Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

☖ FIRST MORNING

“… Uh …… nh …?”

Chop, chop. Slice, slice. Those noises woke me up.

“… That smell … miso soup?”

My confused and groggy mind can’t process the domestic aromas wafting into my nose.

Huh? Where … am I?

“…… Did I spend the night at Master’s place? Is that Keika in the kitchen ……?”

Just when I thought I was dreaming about my years of training, turns out that wasn’t it.

The bedroom ceiling of my two-bedroom apartment greets my eyes when I open them, the smartphone next my pillow tells me it’s almost noon.

“Oh yeah …… I played Shogi late into the night last night, didn’t I ……”

Playing into the wee morning hours, practically dawn, of course my opponent started nodding off at some point and I vaguely remember coming to bed.

And, that opponent was—.

“Ah! Master, good morning!”

One step out of my room and her greeting hits me like it was shot out of a cannon.

An elementary school girl wearing an apron is standing in the kitchen.

“……”

This is important, so it bears repeating.

Kitchen! Wearing an apron!! Elementary school girl!!! Standing there!!!!

“… Umm.”

“I’m Ai! Ai Hinatsuru! Your apprentice since yesterday!”

“Huh? Nah, I don’t remember ever saying anything like that—.”

“Breakfast is almost ready! Master, please take a bath while you wait!”

“A-a bath?”

The grade schooler pushes me down the hallway toward the bathroom where the tub has already been filled with hot water.

Living on my own, I only take showers anymore. This might be the first time I’ve ever taken it slow and enjoyed a bath at home. Plus—.

“Smells really good in here …”

“Yes! Because I brought Wakura bath salts from home. We use the same kind at our inn! It’ll energize you and make you feel really good too♪”

That’s right, her parents own an inn with a hot spring …

Calling it an “inn” might not do the place justice. I’ve got a feeling it’s more like a high-class hotel. I mean, I’m pretty sure someone said it won “Best in Japan” awards for years running and something was mentioned before we left about the emperor staying there for an informational meeting.

Hold up?

Wouldn’t that make her … royalty or something?

“Please put your clothes in this basket. I’ll wash them for you later. I’ll put a towel and some fresh clothes for you here, okay?”

“Ah, sure.”

And before I knew it, the grade schooler figured out where I keep my clothes and towels. This is clearly way out of the ordinary, but I’m too groggy for it to set in.

It’s like I’m back at the inn, the title match all over again! I think to myself while relaxing in an absolutely perfect hot bath. My morning surprises continued upon exiting the bathroom door.

“Master! Your food is ready!”

“Ah, sure.”

“I’ll set out the plates, okay?”

Feeling like royalty myself after taking a bath with the sun still high in the sky, I take a seat at the knee-high dining table in the tatami room and watch simple yet hot dishes land in front of me one after another. This couldn’t have been easy to put together. Her otherworldly household skills are jaw dropping.

Sitting on her heels like some highly-trained server at a traditional inn, she starts scooping rice into a bowl and says, “I need to say sorry. I used almost everything in the refrigerator without asking.”

“That’s fine by me …”

I take the bowl from her, still in awe of all the food lined up in front of me. It’s a feast.

“This is amazing. You made all this by yourself?”

“Yes! The refrigerator had lots of stuff in it, and I kept getting new ideas and made a lot of food.”

“What’s this black sauce here?”

“It’s seaweed! Seaweed boiled in soy sauce.”

“I don’t remember having any of that in the fridge.”

“I made it. Sheets of seaweed and seasoning were already there.”

“Say what?! You can make this stuff?!”

“With a frying pan, yes?”

“O-oh, I see …… I’ll, um, have some….”

“It’s really easy to make, so no need to worry.”

I keep my eyes glued on the grade schooler sitting on her heels, lowering her head in a slight bow as I reach for the food with my chopsticks.

Now then, how about the taste—.

“Whoa! This is delicious. You’re something else, kiddo?!”

“E-he-he♡.”

I compliment her and Ai makes this really happy, puppy-dog smile.

She’s nothing like the timid little thing she was yesterday.

This is probably how she normally is. You can tell what someone’s really like after playing Shogi with them. This girl is actually rather persistent about getting her way, not willing to make any compromises. On the attack, 100 percent. Then again, female Shogi players are pretty much all that way like Big Sis, and Big Sis, and Big Sis.

“Huh? Ai, aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“No, no! I shall serve you, Master! I’m your apprentice after all!”

“Don’t worry about that. Now come on, have a seat and eat with me. You’ve gotta be hungry!”

If she does any more for me, I’m the one who’s gonna feel awkward. And she’s not my apprentice.

“Okay … Um, I’ll eat with you then …”

“Good.”

Sitting down on the opposite side of the table, we start eating face to face.

“……”

“……”

… Something’s a bit odd.

Facing each other like this is kinda awkward … And no, nothing’s happening downstairs because I’m this close to being a grade schooler myself, okay? It’s all nerves, got it? You understand, right?

All Shogi players know what it’s like to be perfectly fine sitting across from the opposite gender around a board but still turn into a nervous wreck otherwise. Even if that person happens to be in elementary school …

“Um … Master? I was wondering, do you cook? There was a lot of food in the fridge.”

“Huh? Ohh. Not me, but Big Sis does …”

“Sister? Master, do you have an older sister?”

“Older sister … Meh. Something like that, yes.”

