Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 18 - Chapter 5.08

  7 Moves

“Let me in on it, would you?”

Those were Ai Yashajin’s first words right after losing.

“Was there a checkmate?! Or wasn’t there?! Which is it?!”

“The checkpath to my King was―――”

Ai Hinatsuru deftly reversed the board to the exact point where her opponent erred.

“Wha?”

Yashajin understood the instant she saw the formation. The answer seemed so simple after being pointed out to her.

“It ………… really was there ……?”

“Uh-huh. Exactly seven moves.”

Hinatsuru traced out the sequence with her fingers, but Yashajin still couldn’t accept the truth in front of her eyes. Acknowledging it was even harder than coming to terms with the loss.

The death flags were correct.

Yet, she was defeated.

The very core of Yashajin’s being couldn’t accept Hinatsuru’s answer, one that coexisted with the true essence of Shogi and her own victory.

After all, that shouldn’t have been humanly possible ……

“O-Outdoing Awaji …… with such a simple trick ………… And for me to overlook a seven-move checkmate ………… I-Impossible ……”

“…… No matter how good you are at Shogi puzzles, there are some problems you just can’t solve,” Hinatsuru mumbled under her breath.

The agony of defeat still stung in her memory.

“You can solve any puzzle, no matter how long it is, if you can sit down and think at your desk by yourself. But when two people are sitting at a board with a lot on the line like this …… you can’t,” said Hinatsuru, looking up from the board to meet Yashajin’s eyes.

“You’re the one who taught me that …… Remember, Ten-chan?”

“Ah―――”

That moment came back to her.

Her first match against Hinatsuru.

In that Practice League bout, Hinatsuru unleashed wave after wave of furious attacks while Yashajin evaded them with pinpoint precision. It was a grand match that saw both of their strengths go toe-to-toe. It was also Ai Yashajin’s first time experiencing a true high-stakes match.

What’s more, she was victorious.

All because Ai Hinatsuru had missed a seven-move check path in the late-game.

A simple seven-move check path eluded Ai Hinatsuru, who could solve 1,000-move Shogi puzzles in an instant.

That is what carried Hinatsuru’s hope up through the very end today.

Memories of moments when she was on the cusp of giving up, as well as all the other miracle comebacks her unbreakable spirit had brought about.

“…… It was right there …………”

Yashajin bemoaned using the same words Hinatsuru had on that fateful day.

While Hinatsuru had broken down in tears immediately afterward, Yashajin was in surprisingly little pain. In fact, something similar to the relief that accompanies solving an extremely long math problem had budded within her.

If this was the last match she would ever play, she had no regrets.

That thought crossed her mind ……

“…… My decision to concentrate resources on upgrading the software’s early- and mid-game capabilities could have been the real mistake ……”

“I think that was the best way to help your winning percentage. Creating this late-game was just a lucky coincidence …… But….”

“But?”

“Even if Shogi is completely figured out, that split is close to infinite for people. So, actually―――”

“New elements will be added to the game?”

“Yes, I think so.”

Hinatsuru leaned forward and continued.

“I think late-game tricks to fool the opponent will get more attention now. That includes how to use waiting time. Fans can still get excited, so I don’t think the professional Shogi world is going to collapse any time soon.”

“You want the fans to see players make mistakes when the solution is obvious from the start? That sets them up to be laughingstocks. I’ll have no part in that professional world, thank you.”

“Just let them laugh.”

“……!”

It was the ease of Hinatsuru’s words that struck Yashajin.

What could she have endured in Tokyo that solidified her determination to this extent? Yashajin contemplated it for the first time. Clearly, Hinatsuru had suffered in her own way ……

Ai Hinatsuru put the origin of that suffering into words.

“You see? I’ve always felt like I owed someone.”

“…… As in?”

“I didn’t start playing Shogi because I loved it, more like …… someone I loved did. I wondered if a person like me should be allowed to be a Shogi player. My heart wasn’t as pure as yours or Sora-sensei’s when I found Shogi ……”

“……”

“But you know? After living in Osaka, coming to Tokyo …… meeting so many people, playing against them, winning and losing …… At some point, I realized something,” said Ai.

She spelled out her reason for playing Shogi in no uncertain terms.

“It’s not Shogi I like. I love competing with other people with Shogi.”

“……!!”

