TWO SUPERSTARS
“Young Mistress. You have guests.”
“I do?”
It’s past lunchtime on Sunday.
I had been cleaning the bath at my family’s inn on my own when Master’s older brother used the intercom to deliver a surprising message.
“Another member of the staff will take your place. Please change clothes and come to the lobby. You will be showing the guests to their room once you arrive.”
“…… Haaa. I’m on my way,” I reluctantly answer.
Kugui-sensei managed to find that collection of unreleased Shogi puzzles and gave them to me. I was working on one in my head while cleaning, so now I’ll have to start all over again.
The title is Shogi Suizou, named for a drunk elephant piece used in some variants of Shogi.
Every single one of those puzzles feels fresh. They’re nothing like anything I’ve solved before.
———Wh-What is this?! It’s like the author is challenging readers to figure it out ……!!
That first page blew me away. Once I memorized all the puzzles, I’ve been battling it out with that author in my head while scrubbing the floors.
It feels like I’m back to the time before becoming Master’s apprentice.
“And I was so close to solving it, too!”
Darabuchi …… But customers are customers, so it can’t be helped.
It’s things like this that make living and working in the service industry with my parents difficult, but Tokyo is no place for a girl my age to be living on her own.
“…… I won lots of money when I got my title, but I never thought I’d have more trouble spending it than I did earning it ……”
It’d be so nice to move back in with Rokuroba-sensei …… Once I changed out of my school P.E. uniform into a presentable kimono, I walk to the lobby and see———
“Hey! Makin’ some noise over here in Tokyo, aren’t you, Ai?”
“Oishi-sensei?! Asuka!!”
“A little bird told me about a great hot spring in the heart of Tokyo. So I thought I’d scope out the competition.”
“I-It’s a natural hot spring, right?! Wow ……! I’m jealous ……”
Mitsuru Oishi 9-dan runs a bathhouse with his daughter Asuka in Osaka. Back when the stress of a tiny bathtub at Master’s apartment was getting to me, Oishi-sensei let me stay at their bathhouse for a while in exchange for working there. He also taught me how to use Ranging Rook.
“Wh-What brings the both of you here ……?”
“I’ve got a match tomorrow, see? Against a certain wiz kid …… Well, ’suppose he’s a bit too old to be a wiz kid now that he’s in junior high, eh? Anyway, the match is getting tons of coverage thanks to him. I can’t afford to embarrass myself, so I thought I’d stay someplace nice so I can go in there fully charged.”
———The still-undefeated Kunugi 4-dan!
It makes sense that he’d eventually run into Oishi-sensei since he’s won so many matches in the Ryuo Tournament.
For it to happen when he’s on the cusp of setting a new record with 29 straight wins is amazing!
The whole country would take notice if he beat an A League player and former title holder to do it. Of course, Oishi-sensei is being talked about on news shows, too.
But, as hard as it is to say, he’s the villain ……
“Think we can go straight to our room? I’m bound to get stoned by some random passerby if I stay out in the open too long.”
“Yes! It would be my pleasure!!”
I take their bags and lead them down the hallway, but I have to try my hardest to keep from skipping with joy along the way.
“All right …… You got a board, Ai?” asks Oishi-sensei as soon as we get to the room.
“Join me for a practice session, would you? I’ve already got the go-ahead from the manager.”
I race back to my room to grab a 2.5-inch board and set it down on the low table the moment I get back.
“You make the first move, Ai. I’ll defend.”
“I would be honored!”
“Let me put this out there up front, I know how good you are, Ai. So I won’t be holding back, yeah? I won’t be playing along with a Double Wing, either.”
“!! ………… Okay!”
Oishi-sensei sticks to his word, opening the Bishop’s Path with 3 Four Pawn after I open with 2 Six Pawn.
A Double Wing Attack can’t happen anymore———But!
“Here!!”
I push the Pawn in front of my Rook one more space forward.
Then I reduce my defenses to the bare minimum by bringing out my right Silver!
“Mgh?!”
My ambush catches Oishi-sensei off guard, and I’m not giving him the chance to get his Rook into position. I push even harder, sacrificing my two big pieces in an all-out rush. The defending King is pinned back in no time at all.
“W-Wow ……!”
Asuka looks on with her eyes wide open.
“I’m dead to rights in only 39 moves …… There’ve got to be holes in that ambush somewhere, but even pros might not be able to spot ’em in a high-speed match. Does it have a name?”
“Extreme Rapid Silver. I’ve been researching it with Miss Tsubasa Gakumeki ……”
“From the looks of it, I’d say you’ve tweaked that sequence to work on defense too, eh?”
