Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 16 - Chapter 5.08

  ANOTHER’S MATCH RECORD

The break room is up in arms.

“Well?! What happened?! Is she checkmated or not?! Which is it?!”

“It looks like they’re talking!! It’s Women’s Legend Rina Shakando’s turn!! Has she surrendered?!”

“The timer is still running! She must not have surrendered yet!!”

“The software showed them as dead even …… Wait! Th-The defender has the lead?!”

“Now it’s saying the challenger is in victory position!! Is the computer broken?!”

Filling a cup with water in the galley, I head to the arena all by myself.

All those voices spill out from behind the breakroom door as I pass by.

The ever-shifting software rating has them on the edge of their seats.

Apparently, people who have gotten too used to analyzing matches with software can’t figure out a formation like that on their own.

Yes, it’s very complex. No match has ever ended like this in Shogi history, and the conclusion is buried under so many different possible sequences that it blinds the software.

The only people who could find it at this point in time are me and–––

“Great job, Ai.”

My grip on the cup tightens.

Ai should have found the answer …… the checkmate by now. The hatchling has shaken off the last bits of shell from her tail and truly taken flight.

“You’ve gotten so strong …… Really ……”

All alone, I walk down the hallway that leads to the arena.

With that single cup of water in my hand, the heavy silence that dominates that sacred ground becomes denser the closer I get.

I know for a fact that she is going to need this.

After reading all the way to checkmate at the end of a title match …… your throat turns into a desert.

–––I’ll give her this water to start mending bridges.

She’s already a great Shogi player in her own right. She claimed a title while still in sixth grade.

I fulfilled the promise I made to her parents, that she would have a title before graduating junior high, with four years to spare.

Now that promise has been kept, Ai can be a Women’s League player for the rest of her life.

It’s official …… We’ll be Master and apprentice forever.

–––Which means we should get back on good terms, the sooner the better.

We can talk about whether she wants to move back in with me or to stay here in Tokyo after the hatchet has been buried instead .

“I mean, she could move in with Ai Yashajin and I …… Well, Akira is there too, so there’d be four of us rather than three. There’s already an open room, so we could all be roommates.”

I take a seat on a sofa that happens to be in the hallway and plan out what to do from here.

There’s no need to go into the arena.

I’ll wait for Ai right here, just like she waited for me with a cup of water way back when. That way, I know our paths will cross again for sure, just like they did that one day.

I’ve not only read to the checkmate, but the future that lies beyond.

“Oh, that’s right. What about the other Ai?”

There are a few minutes left in Ai Hinatsuru’s match, so now’s a good time to see how Ai Yashajin’s match turned out.

“Her match should also be about over by now ……”

Placing the cup of water on a side table next to the sofa, I take out my smartphone and pull up the match record online.

[Final Match] Queen Title Match, Formation: Unknown, Karen Noburyou 3-dan – Ai Yashajin Women’s 2-dan

Yep, the match is already over.

It got to a full set, the piece flip was carried out …… and she became the defender. But, knowing how thorough Ai is about strategizing, she probably wouldn’t care.

What I’m really curious about is–––

“…… Formation: Unknown?”

Ai has a huge bag of tricks.

She really likes ambushes like Bishop Head Pawn, but ……would she really play that with everything on the line?

“She started out with Ranging Rook and switched over to Static Rook in the match when she forced a Repetition Draw against Big Sis, but that was after a reset. Besides, Bishop Head Pawn is the kind of ambush you can only use once. I highly doubt she would try …… it again …………?”

The instant the match record pops up.

It draws me in like a magnet.

In a heartbeat.

“…………………… Wha …………?”

Here, in front of my eyes, is Shogi I’ve never seen before.

The almost whimsical formation that doesn’t have a name makes the pieces fit together in a completely new way, and it hits me like a ton of bricks. The rest of the world gets shut out as my train of thought plunges into that match record.

“What is …… this? I …… I …… don’t …………”

If I had to call it anything, yes.

Future Shogi.

This match record is like a time machine that came from the distant future, not just a few decades from now. It ensnares my attention.

I couldn’t care less who won at this point.

Before I knew it, I’d pulled up the match records for all of Ai’s title matches.

The first match only showed fragments of the future in Ai’s Shogi. Maybe a few years from now …… The second match was clearly from a new era. Even though a few sequences look familiar, no player had ever seen these before. That includes me.

Ai found them all by herself ……… Impossible.

Prodigies can skip a step or two here and there, but not whole flights of stairs. The idea that one person could advance the clock this far all on their own is crazy.

But the fact remains that Ai Yashajin is doing it.

If she can play Shogi like this–––

“………………… I have to go ……………”

Smartphone still in my hand, I get up from the sofa.

I set my sights on there and start walking.

Completely forgetting about the cup of water that isn’t in my hand anymore.