Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 3 - Chapter 5.4

  THE TINY SORCERESS

The second match started right away.

The piece flip put Ai Hinatsuru on defense.

“…… When you’re ready!”

“Ready when you are.”

They exchange bows and Ai turns on the chess clock.

It starts chipping away at the time for their battle.

“…………”

Keika uses some of it before her first move to clear her head.

Using time here might seem like a waste, but the first move determines the pace of the entire match, its rhythm. This isn’t a bad choice.

Unfazed by Ai’s quick-glance, move-fast style, Keika is forcing her to match her own pace.

“…… Humph. She should make her move already.”

My second apprentice didn’t have an opponent this round because of numbers. She comes over next to me and says flat out, “A little bratty, a little proud,” and her eyes are still a bit red.

The pain must’ve made her cry … Kids that cry get stronger.

I put my hand on her head and tell her, “Watch until the end, okay?” 

The little lady snaps back, “Don’t touch me!” 

Cute.

It probably didn’t have anything to do with what Ai said but … 

“……!”

Keika pulls her lip back and makes her first move with a sharp breath.

–––7 Six Pawn.

She uses her first turn to open the Bishop’s Path.

“……”

Then Ai cautiously opens her own Bishop’s Path. It’s almost like she’s trying to feel out what’s in Keika’s heart.

My apprentice hasn’t revealed whether she’s playing Static or Ranging Rook just yet.

It’s better not to show that as long as you can. An obvious strategy for the defending player … But, watching her play as much as I have, I can tell that her spirit still has the brakes on.

“… Is all that … still bothering you …?” I whisper under my breath with my eyes on my first apprentice.

Her heart is still hurting after the match with Mio, then there was the loss against Asuka and then, even more importantly, came Keika’s off-the-board tactics earlier this morning …… All them are hitting Ai’s weak spot …… Mental toughness.

But that wasn’t the only plan Keika had up her sleeve. Everything up until now was just off-the-board appetizers.

Third move–––.

“……”

Keika’s fingers clamp down on a piece, pick it up and snap it down with a high-pitched crack! She’s shown her hand.

“Huh!?”

Ai jumps in surprise once she saw what it was.

–––7 Five Pawn.

Keika …… advanced her first Pawn another space forward! This is–––.

My second apprentice and I stifle our surprise at the same time, “Third File Rook?!”Keika plays Static Rook, but she’s using Ranging?

Has she been practicing Ranging Rook strategies too?!

“……?!”

Ai looks shocked, and I don’t blame her.

Ranging Rook was supposed to be the ace up her sleeve, but I bet having the same strategy used before she had a chance to play it killed her enthusiasm.

But she can’t stay shaken forever.

“…… Okay!”

Ai nods like she’s giving herself a good talking to, flexes her fingertips and pushes her middle Pawn forward.

Keika immediately closes the Bishop Path. Maybe she wanted to avoid the chaos that follows a Bishop Exchange so she could build up her formation?

Ai reveals her plan right after that.

Just as Ai Yashajin said, “Central Rook ……?!” Ai Hinatsuru slid her Rook into the center of the board. She’s going to use Gokigen Central Rook.

That being said–––.

“…… Never thought I’d see the day these two would play Ranging Rook against each other.”

I let out a long sigh. Sparks are already flying across their board.

Just like in Ai’s match against Asuka, there are no standards to follow when both players play Ranging Rook, so the match can become a free-for-all at the drop of a hat.

And Ai is extremely good in a free-for-all.

Everyone in this room should know about her borderline brutal reading skills and her tendency to slice through formations, complete or not, with sheer force at any moment.

Asuka won because of her experience, but Keika plays Static Rook just like she does. Against her, Ai has the advantage.

Did Keika know this was coming?

I sneak a peek at her face–––now I’m certain.

“…… Research, for sure.”

My second apprentice looks up at me, confused, “What?”

It looks like a free-for-all at first glance … But there’s a trap hidden in there somewhere.

I’d be willing to bet that Big Sis told Keika that the two of us were practicing with Mr. Oishi.

Also, if Ai saw my match against Mr. Natagiri, she would decide to play Gokigen Central Rook on defense too … She could predict it.

