Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 9 - Chapter 4.4

  GODFATHER OF DEATH

On the day that the last preliminary for determining the Crown Challenger is taking place in both the Kanto and Kansai Shogi Associations, I get to the association one hour before my match is scheduled to start and step inside of the Onjyoudan no Ma arena.

It’s the only match happening in Kansai, and the Sub League member preparing for it is stunned to see me.

“Kuzuryu-sensei?”

“Don’t mind me. Can I borrow a cloth?”

Taking one from the Sub League member, I sit down on my ankles and start wiping the board.

There are two reasons.

The first, today’s opponent is worthy of that much respect.

From the standings of our titles, I have to sit in the upper seat as the Ryuo, but I wanted to pay my respects to him by cleaning the board myself. 

The other reason is–––I didn’t want there to be any blemishes in my heart.

I heard about when Master Kiyotaki cleaned the board before his placement match against Ayumu and I want to put the same sentiment into my match today.

Because today’s Shogi requires that level of commitment to play.

“…… In order to use that magic against him ………”

“Who’re you using it on?”

“!! ………… Good morning.”

“Same.”

Today’s opponent …… King Mitsuru Oishi grunts a quick response before striding directly to the lower seat.

–––Man, he looks tired.

It’s been a month since I’ve seen the Worldly Maestro, but his cheeks have gotten thin and his eyes have sunken a bit, too.

But his trademark 5 o’clock shadow beard is neatly trimmed. He must have a lot of chances to focus on his appearance because he’s in the middle of a title match.

I thought I’d been so focused on wiping the board clean that I lost track of time, but that wasn’t the case. Mr. Oishi also came to the arena early. Our match doesn’t start for at least another 30 minutes.

–––He must win this match in order to face Mr. Okito ……

The Crown League is split into Red and White Conferences, and Mr. Oishi and I are at the top of the White Conference with an undefeated 4-0 record. Basically, whoever wins this match will face the winner of the Red Conference to become the Crown Challenger.

From where Mr. Oishi is standing, on the verge of losing the King title to Crown Yo Okito, I’m sure he’d love to turn the tables on him by challenging for the Crown, or ……

–––Could it be because …… This is our first league match against each other?

We’ve never played an official league match before today.

If that’s the reason he arrived so early, then …… I’m honored. Seriously, that would make me really happy.

But, now is really not the time to catch up on things.

Just as I’m about to get up.

“Good morning.”

A young woman dressed in a suit walks into the arena with a grade-school girl close behind her. Then she explains the situation.

“We are here to do blog coverage. Today, I will have Women’s League player Ai Hinatsuru work as my assistant in preparation for her coverage of the Queen Title Match. With your permission, I would like to station her in the corner of the room to collect material for the blog.”

“Sure.”

Mr. Oishi’s face relaxes as he glances over in Ai’s direction.

“Been a while, hasn’t it, Ai? Here you are, a full-blown member of the Women’s League, and I haven’t done anything to congratulate you. Once things settle down, drop by the bathhouse and I’ll have Asuka cook you up something nice.”

“P-Please! Thank you so much!”

“Playing any Ranging Rook?”

“Yes! Um …… Sometimes ……”

“That right? I gave it up.”

“Ah …………”

Unsure of what to say, Ai bites her lip and stares at the floor.

Ms. Mato kindly puts her hand on Ai’s back. Relieved to see that, I aligned my breathing with Mr. Oishi and start concentrating on the match at hand.

Now that the pieces are lined up on the board, I close my eyes for the rest of the time before the match to really get in the zone.

My match against Mr. Oishi is the only one happening in the arena today. The only sounds I hear are the occasional camera flash and the footsteps of cameramen as they look for the best shot.

–––Those are Ai’s footsteps. It’s so easy to tell ……

Just knowing she’s in the arena is so calming. Not that I could ever tell anyone that. Imagine, the Ryuo soothed by the footsteps of his apprentice before a match.

All the Crown League matches have offense and defense determined beforehand. I’m the defender today.

“When you’re ready,” I say loud and clear once the time to begin arrives and lower my head. Mr. Oishi gives a silent, shallow bow of his own.

Mr. Oishi casually opens the Bishop path with a flick of his wrist to start the match.

Then–––he advances the Pawn in front of his Rook.

“…… A Static Rook opening ……!”

