Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 17 - Chapter 4.7

  BROTHERS

The man who called me out to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is sprawled out on the grass.

There’s almost no one here yet because it’s a little after nine in the morning. The gates just opened a few minutes ago. Finding him was easy.

“Yo.”

He sits up when he notices me coming and casually waves.

“Hey ……”

We haven’t seen each other in almost a year, but the hellos end there.

That’s just how brothers are.

“Want to sit?”

“No, I’ll stand.”

My brother pats the grass next to him, but I shake my head no. That way, he’ll get the message that I don’t want to stick around any longer than necessary.

Not to mention that I don’t want my pants to be dirty where I’m heading after this.

Show up to the special arena with grass stains? No thanks.

“You’ve slimmed down, Yaichi. Are you eating right? One perk of my job is that a professional chef makes my lunch and, I swear, I’ve put on 10 pounds since I started working———”

“What’s this about?”

I cut him off and my brother smiles back.

“There’s something I’d like to know about those Awaji records.”

“They came with analysis, yeah? Read it.”

“Oh, I did. And each one was more shocking than the last,” says my exceptionally skilled amateur Shogi-playing brother with excitement. “Everyone from pros to amateurs to the people developing Shogi software can’t get enough of the matches you released. I don’t blame them, either. They show how to maintain perfect balance across a wide range of strategies and come with bonus commentary from the youngest Dual Title Holder that ever lived. Out-of-place artifacts if I’ve ever seen them!”

“Awaji is the impressive one, not me.”

I shrug it off and press my brother to get to the point.

“And? Is there anything else?”

“You see, I’m more interested in the records you didn’t release. And there are tons, right? The world’s fastest supercomputer only producing 100 records? Give me a break.”

As usual, my big brother plays his biggest move with a cool head.

“Yaichi. Each of the records you released end a little too perfectly. Yes, they’re long matches and very plain, which is expected for deep learning software. But, you know? The picture they paint at the end is still too pretty.”

“That’s a matter of opinion.”

“Yes, it’s subjective. My point is that they should look weirder to human eyes.”

“…………”

“And Shogi that looks pretty to the human eye only happens when the players are evenly matched. Since no two players are at exactly the same skill level, their match records look more human. But if something can keep playing at the same skill level without making a mistake …… as in a computer playing against itself, the outcome must be something humans cannot predict, don’t you think?”

“You haven’t changed at all …………”

He’s always been bright.

When it came to book smarts, he was always in a league of his own.

Even though he taught himself how to program computers, he’s gotten so good at his hobby that he’s left his mark on the world stage.

He’s quite a bit older than me. We spent six years living together before I moved out to Osaka, but I can only remember back to when I was about three years old. I don’t have too many memories of him, to be honest. Just that no matter what I tried, I couldn’t win against him. That’s how brothers who are separated by quite a few years are. For the younger brother, the older one is just a pain in the butt.

With one exception.

I stood a chance in Shogi.

Thinking back, he probably took it easy on me so that I’d keep playing. Even so, he realized that I had talent and never once complained about having to play against me.

My brother was there the day that Master Kiyotaki came to do instructional matches at the Shogi classroom that he and I attended.

I’m pretty sure my brother was still better than me at the time.

But Master recognized me as the one with talent because I was younger.

That’s why I committed to Shogi. It was the only way I could beat my brother.

That’s how it is for male siblings.

“Do you want to know what Shogi will be like in 100 years? Do you want to see the despair within the match records I’ve intentionally kept hidden from the world.”

My brother doesn’t say anything. He just looks me straight in the eyes to egg me on. He probably has an idea what’s coming.

As for me, I’ve been wanting to tell someone.

This secret is too heavy to shoulder on my own.

“They all ended in either Repetition Draws or Double Nyugoku.”

My brother usually carries himself like he’s got the whole world figured out. But at that moment, he gets serious. A dark satisfaction fills my mind as I explain more details.

“The best opening move wasn’t opening the Bishop’s Path or advancing the Pawn in front of the Rook. It was moving the King. Keeping the Bishop back always resulted in a Repetition Draw. Zero records with a completed Bishop Exchange managed to avoid a Repetition Draw either. Shogi’s limits have been found.”

I released a mere 100 matches.

What’s more, they were all from the earlier stages of Awaji’s advance, probably Shogi 20 or 30 years from now. The other hundreds of millions of records ended in a draw.

Every single one!

“Yagura, Bishop Exchange, Double Wing Attack, Side Pawn Capture and Ranging Rook …… All of them were created to squeeze every ounce of potential from the big pieces, and they were all disproven. Humans were so distracted by their dynamic movements that we learned to play the wrong way. One thousand four hundred years were wasted.”

“Did you try locking the formation in place and having it play that way?”

“Yes. Those are the 100 matches that were released.”

A supercomputer analyzed the formations and standards devised by human beings and spat out a tragic result.

“Side Pawn Capture will lose on defense. The first move with a Yagura or Double Wing will either win or draw. The first to shift their Rook loses. Oh yeah! In Double Ranging Rook, the defender is guaranteed to win. Shogi is basically a game where the first one to move their Rook loses. Ha-ha!”

“…… I see.”

There’s a twinge of sadness in my brother’s eyes as he comes to terms with it.

I’m sure I’ve seen that look somewhere …… Right.

———At Grandpa’s funeral.

When he was mourning the death of the man who taught us how to play Shogi in the first place ……

“…… If Shogi had a natural handicap feature like Go to balance offense and defense, it probably would’ve lived a bit longer ……,” my brother manages to say.

We’re here today attending a funeral for Shogi. This is the moment the game we love comes to an end.

“But it doesn’t,” I answer him while thinking back on the massive sunset I shared with Big Sis. This world will be over soon.

And in the worst way possible.

“Could you work to perfect that craft knowing how it will end? Do you think you could devote your life to it as a pro?”

Shogi is done for.

But there’s something I absolutely can’t let come to an end.

“Could you tell Big Sis …… Tell Ginko this answer?”

I’ll protect her from it even if it kills me.

“Could you deliver this news to someone who’s just getting back on their feet? Say that a burnt wasteland is all that awaits at the end of this path?”

“Yaichi ……”

“I can’t.”

No, I can’t. How could I?

She went pro all so that she could play Shogi with me.

She loves me to death. She loves Shogi to death.

But …… the worst possible future is waiting for us.

Could I take Shogi away from her on top of that?

…… Just how messed up is destiny?!

“So I’ll pretend, and I’ll come up with a fake future.”

I chose those 100 matches before being reunited with Ginko, but now I’m absolutely certain I made the right choice, now that I know her secret.

No matter how advantageous the opening move becomes, no matter how many specific formations die out along the way, I will stall Shogi’s demise.

That is now the reason I play.

Now that I have overwhelming strength, I’ll crush anyone and everyone who pursues the despair I know is coming. That way, I can extend Shogi’s lifespan. Ai Yashajin tends to rampage, so I’ll have to limit her usage of Awaji as much as possible.

All to delay Shogi’s death by even a day.

“It’s time. I have to go.”

Stay any longer, and I’ll get caught up in some pointless conversation.

Just as I turn to leave———

“Yaichi!”

My brother yells as he gets to his feet.

“You didn’t just come up to Tokyo for your match or to see me, right? You want to turn this whole thing on its head with your own hands, don’t you? This future 100 years from now drawn up by a machine!”

“…………”

“If you want to hear my answer, here it is——— That kid can!!”

He yells as I walk away without so much as turning around. I’m on my way to play against a human being for the first time in a long while.

It feels like going to a movie when you already know how it ends.