Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 10 - Chapter 5.6

  FROM NOW

“Thank you so much for coming today!”

I say yet again as I shake hands at a breakneck speed like an idol at a fan meet-and-greet event. I’ve forgotten the actual number of people I’ve shaken hands with so far. I stopped counting after hitting 300.

The winner of Top Earners Matches shakes hands with everyone in attendance to show fan appreciation. That’s how it’s done nowadays.

In other words, every kid and parent that came to a tournament today, somewhere around 3,000 people ……

The muscles in my face are stuck in a permanent smile and my right hand is sore and throbbing towards the end. Kimono soaked with sweat, it’s even hard to walk. I’ll be surprised if I can pick up pieces tomorrow. Then again, being dead-tired after a win doesn’t hurt at all!

“Thank you for your hard work, Kuzuryu-sensei. The last guests for today are coming.”

“Ah …… Okay.”

That staff member’s voice brings me out of my daze. So, human beings can smile and shake hands while being on the brink of passing out ……

Then, jumping right into my weary arms are–––.

“Master!” “Kujuryu-sensei!” “Masta♡!” “You’ve worked so hard!”

My four angels.

One look at their faces and suddenly I’m not tired anymore.

“Charlette, are you sure you should be up already?! I can pick you up if–––.”

“Master? You have work to do, shaking hands. Please do it, okay?

“Gh-owwwwch!! Ai, that hurts!! And that’s not a handshake, you’re just clamping down on my hand!!”

“All right, then I’m going to leave a handprint on your back, Kujyuru-sensei! Hiiya!!” Thwack! Mio wasn’t kidding ….

“Th-Then, I’ll …… touch his stomach ……………… It’s a special day …… It’s a special day ……” Press. Ayano’s hands softly push against my shirt.

With me completely enveloped by grade school girls, who should show up but–––.

“Hehehe. Popular, aren’t you? Young Ryuo.”

“Agh! Ms. Shakando …… How embarrassing.”

“Actually, I would say refreshing. I have only witnessed your terrifying strength on the Shogi board up to this point. Seeing you frolic with these young maidens, you have so much more life in you.”

Saying things that are sure to spark misunderstandings, Ms. Shakando pushes the still-crying Elementary Meijin out from under Ayumu’s cape.

“My student has received so much from you. Therefore, I believe some words of gratitude are in order …… and for the small braves as well.”

“Whaaa?! F-For me …… to? A thank-you?!”

Says Mio, who can hardly believe she got brought into the conversation.

“Miss Mio Mizukoshi. Miss Ayano Sadatou and Miss Charlette Isoir. All of you have performed admirably. Though there may be outstanding circumstances, I wish for you all to continue playing Shogi.”

““Yes!!””

Mio is so nervous she’s practically frozen solid. Ayano can’t believe who’s speaking to her right now and is starting to tear up. Yet, both girls still respond loud and clear. Ms. Shakando must be something close to a god for these two Practice League members. No matter what happens in the rest of their lives, I doubt they’ll ever forget this day. Even Charlette chimes in with a “wei!”

Looking at Mio, Ms. Shakando’s eyes narrow as she says.

“Maria. Do you comprehend the meaning of what this person said to you?”

“…… Mgh ……… Anngh ……”

“No matter how many victories you compile, lose once and you will forever be remembered as the defeated. The victor is not allowed a single loss or draw, only the next victory. One only becomes the true victor after achieving an endless string of victories. Continuously flaunting a single victory is utter folly.”

“M-Maaasteeer ……”

Ms. Shakando doesn’t pull any verbal punches even as Maria cries like a fountain.

In this world, one win is nothing more than the opening act to the next battle. Understanding that fact is the reason that Ms. Shakando and even that Meijin don’t show any interest in the records they’ve set.

For someone that’s always in battle, they don’t mean anything.

“For today, you are among the defeated. Shall you continue to dwell within their ranks, or will you stand to fight once again? Your decision, now.”

