Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 17 - Chapter 5.04

  MY WAY

Every one of Takeru Usui’s moves that day were a work of art.

“Oh, wow ……”

“This is what the real deal looks like.”

A chorus of impressed sighs rang out with each turn. The players and Sub League members gathered in the Katsura no Ma gazed in awe as Takeru’s moves went far beyond any of their expectations. Fans watching online reveled, hailing the prodigal strategist’s return. This was the match when System …… Ranging Rook would reclaim its former glory.

Just as Takeru declared on the 42nd move, the board had indeed started to twist in his favor.

It was as if destiny were being rewritten before their eyes.

“Th-This is …… System ……!!”

Ai leaned over the board, analyzing each section between quick, shallow breaths. The difference in waiting time had tilted all the way to two hours in her opponent’s favor.

His defense always seemed to stiffen when she attacked.

But her defenses crumbled whenever she tried to reinforce them.

“Huff …… Hfff …… Haaa ………”

There was no dinner break during Emperor Tournament matches, including both preliminaries and finals. Having not left the board even once since lunch, Ai was well beyond her physical limit.

“So? How does real Ranging Rook taste?” asked Takeru nonchalantly.

“Kuzuryu’s Ranging Rook borders on heresy. Gokingen 3rd File Rook? Just a pile of table scraps from a cheap chain restaurant. Only once someone can be as worldly as Oishi can they be called legit. Taste steak from a restaurant that only serves steak, why don’t you?!”

Everything lined up with his research.

He spoke with an arrogance fitting of a man who had continuously fought against the entire Shogi world.

“I suppose a kid who grew up on cheap chain restaurants couldn’t tell the difference in flavor. Only after being toughened up in the Sub League can someone even be called a novice. I won’t say a word against you. Surrender already and go test into the Sub League.”

“Urgh ………… khh …………… Huff ……! Hff ……!!”

Ai couldn’t maintain focus.

———The air …… it’s …… too thin ……

The air within the Shogi Association’s large hall had become harsher than any battlefield and wispy to the point where Ai couldn’t make use of her best weapon, the late-game.

The large hall at night was a wasteland and the beastly groans of professional players echoed off the walls.

Instincts had taken over and the men were chomping at the bit to take a piece out of anyone in their path.

It was an inhuman sight to behold.

Women’s League matches never lasted into the night. The Nebula Tournament was recorded in a studio.

For the first time ever, Ai found herself in the midst of a professional war zone.

———…………………………… I’m scared ……

Facing a grown man alone would be enough to make any grade school girl lose her nerve.

The fact that this one was sitting so close and radiating pure malice could almost be considered abuse. The daunting reality of playing against a professional in their world had reared its ugly head, and Ai withered under the pressure.

———I’m scared ………… So scared …………

Ai’s concentration lapsed as the formations shifted even more into her opponent’s favor. She began taking notice of other players stealing glances at her board, which only drew her attention further away from the match.

The players looked to be on even ground, but the odds were skewed from the very beginning ……

“Accept destiny with grace. You cannot break System. You cannot beat me. And you cannot become a pro,” remarked Takeru in a sympathetic tone.

“………… Des …… tin ………”

Those few syllables were all Ai could muster.

———C-Can’t …… breathe ……!!

Lack of oxygen had taken a heavy toll. Flashes of her battle with Ginko Sora during her Practice League Entrance Exam overlapped with the large hall as Ai’s consciousness faded in and out.

Her first match with everything on the line. Her first loss.

Playing against an opponent with a despairingly large skill advantage, Ai had made mistake after mistake on her way to a crushing defeat.

But there was a tiny flicker of hope within those memories.

———Back then …… I got back on my feet because ……?

The answer was so close to coming back, but her brain didn’t have enough oxygen to bring that memory to light.

Just then.

Slide.

A dry echo filled the room as the sliding door opened.

At first the players were so absorbed in their boards that they didn’t bother looking up to see who had come into the arena. Matches were in the late-game and every second of waiting time was precious.

However.

“…………!!”

The extraordinary presence made a few of them look up, and there he was.

The strongest man of all.

“De ……… mon …………………… King?”

The Demon King.

The very person who should still be in the special arena, the Ryuo ———Yaichi Kuzuryu was standing in the door frame.

Seeing him with a bag over his shoulder as if he were on his way out of the building was enough to make the players forget about their matches and whisper among themselves.

“……… Didn’t he have a Placement Match ……?”

“…… There were three repetition draws, too ……… How is it over already ……?”

“…… Against Shinokubo? You’ve got to be kidding ……”

“…… There’s strong, and then there’s unreal ……”

Almost as if to punctuate those whispers.

“………………………”

A barely conscious Taishi Shinokubo staggered past the open door.

He was a pale man to begin with, but now he almost looked translucent. Ghostly, even. What kind of Shogi could have that effect on a person ……? The professional players shuddered.

Yaichi Kuzuryu set foot inside the large hall.

“!!”

The players withered under his aura, much like elementary school girls.

“…………… Hm ……”

Even Takeru Usui avoided making direct eye contact with Yaichi.

Everyone stared down at their boards, as scared stiff as adventurers who had been found by a roving dragon …… It was crystal clear that despite their eyes being laser-focused on their pieces, the Ryuo had their full attention.

“It’s stuffy in here.”

