Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 15 - Chapter 5.4

  THE 5-MINUTE ETERNITY

Ai Hinatsuru’s heart jumped the moment Machi Kugui used her first move to advance the Pawn in front of her Rook.

–––Could this be a Double Wing Attack? With Kugui-sensei ……?

Pulse racing to the point that she was concerned the thundering beats would reach her opponent across the board, Ai fought to remain as calm as possible as she advanced the Pawn in front of her own Rook.

Machi’s fingers once again grasped the advanced Pawn. Moving it down the file further still set the formation.

–––It is a Double Wing!

That was Ai’s favorite style to play.

The type of Shogi she had played countless times against her Master, Yaichi Kuzuryu, had materialized in an all-important match that could qualify her to challenge for the title. Her heart soared with this stroke of incredible luck, as if her favorite type of problem had appeared on an entrance exam.

However, she couldn’t help but feel something was amiss.

Why would Machi, a master of the anaguma formation, not only leave her King lightly defended, but choose to use Ai’s best strategy at a time like this?

Ai glanced up at her opponent, hoping for a clue–––.

“Te-he.”

“……?!”

Their lines of sight collided, almost as if Machi had been lying in wait for that exact moment. Startled, Ai immediately looked back down at the board.

Machi then concealed half her face behind her fan, much like a lady of the court in an ancient painting from the Heian Era. She continued to observe the girl from over the edge. Even now, Ai could feel her gaze ……

“Pheeew––––––………… Okay!!”

In an effort to disperse all the needless thoughts running through her mind, Ai refocused her energy on constructing her formation.

Machi had selected a software-based Double Wing Attack sequence. It was the same strategy Ai had learned from her best friend, Mio Mizukoshi, and she had been taught a harsh lesson using it against Ryou Tsukiyomizaka.

As well as …… what she used in her last match against Yaichi.

––– I won’t lose! Master is the only one who could ever beat me with it!!

Although on defense, Ai set herself up for an aggressive attack.

Machi, on the other hand, arranged her pieces as if defending.

“…… Subway Rook? Is she trying to counter me ……?”

Just when it appeared as though Machi would unleash her Rook from an early stage, she slid it back to the deepest row before bringing it over to the eighth file only to slide it right back to the second. This sequence ultimately resulted in one move loss.

Machi’s maneuver gave her control of the area, but Ai advancing her Bishop to the front lines effectively pinned it in place.

Plus, her eagle eyes were vigilant in their search for an opening to bring her own Rook barreling into her opponent’s formation.

Ai took aim for Machi’s defenseless Bishop, which hadn’t moved from its original position.

Sensing the danger, Machi–––.

“How frightening. Best run and hide,” she whispers while pulling the Bishop to safety deep within her formation.

“…… Yes!!”

Ai saw the formations lining up in her favor.

–––Now Kugui-sensei’s Bishop is trapped! Her Rook, too ……!!

The newly retreated Bishop now serves as a boulder that blocks the underground tunnel Machi had dug for her Rook to travel. Both big pieces had been rendered useless.

“Kh …………!” 

What’s more, Machi deploys one of her valuable Pawns …… directly in the spot that her Bishop just vacated.

It was as if Ai’s Rook struck fear in her heart.

“Kh ………… Kh, kh ………. Kh ……”

Machi’s shoulders quivered up and down. The slightest of sounds came from her crimson lips.

–––Is Kugui-sensei …… trembling?

Ai looked up from the board and glanced at her opponent once again.

“Khe-he.”

“?!”

Machi Kugui–––was cackling.

“Haaa ………… You disappoint me, Ai.”

Machi closed the fan to reveal the last expression Ai expected to see.

Then, the wily fox of a young woman gently caressed the side of the Shogi board before raising the same hand to gracefully flutter about the pieces.

“You resided with Yaichi for one year and eight months in total …… and yet were unable to connect with him as deeply as I have while spending a mere 10 days in the same room.”

“?!”

From there, Machi set in motion what could only be described as a special attack.

“Ah …………!!” 

Ai gasped with a shock so great it was as if heaven and earth had been turned on their heads.

“Th-The Bishop ……?! How did it get to the front when it was trapped all the way in the back?!”

Simply pulling a defensive Silver back opened the path for Machi to slide her Bishop directly front and center of her formation.