I hear Ai absentmindedly mumble in the corner by herself. Ms. Mato has already left to go to the Player’s Room to upload her match record comments to the blog.

“…………”

I take a moment to stop and think.

–––Will that really work against Mr. Oishi ……?

Because if it doesn’t, I’m not the only one that’ll take damage. The moment I start the sequence, I absolutely can’t lose ……

Almost as if he could see right through me, Mr. Oishi says, “Something wrong, Yaichi? You look like you’re chomping at the bit to slide your Rook.”

“……!!”

I’m stunned that he hit the nail right on the head, but the Worldly Maestro calmly continues.

“Go ahead. Show me …… how worldly you can be.”

What players are the best at going against Ranging Rook?

Of course–––––––––Ranking Rook party members.

The Worldly Maestro is especially good at it. Even using Static Rook, he’s incredibly strong.

Static Rook party members research how to play against other Static Rook strategies quite a lot but Ranging Rook party members spend the vast majority of their time researching how to counter whatever gets used against them.

Of course, they’re doing it from a Ranging Rook standpoint, but they’re still looking at the same board. In other words, they’ve seen exponentially more formations than I have.

That makes them exponentially strong!

“……”

Making up my mind, I bite down on my lip and go for it.

I move–––my central Pawn forward.

“Gokigen Central Rook, eh? So, you think you can beat me with Goki Central? Sure are a cheeky little punk …… Thinking you can beat me with the strategy I threw out the window.”

“…………”

“Let’s see what happens. Bring it on, trash.”

Mr. Oishi advances his Pawn one space further.

“Slide it.”

That’s pretty much an open invitation.

Picking up my Rook with the same casual air that the Worldly Maestro did, I slide it across the board.

In that moment–––.

“Wha?!”

Mr. Oishi’s eyes fly open as he leans in for a closer look.

“Huh?!”

I don’t think the match recorder and Ai realize that they’re hovering over their ankles, but both are stuck in that position.

It’s because my Rook––––––went past the central column.

“Gokigen …… Third File Rook?!”

Exactly.

That’s the only way to explain the sequence I’ve started. It goes without saying that it’s never showed up in a league match before.

Why?

Because obviously no one thinks this loony strategy would actually work.

“………………”

After taking a few moments to study the board, Mr. Oishi looks up at me and says, “…… Did your fingers slip and go too far?”

“……”

“Sure doesn’t seem like it.”

The corners of his lips curl into a grin.

“Well then––––––Don’t underestimate Ranging Rook.”

His voice is quiet—frighteningly quiet.

He starts moving his King to the left while barely making a sound. It’s just like how a predator sets itself up to pounce.

I immediately send my Bishop to his side of the board and promote. Bishop Exchange complete.

“You call this Ranging Rook? Hah!” Mr. Oishi snorts.

It’s true that I’ve been ignoring standards …… no, common sense this whole time.

But, doing a Bishop Exchange now was necessary.

The first person to realize that is–––.

“……!! So, that’s what you’re after ……”

The Worldly Maestro’s molars crack as he grinds them together and pounds on his knees with his fists over and over again.

He saw through it …… That was fast.

“I see now. Trying to set up a 4 Two Silver variant of Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook, eh? …… Cheeky rascal!!”

I wouldn’t expect anything less of Mr. Oishi.

Rather than falling for my smokescreen, he saw exactly what strategy I’m going for.

It might look like I miss clicked trying to go for Gokigen Central Rook, but it’s actually a setup for Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook or even Direct Opposing Rook if I wanted to.

There is also one more strategy I could shift into with a Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook base–––.

“!! That …… That formation, could it be ……?!”

It seems like Ai notices something from her spot in the corner, but I can’t take my eyes off Mr. Oishi right now.

“Sure, that crazy-looking opening had me guessing at first, but––––––that doesn’t mean anything now that I know what you’re after!”

The Worldly Maestro makes his decision in a flash. Bringing his Silver up to the front line, he deploys the captured Bishop on the next turn to take aim at my King!

“There?!”

He’s being really aggressive, attacking now of all times ……!

But, I can’t pull back.

Bringing a Silver forward to meet his, I deploy my own Bishop on defense.

“?! Have you lost your ……?” I hear him whisper. 

I could have held onto the Bishop a while longer since his is already back on the board, but I decide to crouch down and wait for the moment to come.

That moment––––––when the worldly impact hits.

