Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 18 - Chapter 4.07

  Friendship

Pushing the water bottle away, Ayumu says, “I refuse.”

It took me a second to realize what he meant.

At first, I thought he was refusing the water, not my offer of a stalemate.

“………… What?”

“I REFUSE!!” Ayumu repeats and slams his fists down on the tatami mat and leans over the board, showing me he clearly wants to keep going.

“Hey ………… Think this through, will you?”

Some annoyance comes out in my voice. Players aren’t supposed to let that happen during a match, but Ayumu rejecting the stalemate gets under my skin.

The match will never end if we keep going from here.

Well, actually …… There will be an end. There’s a rule for that.

But going that far would be meaningless.

We both have enough points and there’s no chance of our Kings being checkmated. All we can do now is just produce an endless chain of Promoted Pawns.

It’ll become a stalemate in the end anyway.

“Yes, I know you’ll lose the first move advantage in a rematch. I completely understand where you’re coming from and I admire your willingness to fight to the end without giving up.”

I notice the observer, Usui-sensei coming into the arena through my peripheral vision but keep trying to get Ayumu to see reason.

“But all you’re going to do is muck up this match record and cause trouble for the staff at this hotel if you keep playing. This is a title match, remember? We’re not playing a practice match in the kids’ room anymore.”

“…………”

Compiling meaningless moves as a pro is called soiling the record. We hate it when people do that.

That’s because it’ll stay in that record forever.

For Ayumu, who has always honored tradition and cared about aesthetics, being criticized by future players for all eternity is something he should want to avoid at all costs.

I was absolutely sure he’d agree to a stalemate, but―――

“………… Are you aware of Mozart’s twilight years?”

He said something that had nothing to do with Shogi. M-Mozart?

I have no idea how to respond to that, but Usui-sensei does it for me.

“He was a boy genius who wrote his first piece of music as a five-year-old, but his money dried up along with his popularity as he got older. Word is he couldn’t even pay for a headstone on his grave or a funeral when he passed away.”

“Yes. Mozart spent his final years in isolation …… But it was not due to financial struggles ……”

Ayumu is so completely absorbed in the board that he doesn’t notice the difference between our voices.

He just keeps talking like a witchdoctor casting a curse ……

“Prominent figures like Bach and Handel were history in Mozart’s day. Beethoven had yet to distinguish himself as a composer and Wagner wasn’t even born yet. He advanced too far ahead of his time …… to the point that his contemporaries couldn’t comprehend his music and left him out in the cold ……”

“That’s how it always is for prodigies. I speak from experience.”

The creator of Usui System acknowledges Ayumu’s point and then asks an obvious question.

“But what does that have to do with this match?”

“I will not allow Yaichi Kuzuryu to become another Mozart.”

Ayumu’s voice shakes with glee, but he never once looks away from the board.

“Finally …… I have finally made it this far. At last, the true battle can begin. This match will end everything, once and for all. Judgment shall be cast …… before the 500th move.”

“?! A-Ayumu …… Are you seriously trying to make that happen?!”

Shogi rules took one player refusing a stalemate when all the conditions were met into account.

So there are a few ways to settle it.

First, the match has to continue all the way to 500 moves.

The regulation currently says that all matches that reach 500 moves will be unconditionally replayed from the beginning.

Ayumu is talking about the other rule.

It says that if a player meets specific conditions, that player will be recognized as the winner if they declare that they have met all the conditions. 

In the Shogi world, matches end with one player lowering their head and acknowledging their loss. This is the one exception when the winner can declare their own victory.

It’s called―――

“The Nyugyoku Victory Declaration ……!!”

The four people in here other than Ayumu harmonize.

Usui-sensei looks worried that he could make the correct call as the observer with all those complicated rules in play.

Noboryou 3-dan is in utter despair thinking about how much longer she’s going to have to stay sitting on her ankles.

The journalist Ms. Mato rips up everything she wrote so far because now the match will either end in a victory declaration or a 500-move stalemate.

As for me ……… A certain moment popped up in my head…..

During the first match, when I had to choose between going for a checkmate or playing Double Nyugyoku….. That look on Ayumu’s face when I decided not to play Double Nyugyoku …… He looked lonely, almost hurt.

“Th-There’s no way …………”

I get back to the match to see if that really is the case.

Ayumu plays his next move instantaneously.

Seeing him keep all the victory declaration conditions in mind, in addition to the point tally and avoiding checkmate while extending the match under one-minute Shogi …… that no way became a definitely.