She used a diagonal path through pieces that was both difficult for human beings to recognize and a signature software technique.

The match had only just begun, and yet Ai knew how far behind she had fallen.

Machi’s big pieces had several times more mobility than her own.

Horizontal and vertical lanes were now at her Rook’s disposal. Meanwhile, her Bishop had a clear, unobstructed view of the entire board.

Their paths intertwined like long tails–––the terrifying nine-tailed fox had shown her true form!

However, even more terrifying than that was……

“Here, here, here, here, here, here …… N-No, that won’t work!! There aren’t any attack paths no matter where I read …… They’re all blocked by that one Pawn!!”

The single Pawn Machi had deployed deep in her territory.

Ai had assumed it was to block her Rook, but it also served to stifle her Bishop. The more Ai read into that blind spot, the more it became agonizingly obvious how good that move had been.

“This style of Shogi, it’s almost …… almost like …… M- …… Mas- …………”

The fluidity and creativity of how she played reminded Ai so much of him that she nearly spoke his name.

“We have but merely begun, Ai.”

Machi leaned across the board to get her face as close to the young girl as possible and spoke his name without hesitation.

“Allow me to demonstrate just how deeply Yaichi and I have connected …… As thoroughly as possible.”

Each of the Women’s League players fought with every ounce of her being across the five Shogi boards in the arena.

As both a chance for a title and the threat of elimination loomed in all sorts of complicated scenarios, the matches naturally proceeded at a snail’s pace. Great care was taken not to fall too far behind as precious seconds of waiting time slipped away.

Thus a sudden announcement from one of the match recorders went through the room like a tidal wave.

“Hinatsuru-sensei. You have 10 minutes remaining. At what point would you like me to start counting down?”

“From right now, please!”

Tamayo Rokuroba heard all of this unfold from her spot at the next board over. Enduring the pain in her abdomen, she looked at that board out of the corner of her eye.

She could see Ai swaying back and forth like a metronome, reading as fast as she possibly could as the match recorder announced the time behind her. The girl’s cheeks were dotted with beads of sweat that she didn’t have the time or the mental leeway to wipe off.

For the countdown to have already begun …… that meant Ai had used far more waiting time than her opponent.

––……I don’t even have to see the board to know how it’s going.

Even so, her curiosity got the better of her. Formations she had never seen before greeted her eyes.

“Wh-What even is that?! I don’t get it ……”

As a Ranging Rook player herself, Static Rook strategies may as well have been foreign languages to Tamayo.

However, the Shogi unfolding next to her was unrecognizable as a language at all. Her best guess was that the match was reaching the end of the mid-game, but beyond that ……

“Five minutes remaining.”

After hearing the match recorder, now it was Tamayo’s opponent’s turn to whisper under her breath.

“…… Five minutes left in that situation? In her shoes, I would run out of time before figuring out what move to make ……”

Sweat leaked out as Static Rook player Azami Hanadachi spoke. Even Ryou Tsukiyomizaka, who was playing on the board furthest away, couldn’t help but snap her tongue when she peeked over Ai’s shoulder on her way to the restroom.

Though Tamayo had a different interpretation.

–––Knowing you, that’s more than enough time. I’ve seen it before.

Looking at Ai’s intense concentration, Tamayo thought back to one particular night.

It was their first day living together. Ai won fifty consecutive matches under the pressure of a countdown clock online. That type of winning streak was beyond ridiculous.

Even more ridiculous, however, was what she said following her fiftieth victory: I missed the shortest path to checkmate in the last match. May I please play another?

Yeesh …… She must be head over heels for Shogi.

So she’ll be fine.

When it came to Ai Hinatsuru–––five minutes was an eternity.

The move that Ai finally decided to make at the five-minute remaining mark was within Machi’s realm of expectation.

“Um-hmm.”

She nodded and turned to the match recorder.

“May I inquire as to how much time I have remaining?”

“63 minutes.”

Forcing that announcement was an off-the-board tactic on Machi’s part.

–––It seems I have used more time than I anticipated working through this unfamiliar mid-game.

Even so, Machi had over twelve times as much time at her disposal than Ai.

A comfortable lead, to say the least.

“Now then, shall I torment you from a distance or proceed to the late-game with all this time to spare ……? Which way would he prefer?” Machi whispered just loud enough for Ai to hear and waited for a reaction …… When suddenly.

