Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 9 - Chapter 4

  GOLDEN KEY

The vibes at breakfast these days are always really heavy.

“…………”

“…………”

Ai Hinatsuru and I sit in silence and just eat.

Normally, we turn off the TV while we’re eating but the silence is just too deafening. So I turn it on ……

“It’s time for this morning’s Shogi Update! Ishikawa Prefecture played host to the second Queen Title Match where Osaka’s own Naniwa’s Snow White, Ginko Sora-Queen, emerged victorious and is now one victory away from defending her title. Should she do so, Miss Sora will become the first ever Queen of Queens–––.”

Click.

And turn it off again.

Who knew two members of your Shogi family playing for a title hurt this much ……? 

Ai, who hasn’t said a word all morning, stops munching away on her cereal and cautiously tries to break the silence.

“Um, Master ……?”

“What is it?”

“Ten-chan’s Shogi …… in the second match …… wasn’t very good right from the beginning ……”

“Yeah. It was a complete and total loss.”

“She’s on defense for the next one …… right? Since the early game will be even more important, I think she should use the best strategy she has ……”

“The best she has? What would that be?”

“Like her Bishop Head Pawn!”

Oh, I get it.

Bishop Head Pawn was originally a ploy in offensive strategy, but Ai Yashajin figured out a way to play it on defense and has used it in Practice League and Women’s League matches. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that that strategy fueled her rise to become the Queen Challenger.

She hasn’t tried it against Big Sis yet, so I can understand why Ai thinks it could be a ray of hope.

Unfortunately–––.

“…… Her Bishop Head Pawn can be very effective, but it also has a fatal flaw. I doubt it will work against Big Sis at all.”

“A flaw? What could it be ……?”

“Time.”

“Ah ……!!”

The spoon she was holding falls to the table.

“Bishop Head Pawn is a strategy where you deliberately make an opening in your defense right in front of the Bishop. The idea is to get your opponent to try to take advantage of it. You’re controlling how your opponent attacks and you beat them by thoroughly researching their limited options. But–––.”

“If they don’t attack and just play normally ……”

“Exactly. If the opponent doesn’t take the bait, all your research goes out the window.”

That’s the thing about ambush strategies: you end up at a disadvantage if your opponent doesn’t get surprised by every move you horn into your sequence in order to lay the traps.

All ambushes face that destiny.

“If the opponent decides to draw out the match instead, trying to do Bishop Head Pawn just ends in move loss. Modern Shogi doesn’t care about move loss much at all, but it’s really hard to catch up against Big Sis when you’ve wasted several turns. And Big Sis isn’t the type to fall for a taunt. Ai Yashajin understands that much herself, which is exactly why she won’t use it …… No, she can’t use it.”

Using her defensive Bishop Head Pawn against Ryou in the quarterfinal worked because the Aggressive Archangel has a short temper and charged right into it.

But that wasn’t the case in the next match, the one to determine the Queen Challenger.

Machi the Tormentor has no problem drawing out matches whatsoever, which is why Ai didn’t use it.

She wasn’t saving it for the title match. It simply wouldn’t work.

There’s no way Big Sis would have missed that.

Since Ai didn’t use Bishop Head Pawn when she was on defense in the first match, it probably confirmed her suspicions.

“Ai Yashajin’s defensive Bishop Head Pawn cannot handle long matches yet.”

If you understand how to respond to strategies you’ve never seen before, it’s as good as a successful defense. When it comes to basic standards and research, members of the 3-dan division are even more advanced than pros.

“Rushing into an unperfected scheme because her back is against the wall is just what Big Sis wants her to do. Not to mention that using an ambush strategy in a title match puts the trust you’ve built up as a player at risk.”

“…………”

Picking up the spoon she dropped, Ai says, “…… Being you.”

“Hm?”

“Being you, couldn’t you just teach Ten-chan some amazing sequence?! You’re stronger than the Queen and even the Meijin, Master …… You’re the strongest in the world, the Ryuo! Surely you could figure out a way to perfect the Head Bishop Pawn for her?! Your sequences make other pro-senseis stop and stare–––.”

“That’s something she has to figure out on her own.”

“But!!”

“It’s not as simple as I teach her and she wins. I know you understand that much.”

“B-But …… The way things are now, Ten-chan ……”

“You really think Ai would use any sequence I taught her anyway? Stubborn as she is, she’d go out of her way never to use it and you know it.”

“Ah ……”

“Also, I have my own big match to worry about. Pros always have to prioritize their own matches. I don’t have time to think up strategies for an apprentice.”

“…………”

Slump. Ai hunches over, looking defeated.

Then she silently starts shoveling food into her mouth as if she’s given up entirely. I go back to eating as well.

While putting dishes away, Ai asks.

“…… Are you going to be researching at home all day?”

“No. I have someone to meet.”

Finished with breakfast, I tell her as I pick up a paper bag in the corner of the room, “I need to deliver some north coast souvenirs.”