Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 5 - Chapter 5.5

  WHAT MUST COME

Endless one-minute Shogi is still going.

“Haack ……!!”

My nerves have reached the point I feel like I’m going to hurl, but I keep getting dry heaves.

“Ughh! …… Haaack! Ohhaaaa ……!!”

Going back and forth, I can barely breathe as we each twist and contort our minds with no end in sight. My heart is screaming out in pain without making a sound.

–––Time …… If only I had some time ……!!

I’ve been able to dodge the killing blow so far, but who knows how long I can keep this up. The board is a total mess and my formation may as well be held together by spaghetti.

I’m not the only one in rough shape.

The Meijin looks exhausted, his face twisting in pain and low groans come out of his half-open mouth. He’s still fighting, but only holding on by a thread.

The difference is he still has two minutes of waiting time and hasn’t had to deal with one-minute Shogi. Just waiting for me to mess up …… Waiting for the perfect moment to unleash the strike he’s got prepped and ready ……!

“Cough! Haaaack ……!!”

That pressure is killing me, and these dry heaves just won’t stop.

–––Everything hurts! Hurry up …… Hurry up and put me out of my misery!! Make it stop ……!!

I writhe in pain next to the board like a wounded soldier wanting nothing more than a quick death.

My fighting spirit is so close to shattering.

Physical and mental endurance gave out a long time ago, but my Shogi skills have reached a level so much higher than they’ve ever been. I can’t believe I lasted so long in one-minute Shogi like this.

But …… 

My reading skills only got this high because sitting across the board from the Meijin pulled them way past their limits.

–––I can’t control it anymore ……!

Time starts flying the instant I start reading the board and it’s been the match recorder’s countdown that’s dragged me back into reality. It’s a vicious cycle.

I have to slam on the brakes just as I’m picking up speed every single time.

––– …… And both of us have a check path somewhere!!

It’s frustrating, knowing that I could find it if I just let my mind go into overdrive but that’s too risky. If I did that and worse came to worse, I’d forfeit the match by running out of time.

And if I lose a title match, if I lose my title because I ran out of time, that’ll become legendary in its own right. Of course, in a very bad way. I’d have to retire just to save face.

Retiring just two days after my apprentice joined the Women’s League–––.

That’s just way too pathetic!!

Still unable to read all the way through, hearing the match recorder’s countdown makes my heart jump into my throat and I make a move.

Once he saw it.

Once the Meijin who’d been rocking back and forth, his face twisting and turning in pain saw what I did–––.

Slide …… 

His upper body rises above the board and then freezes in place.

It’s like … what a cobra would do right before bearing its fangs.

Poised to deliver the killing blow.

Am––––––.

–––Am I, checkmated ……?

All the blood disappears from my body, slushing like it’s going down a drain.

Did he find a way to trap my King before I could find a way to trap his? Nah …… That’s the only explanation.

––– …………………… So then, it’s over.

My shoulders fall with a crack, like my neck broke along with them.

I can’t keep my head up. Every bit of strength in my body fades away …… 

No matter how determined you are to never give up at the start, your spirit can only stare defeat in the face for so long until it breaks. Pushing beyond your limits only speeds up the process.

––– …… Once he plays his move, I’ll throw in the towel.

Of course it hurts. I don’t want to lose my title. Going out on a four-game losing streak is pitiful.

But on the other hand …… It’ll finally be over.

I’ll be free from the pain of this one-minute Shogi hell, know relief …… 

But in that second, something strange catches my eye and I look up.

“…………?”

The Meijin–––is reaching for the pitcher of water next to the board.

Then, he pours some into his cup.

I blankly stare at it happening for a moment when …

“…………”

A second wind courses its way through my empty body. The gears in my brain start spinning again.

Ba-dump, ba-dump! My heart starts sending blood to every part of my body.

Heat.

A word falls out of my mouth.

“………… T …… ime ………”

I repeat it once more.

“…… Time ……”

Yes.

The one thing I wanted more than anything else.

The one thing I didn’t have any more of.

What I couldn’t use during one-minute Shogi and needed to speed up my train of thought.

And right now, the Meijin is using it.

Those last two minutes he kept, he’s giving up the last of his waiting time.

In other words.

–––I can ………… use that time!!!!

I immediately threw everything to the wind and let my brain run wild.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

I could finally read. All the way to the end.

Immediately after.

–––Snaaap!!

The Meijin hammers the finishing move down to the board.

He grinds that piece into the square, certain he’s claimed victory.

But.

My fighting spirit is still in one piece even after that move.

I respond using no time at all, not even bothering to breathe.

Only then did I realize I hadn’t been the whole time.

“Gasp!! …… Haaaa ……… Haaaa ……!!”

I give my burning lungs the oxygen they crave.

Looking up from the board, I stare at the ceiling.

“Haaa …… Haaa …… Haaa …………… Whew–––––– ……”

And then take several deep breaths.

The dry heaves have stopped.

I can tell the Meijin knows something is up from across the board.

Those low groans he’s been making the whole match have turned into long sighs.

But they’re different from the frustrated ones he makes when his opponent messes up. These sound more like he’s venting anger at himself.

As soon as I heard that, a part of me was sure that I’d won. 

––– ………… Kind of ironic …… 

When I went to check the TV broadcasts after the match was over, I found out that the Meijin spent a total of one minute and forty-seven seconds on that drink of water.

One minute forty-seven.

That’s–––how long it takes my brain to reach top speed.

This battle has gone on for three days, nearly 30 hours in total, but it was that one minute and forty-seven seconds that decided the winner …… 

What if he hadn’t taken that drink?

If he hadn’t used up the last bit of his waiting time to make absolutely sure what he was reading was right, I would’ve given up as soon as he made his next move. It sounds strange, yes, but I just know.

But … the Meijin drank.

He sat back to think, being thorough to the very end, being the cobra crafty enough not to rush the killing blow. He did so because that’s who he is.

Pursuing victory, cautiously advancing step-by-step toward the win …… That’s where I found my chance.

And I took advantage of it.

Took exactly what I wanted: time.

That, and–––.

“Thirty seconds––– ……”

The match recorder announces now that the Meijin has used all his waiting time and is now playing one-minute Shogi.

He hasn’t given up, his eyes racing around the board looking for a glimmer of hope–––.

“Forty seconds––– ……”

Another long sigh.

Leaning all the way over the board, the Meijin slowly starts sitting up.

“Fifty seconds––– ……, One, two, three, four, five–––.”

The Meijin picks up his cup one more time and drinks the last of his water.

But, this one wasn’t to double-check his sequence like last time. There was a different reason.

So that he could say the words to end it.

Moistening his throat so his voice wouldn’t crack–––.

Then, he says it.

Words I’ve never heard him say before.

“I lost.”

In that moment, the fourth match of the 30th season Ryuo Title Match came to a close.

Including the Repetition Draw match, it lasted a total of twenty-nine hours and forty-seven minutes.

The victor: Kuzuryu-Ryuo.

I … won.