Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 14 - Chapter 4.2

  TAX

It’s been years since I’ve shared the board with this girl, and she’s almost warped beyond recognition. I don’t understand the point behind the ax or the eyepatch.

But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed.

“Hyeee!”

Her insistence on playing ridiculously fast.

Ika Sainokami uses the first move that the piece flip awarded her to open her Bishop Path. Rather than let the match recorder make the announcement or even do a proper greeting, she’s already started…

… Like some wild animal. A carnivore, obviously.

“………… Good match to you too.”

I say more to myself than anyone, take a deep breath and lower my head much closer to the board than usual to advance the Pawn in front of my Rook. Otherwise all the camera flashes would’ve hurt my eyes.

“At this time, all members of the media are to vacate the–––.”

Snap! Ika shifts her Rook all the way down the row before Ms. Oga can finish.

The formation she reveals in only her second move is–––.

“Third File Rook!”

“Is it a good strategy?”

“Ranging Rook is weaker, right? Doesn’t that mean Snow White has this in the bag?”

The clueless reporters dissect the match piece by piece as they take even more pictures.

Ms. Oga clears her throat to get their attention and declares in a hauntingly deep voice, “…… All members of the media are to vacate the arena, now.”

The message comes through loud and clear. Without any other choice, the reporters and journalists file out of the room.

A stark, empty arena.

I normally like this tranquility, but the moment the last of the crowd disappears …… a feeling of extreme vulnerability takes hold of me. This is the first ……

I’m sitting across the board from Ika Sainokami. Being thrown into a cage with a ferocious beast must feel quite similar.

Despite all the space in the arena, it’s suffocating.

–––Ohh …… so this is what it’s like to be intimidated.

This sensation was seared into my mind when I was a little girl. So, akin to the lion raised by a dog that never disobeys its canine parent no matter how big it gets, I freeze on the spot.

–––I have no choice but to win.

I channel my heart and soul into each move. Sainokami follows a completely ordinary Third File Rook sequence, which is in stark contrast to her behavior and appearance in the match thus far. It’s Normal Third File Rook, denying the Bishop Exchange.

Except her 15th move deviates from the standard.

“………… She raised the Silver?”

The left Silver is usually designated for defense, but she’s moving it into an aggressive position.

–––This is the first fork, isn’t it ……?

Should I alter my formation to defend against her advance?

Or would it be better …… to advance now with a Rapid Attack and meet it head-on?

“The key to fending off Ranging Rook with a Rapid Attack isn’t by delivering one knockout punch, but instead building up points by delivering a series of body blows.”

The Worldly Maestro’s advice plays out in my head.

“So you have to be strong enough to take a hit as well. I think your playing style is a good fit already, but …… you’ve got to pair it with experience.”

Do I have enough experience?

I’ve been doing versus matches with Oishi-sensei for a long time now.

However …… when he played Third File Rook, he always fought with the left Silver parked at 6 Eight. It’s to prevent Static Rook strategies from attacking down the sixth file.

It looks like Ika Sainokami is planning to use it to attack instead.

–––Advancing that Silver weakens defense …… But the Mino Castle formation is still formidable without it to defend the other side. This could be a problem ……

The offensive King is still in the center of the board.

But the right Silver has already moved up. A Mino Castle is almost ready.

–––…… I’m not the same Ginko Sora anymore.

I can see how different pieces work in tandem without reading the board, just like Ika Sainokami and other Shogi Martians in the professional leagues. I can read faster because of it. My grade as a living being has improved. I can feel it.

––– Even so …… There’s no guarantee I won’t make a mistake.

And I absolutely cannot lose this match. A professional player isn’t allowed to lose to a Women’s player.

So I need to rely on absolutes.

“Haaaa––––––…… NH!!”

Taking a deep breath, I step into the same world that I entered during my match against Sota Kunugi in the 3-dan division.

––– Calculate! Which route is faster ……?!

I commit large amounts of time and energy into the early game and read.

Will Sainokami’s attack hit first?

Or will I be able–––to make an anaguma in time?

“Anaguma is my go-to formation when I need it.”

I put exactly what I said to Machi into practice.

There’s a way. That’s my conclusion.

Predictably, Sainokami plays without using waiting time. She’s advancing down the edge of the board as if to prevent me from reaching the corner, but I raise my Lance anyway to get my King there first.

–––I made an anaguma! It worked ……!

The match is proceeding exactly as I calculated. Actually, I made it a few moves earlier than I anticipated …… That’s a good sign, right?

–––She’s wasting a lot of turns. Does she think I’m a pushover?

Whatever the case, my formation is complete, and she’s stuck somewhere between offense and defense. Things just got a lot easier for me.

Right when I reach for my mug to take a drink of tea.

“…… You didn’t move up.”

“Huh?”

“Your fifth file Pawn stayed put,” Sainokami says with her eyes glued to the board.

So ……

“………… Omit the moves that can be omitted. That’s basic modern Shogi,” I answer from the safety of a fully formed Static Rook Anaguma without thinking.

I …… inadvertently answered her.

Being so focused on constructing an anaguma, I completely forgot an important lesson that I learned from reading so many storybooks with Yaichi way back when.

Fairy tales and legends all have something in common.

Once somebody answers the beast–––that’s when tragedy starts.

“Ginkooo.”

The beast says my name, moistening her lips with that long tongue.

“You forgot to pay the tax.”

“Tax?”

“Thaaat’s right.”

Sainokami slithers her way into my face, putting both of her hands on the board to keep her balance as she whispers at point-blank range.

