When spring arrives, people will celebrate their birthdays. Otherwise, if celebrated whenever they happened, celebrations could deplete the stock of food.

But since he had never celebrated his birthday in the past five or six years, Ivan had completely forgotten his. However, Janet found out about it. She came to his study, a happy Maddock bouncing around behind her.

Abigail followed, carrying a small, flat box. She smirked, as if she wanted to be somewhere else, but she kept her attitude in check today.

“Hm? What’s this? Are you coming to me for practice again?”

“No! Abigail.”

Janet turned around and lifted her hand out, but Abigail walked forward and presented the gift to Ivan herself.

“Ah! I said I would give it! Not fair!”

Abigail admonished her, saying it wasn’t presentable for a lady to give a gift to her captain personally. And Ivan had to agree. Giving gifts personally was a sign of a close relation.

Thus, he got the gift from Abigail, though Janet was the one who picked it out and got it. However, when she walked up to him, Ivan couldn’t help but think unnecessary thoughts and acted fidgety. Janet was contemplating whether to kick Abigail or not when his expression changed.

When he opened the box, he quizzically looked at Janet for the explanation. She gave a clever smile and made an answer.

“I heard about it from one of the veterans, they call it the War Game.”

“War Game? Is this like that chess I hear so much about?”

Ivan reached into the box and pulled out a carefully carved figure of a spearman. There were others, and multiple of each.

“You set up your army and move the pieces to how far they can go in a turn, or a day. So, unlike real life, it is turn based, like chess. However, the pieces are free to move however they want to, as long as their movement allows it.”

“I’m not sure I follow. These toys will move?”

Janet picked up a strange shape, but Ivan quickly realized it was a man riding a large Midnight Monster. However, it wasn’t like riding a horse, as the man was practically lying prone on its back.

“The Midnight Riders can fly, giving them a larger area of movement. So, if I want it to go over here, I wouldn’t have to wait another turn, unlike using the cavalry unit.”

Inside the box were several sheets of wood, each carved with a map. The pieces aligned to make a larger map, complete with terrain and environments.

“So…you want to play a game with me?”

“Yes!”

Janet happily agreed to Ivan’s question, ignoring the connotations he was sending.

‘So she was lonely, huh? I guess this is fine. I can work on my strategies this way. But how long has she been putting this together?’

Ivan quickly got into the hang of it, though for some reason, Janet always had strange moves that were nearly impossible to predict.

“Why would you go into the mountains, where it is harder to move? The Riders have a larger area of movement, but there are still problems with some of these places.”

“I know. That is what these little red circles mean. They indicate a monster! If I defeat them, while it may be dangerous, my men gain experience and I get materials for stronger weapons and armor!”

Janet happily explained the game to Ivan, wasting the entire day away.

Abigail watched, but didn’t understand a single thing. She ended up sitting down off to the side and petting Maddock. Eventually, she fell asleep while Ivan and Janet continued playing until the little miss grew tired as well.

Ivan summoned a maid to take Abigail out while he personally took Janet to her room, Maddock remaining quiet and aware. Thankfully, no problems happened, and Ivan returned to his room.

From there, he inspected the pieces closely and wrote down in a little book about what each piece did, their offensive capabilities, and their area of movement. Then he realized something.

‘Ah, I should have done this when I was a general.’

As a source of inspiration, Ivan began running mock battles of that fateful night, wondering how else he could have kept his men alive. He didn’t want to be caught in the same trap ever again. However, he also used it as a chance to simulate other dastardly plans the other kingdoms used over the years, as well as their own.

He thought of the little girl who gave this to him and smiled. That rowdy maid could learn a thing or two from this girl, he thought. It was subtle, but the faint feelings he was having towards Abigail diminshed as Janet rose higher in his heart. Thanking her softly in his mind for her thoughtful gift, Ivan set to work.

By the next day, Ivan had already wrote down possible units that he could get made for the War Game. With this, it would not only be a good practice, but also a defining instrument of war in the generations to come.