Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 17 - Chapter 1.7

  SHARING

Click ……………… Click …… Click ………………… 

Dry mouse clicks echo through the dark room.

“………… That one, too?” 

How many hours have I been sitting here? 20? 30? I lost count.

After sitting down to look through Awaji’s match records in my apartment in Nishinomiya, I got tired of getting up to turn lights on and off, so the computer screen is the only source of light in here right now.

“That one ………… And that, that, that, thatthatthatthatthatthatthat———”

I’ve been combing through all these records.

And trying to find out if that is still around 100 years from now.

“………… If this is destiny, what about all we’ve done so far …………………… Hm?”

Is someone else in here? I turn around to look and———

A beautiful young girl dressed in an extravagant kimono is there, leaning against the doorway.

“I’m home,” says Ai Yashajin in one short breath and locking eyes with me.

…… Is Ten-chan angry?

“Oh? …… Ohh. You’re back.”

“I’ve been standing here for a good 20 minutes already, by the way.”

Ai wearing that kimono means she must’ve been getting ready for the conferring ceremonies for her two Women’s Titles.

Queen and Women’s Throne.

Defeating a member of the Sub League 3-dan division in two consecutive series, Ai Yashajin was now officially a dual Women’s Title Holder.

Part of me is happy that the two titles I know so well went to my apprentice rather than someone else entirely.

But, at the same time ………… it adds an extra twinge to the loneliness crushing my heart.

I turn back to the computer so my apprentice doesn’t pick up on it.

“Th-There’s just too many of Awaji’s records to go through …… Seriously, tens of billions of them. Even a hundred years wouldn’t be enough to look at every single one———”

“Isn’t there something you should say after seeing me dressed like this?”

“…… School picture day?”

“Do you want to be target practice?”

J-Just kidding …… A joke, okay ……?

“W-Wow! You look stunning! And I have to say, only you would buy the rights to both title series so you could do both ceremonies at the same time, Lady Ai!”

“All eyes are focused on remodeling the Kanto and Kansai Association buildings. I could buy out all the women’s titles, create three more, and still have change.”

There’d be more Women’s Titles than pros if you did that.

“Besides, we were anticipating going into the red to manage the series, but our timing may turn out to have been perfect. Thanks to Sota Kunugi, no less.”

“The So-chan Boom …… I really don’t think people would be so eager to cheer him on if they knew what he’s really like.”

Strangely enough, he has seemed to love spending time with me for years. I don’t have anything against him, but there is something I cannot put my finger on, too.

“Yaichi, are you free after this? Yay! Then would you please spend the rest of your life just playing Shogi with me? ♡ …… You said you were free, didn’t you?”

That stuff just rolls off his tongue. Is that not scary?

“Well? What gifts do you have in mind for the guests at your ceremony?”

“Oh, yes. Match records, perhaps?”

“Ones that you played? With self-commentary articles?”

It’s not unusual for players to hand out match records from their title series with their own thoughts and analysis bound in a little book to guests at their Conferring Ceremony. Fans would be over the moon to get one.

“No.” Ai points at the computer I’m using and says, “The ones you’re toiling over right now.”

“?! Y-You don’t mean———”

I look up in disbelief. How could a decision so world-altering come out so easily?

“You’re going to give out Awaji’s match records?! For real?!”

“Finally, you look at me properly, Yaichi.”

Her lips curl into a satisfied smile as Ai walks into the room.

Then, once she is at my side, Ai starts taking me through her plan.

“I’ll wing my own Conferring Ceremony. It’s Awaji’s ceremony I’m talking about.”

“???”

“And, by the way, you won’t be attending mine. There’s other work I’d like you to do.”

“That’s fine, but …… no, it wouldn’t be, would it?”

I was just about to mention how unprecedented it would be for a Master to miss their own apprentice’s title ceremony, but I just missed Ai Hinatsuru’s the other day.

Even from a balance standpoint, only going to Ai Yashajin’s ceremony might be a bad move. Ten-chan might also trying to be considerate to Big Sis ……

“More importantly, what’s this Conferring Ceremony for Awaji?”

“I’ll announce that Awaji has been certified as the fastest supercomputer in the world. Well, the development team will, anyway.”

“…… So that’s what you meant. I get it now ……”

But how does that relate to match records?

“And the benchmark software we’ll be using is———”

“………………… Shogi software, right?”

“Yes.”

Seriously?

“It’s not all that crazy. Shogi software has already been chosen as benchmarks for hi-speed CPUs. Those are for personal use though.”

“Ah, NPS ……”

Nodes Per Second. It’s a measure to show how many moves a computer can read in one second. The higher, the better.

“But yeah …… Shouldn’t you want to use something more general as a benchmark? Shogi software is a bit too specialized———.”

“There are two reasons.”

Ai holds up one finger on each hand.

“The first is that we’ve already used Shogi software as a benchmark for Awaji before. My parents were the ones who developed it, after all. Call it their personal preference.”

“They made the software, too?”

She said it was heavily influenced by Go, so I assumed they hired another company to handle the research and development.

“It wasn’t anywhere near as strong back then, but yes. My mother was the first to apply the Monte Carlo method, which is used for Go, to Shogi.”

