Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 18 - Chapter 3.01

  First Date

It’s the big day, and I wake up much earlier than usual.

That’s typical on days I get to play against him. I’m too excited to stay in bed, like a kid right before a field trip.

I’m more depressed about Shogi than at any other point in my life right now ......

But, surprisingly, playing a match against him on a big stage is just what I need to lift my spirits.

“...... Big Sis used to chide me all the time. Don’t be so restless. Yeesh.”

I smirk to myself and get out of my futon.

After a quick breakfast, I put on my kimono on my own with a midsummer view of Mikawa Bay out the window. It’s been over half a year since I put one on, but it didn't take anywhere near as much time as I thought it would.

“Might as well go.”

My patience gone, I grab my prepacked bag and leave my room.

Every association staff member and media person I pass in the hallway can’t believe their eyes.

“Huh?! The Crown is already ......?”

I don’t bother to stop, just lightly step past their stunned silence and go inside the arena. Waiting at the boardside table with all the prep work finished is the match recorder, almost like she knew I would show up early.

“Good morning, Kuzuryu-sensei.”

“Good morning ...... Ms. Noboryou.”

I rush to the upper seat. It looks like Karen Noboryou 3-dan is just as excited for this match as I am.

Word gets around that I’m already in the arena and the media people nearly trip over themselves as they pile in. They’re mumbling things back and forth but not loudly enough for me to catch every word.

“...... Doesn’t the Challenger always enter the arena first?”

“...... Think he’s trying to give his opponent some prematch jitters? It’s his first one, after all.”

Probably something like that.

It’s true that the higher ranking player is typically the last to show up. After all, the new guy would get nervous if the boss was at his desk when he came in to work on the first day. Talk about working under pressure.

But for us, that kind of thing won’t happen.

Kr-shak! K-kr-shak! Shak!

“Well, he’s here.”

Tons of camera shutters go off on the other side of the wall. There’s no mistaking what that means.

My heart is pounding like I’m out on a first date ......

“The Challenger is entering the arena!”

He appears in the doorway with cameras still flashing in his wake.

“What kept you, Ayumu?”

“You arrived too early, Demon King.”

Somehow he looks even more stunning in this traditional kimono than in his usual white cape getup. Like sunlight shimmering on the ocean in summer, men and women alike can’t help but admire his sheen.

“...... That kimono Kannabe 8-dan is wearing ...... It looks just like one of the Meijin’s ......”

“...... Did he give it to the Challenger?! Then, does that mean he’s acknowledged Kannabe as his successor instead of Kuzuryu ......?”

“...... Word is he got back from a practice session with the Meijin just yesterday .......”

Normally, those kinds of comments would tick me off a little, but today they make me proud.

―――I knew Ayumu’s huge potential before anyone, even the Meijin!

I feel like the guy showing off his new supermodel girlfriend during their first dinner date at the fanciest restaurant in town. Meanwhile, that supermodel is doing their usual prematch routine: pouring their own tea. Even in a title match, Ayumu is still Ayumu.

Once both of us are ready, we face each other and trade greetings: “Let’s have a good match!”

Then I set up my side of the board with the regular Ohashi style, but Ayumu whips out his own coolest line-up style of my own design! to get his pieces in place. Seeing him do it in a kimono this time is novel, but also makes him stand out even more than usual.

“The piece flip belongs to Kuzuryu-Crown.”

I pick up five Pawns and scatter them over a white cloth―――four land upside down.

Ayumu will go first.

“The first move is yours, Kannabe 8-dan.”

“God Cauldron, please.”

Ms. Noboryou ignores Ayumu’s request without so much as a blink. The local media who don’t know much about Shogi exchange confused looks, like that was some kind of Shogi jargon just now. Nope, just Ayumu being Ayumu.

The clock strikes 9:00.

“...... Hph!”

Ayumu reaches for the board without the slightest hesitation.

The media people are drawn to his opening move like a magnet.

“The Pawn in front of the Rook ......!”

“Will the Crown get to play his specialty, the Double Wing Attack ......?!”

Once I gently wipe my glasses clean, I respond with the same move. It’s only the first match, but the intensity here is off the charts.

However.

On the fifth turn, Ayumu opens the Bishop path.

―――Yeah. Of course he would.

I nod, mentally. Ayumu always knows exactly which strategy I want to play.

“Here I come ......,” I say, licking my lips as I send my Bishop hurtling into Ayumu’s territory with the velocity of a sword yearning to pierce flesh.

The seven-round Crown Title Match is our first title match against each other.

The curtain opens with a Normal Bishop Exchange.

“Behold! My very own Interchanged Bishop Same Stool Gin!!”

“Just say Bishop Exchange Reclining Silver, will you?”

Calling it Gin in Japanese just adds to the confusion.

Ayumu’s never had good naming sense, but his research is absolutely perfect.

“?! ...... Th-This ...... This is what Bishop Exchange will become in 100 years ......?!” the match recorder, Ms. Noboryou says in disbelief as she leans all the way over the boardside table.

