At the end of May, the third match took place between Yamatoba (8th Dan) and Kuzuryū (Dragon-Emperor Titleholder), and once again, Kuzuryū lost brilliantly. The reason for the loss was his final, reckless attack during the endgame. It is understandable that he would attack at that precise moment, with defeat looming and his desire to urinate suppressed, but Ai (who analyzes the game) commented: 「What a waste (of a winning opportunity).」
Following that, Kuzuryū went to a public bathhouse near Kiyotaki-san's house, and the rainy season began, which is the story of the "Good Mood" bath... I wish the "Good Mood" bath were not in Kyobashi (the city); I would have benefited from it more. From Kobe (my place of residence), the location is somewhat distant. The train ride from Fukushima to Kyobashi takes just over 10 minutes, but it takes about an hour from Kobe. That is why I chose the Golden Week period, the time when elementary schools are on break (so that I could bring Tenai along).
However, it is a distance that can be covered on a holiday, and it was worth going even if it took two hours round trip. Why don't I barge in when Kuzuryū is working and mock him?... He is doing some of his controversial work, and honestly, I feel a bit of jealousy just from that aspect.
「I think Tenai might seriously step on your head.」 (Ai)
(She is exactly like Sora-san! Wait, speaking of which, did Sora-san visit when Tenai was training?)
(There is a possibility that she met her in your absence, My Lord, especially during the Shogi Emperor challenger determination matches, when you were advancing in the tournament with your overwhelming victory over The Meijin.) (Ai)
(Aside from the match itself, I wished to skip the press interviews that followed. I understand that the questions are numerous because this is my first challenge for a major title, but the interviews alone took almost half a day.)
Since I have secured the challenge for the Shogi Emperor title, I will face Shinokubo Taishi (the current Shogi Emperor) starting in July. He stands out even more among the young players belonging to the Kanto region than Ayumu, and he also graduated with honors from the famous private Keio University. There is a huge difference between his educational qualifications and my graduation from junior high school only. I was supposed to have graduated from a decent university in my previous life, but in this life, I did not feel the desire to attend high school, so I settled for junior high.
(Let us crush him completely for now.) (Ai)
(Of course. I will utterly and directly defeat this rich, handsome boy who is nicknamed the "Crown Prince."... Wait, did I also utterly and directly defeat The Meijin?)
(Yes, it was an overwhelming and direct defeat (for The Meijin). That was in the third match of the Shogi Emperor tournament, where the outcome was decided; this event occurred simultaneously with the "great commotion" that Kuzuryū caused on the live Nico-se broadcast.) (Ai)
(Will a great "commotion" that distracts attention from my match happen this time too? I will definitely watch the broadcast again later.)
I will gather information on Shinokubo (the Shogi Emperor) as a precaution, but the tension will likely accumulate the more I collect, so I will stop halfway. Tenai's Mynavi Women's Open tournament will take place in the middle of the Shogi Emperor tournament, so I will focus on that one.
The Mynavi Women's Open tournament, in which Tenai will participate, consists of a challenge round open to amateurs, followed by preliminary qualifiers, and then the final qualifiers. Should she win all stages, she will play the title match against Sora-san (the Queen titleholder). Since Tenai is still an amateur, her participation will begin with the challenge round. Incidentally, although she does not visit often, Tenai achieved the 4th Dan rank in the Shogi training hall affiliated with the Kansai Shogi Association.
In the original storyline (which differs from reality), she was eligible to participate because she had joined the training group (Kenshūkai). However, since she did not join it in this life, she had to become a ranked player (Yūdansha) to participate. She likely would have advanced to higher ranks if she had attended consistently, but she herself was not very enthusiastic, so we kept her at the 4th Dan rank.
Today, I will train Tenai on how to play the Dropped Lance (Handicap) style at her mansion. Playing as if it were a flat match might be one way, and that is fine if it guarantees her a win. However, the Dropped Lance is a significant advantage, and she loses nothing by learning how to exploit this advantage she has received.
「If you play a Dropped Lance match as if it were a flat match, the side receiving the handicap (the weaker player) might end up in a disadvantageous position.」 (Ōki)
「The side receiving the handicap is at a disadvantage? Do you mean I won't be able to capture the opponent's Lance?」 (Tenai)
「Yes, that is one reason. However, there are also tactics that cannot be executed because the opponent's Lance, which is necessary for their completion, is absent. It is true that the gap created by the absence of the Lance is larger, but you won't be able to exploit that gap if you play as if it were a flat match.」 (Ōki)
Furthermore, Kunogi Sōta (who holds the 1st Kyū rank) might be the potential hurdle for Tenai in the Apprentice Guild test. He is expected to have been promoted to the 1st Dan by July, so Kunogi will be ranked 1st Dan when she takes the exam. If she proceeds with the 1st Kyū test, she will receive the right to play first, making her probability of winning reasonably high. Isn't he one year older than Tenai?