“For real ……?”

That would mean the person who laid the groundwork for deep learning Shogi software was Ai Yashajin’s mother.

Her parents met in a Shogi club at a university in Tokyo.

While her father had the accolades, like being Amateur Meijin, her mother didn’t seem to like Shogi all that much. Surprising, but true.

“My mother did mention that it was all thanks to inspiration from a particularly exceptional underclassman in the Shogi club. Who could that have been?”

“…… Beats me.”

“And the other reason.”

Ai gets back on topic with the same air as flipping a switch.

“The value of Shogi content has spiked thanks to Sota Kunugi. This way, it can ride that wave into the spotlight.”

“Combining Shogi with the world’s fastest to make it easier to sell Awaji to the masses …… Right?”

“I’m not doing this to make money,” Ai declares.

Then she declares something else in exactly the same way.

“But if it makes money, it’s better to make as much as possible.”

“Very true.”

We are professionals. And the best way to rate a professional’s skill is their prize money.

It costs a ton of money to use Awaji at all. Best make as much as you can while you have the chance!

“I’ll be releasing 100 records.”

“100 ……? That’s all?”

I thought that was not nearly enough.

But that might be for the better. Showing the future as Awaji sees it all at once …… Unleashing the shock Ai Yashajin and I felt on the whole Shogi world would pack too much punch.

People would get so depressed that some might quit Shogi altogether.

“Record selection …… And yes, analytical comments should be added to the especially important ones, don’t you agree? The best one for the job would be———”

“The Ryuo …… Me, right?”

“I knew you’d catch on, Sensei! It saves so much time. ♡”

She goes out of her way to flatter me and leans in for a hug.

So this was the work she brought up earlier.

“Shouldn’t you ask the Meijin instead? I think his name would grab more attention than mine.”

Sota might be the hot topic in the Shogi world right now, but Shogi only gets noticed at all thanks to the Meijin.

A legendary player, the strongest ever to play the game, he had lorded over the Shogi world for ages when a young prodigy appeared on the scene. That kind of story sells very well.

Not to mention the Meijin has ranked number one in winnings for the past 30 years running.

Then there’s the fact that he has four titles, over half of all of them. The difference between him and Sota, who’s still at 4-dan, is day and night.

Meanwhile, the number two earner and youngest player to be a Dual Title Holder is here, but has been completely forgotten while people argue if Sota could defeat the Meijin. Then again, maybe the all-mighty masses never were interested in the first place.

“I considered approaching the Meijin, but I’ll be asking you for this one. I’m not playing favorites, just so you know.”

“Oh? Then can I ask why you rate me so highly?”

“It’s the Meijin, remember? Give him Awaji’s match records, and nobody would hear from him for a least a year or two.”

…… Good point.

“I want quality and popularity, but there’s also a deadline to meet. It’s pointless to ask someone who can’t deliver.”

The Meijin is not only the strongest player in history, he’s also Shogi’s biggest otaku.

That is him in a nutshell.

Just like Toya-Meijin in Hikaru no Go, he would retire if that meant he could play against a strong opponent. Giving up his titles and forfeiting all his league matches to hole up for a year or two? He would do that without a second thought.

The chance to see Awaji would be too irresistible.

The irresistible allure of seeing Shogi from 100 years in the future ……

“…… I’m fine with taking on the job, but I can’t possibly choose the records like this. As I said before———.”

“I know. Akira is already preparing the solution.”

I don’t have a complete grasp of Awaji’s match records yet.

Because …… I’ve been too heavily influenced by modern Shogi: the Shogi human beings play.

———If only I could start from scratch. Go back to before I learned how to play Shogi …… 

That desire only got stronger after seeing Sota and Ika’s match.

“I can’t wait to see the future of Shogi you’re going to present.”

Leaving that fancy kimono in a heap on the floor, Ai laughs to herself as she climbs into my bed.

She must be planning to sleep here tonight.

I didn’t tell her to go back to her own room. It is not like I will be sleeping tonight anyway, so she can do whatever she wants.

Turning back to my computer screen, I start going through more match records.

Even though I said I couldn’t make a decision about which records to release right now …… I don’t think it will be all that hard.

“ ………… There’s too much we can’t show.”

It is actually Ai Yashajin’s erratic behavior that has me worried.

Her title match against Big Sis was one year ago.

She has made moves to systematically take over the Shogi world ever since.

———What is she after?

At first, I thought she wanted to use Awaji to get a decisive advantage over other players …… but too much doesn’t add up if that’s the case.

Use Shogi as a means to turn Awaji into a business venture?

Or …… is she simply trying to get my attention?

In any case, someone is going to have to find a way to keep her under control. Her parents aren’t around to do that anymore.

Her grandfather is currently in the process of making Ai the head of the Yashajin Group, but I haven’t been able to contact him for a while now.

———In which case …… I need to acquire the same level of power as Awaji ……

I have to prepare.

Get ready to ditch my human perception.

“There’s something I have to do, right now, to make that happen ……!!”

Sliding my gaze away from the computer screen, I strengthen my resolve.

There’s a single sheet of paper there.

A piece of paper that will soon contain a vow absolutely necessary to fight off despair———the most sacred contract in existence.