The basic formation is still the same as the Bishop Exchange style played right now, but the sequence varies ever so slightly. This future version was part of the 100 Awaji matches I released to the public.

If the Bishop Exchange does last another century, it’ll probably look pretty close to this. Ayumu and I play striking moves one after another almost as if to convince people they’re seeing the future play out today.

Normally, even one extraordinary new move would make a match memorable, but the two of us are unleashing enough to light up the sky like summer fireworks.

I manage to get Ayumu in check by quickly deploying a Pawn, but he spins his King out of it while simultaneously calling his forward Silver back for defense.

At the same time, I sweep through his formation, claiming piece after piece with a Silver I deployed deep in his territory before sealing his Rook in place with a Gold.

It’s hard to grasp the meaning behind nearly all our moves, but we play them without using any waiting time whatsoever. It’s gotten to the point that the first one to stop is the one behind on their research, which means death when playing Bishop Exchange.

Then, with our waiting time very much intact, we break for lunch.

“Wh-What in the world ...... is going on here ......?”

“Who’s winning ......?”

The media people stare in shock, like our unprecedented pace gave them whiplash. Ayumu and I, however, head back to our rooms without a word.

Lunch is an incredible assortment of local seafood from Mikawa Bay.

The board is tense ...... Or at least it looks that way. Both of us are still well within our research range, so we have the mental leeway to enjoy the food. The local delicacy called kounago is especially good. Then there’s egg soup, fried oysters, tempura ...... It’s all fresh as can be. Oh, and kounago is a type of small fish. There’s nothing suggestive about it, just ...... someone on the staff said, “I was sure you would enjoy it, considering how much you enjoy miniatures!” Yeah, I’m going to head back now.

We pick up right where we left off afterward, at full speed.

“Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa ......!”

“This match is going to finish before day two ......!!”

The media is allowed to take pictures at the end of the lunch break. The thing is that we’re advancing so quickly that I can hear the stressed out voices of the media people coming through the wall as they file out of the arena.

Pieces pass back and forth between us in a neverending spiral.

Then, once the central area of the board gets cleared out, we promote our big pieces square in the middle of the other’s territory. Ayumu: a Horse. Me: a Dragon.

Compared to the Silver and Gold layers of armor around my King, Ayumu’s has nothing but rags protecting it. Another two moves, and it’ll be on a Check Path.

―――Yeah, he’s going for nyugyoku.

I deploy pieces directly in his King’s path to prevent it from reaching my side of the board ...... but Ayumu’s counterpunch is better than I expected.

“4 Four Pawn?!”

Not setting a secure path forward for his King or reinforcing his King’s defense, but a grand visionary move to put light pressure on MY King.

So, he’s beyond human.

“In that case!”

I deploy a Lance at 6 Four, giving it up for free!

“......!!”

Noboryou 3-dan has leaned so far forward, her shoulders are beyond the boardside table. It’s almost like she can’t believe two people on this planet could come up with moves like that so quickly.

“Not bad, Ayumu.”

“Likewise.”

I’m so giddy, I can’t help but compliment him. That doesn’t mean either of us have slowed down. Ayumu’s King is at the edge of the board and I put it in check three times in a row. But, as if being under so much pressure added fuel to the fire, the offensive King starts a strong, swift ascension into my territory.

Nyugyoku is almost here.

―――...... I’d better start thinking.

Stopping his King at this point would be difficult. To make matters worse, my piece stand is nearly empty. That means I need to figure out what to do with my own King.

But I can’t just leave his King alone, either. The counterattack will hit the second I let up.

―――Preserve my pieces and wedge his King to the side!

I deploy a Pawn at the very back of my territory, like a goalkeeper making his last stand. That’s the 100th move of this match.

Suddenly, Ayumu stops.

“.............................................”

His colored contacts disappear behind his eyelids and he stays put. It’s almost like he’s sleeping sitting up.

It’s not that he’s trying to slow down the match. He’s not going to move at all. An hour passes. Two hours, and even a third but Ayumu doesn’t budge.

Then, just as the reddish light from the setting sun started filtering into the arena, Ayumu, in typical fashion, addresses the match recorder without even opening his eyes.

“...... I would like to save my adventure at this juncture.”

“Very well.”

There’s still a decent amount of time before 6 p.m. when we’re scheduled to pause the match for the day, but Ayumu calls for an early exit in his own unique style. Ms. Noboryou, who was stunned by all of our new moves earlier, doesn’t even bat an eye. It’s easy to see that members of the Kanto Sub League have built up an immunity to his quirks.

The only way Ayumu, who has never done a sealing move before, could’ve done all this without hesitating is that someone with experience showed him the ropes.

―――All that was to stop me from using my sealing move technique?

I sealed the match right before a pivotal move during last year’s Crown Title Match to give me the whole night to think.

There are two conditions for that to work: I have to be the one to make the sealing move and the board has to be so complex that it’ll literally take all night to read to the end.

And Ayumu prevented them both.

….Because offensive nyugyoku is still well within the bounds of our research.