“………… What intensity ……?!”

Such a flash of heat washed over Machi’s face that she inadvertently closed her eyes.

“Static electricity? I’m certain I saw something akin to fireworks just now ……”

A singed scent prickled her nose.

Machi carefully opened her eyes.

At that moment, Ai was–––.

“Herehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere.”

Focused solely on the board between them.

Face close to the board, body rocking back and forth to a rapid yet consistent beat, and mumbling under her breath, Ai read the board with all the momentum of a runaway train.

Beads of sweat fell from her cheeks and splashed onto the tatami mat below.

“Herehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere.”

Heat pulsed from her entire body. Her whispers seemed to compress time itself.

For the first time in her life, Machi felt as though her opponent was not only using their own waiting time, but was intent on eating up her waiting time as well.

It terrified her.

“?! ………… How strange ……”

Machi reached deep into her opponent’s territory and deployed a piece with a high-pitched snap to simultaneously prevent herself from scrutinizing the match thus far and expel that terror from her heart.

“Now! Allow me to show you, Ai!”

This move was necessary not only to bid farewell to Machi the Tormentor …… the person she had been until now, but also to turn this match into a promotion for Kuzuryu’s Notebook.

“I welcome you to a late-game like no one has ever witnessed!!”

However, Ai’s response went beyond anything Machi thought possible.

Up on her knees, the young girl seemed like a carnivorous feline ready to pounce as she played her next move in less than a heartbeat.

“No time?! Wouldn’t now be the necessary moment to think? ………… Why?”

Was it a cheap taunt? Or was the lack of time beginning to get to her?

Whatever the case, there was no need for her to adjust her pace. So thinking, Machi sat down on her ankles to contemplate her options.

Machi… using her allotted time in increments.

Ai… responding with breakneck speed.

The board only grew more complicated with each passing move.

“Kugui-sensei. You have 30 minutes remaining.”

“Aye.”

Machi confirmed the waiting time and took a deep breath. Though she had lost half of her waiting time, she still had 30 minutes to work with. Six times more than Ai’s mere five minutes–––.

“Huh?”

The fact that the amount of waiting time for one of them hadn’t changed in the slightest shook Machi to her very bones.

“Ai’s waiting time …… hasn’t decreased at all?”

In other words, Ai had been consistently playing each of her moves in less than a minute since she hit the five-minute remaining mark.

Normally, playing at that speed would cause a fatal mistake and the match would be over instantaneously. Not to mention that this type of late-game had never been seen before. Experience was worthless. Even a professional Shogi player shouldn’t be able to consistently play the correct moves with so little time to think.

For some reason, however, Machi could not pull away. No matter what move she made, no matter what complex sequences she set into motion, Ai played the correct counter instantaneously.

Then, with the formations still dead even–––.

“Kugui-sensei. You have 10 minutes remaining. When would you like me to begin the countdown?”

“Huh?! R-Right now ………… No! At five minutes!!”

It wasn’t going down.

Ai’s remaining waiting time hovered in place, but hers had decreased.

“Khh …………?!” 

She had utterly dominated the apprentice, Ai Hinatsuru, throughout the early- and mid-game using her deep connection with Yaichi Kuzuryu.

However, Machi and Machi alone had been forced to commit an enormous amount of waiting time once they entered the late-game.

That fact led to one conclusion.

“Interesting …… I may have taken you too lightly. To think that your connection to Yaichi ran this deep, Ai ……”

Deep, deep.

Deeper and deeper, Ai and Yaichi’s bond plunged deeper than she ever expected.

“However! …when it comes to depth, I shall not be defeated!!”

That was a source of great pride for Machi Kugui. Pride in the fact that she understood Yaichi better than anyone else. Pride in that, with the exception of Ginko Sora, she had interacted with Yaichi at the deepest level for the longest time. Pride due to the fact that she had been the first to recognize the true value of Kuzuryu-style Shogi.

At the same time, however….

–––This visage: where have I seen it before ……?

The way Ai absorbed herself in the board during the late-game bore a surprising resemblance to Yaichi. Specifically, it reminded her of him just before making his inhuman 7 Seven Rook promotion move in the First Crown Title Match ……

Another detail felt amiss.

As matches progressed, more time was normally required to think before the next move. This was because unknown formations were bound to arise more frequently in the later stages.