“Ungh …… Sniffle ………… I …… I’ll f-fight ……!”

“So be it.”

Rina Shakando-Women’s Legend nods her head all the way down …… and solemnly declares.

“On this day, you have tasted the agony of defeat. Victory is the only salvation from this pain. Thus, I shall allow you to undergo the Sub League entrance regulations as a member of my lineage. Henceforth, you shall be known as Theotokos Priestess of Shogi, St. Maria.”

“!! I …… I humbly accept!!”

“Grace this world with Shogi yet unseen, St. Maria. My apprentice.”

Says the Eternal Queen with her gaze overflowing with emotion. 

Ayumu, Maria now officially his little sister in the real and Shogi worlds, wipes Maria’s hot tears from her cheeks.

Ms. Shakando truly sees Maria as her own daughter.

Sending someone that important to them into the Sub League …… Would I be able to do it?

…… Nah. I don’t have to think about that. Not right now anyway.

“Ai Hinatsuru …… Ultimately ‘Ryuo’s Chicklet,’ yes?”

Next, Ms. Shakando congratulates Ai, not just Mio.

“Allow me to congratulate you on becoming the youngest Women’s League Player ever to qualify for the Women’s Legend League. Your performance in the late phase of that match was superb.”

“…… Thank you very much.”

Says Ai with a bow, completely monotone. She’s not jumping for joy like Mio did. Because, Ms. Shakando is an opponent after all.

The Women’s Legend glances in my direction.

“Though, I must say, the Kuzuryu lineage seems very fond of ‘the youngest.’”

“Would you please word that differently!! People will get the wrong idea!!”

These girls’ parents and their homeroom teacher are close by!!

Ms. Shakando grins as if enjoying herself and then turns back to Ai.

“Ryuo’s Chicklet, your master once came to me seeking council.”

“About …… what?”

“He said to me that his apprentice would soon join the Women’s League and would be within reach of the title not long thereafter. Said apprentice was developing at such a fast rate, he was struggling to keep up and was unsure of what to do ……”

“……!!”

Surprised, Ai looks right up in me.

It’s true that I did talk to Ms. Shakando about that. It was right before Ai took part in the Mynavi Preliminaries.

And, everything I said back then has come true.

“Chicklet. As you can see, my leg is disabled. It is most difficult for me to walk over to where you are.”

Pointing to her bum left leg, Rina Shakando-Women’s Legend says while grinning from ear to ear.

“So, would you please come up to where I am? That way …… I can knock you back down with my own two hands.”

““……!!””

It finally hits me.

The Eternal Queen didn’t come here to offer congratulations.

She’s here to declare war on the Women’s League Player Ai Hinatsuru–––as well as the girls I’ve had a hand in raising.

“I will ……!”

Ai clinches her fists and yells.

“I will meet you there! The shortest way possible!!”

Now, Ai Hinatsuru is–––taking on a legend.

After the Shakando Shogi family makes their exit like a procession of the royal court, a certain voice speaks up as if she were waiting for just that moment.

“Kuzuryu-sensei.”

It’s Kanegasaka-sensei along with the parents of the Grade Schooler Practice Group members.

Spotting one of them, Mio shouts.

“Huuuh?! Papa?! What about work?!”

“This was my daughter’s time in the spotlight. I told my boss I’d quit if he didn’t let me take time off to come and see …… Besides, it’s a Sunday.”

Mio’s father works for a massive pharmaceutical company and it’s easy to tell he’s been working too hard because he’s unhealthily thin. He continues.

“More importantly …… There was something I’ve had to tell you for a long time now.”

“Hmmm? What?”

“About my being transferred to Europe. You have nothing to worry about. You can stay here in Osaka with your mother and keep living like you always–––.”

“Without you, Papa, it won’t be like always, will it?”

“…………”

“Of course, I want to stay with all my friends here. Not having to move away would be great, but …… That means you’d be all by yourself overseas, right?”

