Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 1 - Chapter SS

REVIEW SESSION

When I poked my head inside the association’s Player Room that day——a maid was playing Shogi with a bunny.

“…… What? Got a staring problem?”

“Oh, if it isn’t the Ryuo. How do you do?”

The maid snaps at me while the bunny makes an elegant bow.

The girl wearing the maid outfit is Ryou Tsukiyomizaka, the Women’s King. Said to be the fastest, most decisive player around, she’s currently one of the best in the Women’s League.

Personality wise, she’s just as quick and (extremely) aggressive in real life as she is during a match and holds a top spot on my beware list right next to Big Sis. We don’t cross paths all that much because she belongs to the Kanto Association, but she always picks a fight with me on sight. Her alias is the Aggressive Archangel. Scary.

The bunny girl is Machi Kugui: Yamashiro Ouka.

She’s an alluring beauty from Kyoto with long black hair that flows down her back like a waterfall with snowy white skin and a gentle aura about her. The elegant, graceful title of Yamashiro Ouka fits her like a glove.

At the same time, her anaguma defense is so solid it borders on abuse. She throttles opponents with her King safely behind several layers of defenses, depriving her adversary of the last shred of hope, all with a cheerful smile on her face. She’s not normal. People call her Machi the Tormentor. Scary.

Those two girls are in the middle of a Shogi match, cosplaying as a maid and a bunny.

Scary.

“What’s …… What’s going on here? Why are you two dressed like that ……?”

Scared as all hell, I ask the two of them and the maid in a miniskirt spits out an answer without looking up from the board.

“Work, what else? Like hell I’d want to wear this thing.”

“Did you get a part-time job in Akihabara or Nihonbashi?”

“Whassat? You saying I’m out there ripping people off in a maid costume or something?”

I never said anything even close to that.

“It’s this new plan they got going: Shogi Idols. The higher-ups are planning an event to draw new members into the Women’s League Fan Club by playing Shogi in costume, got it? It’s in the works.”

“I believe the bunny costume best suits our cause,” the bunny girl adds while casually moving a piece across the board, her eyes narrow.

“Ryou insisted on the maid. But dressing behind the times just will not do. Isn’t that right, Ryuo?”

“You brain-dead, Machi? Bunnies and costumes like that—only the perverts like that stuff. Isn’t that right, Kuzu?”

“Yeah ……”

Clack! Clack! They start having the strangest argument back and forth, slapping the pieces onto the board at the same time. Now’s not the time.

“Surveying the whole league couldn’t settle it. So, now the final decision comes down to this game of Shogi.”

Machi lives nearby in Kyoto, so coming to the association is no big deal for her. But Ryou came all the way down from Tokyo just for this? How much free time does she have?

They’re playing a high-speed, all-out brawl type match where each move takes less than thirty seconds. Do this kind of thing out in the streets of Akihabara or Nihonbashi and fans will start pouring in for sure—as will their money, I bet.

“If you don’t mind me asking, where’d you get those outfits? They yours?”

“Why, of course not.”

“Wanna get crushed?”

That pissed them both off. Scary.

“Borrowed them from the Sensei in Kobe. That man, he has quite a selection of these.”

“I see ……”

“And by the way, Ryuo, did you know he wants to talk to you? Something about a cute young apprentice under your wing? Said, Bring her in for a spell.”

Whoa …… He’s already heard about that ……?

His place isn’t really grade schooler friendly, and the thought of taking Ai there makes me sick to my stomach, but he helped me out a lot back when I was in the Sub League, so I can’t say no. Better drop in sooner rather than later ……

Ryou’s hand suddenly stopping in surprise brings me out of my train of thought.

“What was that? You took an apprentice?”

“Yeah, that I did.”

“…… Humph.”

The Women’s King makes a snorting sound with her mouth and reads the board until the absolute last second before moving her Rook into an attack position—a move so bold that I, an observer, gulp down the air in my throat.

Lining up the final blow on the board, Ryou takes a mental break and looks up at me.

“And?”

“And what?”

“This apprentice of yours. Pictures, pictures.”

“Is it true you’ve taken a live-in apprentice? They must be quite dedicated?”

Machi makes a rather suspicious move of her own, staring down Ryou with the eyes of a fox. Scary.

“Sorry …… I haven’t taken any pictures.”

“Okay then, spill the beans. Boy? Girl? Age?”

