Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 4 - Chapter Ep

  EPILOGUE

“Ai? Are you ready yet?” I call out from my room as I give the zipper on my duffel bag a really hard yank to get it to close all the way.

“Almost!” My apprentice’s voice comes through the wall.

Then … step, step, step …… I hear her come around the corner and then Ai jumps through my doorway.

“All ready! Everything’s all set to go!!”

“…… You look like you’re about to run away in the middle of the night.”

I comment on the massive backpack sticking out beyond her shoulders. My apprentice puffs out her cheeks before hitting me with a snappy comeback.

“Then what’s all that luggage for, Master?”

“I’m …… anxious, that’s all.”

Ayumu lost the second qualifier, officially making the Meijin my challenger for the Ryuo title match.

After losing the first match, the second battle was intense from the get-go with both players exchanging blows all the way through the mid-game. The tide turned two or three times before the late game …… Ayumu set the scene, surrendered with dignity and grace and then bowed out from the Ryuo League stage.

Their match over, and review session wrapping up, I got a message from Ayumu.

“He’s strong.”

That was it.

Then again, those few words had more meaning than hundreds.

“Can you blame me? This is the first match outside of Japan in six years. The association and media are having a field day …… It doesn’t help that the Meijin is trying to become the Eternal Septuple, gain his 100th title season and it all depends on this title match that’ll go down in Shogi history. Every newspaper and magazine’s going to be covering it.”

Fully expecting the Meijin will gain the Eternal designation, the association’s already filed an application for a Citizens Honor Award with the Japanese government. I haven’t even lost yet and they’re off planning the after-party.

“It’s going to take a long time to get there, right? I’ve got to finish my homework before we get there ……”

“We’ve got about nine hours. Maybe I’ll take a book of Shogi puzzles too.”

“Swimsuit! Where did I put my goggles and towel?!”

“You can buy those when we get there. I’ll buy your dress for the party the night before the match too. They sell extra underwear there, right? Oh, wait, people over there grow up so fast they might not have your size.”

“Master, you perv! Darabuchi! Can’t you be more delicate?!!”

My first match against the godly overlord.

My first time in a new place, my first defense match.

Everyone expects me to lose, and the whole country wants me to. It’s hopeless, no matter how I look at it.

The only reason I can still joke around is because Ai is here with me.

Of course, the letter she wrote for my birthday is in my duffel bag and still gives me strength every time I read it.

“Hmm, I know there’s a lot here but I can’t kick the nerves …… My kimono is being shipped over there, so as long as I’ve got my valuables, I should be okay.”

“Master, what about your passport?”

“Give me a break, Ai. How could I ever forget the most important thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing?!”

I throw my bag open and dump everything out but …… It’s not here!

“What?! Where’s my passport?! W-Where did I put it?!”

“You can’t leave Japan without your passport?!”

“I’m screeeewed! Forfeiting alreeeeeeeeady!!”

A title holder, forfeiting a title match because he couldn’t get to the arena?! That’s unheard of!

There’s more than just my title on the line. They could force me to retire. I’m dead (^o^).

Then it hits me.

“Oh, that’s right! Keika has my passport!”

“How could you forget something so important?!”

“Whew, that scared the crap out of me.”

“I think it took a year or two off my life ……”

I just made a nine-year-old think about her own life expectancy. That’s gotta be a sin or something ……

But still, we’re all packed and ready to go.

“Alrighty! Ai, final check!”

“All windows are closed! The gas is shut off!”

“All rental DVDs have been returned. No jobs to do or invoices due while we’re gone. The mailbox is empty.”

“The refrigerator is clean and empty.”

“All messages and emails have been answered …… We’re good!!”

I turn off the tablet I use for work.

My apprentice looks up at me like a puppy wearing an oversized backpack, our eyes meet and we nod.

“Here we go, Ai!!”

“Yes, Master!!”

Duffel bag in one hand, I take my apprentice’s small hand with the other and the two of us go out the door.

The first match of the 30th season Ryuo Title Match.

My first defense match, and it’s against the greatest challenger.

Our battle will take place–––across the ocean.