Then use that prediction to set up a trap.

And the formation Keika chose is–––.

“Third File Rook …… Ishida-style is it?”

In general, Ranging Rook strategies are designed to take a punch and hit back harder with a counterattack. But this one, it’s a haymaker that hits hard and fast if used on offense, an extremely aggressive strategy.

As for Ai’s formation–––even I, her Master, didn’t see it coming.

“?!Ai is making …… an anaguma?!”

“Stupid girl! It’s too early to get intimidated ……!” Ai Yashajin quips in frustration. 

But Ai Hinatsuru’s decision isn’t a mistake.

It’s not wrong, but–––.

“Is that it ……?”

I smell a trap in the works.

Keika chose to make an anaguma in her first match, but now she’s forcing her second opponent to do it, an opponent much better in the late game than Ai Yashajin, no less … 

“Using Central Rook Left anaguma is the latest strategy to combat first turn Ishida-style …… But completing that formation takes far too many turns and so many pieces get committed to defense that there are hardly any pieces left for an attack.”

“So, what you’re saying is that when someone without experience tries to play it, they end up not being able to do much of anything … Yes?”

I nod to Ai Yashajin in response.

“It’s because Ai wants to attack. It’s in her nature. She doesn’t have much experience with Ranging Rook to begin with, so choosing a strategy that goes against your instincts seems a bit ……”

Risky, I have to say.

In other words–––.

“…… Keika made her choose an anaguma on purpose …?”

“That’s believable. That hag is mean enough to do it.”

Ai grits her teeth, remembering the sting that came with her last loss.

Sure enough, Keika finishes a mino gakoi, a castle-like defensive formation, before Ai completes her own defenses and stages her attack on the side of the board. What perfect timing!

“…… She’s good!!” 

Although my voice overlapped with my second apprentice’s, I was praising her while Ai sounded more like she was making a painful admission.

“Kgh …?!”

This is a tense moment. My first apprentice is biting her lip, trying to endure after Keika set up this defensive formation, and she slides her Rook to the side to cover. Unfortunately, neither her offense nor her defense are set in place while an all-out assault is bearing down on her.

Shogi logic says that allowing your opponent to make an anaguma puts you at a disadvantage.

However, that’s not always the case during a match.

Keika’s battle cunning deserves praise.

“There … Yes. Yes.”

Keika nods to herself as if mulling over her options, thinking through each move and methodically working through her waiting time.

She had to have done a lot of preparation.

But rather than plow ahead with what her research told her, she’s being careful to make sure her results are holding up before making each move. She hasn’t been this cautious in quite a while. Keika is so calm, it’s almost like Big Sis is playing …… 

She’s not going to break easily today. I can feel it.

That cool-headed Keika makes her move.

Just as my second apprentice said, “!She moved the Bishop to the edge ……?!” Keika slid her Bishop to the edge of the board and Ai chased after it with her Rook. Ai then moved her own Bishop into the space vacated by Keika’s, promoting it.

“She made a Promoted Bishop. Would it be fair to say …… they’re even so far?”

“No … Don’t you think she got baited into it?”

The match looks even at first glance. But–––.

“Sure, Ai promoted the Bishop, but that location couldn’t be worse. Her Rook is also pinned down ……”

On her next turn, Keika pulls her edge-side Bishop back into her ranks right away.

Now that the Rook is free to move, Ai slides it to the eighth column to align with her Promoted Bishop and uses the two of them together for a counterattack.

“……? Why did she move the Bishop back?”

Ai Yashajin tilts her head, confused. 

Right now, Keika’s decision to retreat looks like nothing more than a wasted move.

Then, the moment that Ai Hinatsuru went on the attack, I saw it.

Almost as if Keika were waiting for Ai to move that Rook, she sets up a counterattack aiming right for it!

“?! …… Now I get it! That’s what she was after ……!”

That Rook is what makes Ai’s offense go.

Getting her strongest piece off the board was Keika’s trap all along!

“Yes!”

“……!”

Keika gives a slight nod to herself. Meanwhile Ai’s face is twisting like a jolt of pain just shot through her. Then she looks down at the floor.

