Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 2 - Chapter 5.2

  RAY OF LIGHT

At move 127.

The chairman’s next move–––deploying a Bishop at 3 one, check.

“Now— ……!!”

It felt like he’d reached into my chest and ripped out by heart with his bare hands, like all the blood in my body stopped flowing at the same time.

–––No way, I’m in checkmate?!

It’s said that players who went against the chairman in his glory days would throw in the towel when in check, right then and there, even if they could see a way for their King to escape.

They trusted the chairman’s ability to read the board more than their own ……

“…… No way …… But, then again ……?”

I don’t see a checkmate. My King should still be alive. Should be.

Then again, the person sitting in front of me …… His records, his titles, his appearance …… His overwhelming presence is making my fingers go numb.

Shivering and frozen solid, I hear the recorder say my name.

“Kuzuryu-sensei. Your waiting time has expired. Please continue according to one-minute Shogi rules.”

“…… Understood!”

There’s no time to wonder anymore.

With my waiting time gone, I keep thinking until the absolute last moment and still didn’t see a way for him to put my King in checkmate.

So, I take the Bishop he deployed with the King itself. 3 One King!

“6 Four Promoted Bishop.”

In check for the second time. The chairman immediately moves his Promoted Bishop to attack my King. I can’t deploy anything to protect it. My only choice is to move it back where it was.

Then, his Promoted Rook slices in, tearing away my defensive Gold. Now I’m in check for the third time. If I take it, it’s all over. I waste no time escaping forward.

My destination: enemy territory. Nyuugyoku. Get my King across the board.

But the checks keep coming.

I avoid the Knight’s long reach in my way by shifting to the side as soon as it was deployed. His Promoted Rook is in hot pursuit, but I dodge its attack and take a Lance at the same time.

The chairman moves the Promoted Rook all the way across the board right away.

Am I out of options after all? Have I already lost? I shake off my doubts and continue to dodge newly deployed pieces one after another until my King finally crosses into enemy territory.

Then–––.

“…… Yes!”

–––Nyuugyoku complete.

Turn 146, at long last, my King arrived in the ninth row, the deepest part of my opponent’s side of the board.

Normally, making it this far means my King is safe.

Since most pieces in Shogi can’t move backward, it’s really hard to put a King in check once it gets through the front lines.

Unfortunately.

“2 Eight Silver.”

Almost as if he saw this coming, the chairman deploys a Silver onto the board using zero waiting time and puts me in check with the same move. That’s eleven turns in a row!

“?!”

I thought my heart was going to stop the moment that Silver came down.

At first glance, it looked like it was on its own without any support. However, the Promoted Rook was protecting it from across the board.

I can’t …… take it!

“Yes ……!!”

A celebratory whisper leaks from Miss Oga’s mouth. That’s the kind of thing she ordinarily never allows herself to do, but she probably got caught up in the heat of battle and just couldn’t help it.

That’s the kind of impact the chairman’s Silver had.

Getting my King this deep into enemy territory meant that its movement options were now extremely limited. There’s almost nowhere to run. And this Silver has now pinned my King directly between a rock and hard place, trapped in the corner.

The board looks like a nyuugyoku-style Shogi puzzle, where this poetic Silver was destined to put my King in checkmate from the start–––.

Take it in—my King is dead. Run—and my King is dead.

“…… In that case!”

I just have to charge right into it!!

I slide my King into the second column, directly behind the Silver. Thinking back to how an elephant moves, the only safe place now is in the Silver’s blind spot. I can’t even breathe, the pressure is so intense.

“3 Nine Gold.”

The chairman deploys a Gold in an effort to pin my King into the corner of the board.

My King, still in the Silver’s blind spot, needs to go in the opposite direction. So, I bring it around the Silver to the other opening. 1 Eight King.

That Silver was put in place to hold my King down, but I found a way to swing by it …… and a way out of the danger zone!

That’s right.

My King is coming home–––racing back to my territory at full speed.

