Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 2 - Chapter 2.4

  PINK PANTHER

With all that on my mind, Ai Yashajin’s next lesson at New World took place the following Saturday.

“Looks like that Panther …… hasn’t come in yet.”

We’re at the same place as last time, Twin Kings Club. The wild animal of a human being that beat Ai to a pulp using kakutou fu, wearing a leopard skin dress last time, isn’t around, and I tell you, this whole place feels different. Even in New World, you don’t come across someone with that kind of presence every day.

“So, what now? Should I play against you?”

Ai asks, but I shake my head no.

“Go issue a shinken match to someone that looks like they know what they’re doing. Someone in the back, you hear? Also, call me Sensei, got it? Sen-sei.”

Only newbies are up at the front of the Shogi parlor. Chances are that people sitting at the back without an opponent are so strong that no one wants to play them shinken style.

“Humph!” Ai mutters in distaste, but she does what she’s told and goes to find an opponent. After what happened last time, I’m sure she’s painfully aware of how good the people here really are.

Ai eventually found an old guy sitting in front of a Shogi board and reading a copy of Shogi Weekly Magazine. 

She pulls out the empty chair and says, “Hey …… hey, mister?” Flipping her hair back over her shoulder, she leans in close to his ear and whispers, “Would you play with me?”

Wow, she could have worded that a little better …

“……”

The old guy peaks over the top of his magazine, slack jawed by the elementary school girl’s invitation. But once he saw the cigarette box next to the piece box and Ai lining up the pieces, he figured out it was a shinken invitation. He then folds up his magazine, plops it on the seat next to him and says with a smirk, “Should I leave out my Rook?”

“You must be joking.”

Not only did Ai immediately reject the old guy’s offer of a handicap, she picked up five of her own Pawns to do the Shogi equivalent of a coin flip to see who goes first.

“……!”

The old guy glares at her.

Flipping the Pawns is the upper player’s job. Basically, Ai just countered his I’m stronger than you taunt with the taunt of her own. An elementary school girl with guts like that? That’s talent in and of itself.

Once the pieces came down, Ai got the first move.

“When you’re ready.”

Ai didn’t give her opponent a chance to breathe before making the first move, confidently lifting her chin at the same time. She went with the Orthodox, opening the Bishop Path.

Now it’s the old guy’s turn. 

“No crying when you lose now …… heh.”

His move was–––4 Four Pawn!

“?!”

Ai does a double-triple take and is unable to believe that he would do such a thing. Maybe she thinks that was a mistake?

The old guy grins.

“Here you go, have a freebie. Come and get it.”

“……”

Ai freezes on the spot and tries to get a read on what her opponent is trying to do.

–––Was this a handicap he was putting on himself after she rejected the proposal?

–––Or was it …… a ploy?

I had to stop myself from whistling, seeing him make that move while I pretend to play Shogi with Akira.

“Haven’t seen that in ages. It’s Pac-Man.”

“Pac-Man?”

Akira adjusts her sunglasses, clearly surprised to hear a very un-Shogi like word.

“Isn’t that …… a videogame?”

“I think that’s where the name comes from, but it’s a kind of sneak attack.”

It’s where the defensive player appears to offer up a Pawn to their opponent, a strange strategy that makes it seem like they’re at a disadvantage no matter how you look at it.

But it’s a ploy that goes much deeper than that.

I use the board in front of me to show what can happen with Pac-Man.

“Should the offensive player take the bait like a Pac-Man chomp, the whole board gets thrown into chaos like this. Formations change at the drop of a hat, so the one who has spent more time studying has a tremendous advantage.”

However, pros can overcome whatever changes come their way. It’s safe to say that anyone who can adjust to this strategy on the spot has what it takes to join the professional ranks.

“Just out of curiosity …… what happens when the offensive player doesn’t take the bait?”

“The game returns to standard protocol. While that is an option–––.”

I reset the pieces on the board and speak with hopeful expectation.

“As for me, I’d rather take it and go for chaos.”

I don’t know whether my excitement came across or not.

But Ai took the Pawn, snapping her Bishop down with authority. The old guy’s lips curled into an even deeper smile. 

“Aw-ah, there it goes … All right!”

Here comes the chaos.

In a battle where all the big pieces throw their weight around, one wrong move and the tides of battle can go roaring in the other direction and ultimately lead to defeat.

“Kh ……!”

Ai presses her palm against her eye, biting her lip as she makes a painful face and bears it.

But the old guy looks as cool as a cucumber. It’s because he’s already done his homework. He thinks all he needs to do now is follow the same pattern he’s been studying without thinking too much. That’s the advantage of this strategy.

Unfortunately for him, that look of comfort steadily disappeared with each passing move.

“What is with this brat ……?! Dammit! By now it should be …” 

It was because this little girl that fell into his trap refused to accept her fate and he kept falling into the traps she set for him. The old guy wasn’t just surprised: he’s in shock.

A fluke–––no, it’s not. Ai saw everything coming. 