Ai’s Rook has nowhere to run. It’s as good as dead.

–––Is the fat lady about to sing …?

Just when that thought crossed my mind, “…… Ugh …… Uhhh ……! Uwh ………,” I heard her whine.

Drip, drip. Tears fall into Ai’s lap as she stares at the floor–––she’s crying.

“……!”

Keika hadn’t shown any emotion up until now, but she’s wavering. There’s no happiness in her eyes. It’s more like she’s trying to make the pain go away with sheer willpower.

She’s probably thinking Ai is going to throw in the towel. I bet she thought Ai’s spirit had snapped in the face of a much stronger formation.

But, that wasn’t the case.

It wasn’t that Ai’s spirit was broken–––.

“…… I’m sorry …… Keika ……”

Eyes still glued to the floor, Ai tries as hard as she can to get the words out.

“I, I …… didn’t know, what to do … My Shogi was all messed up, just like the feelings in my heart …… I, I love you Keika … All you’ve, done for me …… And now, playing against you, remembering everything …… I, I just …… Right here …… Right in this room–––.”

Ai looks up, her face wet with tears, and says, “I, I don’t …… want to lose anymore!!”

“……!!”

Far from being broken, Ai’s spirit charges forward in a sparkling blaze that sends a chill down Keika’s spine.

My apprentice made a vow back when she lost to Big Sis and Ai Yashajin in this room.

She swore to get strong. She swore that she wouldn’t lose to anyone again.

With another loss staring down at her, her desire to win overpowered all the other emotions. I can see it in her face.

Her instincts as a Shogi player are shining through.

Just like I did against Mr. Natagiri, Ai is–––facing the impossible!

“…… Okay!!”

Ai wipes away her tears with renewed spirit and makes a move that I never expected.

I don’t believe my eyes.

“She sacrificed the Promoted Bishop?!”

“She’s willing to give it up just to save her Rook? But being so protective of the Rook will …”

It happened before Ai Yashajin could finish that sentence.

My first apprentice, who’d been advancing at a brisk pace, did something even more shocking.

“The Rook too?!”

Just when she’d opened an escape route for it, Ai sent that Rook straight into Keika’s defensive formation without a second thought and claimed her Bishop.

“Why? Why would she do that?! That Bishop was just twiddling its thumbs in the back! There’s no way taking it was worth having her Rook on the front line … Has she lost her mind?!”

Exchanging big pieces is an even trade from an offensive capability standpoint. But it’s the piece’s movement that’s important.

Keika’s Bishop was blocked by her own pieces and was no threat whatsoever.

But once Ai’s Rook is on her piece stand, Keika can deploy it where she wishes on the board.

Ai was being worldly.

That’s why it looks like what Ai did actually helped Keika.

What’s more, Ai already sacrificed her own Bishop to break that Rook free.

So, throwing it away just to get the Bishop in return …… That whole sequence was a waste!

“……?”

Keika is being cautious but goes ahead and takes Ai’s Rook. While she can’t tell what Ai is thinking, this is theoretically the right move … I could see her train of thought in the way she took the piece off the board.

Ai deploys her captured Bishop immediately after that.

“……?!”

Everyone watching the match gasped as if lightning struck them all at once.

All the surprises up to this point were nothing compared to that last move.

Because–––she put it down in a place where it’ll get taken in any direction wherever it moves.

“For free?!!” Mio and Ayano, watching boardside now that their own matches were over, blurted out, “Doing this is like giving the Bishop away!”

“……?! ……!!”

Keika is stunned but makes the sure move and takes the Bishop.

She can see that, as long as she keeps defending, Ai’s offensive will run out of gas soon enough.

But Ai keeps going, her hands constantly on the move.

Attack. Just attacking again and again.

The board transforms right before our eyes. Pieces are exchanged every time Ai slams into Keika’s defenses and are deployed by their new Master in a completely different spot, warping around the board.

It’s Shogi from a different dimension.

Like we’re caught somewhere between different realities and the board can’t balance between the two. As a Static Rook party member, this is terrifying. I’m sure Keika feels the same way.

She may be playing Ranging Rook, but Keika is a core member of the Static Rook party.

