Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.7

  MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING AFTER SCHOOL

Ayano and Charlette come to the school once classes were over.

“P-Please …… Excuse us.”

“Cha, Cha’s neber been to a Jawpanese scwool before!!”

Charlette’s excitedly bouncing around, opening the locker in the back of the room where the cleaning supplies are kept before trying to catch the class’s pet hamster. Free-spirited as ever.

To start things off, I have everyone take a seat and get them up to speed on the situation.

“A-hem …… Thanks to Kanegasaka-sensei’s good will, the Grade Schooler Practice Group can now use this classroom after school!”

I thought it would be a last resort after my apartment became off-limits for practice sessions, but …… Now that I’ve taught a class in here myself, I like it better in here.

Desks, a chalkboard, and everything that we could ever need are all right here. I can do lecture style lessons, which are very difficult at my apartment or even at the Association classroom.

People normally avoid teaching classes, but it’s so easy to focus in a classroom that this just might work!

Ayano and Charlette are going to stay at Mio’s house tonight, so there’s no need to worry about the session running late. Mio lives walking distance away and Kanegasaka-sensei said she could drop them off, too.

This place has so many good things going for it. Wow …… Elementary schools are the best!

“All right, let’s get started!”

““Okay!””

Four grade schoolers respond with gusto. This must be what being the cool teacher feels like.

“Amateur tournaments have very little waiting time, so you have to play fast. Therefore, you’ll place very high if you have a thorough understanding of how to play fast. This …… is the formula for success!”

I write out the formula on the chalkboard.

“Your King invulnerable + Enemy King in danger = victory”

“This! This is the epitome of playing fast!”

I thump the chalkboard for extra impact and explain.

“It’s hard to read all the way to checkmate when you only have a few seconds, right? The good news is you don’t have to. You can win as long as your King is safe.”

Figuring out if you can or can’t checkmate your opponent in a few seconds isn’t a skill anyone can learn overnight, and talent has a lot to do with it.

In that case, what can you do to give your skills an immediate boost?

If reading is too hard, memorize.

“So, remember as many ‘invulnerable formations’ as possible! Once you know them by heart, you can keep attacking and get stronger and stronger!”

This method goes against most modern teaching styles, but it’s the most efficient.

Passing out printouts of different types of invulnerable formations to the girls, Mio almost nosedives into the paper with her eyes wide open in shock.

“Gahh! There’s a lot of these things.”

“Well, there aren’t a lot of ‘cannot be put in check formations,’ but there are quite a few ‘can escape check formations’ to learn. There are also ‘invulnerable without a Rook or Gold formations’ and ‘invulnerable without a Knight formations,’ too!”

Yeah, there are lots. With all these details to remember, it can’t be easy for them.

Ayano, on the other hand, is beaming.

“If I can just memorize these ‘invulnerable formations,’ I won’t have to waste seconds on it reading my own King even in the closest of late games! The late game is my weakness, but I have an excellent memory! I’ll do my best!”

“Cha, too! Cha twies hard in the wate game!”

If your own King is safe, you can focus entirely on finishing off your opponent’s.

Having to read half as much as your opponent means you’re only fighting against half of your opponent’s Shogi skill. Meaning, your chances to win go way up.

“I’ve got a treat ready for you if you can memorize all of these perfectly by the end of today!!”

““Yaaay! Treats!!””

Dangle a carrot in front of them and their concentration skyrockets! I can handle grade schoolers, no sweat!!

“Um …… Master?”

As the other girls are getting to work on their own printouts, Ai is the only one left without anything to do. She raises her hand and asks.

“There isn’t a one for me?”

“I’ve got something special prepared for you, Ai. You have a league match coming up.”

I’ve done a lot of research on Ai’s next opponent …… learning as much as I can about Ms. Gakumeki.

Putting it all together–––.

“The next person you’re going to face is probably going to be the strongest you’ve ever played in an even match. Winning won’t be easy. But, with the right preparation, you should be able to find a way.”

“! …… Yes, Master! What should I do?!”

I hand a sheet of paper to my suddenly nervous apprentice.