Sending my Rook back one row to make a horizontal tunnel, I slide it back to the center.

Seeing that, Mr. Oishi immediately moves his own Rook to the fifth file to line up with my own. If you slide, I’m sliding too. Like two swordsmen keeping the edges of their blades facing each other at all times, the first one to show an opening is going to get sliced down!

–––Carefully ……… I have to carefully construct my defenses or else ……

I strengthen my formation from a Mino Castle to a Silver Halo.

“Are you sure you want to do that? The longer this match goes, the more these captured Pawns of mine will wreak havoc.”

“…………”

I’m fully aware of that.

To be more accurate, I want to draw out this match.

“Then you’re going to get a chance to see it. See the nightmare we Ranging Rookers have been seeing for way too long!!”

Mr. Oishi starts changing his own formation.

It shifts into the strongest of all defenses–––the anaguma.

With the King in the corner and enough defensive layers to border on violent, countless Ranging Rook party members’ hearts have been torn to shreds in its wake.

“……!! So, here it comes ……”

The anaguma’s ultimate defense is Ranging Rook’s nemesis.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that most Ranging Rook strategies were born out of a need to break through Static Rook anaguma strategies.

So.

If I can’t break it now–––!!

“Then …… I have no right to slide my Rook!!”

The match recorder announces the time.

“Kuzuryu-sensei, you have 10 minutes remaining. At what point would you like me to start counting down seconds?”

“Now, please!!”

My waiting time is gone before I realize it. Of course, my little apprentice disappeared from the arena a long time ago.

–––I’m not used to playing Ranging Rook and I used too much time in the early game! There’s no time for second thoughts anymore!!

I pick up a Gold that was floating off to the left all by itself and move it closer to the front line. It’s normally used for defense, but my plan is to use it to crack open the anaguma on offense, but–––.

“So slow! At that rate, it’ll be a million years before you can play Ranging Rook!”

Mr. Oishi changes up his formation again, this time reinforcing his front line.

So, I move more pieces to the front to build up more power and keep our formations equal.

Don’t rush it! It’s still …… not time yet!!

Both of us build our formations into solid walls and wait for that time to come. Actually, we’re lining up our pieces to roll out the red carpet for it.

The Worldly Maestro is sitting across the board from me.

Even using Static Rook doesn’t change the intensity in his fingertips or the instincts he’s honed for so long.

In other words, what Mr. Oishi is going for is–––worldliness.

The problem is figuring out exactly when that worldliness is going to come …… Almost as if laughing at the fact that I’ve let my defenses stay stagnant and focused on setting up an attack for the past three turns, Mr. Oishi turns the match on its head!

Without warning, he sends a Bishop to directly threaten my King.

“Forcing it?!”

This sudden turn of events has my heart beating against my ribs so hard I’m afraid they’ll break. Talk about a full-on assault!

“Heh. Why do you look so surprised?” Mr. Oishi sneers, shoving this gun called a Bishop right up against my temple. “Did you forget who’s sitting across from you?”

If he pulls the trigger …… That’s when it’ll start.

King Mitsuru Oishi’s worldliness!

“…… Kh!”

Sliding my Rook out of the defensive formation, I take Mr. Oishi’s Bishop.

“Too slow!!”

Just as he planned, Mr. Oishi’s worldliness starts by sacrificing that Bishop and taking my Rook with a Silver on the next turn. It’s a sequence designed to completely dismantle Ranging Rook’s defenses!

“So, how are you going to block this?!”

“………”

Constant defending won’t lead to victory.

–––…… How do you beat an ultimate technique?

I already know the answer. Leaving that Silver where my Rook used to be, I take the newly claimed Bishop off my piece stand–––.

“?! The heck do you think you’re doing, Yaichi?!!”

“…… Giving you a taste.”

Bringing that Bishop down onto the board, I say that technique out loud.

“Worldliness.”

“Ghhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!!”

Defend into worldliness.

Use that worldliness to advance across the board.

Within that completely unpredictable sequence, I rely solely on what I read and my instincts to come up with moves that are simultaneously offensive and defensive one after another using no time at all!

Until that point, this match looked like two swordsmen simply practicing their forms with real blades, but of course there is no agreement not to cut flesh. Now red streaks are getting carved into arms and legs, blood splattering everywhere but stopping now isn’t an option.

