Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 15 - Chapter 4.5

  THE FINAL KEY

I look through the steam and spot a scowling, yet handsome man on the other side. Flashing my brightest grin, I say hello.

“Well, hello there. The owner had dibs on the first bath? I suppose ownership does have its perks!”

“Natagiri ……”

“He-he♡ I came!”

How could anyone, including the Worldly Maestro, contain their surprise upon seeing one of their oldest compatriots from the Sub League stark naked from out of the blue?

Mitsuru Oishi, already shoulders deep into the bath, awkwardly looks away.

“…… I won’t tell you not to come, but your timing is horrible. We’re about to play each other in a placement match ……”

“I usually do consider little details like that.”

No matter how close two players may be, we keep the pleasantries to a minimum before matches and suspend practice sessions.

Mitsuru here is especially competitive, so he takes that curtness further than most.

“But at the moment …… you know? There’s really only one match I have time to think about.”

I fill a bucket and rinse my body.

The water is just hot enough to prickle the skin, Mitsuru’s favorite. However, even that feels lukewarm to me right now.

“May I take a seat next to you?”

“You’re supposed to ask before sitting down ……”

“You would’ve said no if I’d done that, right? You always have.”

The first time I paid a visit to the Gokigen Bathhouse was back when we were both clashing in the 3-dan division.

Back in those days, I always spent the night in one of the Kansai Association’s tatami rooms whenever I had to travel. The association issued a travel allowance, but I wanted to use the extra money for other daily necessities.

It just so happened that Mitsuru made me an offer.

“Want to crash at mine? I’ll let ya relax in the tub.”

In exchange for helping out around the bathhouse, I got a nice bath, some free food and even a practice session with his Ranging Rook if Mitsuru happened to be in the mood.

Those were happy times.

And the cold milk we drank together after coming out of the bath ……

That flavor was a shining beacon of a silver lining in my dark days of intense training.

So I’m particularly fond of bathhouses.

Traveling around to different ones and meeting all sorts of people has become a hobby of mine ……

This hot water and all the memories flooding in have sent me off in my own little world, but Mitsuru pulls me back.

“So …… you’re at a full set, huh?”

“Yep, as full as can be ………… I couldn’t finish him off. I was on top the whole match, but couldn’t follow through in the end for some reason and lost ……”

The Fourth Monarch Title Match.

It took place in Tokushima yesterday, and I held the advantage all the way to the late-game’s doorstep.

“I lost before I knew what was happening.”

Analyzing what happened in the review session and consulting my computer haven’t helped me understand where I went wrong.

I even read a sequence where I came out victorious. It was right there.

But, for whatever reason, I couldn’t make that move …… A computer will never be able to understand why.

“During this series of title matches, I got to see a brand new side of him. Just when I thought I had seen the very deepest parts …… a whole new, deeper face comes to the surface.”

People pull out all the stops in competition.

I thought I had seen the fullest extent of them already.

“Just when the I’ve won feeling set in, I got blindsided from the opposite direction. All that confidence blown to smithereens. I don’t even know how I should fight in the final match anymore.”

“Hey, I took a title off him before, but he took it right back. He’s got a winning record against me overall. He’s getting stronger, too—not that I have a clue how.”

“Getting even stronger ………… He-he. If only he’d cut us some slack.”

“No kidding. We’ve got monsters above and below. I’d love to catch a break ……”

We’ve dubbed our generation The Valley.

The Golden Generation led by the Meijin came before us, and this new generation with Yaichi Kuzuryu is chasing us from behind. We are stuck in the middle, the generation that drew the short straw. Our generation didn’t get to have time in the spotlight.

At this rate, we never will.

But ……

“Oh yeah, I heard from Mr. Kiyotaki the other day that you’re looking after Ai now.”

“Yep. My research room has had a Women’s player living in it for a while already. I figure there’s not much difference between having one or two, don’t you agree?”

“I was worried when she upped and said she was transferring to Kanto …… But hey, winding up with you does make the best of a bad situation.”

Bad situation? Mean, no?

“Tell her to drop me and Asuka a line every once in a while, would you? Ai is still a valued member of the Gokigen Bathhouse, after all ……” 

Which reminds me, Ai does play Gokigen Central Rook every so often.

I thought she had an incredible sense for it even though she normally plays Static Rook…… Getting lessons from the Worldly Maestro himself certainly explains it.

“So, tell me, how is Yaichi holding up? Is he down in the dumps without Ai around?”

“He’s MIA.”

“What?”

“No one’s been able to reach him for days now. Keika got worried and went to see him at his apartment, but it’s covered with yellow tape and there’s a big condemned sign out front. It looked like he’d moved out ages ago. So, yeah, he’s MIA. Asuka freaked out and stapled posters on telephone poles all around Fukushima Station ……”

Looking for a lost kitten, is she?

