Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 12 - Chapter 2.2

  PRIZE MACHINE

“I’m hooome!! Whoa, it’s later than I thought.”

After going to a press conference, doing some interviews and a photo shoot for the Crown Title Match in Umeda, it’s early evening by the time I get home.

“I just got so into it. Ah, oh well! Big Sis won both her matches, too!”

Getting that message from the director put me in a really good mood. So I stopped to get some fruit shortcake, the one that’s really popular right now, as a treat for the Grade Schooler Practice Group. They should be having a practice session right now, but ……

Something’s not right.

“Huh? No snapping pieces or chatting …… But it looks like everybody’s here ……”

Several pairs of shoes are by the door.

Four pairs to be exact, the perfect size for grade-school girls and all neatly lined up against the wall. That’s adorable.

Except …… It’s too quiet.

The energetic buzz that only grade schoolers can make is nowhere to be found. That chaotic power they have to keep on talking no matter how many times I tell them to quiet down, it’s missing.

“Have I lost the ability …… to sense them all together?”

It couldn’t be!

“…… Maybe they played so much that they all conked out for a nap?”

If that’s the case, it would be a shame to wake them up. Taking off my shoes as quietly as possible, I head inside.

What I see when I get there–––is beyond words.

All four of the girls are at the kitchen table, not in the tatami room, and writing something in complete silence.

“What’s everybody doing in here rather than playing Shogi? Summer homework?”

“A side job!”

Mio looks up and smiles at me. The other girls must be really in the zone, because their hands don’t stop moving for an instant.

Ai Hinatsuru looks like a girl possessed. Every stroke of her pen seems to be funneling her heart and soul onto the page. It’s a little scary actually.

“A-A side job?”

“Yes. We’re making prizes for a prize machine at the summer festival,” says Ayano as she puts the finishing touches on her own paper and caps the colorful pen she was using. Then she starts folding that piece of paper.

“Hmm? What are you …… Agh!!”

At first, I thought it was some pretty origami, but I’ve seen that shape before.

“Isn’t that …… the secret note fold that girls do in the middle of class at school?!”

It’s the way girls would pass notes during class and make sure the boys couldn’t read it, just a class-wide relay of people saying: pass it on. Wow, that takes me back!!

Mio says, “Prize machines with girls’ letters are really popular right now! They don’t cost that much money to make, so we decided to write them ourselves! Isn’t that right, Ayano?”

“Yes. We’re using our individual writing styles and personality traits to make prizes charming enough that visitors will want to buy more.”

“Cha, too! Cha wikes pwize machines! Cha wote wots and wots!”

“And you’re going to sell them in one of those capsule prize machines?!”

I mean, I knew those things had everything under the sun in them these days, but I had no idea handwritten letters would sell, too!

“Wait, just who would buy those things? Sure, boys would be curious, but I don’t think they’d pay money to get random ones–––.”

“Masta …… Yew don’ want Cha’s wetta ……?”

“I’ll take it. Is 100,000 yen enough?”

I reflexively reach for the bundle of ten bills in my jacket pocket and hand them to Charlette.

“You bought one, Kuzunyu-sensei! You bought it on the spot!”

“Dah?! W-Whoops ………… Hah-hah ……”

On a side note, players with seniority traditionally treat their junior counterparts to dinner. That’s why I was taught that title holders should carry 100,000 yen at all times.

That’s especially true for me, considering the people who mooch off me …… Like Ryou Tsukiyomizka and Machi Kugui.

“100,000 is far too much. One prize from the machine is 200 yen. Our estimates show that, even after management costs, we should make a considerable profit,” says Ayano matter-of-factly as she types numbers into her smartphone’s calculator.

Hmm. She’s right. If all their prizes sell, then they’ll be able to pay all the festival participation fees by simply doing instructional matches and secure the money to pay for next year at the same time.

“W-Well …… Yes, I have to admit there’s some appeal to those prizes. And at 200 yen, plenty of people would be interested in giving it a go.”

Getting all four of their letter variations will cost at least 800 yen. Taking duplicates into account, people will probably need about 1,000 yen.

A business plan that perfectly matches supply and demand! I can hardly believe grade schoolers came up with it. That’s pro-level work.

“So, who taught you girls how to set this up?”

“Akira.”

Well, that explains it.

Mio and Ayano start giving me more details.

“We went to the association to ask what we should sell at the booth during the festival, and Akira just happened to be there and gave us some pointers. Her advice helped out a lot!”

I would assume so. She’s a businesswoman, first and foremost ……

“We taught her the Demon Killer Strategy as a thank you.”

That ploy?

“Oh! Kuzuryu-sensei, would you read the letter I wrote? I wanna hear what you think!”

“That is a good idea. Lolic- …… cough. Young men are the target demographic, so your opinion would be very useful.”

Was Ayano about to call me a lolicon?

“Well, let’s see ……”

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

My heart beating a bit harder in my chest, I unfold one of the letters and have a look. She must have done a rough draft first, because the fruity smell of one of those scented erasers wafts into my nose. 

