Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 18 - Chapter 4.06

  Terms of Battle

It’s been a very long time since I set foot in this room.

Unlike the Onjyoudan no Ma, the tatami mats and sliding doors in this arena are practically falling apart. I remember the director telling us time and again to keep our hands off the walls because the paint flakes off with a single touch ……

Mold tickles my nose as I take a look around and remark, “They never should have waited this long for a new association building. What is this place, 40 years old? One good tremor and it’s done for. This obsolescence is putting the children who learn how to play Shogi here in danger, don’t you agree?”

We move down the corridor that connects the Minase and Kinki arenas on the fourth floor of the Kansai Association Building. The Practice League still meets here, and our younger sister apprentice is part of it.

My older sister is near the doorway, so I ask, “Isn’t the association building in Tokyo even older? I’ve only been there a handful of times, so I can’t comment on it myself. Are you comfortable there?

“…… It could be better,” says Ai Hinatsuru, showing some restraint while holding her backpack to her chest.

“There’s cockroaches, too ……”

“Gross! Would you not talk about that?!”

How can anyone focus on a match knowing one of those black creepy crawlies could show up at any second?!

“Being here sure brings back memories, doesn’t it, Ten-chan? There’s so many …… It’ll be sad to see them go ……”

“True. I can't deny that.”

I turn to look at her properly for the first time.

She may have gotten taller.

Compared to when our paths crossed here on a regular basis, her face looks more mature. Is it the shorter hair?

Or am I seeing her in a different light now that Awaji has shown me what she’s worth?

“Do you remember our first match?”

“Of course, I do.”

It was for my Practice League Entrance Exam.

Ai Hinatsuru was my final opponent.

I won that match. From start to finish, I thought I was in complete control …… until the director pointed out that she missed a check path.

Ai broke down in tears once she realized it. She cried and cried, saying how much it hurt.

The two of us haven’t played an official match since then.

“So, what is it? You must have something important to talk about if you wanted to meet face-to-face like this.”

“The Professional Entrance Exam ……”

“I heard that you snubbed the board of directors’ offer. Is that true?”

“Y-Yes ……”

Even the players and Sub League members who support what she’s doing were split in two camps once word got out.

“Okay, what does that have to do with me?”

“I did some research about the only other Professional Entrance Exam …… and found out how former gamester and Shakando-sensei’s Master made it happen.”

“Is that so? How’d he do it?”

I played dumb.

The so-called Demon of Hakone, Sadatoshi Ashigara was the only player to test into a professional 5-dan ranking and it was neither by appealing to the newspaper media nor pleading with other professional players for support.

“He got a sponsor,” Ai answers. “That person wasn’t a strong Shogi player, but they had authority. Enough of it to make the association do whatever they wanted.”

“……”

“When I turned down the board’s offer, Shakando-sensei clapped her hands and said well done. I think everyone else in the room thought she was talking about Tamayon-sensei’s speech but ….. I think she was applauding me for finding the right answer.”

The timidity in Ai's voice disappears with each passing word.

She presses on with confidence that only comes from reading all the way to checkmate.

“Redmond-sensei was trying his best to convince me to take the offer, but I’m starting to think that Chairman Tsukimitsu and Shakando-sensei just wanted an alibi.”

“An alibi?”

“Uh-huh. A way to prove to sponsors that they tried to win me over. And Mr. Mine, who used to work at the Kansai Shogi Association, participated in the meeting remotely. Some employees do sometimes join the board after they retire, but that never happened with a Kansai Association employee before. Someone who is close to Mr. Mine and could benefit from having him on the board decided to appoint him. Someone like you, maybe.”

“…… That organization is just as out of touch as they always have been. In a bad way, I might add.”

Finding anyone with sway over the board of directors isn’t possible.

Because they’re not on the inside.

The association started out as a bunch of gamesters, nothing more than a collection of ornery men who would say, “I don’t care if what you’re saying is right, I won’t listen because it’s you who’s saying it.” Therefore, they can’t decide anything for themselves.

Then who calls the shots?

The higher ups, that’s who. Just like the feudal age, isn’t it?

That’s how I managed to manipulate the association from the outside, through people with political and economic clout.

My plan to secure contracts to rebuild the Shogi Association buildings went off without a hitch.

“You’re right that the association won’t listen to the powerless masses. There’s only a handful of people who can sway them. And yes, I have that kind of power now.”

“……!”

Her eyes fly open like a cat. After finding someone who could make her dream a reality, how could she not?

“Please, Ten-chan! Help me set up a Professional Entrance Exam!”

“………… Sure.”

“!! Y-You will?! Really?!”

“Once you beat me.”

Judging by her lack of surprise, I bet she anticipated that response. Ai is just quietly looking at me.

After all, she knows I’m not done yet.

“There’s one more condition, too.”

Once I lick my dry lips, I tell her.

“The one who loses has to quit Shogi.”

Thud.

That was the sound of Ai’s backpack slipping through her arms and crashing to the floor.

“…… Q-Quit …………?”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too convenient for you to have a chance to turn professional without the risk of losing anything? That’s the same risk every member of the Sub League is running right now. Is it too much for you? Swear to me that you’ll retire from the Women’s League and never sit in front of a Shogi board again if you lose, here and now.”

“…………”

She probably thinks I’m telling her to give up on Yaichi.

―――I’m not that naive.

I know the reason why she wanted to become a professional in the first place. I’ve known since the start, and I didn’t even need Awaji to figure it out.

We are sisters, after all.

Adding the part about the one who loses means that I’ll have to walk away from Shogi if she wins.

―――That is more pressure for you, isn’t it?

The weight of knowing you could change someone else’s life. Having that on her shoulders is the only way for Ai Hinatsuru to play up to her full potential of Tier 1, the apex of humanity.

Ai Hinatsuru has made a mess of so many lives at this point, and she’s done it all with tears running down her face. One look at her overwhelming talent at such a young age shattered her opponents’ will to fight one after another akin to a soul reaper or a plague.

But if I beat her at her absolute best, I can prove that I have ascended to Tier 0 once and for all.

Surpassing Ginko Sora and on the same level as Yaichi Kuzuryu.

“…… Okay.”

Ai squeezes the hem of her skirt with all her might.

“If I lose to you, I’ll quit Shogi forever.”