The Demon King of the West muttered to himself and walked to the back of the hall. Once he pushed aside the decorative panels, Yaichi opened the window directly behind them.

Air rushed through the hall. Crisp night air.

“Ah …………”

Ai instantly felt that wave of fresh oxygen clear the shadows blocking her mental Shogi boards.

Then Yaichi began to walk about the hall, leisurely looking at all the boards as he went.

The imposing dragon uncoiled, scrutinizing each match at his own pace.

Whenever the Ryuo stopped at a certain board for even a second longer than the others, the players at that board failed to hide their glee despite the air of indifference they were trying to maintain.

Strength was the only way to prove one’s existence in this world. There was no better cause for celebration than being acknowledged by the strongest of all.

“………………”

Yaichi Kuzuryu kept walking around the large hall without so much as a word.

Soon enough, he came to a stop in front of the last board left.

Right in front of where the previous Ryuo sat.

“Tch …………”

Takeru Usui looked up at Yaichi Kuzuryu for a quick second.

“You’re next.”

That glance and the formation on the board spelled out Takeru’s message.

The newly revamped System would first utterly destroy Yaichi’s apprentice. As long as he didn’t go along with any Double Wing shenanigans and played his own Shogi, a child who only recently joined the Women’s League could never beat him. Takeru was out to prove it.

His endgame was to seize the title of Ryou back from Yaichi.

That was Takeru Usui’s plan.

But now, with Yaichi standing right before him …… His aura was suffocating. That fact only irritated Takeru further still.

“………………”

The large hall that had been so turbulent moments ago was now eerily quiet. Piece snaps were but a momentary break in the silence. Many were afraid to so much as breathe.

Save for one.

Only one person in the room ……… found their second wind thanks to the dragon’s presence.

The smallest, tiniest person in the room …… a girl.

The Ryuo had come to a stop right behind her back.

He didn’t look at her, let alone address her directly.

All he did was stand on her side of the board and contemplate the match.

“…………”

Ai couldn’t turn around.

Because …… she would surely cry if she did.

Thus———she willed herself to keep her eyes locked onto the board.

“………………………………………. way ……………….”

Takeru took issue with the words that fell from the girl’s lips and leaned right up to her.

“Agh?”

She didn’t flinch despite the imposing tone.

Her fear was gone.

Changing posture, Ai clenched both her hands into fists on the tatami mat and started slowly swaying back and forth. The words she took to heart before the match echoed through her mind over and over.

The message Ginko Sora had written on that taxi window.

Her words were:

“Destiny, get out of my way.”

The characters lacked their usual vigor. They weren’t written with a brush.

The lines of ink even seemed to tremble in places. All the anxieties of a 16-year-old girl were on display and not fit for decoration.

That was why those words made such a resounding impact on Ai’s heart.

———I don’t know how cruel a destiny Sora-sensei has been carrying …… but!

As a player, Ai Hinatsuru had a destiny to face.

That meant only one thing.

She focused her entire being on the board.

And———set out to break System, destiny itself!

“Here …………… Here …… Here, here, herehereherehereherehereherehereherehere———”

The girl who was on the brink of running away from the match had completely returned to form.

She hadn’t seen him.

Just hearing his footsteps …… Feeling his aura made her strong.

“Herehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere——————!!”

———That’s right. Now I remember how I overcame that loss.

An old wound throbbed once again.

It was the scar of her first loss, but also the first scar of adolescence. That pain reawakened Ai Hinatsuru.

The reason she kept playing despite defeat staring her in the face.

The reason she continued treading water in her quest to become a professional now.

It was———seeing Naniwa’s Snow White shine because of adversity!

———I made a promise! That I’d get stronger and sit across from Sora-sensei again!

Ai had carved her last conversation with Ginko into her heart, and now she was sitting here.

So she yelled.

With visions of the most beautiful, poised and strongest-willed professional player she had ever met shining in her mind.

“Destiny! Get out of my way!!”

Invigorating herself with a sharp war cry, Ai took hold of her Rook and slid it across the board. Its target: a piece that loomed over her like a wall.

“This Rook———is going through!!”

The board flipped now that her Rook burst through Takeru’s formation and promoted into a Dragon.

“!! Cheeky little ……”

Takeru had been so certain that Ai would commit to defending that he was stunned to see her go on the offensive.

And once she followed up that advance …… that piece proved to be more than a thorn in his side.

The piece known as the Dragon King.

“…… Could you two brats be any more agitating?!!”

Shoving his armrest away, Takeru snatched a Pawn from his piece stand and slapped it down onto the board. This would be the wedge that broke the offense’s formation.

Compared to the Dragon’s attack, however, the move seemed too little too late.

“Here!!”

Ai deployed a Bishop in position to simultaneously attack and defend. Not only did it allow her to protect her King, the fear of being checkmated also forced Takeru to devote his resources to defense.

“The tables turned?!”

“Which way?!”

The sequences were so jumbled that confusion could be heard from every direction.

In fact, the formation was still very much against her. As was the clock.

However.

“Herehereherehereherehereherehere———”

The girl had grasped the future.

A chance at a comeback. The power to change destiny with her own hands.

Yaichi Kuzuryu had disappeared from the large hall at some point, as well as from Ai Hinatsuru’s consciousness.

Leaving behind only the Dragon King on the board.