Both of our once-sturdy defensive formations are in tatters.

A simple misstep now would turn a little nick from the sword into a fatal wound. The fear of getting too close and falling all the way to hell is pumping through my brain like ketchup out of a bottle.

My fingers are shaking so much out of fear it’s like they’ve gone numb.

But.

“That is what playing Ranging Rook is——yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhh?!!”

144th move–––Deploy 7 Eight Gold.

Snapping it onto the board… right into the enemy King’s gut is my finishing blow.

It turned out that the very Bishop Mr. Oishi used to pressure me into sacrificing my Rook became the key to cracking open his anaguma.

I out-worldly-ed his worldliness.

“…………”

Mr. Oishi’s fingers stretch toward his King, but they couldn’t move it.

“Checkmate …… Eh?”

That’s him signaling he’s throwing in the towel.

“I couldn’t tell where the worldly intuition stopped and the calculated advance started. Well done.”

“………… Thank you, very much ……,” I say between deep breaths, my shoulders reaching my ears as I lower my head.

Leaning against the elbow rest, Mr. Oishi covers his face with his right hand and lets out a long sigh as we start the review session.

“Very well done, but …… Losing to such a wacky strategy makes me want to just curl up and die of embarrassment. That’s why I didn’t surrender until my King was dead to rights.”

“…… I’ve been looking for a new trump card because it’s getting harder and harder to win with Move-Loss Bishop Exchange. I came across this in the process.”

“Goki Central wasn’t good enough for you?”

“In my opinion, Gokigen Central Rook doesn’t have good balance overall. There are so many situations where using it on defense is difficult ……”

“You found it easier playing Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook? With a 4 Two Silver?”

“Yes. It has too much variation to catch on as a popular strategy, but I think it fits me pretty well.”

As someone who used Move-Loss Bishop Exchange as a defensive ace in the hole, Move-Loss strategies and Bishop Exchanges feel like second nature.

Using Silvers fits my playing style, too.

I came across Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook 4 Two Silver while trying to find a formation where I could bring out as much of my skill as possible.

After crunching the numbers, I found the most efficient way to reach this formation was the Gokigen Third File Rook. It doesn’t have an official name yet.

“Sure, it fits, but …… How did you come up with that crazy conglomerate of a strategy in the first place?”

“Of course, doing it myself would’ve been impossible. I looked over some match records and ……”

“Software?”

“No. Amateur research gave me a few hints.”

“…………”

Mr. Oishi closes his eyes and looks up toward the heavens.

Pro strategies like the Bishop Exchange Fourth File Rook and Central Rook anaguma were originally popular in the amateur scene before getting perfected.

Compared with pros, the overwhelming majority of amateurs play Ranging Rook. New strategies pop up all the time out of necessity.

The one who picked up those amateur strategies and made them usable on the pro level, becoming a bridge between amateurs and pros themselves, was the Shogi player named Mitsuru Oishi. That’s exactly why he’s been extremely popular with fans.

Remembering that fact, the Worldly Maestro sighs from the bottom of his lungs.

Then, he says something I never saw coming.

“…… I’ve had a theory ever since I was in the Sub League. If an invincible strategy exists in this game, it will be Static Rook.”

“……”

“Formations don’t mean jack …… That’s what I thought. The stronger one will win in the end. The late game was all that mattered. So, I thought I’d win as long as I drew them into my world …… Sliding my Rook gave me the confidence to beat anyone. My flavor of Ranging Rook could even beat the Meijin.”

And Mr. Oishi made it all come true.

He faced that Meijin many times, taking two titles from him in the process. Becoming the sole member of the Ranging Rook party with the title to his name, he’s protected the King title like a fortress for years.

“But I tell you, software brought my confidence crashing back down to earth. It rejected my world completely. After losing more practice matches than I can count to a computer and losing to Okito in title matches, I wanted to find some way, any way to win. I wanted that rating to go up for once. That was all I could think about ……”

Then, I’m sure he figured it out.

A laughably simple way at that.

“The rating doesn’t drop if that Rook doesn’t move. Actually, it keeps going up. That felt so good …… I even got results in matches. Before I knew it, I started playing a style just to please the software that I’d been so dead set against ……”

“It’s true that moving the Rook will make the rating drop when software calculates the formations,” I say, commenting on Mr. Oishi’s story.