Ever since these rules were set in place, no match between human beings has ever been decided by a victory declaration.

The conditions are just that strict.

While I doubt that even pro players have them all memorized, the biggest reason no one does it is because―――

“In the event the conditions have not been met, the declaring player will lose the match.”

That.

You have to completely grasp not only your own pieces, but your opponents as well in a matter of seconds.

Most will settle for the tie than crosses that razor-thin bridge.

But Ayumu, who has already rejected a stalemate, is making every move necessary to meet all the conditions.

He’s not even hesitating. He would have had to have researched to get this far without making any mistakes.

Just knowing the conditions doesn’t mean you can play this efficiently!

“Ayumu …… Don’t tell me you were expecting this and researched how to play Double Nyugyoku strategies?!”

“Not I.”

“Huh?”

“He was the one who ventured into the boundless possibilities that exist post-Double Nygyouku. Though he never had a chance to show it in a match, he kept researching …… For years and years, he thoroughly dissected this very battle! I am merely benefiting from the fruits of that labor!”

The he Ayumu is talking about.

Who was it that spurred on talks of Shogi’s solution, accurately predicted the future and even set a rule that would soon be necessary?

“The …… Mei ….. jin ……?”

I heard that everyone had doubts when the Meijin first proposed the Nyugyoku Victory Declaration because it was so complicated and unrealistic.

But after listening to Ayumu’s story …… I get a different picture.

―――Was it because he wanted to enjoy Shogi even more ……?

All of Awaji’s Double Nyugyoku match records plunged me into despair.

Seeing all those matches, which would end in either a declaration or a stalemate at the 500th move all lined up, made me believe that was Shogi’s inevitable future and it broke me inside. How could Shogi be so flawed?

But my friend sitting across the board is saying this:

Don’t give up before figuring out the intricacies of Double Nyugyoku matches.

“Fine then, show me what’s possible!”

“Acknowledged!!”

A duke it out over the shoulders type of brawl. The true mark of a Double Nyugyoku match!

The average pro would struggle to keep moving without their formations falling apart in this barren wasteland, but the two of us have studied this phase so well that we’re setting traps for each other as we go.

Only those with a superior sense for how pieces interact have the skill to exchange blows in this type of fight. Something will give if you read sequences through one at a time.

―――If I don’t reach out with all my senses …… I’ll lose!!

This isn’t a reading contest anymore.

How much of my life have I devoted to Shogi pieces? How earnestly did I pursue possibilities and the future of Shogi?

The depth of my genuine love for the game called Shogi is being tested.

“Onward, my Sub-Golds!!”

Bent on fulfilling the ten or more pieces other than the King in the opponent’s territory condition, Ayumu summons a constant stream of Pawns from his piece stand.

Cleaning up my territory feels like playing whack-a-mole. I find a moment to breathe and ask the match recorder, “What move are we up to?!”

“The next move will be 388 …… N-No! 390!!”

My path is set. Keep Ayumu from fulfilling the conditions until the 500th move.

That way, it’ll end as a stalemate no matter what the point totals are. In other words, if I can prevent Ayumu from meeting those conditions through move 499, this match will be moot. We will have a rematch.

There are 110 moves left before 500. A typical game of Shogi ends in that amount of moves but―――

“So easy,” I say as I sacrifice my big pieces to keep Ayumu from invading my territory.

I’m way below 24 points now.

There’s no way to offer a stalemate anymore.

Now that I’ve abandoned the final retreat path, Usui-sensei gets out of seiza and crosses his legs.

“Play your hearts out, kiddos,” he says. “Takeru Usui’ll observe right along with you!”

The date changes, but we’re still fighting.

Ayumu and I break past the previous record for the longest match, 402 moves, but a hellish 98 moves of Shogi are still sitting in front of us.

Then again, that hell―――

“Haha! How fun is this?!”

Keeping the amount of Ayumu’s invading pieces out of my territory is such a thrill. This brand new version of Shogi is more fun than I’ve had in a long time.

“KHAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

“HRAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

It’s the middle of the night, but roars erupt in this quiet traditional hotel in Tokyo as our endless game of tag rages on.

“Is this Shogi at all?”

I don’t have an answer prepared for that question.

If there’s anything I can say, it’s this …… I’m amazed Ayumu has managed to keep his formation so delicately balanced for this long. He must’ve practiced with the Meijin countless times.

“There’s something wrong in that guy’s head, don’t you think, Ayumu?!”

“On that point, I wholeheartedly agree!!”

