Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 7 - Chapter Pr

  JOYOUS COMMENTS FROM TEN YEARS AGO

Back when I was a boy, I had the same dream as every other boy around.

To be–––the Meijin.

That dream drove me to dive headfirst into the unforgiving world of Shogi hopefuls in training with no guarantees about the future.

One has to become a Shogi player to become the Meijin. Armed with that knowledge, I jumped at the chance to enter the Sub League without a second thought.

The Sub League: where there’s no telling what’s in store.

The only thing I could clearly see in that never-ending darkness was my dream.

Of course, my goal once I became a pro was to become the Meijin.

But in the pros––caught in the constant ebb and flow of the placement matches—that dream got chipped away to the point that I couldn’t see it anymore.

Promoted, demoted, staying stagnant …… The process repeated itself so much I thought I would never have a chance to become the Meijin.

That chance belonged to players who turned pro as junior high students and got promoted all the way to A rank without getting stuck once: the chosen ones. I started to believe players who counted victory stars with each passing year, praying there would be enough like me who would get demoted, who weren’t meant to have a shot.

I hit the ceiling so many times when I belonged to C-2, going 9 wins and 1 loss over and over again, that the despairing thought that I would never get promoted began to seep in.

The same thing happened in C-1, and again in B-2 and B-1, always hitting my head on the ceiling …… Even when I was finally promoted to the A rank, I went 4 and 5 and found myself back in B-1 after only one season.

I was the only one unable to stay in A with four victories. Hitting that ceiling was a hard pill to swallow.

I guess I never had it in me to be the Meijin after all …… 

The turning point came when I had that painful taste in my mouth.

I took two apprentices.

One a four-year-old girl and the other a six-year-old boy. I made them live-in apprentices.

Surely, there were plenty who thought it was strange in this day and age.

However, I was the most astounded by what I’d done. I was in no position to look after other human beings no matter how you looked at it. Even I thought I was trying to run away from reality. No matter how talented those kids were ……

Though, it seemed those two kids thought I was the best in the world.

“Why aren’t you the Meijin, Master?” they asked me point-blank, their faces completely serious.

“Bein’ Meijin ain’t somethin’ ya can just decide on yar own,” I said that day. “Ya gotta be chosen by the Shogi gods …… My turn may be comin’ up, though.”

When they heard that, they went around saying, “Our Master’s going to be Meijin really soon!” to anyone and everyone. That put me in quite a fix more than once.

However, a desire to meet their expectations could be the reason I was promoted once again. I’m not sure how else to explain how my record keeps improving despite having so much more to do than before ……

Looking back on it, I was also promoted during the biggest event in my life to date. That just could be how it goes.

Dreams are mysterious things.

Holding onto them was so easy as a kid, but doing so as an adult is very difficult. Light and yet heavy, clear but also murky, they are mysterious indeed.

My apprentices found the dream that I had lost and gave it back to me.

I will never lose it again.

Now that I’m back in A, I want to take another shot at making that dream come true.

I want to be the Meijin.