I wipe the sweat from my forehead and nod. Doing ambush strategies makes me so thirsty ……
“’Kay then. One more match,” Oishi-sensei says after resetting the pieces, but there’s fire in his eyes this time.
Neither of us thought that the first match was important. The real one starts now!
“Show me …… how you deal with Ranging Rook!”
“Here!!”
My first and second moves don’t change at all.
Just advancing the Pawn in front of my Rook!
“…… Interesting. Forcing the Bishop up takes Gokigen Central Rook and Bishop Exchange variants of Ranging Rook out of the picture …… That’s like tryin’ to fight with both hands tied behind your back for a Ranging Rooker.”
“You’re free to play Central Rook if you’d like,” I tell him as I open the Bishop’s Path, but the Worldly Maestro doesn’t answer.
Instead, he turns to his daughter sitting at the side of the board.
“Asuka. Go take a bath.”
“Whaaa?!”
“The real research starts now. The pros only kind.”
“!! ……………… Okay …………”
Asuka gets up and leaves without another word.
The tension in here sky rockets. It’s almost like the room’s thermostat got turned up to maximum. Sweat is dripping down my forehead …… Hot!
Since Oishi-sensei has already moved his Bishop once, triggering a Bishop Exchange himself would put him one move behind. Does he want to exchange Bishops so much that he’ll accept that loss or will he choose a different strategy ……?
Sensei closes the Bishop Path and slides his Rook.
4 Two Rook. He’s playing 4th File Rook.
———The formation is so secret, he’s hiding it from his own daughter …… is this a Normal 4th File Rook?
I’m stunned, to tell the truth.
As long as I make an anaguma, Static Rook would have a huge advantage. The two of us build our formations like normal, but at some point along the way ………… It shows up.
“Huh?”
I couldn’t stop that sound from coming out. Oishi-sensei’s move was just that unexpected.
“Whaaat?! Th-That formation doesn’t make sense!!”
At first, I thought Sensei made a mistake.
But his eyes are laser focused on the board. Really?! This is what he wants to do?!
———It’s a new move! But ………… But!!
Rather than cutting-edge …… it looks clumsy, somehow. Like how someone who’s just learning the game would play ……
But the worldliness that followed was a work of art.
“Ah …… Ah, ahhh ……………”
Oishi-sensei’s strategy turns out to be so cutting-edge that I can’t do anything to stop it.
———I mean …… What am I supposed to play against that formation? It’s way too ……
Should I attack or defend?
I get so wrapped up in trying to figure that out that I’m in checkmate before I know it. I still don’t know the answer either ……
“……… I don’t have any moves left. I surrender ……”
“Yeah. Good match.”
Oishi-sensei sounds relaxed, but his fingertips are still quivering just a little bit.
“S-Sensei? What was that ……?”
“You’re the first person I’ve used it against.”
“……!!”
The realization hits me.
Oishi-sensei developed this strategy specifically for playing against Kunugi 4-dan. That’s why he had to hide it, even from his only daughter.
That sequence is more important than life itself, and he showed it to me.
He has acknowledged my skills as on par with professional players. Otherwise, he’d never let me see it.
“……………. Thank you so very much!!”
I bow my head again. This time, it’s so that he can’t see the tears welling up in my eyes ……
“Group H in the Nebula Tournament, eh? …… Meh, that’s not a bad block to be in.”
Oishi-sensei leans back against the room’s tokonoma alcove and drinks the whole cup of tea I poured for him in a few gulps.
“Do you think so?”
“’Cuz I’m not in it, yeah?” Sensei says with a grin.
I answer with a soft laugh.
After losing so badly, I’m really not up for this kind of banter.
“I hate to break it to ya, Ai, but the only A League player you’d stand a chance against is probably Natagiri. Playing fast isn’t his strong suit ’cuz he doesn’t have that much talent.”
“Natagiri-sensei is really strong.”
I pour him another cup and politely offer some proof to back up my claim.
“He looked after me for a long time. But out of all the matches we played, I only ever beat him twice.”
“……………… I was just kiddin’ around ……”
Oishi-sensei’s face sours. Was the tea too strong?
“But in all seriousness, the Nebula Tournament’s best aspect is always getting matched up with someone around your skill level. The lower level players get to feel exactly how much they’ve grown. It fits you like a glove right now, Ai.”
“Yes! And getting to play two matches if I win is also really nice!”
I agree with Rinrin-sensei’s opinion that Women’s League players have an edge.
“The thing is, though, no amount of success in that tournament will ever lead to a Pro Entrance Exam.”
His cold tone sends shivers up my spine.