“H …… How could such a defensive maneuver be viable …… ?!”

Disbelief erupts from Miss Oga’s lips before she clamps them shut with both hands in a flash.

It’s practically unheard of for a King to achieve nyuugyoku only to retreat all the way back again. As a former Women’s League player, Miss Oga’s mind must be spinning, not sure what to think. As in, that could never work.

However, this is all I’ve got. Muddy, sure, but my King should come out alive!

I can see a path to victory, but my heart is beating like mad. Each heartbeat makes my hands shake and it takes everything I’ve got to keep them steady. Did I win? I’ve won!

Even so, the chairman turns up the pressure on my King, voice brimming with vigor.

“1 Nine Silver.”

1 Seven King!

“1 Eight Silver.”

1 Six King!

“1 Seven Pawn.”

1 Five King ……!!

Then, on move 156–––once my King retreated back to the fifth row, the chairman says, “It seems as though I’m out of options.”

“Th— …… ou ……!”

My throat is spazzing so much that the words thank you won’t come out. I lower my head in a deep bow out of reflex.

Only then did I realize I’m sweating up a storm. My hair is plastered to my forehead. My kimono is twice as heavy after absorbing so much sweat …… I can’t even lift my head back up.

This is the first time I’ve survived being in check for fifteen consecutive turns. Against the Eternal Meijin, no less ……

“…… Haaa …… Haaa ……”

For few moments, the only sound inside the arena was my ragged breaths. Every other match taking place in here was already over and I have no idea. I reach out to grab a cup of water to help calm my breathing …… But my hands were shaking so much that I gave up on taking a drink and put it back down.

At long last, the chairman says with the same calm tranquility as when he announced his surrender.

“Back when I put you in check by deploying a Bishop at 3 One–––.”

“Yes?”

“What would’ve happened if I had defended with the 5 Eight Gold?”

“…… Agh?!”

My head springs up on its own. I worked it out on the Shogi board in my head and immediately thought less of my victory.

–––Evading my Check Path and finding his own Check Path ……!

It’s the ultimate counterpunch, opening a Check Path that would allow him to escape the one I had on him. That one move would’ve changed everything. It was just that good.

One single move would’ve flipped a match that I thought I had won into an agonizing defeat.

“Aghh ……”

I look to the heavens, groaning.

I was so focused on my King that I didn’t realize the chairman had moved his pieces into position to defend. I didn’t read it at all.

If he’d gone with 5 Eight Gold, the victorious shoe would be on the other foot.

Basically, I was saved because he made a mistake.

I’d be willing to bet that the chairman realized it as soon as he started the rush of checks. He had the whole situation figured out more accurately and long before I did.

I can’t help but think on it again.

––– If he was in his prime ……

–––No, above all, if he could see ……

If that were the case, I would’ve been sliced down in the blink of an eye. For sure.

While it’s true we can see the board in our heads, it’s not like we can keep track of the whole thing at the same time. Focusing on one area makes the big picture go dark.

That’s why players will work out situations in their head and then check to see what’s on the board, going back and forth to make sure we’re not overlooking something vitally important.

But the chairman can only see what’s in his head.

There’s no way to know just how debilitating that handicap is ……

So, there I am, mouth half open and staring at the ceiling, when the chairman grins for some reason and says something really strange.

“Now then, I finally paid you back for that favor years ago, yes?”

“Huh?”

This was our first match. I never played against him before turning pro either.

What favor? Before I could ask, the chairman starts packing up.

“The defeated shall bow out. Please discuss the rest amongst yourselves.”

He stands up without making a sound, leaving behind even more mysterious words before leaving the arena. Miss Oga, the rolled-up scroll back in its box and in her grasp, gave me a begrudging glance before shifting her gaze to the corner of the room.

I follow it with my eyes.

There’s a young girl dressed in black standing there. Wait, whaaat?

“…… Ai?”

“About time you noticed me, Kuzu.”

The girl who could become my apprentice stares me down with her usual intimidating glare.