Ai, however, seemed to work in the other direction.

She played as if she already knew exactly how the match was going to play out.

“?! …… It …… couldn’t ……………… be ……?”

At last Machi connected the dots.

The book she had assumed she was the first to read….

The one she had worked as the editor for….

Yaichi Kuzuryu’s maiden release….

In fact, there was more than one author.

Yaichi Kuzuryu’s Shogi story had two contributors.

“………… Yaichi …… absorbed his late-game abilities …… from Ai ……?”

The meaning of the word supervisor that Yaichi had said when they parted.

The late-game, which loomed beyond early- and mid-games that no one had ever seen before.

If things that should only be reflected in Yaichi Kuzuryu’s eyes but could also be seen by Ai Hinatsuru ……

“H-Have I …… made a mistake in my reading? Underestimating the size of Ai’s impact ……?”

Master and apprentice.

That type of bond was not so shallow as to be explained in words.

Ai and Yaichi had such an enormous influence on one another that they opened the door to a brand new type of Shogi.

If that were true……

Their meeting–––was no coincidence, but essential.

A dramatic event that started a brand new chapter in Shogi’s 1,000-plus year history.

–––In terms of Shogi alone, her bond runs even deeper …… than that of Ginko ……?!

Machi’s fighting spirit shattered that idea the moment it entered her mind.

“Crush! I must crush her …… while I have the chance!!”

What would happen once Kuzuryu’s Notebook was released and its essence absorbed by every Shogi player on earth?

All matches would enter a late-game that could only be read by Ai Hinatsuru.

Who would become the best in such a world?

The answer to that question–––was blazing in front of Machi Kugui’s eyes at this very moment.

“Herehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere!!”

“Crush.”

Ai’s overwhelming inferno of an advance was bearing down on her, but Machi rode out to crush it in its tracks. She even removed her self-imposed restriction on manipulating her opponents’ breathing patterns with the timing of her moves, an off-the-board tactic.

“Crush, crush, crush, crush, crushcrushcrushcrush!! Crush, strangle, pulverize!!”

Painful memories bubbled to the forefront of her mind.

–––I hesitated to crush Ginko at the very last moment in our first match.

She couldn’t bring herself to cut off the young girl’s breathing that day.

The 12-year-old Machi Kugui lacked the resolve to put that sickly girl who was several years her junior through this kind of pain and suffering.

Then, losing their two encounters changed Machi’s life forever.

She had lost her right to his name the first time.

She had been proven inferior in the second.

“The third …… I refuse to falter a third time!”

So Machi had every intent to kill this 11-year-old girl. She must show that she was number one and would stop at nothing to be that.

“Ginko I have come to accept!! But this girl, this girl, I ……!!”

Machi dug deep within herself and sought the correct moves with all the strength she could muster in this never-before-seen late-game!

However an emotionless announcement was made immediately.

“Kugui-sensei. You are now playing one-minute Shogi.”

“?! My waiting time exceeding one hour ………… has vanished?”

Meanwhile Ai’s waiting time still held steady at five minutes.

The absurdity of it made Machi scream.

“Why hasn’t it decreased?! Why …… Why …… WHY?!! I had an abundance of waiting time, SO WHY?!”

I was more!

I was more!!

I WAS MORE!!

She continued counting up the reasons why she should win this match …… but that did nothing to keep her formation from deteriorating before her eyes.

All her meticulous preparation. The time she had committed to constructing the story. All of that amounted to nothing in the face of this overwhelming power.

This talent.

Machi fought back against the senselessness of it all.

“Crush! CRUSH!! GET CRUUUUUUUUUUSHED!!!”

With every ounce of her being, Machi the Tormentor yelled at the top of her lungs as she put forth a move that she believed was the correct answer.

Once she took her hand away.

“Herehereherehereherehereherehere––––––––––––.”

Ai’s incessant swaying ended in a sudden silent stop.

The heat she exuded zeroed in on one specific point.

Then–––.

“Here.”

Ai Hinatsuru calmly made her move. She put Machi in check.

Her demeanor made the announcement so much more eloquently than words ever could.

I have read to victory.

Plain and simple.

Machi, on the other hand, had yet to reach a conclusion. Breathing sporadically, she scratched her scalp nonstop as she desperately searched for an exit path for her King–––.