“She’s nine years old if you must know.”

“……”

Huh? What’s with the silence?

“Loli …… Don’t really see a problem. Taking apprentices is part of the job for top players …… ta complex.”

“I agree. Even if Loli …… I’m sure many a child would love to become a top player’s apprentice, so give and take? The best one for the position kind of thing? …… ta complex.”

“You can just say what you mean.”

“Lolita complex.”

“It’s not like that!!”

The two of you joined the Practice League at her age, didn’t you?!

“Taking a young girl into your home and molding her into your ideal woman …… Fitting of the Ryuo. Very elegant,” Machi the Tormentor says something absolutely terrifying while giggling to herself. She’s mocking me, I know she’s mocking me.

“…… Gross.”

Ryou inches her chair away from me. That kind of hurts, you know, that attitude.

With the match heating up, it’s only natural that the conversation dies down.

In an unexpected turn of events for an anaguma match, both players send their Kings into their opponent’s territory to cause zetto (where it’s impossible to achieve checkmate, a Shogi acronym that literally means no one can win).

Both players come to a stop.

“…… A draw, eh.”

“Still unsettled.”

The rules state that in case of a zetto, the game resets with the player who went first going second but——.

“We lack the time required to play another match …… What say you?”

“Got a point there ……”

They start glancing at me while putting the pieces away.

Both stand up from their chairs, each strikes a pose and they say in unison, “Which one?”

…… Come again?

“We’ll leave this up to you, the observer, Ryuo. Agreed, Ryou?”

“Fine by me. That’s the observer’s job.”

“When did I become an observer?!”

“Quit babbling and choose. The maid is better, yes? Yeah?”

“Ryuo, there is no need to hide what you feel in your heart. You like bunny girls?”

“……”

This is hard …… The hardest decision between two choices I’ve ever had to make in my life.

I have to admit that Ryou as a maid is really pretty. She’s the Archangel. Beautiful. The maid outfit beautifully accents Ryou’s slender, model level body and unique style. I can almost see her panties too.

Then again, Machi’s bunny girl is eye-popping, just like a gravure idol …… Especially her boobs! Those boobs!!

“Okay …… Um …………………………………… that one.”

In the end, I chose——the bunny.

“Yaaay! I’m elated! Love you, Ryuo♡.”

“…… Tsk.”

The bunny girl hops up and down with glee while the maid angrily snaps her tongue. But this worked out well. How could it not, what with all the jiggling going on with each hop ……?

“Now then, here you go.”

“Hm? What’s with the bag?”

“Surely you must know, Ryuo?”

Machi the Tormentor grins an evil grin, the corners of her lips curling.

“What else could it be but Ginko’s costume?”

…… Come again?

“Why did you think I came all the way down here? I had to convince Ginko, isn’t it obvious? But yeah, you’re saving me one hell of a headache.”

“Indeed, indeed. You are the precious little brother apprentice, and how could she say no to the great Master Ryuo?”

“Oh, hell no!! You’ve got to be kidding me!! Big Sis’d never wear that?!”

“You two are a thing right? Figure it out.”

“Ryuo, you must have so much fun dressing her in all sorts of outfits during your alone time, yes? Oh, I know you do.”

“Like hell I have?!! What would give you the idea that we’re dating in the first place?! Please don’t make me think about such a nightmare!!”

Whoa! Got an image of Big Sis just as a maid for a second there! Horrifying!!

“Anyway, she’s already part of the program with her picture right smack dab in the middle of the pamphlet.”

“With big, bold letters saying, Get your picture taken With Naniwa’s Snow White in cosplay!! That’ll take a great deal of convincing.”

“Leave me out of your evil plots, would you please?!”

“Wow, this is such a load off my shoulders. Think I’ll grab some kebabs before heading back to Tokyo.”

Ryou takes the headband out of her hair and unceremoniously shoves it into the front pocket of her apron before taking hold of the doorknob still in costume.

“It’s in your hands now, got it? Make sure she wears it.”

“I ask you as well.”

Machi puts on a very expensive-looking spring jacket and zips the front all the way up to her neck before taking off her bunny ears and slipping them over my head. Then she follows Ryou out of the Player’s Room.

“…………”

Standing alone with Big Sis’s bunny costume in a bag dangling from my hand, I couldn’t help but feel this wouldn’t end well.

…… Can I throw in the towel?