Once you’re used to a specific feel, it doesn’t go away overnight. That’s normal … if this were normal.

But right now, the girl sitting across the board from Keika is–––.

“Take … Put … Take … Put … Put, put, take–––.”

Her body is violently rocking back and forth, and Ai transcends the Shogi board.

And then transcends this dimension.

“Take, put, take, put, take, take, put, take, puttakeputtakeherehereherehereherehere–––.”

Her hands on the tatami mats, Ai looks up from the board with a start.

Her line of sight somewhere around the ceiling, she keeps muttering under her breath, “Hereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere–––.”

It’s like she’s communicating with some Shogi satellite out in space, staring up into the air like that.

The physical board is only getting in her way.

All eleven boards she has in her head must be working in overdrive, reading ahead at an unparalleled speed at this very moment, showing her infinite futures of a reality that may or may not be.

Ai reaches out toward that future.

“––––––Here!”

She sends another piece into Keika’s defenses.

“……?!”

Keika blocks it. She didn’t have a choice. It’s obvious that Ai is forcing this attack, so the board will naturally go back in her favor, as long as she keeps her guard up.

It should.

“She moved the defensive Gold by deploying her captured Bishop … Was it to make an opening to attack? But that was her only big piece, and now that it’s gone ……,”Ai Yashajin says with one hand clamped down over her eye, desperately trying to read the board in her signature pose. 

But the whole thing must look cloudy to her because she and Ai Hinatsuru are reading it in completely different ways. It’s like she’s struggling to keep up.

Ai’s King is protected by an anaguma.

That alone means that she doesn’t have many offensive pieces, but now she’s without any Rooks or Bishops. How is she going to attack?

Chances are that Keika, the other Practice League members, the Sub League members here to instruct them or even the pros for that matter …… No one knew what move to do next.

There was only one exception–––Ai Hinatsuru.

“Here!”

By attacking, replenishing pieces on her piece stand, and attacking again over and over, Ai starts dismantling Keika’s defenses space by space.

“Here!!”

With each move, a whole new space came into existence right in the middle of the space called a Shogi board.

Her eyes fixed on the new reality, Ayano muffles her own stunned scream.

“W-When did …? Keika’s formation is in tatters?!”

It sure is.

In only twenty moves, Ai turned an almost certain loss into a guaranteed victory with what everyone thought was a forced, reckless attack.

Mio and Ai Yashajin mumble in disbelief.

“The Mino gakoi …… is breaking apart ……”

“An unorganized, bumbling attack like that got through …… It’s …… This is, like–––.”

Like watching her cast magic.

Ai’s piece stand is empty.

Keika has a Rook, a Bishop and a Gold. Not to mention five Pawns too. Considering she took those big pieces with a Gold and a Lance, Ai took heavy losses.

But even so, Ai has an overwhelming lead on the board.

I know what this magic is called.

“D-Did Ai make an anaguma …… Because she was setting this up ……?”

“Of course not?! That would mean she left herself wide open to attack from the start?! No one would do that!!” 

My second apprentice rejects Mio’s theory the moment she said it.

However, the tiniest traces of fear were starting to show up on her face.

“That’s too stupid, that wouldn’t ……… But ……”

The two of them are Static Rook at heart, so the sense required to do a worldly attack is beyond what they can understand.

Trying to think it through logically will just make everything from the first move look random and the formations confusing, like this. The very foundation of your understanding of Shogi gets destroyed.

Destroying the senses–––that’s magic.

That’s how good she’s playing, too good.

Seeing that kind of limitless power during a match makes room for fear and doubt, outside emotions that take reading speed down a notch.

That’s where many players crumble, losing their way like a ship without a compass.

“…… She’s horrifyingly talented …”

Ai has acquired a worldly sense in such a short amount of time that even I, her master, can’t comprehend.

She’s not sending her Rook into battle armed with a sharpened stick. I’m witnessing my apprentice’s first steps to becoming a true All-Rounder, her seemingly limitless talent. My body temperature is climbing. I can feel it.

That heat builds up into a word that escapes my mouth, “Intense.”

As her Master, I’m happy to see my apprentice improve. But before that.

As a competitor, my blood …… is boiling!