the current situation, I now understand that to my very core.
I see now that, in the end, ES is just another business seeking to turn a profit.
They were never our steadfast guardians—only a business contact, nothing more.
Leo: That just goes to show how cleverly the King Slayer people were going about this. Might sound ironic coming from me, but those guys have been hatching an evil scheme for a long time now.
They drew up a meticulous plan and made all sorts of preparations in order to corner and crush Knights.
That's what a gambit is all about.
It's the tactic I just used to defeat you, Suo~. They took on a tiny loss in the beginning in exchange for total control of the chessboard.
Tsukasa: ......
Leo: They guessed correctly that Knights would ask ES for help, then made their move first. If they didn't, ES wouldn't have sprung into action so quickly.
ES is a huge enterprise, y'know. They usually take forever to do anything.
Tsukasa: So, you mean to say that even that was all part of King Slayer's script?
So the ending to our epic tale is soon upon us, is it not?
Tomorrow, we shall hold a Judgment. The victor shall claim all spoils, earn the favor of ES, and walk the path of glory.
Leo: Yeah, but Judgment is originally Knights' method of internal purge. It's a trial by duel, in which allies face off against allies to see whose opinion will ultimately be respected.
Did you never stop to wonder why tomorrow's fight is a "Judgment" and not a "Duel", which is used when fighting enemies outside our circle?
Tsukasa: ...? In the event that King Slayer wins, do they not intend to employ Knights as a subordinate organization?
Then, they can proclaim to the public that this was all simply a case of internal misconduct—that this was no bloody war, but an argument amongst allies.
In that way, they can avoid bloodying King Slayer's name. Is calling this performance a "Judgment" simply not part of the plan?
Leo: Well, who knows! Maybe you're right! Wahaha, that sort of political talk is way beyond me!
Lemme give you the biggest hint I can from my position right now. Duels and Judgments may be Knights' specialty, but we don't have a monopoly over them.
This trial-by-duel system didn't even originate with Knights.
Tsukasa: ......
Leo: You see, Suo~, this is a tale that has stretched on since long, long ago.
All it means this time is that we need to finally reach a verdict in an unfinished trial.
Tsukasa: What exactly do you mean, Leo-san...?
Leo: You'll understand everything tomorrow. Don't throw in the towel right now.
There's a stage waiting for you in the coming day.
I'll take things seriously, just as you asked of me today.
And you, Your Majesty—take things seriously too, as you always have.
Tsukasa: ......
Leo: As far as I've researched, you've been undefeated in Judgments up to now.
That just means you've always been right. So prove it this time, like your life depends on it.
---
< Night Stalker Chapter 7 || Masterlist || Night Stalker Chapter 9 >
