Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 11 - Chapter 2.2

  LIVE-IN APPRENTICE

“I’m takin’ ya both to the association today.”

I’d been Master’s live-in apprentice for a few days when I heard him say that.

“Ya can get whatever ya want at Twelve, the first-floor restaurant, for lunch.”

“Are you sure it’s okay, Master?!”

He smiled and nodded as I jumped for joy.

“Sure I’m sure. Once ya turn pro, ya can eat out as much as ya like.”

Wow! Pros are amazing! I was still in awe. Big Sis didn’t seem all that excited, but she beat Master and I to the front door and silently urged us to hurry up.

The Kansai Shogi Association building is in the Fukushima district of Osaka, just one stop on the Kanjou Line from Noda Station, the closest station to Master’s house.

Nowadays, I can walk that distance no sweat. But, for a four-year-old and a six-year-old, taking the train a single station down the line is a big adventure. Heck, just riding the train itself is an adventure.

That’s why back when I first became an apprentice, going to the association was a special event that didn’t happen very often.

“All right ya two. Hold hands and don’t let go, ya hear?”

I was fully intent on carrying out the first order Master ever gave me even as I looked down over the city through the train window as it traveled down the elevated track.

Stepping off the train at JR Fukushima Station, we passed right by all the shops built under the railroad track.

Then, we turned onto Naniwa Street, went over a crosswalk and saw–––.

“Here we are. It’s ’at brick buildin’ there.”

Even today, I can remember down to the last detail the moment Big Sis and I held hands with Master in front of the rustic red brick building.

I’m pretty sure I said, “Whoa …… There’s something written on the wall! What’s it say?”

“Shogi Kaikan.”

“Huuuh?! You can read that, Ginko?”

“Easily.”

Hmmph. Her face was blank but Big Sis sounded triumphant.

“This …… is the Kansai Shogi Association building ……”

I was so excited and nervous that my heart could’ve burst open. Big Sis’s hand in mine …… was burning up.

This place is special to us. It’s the place that’s given us the most joy … and also the most pain.

The place we’ve spent more time than at home or at school. It’s where we’ve learned how to live.

It’s also the place where we’ll spend the remainder of our lives fighting endless battles.

I was anxious walking into Twelve for the first time.

“Th-This place …… looks really fancy ……”

My first and biggest worry was money.

Master was already letting me live with him for free, so was it really okay for me to eat for free at a restaurant like this on top of that? All I had in my wallet was five 100 yen coins ……

Master must’ve understood what was bothering me because he said in a kind voice, “There’s a tradition in the Shogi world, ya see. Veterans keep the new players fed. Once ya turn pro and have an apprentice of yar own, make sure ya treat ’em to dinner, understood?”

“Y- …… Yes! Thank you so much, Master!!”

I swore to myself then that I absolutely would …… Though, that day came a lot sooner than I expected. 

We sat down at a table and Master said as we opened the menu, “Ginko. No need to be holdin’ back. Ya can order anythin’ ya wanna eat.”

“……” (point)

Using no time, Big Sis chose cow tongue stew, the most expensive thing on the menu. That shocked me so much that I forgot what I ordered that day. It was probably the cheapest daily lunch set they had. I just didn’t know …… if Master’s wallet would survive ……

“Ngh …… I-I ain’t never tasted tongue stew ……”

“Delish.”

Big Sis ignored the envy in Master’s voice as she licked her lips and gave him a thumbs up. Master returned the gesture.

“Ginko. I’ll give ya some of my pork cutlet, so gimme some of ’at stew?”

“No.”

Shutting him down hard like denying a Bishop Exchange, Big Sis finished off the tongue stew by herself and even licked the bowl clean for good measure.

–––Why is Ginko so defiant?

Master’s reaction also had me confused.

Even at six years old, I could tell that Master was being a lot more lenient with her than necessary. It was to the point that he was taken by her Shogi talent couldn’t explain it.

“Mgh …… Food ain’t enough to get her to open up. Difficult child, this one ……”

I can still remember Master wincing as he opened his wallet at the cashier. I was sure that Big Sis was never going to bond with him back then, like the way a stray cat will never let you pet it no matter how much you feed it.

