Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 9 - Chapter 5.7

  THE LITTLE PRINCE

“…… Finishing on the 154th move with Ai’s surrender.”

I finish recounting Ai’s match record in front of the gravestone that marks where her parents were laid to rest.

The usual routine after her matches.

Now comes the part where I would always tell them what was bothering me and sometimes ask them to help me find the answer.

But today is different.

“That Shogi was truly impressive. Strong, yes, but it was Shogi that only Ai could play,” I say with conviction.

She lost, but that isn’t a problem. She knew that she was on the right path.

“I’m sure that she can play that way because–––.”

Just then, I hear footsteps behind me and swallow my words.

The person who appears out of the thick fog is exactly who I thought.

Ai Yashajin.

Dressed in her usual black clothes, she glares at me with her arms crossed and says, “This place is locked, yes?”

“……. I have permission, from Akira.”

“I know. That’s why she’s being reprimanded inside the manor today.”

“Ohhh ……?”

I mentally put my hands together and apologize to Akira with all my might. I’m sorry …… I’m so sorry ……

At the same time, I repent for treading on what, for this young girl in front of me, is a hallowed flower bed.

Correcting my posture, I bow down to my apprentice.

“…… I sincerely apologize. I understand that this place is more important to you than anywhere else in the world. But, I just had to ……”

“Just had to what?”

“Talk with them. Tell them about your Shogi, ask them if I’m raising you the right way …… I wanted someone to listen to me. So–––.”

“You’ve been coming here behind my back. If you feel like you have to apologize for it, you should’ve just told me from the start.”

“…… You’re not angry?”

“Why would I be?”

Ai Yashajin is so kind it’s almost anticlimactic.

Why? What kind of severe punishment is waiting for me ……?

“Have you been doing things that would make me angry? Dancing on my parents’ grave perhaps?”

“N-no! I would never do something like that!!”

“Then what could be the problem? You’re reporting my progress to my parents like a Master should, right?”

I’m still scared of what she might say next, but then she makes an “ughhh ……” sound as she blushes red and says, “…… Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“I-I said thank you! Don’t make me repeat myself, trash!!”

“O-Ohh ……”

First she thanks me and then scolds me ……? How am I supposed to react ……?

“I just finished speaking with Grandfather. I’ve always come here, to the graveyard, after my matches but from now on I’m going to tell him first.”

“I see ……”

I think that’s a good thing.

She’s headstrong, but I think her being able to show genuine gratitude to those important to her proves that she’s grown as a person during this series of matches.

But something feels off about what she says next.

“Nothing will ever come of trying to seek out my deceased parents forever. I don’t want to have any regrets. After all, I’ll never find Father and Mother no matter how hard I look …… Because they’re here, beneath this gravestone.”

“You’ll never find them? Your parents?”

“No. They’re not alive anymore,” says Ai as if gingerly touching a wound that hasn’t completely healed yet. “I’ve never been willing to admit it, but …… But I knew what I was doing was wrong. In order to get stronger, I must–––.”

“That’s not true.”

“Huh ……?”

“Both of your parents are close by. They’re not gone at all.”

“…… Huuuh? What are you talking about?”

“So, you really haven’t noticed.”

“Stop trying to be mysterious! Or are you just saying the first thing that comes to mind after all?! Because if you are, you’re going to regret it!!”

Ai Yashajin, serious enough to kick me out of my own Shogi family.

Now I get it …… This is one of those too close to notice things.

“No, they’re here. They’re so close you just can’t see them.”

“Then, where?!”

“In your Shogi.”

The instant those words come out of my mouth–––.

“……!”

Ai’s big, round eyes fly open.

I calmly say to my breathless apprentice.

“You know about the Bishop Exchange Fourth File Rook strategy, right?”

“? Y-Yes …… What about it?”

“Amateurs have been playing it for years and years, but it was thought of as a B rank strategy in the pro Shogi world. That is, until Mr. Oishi and other young players saw its true potential and made it popular among the pros.”

Just like them–––.

“My Gokigen Third File Rook shift into a 4 Two Silver–style Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook came from research done by a particular top amateur player.”

“……!! You couldn’t mean ……! Really …… Really ……?”

“Yes. Amateur Meijin Takahiro Yashajin–––your father, Ai.”

The first things I did after taking Ai as my apprentice were to come to her parents’ grave and then to line up every single one of her father’s match records.

