Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 16 - Chapter 5.03

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“No one involved with Shogi should find you in here ……”

“Thanks, Ayano! I owe you.”

The one who found an out-of-the-way entrance for me to get into Jurokurou is Ayano Sadatou, who arrived here yesterday to work on a Shogi article.

As for Charlette, she got too excited with this being the fifth match and got a fever. She’s at home right now. That’s adorable. I better make sure to get some nice souvenirs for her.

“Sorry about all this, though. You could be in the arena working on your article right now, but you’re here with me ……”

“Please don’t worry! I wasn’t intending to spend this time in the arena or the break room in the first place. My plan was always to get inspiration here in the galley.”

“I was really surprised when they let us through the back door. You must be really good at getting material.”

Apparently, the staff here at the inn is really accommodating to a grade schooler looking for things to write about. They offered many photo opportunities, including the snacks and meals that are being prepared for the players in the galley. Considering how shy Ayano is, she’s really going all out!

“…… That is not the case ……”

Ayano looks at her feet and bites her lip.

“I …… can’t go into the arena. Even if I do, I can’t decipher what is happening in the match ………… So I can’t write anything ……”

She admits that she’s barely been inside any of the arenas since the second match.

I know she was so excited about being allowed inside before the series started ……

“Even with your assistance understanding the first match, Kuzuryu-sensei, all I did was line up secondhand information …… It made me feel like there was no point in my writing an article ……”

“Ayano ……”

“I can’t even tell what Ai is thinking when she’s sitting at the board anymore …… She’s just too far beyond me now ……”

I agree that Ai has changed a lot since those two played against each other in the Grade Schooler Practice Group.

That includes her living address and fighting stage.

Is that how she and Ayano drifted apart? Is this the end of their friendship?

Heart twinging, I yell, “Ayano! Even so–––”

“But, I have already realized it.”

Our voices overlap.

“I must observe Ai even closer because there’s so much I don’t understand. I have to take Shogi more seriously than ever before. Because if I don’t …… Ai will only get further and further away. And–––”

Ayano’s heart never left Ai’s side.

That notebook of hers that was brand new before the first match is barely recognizable now because of the wear and tear.

“The efforts of so many people make title matches happen. I’ve come to see bringing their stories to light as my purpose for writing. Even if I’m still not good enough to analyze Shogi on my own, I can use different expressions to convey the passion of everyone working here.”

“Ayano …… You’ve grown up a lot ……”

I’m tearing up.

Man, am I glad I met them …… every member of the Grade Schooler Practice Group.

“Let me ask you one more time. Please, please stay friends with Ai.”

“Yes! Of course, I will!”

Machi and the Sage are sure in for a surprise when they read this girl’s article.

That same Machi went in by the front door as a distraction and is waiting for Ayano in the break room. She stands out too much to stay hidden for very long. I, on the other hand, am plain and boring ……

“The players’ meals are nearly ready!”

With lunchtime drawing near, the galley comes to life.

“Any word on the match?!”

“The players in the break room seem to think it will end quickly–––”

“That’s not enough to go on for when to start the after-party! Should we start prepping the food just to be safe?!”

“The press conference happens before that, remember?! Is the venue ready?!”

“Hey! Isn’t it about time to take the players’ lunches to their rooms?!”

“We have to take the identical dishes to the break room for the press to get pictures, right?!”

“Make sure the supplies are set and ready to clean the arena while the players are eating! …… Ah! And don’t you dare touch the Shogi board!!”

I’ve always been involved as a player, so I had no idea this kind of a warzone was happening behind the scenes.

Seeing all the effort that makes a title match happen with my own eyes, I can’t help but make a connection.

The staff here is doing this all for my apprentice.

“…… It’s intense back here.”

“It sure is! Turning that intensity into words is my work!”

A certain someone with even more intensity is in another room of this inn.

There’s a monitor set up in the galley with a live feed of the arena.

A girl is on screen, desperately trying to read a sequence like it’s the late-game even though it’s still before lunch time.

“Here, here, herehereherehereherehereherehere––––––”

Ai’s unmistakable voice is coming out of the speakers.

That violent rocking she does has become a symbol of this five-match series.

“After the 5 Four Pawn Shakando-Women’s Legend played on the 66th move, the challenger has been thinking for almost twenty minutes straight.”

“It’s because Ms. Shakando has purposely left a weak spot out in the open. It’s like an invitation saying come and get me.”

The analyst hits the open space above Ms. Shakando’s King on the big board with his fist.

“This match has followed the latest trends of the Double Wing Attack. The defender, Ms. Shakando, is acting as a matador, whipping her Rook back and forth like a red flag to keep her opponent in check. It’s on the challenger to make the final decision. She does have a few options–––”

“Hereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere–––––––––HERE!!”