But it wouldn’t take long for Master and I to realize how wrong we were.

We took the elevator up to the third floor after eating lunch at Twelve so Master could introduce us to the association staff.

“Live-in apprentices? It has a nostalgic ring to it,” said the man who Big Sis and I would come to call the Principal, Mr. Mine, as he bent down to our height to give us some encouraging words. “Ginko, Yaichi, you’re so lucky to be learning from a great Master like Kiyotaki-sensei. I just know you’re going to be very strong one day!”

The news was a surprise to everyone, but they welcomed us with open arms. The only reason why Master didn’t get the lolicon treatment like I did back when I took Ai Hinatsuru here for the first time has to be because Master had a daughter. There’s no other explanation.

“Welp, long as we’re here, might as well drop by the Player’s Room.”

The Player’s Room is separated from the office by a single wall.

But that single wall …… was like a barrier separating two different worlds.

“Ever’body, got a minute?” Master called out to all the Sub League members playing practice matches and lining up match records in the room. “These two here are my apprentices. My first apprentice, Ginko Sora, and my second, Yaichi Kuzuryu. Raisin’ ’em both as live-in apprentices. Train ’em up good, ya hear?”

“Train them up ……? Those toddlers?”

“The classroom downstairs’ll be enough for them.”

The Player’s Room had just been remodeled, so everything was clean and new. However, the rough and gritty classic Kansai atmosphere was still alive and well.

“Seriously? You’re living with them? I didn’t know you liked kids so much, Kiyotaki-sensei.”

“Got that much time on your hands now ’cause you got demoted?”

Some veteran Sub League members were that blunt and didn’t even bother to stop their matches.

It was scary, sure …… But more of a shock, actually.

Pro players were treated like gods back in the mountains where I was from, but here they were the butt of jokes.

Even before I could ask why, I understood the answer.

It was all because a certain pro walked in.

“You took apprentices, Mr. Kiyotaki? They might be worth training up after all.”

“Ohhh …… Mr. Oishi. Strange seein’ ya here when ya don’t have a match.”

“My little girl said she wanted to come, so I brought her. She’s downstairs playing in the classroom, but …… That reminds me, Mr. Kiyotaki. Word is that he’s been in and out of yours recently–––.”

This person wearing a suit jacket, I knew his face very well because I’d seen it many times in magazines and on TV.

–––Th-The …… Worldly Maestro!!

For me, this was bigger than meeting a famous actor. My mind went blank.

Mitsuru Oishi 8-dan.

The atmosphere in the Player’s Room did a total 180 once the young leader of the Ranging Rook Party and Kansai ace showed up.

It was blatant, so blatant I could hardly believe it.

“Oishi-sensei! Can I ask you for a practice match?!”

“What’s your opinion on this formation?!”

The Worldly Maestro, who had just taken Master’s A placement, was only 30 years old at the time.

As the leading practitioner of the latest strategy, Gokigen Central Rook, everyone was in awe of the sheer beauty Mr. Oishi could create on a Shogi board. The number of Ranging Rook Party members in the Kansai Sub League skyrocketed because of him.

The next few years would be the peak of Ranging Rook popularity in the Shogi world as a whole.

Goki Central wasn’t the only new strategy. New, unique ideas appeared on the scene in quick succession and transformed this year into the only one that players on defense had a higher winning percentage.

Side Pawn Capture 8 Five Rook.

And Move-Loss Bishop Exchange.

This caused a Shogi revolution, wrenching control from the older generation of Static Rook Players, especially orthodox ones who played yagura strategies like Master.

The one exception was an all-rounder: the Meijin. He threw himself headfirst into the fray and worked closely with the younger generation to absorb their Shogi senses and made them his own.

The thing is, only gods can pull that off ……

I’m pretty sure that Master had lost 10 straight matches to Mr. Oishi at that point.

The victory star was pretty much the Maestro’s for the taking.

I was just a kid but …… I felt the difference in the Sub League members’ reactions when Master walked into the Player’s Room versus when Mr. Oishi came in.

