Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 6 - Chapter 4.4

  TACHIMORI

“Why do I have to take my clothes off as well?!”

A still fully clothed Ai Yashajin yells at Ai and I as we disrobe without complaining.

“You won’t get to see the Tachimori Ceremony if you don’t strip down to your underwear, so what choice is there?”

“Then I don’t need to see it! I can go home by myself, thank you very much!”

“This could be your chance to learn the secret to Shumai-sensei’s success.”

“……!”

She falls silent, bites her lip and begrudgingly starts unbuttoning her shirt. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to get stronger, I can see it in her eyes. Just like Big Sis.

On the other hand, Ai Hinatsuru is perfectly fine walking around the apartment in the buff after a bath, so being in underwear is no big deal for her.

And, since I don’t have a Lolita complex, I don’t feel like a lucky pervert seeing grade school kids in their underwear or have any reaction to it at all. Seriously!

“Master. What’s it like, making lines with a katana?”

“I got to see Shumai-sensei’s father do it once back when I was a little kid. He held the blade straight out in front of him and did more of a push than a slice …… But it was extremely impressive. For sure.”

“…… If this turns out to be boring, that katana will be slicing you.”

Dressed in only our skivvies, the three of us dust, sweep and vacuum the wooden floors in Shumai-sensei’s workspace before wiping everything down with damp cloths.

Then, we put a half-size tatami mat right in the middle of the still-glistening floorboards.

Just when the Shogi board was set on top of the mat–––Shumai-sensei slowly opened the sliding door.

“…… I’m ready.”

The banshi standing there with an unsheathed katana at her side, Uzu Tentsuji, had taken Ai Yashajin’s advice to wear a swimsuit rather than work naked. The dark blue skintight swimwear made of nylon squeezes her curvy body like a glove. There’s something nostalgic about the design.

It’s a school swimsuit.

“Shumai-sensei …… That’s … a bit much ……”

No matter how beautiful and ladylike Shumai-sensei is when she isn’t drunk, seeing a woman in her twenties wearing a school swimsuit can’t be good for my apprentices. She’s a role model for them, and I wish she’d take that into consideration.

“…… This is all I have.”

Well, she does look a bit embarrassed. Being sober wearing a school swimsuit and carrying a katana, I don’t blame her …… 

“As I mentioned before, even the slightest bit of dust can ruin tachimori. Therefore, you will remain completely still for the duration and I ask you to refrain from coughing or sneezing until the ceremony is over. Raise dust …… and I’ll strike you down where you sit!”

“……!!”

The three of us are sitting on the floorboards in our underwear without any cushions, melting in the face of her menacing glare but afraid to move a muscle. A single hair or piece of dust falling will be our doom.

“The lacquer’s condition is pivotal to tachimori.”

Shumai-sensei takes out a can of lacquer and starts mixing it with a brush.

“Lacquer’s consistency changes moment by moment. Those inconsistencies will always appear in the lines. Should the last line cut be fainter than the first, the entire board’s balance will be thrown into chaos and disrupt the players’ concentration ……”

Carefully reading the lacquer, she assimilates with it.

What Shumai-sensei says is the heart of tachimori. Deep …… 

“If I may ask, Sensei. What is that mixing brush made from? I can’t tell if it’s because it’s stained the same color as the lacquer, but it looks like human hair ……”

“It is human hair,” she says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

Say what?!

“Young girls’ hair is the best material for lacquer brushes …… Actually, Miss Hinatsuru and Miss Yashajin, both of you have perfect hair for making brushes.”

“……!”

My apprentices tremble in fear and nearly shake their heads back and forth to say no, but both of them remember not to raise dust and stop themselves. Good girls.

Shumai-sensei applies the lacquer to her katana blade, but she must be nervous because her hands are shaking ever so slightly.

“Now it’s a fight against time. At most, I have twelve minutes to finish cutting each line. Any more than fifteen and I will have failed.”

That’s all the time she’s got ……?!

“It’s the same for hitting stones. Your first impression will show you the best move. Spending untold amounts of time thinking will just muddy your thoughts and the best move will be lost in the clutter. Remember that well.”

The trees used to make boards require hundreds of years to grow.

Drying takes a few more years. Shaping the board lasts months.

Then, after half a year of use, it’s finally fit to become a board.

But this is the very last step. Turning this square piece of wood into “board” only takes around ten minutes.

It’s hard to comprehend how long it took to reach this moment, but success or failure all comes down to this.

It’s strikingly similar to how an incomprehensible amount of time went into preparing to make a single move that decides a match of Go or Shogi.

“…… I used hon kaya that spent nearly five hundred years growing in Miyazaki Prefecture to make this board. Furthermore, it’s tenchimasa. There won’t be another one like it for one hundred years. Of course, that’s a great deal of pressure ……”

Hon kaya–raised Miyazaki is hands down the best material for boards.

Tenchimasa, literally heaven and earth lines, means that the wood grain on the top and bottom of the board are perfectly lined up.

Wood is judged by the grain, and vertical grain is perfect for boards.

Kaya’s elasticity makes it easy on the fingers and the grain makes it easy on the eyes.

That’s why it’s possible to play Shogi on a board like that forever.

Which, in turn, is why kaya is the best material.

It’s the one and only board that can keep up with passionate Shogi players who never want to stop playing.

“Days leading up to work like this make the bottom of a bottle look so enticing ……”

Mocking herself, Shumai-sensei smirks as she sets her feet and raises the katana. Her grip is rock solid.

Her face shows no fear, that grin hasn’t budged–––.

“There it comes.”

Something seems to have taken hold of Shumai-sensei, or perhaps taken over her.

I whisper to my apprentices sitting beside me, “Watch closely and don’t blink. This is the moment a god comes down to earth–––through one of their chosen players.”

“……!!”

The Ais swallow hard.

Shumai-sensei’s hands move.

The lacquer-covered blade moves across the board, using its curvature to cut lines across its surface.

Easily. Simply. The process repeats again and again.

Twenty lines were made.

Not even ten minutes went by.

And in those ten minutes …… that piece of kaya became home to a Shogi god.