Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 7 - Chapter 4.5

  PLACEMENT

“Yaichi ……… Yaichi.”

I can hear the restraint in Big Sis’s voice as she pats my head in her lap while I wallow in misery.

“Hey, Yaichi …… Yaichi, can you hear me?”

“Haaa ……?”

“Why don’t you check Kanto’s results?”

“………… I don’t have to look to know what happened.”

“But something strange might’ve happened? Maybe …… something like you and Zaou-sensei happened over there, too.”

“Too scary. You look, Ginko-chan.”

“I can’t do that. You know that, right?”

Big Sis shakes her head back and forth like I’m putting her in a tight spot as she gently wipes away all the snot and tears on my face with a handkerchief.

She may have calmed me down enough to stop crying and get up, but ……… I just don’t want to look at those results ……

That’s the moment when.

“Master!!”

Ai Hinatsuru bursts into the Player’s Room with all the excitement of the puppy seeing snow for the first time.

She isn’t alone.

Mio, Ayano and Charlette race in after her. The whole Grade Schooler Practice Group being here so late at night is so bizarre. They should all be waiting back in my apartment.

What could possibly have happened for them to be here–––?

“Congratulations on your promotion!!”

… says everyone looking right at me.

“………… Come again?”

Pro …… motion?

Whose?

“I’m so …… so glad! I, after your match …… I was crying, giving up hope …… But it’s so true that you should never give up until the very last moment!”

Trails of dried tears are still on her cheeks as she smiles up at me even though I have no idea what’s going on. She keeps on talking, absolutely overflowing with glee.

“Once we saw your come-from-behind promotion …… We just couldn’t wait at home, so we came to see you! Sorry it’s so late at night! But, but, we just couldn’t stay still ……!!”

Mio, Ayano and Charlette all join hands with her in a circle and dance around me like it’s my birthday or something, each smiling from ear to ear.

“I thought we’d be doing a cheer-up party when you lost, Kuzunu-sensei, but who would’ve thought there’d be a Two Pawn violation in a match in Kanto?!”

“It’s truly surprising no one knows what will really happen! He was just one move away from victory, but to play a Two Pawn like that …… The phrase—The moment victory is assured is the most dangerous—has never felt so true!”

“You know? Cha, you know? Cha Two Pwaed, too?”

“Don’t do that yourself!”

“Two pwa, two pwa♪”

Opposed to the girls having the time of their lives …… I’m numb, like all the emotion got sucked out of me.

I drift and stumble my way toward the Player’s Room lockers to get my phone and check the results for myself.

“…………………… It’s true ……”

There’s a picture of Hatomachi 5-dan in some serious pain after accidentally deploying a Pawn in a column where he already had one, Two Pawn on the very last move right here on the official blog. He was the undefeated player ranked below me ……

And another player with one loss, Iuchi 6-dan, lost too.

Players neck and neck with me in a race to the finish line tripped on the home stretch. Two of them ……

Then letters spelling out—Thus Kansai’s Yaichi Kuzuryu has been granted C-2’s final promotion slot—are at the bottom of the page.

–––Then …… I really did promote to C-1 ……?

I fall from heaven into hell in one moment and then get dragged back up to heaven in the next …… Still not sure if this is real, I notice Mio pulling on my sleeve as she says, “See?! You’re promoted!!”

“Masta, pwaty time?”

“She’s right, Master! The food will get cold if we don’t hurry …… Ah, but you have interviews to do, right?”

Glancing at all the journalists with notepads in hand and cameras at the ready standing outside the Player’s Room, Ai trails off and tilts her head to the side. But–––.

“…… Girls. Do you realize what you’ve just done?”

Big Sis and those very journalists are staring back at the Grade Schooler Practice Group with a very cold look in their eyes.

Big Sis explains why.

“Only the players directly involved with promotions or demotions can talk about it in the Shogi world. So long as Yaichi doesn’t directly ask, no one is allowed to say a word.”

It’s one of the Shogi world’s unwritten laws.