“Solve these Shogi puzzles.”

“Uwhee? …… Shogi, puzzles?”

“Yeah. I’ve got some puzzles ready for you. I’ll be timing you today, too.”

“U-Umm …… But ………… Maria said that Shogi puzzles are pointless …… Hanadachi-sensei also said so in the magazine ……”

“There is a point. I’m asking you to trust me and just do it.”

“…… Okay. I will.”

She agrees but looks less than convinced.

I suppose she wouldn’t be. After all, I just said “you don’t have to put the opponent’s King in checkmate.”

But, Ai loves doing Shogi puzzles.

“………… Here …… Here …… Here, here, here …………”

And, starts working on it right away.

“Kanegasaka-sensei. Ai is working on something like a test, so please check her answers when she is done. I’ll look after the other girls.”

“I can do that.”

“Here is the answer sheet.”

Glancing over the paper, she looks up at me with suspicion in her eyes.

“………… What exactly is this?”

“The answers to these Shogi puzzles.”

“Preposterous. The book of Shogi puzzles I bought at the bookstore doesn’t have any of this grimoire-esk mumbo-jumbo anywhere to be found. Is it even possible to solve this puzzle?”

“What book did you buy?”

“It has a pink cover. The sign said it is the bestseller.”

“Ah, that one has 3-step and 5-step puzzles. Of course, it’s a great book, but …… If you think of that one as a grade school workbook, Ai is working a prep course to get into graduate school.”

“There’s that much difference?!”

“Yes. These ones were used for the Shogi Puzzle Championship.”

“Shogi Puzzle …… Championship?”

“It’s an extremely competitive tournament that even Pro Shogi Players join. The puzzle makers in charge of the whole thing put all their brainpower into making the puzzles as hard as possible, and sometimes even Pros can’t solve them all.”

The puzzles I gave Ai are from the first round.

They’re easier than the wide array of next-to-impossible puzzles from Round 2, but even these ones are so hard that they blows regular Shogi puzzles out of the water.

There’s a 90-minute time limit, but this year’s champion needed less than half of it, only 40 minutes, to solve every single puzzle correctly.

Ai may be good at them, but even she’d struggle with these.

“Um …… Master?”

“Hm? Is something wrong, Ai? Did you find a mistake in a puzzle?”

“I’m finished.”

Say what?

“I’m finished.”

“Oh …… Okay! I see! B-But, this isn’t a speed contest! It’s …… about accuracy! How’d she do, Kanegasaka-sensei?”

“………………………. 100% correct.”

Come again?

Uhhh …… It’s only been, about 10 minutes …… Since she started ……

“Master? Um …… Did I take too long? I wanted to make sure I didn’t make a mistake, so I went over them many times, so it took me longer to finish ……”

What? …… Whaaat?

I knew she was good at Shogi puzzles, but …… This good ……?

“Th-The next ones are the ones that counts!! Those were just a warm-up!”

“Okay, Master! I’ll do my best!!”

This time, I give her the puzzles from Round 2.

These are so difficult that no one answered perfectly. Even Ai has to be feeling overwhelmed just looking at them.

“Here, here, herehereherehereherehereherehere––––––.”

Brain firing on all cylinders, Ai sets to work.

I take a moment to step back and look at all the Grade Schooler Practice Group members hard at work on their own assignments and Kanegasaka-sensei comes up to me to quietly say.

“…… It’s quite impressive, Shogi.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I was always the top student in my class ever since my elementary school days.”

Far from bragging, she sounds embarrassed.

“Junior high, high school, college …… All I ever did was go to whichever school my parents and teachers said was the best around and then become a teacher myself. However, not one thing I learned in college has been useful as a member of society ……”

“Sensei ……”

“Being entrusted with a class of my own for the first time …… made me realize that I know nothing about the world outside of school walls. That’s why seeing children carve their own path in life outside of school makes me anxious, as though I don’t have the right to teach them anything.”

I’m shocked …… but, at the same time, I know exactly how that feels.

Just how I’ve gone back and forth about how I should raise Ai Hinatsuru, Kanegasaka-sensei has been grappling with her own problems as a teacher.

