Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 7 - Chapter 5.3

  LOW PAWN

“Low Pawn?!”

Everyone is staring at the monitor in disbelief.

Master Kiyotaki slammed that piece down hard enough to plow through the board and he’s grinding that Pawn into it right behind the Gold–––making his formation harder than solid stone.

Stunned, Big Sis whispers, “Why now, in that situation ……?”

“He’s playing to mate,” I answer without missing a beat and slam a Pawn down on the analysis board just as hard as Master did.

“That’s the message he’s sending to Ayumu by playing a Low Pawn. A tie ain’t good enough. I’m goin’ for yar King! Or something like that.”

“Checkmate …… against Kannabe-sensei?” The words I don’t get it are written all over Big Sis’s face as she adds, “He, an old man from Kansai in danger of getting demoted …… beating one of Kanto’s best rising stars who has never once lost a Placement Match since becoming a pro?”

“Yes. Master is going for checkmate,” I declare.

Sota speaks up, making his argument while sifting through software ratings on his smartphone.

“He should meet the attack! Sure, he can ride it out, but the offense is still more than a distinct advantage. He’d win if only he would attack head on. So why would he just defend ……? Just what is Kannabe-sensei thinking?!”

“Sota. You still don’t know the first thing about Shogi, do you?”

“Huh?”

“Ayumu isn’t defending because he wants to. He’s defending because Master is making him defend. With pressure.”

“Like a spiritual aura ……? I don’t believe in any of that voodoo stuff–––.”

“You really don’t get it? That’s why I’m stronger than you.”

“♡♡♡!!”

Sota turns bright red and stops talking altogether. Getting put in his place must’ve hurt.

Until yesterday, I would’ve agreed with him.

But, after Zaou-sensei cracked me wide open …… And now, watching Master’s Shogi, I feel like I’m getting a grasp of something important.

I only just noticed, but there are more people jammed into the Player’s Room right now than it can hold.

Sub League members who go to the Kiyotaki Classroom are right in the thick of it, but Practice League members and even former Sub League members dominating the amateur Shogi scene are here. Mr. Oishi and Asuka are in the crowd, too.

Everyone’s rooting for Master.

They were probably tracking the match on the blog but couldn’t sit still any longer and came to the association.

“Someone, please! Are there any players or Sub League members willing to lend a hand?! The classroom is so full of guests looking for commentary, the place could blow ……!”

Mr. Mine rushes up to the room, sending out an SOS.

“Sounds like people are here from all over Osaka.”

“Not quite.”

Mr. Mine puts on a serious face and answers.

“People from all over Japan are here. Could you turn away someone from a small island whose only mode of transportation to get here was a ship … just because we’re full?”

“Alrighty. I’ll pitch in,” says Mr. Oishi as he leaves the room and heads toward the classroom downstairs. Talk about customer service. Asuka is so absorbed in the match on the monitor that she didn’t notice her father get up.

“…… Now I remember,” Big Sis quietly whispers. “Back when we first joined the Sub League, Master went around to every single Sub League member, not just the Senseis in charge, handing out candy and saying Look after my apprentices, didn’t he ……?”

“That he did ……”

I hated it at the time because it was so embarrassing, but …… it was reassuring to have Master’s love and support at our backs since we were living away from our parents.

He’s kinder than anyone.

Grittier than anyone. Stronger than anyone. More intense than anyone. That’s Kousuke Kiyotaki, our Master.

An intense vibe has overtaken the Kansai Shogi Association.

Master seems to be feeding off that intensity as he drives Ayumu back further and further with each move.

“…… This is only a theory, but I believe Kannabe 6-dan can’t go on the attack because of how easily he took Kiyotaki-sensei’s Bishop in the first place,” says Mr. Kagamizu as he looks over the match record up to this point.

“Having a Bishop advantage for so long affected Kannabe 6-dan’s mindset …… So long as he continues to think he has the advantage, it’s only natural to avoid a direct confrontation and go for a safer victory. This is a very important match, after all.”

165th move–––9 One Dragon.

“The rating is 400. Offensive advantage. The software recommends   3 Four Pawn.”

167th move–––5 Five Knight.

“Rating changed to 350. The software still says   3 Four Pawn would be the best move.”

Attack, and the software says Ayumu would win.