“That’s why having people around to play with is what’s most important to me. I need someone who will go all out and play high-stakes matches against me. And they have to―――”

“Be human beings ……”

It was such solid logic that even Ai Yashajin, with all her knowledge, couldn’t think of a counterargument.

Just like a three-move checkmate, the most fundamental element of Shogi.

“To me, Shogi puzzles are a way to compare smarts with the author …… a competition, you know?”

“…… If that’s all, then it doesn’t have to be Shogi, now does it?”

“Nope. Shogi is the best.”

Yashajin countered with an exasperated breath, but Hinatsuru’s response was crystal clear.

“Meetings happen by chance …… but in the end, Shogi is what really lets me go all out. And besides.”

“Besides …… what?”

“The people in the Shogi world are all so interesting!” said the girl with a smile despite being subjected to the fiercest attack ever seen from that very Shogi world.

And yet ……

―――Liking the battle. How does anyone stand a chance against that ……?

She was blindingly radiant.

Words like solution and truth had a suspect element to them. Ai Yashajin herself couldn’t help but feel they were drifting further away from them whenever she said them.

She had been forced to confront that feeling.

Not only had she lost the match, her heart had lost as well. Thoroughly.

“Haaaaaa――― ……”

Yashajin let out a long sigh.

She had always considered herself more advanced.

Other people her age may as well have been infants in her eyes.

That was especially true with Ai Hinatsuru. The girl thought traveling to Osaka on her own to ask someone to take her in as a live-in-apprentice didn’t strike Hinatsuru as a big deal. Counting on the kindness of others to that degree came across as reckless and irresponsible.

Yashajin did not dispute Ai Hinatsuru’s talent, but there wasn’t a single page she wanted to take out of her book.

After all, she was the advanced one.

If Hinatsuru was a Roman gladiator armed with Shogi puzzles and a stubborn, gritty mindset, then she was the Terminator who just arrived from the future. There was simply no contest.

However, that assumption was her downfall.

―――I may have been …… looking away from something very important ……

After deriving invincible sequences in her research and using them in matches, there was no contest left. Of course, she would grow bored over time.

The future held value because, win or lose, the end result was a mystery.

Hinatsuru bet everything on that chance and dove in headfirst.

She left the protection of Yaichi’s shadow.

She trampled the Shogi world’s biggest taboo: rejecting the Sub League.

She muddled the board with what appeared to be one bad move after another and challenged the future every chance she got. Her unbreakable heart had become her mightiest weapon.

Ai Yashajin had forced Shogi to evolve.

On the other hand, Ai Hinatsuru―――evolved from within.

“Hmph.”

Yashajin tucked her long, dark hair behind her ears.

“It seems I have to accept what you say. The winner had the clout, after all.”

“You don’t have to admit it like that, you know? You could say something like: I just happened to miss a checkmate at the end, that’s all! As a title holder, aren’t you ashamed to win by mistake?! like you usually do.”

“Excuse me?! When have I ever said something like that?! I said I’m convinced, okay?! That should be enough!”

“The review session goes until the loser is satisfied ……”

“Living in Tokyo turned you into a jerk!!”

“Oh no. It made me stronger.”

Keika, listening to their banter from the boardside table, couldn’t contain a burst of laughter.

―――These two are the top players in the Women’s League?

Rather than joy or envy, uneasiness had crept into the young women’s minds after Ginko Sora won the Queen Title.

Not only was Sora young herself, there were adults who could take advantage of her youthful naivety and some Women’s League players were shaken by the sight of her.

But there was an air of dependability in the two sitting before her now.

She surmised that it was because both of them had gone beyond the board and achieved things that even adults never dreamed were possible.

There were two of them.

Just one would be lonely.

But with two―――Shogi can be played.

“…… Nicely done.”

The Women’s Shogi world was making definite progress.

Keika’s own heart had begun to shift away from Shogi, but now she knew she couldn’t walk away. Just being part of the world gave her a sense of pride.

―――This purity is just too charming.

Here were two girls bantering back and forth, completely unrecognizable from two who were fighting their hearts out.

Two exceptionally cute 11-year-old girls.

They looked as close as real sisters.

Keika spoke as she held out a printout of their match record.

“Great match, both of you! Why don’t we continue the review session at the house over some food and drinks?”

The invitation made Ai Hinatsuru’s eyes light up while a look of reluctance crossed Ai Yashajin’s face.

The loser went along with the winner’s wishes in the end, begrudgingly.