Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 8 - Chapter 4.1

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(MATCH JOURNAL)

I knew the match was as good as over the moment 8 Three Knight was played on the 125th move.

However, I did not hold out by playing 5 One Pawn and 6 One Gold with hopes of my opponent making a mistake.

This may sound like nothing more than an excuse, but …… That wasn’t my intent.

Even before the series began, I made up my mind to play to the point when a checkmate was obvious, even if I was going to lose, so it would be easy for the audience to understand.

Escalating like the match did, that intention disappeared altogether.

I simply didn’t want the match to end.

To be blunt, continuing to play Shogi with the knowledge you are going to lose is painful.

The moment it happens is also painful.

However, in the middle of all that pain, there’s …… and I’m not sure if this is the best way to put it, a light that shines through.

Strength is all that matters in the Shogi world.

I’ve written that in a match journal just like this one before.

My opinion has not changed at all.

Maintain isolation, like Ginko Sora, and simply aim to be the best.

I wholeheartedly believe this is the right path to take and I’ve always admired those who walk it.

That’s why I entered the Sub League, to chase after the strongest one I know. Because I thought that was right. Because no one gets stronger by only playing against Women’s League players and because living life that way wouldn’t mean anything. Because I believe that people can become strong as long as they have an enemy to defeat.

The person I was back then was right.

After being forced out of the Sub League and returning to the Women’s League ranks, I had changed.

I could relate to fellow Women’s League players, and even felt camaraderie with them. I respected my opponent during matches.

Those naïve emotions may have robbed me of strength in terms of wins and losses. Should anyone make that claim, it would be difficult for me to say otherwise. After all, I lost like I just did.

But, I do have a thought.

While there is only one goal, I believe that an infinite number of ways exist to reach it.

Once I got ousted from the Sub League, losing both my dreams and my confidence at the same time, the ones who accepted me as their own were the very people I used to look down on: Women’s League players.

There was one in particular, my opponent in this title match, who not only invited me to practice groups and played versus matches against me but also wedged her way into my personal life as well. Sometimes a bit too much (haha).

She helped me integrate into Women’s Shogi. I was never good at interacting with other people, but she took me from place to place anyway.

I wasn’t alone anymore.

She and I could grow strong together. I was determined to make it happen.

The unfortunate part was that results are the only way to get recognized in this world and my personal resolve and passion for the sport will eventually get buried in Shogi history.

I feel like it’s a waste whenever I think about it, and it hurts.

I’m certain that Machi Kugui feels much the same way, which is why she found a different way to make her mark on history and became a Shogi journalist.

I, on the other hand, don’t possess that talent.

Even getting what’s in my heart down on paper for this journal is taking forever. Every letter I line up on the sheet makes me feel like I’m drifting farther and farther away from how I really feel and it’s irritating.

I think that Shogi is all I have.

In that case, I should open my heart on the board.

Not be afraid to lose and certainly not be afraid of rejection.

My first ever rival and (arrogant as it sounds) the professional player I’m chasing once had this to say: It’s not a loss if your heart hasn’t broken.

True to his word, no matter how many times he lost or what the rest of the world had to say about him, he never gave up.

I think that’s why I’m trying to be so strong. I will be strong.

I want to be strong enough to never lose sight of what I have to do no matter what the fans at some Shogi event yell at me.

Just like how I used anaguma in this match, I want the strength to show off my research and play my way no matter who sits across the board from me.

As I’ve written before, Shogi fans have given me a rather generous nickname.

The aggressive part of Aggressive Archangel has to come from the ability to press forward and attack without fear.

As for the angel part, that’s a being that’s been given a mission by a higher power and was dispatched to this world to carry it out.

Which means–––.

Pressing forward, forward, forward is my mission as a Women’s League player. At least, I think so.