That, and I was completely taken by the Worldly Maestro’s aura …… I knew he was cooler than Master the second I saw him ……

But not Ginko Sora.

Big Sis trotted her way up to the Worldly Maestro, a man several times taller than herself, and said without the slightest hint of respect, “You, Oishi?”

No sensei, no Mr.

It was like the whole room froze over. Even the practice matches stopped, the continuous snapping of pieces suddenly gone …… But Big Sis wasn’t done.

“Stop being mean to my Master!! Ranging Rook players should all just disappear!!”

“G-Ginko! What’re ya …… Watch yer mouth!!”

Master was so stunned he turned blue in the face.

The Maestro forced a grin. I had no idea what had just happened, so all I could do was watch Big Sis look as intimidating as a baby anteater standing on her hind legs as she stared down Mr. Oishi.

“Heh …… Loyal, aren’t you? That’s how live-in apprentices should be.”

Mr. Oishi put his knee to the floor so he could speak to Big Sis eye to eye.

“Ginko …… was it? Do you not like Ranging Rook?”

“Hate it.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s for cowards.”

“Ouch, that was a little harsh.”

For amateurs like Big Sis and I in those days, Ranging Rook was an outdated style that meant denying a Bishop Exchange and hiding your King behind as many pieces as possible. It was defensive Shogi that relied on counterattacks. Just tricks with ambushes.

But it was just the opposite in the pros.

Actually, it was Ranging Rook that opened their Bishop Path first at this time years ago because that’s how they kept the Static Rook anaguma strategy under control.

You could say that Goki Central and Ishida-style were at the forefront of Manly Ranging Rook.

I’m sure Mr. Oishi wanted to give her a piece of his mind that day, but he let it slide with a grin and turned to talk to me.

“So, kid, where are you from?”

“F-Fukui! I’m Yaichi Kuzuryu! I’m six years old!”

“That makes you in the same grade as my little girl.”

Mr. Oishi’s daughter Asuka is a quiet but capable girl who works at the public bath that their family owns and operates beneath their apartment. Her boobs are the stuff of dreams.

“You are new here in Osaka, right Yaichi? My girl’s shy, with a thick shell, you see. Why don’t you and Ginko drop by for a visit sometime? We’ve got huge baths.”

“Yes! I will!”

“That’s what I like to hear. You can ask her out on a date if you want.”

“Yes! I will!”

I was just so nervous at the time that I didn’t hear every word he said and just reflexively said “yes.” Next thing I knew, the whole room was roaring with laughter.

“Easy there, kid. Telling a father you’re going to date his daughter is fighting words.”

“Huh?! Ah …… S-Sorry ……?”

“Sure looks like Yaichi’ll be one heck of a skirt chaser when he grows up. You better keep a good eye on him, Ginko, or you’re in for some hard times.”

Finally, the tension disappeared from the Player’s Room.

“My word …… First time ya meet Mr. Oishi, and ya say that ……”

We were on our way home from the association.

The air was chilly with an autumn breeze, but Master was still wiping sweat from his brow as he lectured Big Sis in a stern voice.

“Ya listen here, Ginko. Now that yer a live-in apprentice, ya gotta live by the Shogi world’s rules, ya hear? Bow yar head and say hello to other players and Shogi staff! Be polite! Players are to be called sensei! Call your Master and Shogi family line by name! ’At’s the bare minimum. I’ll kick ya out if ya don’t follow the rules.”

“Yes, Master! Understood.”

“A textbook response?! Ah, boy …… Can’t trust it ……”

Master’s shoulders slumped.

After seeing the major trouble Big Sis stirred up on her very first trip to the association, he might’ve lost confidence in his ability to raise her. I certainly couldn’t keep her under control ……

After a long sigh, Master said, “…… But thank ya. I swear I’ll get back into A …… and be the Meijin.”

I think he really was happy.

Happy that Big Sis took his side in the Player’s Room when no one else would.

But more than that …… He was happy that she called him Master for the first time.

That’s why he bought us treats on the way home.

Ice cream for Big Sis and chewing gum for me …… But I gave half of it to Big Sis to get her out of the bad mood she was in after meeting Mr. Oishi. Like a tribute.