Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 16 - Chapter 2.5

  THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

“Here––––––––”

The moment Shakando-sensei forward.

I switch into battle mode.

“Here …… Here …… Here, here, here, hereherehereherehere––––––Here!!”

First, put down a Pawn right in front of the Pawn protecting her Bishop!

Force the defender to trigger a Bishop Exchange–––

“Herehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere!!”

The second stage starts now.

Both of us are under pressure building our formations because we each have to worry about the other’s Bishop. I need to drive that pressure home.

–––Cut! Cut down her waiting time!

The match is under my control, and I don’t use any of my waiting time as I push forward. But, like master negotiators bartering against each other, Shakando-sensei adjusts to my advances perfectly without using her waiting time either. Thick defenses ……!!

“He-he. I am on the verge of losing …… You’ll have to work harder than that to find an opening.”

“Tch! ………… All right then!!”

I read her breathing to figure out what to do next. Once I pull my Rook all the way back, I quickly build up a different formation.

“…… Oh? 2 Nine Rook, 4 Eight Gold form, is it ……?” Shakando-sensei gently rolls her neck and says with a little surprise.

That’s because my formation–––is almost always used for Bishop Exchange strategies.

“I had an inkling this might happen after you opted for a Bishop Exchange style of defense despite opening with a Double Wing Attack in our first match, but this …… Well, well. Is that what you are after?”

Finally noticed, has she? But …… it’s too late now!

After 53 moves, the formation looks almost exactly like a Bishop Exchange Reclining Silver.

–––Basically, I transformed Double Wing Attack Shogi into Bishop Exchange!

That was my true plan.

Get her to let her guard down by only playing the Double Wing and then trick her into starting a Bishop Exchange. Right in the middle of the match!!

Can you keep up with the speed of modern Shogi, Shakando-sensei? Can you?!

“It’s apparent that you study the modern forms of Double Wing Attack and Bishop Exchange quite extensively. That being the case, perhaps I shall …… don garments from my youth.”

“?! And that is ……?”

Shakando-sensei draws her right Gold in close to make a wall of Golds and Silvers in front of her king.

I don’t recognize that kind of defense.

It’s a practical, defensive stance.

“Practical …… But very old!”

“How rude of you, insulting the prime of one’s youth.”

My King is set right in the middle of a perfectly balanced, modern formation. Even better, my right Knight is in a forward position.

It’s an advantage I can press, for sure.

At the same time, being able to see through my opponent is huge.

–––She’s not confident playing with the latest style! How could she be, after she lost the first match to me……?!

I fought off the modern style against her in the first match.

I had the first move and kept the advantage all the way to victory in the second.

Now, in the third match, I get to fight using the latest trend and have the first move.

–––I’ve stripped her of all her weapons, and I’m the only one who’s still armed! The advantage is mine!!

It’s been mine since even before the match got started.

She should understand that, too.

–––Then …… why is she so relaxed? Does she think she can beat me with Bishop Exchange?

The only weapon this person called the Eternal Queen has left is–––experience.

I can’t take it lightly. That’s the one weapon I can’t match.

“Tell me. If it’s Bishop Exchange you wish to play then …… How about this?”

Sensei advances her Pawn along the 6th file to make space behind it. Space to deploy her Bishop.

So that’s what she’s aiming for.

“A repetition draw ……”

Defenders trying to force a repetition draw happens a lot in Bishop Exchange matches. It lets them get to the advantage of the first move when the match is restarted. A pessimistic idea. If that’s what the Women’s Legend is really thinking ……

–––I’ll rout her first!

“…………… Here …………”

I’ve been saving my Bishop for a moment like this. I play it first to shake her confidence, then lean in all the way up to the very edge of the board and start swaying back and forth. I’ll read all the way to victory!!

“Here, here, here, hereherehereherehereherehereherehere.”

“Here, is it?”

“H- ………… Huh?!”

Rather than bide her time, Shakando-sensei starts an attack. Suddenly, as if out of thin air.

“With …… a 9 Five Pawn?!”

My King is in the 8th file, and Shakando-sensei isn’t trying to hide that she’s punching right for it.

On top of this strange move that looks more like a taunt, she–––

“You prefer to fight it out, tit for tat, do you not? Then come. Let us collide at full force.”

Those words light a fire inside me.

“HEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHERE!!”

I’ll beat her to a pulp.

Drag her off that throne she’s had for 29 years and make her wish she’d never been born. I won’t let this be a ceremonious passing of the torch. No–––this is a revolution!!

I get in position to trample her beneath the power of my youth and the might of my reading speed, my most powerful weapon …… But!

“I’m being pushed back?! Wh-What is this pressure ……?!”

“Heh heh heh. He-he-he-he! He-he-he-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Shakando-sensei …… is laughing.

Her cheeks are turning red, like a little girl!

“This Shogi harkens back to what I played in my teens. To think a player who reminded me of such a passionate era would appear not from the 3-dan division, but the Women’s League ……”

Something unbelievable happens in front of my eyes as we exchange more moves back and forth.

–––Shakando-sensei …… is getting younger ……?!

It’s not just how she plays.

Her overall appearance, even her face, changes.

“Do not smolder.”

“?! ……? ……!!”

Even Keika, sitting at the boardside table, is rubbing her eyes. Then, she says with that astonished look on her face.

