Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 6 - Chapter SS

REVIEW SESSION

“Whoa?! What the …… Kuzu, Machi! What’s up with this?!”

“Ah, Ryou, a good day to you.”

Women’s King Ryou Tsukiyomizaka steps into the Kansai Association’s Player’s Room on the third floor for the first time in a while and gasps at the sight.

“Wha …… Huh? How’d everything get so pretty ……?”

“Little Miss Ai cleaned the whole room from top to bottom,” says Machi Kugui as she rubs her cheek against the clean and sparkling tabletop.

But, it’s not just the tables.

The heavily worn and scratched up Shogi boards on top of them look good as new.

“I’ll be taking charge of the Player’s Room from now on!” Ai declared before spending the whole weekend cleaning every nook and cranny in here.

First, she used one of those foreign cleaning agents they sell on late-night infomercials to clean off the grime that’s been building up in here for decades with one clean swipe. Then, she had Shumai-sensei go to work on the boards and brought some of the flowers we’ve got growing on the apartment balcony over here to freshen up the atmosphere.

This plain and simple room that has absorbed the blood and tears of Kansai Shogi players for generations has been reborn and now looks pretty much the same as one of the fancy pancake restaurants in Umeda!

“It’s so nice in here I just might stay for the duration. As long as Little Miss Ai’s the one in charge of upkeep, this’ll never change.”

“Very true. Playing Shogi in a nice place like this would be a real shame. That’s why we’re relaxing with some tea.”

“Uh-huh …… Didn’t you come here to do something else?”

The room is so neat and orderly that the tomboyish Ryou must feel like a fish out of water. She’s the type of person who would build a hideout in the middle of ruins.

“This is the Player’s Room, ain’t it? It’s for playing Shogi. But here you guys are getting your priorities mixed up …… Aw-hh, look, just look at that. All the books of Shogi puzzles on the shelf have been replaced with cooking magazines. How to Make Croissants …… Ridiculous. What the heck’s going on in Kansai?”

“All of them Little Miss Ai’s doing. Such a good girl she is.”

“Ai …… Wait? Isn’t she your grade school apprentice, Kuzu?”

“That’s right. You played against her in the Mynavi Finals, my apprentice Ai Hinatsuru.”

As is the Master’s job, I say hello to one of the more experienced Women’s League players for my apprentice.

“Seems you were very strict with her. Thank you.”

“Mm …… I might have been a bit too harsh, though. Part of me wasn’t happy about having to play against a little girl, so yeah, my bad ……”

Ryou looks away like she’s ashamed of herself. Apparently, she’s aware of the fact that she picks on the weak ones.

“But yeah, that runt did all this by herself? All of this cleaning ……?”

“My apprentice is a Master when it comes to housework.”

“Feminine know-how at its best,” says Machi as she elegantly sips tea from her cup.

Ai even chose the tea brand as well as the kettle and cups.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, I get the conversation going again.

“Plenty of other women have used this room in the past, too.”

“Miss Ginko’s one track mind is dedicated to Shogi, so there’s no helping her lack of feminine know-how.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Ginko doesn’t know the first thing about being a lady.”

“…………”

Two Women’s Title holders completely ignore their own quirks to bash my older sister apprentice. They’re competitors, that’s for sure.

“Well …… The Player’s Room is going to start filling up really quick with the Placement Matches about to hit their peak. It’ll be back to how it used to look in no time.”

“This is the longest day of the Shogi calendar after all.”

“That’s the thing about this time of year …… You’ve got joy and sorrow on two sides of the same coin, which makes coming to the association a real drag ……”

The air inside this room filled with feminine know-how suddenly feels a lot heavier.

The Placement Matches are actually the Shogi world’s largest official league tournament where every pro battles for a chance to challenge the Meijin.

But at the core, it establishes the hierarchy in the Shogi world.

Only one person can challenge the Meijin. In other words, the one who takes the top spot in the Placement Matches claims that right.

Every player who had a hand in deciding the one to face the Meijin is assigned a rank based on their results and their Shogi skills are given a number … Apart from the winner, anyway.

No matter how good a player’s resume, they’ll get demoted if they lose. That lower rank puts a spotlight on them as their strength declines, bright enough for the whole world to see.

Demoted players’ records get marked with demotion points. They’ll be forced into retirement if they get hit with too many of those points.

Those grueling days are about to begin.

“And? What about you, Kuzu?”

“What about me? Oh, my Placement Matches? I’m undefeated right now, thank you–––.”

“I ain’t asking about that. Don’t play dumb. I’ve heard the news. So, you’re engaged to a little girl?”

“Th-That’s not true! I got caught in a trap set by the chairman and a viciously aggressive inn manager!!”

“Seems like lots of little girls are getting caught in that trap to me. Lucky Loli-con bastard.”

“Watch your mouth?! You call yourself a lady?!”

You’re a Women’s Title holder, have some pride!!

“That’s not all there is to the story. I have a reliable source that says the Ryuo here was spotted holding hands with Miss Ginko and walking down the streets of Sakuranomiya–––.”

“No shit?! That’s where all the love hotels are, right?!!”

“I-I-It’s not what it sounds like! We …… were having a secret practice session! The truth is that Mr. Oishi asked us to work with him in Kyoubashi, and someone saw us! B-But it was supposed to be a secret, so we couldn’t tell anyone–––.”

“Daaaamn. I guess being Ryuo means you get lots of choices.”

“Ryuo, openly engaged to the elementary school girl living alongside him. However, unable to forget the flavor of the junior high school girl he once shared a roof with, he indulges in both …… Sounds perfect for a lovey-dovey afternoon soap opera.”

“What is it with guys and young girls, huh? Ginko may be flat as a board, sure, but how could some elementary school kid be better?”

“Youth is on her side, but so is the feminine know-how. The hard-working types get claimed early on.”

“So then, a girl that’ll grant your every wish is the best, eh? You really are trash, Kuzu.”

“How many times do I have to tell you it isn’t like that?! Are you listening?!!”

I scream at the girls going off on their own tangent. Give me a break!!

“I don’t know anything about this feminine know-how, but let me tell you something! Men don’t care about that stuff! How can we consider that if we aren’t even looking!”

“Okay, where are men looking?”

“BOOBS, OKAY! JUST BOOBS!!”

I scream from the soul, shaking the Kansai Shogi Association building at the same time.

My voice was so loud …… Two people who absolutely could not be allowed to hear me heard me …… 

The Player’s Room door slides open right behind me. Then, voices I know very well–––.

“Master? We need to talk, so please sit down on the floor.”

“Tsukiyomizaka-sensei. Kugui-sensei. Would you please step outside for a moment? …… I don’t want any blood to splatter on your clothes.”

“Go right ahead.”

“Agh! Ryou, Machi! Don’t act like you’re innocent here?! You’re the one who said Big Sis isn’t ladylike, has a flat chest and is barely better than a grade schooler! Wait, stop right there! S …… Stop! Please, no don’t leave meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Ah! Stop! Agh …… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh–––!!”

That spick-and-span Player’s Room got a bit dirtier that day.

With my …… freshly shed blood and tears ……