Saying that she’s “practicing for when she lives on her own,” Ginko comes to my place and tries (her best) to cook. Her cooking (or something resembling it) isn’t even fit for a dog, but she comes after me, brandishing my eight-and-a-half inch Shogi board over her head if I don’t eat it, so I end up trying to swallow. ‘Cause after all, my head would split open like a watermelon if she actually threw it at me. And I’m still paying off the loan.

“But enough about that … Didn’t you say you started playing Shogi three months ago? How did you pick it up so fast?”

“Oh, okay.”

Ai rests her hand on the table and straightens her posture.

“Before he died, grandpa… my grandfather really liked Shogi and kept a lot of books about it at my family’s inn. I read them to learn as much as I could. But I can’t understand when there are a lot of hard words.

“That’s all?”

“And I would solve Shogi puzzles between chores at home. We run an inn with a hot spring, so there’s always so much to do. So I spent most of my spare time solving those puzzles.”

Now I get it. Shogi puzzles, makes sense. That explains her strong late game.

It’s not like anyone who does Shogi puzzles will get good at the game. Some of the authors don’t actually play themselves. That being said, they might’ve been perfect for this girl.

“But I’m really impressed. Finding time to study Shogi between chores like that.”

You’d think that a kid would get scolded for playing Shogi in the middle of housework, but pros have a different way of looking at it. In our world, if you’ve got time to do schoolwork, you should be playing Shogi.

“E-he-he. I had a real hard time remembering the problems at first, but I can do it now!”

What? Remembering … the problems?

“… Hang on a sec. Are you memorizing them? Wouldn’t it be easier to carry books and copies with you?”

“Yes. I, um, used to do that but my mother found them…. But it’s okay because I don’t forget a puzzle once I memorize it. Mom can take away as many as she likes!”

“If, if you don’t mind me asking … How many do you memorize in one sitting?”

“Maybe thirty? Then again, only ten if they’re long ones.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa …

It was surprising enough that she was solving puzzles on a mental Shogi board, but memorizing thirty puzzles at once? To top it all off, she doesn’t forget a single one? What is this girl’s mind made of …?

“S … so what kind of puzzles? Like Three Move Check?!”

“This is one I just worked out.”

She goes to her backpack that’s sitting in the corner of the room and brings back an old book. Shogi Zukou is written on it.

“The last problem really gave me fits, couldn’t solve it no matter what I tried. But it finally clicked during the train ride here! It was really hard.”

“D … Did you …… Did you really … solve … this …?”

“611 moves, right?”

… That’s correct. She’s for real?

The Shogi Zukou is a collection of extremely difficult Shogi puzzles, kind of like brainteasers, written in the 1700s by a pro named Kanju Itou.

100 puzzles in all, each of which is considered a classic in its own right. But the last three—Naked King, Fog of War and Longevity—are far more difficult than the rest and have been praised as the best puzzles in history, their difficulty bordering on artistic. They’re far beyond a level that, after solving one, a grade schooler could say, “It was really hard. Period.”

Just for reference, this is a normal (Three Move Check) Shogi puzzle.

And this is the last problem in Shogi Zukou, called Longevity.

It borders on profane, am I right?

Like a really bad joke.

These are Shogi puzzles. Even that one …

And a grade schooler solved it, all 611 moves, without using a board …

“This book took me about two weeks to finish, but it was a lot of fun! I’d like to write one of these books of my own someday♪”

A cold chill ran down my spine just looking at that innocent grade schooler’s happy smile.

She’s …… not normal.

Her talent clearly isn’t something you see every day. It takes pro Shogi players a few months to work their way through Shogi Zukou. There used to be a time when solving Zukou and solving another really difficult book known as Shogi Musou were enough to be recognized as a pro.

And this girl with three months’ experience solved it in just two weeks while helping out at home ……

Ai gets a bit nervous watching me zone out in shock, absentmindedly mixing the seaweed paste into my rice and she timidly speaks up.

“Um … Master? Was two weeks … too much time …?”

The other way around.

“W-well … I’d have to say it’s quite an accomplishment for an amateur. But the average pro can solve these puzzles at a glance.”

“… I knew it.”

“Longevity here takes 611 moves, but it was created more than 200 years ago. Modern puzzles take a lot more than that to crack.”

“How many?”

“For starters, Micro-Cosmos takes 1,525 moves.”

“What?”

“1,525.”

“T-th … That’s crazy …!”

“All of us pros have figured it out.”

If I were Pinocchio, my nose would be past Abeno Harukas about now.

“Pro Shogi players are really amazing!”

Careful to avoid the grade schooler’s sparkling gaze of admiration, I ask a follow-up question.

“…… And? Have you done any other practice methods?”

“Let me think. Would playing online at school count?”

“Shogi online?”

“24 and Wars, games like that.”

Shogi Club 24 and Shogi Wars, eh? Pretty basic.

“I’d borrow smartphones or tablets from my friends and we’d play during recess. Then I’d think about our matches during class and figure out what moves I should have made.”

Oh, ho? Played Shogi on a tablet at school, did you?

Times have really changed … I don’t want to sound like a geezer, I’m a teenager after all, but it’s been a year since I left school. It’s all so nostalgic now …

“… The food was delicious.”

“Thank you so much! Oh! Would you like some tea?”

She takes dishes away while preparing hot tea. This girl thinks of everything.

After pouring tea into cups, like she’s been doing it for years, Ai quickly and efficiently washes the dishes before coming up to me and says, “Excuse me, Master. Um, would it be all right for me to take a bath now …?”

“Yeah, sure. Take your time … And I’m not your Master yet, you know?”

“I know, Master!!”

My shoulders slump, disheartened by the happy little voice echoing out from the bathroom.