But he continues to resist by opening an escape route for his King rather than going for a decisive battle.

Then–––.

“The rating is down to 1! No, they’re equal!!”

169th move. Now, at 1 o’clock in the morning, the playing field is even once again.

“How many nodes?!”

“200 million …… I don’t believe it!”

Sota keeps saying, “No way” like a broken record after Mr. Kagamizu double checked the software’s accuracy. The Player’s Room, which looked like it had hosted an all-nighter not that long ago, has turned into a late-night hotspot. The air in here is intense enough to boil over.

Both players are doing one-minute Shogi.

“…… How’s this Shogi going to turn out ……?”

Sota busily glances back and forth between the monitor and the software ratings, his eyes wide open as he whispers under his breath.

Master’s minor pieces work together as a cohesive unit, desperately trying to contain Ayumu’s Dragon and Horse (Promoted Rook and Promoted Bishop, respectively) while pushing his entire yagura castle back into enemy territory at the same time.

Pawns, Knights, Lances and Silvers …… It’s like they’re all in sync, calling out to each other to herd the enemy pieces into one spot.

It’s like all the geezers in the village have banded together to knock a meteorite back up into space. What a gritty spectacle. It feels like I’m watching one of those Hollywood movies where all the minor characters die off in the coolest way possible.

There’s only one way movies like that end.

“It’ll happen. A miracle is going to happen.”

Ayumu reaches over the board to make the 185th move just as those words roll off my tongue.

Software ratings are jumping all over the place.

Once they settle–––minus 600. Defender’s advantage!

“WHHOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Cheers shake the air.

Not just in the Player’s Room. The whole association building is shaking up a storm.

Big Sis’s voice quivers like she can’t believe what she just saw when the software confirmed the miracle.

“Could he really …… win? Can Master actually ……?”

What’s happened so far is more than enough to be called a miracle.

Everyone who saw it with their own eyes started believing that the defender seriously does have a shot. The miracle is coming true ……!!

That’s when it happened.

“Tokyo’s results are in!” screams Ms. Mato after she checked through all the match records several times while simultaneously updating the match blog. “All Kanto’s matches are complete! The player in third held out as long as he could but surrendered!”

Which means–––.

“Kannabe-sensei promotes!! Kiyotaki-sensei has been demoted!!!!”

Clatter …… 

The piece I had in my hand falls to the floor.

“It ……… can’t …… be ………………”

All the energy in here gets sucked out all at once.

The miracle that’s about to happen lost all meaning in the blink of an eye.

Master is on the monitor, rolling up his sleeves and smacking his head with his fan to psych himself up.

Ayumu, his cape on the floor behind him, keeps wiping sweat off his brow as he reads the board and rocks back and forth like a tree in a typhoon.

Except this fierce brawl doesn’t have a point anymore.

“…… Placement Matches are like this.”

I can hear the sadness in Mr. Kagamizu’s voice.

For someone who’s wrestled with rankings in the 3-dan division as much as Mr. Kagamizu has, that pain is an all too harsh reality. Pain that has to be accepted.

Big Sis, who has yet to experience that pain firsthand, says blankly, “Then ……… Why are they fighting at all ……?”

No one could answer her. No one in the room, that is.

–––The results were final, Kiyotaki 9-dan was demoted.

News spread through Internet blogs like wildfire.

Ai Hinatsuru’s tablet slipped through her fingers the moment she saw it appear in the comments section.

Keika, who still stood with her back to the girl in the kitchen, spun around in surprise.

“Ai? What’s wrong?”

“Uh? Uh-umm …… Nothing, really–––.”

“…… Father’s match is over, isn’t it?”

“N-no, it’s not. Grandpa-sensei is still fighting really hard! The match isn’t over yet!”

“……… I see …… He got demoted ………… Father dropped ………………”

Keika connected the dots in an instant.

Ai could only tremble where she stood.

“K-Keika …… I’m …… s-sorry …… I …… I ……!”

Remembering what happened last night after telling Yaichi his results too soon, the young girl’s eyes were awash with tears in mere moments.

“It’s all right …… This isn’t your fault, Ai ……… It’s no one’s fault ……”

Keika slowly collapsed to the floor, her voice listless.

