Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 16 - Chapter 3.3

  THE WOMAN STRONGER THAN PROS

“Assass …… in?”

“Yep. That’s what we all called Ms. Shakando. Bear in mind it was ages ago …… Okay?” Natagiri-sensei tells me before getting up and walking over to his bookshelf.

This is Sensei’s study in his apartment.

We usually have practice sessions in his research room (where Rokuroba-sensei and I are living right now), but today I got to come in here for the first time.

–––Does that mean he thinks I’m a worthy player ……?

His bookshelf covers the entire wall from the floor to the ceiling. It’s stuffed full of Shogi books and match record files.

Magazines, match records, strategy books, Shogi almanacs …… It’s overwhelming how he has everything meticulously organized like a library. But I do my best to listen to him.

By the way, Rokuroba-sensei is cooking next door. I offered to help her, but …… Well, I already knew what she was going to say. After all, you want to be the only one in the kitchen to cook for your special someone. Isn’t that cute?

“Oh, yes yes. Speaking of books–––”

Natagiri-sensei’s fingers stop in front of the shelves.

Under a label that says “Good Men” ……

“You know that Yaichi published a book, yes? The Meijin read it and got quite the nice power up.”

“From Master’s book?!”

“It’s a work of art, a stunning masterpiece at that. I’ve been devouring it round-the-clock …… But, in all honesty, I wish it hadn’t been released until after the Meijin Title Match.”

He slips a copy of Kuzuryu’s Notebook out from under Good Men and flips through its pages with a long sigh.

“The difference between the Meijin and I, you see, is Yaichi’s Shogi sense, which I absorbed from you. It’s just that the Meijin only needed to read Yaichi’s book to acquire it …… The version of Yaichi’s sense he got from the book is more diluted than what I acquired from you, but he had a stronger grasp of it when he put that sense into his empty pocket.”

Natagiri-sensei nearly took the Monarch title from the Meijin, but has already lost three straight at the start of the Meijin Title Match series.

One more loss and it will all be over …… Is this really okay? Having a practice session with me right now ……

“Um …… is it that good?”

“You mean you haven’t read it?”

“………… I haven’t. Um …… I never thought that I would become the challenger, so I have too much catching up to do on researching Shakando-sensei’s match records. So–––”

“You can borrow one of mine! Whenever I find a good book, I always make sure to buy four copies: one to use, one to save, one to display and one to use. I’ve also dabbled in digital releases recently, so I’ve got five copies for myself and bought even more to help spread the word!”

I have no idea what the difference between use and display could be, and I’m too scared to find out why he has two copies to use in the first place to comment on it.

“The cover is absolutely stunning …… A closeup of Yaichi, dressed in a neatly pressed kimono, sitting across the board. But it’s the inner sleeve photo that takes the cake. Teehee♡. See? I made it my phone’s wallpaper♡.”

“W-Well, okay …… I’ll borrow a copy.”

I take it just to see for myself. Yes, it’s a great picture. It looks like a random photo on the shoreline with Master happily smiling next to the waves. It’s a treasure.

My problem with it …… is when and …… with whom was this photo taken? At the very least, it was taken behind my back ……

His profile information is written on the cover sleeve. There’s a line that reads Photo taken on location in Amanohashidate during writing at the bottom. I’ve never been there ……

Checking the credits page–––Photography, Editing, Supervision: Mato.

Ohhhh?

Heh? Is that right? Master was off vacationing with Kugui-sensei while I was fighting my heart out in Tokyo, was he? It sure looks like he had a great time ……

“Actually, I’ll pass! Master, you dara!”

“‘Dara?’”

Natagiri-sensei doesn’t understand my dialect.

“I must say, though, Yaichi’s power of comprehension is immense! Putting the many nuances of software Shogi into words to this extent …… If Shogi from 100 years in the future were to show up, I daresay that he’s the only one who could decipher it.”

…… I knew that Master had written the book.

The reason why I didn’t read it is ………… Yes, I was busy, but ……

It would be too jarring … no matter what’s in it.

If my name never came up …… I’d be in a disappointed rut who knows how long.

But, if …

If he did write about me in the book …………

–––I might forget all about the title match and run back to him ……

I slide my fingers along the ends of my severed hair and change the subject.

“Would you tell me more about Shakando-sensei, please? What was she like when everyone called her the Assassin?”

“You know that my pro debut was a loss, don’t you?”

“Yes. Um ………… You lost to a Women’s League player ………… Wait?”

Two horrifying dots just connected in my head and I turn pale as a ghost.

“I-It wasn’t ……?!”

“Rina Shakando Women’s Quadruple Title.”

He goes to the Match Records corner of his bookshelf and pulls out a thick file. He opens it up to the very first record and hands it to me.