In the event that someone gets promoted by default like I just did–––basically getting promoted based on other match results, there are times it can happen before that player’s match is over.

If they find out during the match, then it’ll affect how they play no matter what.

If the results of that match go on to influence other matches …… That domino effect could keep spreading and end up changing history itself.

Changing history might be exaggerating it.

But, it’s a guarantee that somebody’s Shogi life will be affected way too much.

That’s why everyone is extra cautious to make sure placement news doesn’t reach the ears of anyone directly involved.

“Huh ……?”

Ai looks around, surprised.

“I …… shouldn’t have said …… it ……?”

Big Sis’s glare hasn’t softened at all as she stares down my apprentice.

When she realized that even Machi Kugui (a.k.a. the journalist known as Mato) watching all this from outside the room wasn’t denying it, Ai went blue in the face.

“Gasp! Ngh ……… S-Sor …… I’m sor-ry, Master ……! I-I was! … J-just so happy ……… And I …… And I ……!”

“…………… Nah, it’s fine. I would’ve found out anyway sooner or later ……… Promotion news gets around real quick in the Shogi world these days, so it was just a matter of time ……”

My apprentice is fighting off tears and apologizing profusely.

Gently patting her little head, I force my lips into a smile.

“And, I’ve got to say that there’s no better way to learn about my first professional promotion than directly from my cute apprentice!”

“M-Master ………… I’m so, so sooorry!!”

Pretty much crying at this point, Ai wraps her arms around my waist, buries her face in my side and keeps saying, “I’m sorry!” and “Congratulations!” at a 70/30 ratio.

Mio and Ayano follow suit, saying, “Sorry!” and “I apologize!” with tears leaking out of their eyes as they come in for a hug.

Charlette, not understanding what’s going on, tilts her head with her “Oh?” and puts her arms around me, too.

Right in the middle of their soft embrace, I gently pat them all on the head or on the back.

“…… Spoiling them again?” says a clearly agitated Big Sis through puckered up lips.

“I wouldn’t say I’m spoiling them …… I mean, this is my fault because I, the Master, didn’t teach them well enough–––.”

“Shut up, lolicon. Go home and have your little girls party. Get out of here and start up the lolicon convention in your own room, will you? You’ve got all these types of little girls to enjoy one after the other until the sun comes up, yes?”

“What lolicon convention?! And, it was never a little girls party, but a party with little girls! Journalists are right there! Please stop saying things that will give them the wrong idea!”

“…… Spending the night with little girls by itself is enough to do that if you ask me ……,” says Ms. Mato, pulling out her voice recorder with a big smile on her face as she pointed it at me. Other journalists are doing the same thing.

“Kuzuryu-sensei, may I ask for a comment on how you feel now that you know about your promotion?”

“That’s hard to answer …… So much has happened so quickly that, honestly, it doesn’t feel real ……”

I make eye contact with Big Sis and Ai, jerking my head to tell them: go on ahead.

Once they were all out of the room, I ditch a smile I put on to reassure the girls and continue with the interview.

“If you’re asking whether I’m happy or sad, I’d say that not winning my way into C-1 hurts more. My Shogi was horrible today.”

“Advancing out of C-2 in only your second season as a professional is an impressive achievement in my opinion ……”

“Maybe a little too impressive considering my skill level.”

I nodded, my face twisting with the irony.

“But, as a title holder–––as the Ryuo, I feel that I should promote with a flawless record. At the very least, promoting by default is pathetic, too pathetic.”

“Does that expectation carry over to next season?”

“So long as I have a title, I think it’s my duty to promote on my own power. Does that answer your question?”

I pull on my coat the moment I finish answering her.

“Ah! Kuzuryu-sensei!”

Ms. Mato pulls the sheet of paper out of her bag just as I was about to head out the door.

“A Shogi magazine asked me to get Joyous Promotional Comments for the next issue. I wouldn’t need it for a couple days, but may I ask you to write something?”

“…… I’m too ashamed to write anything. Please send it in blank,” I say sharply and make sure to get out the door this time without hesitating.

Big Sis and the girls are waiting for me.