Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 6 - Chapter 3.6

  GINKO’S MORNING

“………… Blinding.”

The morning sun makes me squint after leaving the building.

Pulling my hat down as far as it would go, I get away from it as quickly as possible.

The hotel district looks completely different in sunlight than it does after dark. I follow the riverside path and taste the words still stuck in my mouth one more time.

“Stupid Yaichi ……”

Last night was the first time in years we slept in the same bed.

I was anxious at first, but memories of the old days coming back put me into a deep sleep. Maybe I was just too tired of crying. How embarrassing …… 

“………… Stupid ……”

Hindsight is 20/20, but now I realize how boneheaded what I just did truly was. It’s not only extremely embarrassing, but infuriating.

And at the same time …… That idiot’s stupidity is beyond annoying. Stupid.

Honestly, I don’t think his moronic suggestion to play Ranging Rook is possible. A sword fresh out of the forge won’t win a single battle in the Sub League. That place is too unforgiving.

My Shogi is designed to overpower, a far cry from the worldliness playing Ranging Rook requires …… 

“…… Which wouldn’t matter if I had talent.”

Those two grade school girls Yaichi is raising at his side with the utmost care: Ai Hinatsuru and Ai Yashajin. Both are prodigies who can play Static Rook and Ranging Rook without even trying. One has eleven mental Shogi boards at her beck and call, the other is a ten-year-old whose early game creativity knows no bounds.

Seeing those young prodigies day in and day out must be why Yaichi made that suggestion in the first place.

Being a prodigy on another level himself, he tells me to do something I couldn’t possibly do.

But I just can’t. I’m not a Shogi Martian.

If there is anyone who can pull that off in the Sub League right now, it’s–––.

“……!!”

A cold breeze blows by as a cold chill runs through my whole body. I shiver and stay rooted to the spot.

–––The next person I’ll probably have to face in the Sub League is …… that boy.

My old self would’ve frozen with fear and anxiousness, so much so my legs wouldn’t move. But now.

“The rope never lets up …… Not without turning pro.”

This morning, I could press forward because that voice is still in my ears.

Looking off into the January sunlight, I take another step.