Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 2 - Chapter 5.1

  RYUO AND MEIJIN

Next day. I went to the Kansai Shogi Association to play a league match against Chairman Tsukimitsu.

Final round of the Throne League, 5th match.

It’s already been determined that I no longer qualify for this league and will soon drop out of it. As for the chairman, he has the necessary record to stay in the Throne League, but not enough to proceed to the playoffs that will determine who challenges the titleholder. This match is meaningless for the both of us.

And to said meaningless match, I–––

“Kuzuryu-sensei?! T-Those clothes ……!?”

A Sub League member working as the recordkeeper almost stood up in surprise the moment I step into the Onjyoudan no Ma, the Throne Room.

I tip my head in a casual greeting, get situated in the lower seat and take my fan and watch out of my second bag.

I came to today’s match–––in a formal kimono.

“Wearing a kimono to a match like this means ……?”

“Is it because he’s playing against the chairman?”

“…… That’s one heck of an aura! The Ryuo has arrived ……!”

Other players with matches in the Throne Room today whisper among themselves behind me. All of them understood the meaning behind wearing traditional clothes to a match other than when a title is on the line.

The true meaning behind this attire–––an absolute refusal to lose. On my honor as Ryuo.

It wasn’t long before the sliding door opened to reveal my opponent, a figure standing tall and sharp as a katana.

“Oh ……”

Miss Oga was right next to him like a shadow, but I doubt she needed to say anything for the chairman to realize what I’m wearing just by the sound of the fabric.

There was a time when he was in title matches almost every day, so I’m sure he’s very familiar with it.

“Chairman.”

I address my opponent from the lower seat.

“What is it?”

“I have a request.”

Miss Oga snaps at me.

“Ryuo! Right before a match is hardly the time or the place to–––.”

“Let’s hear what he has to say,” the chairman cuts her off and gestures toward me.

I take a moment to swallow the built-up spit in my mouth and say.

“If …… If I win this match, I would like your permission to take Ai Yashajin as my apprentice.”

“She has already been registered as my apprentice, yes?”

“……”

I had an answer ready for that. A well thought out, logical answer.

But for whatever reason I couldn’t say it and instead reply.

“I want her. No matter what it takes.”

The chairman gave a simple, quiet nod in response.

“All right then.”

Then, he said this.

“Shogi shall decide.”

“…… Yes!”

The chairman silently made his way to the upper seat as Miss Oga lined up his pieces on the board, per her role as his assistant.

However, the chairman usually moves the pieces himself during the match unless something goes very wrong. Just to make sure, he always announces his move before physically moving the piece. That way, what he says takes priority over the move itself in case he grabs the wrong one by mistake.

Blind people can still play Shogi, and become extremely good. Blind players have made their mark in every era of Shogi history.

One example would be the man who created the Ishida-style Ranging Rook strategy, Kengyou Ishida.

Another one would be Kengyou Ishimoto, the man who beat Edo’s Last Master, Souho Amano, without a handicap.

And in the modern era–––the Eternal Meijin, Seiichi Tsukimitsu.

That A class professional spoke as soon as his assistant and Women’s League 1-dan professional Sasari Oga puts the last piece in place on the board.

“Sasari.”

“Sir.”

“Would you please hang it on the wall?”

With those words.

““……!!””

Not only was Miss Oga surprised, the jaws of everyone in the room hit the floor.

Here in the Throne Room, the holiest location in the Kansai Shogi Association, hang three scrolls.

“Sky follows Taoism.”

“Humans follow land.”

“Land follows sky.”

They were written by the 14th, 15th and 16th Meijins respectively.

However the set isn’t complete.

There is a fourth scroll in the series. It has already been written and mounted on special paper reserved for important scrolls.

However it’s never hung up on the wall for regular matches.

That’s because the writer is still an active player and no one has taken his title of the 17th Eternal Meijin.

“Taoism follows nature.” 17th Meijin Seiichi Tsukimitsu

Sasari Oga, Women’s League 1-dan, retrieves the scroll and hangs it on the wall as if handling a holy artifact. Every player in the room naturally rose to attention as if paying their respects, almost like a reflex.

How could they not, the Meijin is the same as a god to the Shogi world.

And that god sits down in front of me with that scroll at his back. Like a lake nestled at the very top of the mountain, its surface completely still. Tranquil.

As for me, sitting on the opposite side of the board, it was more like an overwhelming avalanche of competitive prowess. Without my kimono holding me down, I probably would’ve been blown out of my seat before I knew what happened.

Just as I’ve come to fight in a full kimono, the chairman is putting his pride as the Meijin on the line for this battle ……!

“Ryuo and Meijin ……,” the Sub League member beside the board whispers with a mixture of awe and envy.

