Original subtitles

Komugi: Actually, sir,

this "detached castling" strategy you were using

is more commonly known as "kokoriko."

It’s one I came up with myself ’bout ten years ago.

I was so happy that a fool like me could still give birth

to something that was so intelligent.

I even called it "my smart little baby."

But soon after that, I found out how to kill it.

To think that you came up

with the same strategy I had,

I was so honored and touched,

so much so that my heart trembled.

It felt like...

Seeing my dead baby come back to life.

( King scoffs )

Rubbish.

I’ve lost interest. Take a break.

Komugi: Huh?

King: Once we begin again...

Komugi: Eh?

king: You will not get any more breaks,

so be prepared.

♪

( Singing in Japanese )

( Thunder rumbling )

I don’t like it.

During our matches,

my rhythm is the one being disrupted, not hers.

By all rights, this should be an unbearable indignity,

and yet, although I find myself frustrated,

I enjoy it at the same time.

What I don’t understand is why.

My skill in self-analysis is not yet refined.

I find it extremely vexing.

Huh?

♪

what’s this? Did she choose not to rest?

Shaiapouf: Well...

( Komugi snoring )

King: How vile.

she shows no signs of intelligence or dignity.

How do those beautiful plays,

those paragons of logic

flow out of her like so much water from a fountain?

( Thunder rumbling )

Wake up! Let’s begin.

Komugi: Uh, yes. Yes, sire!

♪

King: Nine-five-one, king.

- For this match... - Komugi: Hmm?

King: Let’s make a bet.

Komugi: Did you say, "bet"?

King: I did.

If you win,

I swear that I will give you anything your heart desires.

Komugi: Anything? Let me see.

( Sighs )

Anything?

( Groans )

King: However...

Komugi: Huh?

King: If you lose to me,

i’ll take your left arm.

( Thunder rumbling )

Greed and fear disrupt human rhythm.

Greed will cloud the eyes,

and fear, fear will cause courage to shrivel and die.

Komugi: My left arm? Hmm.

My left arm? Hmm.

Mm! Should I do it?!

King: Why are you hesitating?

Komugi: Well, not to be rude, but instead of my left arm,

do you think that it’d be okay

if just bet the same thing that I usually bet when I play?

King: Usually? And what is that?

Komugi: I bet my life.

( King gasps )

Komugi: If I were to lose to you,

i would much prefer to pay the penalty with my life,

but I really don’t want to offend you

right after you made me such a very generous offer.

King: But I still don’t understand.

explain yourself. Whatever do you mean by that?

Komugi: It’s just, for me, gungi is the only thing in my life

that i’m actually kind of good at, you know?

In other words, playing gungi

is the only reason I have to live.

what I mean is professional gungi players

hardly make any money at all, even national champions,

so the only way that you can make any meaningful reward

is to become the world champion

as the representative of your nation.

to become a national representative,

you have to win whole tournaments.

that means that losing even one match

is enough to disqualify you.

I come from a family of 12,

and in our home, i’m the breadwinner,

but if I lose a single match,

i’ll become my family’s greatest burden.

We gungi players have this saying.

When you lose,

even the greatest king of all becomes a mere mortal.

So if I lose to you, i’m garbage.

Oh, but it doesn’t bother me!

It’s just what my parents have always said.

On the day that I set my sights on playing gungi professionally,

I told myself that i’d die if I ever lost a match.

but I realize that could be a problem.

King: How so?

Komugi: If I lose now,

i’ll become no better than garbage,

and garbage is all you would get in exchange for beating me.

That would be terrible manners

king: That doesn’t bother me.

Now, then, is there anything that you want

if you can defeat me?

( Thunder rumbling )

( Komugi groans )

You see, the thing is i’ve been spending

every second i’ve got just thinking about gungi.

I’ll think about it after I win.

King: As you wish.

she feels neither fear nor greed.

( Chuckles )

( Laughing )

Your life, huh?

I’m just beginning to realize

that I was the one who lacked resolve!

- komugi: Huh? - King: I never imagined

that if you were to win, you might ask for my life.

Shaiapouf: Sire!

King: You will be quiet.

Komugi: Me, ask for the supreme leader’s li--

please, I would never, ever do such a thing!

The thought never once crossed my mind! I promise!

- King: I know that. - ( Komugi sighs )

King: This is a personal matter.

No more betting.

That was my mistake.

Komugi: No.

( Squelch )

( Shaiapouf gasps )

King: So forgive me.

( Komugi stammers )

Shaiapouf: Sire! ( Gasps )

What have you done?

We must treat your arm.

Come with me!

Komugi: Y-your arm, sire?

King: Now continue the match.

komugi: Huh? But w-what happened?!

Please tell me!

King: It’s your turn. Move.

Shaiapouf: Sire, please, we must stop the bleeding!

♪

King: You heard me.

I said we’ll continue playing.

I told you that there would be no more breaks, did I not?

Do you dare add to my humiliation?

Shaiapouf: I shall go summon neferpitou.

I am certain you will still be able to play, sire,

even as your arm is being reattached.

That is the biggest concession I can make.

And if you refuse to accept my offer, take my head

so that I may not live with the shame of your death.

( Komugi gasping )

King: Fine, then.

Come closer,

and I will end you with a single strike.

It’s your turn to play, so move.

Komugi: I won’t.

i refuse to play until your arm is better.

I’m very sorry.

King: I won’t say it again. Now move.

Komugi: I will not.

If you still wish to kill me, do it in gungi.

( Crying )

King: You little--( Groans )

Summon pitou!