“Her continuous domination of the Women’s titles was well underway when she was selected to be my first opponent …… Women’s players with outstanding records were allowed to play against professionals in league matches. They were seen as equal to the bottom of the barrel pro players.”

“So …… that’s why you played against her in your first match?”

“I remember every detail of that day, even now. From the moment I woke up onward, everything.”

I look at the match record.

The date is over 20 years ago.

But the Shogi that was played–––

“I-Is this …… really your professional debut, Sensei?! Really?!”

“I’m just as flabbergasted as you are.”

I realized it the moment I saw the record.

This is why Natagiri-sensei wanted a practice session with me in the middle of the Meijin Title Match.

“The very Shogi I played in my debut showed up in a Women’s Title Match of all places!”

“The formations at move 59 …… They overlap …… Perfectly ……”

It’s the same as the third Women’s Legend Title Match, the one I lost ……

Of course, there are some small differences here and there.

Natagiri-sensei and Shakando-sensei’s match started with a Bishop Exchange, and both of them pulled out all the stops to this point.

“In my debut match, we both bided our time to wait for the perfect opening. But against you, Ai, Ms. Shakando initiated an attacked sequence herself. Simply put–––,” the Shogi world’s most dedicated researcher declares, “Ms. Shakando isn’t playing with only experience. She’s continuously researched her own matches. That active knowledge of Shogi from the past is what makes her so strong.”

“Experience ………… and research …………”

“I can say with confidence that I’ve devoted nearly all my life to Shogi. But I’m fairly certain that Ms. Shakando has, quite literally, committed the entirety of hers. Her Shogi proves it.”

“…………”

“This wasn’t the only time, either. I’ve been matched against Ms. Shakando in league matches a total of three times and been handed three losses. The records were a disgrace, the kind that only those directly involved would ever bother looking at.”

Three?!

Wait a minute. That means she has a perfect record against Natagiri-sensei ……

“………… If Shakando-sensei is so strong, then why–––”

“Does she only have the Women’s Legend title?”

“…………… Yes …………”

“Because, and I’m choosing my words very carefully here, Ms. Shakando researches how to play against professional players. Your abilities being on par with plenty of the young professionals are exactly what triggered her to play up to her full potential.”

It sounds crazy, but I can’t deny it. Seeing that phantom of her younger self during the third match pretty much proves it.

“Her Master, Sadatoshi Ashigara-sensei became a professional through, shall we say, an off-the-books route and was granted 6-dan right off the bat after his Entrance Exam. Have you heard about him?”

“I’ve read about some professionals who took that route before.”

“It was over half a century ago, mind you. The association’s rules were vague and there’s no denying that there was plenty of gray area to go around.”

It was a big surprise to see how often the association changed the rules when I was reading about it.

In those days, a person could become a professional just because someone with influence or a sponsor liked them. Vice versa was also true. The Sub League system changed at the drop of a hat ……

“Winning isn’t the most important thing for people living in society’s underbelly. It’s fattening up the target and then squeezing as much out of them as you can. They need to be able to move pieces on a completely different level. Catch my drift?”

“Do you mean …… losing on purpose?”

“Raise the stakes bit by bit while the other guy is none the wiser. Knowing when and how to lose would be a particularly valuable skill to have.”

It’s faint, but …… I’m starting to understand what Natagiri-sensei is trying to say.

Shakando-sensei wasn’t playing her best in the first and second matches. And that was to make me feel overconfident.

After everything I’ve heard so far, I was sure that’s where he was going, but–––

“I’ve asked you to join me for a practice session today because …… I’ve noticed some similarities.”

“With who?”

“Between the Meijin in this Meijin Title Match, and Ms. Shakando.”

“?! The same as …… the Meijin ……”

“There are things you have to be at the top to see,” says Natagiri-sensei in a tone so harsh I get chills. “Also, only one person per era can be on top. No matter the competition, the person who can see what no one else has seen will have an advantage.”

“What ………… did they see? Shakando-sensei …… and the Meijin ……?”

“Beats me. I’ve never been there myself, now have I?”

Natagiri-sensei shrugs and looks at the corner of his bookshelf.

The corner that’s labeled Gods.

It’s full of books all written by Eternal Meijins, past and present.

“We have to identify what it is, as well as how to surpass it. Because if we don’t …… our challenge is already over.”

Now I finally understand.

I understand how far I’ve been backed into a corner.

How …… monumental of an opponent I’ve been fighting ……

“On one side of the board is a strength that has been constantly building over the past 40 years. An 11-year-old girl has two weeks to do something about it …… Hee-hee! Sometimes the Shogi world demands the impossible, yes?”