I never beat Awaji.

But I did force a tie twice. I escaped long enough to make it to the 500th move with the same strategy I’m playing now.

Even so, I can’t shake off Ayumu.

Both of us felt like we’d cracked the other’s shell around the 400th move. I never imagined that two people could play correctly long enough to make it into this unknown abyss …… But Ayumu is playing just as strong as Awaji right now!

“Here’s to humans!! But―――!!”

The finish line comes into view as we round 450 moves.

As long as I keep this up, my guts are telling me …… I can make it!

“Just …… 50 TO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

Yelling at the top of my lungs to keep myself fully alert, I allow Ayumu to fulfill the third condition.

I stop hunting Ayumu’s tenth invading pieces completely.

Instead, I bar him from reaching the last requirement with every ounce of my life!

“The declaring player cannot be in check.”

I have to keep him in check, last requirement, all the way to the 500th move. In other words, the small army of pieces I’ve built up have to threaten his King for the next 50 turns straight.

25 checks in a row!

“Check!!”

I snap pieces down as fast as possible so he doesn’t have any time to think and put his King in check every single turn.

Check!

Check! Check!

ChechcheckcheckcheckcheckchechcheckcheckcheckcheckchechcheckcheckcheckcheckChechcheckcheckcheckcheckCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEECK!!

None of these checks feel very threatening on their own. Of course not. Both of us know there’s no way either of us can put the other in checkmate.

It’s just a mere stalling tactic to draw out the match …… but every move I can force out of him is more important than the last.

“What move was that?!”

“The 496th!!”

I look down at my empty piece stand and snap my tongue in frustration.

Out of ammo.

―――But I just need two more moves!

If I can find a way to put his King in check two more times, a stalemate will be called.

So long as Ayumu’s King stays in check, he won’t be able to make the declaration. I have to figure out a way to do that using only what’s on the board but―――THERE!!

“Check!!”

―――YES ……!

Miraculously, there was a piece ripe for the taking in a position where I could put Ayumu’s King in check at the same time. Taking an extra piece on my stand, I can guarantee a stalemate next turn. It’s two birds with one stone.

Usui-sensei lets out a long sigh.

Probably a sigh of relief that he won’t have to be the first observer to call a match based on a victory declaration in history.

I place the piece I took onto my piece stand, absolutely sure this will end in a stalemate since I have Ayumu in check on the 496th move.

“…………”

Ayumu has been playing at lightning speed all this time, but now he stops.

There’s only one thing he can do in this situation: let his King be put back in check.

Then, he says, while moving his King with trembling fingers, “Check.”

“Huh?”

Move 497.

My eyes shoot open as his hand pulls away.

What?

Did he ………… just say?

“You are in check,” Ayumu repeats.

Saying I’m in check.

I’m the one who put him in check …… so how can it be that I’m in check now ……?

“R-Re ……”

The observer and match recorder get up on their knees and shout.

“Reverse check?!”

I can’t even speak anymore.

―――He got me ……!

That miraculous piece wasn’t a miracle at all.

It was a deadly poison apple.

Even while being put in check more than 20 times straight, Ayumu wasn’t just aimlessly running his King around. He was setting a trap for me the whole time.

I was so focused on keeping him in check until the 500th move that I completely overlooked something that I’d normally never miss.

My own King’s safety.

“A reverse check, here? Now?! Then―――”

I’ll be checkmated if I don’t protect my King!

Falling into a trap at the very last single possible moment, I’m forced to use the piece I’d intended to be the final check on Ayumu’s King for my own King’s defense instead.

“…… Kgh!!”

I take the piece and place it in front of my King rather than Ayumu’s. If I didn’t, I’d lose.

Once my fingertips leave it ……

Ayumu doesn’t play a move. It’s his turn, number 499.

His right hand, what should be reaching for the board right now, reaches for the heavens instead.

“I―――”

Ayumu Kannabe extends his arm as high as he can and says those words.

The ones that only the person who endured a long, grueling fight to seize a win at the very end can say.

“I am victorious.”

He looks almost divine right now.

So much so that it’s easy to forget he's a pro Shogi player ……

“S―――”

Staring absentmindedly at Ayumu’s outstretched fist, observer Usui 9-dan starts the confirmation. It took him a moment to react because every match up until now has ended with “I lost” …… I don’t blame him.

“So, you are declaring you win, yes?”

“Correct.”

“Nice. I’ll confirm.”