“Yes, it would, but …… You just won a major tournament. Why, you could be a Women’s League Player one day if you stay in Japan and work for it. That’s what you wanted to prove by working so hard, is it not?”

“Huuh?”

Mio’s face goes blank for a moment.

Then, the words roll right off her tongue.

“I didn’t win the tournament because I wanted to stay in Japan and keep going to the Practice League.”

“You didn’t?”

“I wanted to thank you and Mama for letting me keep playing Shogi for all these years! I wanted to show you how strong I’ve gotten before leaving Japan …… I mean, I couldn’t have kept going if it weren’t for both of you!”

““……!!””

Mio’s parents are both completely lost for words.

They thought their little girl would always be a kid, but …… Now she’s the one rooting them on. That’s got to be the most surprising and simultaneously happy moment a parent could ever have.

Her mother is wiping her eyes with a handkerchief while her father looks up at the ceiling so gravity can help keep his tears back. Other parents who still happen to be around with their kids, however, already are crying.

Turning to face her parents like a sunflower shifting towards the sun, Mio says.

“I’m pretty strong, aren’t I? So, I’ll be fine. Let’s all go as a family.”

“B-But …… Won’t you be lonely? This means leaving your friends behind.”

“I won’t be lonely at all! I mean …… right?”

Mio flashes a mischievous smile as she looks at all the Grade Schooler Practice Group members in turn.

Ai, Ayano, and Charlette giggle right back.

All the adults watching them are confused and can’t figure out exactly what the kids are talking about.

So, as the leader of the group, Mio steps up to explain.

“Mama, Papa, you might not get it, but …… No matter how far apart we are, even on the other side of the planet, we won’t get lonely.”

“Cha, too! Cha won’t be wonwy, even back in Fwance!”

“I also will not feel lonely. I won’t have enough time to feel it.”

“I …… Might be a little sad. But, no matter where we are or how much time goes by, I’ll always feel closer to Mio than anyone. Because–––.”

Ai chimes in as the four magical angels take hold of each other’s hands and say with glee.

All of them together connected by their magic spell.

“Because …… we have Shogi!”

…… I walk over to where Kanegasaka-sensei is standing to ask her something that’s been bugging me for a while.

“You knew from the start, didn’t you, Sensei? About Shogi, Ai and I …… and the Grade Schooler Practice Group? Which is why you wanted to broaden that circle as much as possible in your class. All so that Mio wouldn’t be lonely. Am I wrong?”

“You may believe what you will.”

She answers without changing her expression at all.

Yep, she’s a genuine teacher. Her brain works differently than mine.

“Kuzuryu-sensei, as promised, I shall acknowledge you as Miss Hinatsuru’s legal guardian.”

“Thank you.”

“To be honest, there are still things about Miss Hinatsuru …… that concern me.”

“……”

“However, it would be impossible for anyone without the same level of talent or greater to raise that girl properly. Watching her during this tournament made it all too clear. She …… is different from other children her age on a fundamental level.”

Says Kanegasaka-sensei with a hint of fear in her voice as she watches Ai busily laugh and cry together with Mio and the other girls from afar.

An unprecedented monster is lurking among those four angels.

The monster called “talent.”

It’ll only keep growing from here, consuming all who stand against it and may even bite the hand of its own master one day.

“Miss Hinatsuru has a special power. Please make sure that power doesn’t go astray.”

“I promise. That’s my job as her master.”

“Your darling apprentice ……? I thought the practice of live-in apprentices was outdated, but it may, in fact, be the perfect environment for talented children like her.”

She tells me with a smile before suddenly switching to a serious tone.

“But, be sure never to forget one thing.”

“And that is?”

My apprentice’s homeroom teacher then tells me flat out as I look at her in confusion.

“Elementary school students are out of bounds as romantic partners!”

…… I’ll take that to heart.