Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 9 - Chapter 5.4

  THE HEARTLESS GIANT

I fall from the peak of happiness to the deepest pit of despair the second I see that move.

–––9 Two King ……?!

“How?! Wh-Why in the world …… would she?!”

I’m stunned.

Because Ginko Sora just moved her King right into the long reach of the Knight I put directly in front of her defenses.

It’s like she’s saying, Here’s my neck, please finish me off ……

–––It goes against all common sense!! But …… BUT!!

My eyes take on a life of their own, looking up from the board to get a glimpse of the terrifying woman who played that move.

Which leads to yet another shock.

“……!!”

The Ginko Sora looking back at me has deep blue eyes.

Her eyes are normally gray but now are bluer than the ocean outside Kobe. So blue that I can’t see how deep they go.

Th-This is–––!!

This …… is Naniwa’s Snow White playing for real!!

“…… So, this is the real you! A monster ……!!”

The light that was in my grasp disappeared with just one move.

The advantage that I’d spent turn after turn building little by little got turned on its head by this monster sitting in front of me with a single move.

“No, it’s still mine!! I still …… I should still have the lead!!”

I just verbally responded to the voice inside my head. Calm down now!

Unlike Ginko Sora who’s restricted to one-minute Shogi, I have time on my side. Even if the formations are somewhat against me–––––––––I’ll still have a major advantage once the battle starts!!

“H …… Heeeeeereeeeee!!”

I howl… like a wild animal.

I grab a Pawn from my piece stand like a falcon snatching a fish out of a lake and snap it down on the board right in front of Ginko Sora’s King, grinding it into place for good measure!

“Would! You! Give! Up! Alreeeeeeeaaaaaaady?!!!!!” 

I play each move instantaneously so that she doesn’t have time to think or react. With any luck, she’ll misread and think I’ve already read my own victory.

But Ginko Sora’s fingertips move with mechanical accuracy, blocking every piece in my all-out attack.

–––Th-This woman …… Does she not have a heart?!

She’s like a heartless giant.

No matter how I attack, I can’t tell if I’m doing any damage whatsoever. Every piece I deploy on the board just gets taken, as if every punch I throw ends up hurting me instead.

–––I can’t see myself bringing her down …… Are my attacks just that futile?!

With this much anxiety, my own heart will shatter the moment my hands stop moving. The only choice I have now is to keep playing each move using no time at all! Check! Check!! Check!!!

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Then.

All the ammunition on my piece stand spent, I looked out across the charred, barren wasteland of a board.

“Is she ……………… alive?”

Ginko Sora’s King isn’t in checkmate.

–––I-I got too close ……! My defense?! Is my King still safe?!

Leaning over the board, my eyes race back to my own territory to calculate my King’s chances of survival when I hear a voice from the other side of the board.

“You’re looking in the wrong place. Read thoroughly.”

“Huh ……?”

“I told you, didn’t I? I’m dancing for you.”

“…………………………………………?”

Following my enemy’s advice, I slowly shift my gaze upward.

From my territory into hers.

“………… It’s?! Th-That’s not …………………… That’s not possible?! It couldn’t be!!”

Sitting there waiting for me is––––––a Repetition Draw.

–––Is she telling me to take Repetition Draw when the first move is mine?! Like what I just did to her?!

I couldn’t believe it. If, by chance, Ginko Sora had read this far ahead and guided me into this very situation, that’s beyond what human beings can do. But ……

–––…… If I choose Repetition Draw, everything will reset and I can have a fresh start ……

The only problem is I’ll be at a disadvantage on defense. What if I’m actually in the lead right now? What if Ginko Sora is using off-the-board tactics to convince me to take Repetition Draw to get herself out of a bad situation? There’s no time to read through.

Use the Repetition Draw to escape and I’ll avoid defeat.

On the other hand ……

“…… Thank you.”

Desperate to keep my teeth from chattering, I clamp them together with all my might and make my move.

“However–––––––––I don’t need it. A tie isn’t good enough.”

I reject the Repetition Draw.

Then I say with the biggest smile I can muster, “Come. I’ll slay you.”

“Trivial.”

Here comes her counterattack.

Each snap of her pieces echoes through the arena as Ginko Sora charges forward. Her calculations are brutal!!

“Gnhh ……!!”

I endure the immense pressure and start reinforcing my crumbling formation as fast as I can.

When.

“Here I come.”

Ginko Sora advances her own King to the front line along with her quiet statement.

The King itself is leading the charge like Joan of Arc. One stray bullet means instant death, but even in one-minute Shogi, her fingers are solid as a rock.

Completely unpredictable. Completely unblockable. It’s that kind of advance.

“Gasp ……!!”

Fear hits me for the first time. Fear of Ginko Sora. Fear of the heartless giant.

And that fear breaks the balance that I’d fought so hard to maintain.

“! ………… Ahhh ………”

My trembling heart can’t even support a balanced formation, let alone come from behind.

The defender’s edge grows from a lead to a clear advantage. Then that advantage transforms into an avalanche.

I stand my ground with everything I have.

But this isn’t a search to find the best move available.

Actually, it’s to find the worst move.

–––Set up an ambush and force her to make a mistake! An ambush like Bishop Head Pawn!!

Best moves don’t exist this far behind. That’s why it’s a disadvantage.

Pain hurts when it hits, and it doesn’t stop.

Just as hope doesn’t exist amid pain and suffering, this world is not a kind one. Someone is dying at this very moment, another is falling into misfortune from which there will be no salvation, while new winners and losers are continuously born.

A line is being drawn between Ginko Sora and myself right now.

“But ………… I can’t just give up now can I?!!!!” 

Happiness won’t just fall into my lap if I sit around and wait for it. The only way to get it is to be prepared to be hurt even worse than before.

I must …… get stronger!!

But.

“Khh ……!!”

The calm competitor within me is already raising the white flag.

–––………………… I’m checkmated, aren’t I?

Ginko Sora created the ultimate offensive push by adding her King to the front line. That proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had already read her own victory at the time I rejected the Repetition Draw.

That’s the moment I let the title slip through my fingers.

My dream of proving Father and Mother once lived in this world fell from my grasp.

The battle is over. I’ve lost.

My Cinderella story has an unhappy ending.

“But …… Why?”

I’ve already lost.

The battle is already over.

So then, why ……? Why am I still burning up?

Why is my heart still racing like this?

What came to mind right then–––wasn’t Father’s or Mother’s smile.

“Ohh ………… So, that’s it,” I whisper beside myself.

Ai and Sota Kunugi glance up at me from the boardside table. Then they sit up straight.

Preparing for my surrender.

They probably think what I just whispered was my realizing that my King has nowhere to run.

But what I actually realized is something completely different.

It doesn’t have anything to do with Shogi at all.

It might be a bit imprudent in the middle of the match, but I can’t help it.

Yes …… I finally connected the dots.

I figured out what had always been giving me courage.

Who it was that was giving me a future.

So nothing scares me anymore.

I can say it with my head held high.

Speak up loud and clear so the whole world can hear me.

Hear the words that I refused to acknowledge for the longest time.

A declaration that I will keep rising to the next challenge so long as life burns within me.

“I lost.”

As I say those words, the tiniest feeling that had appeared in my heart without my realizing it holds onto a single name.

Now, I know.

This is the feeling that people call–––––––––, I’m sure of it.