“Sh-Shakando-sensei! You have 10 minutes remaining! When would you like me to countdown–––”

“Don’t bother,” answers the legend with the spirit of a little girl as the tiniest bead of sweat rolls down her cheek. Then she deploys a Lance aimed directly at my King.

–––She doesn’t need a countdown? If she’s not going to surrender, that means ……!!

“Don’t patronize me!!”

The mid-game was an all-out battle, and neither of us allowed the other to poke any holes in our defenses. Through all of that, I kept something special hidden behind my back–––

“Now!!”

What I deployed 40 moves ago and haven’t touched since waiting for the perfect moment: a Bishop.

Now that it’s been out of her thought process long enough to disappear, the time has come to pierce Shakando-sensei’s heart with it!

“HEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEREHEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! Ngh!!!”

“…… Check, is it?”

My Bishop, now promoted to a Horse, is planted firmly at 5 Two. Shadanko-sensei takes a Silver off her piece stand to block it.

But I’ve already read that sequence to the end.

My true target is––––––Shakando-sensei’s Rook!!

“…… Mine!!’

This is just the move I had in mind! Put her in check with my Horse, and then shift it diagonally back on step.

–––Keep her King in my sights while taking the Rook at the same time! I …… I won!!

Right now, at this moment.

The title of Women’s Legend is on the board, in the shape of a Rook …… Right within my reach.

“…………”

The titleholder is staring into her lap.

Her hand too slowly reaches for her piece stand. My giddy heart is jumping in and out of my throat …… Once Sensei puts her hand on that stand, I will become the new Women’s Legend ……!

But–––I was wrong.

Those long, white fingers of hers pluck a small piece off the stand instead.

Then, she effortlessly plops it down on the board like a drop of water.

“………… A Pawn?”

That makes no sense.

–––That won’t protect against my Horse, it won’t help her King escape …… and doesn’t put me in check, so why?

What a murky move.

It doesn’t show up in any of the main sequences, so I never read into it.

I can win by ignoring it and taking the Rook or starting the attack right now.

–––…… No! I can’t get comfortable until the very end!!

Now is the time to play it safe. So I calmly pull a Gold back and take that Pawn to guarantee that I win the title.

Doing that flipped everything upside down.

“This marks the end for you, Ai Hinatsuru,” Shakando-sensei declares as she picks up a Knight from her piece stand and snaps it onto the board.

8 Four Knight.

“T–––”

That’s when I finally notice.

My head …… is on the chopping block right now.

“Took initiative?! Ignored the Rook and ……… Gaaaaaaaaah?!”

Deploying that Knight at 8 Four completely changed the world.

–––If I take her Rook now ………… I’ll be put in checkmate?! Me?! ………… I’ll be checkmated?!

“……!!”

Rushing, I put a Gold down in my territory. I needed it for my final attack on her King, but I’ll lose by instant death if I don’t protect my own right now.

But it turns out that Gold is what Shakando-sensei wanted. She takes it with her Knight and then shifts her attention back to her own territory. The Gold I just lost gets deployed at the perfect moment to seal off my Horse ……!

This match is as good as over. I saw it …… my own defeat.

–––I was …… out-read? Me ……? In the late-game ……?

I don’t believe it.

I mean …… My opponent, she’s …… even older than my mother ……

–––That’s impossible!!

I keep playing, refusing to accept what’s happening on the board in front of me. This …… this can’t be right!

–––No way! No way! Nowaynowaynowaynoway!!

“How unsightly,” Shakando-sensei whispers, effortlessly blocking my desperate attempts to put her in check one after another without using waiting time. She may as well have a fistful of my collar and be slapping me silly right now.

Her moves are all perfect. It’s like I’m playing against an A League player.

How …… is she this strong ……?

“Leave the nest before your Master could teach you how to accept defeat with grace, did you?”

“Gasp ………”

I used the very latest research.

The newest way to play Static Rook that Natagiri-sensei …… an A League member and Meijin challenger drilled into me over the course of many practice sessions.

And all the strength I built up in the late-game.

Even Master …… the youngest dual titleholder ever thought I’d never lose in the late-game. He said it was my strongest weapon.

Both of those weapons got crushed into dust.

In one Shogi match.

“………………… I …………………”

The words I lost won’t come out.

All I can do is comment on the situation I’m in.

“……………………………… I have nothing ………”

Those three words say it all.

The title that was in my grasp.

Even the weapons I thought would never fail have fallen through my fingers like sand. ……

“Our matches have shown me that you are particularly well-versed in the latest Double Wing Attack and Bishop Exchange. Up to date on the latest yagura style as well, I presume? Your study habits are impeccable.”

“……………”

Her eyes are terrifying, like they can see all the way through me. I can’t meet them, no matter how hard I try.

I’m too embarrassed.

I’d happily crawl into a coffin and just die.

“So I decided to call upon what little youth I have left …… And what fun it was, reliving a time gone by.”

“One begs your pardon.”

Sasari Oga Women’s 1-dan comes into the arena along with the media people and walks up to the winner to whisper in her ear.

“Shakando-sensei, the press conference time slot is ……”

“Oh, yes.”

Then, once Ms. Oga helps her to her feet, Shakando-sensei says this, “I hadn’t anticipated the match taking this long. I do apologize, but I shall be bowing out of the review session.”

The Shakando-sensei dragging her leg out the door is the one I know.

The only traces of the girl I faced during the match are staring back at me from my checkmated King on the board ……