Her writing is cutesy, just like I’d expect grade-school girls to write.

Hi, big brother.

Thank you for always looking out for me!

The other day, do you remember …… what we talked about?

Yep, about the boy in my class who asked me out.

I’ve thought about it lots and lots …… I decided to say no.

It’s not because I don’t like him, just, I realized there’s someone more important to me ……

I’ll work up the courage to say so myself someday, so …… Will you wait?

Love you a whole bunch, big brother ♡♡♡

Mio

“I love you, too!!”

“Whoa?! Y-You scared me ……”

I yell, clutching the letter as Mio actually backs away. Three steps away.

“It’s not real, of course. But it made your heart skip a beat, didn’t it?”

“I seriously thought this was you saying you had a crush on me, and I nearly asked you out myself.”

Butterflies are still fluttering in my stomach as Ayano calmly explains the process behind it.

“There are actual prize machines in Nagoya filled with letters that real high-school girls were hired to write using provided examples. They seem to be selling extremely well. By the way, men apparently came up with all the examples.”

“It’s the handwriting that makes it feel real ……”

That’s the whole point, now that I think about it.

“The fact that it’s real handwriting rather than a printed copy is probably why it sells. There’s a kind of warmth to it …… It feels more personal.”

The Ryuo or the Meijin sign Shogi certificates and stuff like that, but it’s putting pen to paper that has value rather than good or bad handwriting. Just like with those certificates, who wouldn’t want to have a note written by a grade-school girl?

Handwritten letters are so valuable in the age of smartphones and email because you can actually hold them in your hands.

“Thanks for working so hard on this festival. You must be tired after writing so many letters. I brought some cake for you girls, so take a break and help yourself.”

“Yay!”

Grade schoolers love anything with sugar. There’s no better treat for tired kids than cake topped with a pile of fruit …… At least, there shouldn’t be.

Ai completely ignores the cake and keeps writing. Wow, she’s focused ……

“Oh, Ai? There’s a letter on the floor.”

I crouch down to pick up the letter my apprentice wrote and take a glance at what’s in it.

Hello.

Thank you for everything you do for my Master. This is his first apprentice, Ai.

Since I can’t say anything personal during matches, I decided to write this letter instead.

I’ll get right to the point.

Would you please stop making Master’s life miserable?

Forcing him to play versus matches or do practice sessions all the time just because you have seniority ……

You just want to be alone with him, don’t you?

That’s called abuse of power, if you didn’t know.

You’re making Master very uncomfortable!

Stop taking advantage of Master’s kindness and leave him alone, okay?

I’m number one in Master’s eyes and I learn more Shogi from him than you ever will. Not just Shogi, but so many more things, too ……

The two of us have a very tight bond, so there are no cracks for you to sneak into.

Please don’t steal away any more of our precious time together!

One more thing. If you ever show this letter to Master …… I’ll put the rest of your life in checkmate. Understand?

…………………… Come again ……?

“Um, hey …… Ai? This letter seems, a bit oddly specific …… Is it …… meant for anyone …… in particular ……?”

“………………”

The fluorescent pen that Ai is writing with suddenly comes to a stop as she looks up at me with a surprisingly mature smile and says in a kind voice, “Do you know who it could be?”

“Huh?! N-No …… Not really …… It just seemed …………” 

“Then there’s no problem, is there?”

“No ………… I guess not …………”

Ai goes back into writing mode. She hasn’t touched the cake.

D-Does …… she know what’s going on between Big Sis and I ……? Hang on, those two have always been like this …… Wait, if Big Sis sees this, she’ll know right away I haven’t told Ai about us and kill me on the spot ……

I-It’s all right, no problem!

I’ll just buy them all before Big Sis has a chance to see them. Yes, I’ll buy the entire stock. H-How much is that going to be ……?

I tremble at the mountain of papers piled up next to my apprentice as Ayano eats her cake like a well-mannered young lady with a knife and fork while explaining.

“That is the Master and apprentice version. As we will be running a Shogi booth, having that theme seemed only natural.”

“Natural??? I wonder???”

I don’t think the average Shogi apprentice would comment on their Master’s love life ……

“Stories about couples with an age gap are popular right now. The main target is lolic- …… cough… older boys, so this is a natural fit.”

Mio, who practically inhaled her cake right off the plate, puffs out her chest with pride.

“We made a bunch of variations! Like teacher and student, oh! And with a senior at a school club!”

“Eight in total.”

“Ah, that makes sense. People will want to read them all out of curiosity.”

Seriously, I’m gonna have to feed that prize machine for hours, aren’t I ……?

Feeling my soul sink, Charlette comes up to me with a letter in her hand and cake frosting on her cheeks.

“Masta! Wead Cha’s!”

“Sure.”

Unfolding Charlette’s mess of an origami, I take a look inside.

“お正月Charu” (new year)

…… This looks more like a heading that an actual letter.

But she used Chinese characters, so I can tell she worked really hard on it. Okay, the Ryuo has work to do: turn that machine’s dial as many times as it takes to get those prizes!!