“A-Ahhhn ……! Time ………… There is no time ……!!”

So much remained to be read in this complex late-game formation. At the very least, it looked that way to Machi because she couldn’t see a checkmate yet.

However she did not have enough time at her disposal to know one way or the other.

–––…… This is the end of the line, is it ……?

Had she been able to see the goal line, there was no doubt Machi would have kept running.

Unfortunately, this late-game was an endless labyrinth straight out of hell. A veritable stream of expert-level Shogi puzzles had driven her mind to the brink of exhaustion and broken her fighting spirit.

“Whew ………… I have lost. It seems as though I was unable to read to the end of this one ……”

A loss …… but a gratifying one.

She had been daunted by Ai’s late-game prowess.

When it came to the early- and mid-game, though, she had proven that it was she who had the most thorough understanding of Yaichi.

And, thanks to the late-game skills that Ai had demonstrated, this Shogi match was bound to send waves through the Shogi world.

She gained enough material by simply reaching the late-game.

–––My true aim is not for a title, nor is it to defeat Ai.

All that remained was to set the scene for a beautiful death.

Machi searched for a respectable place to surrender within the realm of one-minute Shogi, a way to end the match record with grace and dignity.

However.

–––B-But …… am I truly checkmated?! Surrendering when not necessary would be ……?!

She couldn’t go through with it.

Despite knowing she had already lost, Machi couldn’t surrender because she couldn’t see the checkmate with her own eyes. Her fingers drifted left and right over the board, unable to take her own life …… In the end, they played a move that would prolong what life she had left.

When.

“Here.”

Ai played her move using no waiting time whatsoever.

The final frames she drew up for this brand new late-game were as complex as they were bizarre. The Shogi puzzle that interwove several human blind spots was incredibly long and Machi was still unable to solve it.

“Ah ………… Check! Ahhh ………… Agh?”

Finding an answer with the seconds bearing down on her was impossible. Even Machi Kugui, a Women’s Title Holder in her prime, was unable to read to the end.

“Here.”

No time.

“Eeek …… Eeep ……!!”

Not afforded the luxury of composing herself as the seconds ticked by, all Machi could do was frantically move her fingers up and down the board. They hovered just above the surface as her King ran for his life.

As for that King–––

“Here.”

Ai’s fingers steadily drove it into the corner.

Using no time.

“Ah ……… Ngh ………… Ah, agh …………”

She wouldn’t allow a pristine surrender.

As her King was being pelted by a high-speed check rush that wouldn’t let up long enough for it to fall, Machi cursed the girl and her absurd talent despite her fleeting consciousness.

––– Invincible, this one.

Not a single Women’s player stood a chance against Ai in this type of late-game.

No.

The day when it would ensnare professional players was not far off. The more Kuzuryu’s Notebook spread into society, the more beastly Ai’s talent would become.

–––Once it does, what …… will this girl aim to accomplish ……?

Yaichi Kuzuryu became the Demon King.

Although she won’t intend to, those massive wings of hers will encompass the entire Shogi world and those sharp claws will hurt the ones she loves most.

Where will Ai Hinatsuru fly to in that dark world ……? Machi was curious in much the same way she was the first time she witnessed Yaichi Kuzuryu’s Shogi.

A beast so powerful that she was entranced by her own destruction.

Machi understood better than anyone that this was Shogi’s true form, Shogi talent’s true form–––.

“Pardon me.”

Ai, who had long since read the check path, quietly finishes it with her last move.

A Gold deployed in front of the King.

It took losing in much the same way a novice would for Machi to finally see that checkmate.

“………… A one-step checkmate? F-For shame ……!”

Machi trembled as the humiliation began to sink in. Turning pale, she lowered her head in a bow.

“I-I ………… have no remaining options. There ………… are no moves left …… for me …………”

Even the second Eternal Queen in history suffered this indignity.

All who watched over Machi during that late-game felt a cold chill of fear run down their spines.

Ai Hinatsuru Women’s 1-dan claimed victory.

After starting the league season with three consecutive losses, she finished with a six-match winning streak. Defeating Yamashiro Ouka moved her to the top of the standings.

The small Ryuo’s Fledgling had taken flight with her own wings.

And now she knew how to hunt with her own claws in the middle of the Metropolis.