Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 12 - Chapter 2

  PEAK FERVOR

“It’s an honor to get to play against the Naniwa’s Snow White! Let’s have a good match!”

I watch, stunned, as my opponent reaches his hand across the board.

Kanto player Kasasugi 3-dan’s right hand floats in midair for a few moments before I realize he’s waiting for a handshake.

“Miss Sora?”

“Um …… Sorry, but shaking hands with an opponent right before a match ……”

“Oh, of course! Don’t mind me.”

He pulls his hand back with that same smile on his face and finally starts lining up the pieces.

–––So, this is the sportsman I’ve heard about. He has an eloquence to him, but ……

To be blunt, I can hardly stand people like this.

Kasasugi 3-dan is a unique Sub League veteran in his early twenties who apparently graduated from an athletics university. I’ve heard he has a teaching license as well.

–––He’s only won two matches this season, yet he’s so cheerful …… because of his sportsmanship mentality?

Today I’m playing the 13th and 14th 3-dan division matches at the Kansai Shogi Association building.

Including today, there are only three more regular activity days remaining in the six-month season.

Since the final matches will be taking place in Kanto, I only have two more days left of playing in home territory.

–––I can’t drop any match and still have any hope of advancing. I’ll win them all!

I’m not the only one brimming with determination.

There’s something clearly different about the air in the arena today, something that wasn’t here earlier in the 3-dan division season.

The top players’ eyes are glowing with a refusal to lose while staying drearily quiet.

The ones in the second tier just beneath them, myself included, have an air of just win about them. We’re ready for a fight.

However, the ones producing the strangest vibe out of anyone …… are the ones who failed to get enough victory stars and who are starting to face the very real possibility of demotion or retirement.

For the 3-dan players at the bottom of the standings, death is staring them in the face. They’re getting set to play with a noose around their necks …… Forced to play Shogi while panicking from suffocation and despair.

And, as their opponents, the resolve to finish them off is demanded of us.

“Peak fervor.”

It’s a state of mind most people never experience. When it comes to playing Shogi under such extreme conditions, I doubt there’s any place on earth that could rival the 3-dan division.

Doing my absolute best to politely mask all the explosive emotions running through my head, I make a small bow.

“…… I’m ready when you are!”

“Same here! On your mark!!”

After that unnecessarily loud response, Kasasugi 3-dan starts the match and keeps an even tempo with every move.

In marathon terms, he’s trying to outpace the pack.

He obviously wants the lead in the early-game, and then to pull away late.

On defense, I maintain my formation and endure the attack while giving his forward pieces as little leeway as possible.

–––Now is the time to endure. Steady ……

My Shogi skill has definitely leveled up after my battle with Sota. Even I can tell that I’ve gotten stronger and my momentum is still going strong.

I barely lost any of my practice matches over the Internet in the past few weeks.

While it’s true that I’m seeing better moves in the late game …… What’s really been surprising is how well I can identify the exact moment to switch to a late-game mentality.

–––Now!! Change gears and finish this one swift stroke!!

I had been playing at his speed, but I see my opening to go for the throat and barrel down the final stretch. Going on the offensive, my counterpunch hits home.

It worked even better than I imagined.

“Kh! …………… You’re good …………… Didn’t think I’d be on the ropes already ……,” Kasasugi 3-dan says just above a whisper as he steals glances at my face. Suddenly his eyes go wide when he checks his remaining time on the chess clock.

It’s ticking away.

Waiting time is barely noticeable when your attack is going according to plan, but it practically evaporates before your eyes when forced to defend.

Kasasugi 3-dan is already doing one-minute Shogi. Meanwhile, I still have over 30 minutes of waiting time.

–––Even better, I have the advantage …… No, I’m in victory position.

I’ve calmly maintained a balanced formation up to this point, but I quickly rein in my excitement.

Because I remember Yaichi telling me: In the 3-dan division, players get stronger the farther they are behind.

The matches today are meaningless for players who’ve already secured a winning record.

However, for those who haven’t won enough and are facing demotion or retirement, they’ll resist with every ounce of life they have in their bodies.

–––As they say, there’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded bear.

Kasasugi 3-dan’s record makes him that bear this season. He’ll keep struggling all the way to the end even if he knows he’s beaten. Striking the final blow won’t be easy.

–––Stay alert! No getting complacent until he acknowledges defeat!

“! …… Time ………… That’s all I’ve got left!!”

Caught off guard by the ticking countdown, Kasasugi 3-dan hastily snaps down a piece.

Then, just as I start reading the board to find the final sequence.

“P-Pardon me!!” he shouts, jumping to his feet and rushing out of the arena.

What just happened?

“Huh? ………… Huuuh?”