“…… I was prepared for this …… There was nothing he could do once it was out of his hands ………… That’s the way the Placement Matches are …………”

But it’s too cruel, she bemoaned, silently cursing the people who built the system.

Her father was still whittling his life away, fighting with all his heart at this very moment.

And, even if he defeated Ayumu Kannabe by some miracle …… That joy would be stunted by the news waiting for him at the end.

What could be more painful than that?

“……… Tell me, Ai. What …… what am I supposed to say when he gets home?”

“…………”

Ai looked down at Keika cowering on the floor and answered with enough determination to drive back her own tears.

“Let’s go. Keika.”

“……… Ai ……?”

“You’ll surely regret it if you don’t. So, let’s go to the association.”

“B-But …… W-what would we do even if we went? Father has already been demoted–––.”

“Grandpa-sensei is fighting with all his heart!” Ai shouted. “You said it yourself, Keika. You said that it hurts soooooo much more for him to play Shogi than it does for Master and I, right? Then, why do you think he’s trying so hard?! Why do you think he puts up with so much pain?!”

“Why …… he ……?”

“It’s obvious! Because he wants you to see!!”

“……!!”

“Just like you’ve watched Grandpa-sensei closer than anyone else …… No! Grandpa-sensei has watched you even closer!! He knows you’re trying harder than anybody else, so he knows that you want him to succeed more than anyone else …… That’s why he’ll never give up! Grandpa-sensei won’t give up!!”

Keika’s eyes shook as if offering a glimpse into her shaking heart.

Those eyes met Ai’s gaze head on as the young girl said once more, “Let’s go! Keika!”

Ai tugged at her arm with surprising strength for one so small, determined to pull the woman all the way to the association if she had to and convinced her to start walking.

“Of all the people in the world, the one person Grandpa-sensei wants to watch this match is you, Keika!!”

Locked in a one-minute Shogi duel, Kousuke vigorously fanned himself with his paper fan spread as wide as it would go.

“Burnin’ up ……”

His sweat-soaked kimono weighed him down like sheets of lead. Collar pulled open in the front, Kousuke directed as much air as possible toward his chest.

Dead of night in late February.

Temperatures outside hovered around zero Celsius.

However, the two players in the arena had sweat rolling down their faces.

Ayumu Kannabe had long since discarded his cape.

Perfectly set hair had become a mess.

Gallant faces twisted in pain.

Words were absentmindedly mumbled between shallow breaths.

“Burnin’ up ……”

While the formations had shifted into Kousuke’s favor, Ayumu was now attempting to nyugyoku. His hesitation was a thing of the past.

The match recorder’s cheeks had taken on a red hue, tears building in his eyes.

“I want to play exactly like this.”

For this was the first day in his life that not being among the professional ranks made his heart ache. It was also the first time another player’s match had brought him to tears.

Kousuke Kiyotaki and Ayumu Kannabe’s Shogi was just that magnificent.

A simple game was taking hold of the hearts of all who witnessed it, even altering the paths their lives would take.

“So hot ……”

Their fate had already been decided.

The only ones who were still unaware were the players themselves.

However, that fact only served to make this Shogi even more precious. After all, the combatants believed that the only way to control their destiny was to win this match.

Kousuke advanced.

Ayumu evaded.

Their exhausted brains were running on mere fumes and unable to function as they normally would.

Despite that, their instincts as players allowed them to continue fighting.

Kousuke’s Shogi, strong as tempered iron.

Ayumu’s Shogi, keen as a silver saber.

The two clashed as formations shifted and opened little by little …… And today, the one who possessed more desire, more courage was–––

“Kaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Kousuke sliced down the Horse and Bishop and set up to make his final assault.

“Ghh ……!!”

Ayumu’s King, which had advanced to the fifth row on the 135th move and remained stationary ever since, retreated to the sixth row on the 215th move.

A total of 80 moves.

More than four hours had passed in real time.

Kousuke had committed the same amount of moves and time it would take to complete a separate match with limited waiting time to forcing Ayumu’s King back and succeeded.

Only one row.

Just one row.

Almost as if wanting to hear himself say it, Kousuke repeated the Shogi proverb that he had followed since he first started playing the game.

“Cut off the King’s escape!”

It was the most basic of the basics.

That was the moment the Offensive King became cornered.