“…… I’m not sure if it’s right for me to say this as a guy who gave up on studying in junior high school, but–––.”

“?”

“I’m so relieved that someone like you is Ai’s homeroom teacher!”

“Huh ……?”

“There are so many things I can’t teach my apprentice because I never went to high school. Please, teach her for me! Let her know what it’s like outside of the Shogi world. What she can learn and what she can’t.”

“Mr. …… Kuzuryu ……”

“And, this might be asking a little much, but …… I would really appreciate it if you could overlook her absences for league matches. Maybe? Ahaha!”

“…… I can handle that.”

There are many ways it can be done …… She adds with a reassuring tone.

“Really?! Oh, you’re a lifesaver!”

Kanegasaka-sensei is strict, but the Shogi world isn’t over her head at all. That alone makes Ai and Mio very lucky.

“I had a rough time when I had to miss school to play a match or work as a match recorder. The only thing I thought about was what excuse I would make to get out of class next time. But I can’t tell my apprentice to just skip school. With her future in my hands, I feel like that would cross the line …… and be kind of pathetic ……”

“Well, Yaichi, you’re still the same age as a high school student, yes? You don’t have to overexert yourself to fit in with adults.”

“! ………… Sensei ……”

Hearing kind words out of her for the first time, I feel like a student again.

I’ve always had a weakness for older women.

But, more than that …… I like the aura teachers have.

I mean, my first crush was my kindergarten teacher …… And then Keika ……

Kanegasaka-sensei looks a little bit hesitant before–––she leans in to whisper in my ear!

“…………… Yaichi. The truth is–––.”

She starts saying something, when.

“?!”

Zing zing! I turn around and see–––.

“……………………………………………………”

Ai is silently standing there without saying a word. Kinda scary.

“I’m finished.”

“O-Ohhh ………… That was fast ……”

It hasn’t even been 30 minutes. Too fast. Almost peed my pants.

If …… If she got every answer right ……

“Y-You must be tired by now, yes? How about taking a break once we check your answers? I’ve got your favorite strawberry flavor as a treat when you’re done, so–––.”

“Yaaay!”

Ai throws her arms in the air, expressing happiness with her whole body like any little kid would do, before sticking her face up toward mine and saying.

“Okay, Master, can I have strawberry kisses like always? On the cheek is fine today.”

In that moment, the whole classroom freezes over.

“Mr. …… Kuzuryu? Would you care to explain ……?”

The budding relationship we had snuffed out mere moments after being born, Kanegasaka-sensei grabs a long, forked pole from the locker and points the business end right at me.

“Uh …… um, Kanegasaka-sensei? That’s a sasumata, right? Used to fend off strangers on school grounds, right? Why are you holding it ……?”

“Because I found a suspicious individual.”

Come again? Where? ………… Where?

“Master always gives all of us a special treat after practice sessions! Isn’t that right, everyone?”

HEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! What are you doing throwing napalm on a nice campfire?!

“Huuh?! Treats?! You’ve been getting extra treats all this time, Ai?! No fair!” yells Mio.

“Cha, too! Cha, Cha wants more of Masta’s tweats!”

“I-I as well …… Would like a treat, from Kuzuryu-sensei ……”

It seems the grade schoolers have followed latched on to the word “treat.”

“You …… were doing depraved things after all, weren’t you?! Those alleged Shogi practice sessions were just a front for lolitic fraternization at your apartment ……!!”

Pointing the sasumata rod like a spear and glaring at me like she’s caught a pervert red handed, Kanegasaka-sensei closes in on me with very deliberate steps.

“No, wait, wait! The treats I give them are just strawberry ice cream–––.”

“Caressing?! You caress them as a reward?! I knew you were a predator all along!!”

Crap, I can’t get through to her!

“Ai?! I was so close to settling things and you had to go burn it all down?!”

“That’s not my problem! Master dara!!”

Calling me a dirty word from her hometown, Ai angrily puffs out her cheeks.

…… Shogi puzzles may be difficult, but they’re nothing compared to figuring out what’s going through a fifth-grader’s head.