“You’ve received tons and tons, right, Ginkooo? That’s why you gotta pay the tax. Can’t be too greedy nooow? People get punished for trying to get out of it ………… And end up paying soooooo much more than the tax. Soooo, soooo, soooo, SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH MOOOOOORE.”

Tax ……?

In Shogi terms, moves that are required in order to use a certain strategy are called tax.

In most cases, it’s talking about the edge Pawn. I haven’t touched it, but–––.

“The tax for playing Static Rook Anaguma is that fifth file Pawn.”

Sainokami juts her finger at my stationary Pawn in the middle of the board.

“And the tax for the honor of being the first-ever woman in the pros on top of all my jealousy for the inexcusable sin of being Yaichi’s lover is …… getting branded the loser in your debut match against a Women’s Player, forever.”

“……?! How did you–––?!”

Just as those words slipped out of my mouth.

“…………………………………… So, it is true.”

That didn’t sound like the incoherent ramblings she’s been spouting up to this point.

Instead, it is more akin to a beast bellowing from the pits of hell.

“………… Ngh!!”

I clamp my mouth shut at the same time I seal my King in the anaguma with a Silver.

Once again Sainokami uses no time whatsoever to advance her own Silver forward. She didn’t even look at the rest of the board. Just my face.

I send my Rook forward to contain that snake of a Silver with horizontal pressure from long range!

This move is exactly why I left my fifth file Pawn in the starting position, so it wouldn’t get in the way.

–––I read it perfectly!!

However.

Once she saw my Rook floating in open space, Sainokami––– immediately plays a move that no human being ever would.

“Ahaaa.”

Ika Sainokami’s right hand flips in a blur.

Moving her Knight to 1 Seven.

I can’t believe my eyes.

“The Knight came forward?! …… To the edge?! ………… The edge?!”

I check over and over again to make sure my eyes aren’t betraying me.

There’s no mistake. She jumped her Knight forward but went to the edge of the board rather than inside. There’s no mistake ……

That is normally considered to be a horrible move.

Not only does it limit the Knight to one space to advance to, but it also severely limits the player’s options moving forward.

Wait! That Knight is vital for defending the King in a Mino Castle! It’s irreplaceable ……!

“It’s way too early to move that Knight ……………… Which would mean ……?”

There was no doubt in my mind that she was going for a Mino Castle.

That’s why everything seemed so out of position for offense and defense. Therefore I thought I had read everything perfectly.

But–––.

“Is she …… not going to protect her King? Will she fight like that ……?”

I haven’t spent a single second ………… reading into that possibility …………

That would mean that Sainokami was never going to make a Mino Castle or play Third File Rook from the start.

We were looking at the same Shogi board.

Looking at the very same formations, and yet.

–––How did Ika Sainokami and I ………… see it so differently ……?!

I’m stunned.

I-If I don’t change gears now ……! But, I can’t tell what picture Sainokami is trying to paint on the board at all ……

“In that case!!”

I add a Gold into my anaguma’s defenses to make it even stronger. Rather than falling for any of my tricky opponent’s feints, I push forward what I originally had in mind.

My opponent doesn’t even have a Mino Castle.

Meanwhile, I have a fully formed anaguma. I might not be able to attack for a while …… But!

“I’ll turn the tables when a chance presents itself.”

“I won’t be letting you! Nope, noooooope!!”

Another instantaneous move. Sainokami advances her Knight yet again.

It’s making a beeline for my King the same way a spinning ax hurls through the air.

The ax that Ika Sainokami threw …… is whistling right for me!

“Feel the breeze yet? Do you?”

That toy ax she claimed was her fan. The beast is pointing it at me.

“…………!!”

A cold gust brushes across my skin and I reach up to touch my neck, unconsciously checking to make sure my head is still attached ……

–––I knew she was armed, but I never thought …… it was a projectile!!

Willing my beating heart steady, I manage to get this hyperaggressive attack under control, but–––.

“Ahaaa♡”

“?! Oh no ……!!”

Just when I thought I had blocked the frontal assault on my King, now her Rook is in position to attack.

Worse, she has complete control over the center of the board.

To top it all off, all my opponent’s attacking pieces …… have made a net around my King’s hiding place ……!

“You shoulda paid up with that fifth file Pawn. Then shift your Silver over and that would’ve stopped everything in its tracks. Aren’cha sorry you were a penny pincher, now?”

Thanks to that explanation, I finally have a vague idea of the picture Sainokami has in mind.

“Heads fly the moment they think I won! just ’cuz they’ve got a Static Rook Anaguma. That’s my Rapid Attack Third File Rook,” says Sainokami, fully absorbed in her own little world as she lovingly strokes the ax. “I saw a guy throwing an ax just like this in a movie, then played Third File; watched that scene again, played Third File again; back to the scene, back to Third File, until that got to be a pain in the ass and just played Third File while watching that scene until I came up with this beautiful strategy.”

What she just said is so far removed from my own Shogi sense that I can’t relate to anything. I want to write it off as her hallucination and leave it at that.

However, I have no choice but to admit that this strategy is effective.

An ax that slices through the air like a Knight riding into battle followed up with a Bishop missile that strikes at the speed of sound. Ika Sainokami sums them both up in one word.

The name she dubbed her strategy––– Tomahawk.

“………… Fitting.”

Just like my King shut up in the anaguma, I have nowhere left to run. No matter how fearsome my opponent, no matter how fearsome her strategy, there’s no choice but to face it and overcome it.

I take a Rook Exchange knowing full well I’m behind … boldly, like true professionals do.

“By the way …… Ms. Sainokami.”

Now it’s my turn to ask the question.

“What tax did you pay to get stronger?”

“Meee?”

Her head pops up in surprise.

“This right here.”

She flips up her eyepatch.

Beneath it–––.