“But, if you keep playing from there …… Even using the unusual formation I played today, the rating will be equal to or greater than Static Rook. Ranging Rook is not at a disadvantage. Software can’t read that far ahead, so it can’t slide the Rook out of position.”

“Can’t …… slide ……”

“It’s not just Ranging Rook. The same thing happens with yagura strategies. The formations that people have considered good enough to research further also get deemed good by a computer when software crunches the numbers. I think that’s truly amazing and it also shows how strong humans are.”

“Human strength?”

“The ability to visualize, to fixate and to have their own world.”

“……!!”

Mr. Oishi looks up at me with a start.

Human beings can’t compete with machines when it comes to making calculations.

At the same time, human beliefs have been built up for over a thousand years.

While not the answer to Shogi as a whole, they could just be illusions based on iffy human calculations.

“Machines can’t dream like people can. They can’t idolize someone and want to be like them someday. Continuing to believe in the world they see despite losing and being rejected is something machines will never be able to do.”

That’s why–––.

“I wanted to see that world in today’s Shogi. Looking at it together, I wanted proof that what I had in mind was correct.”

Not a software program smearing me for doing everything wrong.

I wanted to explore a yet unnamed horizon with Mr. Oishi to see what discoveries lay beyond.

Because this strategy is more important to me than anything right now.

Because, even if I lost, I had to prove that this strategy at least has the potential to be superior to all the rest.

Which is why I wanted to show it to Mr. Oishi first.

“The only one who could prove that it is–––is the Worldly Maestro.”

“…………”

Looking uncomfortable, Mr. Oishi nods.

Then, without looking up at me, he quietly says, “…… Are you sure I’m the one you wanted to play against to prove it?”

“Because software and the Shogi Gods are busy researching Double Static Rook formations. I’m saying you’re the authority on Ranging Rook.”

“Hah!”

Mr. Oishi snorts at my pathetic excuse for a joke.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Worldly Maestro smile like this.

“You even sound like a bratty kid. Who do you think you are, telling me what Ranging Rook is?”

“I apologize.”

Quickly throwing my head into a bow, I hear an amused heh come from the other side of the board.

That’s when I notice I’m smiling, too.

Memories of the days when Ai and I stayed at his bathhouse, scrubbing the tubs and doing other jobs while he taught us the ins and outs of Ranging Rook, start going through my head.

The days when I’d hit a wall and frantically tried to dig my way through.

“So, what did you think of the strategy? Do you think it will catch on? Do you think it will be named after me because I was the first use it?! Then again, it’d be a bit awkward for a Static Rook player like me to have my name connected with Ranging Rook strategy first ……”

“Nah, this will never catch on no matter how you look at it.”

“Huuuh?! Why not? You saw how good it is.”

“How do you figure that as good? They’re too many quirks …… Besides, Kuzuryu-style Bishop Exchange Opposing Rook is too much of a mouthful.”

“In that case, I’m fine with calling it Gokigen Third File Rook. Let’s start a trend!”

“That right? Anyway, you can count me out.”

Even more hearty laughter. I’m glad to see Mr. Oishi is joking around again.

After we’d laughed together, Mr. Oishi says under his breath, “…… Titles are heavy, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“The one that I took from the Meijin. My desire to keep it outweighs everything …… Especially when I think about giving it to someone I don’t think deserves it. Not to some computer slave.”

“I understand.”

“I’ve seen enough prodigies go stagnant after not getting a title of their own. I’ve also seen tons of players’ lives go into a downward spiral after losing their titles. I never want to turn out like that …… I swore to myself it wouldn’t happen.”

“I see.”

“But losing to Ranging Rook is what it took to finally get it. A title protected at the cost of ditching Ranging Rook is garbage.”

Mr. Okito is strong.

Should he slide his Rook once again, Mr. Oishi very well could lose his title.

But–––his mind is already set.

Software isn’t necessary. Mr. Oishi announces his conclusion from our review session.

“If there’s any single reason I lost the match today, it’s that I didn’t slide my Rook.”

“I agree.”

Sharing a grin, that became our signal to sit up straight and bow once again.

Mr. Oishi reaches for the built-in piece stand beneath the board and I reach out with both hands to round up the pieces.

Right then, just as our review session is coming to a close.

“Um!”

A tiny voice from the corner of the room speaks up.

“May I …… May I please ask one last question?!”