Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.8

  TALENT

“…… Looks like I’m out.”

“Yessah!”

I pump my fist in triumph the instant Mr. Oishi threw in the towel.

“That …… took forever ……!! Now I’m finally an All-Rounder ……!!”

“…… Don’t throw yourself a parade just for winning one match. You’re the Ryuo, yeah?”

The bathhouse isn’t open yet. Mr. Oishi, who used a bit of his spare time to work through some Shogi strategies with me in the first-floor lobby, forces a smile and continues.

“But you have gotten a little worldlier. The same is true for Ai. For the two of you to pick up so much so quickly really makes it feel like teaching was worth it.”

“Oh yeah. You saying teaching reminded me–––.”

It’s Sunday. The Practice League is meeting today.

With both Ai and Asuka out of the building, I finally have a chance to tell Mr. Oishi about what happened the other day …… Of course, leaving out the fact that his daughter rinsed my back in the men’s bath.

“Asuka wants to learn how to play Shogi?”

“Yes. She brought it up out of nowhere …… Did you notice?”

“Well, I had an inkling. She gets a look in her eyes when there’s a match going on.”

Picking up the plastic pieces from on top of the vinyl Shogi board, Mr. Oishi didn’t look particularly surprised to hear that.

“…… Asuka, she has watched me and other customers play Shogi since she was a little tyke. At first, I think she just wanted attention though …… Must’ve been about Ai’s age. That’s when she started reading.”

“She was interested in the game itself?”

“She was. So, I took it on myself to show her the ropes but–––.”

“But?”

“She didn’t have talent,” the Maestro said bluntly. “I’m a parent like any other. I’d always dreamed that any child of mine would have a knack for Shogi, long before Asuka was born …… Thought it would be fun to play and work as a family like that.”

“Mr. Oishi ……”

“To tell the truth, I was going to name her Hisha rather than Asuka.”

Her name would’ve literally been Rook?! Flying bird is so much better. What’s going on in this guy’s head?

“But the Mrs., she flat out refused to go along with it and we settled on Asuka …… Thanks to that, she still brings it up whenever we argue. Happened just the other day actually, we nearly tore into each other. She’s back at her parent’s place right now.”

“So that’s why I never saw your wife around ……”

I thought it was strange she wasn’t here.

“Thinking back on it now, Asuka was the right decision. That girl, she doesn’t have a speck of talent in her. Even as her father, I have to admit it.”

“So …… you stopped teaching her?”

“I did. Told her to give it up cold turkey. It’s better to shut these things down early before they get too far along.”

Mr. Oishi’s tone strengthens, pretty unusual for him.

“You’ve seen it yourself, right? How painful it is to try to survive in the Shogi world without talent.”

“…… Yes.”

Some people swear to never touch a Shogi board again.

Others …… suffer.

Shogi, something they’d always loved with all their hearts, becomes their worst enemy at the drop of a hat. Even people who once thought I could never live without Shogi, want nothing more than to see it burn.

That’s the Sub League and the Practice League for Women’s League players.

“The Sub League’s age limit is twenty-six, twenty-seven for the ladies. People who have only known Shogi their whole lives up to that point get thrown out into the real world if they couldn’t turn pro …… That happened to so many people in my generation. While I know they’re not pushing up the daisies …… A lot have fallen off the map to the point where I can’t reach them. As a father, I couldn’t bear to see my daughter go through that much pain.”

I don’t have any kids of my own, but I can relate to what he’s saying, painfully so.

If Ai Hinatsuru or Ai Yashajin went through that …… Just thinking about it makes my heart cringe.

“I thought I didn’t have any talent myself for a while after I went pro. Pretty certain of it actually. After all, there’s a talent that transcends eras in my generation.”

I knew immediately who he was talking about: The Meijin.

“But, you’re the one that beat him to take that title, are you not? And you did it twice ……”

“That second one he took right back.”

Mr. Oishi dryly laughs.

“Even so, I thought that everything I’d achieved was because I worked harder than anyone else. It was because I worked harder than anyone else that I became a professional, that I claimed titles. But–––.”

“But?”

“I learned something while teaching my daughter how to play and playing against customers in this classroom. You can teach students exactly the same way, but some will grow while others don’t. Even if they’re all trying their damnedest, some get rewarded while others don’t. Why do you think that is?”

“Is it …… talent?”

“That it is. That’s why I changed my mind. It wasn’t that I tried harder than anyone else in the Sub League, I just happened to be born with more talent that they were. That’s what made me into a pro.”

“……”

“The Sub League is a living hell. Everyone is playing with their lives on the line. Doesn’t it sound a bit arrogant to say that I tried harder than anyone else in that kind of environment?”

When I was asked if I had talent, I said, “No.”

However, if I were asked if talent existed in the Shogi world, I would probably say, “Yes.”

Effort makes dreams come true.

That’s the truth. No matter how talented someone is, they won’t achieve anything without effort.

Unfortunately, there are some things that effort alone cannot achieve. Effort alone …… 

“So …… What should I do? About Asuka ……”

“Personally, I’d like you to put her daydreams to bed, permanently.”

“To be the executioner? Well, that’s a downer ……”

Whoever ends up playing against someone in danger of getting knocked out of the Sub League or dropping out of being a pro gets dubbed the executioner. We call it that because it’s their job to end a Shogi life.

“I’m not asking you to do it, per se.”

“……?”

Not me?

Then who would …… Wait?!

“Mr. Oishi? You couldn’t mean …… The whole reason you decided to teach me and Ai how to play Ranging Rook was ……”

“…… Talent isn’t the only problem. Asuka isn’t cut out for competition. That girl–––.”

Mr. Oishi got that far when he suddenly stopped in midsentence.

It was because we heard the front door open.

“I’m terribly sorry. But we’re not open–––,” I say as I turn toward the front door, but stop cold.

Standing there–––was my first apprentice, totally drenched.

“?! Ai! W-What’s wrong?! You’re soaked!”

“……………”

Ai glances up at me as if she’s just noticed I’m in the room.

She looks like a ghost, no energy at all. What’s worse, everything from her head down to her fingernails is dripping wet. Something is definitely wrong with her. She’s shaking a little bit too.

“…… Master ……”

Ai, clearly not completely with it, stands just inside the doorway and mumbles under her breath in short, choppy bits.

“…… Um, the rain …… It started, right after the Practice League, when I left …… I, then …… But, being wet doesn’t matter …… because I …… I …… did something horrible …… to Mio ……”

Mio? What could’ve happened between the two of them?

“Did you let a match get away?” Mr. Oishi asks in a kind voice.

But Ai doesn’t even look up when she responds. It was almost like she was trying to use grit to make her way through pain.

“…… The match …… I won ……”

My sopping wet apprentice sniffles really loud, but the dam broke. Tears start pouring out of her eyes.

Cold droplets of water falling off her hair and clothes were joined by hot tears dripping from her cheeks, all plopping on the floor at her feet.

“…… I won but …… I, I! …… I won, but ……!”

Ai grabs hold of her chest with her trembling right hand and screams at the top of her lungs.

“I won but …… My heart hurts ……!”