“The real divide between pros and amateurs is getting results when you’ve got hours of waiting time. The skill to challenge for a title, yeah? Tearing up fast-paced regular matches is good and all, but that doesn’t mean you’ll put a dent a pro’s armor.”
…… I had a feeling that was the case.
There are some very successful amateur players around who’ve moved up to the main tournament or won tournaments that didn’t have professionals playing in them.
But no one talks about letting those amateurs into the Professional League ……
“If you’re really going all-in on this Pro Entrance Exam thing, the only feasible choice you have is getting results in the Emperor Tournament where you were already qualified in the women’s quota. Even the prelims give four hours of waiting time in that one.”
“Four hours ……”
Just the thought of it makes me dizzy.
“More than that———you can play against him.”
The player listed next to me for the first round of the preliminaries.
Oishi-sensei’s pianist-like skinny fingers tap against three kanji characters that I can’t read.
“Um ……… Son, usu, hyou …… 9-dan?”
“Takeru Usui.”
Takeru …… Usui.
I know I’ve heard that name somewhere. But the characters for his name are really complicated.
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember? Yaichi is really all you see, isn’t he, Ai ……? Heh. Is that all Takeru Usui is to kids these days?”
Oishi-sensei looks hurt, which doesn’t happen often.
“To Ranging Rookers like me, he is like a god among men. The Shogi world has two superstars, you see.”
“Two …… superstars?”
“The charismatic face of Static Rook is the Meijin, not that you needed me to spell it out for you. And Ranging Rook’s superstar is him, Takeru Usui.”
“Aren’t you the face for Ranging Rook, Oishi-sensei?”
“People call me the Worldly Maestro, but all I do is play the notes. It’s Mr. Takeru Usui who wrote the music and conducts the orchestra.”
“!!”
Oishi-sensei, who just showed me that cutting-edge strategy, thinks that much of him ……?!
“He stood at the top of the Shogi world long before you were born, and he did it with Ranging Rook. In the golden age of collaboration research, he created a completely new strategy all on his own that was strong enough to take the Meijin title. We Ranging Rookers still strive to be just like him.”
“By himself ……”
“I had a chance to see Mr. Usui’s research notebooks back in the day. He had mountains of them, literally stacked up to the ceiling. Each and every one had the same thing written at the very top.”
Offense ——— Usui
Defense ——— The World
“The ………… World …………!”
“That includes software nowadays, mind you.”
Software doesn’t value Ranging Rook, so that playing style is in an ice age right now.
All the title holders right now play Static Rook.
Oishi-sensei is the only Ranging Rook player in A League.
“Mr. Usui himself has fallen all the way down to C1 and is part of Group 3 in the Ryuo Tournament. Now that his seeding is gone, it seems like his heart isn’t in researching anymore. He even surrenders way early in more matches, too.”
Even so ——— The Worldly Maestro continues with the face of any excited little boy.
“Even so, every Ranging Rooker in Japan …… Every single Shogi fan will lose their minds when he finally decides to use it. Pros will too, of course.”
“…………”
An excited boy talking about his favorite hero, to be exact.
“The Sub League was miserable. I made it through to go pro at 17, but I bawled like a baby when the 3-dan division slammed the door on me. If I’m being honest here, I personally can’t shrug off what you’re trying to do with a that’s nice and move on.”
I can tell he’s implying something more.
“But if Usui-sensei …… Ranging Rook’s superstar acknowledges me, a lot more people might be willing to listen …… Is that right?”
Oishi-sensei doesn’t give me an answer right away.
———He can’t say for sure!
That reaction alone is enough for me to see light at the end of this dark tunnel. It’s more like a single star in the night’s sky, but it’s still there.
There aren't many top professionals who play Ranging Rook anymore.
But if you include the Women’s League, then more than half of professional Shogi players use Ranging Rook. Lots of retired players use it, too.
On top of that, Shogi fans have even more influence than all of us put together.
Most amateur players use Ranging Rook.
If I can play well enough to get their attention!!
“The thing is, though ……”
Oishi-sensei puckers up a little as he drinks the last drops of strong tea in the bottom of his cup.
“As I see it, pigs’ll fly before Mr. Usui offers to support you. That grudge is a bit too strong.”
“Grudge ……? But I’ve never———”
“More accurately, it’s against that Master of yours. Mr. Usui had a certain title, you see. Not that he paraded it around.”
Everything lines up the second he tells me that title.
Who Takeru Usui 9-dan is, where and when I met him, and why he’d see me as an enemy.
“The previous Dragon King Ryuo. That blockhead of a Ryuo took it from him.”
………… I’m already checkmated, aren’t I?
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