He wouldn’t …………

In the middle of one-minute Shogi ……… he wouldn’t go to the restroom, would he?

“………… No way.”

The players at the board next to me stop their match and look over with disbelief in their eyes.

It comes to me in a flash.

–––Play a move now, and he’ll run out of time! I’ll win!

Make my move right away, and he’ll only have a minute.

That’ll be cutting his restroom trip extremely close.

Plus, he’ll have to figure out exactly what move I made. Match records are not kept in the 3-dan division, so it’s impossible to tell what move was made right away–––.

–––Play the last thing he would expect, and he’ll be confused! The match will be mine!!

He’d notice immediately if I stick to the same sequence.

However, moving a random piece should baffle him to the point when time runs out before he realizes what I did. It’ll work!

–––But …… If I do that, rumors will spread ……

One of her victories came because her opponent ran out that time, yeah?

That’s not how a real pro wins.

People will be saying that until the end of time, I just know it. That I am a fake professional, a coward who lucked out because my opponent couldn’t beat a clock.

–––I can win this match normally, without relying on the clock. In that case ……

Then …… What would happen if I don’t make a move?

I didn’t think Sora was that kind.

She waited for her opponent to come from a potty break? Really? I’m not scared of playing one-minute Shogi against her at all now.

Having that kind of reputation as a person is wonderful, but it’s a hindrance as a competitor. Plus, ending this match early can conserve my precious stamina for the second match.

–––Which is it?! What is the correct answer ……?

Everything about my formation for this late-game match disappears from my mind.

From victory position and straight to peak fervor.

I have to make my decision, now.

–––There’s no time to waste making up my mind! Play something, anything!!

I reach out over the board, hand racing back and forth trying to figure out what to move …… when I catch something out of the corner of my eye and freeze.

I notice…

Kasasugi 3-dan, who I thought made a mad dash for the restroom, is staring at me through the very slight gap in the fusuma sliding doors.

“……?!”

Just a tiny opening …… but I can see his eye locked on me with an abnormally intense gleam.

And that silent eye is screaming at me.

Move! Play a move already! Make the worst one you can think of!!

Actually, that calms me down very quickly. I pull my hand back away from the board.

–––…… So, that’s the sequence he had in mind.

With a cool head, I read through him instantaneously.

If I’d let the situation get the better of me, I would’ve surrendered my waiting time advantage.

Without the leeway to think through my formation, the chances of playing a bad move increase dramatically.

–––That was too close. I was two seconds away from making the wrong decision ……

“Haaaa ……………… Hff ……”

I take a moment to expel the dark thoughts that tried to seep into my heart with a deep breath and focus solely on reading the board in front of me.

Calm, cool and collected, I continue with the same sequence I had been using before he left.

Kasasugi 3-dan sulks back to the board, glances at it with a “Tch!” and tosses a piece in surrender. There isn’t a shred of the eloquent sportsman left.

“…… Thank you for the match.”

This time, there wasn’t so much as a thank you, too in return.

Although I have the white victory star I wanted, I don’t feel like I’ve earned it.

In fact, it feels like he soiled what I hold most dear.

–––He would have had a chance to win if he had played normally, so …… why?

If the 3-dan division robs players of not only their decision-making ability but the most basic level of human decency, then what does Shogi have to do with it?

–––Win or lose …… This place is hell.

Seeing that peak fervor from a veteran 3-dan, for whatever reason …… was more painful than I ever thought.

In the end, I manage to make it through the day with consecutive victories. Unlike the top, we in the second tier can focus exclusively on winning. So, we might have the least amount of pressure on our shoulders.

But, that naïve way of thinking gets shattered within minutes.

“Two in a row again today, huh? Strong indeed,” says the usually quiet director when I visit him to report the results. He even goes out of his way to compliment me.

“Thank you very much, sir.”

I accept his kind words and bow.

“…… However, with my three previous losses I will need plenty of luck. Otherwise, I don’t stand a chance of promoting.”

“I wouldn’t say so.”

“Huh?”

“The top players are fighting amongst themselves to get those final stars.”

The director says those words while pointing to the black-and-white stars on the sheet in front of him, which completely shatters the levelheaded state of mind that I had maintained through my matches.

“…………!! …………Ah ………… Agh, ahh ………”

Heart palpitating, can’t breathe.

Pressure the likes of which I’ve never known seizes hold of me. I crouch down on the spot, clutching at my chest in a desperate attempt to draw breath.

–––I-I can’t lose …… I must win …… No matter what I have to do ……!

Memories of Kasasugi 3-dan’s eye gleaming from between those sliding doors float to the surface of my mind, but I shake them away just as quickly.

What face will I make once I’ve reached true peak fervor ……? Thinking about it terrifies me.