After swaying so far forward that she nearly hits her forehead on the board, Ai makes a decisive move!

“Sh-She moved! Sensei, what do you make of it…?!”

“Such youth.”

The pro doing commentary squints as if blinded by Ai’s move and voices his support with a few short words.

One thing that all competitions have in common is the idea that the challenger should be aggressive. Ai’s posturing fits that perfectly, so I don’t think anyone is going to criticize her for pushing so far up the board. Even if it results in a loss.

“Hmm ……”

After a quick glance at the clock, Shakando-sensei addresses the match recorder, Gakumeki Women’s 1-kyu, “Shall we adjourn for lunch? Subtract the remaining time from my own Undying Wings ……”

Giving up her own waiting time to begin the lunch break early, she leaves the arena first.

The Women’s Legend League allows one hour for lunch. That’s pretty normal.

However, the path from the arena to the Players Rooms is surprisingly long, and this old building also has tons of staircases. Considering Shakando-sensei’s bum leg, I’m sure she wanted a little extra time for insurance so she doesn’t have to rush.

“Well, that’s what you’d normally think ……”

“Kuzuryu-sensei? Have you noticed something?”

“This is bait.”

“Bait ……?”

“Shakando-sensei has been spreading bait for Ai. This extra break time …… No, this path to victory.”

In the first match, Ai played with a clear mind.

She happened to come across a winning sequence by chance just before the lunch break and took full advantage of it at the time.

“That’s perfectly fine. There is no way Shakando-sensei thought Ai would push that far forward and got caught off guard because she didn’t read it. That 1 Two Silver ……”

“I agree! That match record was one of Ai’s greatest ever!”

“But she got greedy in the second match, trying to win the same way.”

Racing past the early and mid-game stages like that.

It was a one-sided offensive the whole way. She used her late-game skills to force her way to victory. Ai learned that she could win that way.

“Then came the third match. She had the first move, just like in the first match, and the juicy bait of a title was dangling right in front of her. Of course, she’d try to win the same way again.”

“And ……. That was the opening Shakando-sensei used against her?”

I nod with a yeah.

“But there’s something more important to it than that. The thing that scares Shakando-sensei most of all …… has nothing to do with the late-game.”

“Huh?”

It completely went over my head until now. Ai definitely hasn’t noticed.

Why? Because we’re too young.

It’s really hard for us to put ourselves in our opponent’s shoes, to figure out what about us truly scares someone far older than ourselves from the other side of the Shogi board.

Without figuring that detail out, the Shogi …… and the game strategy demonstration are over.

–––If only I could give her a hint. I’ve come this far already ……!

Giving verbal assistance is forbidden, though.

I have to get it across …… but how?

“The challenger is still sitting at the board thinking things over even though lunchtime started ……”

“Most likely because she doesn’t want to let a single second go to waste. Win this match, and the title will be hers.”

Ai is still thinking. Her eyes are glued into enemy territory.

Ms. Gakumeki gives Ai a few awkward glances before quietly leaving the arena. Unlike the journalists who can come and go as they please, resting as much as possible during lunch is part of the match recorder’s job.

“Hereherehereherehereherehereherehere ………… Whew–––……”

At long last, Ai takes a deep breath. She gets up like that was her own personal signal and quickly leaves the arena.

“The challenger left her seat!”

“All right, people! Now is our chance to clean!”

The staff members who’d been on standby spring into action.

That’s when it happens.

“Ah ……,” Ayano gasps while looking up at a monitor showing an empty arena.

“Is something wrong, Ayano?”

“I’m just surprised …… The cushion positions are so different.”

“The cushions?”

Ayano points right at the screen.

“Shakando-sensei’s cushion is all the way back there, but Ai’s is so close that it’s practically brushing against the board legs. I think that shows how incredibly focused Ai has been during the match, but ……”

It is a striking image for sure.

The aggressive, forward-leaning challenger against the calm, defending Women’s Legend.

Their standings in the Shogi world come across simply by looking at their cushions.

It’s the fact that the arena is empty right now that makes it stand out so much.

“………… Cushions? ……… That’s it!!”

That’s when a brilliant idea hits me like a bolt of lightning.

“Yes, that would do it ……! Thanks, Ayano! You’re the best match journalist ever!”

“Eeep?! K-Kuzuryu-sensei?!”

I pick her up in a hug so quickly that my cheek knocks her glasses to the side. Who cares if the staff is watching?

It goes without saying that I can’t talk to Ai directly, and I should avoid physically going into the arena myself.

In which case, the absolute limit to what I can do is–––

“Excuse me! Can I ask you a favor?”

I flag down the nearest staff member.

It’s normally their job to empty the wastebaskets and change out lukewarm drinks for cold ones, but ……

Betting on one little ray of hope, I make a different request.

“There’s …… something I’d like you to adjust. It’s not the board.”