Shaiapouf: Sire.

( Komugi crying )

( Thunder rumbling )

Morel: There’s no doubt.

Knov: All the puppets are gone.

Morel: Have they resumed the sorting process again?

knov: Doubtful. I would be very surprised.

Morel: Hmm?

Knov: At the moment,

we have the capital completely surrounded.

The king’s well-being is of the utmost priority to them,

so they wouldn’t go too far from his side.

Morel: Then what’s going on?

Knov: My assumption would be

that some threat much greater than us

has befallen the royal guard and perhaps even the king himself.

Morel: Then that means that this is it, huh,

our golden opportunity?

Knov: Yes...

our chance to infiltrate the palace.

♪

Morel: But it might be a trap, right?

Knov: It shouldn’t be.

They wouldn’t use any tactic that might endanger their king.

Morel: They would if the king had ordered it, wouldn’t they?

Knov: I suppose so,

but regardless, they’ve already retracted

their long-range radar detection.

While we can, we have to get as close as possible.

If we want this plan to succeed,

I must create an exit near the palace.

We’ll have to take this risk sooner or later.

The time is now.

Leol: There. I found them.

Looks like cheetu failed.

Morel: Just don’t die.

Knov: The same to you, morel.

( Leol chuckles )

Good. They’ve split up.

Okay, i’ve found them.

we’re going to switch to the man who carries the pipe.

Let’s go.

( Chuckles )

Neferpitou: Dr. Blythe.

king: All right, seven-nine-one, shinobi.

Komugi: Soldier, two-three-one.

Shaiapouf: So how long will the procedure take?

Neferpitou: Hmm.

I’d say about two or three hours to fix it completely.

Neferpitou: And you can’t use

your puppets or en during that time?

Neferpitou: Mm, this ability takes an awful lot of nen, meow.

Neferpitou: Since it requires quite a bit of your energy

and focus to accomplish,

I will serve as lookout during the procedure,

though my en isn’t nearly as effective as yours.

either way, this is an important task

I cannot trust to anyone else.

Knov: There’s no evidence they’re using en.

Luckily the rain limits visibility.

The sun will set soon.

Once it’s dark, I will become one with the night,

making it easier to pick out enemy aura.

Be patient.

We need an exit near the palace,

but if i’m spotted, it’s all over.

While I can freely come and go as I please,

shoot and the others can only use the exit to leave

once they enter the mansion.

If the enemy prepares an ambush by the exit,

we’re done for.

I need to prepare three exits-- near, far, and in the middle.

We’ll need several options spread throughout the palace

if this is going to work.

Then i’ll make several clusters of entrances far away.

that will help us to keep a close eye on things.

When the time comes,

we’ll decide which room would make the best waypoint,

the one nearest the exit, farthest away,

or the one in between.

Once that has been determined, we’ll act.

From the enemy’s perspective,

we’ll seem to appear before their very eyes.

We must use that opening

to separate the king from his guards.

that’s when our respective battles begin.

♪

We only need to win one battle,

so long as the king is the one we get.

Under normal circumstances,

i’d already be in range of neferpitou’s en.

I feel more dead than alive.

But I have a long way to go.

The farthest exit

still has to be on the palace grounds,

or it won’t be of any use to us at all.

Advance carefully, but swiftly.

Should I wait for the sun to set?

That would be ideal, but will the rain hold out until then?

( Groans ) I have no choice.

Should neferpitou’s en be reactivated,

any approach will be all but impossible.

even if I fail, we still have other options.

Go without fear. Closer.

Closer.

( Thunder rumbling )

narrator: Currently in the palace,

there are only three humans the ants do not intend to eat.

First is the gungi player,

the second is Diego,

and the third human...

( Toilet flushes )

Is director bizeff.

( Door closes )

He was the country’s true ruler,

operating behind the scenes.

( Cell phone buzzes )

He was the intermediary,

and all dealings with foreign parties

and domestic organizations went through him.

this puts him in the unique position

of being irreplaceable,

so he is the only human allowed near the king.

♪

there is not a single human guard

posted anywhere near the palace.

Because ordinary soldiers would be powerless against nen users,

the royal guard determined that the presence of human soldiers

would increase the risk of enemy infiltration.

Cheetu, who has only just returned,

is the only squadron leader on the premises,

along with six soldier and lesser-ranked ants.

In other words, at the present time,

there are only three humans and 11 ants in the palace.

The soldier ants are

the various squadron leaders’ personal favorites, and as such,

have nothing whatsoever to do with guarding the king.

Whatever strict loyalty once existed between the king

and his squadron leaders has vanished entirely.

Self-interest was the only thing keeping them there,

nothing more.

knowing this, pitou and the royal guards

have given them duties that are of little consequence

and are expected to end in failure.

Lookout duty would never be entrusted to the others.

Knov has no way of knowing this,

but his current attempt to infiltrate the palace

is taking place at the best time to do so

and the last.

( Fax machine beeps )

Bizeff: I managed to survive somehow,

but there’s only so much work I can do on my own.

( Typing )

If I don’t convince them

to provide at least three more staffers to handle

the secretarial duties, i’ll die of overwork for sure.

( Sighs )

( Computer chimes )

Huh?

♪

Ah?

( Laughs )

Ah.

( Gasps )

"Sinker bell."

Yes.

( Chuckles )

( Chuckles )

( Computer chimes )

Marcos: There.

Hey, palm, got a hit.

♪

Narrator: While knov works desperately

to sneak into the palace undetected,

palm is preparing to launch an infiltration of her own.

( Singing in Japanese )