Usui-sensei turned to ask the match recorder Miss Noboryou to confirm all conditions were met on the tablet, but the thing ran out of battery at some point during the match. So she had switched to the old-fashioned way: on paper. Not that even the latest tablets come with an autodetection feature for a victory declaration.

As for the match recorder herself, she hasn’t been able to take a bathroom break in several hours and flew out of the arena the instant Ayumu declared.

Almost as if taking her place …… Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud ……! Media and association people swam through the door.

Now that Ayumu has claimed victory, a draw isn’t going to happen. Either he has met all the criteria and won or I’ll be given the win if he’s missing something.

This judgment will decide everything.

“The offense has one, two, three, four ………… 10 small pieces and three big for a combined 25 points. Combine that with what is in the defender’s territory …………. Damn it! I should’ve blocked this pain-in-the-ass rule when I had the chance ……”

The camera got a good angle of Usui-sensei counting up the pieces on the board.

It goes without saying that Ayumu and I already know the result.

But I’m more than happy to wait for the observer’s final decision. We were both playing one-minute Shogi. If even one of the conditions isn’t met, then I get to keep my title ……

“………… Got it.”

After making painstakingly sure that everything is in order, the exhausted observer makes the announcement.

The result of the first Nyugouku Victory Declaration match in history.

“At the time of declaration, Kannabe’s King was in nyugyoku, had over ten pieces besides said King in the defender’s territory, possessed over 31 points worth of pieces on and off the board and was not in check. The total number of moves, barely, has not reached 500. Therefore―――”

Gulp …… It’s so quiet in here that everyone heard him swallow some spit.

Then the silence gets destroyed.

“With a total of 499 moves, I confirm Kannabe 8-dan’s victory declaration to be valid!”

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

The venue trembles in the dead of night.

“It’s over?!”

“By declaration! The first one ever ……!!”

“What was the last move?! WHAT?! The offense’s declaration was the last move?!”

“I-I thought the match would never end ……”

“Kannabe-Crown has been born!!”

“Kuzuryu’s first title loss …… He’s actually the youngest ever to do that, too! Just a bit younger than the Meijin when it happened to him!”

…… No tears came out the moment I lost the title.

Maybe I sweat too much during the match and my emotions are too numb to cry?

I try to stand but end up tumbling backward and my back hits the tokonoma pillar. I lean on it and just stare up at the ceiling as moments drift by.

“………… Haaaaa ……………”

My head was heavy as lead a second ago, but now it’s light as a feather. All the dark clouds I’ve been carrying with me start to lift. I feel refreshed, somehow.

There’s no pain at all.

I don’t even feel like reviewing the match in my head. Rather than analyze the good and bad moves, the whole thing glistens like a treasure just the way it is ……

But here’s what I say to Ayumu.

“…… Sorry for turning your first title match into this ……”

“It’s fine. We’ll have plenty more.”

Sounding like he did back when we first met, the divine aura Ayumu had when he made the declaration is gone. He’s got the face of a kid who played until he dropped.

―――There’s nothing waiting for us but a pitch black wasteland ……

The edge of the world I’d wanted to keep hidden.

Surprisingly …… it was kind of fun.

I got my fill of both the excitement I had the first time I picked up a Shogi piece and the thrill of an intense match. Admittedly, there were too many moves.

Why, though?

The utter nothingness I felt when playing against Awaji here is suddenly satisfying.

Ayumu came with me this time. That has to be it.

With a best friend at your side, a wasteland, hell or even outer space …… can become the best arena ever. I know that now.

“Hey, New Crown.”

Since I still can’t get up, I reach toward Ayumu and ask, “Would you …… come back here again with me?”

“We are no Mozarts. The old standards remain far from perfected. Untold new melodies are yet waiting to be uncovered.”

He takes my hand and offers a firm squeeze before saying.

“However, I would not turn down an occasional venture.”

As playing this over and over would be fatal, Sir Ayumu adds with a serious face. He hasn’t changed at all since the day we met.

He’s always been like this.

Even when he’d stay over at Master’s place while Big Sis and I were playing Title Match, he stuck with us for hours and hours without so much as a complaint.

The same was true when Big Sis and I went to all the Shogi classrooms to beat all the students around Kanto. He just made that serious face and tagged along ……

“……… I wonder if I can bring Ginko here ……”

She might not be able to endure the trip.

But, if Ayumu and I can establish a path with standards, someone else might come join us someday. Then we can enjoy Shogi to our hearts’ content.

Here I'm sure I can experiment with Shogi like I used to in the kid’s room back when I was an apprentice.