Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 9 - Chapter 1.5

  BREMEN TOWN MUSICIANS

“Jawana list?”

Charlette’s voice filled the room, but her tongue couldn’t keep up with the vowels.

Four elementary school–aged girls had gathered at the apartment Yaichi Kuzuryu and Ai Hinatsuru call home.

Getting together these last few precious days of their spring break, the Grade Schooler Practice Group was in the middle of a Shogi sleepover and pajama party.

With the first match of the Queen Title Match a mere two days away, Yaichi was currently in Kobe to give Ai Yashajin a last-minute Shogi lesson.

“Jawana …… Nope. Journalist, as in one of those people? Writers for newspapers and Shogi magazines who do articles about the matches?” Momentarily picking up a bit of Charlette’s accent, Mio asks for confirmation.

“That’s right. Master and I, we were pretty surprised ……,” Ai responded with a mixture of concern and happiness on her face. “I asked them to let me work as the match recorder, but they said no …… That’s why they offered to let me be a journalist.”

“Which match are you going to do?”

“They said I could choose any to write about.”

“Really? Is that how it works?”

“It’s not for a newspaper or anything. They’ll post what I write on the association homepage and in a magazine. Ms. Oga also told me I could write about the whole series at once if I wanted. So I decided to go watch the first and third matches myself. They’re both in Kansai, too.”

“Wooow~ …… Getting all this special treatment, the Shogi Association really must have high hopes for you, Ai!” said Mio, thoroughly impressed as she nodded her head.

“And the journalist gets to sit right next to the match recorder, yeah? But, you won’t have to make tea or anything and you can leave your spot whenever you want! That’s so much easier!”

“Ahaha. But Master said: Being a match recorder would be better for training. He looked really sad, too.”

“Cha, too! Cha wants to wecord matches!”

“That’s great, Charlette. But you’d better learn proper posture first.”

The moment Mio said that, Charlotte immediately blurted, “I twain!” and tried to sit on her ankles. However, her balance was off, and she tumbled to the floor.

“Ahahahaha!”

“Charlette, that was so cute!”

“Weally?”

Right beside this lighthearted banter, one girl’s eyes were alight with admiration.

“Truly amazing! I’m so jealous of you!!” said Ayano Sadatou with a blinding flash from her glasses.

“Not only a Women’s League player, but a Shogi journalist as well! You are just like Big Sister Machi! I wish to become just like that!”

“D-do you really think so? I don’t think I can write as good as Kugui-sensei, but …… I’ll look to her as an example and do my best!”

“My oh my …… So then, the fastest way to join the Women’s League is to write articles? In that case, I’ll set my sights on the league and …… But … but … my skills are …… Awhhhh~!”

“Ayano? What wong? Pat pat?”

Worried about Ayano as the girl goes deep into thought, Charlette goes over to her and gently pats her head with her tiny hand in a show of support.

“Well, don’t forget, you’ve got really pretty handwriting and get good grades in Japanese class, so you might be perfect for this journalist thing.”

“Thank you, Mio!”

Since Ai’s typing skills were still a work in progress, she was told to write on the same lined paper she used in elementary school and submit her article that way.

“Hey, hey,” said Charlette as she tugged on Mio and Ai’s clothes. “Cha, Cha wants to wite an atwicle, too.”

“You do? But, Charlette, can you write Japanese characters? You’ll have to write the Chinese kanji characters, too.”

Ayano, who had recovered from her momentary breakdown, answers Mio.

“Charlette has a lot of confidence in her writing because a short essay she wrote at school was published in the local paper.”

“Wooow?! That’s amazing!!”

“Take a wook!”

Charlette reached into her pocket and pulled out a neatly folded newspaper clipping, which she then held out for Ai and Mio to see.

Lub

Cha lubs Shwogi.

But Cha lubs Masta eben more.

Masta twold Cha.

“You can bwe my bwide.”

“We’ll hwoneymoon in Hawaii.”

“I’ll bwuy you an apawtment.”

Cha lubs Masta, too.

How much?

Vewy much!

Mio was so shocked by what she read that she asked Charlette one more time just to make sure.

“This was in the newspaper? This right here?”

“Oui!” she responded with a proud grin.

Ai showered the young girl with praise.

“Of course something this well-written was chosen! You’re really good at writing, Charlette! It must be nice.”

“Oui!”

“So, tell me, have you written anything else? Has Master said anything else to you, Charlette ……? I’d love to hear more! Would you tell me?”

“Oui!”

“Oh, no no no ……”

One look at Charlette’s sparkling grin next to Ai’s dazzling smile made the color drain from Mio and Ayano’s faces.