“………”

Ai kept her hand over one eye, but looked up at her flabbergasted opponent with the other in a paralyzing glare.

She must be getting information not only from the board, but from her opponent’s reactions as well. She’s the exact opposite of my apprentice who goes into her own little world in front of the Shogi board. Interesting.

Then.

“How about–––this!”

Ai moves a piece with a high-pitched click.

Perfect.

Ai, perfectly absorbed, deflected: a strategy she’d never used before. Calm, collected, reading, acute senses and a strong will to win above all else made it possible.

“… Nice!”

I couldn’t help but pump my fist in triumph under the table.

Perfectly absorbing an attack by itself can break an opponent’s spirit. Think of it like when an enemy you can’t inflict a single point of damage on shows up in an RPG: a role-playing game. Don’t you want to throw down the controller? It’s the same feeling.

“Tsk! …… Looks like this is as far as I go.”

The old guy tossed a piece in defeat the moment Ai went on the offensive.

His defensive formation hasn’t even been touched. In fact, you could say that the real battle was just about to start. But Shogi is a game where you lose the instant you think you can’t win.

“… You’re quite good, young lady.”

“Thanks. I know.”

Ai accepted the compliment with a resolute smile on her face. Once a brief review session came to a close, the old guy said, “Go buy yourself some juice,” as she elegantly took the rolled-up one-thousand-yen bill and placed it into her cigarette box.

Akira looks at me as if she were the one that just pulled off the victory.

“He-he-he. Now that’s what I call skill! My lady would never lose to any of the scum in this trash heap without getting startled by some outrageous outfit!!”

“I agree that her talent is on a different level. Yes.”

There was never any question about that.

“However, it’s necessary for Ai to toughen up mentally so that she won’t get rattled, no matter what strategy her opponent tries or how bizarre their clothes.”

There was once a Meijin Title Match where the challenger shaved his head as a way to psych himself up in what would become known as the Cue Ball Match.

The Meijin at that time was so stunned by his opponent’s shiny head that he lost the first match. However, he came to his senses as the man’s hair began to grow back and eventually defended his title.

“That Meijin admitted after the match that if his opponent had continued to shave his head, he might’ve been in trouble. That should prove that mental toughness plays a large part in Shogi matches.”

“Actually, I would like to ask if opponents shaving their heads is really that shocking?”

I admit that it also proves that many players in the Shogi world are that sensitive.

“But, then again, it doesn’t really matter what your opponent looks like once the match gets under …… way ……?”

I realized what I was saying was a lie as the words came out of my mouth. It was because I couldn’t concentrate on Shogi for the moment—I caught a glimpse of the beast walking through the front door.

The Panther–––had become the Pink Panther!

Ai spoke, more afraid than surprised.

“W …… Why is it a pink leopard pattern?!”

“… To get attention?”

The desire to become fancier and even more glamorous is in every Osakan’s DNA. The Panther must have evolved …

“Anybody up fer a round? Made a killin’ at the horse races today, so I’ll take on anyone and their mother.”

“… I …… I will face you!”

Ai sits across a Shogi board from the Pink Panther. Her opponent gladly accepts and starts lining up pieces. Going right into battle, huh … That grade schooler has nerves of steel.

But yeah, that pink leopard pattern dress … Even those glasses have pink frames …

“That’s not good. I’m too concerned about its gender to focus on the match …”

“W-Well …… This …… this is training!!”

Akira’s voice is trembling, but nothing rattles her. This is one opponent not to be taken lightly.

“I’m gonna flip ‘em, ‘k?”

After thoroughly trouncing Ai last time, the Panther flips the pieces and claims the first move with an amazing stroke of luck.

Once again, Panther goes for kakutou fu.

Keeping her guard up this time, Ai doesn’t do the Bishop exchange, but it goes without saying that Panther was ready for that.

“Yeesh, cheeky li’l one. Comin’ with power, eh?!”

Since Ai didn’t go for the Bishop exchange, Panther advances the Bishop before strengthening the offensive advantage with the left-side Knight.

“Ugh ……!”

Closing the Bishop Path not only cut off her Bishop, but Ai also couldn’t deploy her left-side Knight. It’s like trying to fight with your left hand tied behind your back. That’s just what her opponent wanted.

But Ai won’t break that easily.

Quite the opposite. Being forced into this formation stoked her defensive talent into a burning flame. With all those matches against tricky opponents under her belt, she’s leveling up right before my eyes ……!

“……”

People start gathering around them. Their match is at such a high level that the onlookers don’t say a word, only marvel at the jewel in front of them.

“You ain’t half bad, girl …” 

Despite having the first move and an early game advantage, Panther’s attack got cut off. That husky, tobacco-laced, genderless growl of a voice complimented Ai.

“Perfectly absorbin’,” said the woman once called New World’s Leopard. “My all-out offensive is no small feat!!”

Panther is an old lady!

Ai was so stunned by the revelation that her next move was horrible and lost soon after. Can’t blame her though.