Immediately, he comes back to himself and speaks with more presence.

“The …… The appointed time for the match has arrived. Tsukimitsu-sensei has the first move. Please begin!”

“When you’re ready.”

Our breathing aligned, we exchange greetings and the chairman makes his first move without the slightest hesitation, announcing it at the same time.

“7 Six Pawn.”

I take a breath and do the same, opening the Bishop’s Path. As the defensive player, I have been entrusted with the right to choose my own strategy. And I followed the one that I settled on even before the match began.

That strategy being–––Move-Loss Bishop Exchange.

My admiration for the man sitting in front of me was the driving force to learn this strategy in the first place.

I’m not the only one who admires the chairman. There’s no way anyone raised in Kansai …… No, anyone who has learned how to play Shogi wouldn’t admire Seiichi Tsukimitsu.

So then why is it that more people don’t play the Move-Loss Bishop Exchange?

Because it’s too specialized. That’s why no matter how many people admire the chairman, most people don’t have enough patience to perfect the craft into a viable option in battle.

However, I kept using it no matter how many times Big Sis wiped the board with me. One loss led to another, and another, and another but I never thought of abandoning it.

My Master plays with incredible power.

The chairman’s style is faster than the speed of light.

I wanted my play style to include both of theirs.

Because I wanted to be–––the best.

“Haa …… Here we go!!”

I straighten my kimono’s collar and psych myself up before reaching deep into enemy territory to take the Bishop. The Chairman then took my newly Promoted Bishop, finishing the Bishop exchange.

Now, the hallowed Move-Loss Bishop Exchange contract is complete.

In this battle between two specialists, both offense and defense now have valuable weapons at their fingertips.

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the same point that the two Ais did. Move-Loss Bishop Exchange Double Reclining Silver.

Now the real battle begins.

The chairman thought for exactly five minutes and says.

“4 Five Pawn.”

He sticks out a Pawn, sacrificing it to start the battle in earnest.

Fighting back the terrifying thought of letting the Eternal Meijin go on the offensive, I move to strengthen my defense. His Rook moves in, I block it with a Pawn. He deploys his Bishop in my territory, but I hold fast. I’ll need solid armor to outlast an opponent who wins with speed.

But, I have a knife hidden beneath the armor.

Move 52–––5 Five Silver!!

“………!”

The chairman’s expression twitches ever so slightly the instant I announce my move.

Seconds later, he made a sound like he was appraising a piece of priceless artwork.

“…… Ohh.”

This was the ace in the hole that I prepared just for today.

The Bishop he deployed on my side of the board is a vital piece of his final push that goes directly through 5 Five. Therefore, he can’t take my Silver. What originally looked to be a defensive move was actually an attack in disguise.

That’s when chaos broke out.

He blocked my attack before moving in again, which I blocked and followed with my own counterattack. Back and forth again and again throughout the mid game.

Big pieces colliding, the battle spreading like sparks from a flame, I endure long enough to get the opening I want and move to attack the chairman’s King through the back door.

But I paid a hefty price.

Three big pieces are under his control, as is more than half the board with the overwhelming power he wields. I can’t read the formation at all. There’s a chance I’ve already lost.

After all, I’m going against the Eternal Meijin. I could’ve already been struck down without realizing it …… That’s a very real possibility. He’s done that to so many opponents before me.

Even so, I don’t break down, don’t give up and keep stubbornly trudging forward like the muddy outlaw I am.

I can see my apprentice’s hot tears in my heart.

But there’s something else too, another girl’s courage to keep fighting even when her King’s protection was paper thin.

Those tears and that courage have to take over this Shogi match. Ultimately, I’m–––.

“I am the Master!”

I roll up my sleeves and take a piece off my piece stand, slapping it onto the board directly in the enemy King’s path, pressing down onto the board until my knuckles go white.

Even with a Promoted Rook and Promoted Bishop in my own territory, on the 126th move–––I put him in check by deploying a 7 Six Gold!

“…… It’s been a very long time. A long time since I’ve experienced such a contested late game ……,” said the chairman, his eyes slightly wider than usual. He hadn’t said anything beyond announcing his moves during the match up to this point.

He hadn’t even flinched. But now, even maintaining his picture-perfect posture, he’s swaying back and forth to establish a reading rhythm.

He uses a great deal of waiting time as if trying to figure out what I’m after.

“This feeling …… This full-body rush in my veins during the late stages of a match. It’s nostalgic …… There was a word for this, for such an occasion …… Yes–––.”

He continues, whispering to himself when suddenly eyes that lost light long ago slowly opened and he put a word to that feeling.

“Intense.”

Light raced across the board a heartbeat later.