“Ch-Charlette! Save that for later! …… Actually, never ever tell Ai that you like Kuzuryu-sensei, okay?!!”

“Oui?”

Charlette tilts her head, confused. Ai doesn’t say another word but the smile is still plastered to her face. That visage was much, much scarier than words can describe.

Mio changes the subject in an attempt to clear the sour air.

“B-But, yeah! Kuzuryu-sensei making you write an article about Ten-chan, that’s really mean of him!”

“Huh?”

Ai couldn’t follow Mio’s thinking.

So, Mio spells it out for her.

“Ten-chan is your rival, right? Doesn’t having a front row seat for your rival’s title match sting quite a bit?”

“N-No, not at all! Master is coming up with all sorts of ways to help me grow. It’s not painful at all.”

Ai denied Mio’s words with everything she had.

“Besides, I still haven’t won a single match against Ten-chan, so rather than hurt …… I mean, Ten-chan started playing Shogi years before I did and her record in the Women’s League is so much better than mine …… Thinking of her as a rival would be ridiculous.”

“Are you sure? As I see it, the two of you both became Women’s League players very quickly, so I think you have the same amount of talent that she does. Also, people still talk about how you cried after the day you lost to Ten-chan in the Practice League. I believe you are perfect rivals.”

Once Ayano was finished speaking, Ai meekly shook her head from side to side.

“That day in the Practice League, I was just upset with myself because I didn’t see the check path and let the win get away …… But ……,” added Ai as she forced a smile, “she isn’t my rival. I’m her sister apprentice. That’s why I want to write something for her!”

“Is that right ……?”

Mio knew the pain of losing to Ai despite having a handicap advantage in the Practice League and shed tears of her own at the time. Despite her complicated feelings on the matter, she eventually nodded and took Ai at her word.

“Well, if you say so!”

“As you are sister apprentices, it is better to be on good terms. Though Ten-chan is not the easiest to get along with, she takes Shogi very seriously and I respect her a great deal for it. I wish her well in this match,” said Ayano.

“Cha, too! Cha wants to woot for Ten-chan!”

Though Ai Yashajin kept a very clear line between herself and the other members of the Grade Schooler Practice Group, that didn’t change the fact that she was a friend who would research right along with them.

“I’ve got it!! Think we can go and cheer for her at the match?! Can we?! The first one’s in Osaka, right?”

“That isn’t too far away and it’s a tourist area like Kyoto, so we should be able to go together.”

The schedule for the Queen Title Match had finally been announced and had become a trending topic.

Preparations for crowd control were already in the works and all tickets for the commentary hall with big board analysis were being sold by lottery rather than first-come first-serve, making this Shogi event feel more like an idol concert. However–––.

“Kuzuryu-sensei’s students get VIP seats, right? They said so at the Yamashiro Ouka Title Match.”

“I’m not sure. I’ll ask Master about it, but ……”

In this instance, VIP stood for Very Important Prepubescent. Association staff has come to believe that Yaichi Kuzuryu-sensei has a Lolita complex, and therefore makes sure that there are seats available for his tiny entourage whenever he participates in events.

This means that little girls actually sitting in those seats all but confirms Kuzuryu-sensei’s preferences to the Shogi world at large …… As these four girls are still in elementary school, they have yet to catch on to this fact. The long-term outlook on Kuzuryu-sensei’s reputation is concerning.

However Ai was more concerned with something else.

“But, you know what Ten-chan is like. She’ll be angry with us if we make a scene cheering for her. Not to mention that Aunti- …… the way Sora-sensei acts rubs her the wrong way.” 

“I know, I know! That’s why we go there and root for her really quietly! It shouldn’t be a problem just listening to the commentary, right?”

“Kwietly!” squealed Charlette with glee, happily waving her arms in the air. Not the least bit quiet at all.

“I shall make sure that Charlette behaves herself,” said Ayano, clamping down on Charlette with a bear hug from behind.

“I too wish to see what a Shogi journalist does with my own eyes! So please, let me come with you!!” she adds, her eyes glistening with desire.

At this point, Ai knew the three girls would go anyway even if she refused.

“…… Why not? We can all go and support Ten-chan together. Yes! I’ll ask Master!”

Ai nodded with a smile. Her younger sister apprentice Ai Yashajin was easily misunderstood, but she was happy to have someone she could relate to.

Mio got to her feet and started waving her arms about.

“Yaaay! So, our group is now officially Ten-chan’s cheerleaders!”

“Yess!”

And so it was that the cutest little support squad was born.

With the Queen Title Match’s first match on the horizon, no one could’ve expected its shocking conclusion …… At this point, not a single person would’ve seen it coming.