(He is one year older, yes. If she proceeds with the 1st Dan test, I believe she will undoubtedly be matched against him.) (Ai)
「The second test for the Apprentice Guild involves a match between the examiner and one of the trainee members. It is difficult because the trainee member will exert their utmost effort, as the result of the match is added to their record.」 (Ōki)
「Alright, that is enough for today. Apprentice Guild matches often involve the Dropped Lance handicap, so if she is starting from the 1st Kyū rank, she should also study the playing style for the side giving the handicap (the stronger player).」 (Ōki)
「The side giving the handicap in a Dropped Lance match moves the Rook, right? Iyo-shi Gyokushō taught me something about that.」 (Tenai)
「Does that person teach you the Ranging Rook (Furibisha) opening whenever he gets the chance? But in any case, it is a good opportunity, so we will go to the 'Good Mood' bathhouse this weekend.」 (Ōki)
After skillfully setting the stage to go to the "Good Mood" bathhouse, on the appointed day, I met Tenai at Osaka Station. As we were about to head to Kyobashi, we coincidentally encountered Kuzuryū and his companion Ai on the train we took. How could something like this happen?
「Fukushima is in the opposite direction, Dragon King.」 (Ōki)
「We have an appointment in Kyobashi.」 (Kuzuryū)
「That's right. We (Kuzuryū and I) are going to the "Good Mood" bathhouse now.」 (Ai)
「Oh my. Is our destination the same? We are going there now too.」 (Tenai)
The other party did not seem particularly surprised that we were going to the "Good Mood" bathhouse. Did they hear something about it from Iyo-shi Gyokushō?
●○●○●
Kuzuryū was heading to the "Good Mood" bathhouse today, accompanied by Ai (the girl). On the way, he coincidentally met Ōki and Tenai, and they agreed to go together. As soon as Kuzuryū saw Ōki, he immediately remembered the first time he went to the "Good Mood" bathhouse with Ai.
「Ai. It is a good name, but it is uncommon. Just last month, a girl with the exact same name came here every day for an entire week.」 (Iyo-shi Gyokushō)
「Do you mean Yashagami Tenai? (Ōki's disciple)?」 (Kuzuryū)
「Did Chan (Tenai) also train here?」 (Ai)
「Yes. In Tenai's case, she came here looking for a training partner to play against the Ranging Rook style. I think she played more than 100 matches with me in total. That was the first time someone like me felt fear more than once in a flat match (handicap-less) against a little girl like that.」 (Iyo-shi Gyokushō)
At that time, the Dragon King learned that Ōki and Tenai were frequenting the "Good Mood" bathhouse. When he learned that Iyo-shi Gyokushō had lost to Tenai in a Dropped Bishop match (Kakkochi), the Dragon King realized that Tenai had already reached the level of ranked players in the Apprentice Guild.
「Tenai was very happy to play with the bathhouse's patrons, perhaps because she had previously relied solely on online Shogi or training matches with her master. Incidentally, there was something else I could offer you. These are the match records in which Ōki defeated AI programs.」 (Iyo-shi Gyokushō)
「What!? Why do you have them?」 (Kuzuryū)
「Ōki himself brought them as compensation for his request to train Tenai. They are 100 records of Shogi matches that Ōki won against AI programs, where he played as the 2nd Player (Gote-ban) and used the Central Rook (Nakabisha) opening.」 (Iyo-shi Gyokushō)
「Is it permissible for you to possess something like that?」 (Kuzuryū)
「They are merely copies, and rest assured, nearly half of them cannot be used because the playing style within them is eccentric and extremely uncomfortable. Furthermore, 71 of those matches utilize unreleased "AI traps" (tricks against the AI), where Ōki manipulated the program to his advantage by exploiting the AI's values and its evaluation logic in reverse. In any case, they contained many truly useful concepts and ideas.」 (Iyo-shi Gyokushō)
After Iyo-shi Gyokushō finished speaking with the Dragon King and Ai (the girl), he revealed two-thirds of the gifts that Ōki had brought. Although most of them were merely new AI traps, they represented the results of Ōki's research that the Dragon King had desperately desired to obtain.
....
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