“They didn’t get much attention because he lost, but your father played Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook several times. Mr. Kagamizu also told me that he played it during their practice matches. Knowing that your father was a staunch member of the Static Rook party, I was curious to know why he played some Ranging Rook and decided to do some research myself …… And I found how good it is.”

Unfolding the match record clutched in my hand, I explain.

It’s the one that ended in a Repetition Draw where Ai used the 4 Two Silver–style Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook strategy to perfection. A strategy that no one specifically taught her how to use. Yet she used it in her own way.

“You proved it yourself, didn’t you? Your father’s playing style has been passed down in your Shogi. Along with your mother’s kindness.”

Whether it’s people or computers, anyone who plays Shogi will have some distinguishing traits.

It’s called their playing style.

Many different things go into a playing style.

For some people, it matches their personality to a T, while that’s not the case for others.

But–––.

“I see admiration and heart in your playing style.”

“Heart ……?”

“Yes. People who play like that tend to take on the personality of the one in their heart and play the same style as the one they admire.”

There’s a big difference between Shogi and other sports.

Baseball is baseball, but it’s impossible for a grade schooler to throw a pitch like a major leaguer.

In Shogi, on the other hand, a grade schooler can use the same sequences as the Meijin.

All from lining up match records.

“But no amount of lining up match records will guarantee they can play like the one they admire. That’s what happened to the Thorn Princess’s admiration for Big Sis.”

“……”

“Personality has to affect the outcome. And, while people were born with certain personality traits, their parents and upbringing shape who they will become.”

For Shogi players whose personalities formed at the time they were learning how to play, it’s possible to say their playing style is their soul.

“Your father taught you how to play, and you continued to line up his match records by yourself even after he passed away, right Ai?”

“Y-Yes, I did …… But ……”

“Your personality appears in your playing style because of all the time you spent researching on your own, and your father’s playing style comes through very much intact. That’s not true for other players who got stronger by playing against many different opponents over and over again.”

So–––.

“So, I could see them come out in your Shogi––––––a father who loved Shogi and his daughter with all his heart, and a loving mother who watched over them both.”

“……!!”

Ai tears up more and more with each passing second.

It’s almost like the girl’s parents residing inside her were answering me with her tears.

Looking right into her watery eyes, I keep talking.

…The same way I’d been talking to the gravestone from the beginning.

“I noticed the first time we played Shogi …… which is why I decided not to teach you how to play right then and there. Because I knew you could only get what you were looking for by taking it yourself.”

There is a word, ten-i muhou.

Ai Yashajin’s angelic robe is already perfect, without a single seam. That’s what it means, flawless composure.

The girl in front of me right now is the personification of it.

There’d be no point to me going in with scissors and patching it up. Her talent is pure and perfect as it is.

And that talent …… drew me in like a magnet.

“So I knew there was no reason to waver or search for an answer. You’re fine just the way you are. Because your mother and father are watching over you as close as possible.”

“F-Father and …… Mother are …… inside… of me ……?” says Ai, her tiny little hands resting on her chest, squeezing ever so slightly.

Almost as if trying to feel the warmth within her, she asks me.

“Really ……?”

“It’s true. I think that’s exactly why everyone who plays against you can’t write you off as just some little girl.”

I’m sure that Ms. Rokuroba and Ms. Noboryou felt the same thing I did in Ai’s Shogi. They found the honest, noble heart beating beneath this girl’s arrogant shell.

I gesture out over the fog-covered graveyard.

“Now, Ai, is your chance to explore this wide-open world with them. Shogi will allow you to learn so much more about your father and mother.”

Even if words won’t come across, there are things Shogi can convey.

Memories disappear, but fingertips never forget.

“Let’s play more Shogi, more than we ever have. We can walk down this path together, with everyone.”

“………… Yes. Sensei ……”

Tears flowing, Ai nods with no reservations.

To the bottom of my heart, I truly treasure my apprentice.

“Ai.”

I kneel so I can be on her eye level and wipe away her tears with my pointer finger.

She stiffens up a bit but doesn’t push me away.

“It seems I still have a long way to go as a Master.”

“Huh ……?”

“I was supposed to wipe your tears with my Rook, but I’m still making you cry this much.”

“………… Idiot.”

The fog starts clearing–––.

A ray of sunlight bursts through the clouds and makes the ocean outside Kobe glisten.