Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 7 - Chapter 2.5

  THE MAESTRO

“Heh …… Family sessions, eh? Sounds like Mr. Kiyotaki can’t just admit it.”

Hearing what Big Sis and I had to say when we came by the Gokigen bathhouse for a practice session, King Mitsuru Oishi flashes a skeptical grin.

“It’s because he used to be a lone wolf like me. But, yeah, his generation was a lot more hard-nosed when it came to doing practice sessions and I bet he can’t exactly bow down to his apprentice and say, teach me after all this time, either.”

“The whole family practicing together …… How wonderful …………”

The voice came from Mr. Oishi’s daughter, Asuka.

She’s not exactly a member of this practice group, but she’s always close by and quietly listening to whatever we’re talking about.

She’s unassuming but passionate, a great cook, and her massive boobs are …… cute, so I’m happy having her around. Big Sis doesn’t seem to like her much, though.

Drinking some of the hot milk Asuka prepared for us, I ask, “Mr. Oishi, you’re Ootsuchi 9-dan’s apprentice, right? Do you ever do family sessions?”

“My Master’s too busy snoozing all day for that. The guy doesn’t even show up at association events, so practice sessions or taking on new apprentices certainly isn’t going to happen.”

“Isn’t Ootsuchi-sensei Zaou-sensei’s ……?”

“His younger brother apprentice, yes.”

Hearing that, it’s a full-blown miracle that Zaou-sensei is still playing in the pros right now.

Daijirou The Hammer Ootsuchi used to be one of the stars of the Ranging Rook party.

He got that nickname by using his worldly senses to slam Rooks and Bishops into his opponent’s defenses like hammer blows. A popular player in Kansai, he never claimed a title but spent many years competing in the A rank.

Although he retired pretty much the day he dropped out of A, he devoted his time to training the next generation …… But Mr. Oishi is the only one of his apprentices who turned pro.

Since Mr. Oishi hasn’t taken any apprentices of his own, the Ootsuchi family tree is just the two of them.

“Then, you’ll have to work hard to revive the family tree with Asuka.”

“Y-you’re right ……! I’ll do my best ……!”

Asuka clenches her fists together with a determined look in her eyes.

But Mr. Oishi shoots her down on the spot.

“Oi, Asuka. I don’t remember taking you as my apprentice.”

“……………………”

Asuka puffs up her reddening cheeks with a defiant “Ngh!” which is pretty unusual for her and says, “…… Okay, I’ll ……… I’ll take Yaichi as my Master ……!!”

“Say what?! M-me?!”

Me, thrown for a loop by a new prospective apprentice. Mr. Oishi, fuming.

“I won’t allow it! You hear me, Asuka?!! I will never, ever allow you to apprentice to this teenage brat so high on hormones he’ll put the moves on any girl he sees, no matter how young! What if you get a bun in the oven at your age?! What then, huh?!”

“Hold up?! How would becoming my apprentice get her pregnant?!”

Offended by the accusation, I angrily state my case to the Maestro.

“I’ll have you know both my apprentices have joined the Women’s League and neither of them are pregnant!!”

“Of course not! Because you only go after the ones who are too young to get knocked up!!”

“You’ve got it all wrong! You think the rumors are true, don’t you?! Well, they’re not!! Come on, Big Sis, say something, would you?!”

“Stay away if you don’t want to get pregnant. Even I’ve gotten dragged to a shady hotel after one of these practice sessions before.”

“Why the f’in hell would you bring that up now?! Besides, you’re the one that–––.”

Pow!

Big Sis’s knuckles connect with my jaw, an epic right cross.

“Watch your language, younger brother apprentice.”

“S-Sorry ……… Please forgive me with a cherry on top ……”

It hurts so bad I’m pleading in ways I don’t even understand. I’m bleeding, aren’t I?

“Take a good look, Asuka. No matter how good at Shogi he is, becoming this pathetically horny excuse for a boy’s apprentice is as good as taking a knife to your future. Have some self-respect, for goodness sake!”

“D …… Daddy, you …… knucklehead ……!!” Asuka screams at him before running out of the classroom.

I guess being called a knucklehead by his daughter must have hurt because Mr. Oishi rubs his temple and lets out a long, painful sigh.

“Haaaa ………… Having girls that age is a never-ending headache.”

“I get that impression ……”

I scowl, gingerly running my fingers across the throbbing red spot on my cheek. Mine’s more physical, but ouch!

Big Sis glares at me but ignores what I said and turns to talk to Mr. Oishi.

“More importantly, Sensei. Shall we analyze the King Title Match?”

“Speaking of headaches.” His frown grows deeper as he says, “I lost matches one and two already. Goki Central, my ace strategy being under lockdown right now sure isn’t helping …… Have you noticed how far my rating plunged this month?”

Simply put, rating is strength. The higher the number, the stronger.

There are many ways to calculate it, but the Win-Loss record is used for the pros.

As of right now, the Meijin has the best rating at 2,014.

Crown Yo Okito is next with 1,925. Ayumu comes after him at 1,899. I’m a little lower than that with 1,881. My rating has jumped up quite a bit thanks to my 12-match winning streak.

Mr. Oishi’s rating has taken a dive because of his recent losses: down to 1,801.

That’s over a hundred points below the Crown. He has, maybe, a 32 percent chance of winning.

“Top players have a hard time improving their rating because they always get matched up against other top players. You can’t judge based on those numbers alone,” I say to Mr. Oishi to try and cheer him up. He almost never beats himself up like this, too.

Ayumu’s rating is only that high because he keeps winning against players that are comparatively weaker than him. He’s raking in the victory stars right now because he’s still in B-2, but there’s no telling what’ll happen once he promotes to A. Then again, the same could be said for me … but still.

Considering that’s how Ayumu got there, it’s truly amazing that the Meijin and Mr. Okito can keep their rating so high despite always playing against the best of the best.

But I beat that Meijin four times in a row, so rating is just a relative number.

If the rating is double, then it’s a different story, though.

“Just out of curiosity, what’s software rating these days?”

“While I don’t know the exact number ……”

I hesitate, I’m not sure if I should tell him or not.

“…… The latest programs are estimated to be between 3,000 and 4,000.”

“So that’s how it is. People can’t compete with it anymore.”

The Worldly Maestro gives a dry laugh before saying, “Suppose I’ll see what Software-sensei can teach me. Clean up my weak spots.”