“Perhaps Yaichi went looking for Miss Sora, hmm?”

“What if he did? Is that not manly enough for your liking?”

“I may have thought so before. He was born with such incredible talent, but all those distractions keeping him away from Shogi weren’t doing him any favors.”

“And that’s changed?”

“After seeing all of the improvement he’s made, I have to acknowledge that perhaps I’m the one who’s been making mistakes, no?”

I happened to be Yaichi’s first opponent on his professional debut.

On that day, I honestly thought he was pathetic.

My opinion of him changed when he got the Ryuo Title …… is what I thought. It turns out that wasn’t the case.

Others seeing him differently changed his public perception, but that’s all.

What really changed him, no, made him evolve was–––.

“What makes Yaichi truly impressive is how he improves those around him, not just himself. He and that soon-to-be-promoted-to-A-division Ayumu Kannabe are at the forefront of this up-and-coming generation, and Miss Tsukiyomizaka and Miss Kugui are in the Women’s League doing the same thing. Not to mention Miss Sora and–––.”

“The two Ais …… yeah?”

Yes. Those two apprentices of Yaichi had an immeasurable impact on him.

One look at the timing of the changes in his playing style found in his match records was enough to convince me.

…Which is exactly why I reached out to one of them.

The one who excels where I struggle—the late-game—Ai Hinatsuru has turned it into an art form.

A few online practice sessions were enough for me to see immediate results.

After all, I’ve made it to the Monarch Title Match and I’m clicking on all cylinders in my other league matches.

“Which reminds me, Mitsuru, weren’t you also MIA when you went to Kagoshima to participate in that Goma ritual? Was there any point to it?”

“I suppose, since I never want to think of working at a bathhouse as a chore. Heat doesn’t bother me much at all now.”

“I’m talking about your Shogi.”

“Playing is the only way to get stronger. C’mon, you know that.”

He gives me a look like that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever said. Well, this is embarrassing. He-he …… I’m rather fond of that sharp tongue.

“You challenged the Meijin three times only to come up empty. It was on your fourth that you finally claimed that title, yes?”

“Yeah ………… Did you come here to ask for my two cents on how I got it from him?”

“Oh, no, no. I came to hear about the third one.”

“You what?”

Mitsuru went tit for tat against the Meijin during his third run at a title. He backed the Meijin into a corner, forcing a full set … only to run out of steam at the very end.

I want to hear his impressions now that I’m in a full set myself.

Did he feel he’d found an answer, or–––.

“What’s it like to lose after a full set?”

“………… How to put this ……”

Mitsuru scoops up some hot water and washes his face.

Then he gave me this allegory.

“Think of a small house at the very top of the highest mountain.”

“Uh-hm.”

“You fall down over and over again trying to scale back up the cliff, but you manage to reach it despite all the setbacks.”

“Uh-hm.”

“But right when you turn the door knob …… you realize you forgot to bring the key.”

“Sounds painful.”

“Because it is painful.”

Despite reaching the very top, you’re forced to go back to the bottom with nothing to show for your efforts and start again from square one.

That’s far worse than simply starting off at the foot of the mountain, yes?

Interesting ……

"Losing that way cuts a lot deeper than being swept outright. And, it's like how losing to a sudden death at the last moment of a promising match hurts so much worse than being beaten up and down the board the entire time. I’ll give it to you straight. The only way for things to be easier now that you’re at a full set is to win.”

“Painfully blunt aren’t you, Mitsuru? …… Just like you always have been. I don’t think you’ve ever encouraged me, not once ……”

“That’s Kansai style.”

I heard about that back when I was in the Sub League.

In Kansai, the more potential someone has, the harsher everyone is to them. Apparently, that kind of tough love spurs their talent.

“Gritty, stubborn Shogi … and not meddling in others’ business. That’s Kansai style. I’ve always thought you’d fit in better here than with those pretty boys over in Kanto. That’s why–––.”

“Why what?”

“Why I think someone else has your last key.”

I don’t have it …… but someone else does?

Is he telling me to fight for the sake of someone else?

As in: for the fans? Or my family maybe?

“The more anyone thinks they can fight for their own sake, the more strength they can muster when they’re playing for someone else. Still …… all I can do is tell you to try it out.”

“Well thank you, Mitsuru. Oh! Why don’t I wash your back to repay you?”

“Don’t bother.”

He-he! Look who’s shy. ♡

“But this is a pickle.”

“What is?”

“This last key you’re talking about …… I think I already have someone who fits that bill.”