Playing Shogi with My Sister!

Home.

Natsume Chikage pushed open the door and returned to the cramped three-tatami-mat room.

"I'm home."

"Welcome back!" Natsume Ruri hurried over, her voice brimming with excitement. Smiling brightly, she said, "Big brother, we have money now!"

Chikage asked in confusion, "We have money? What happened?"

Ruri happily pulled a thousand-yen bill from her pocket and giggled proudly.

"Doesn't the supermarket always have that stamp-collection promotion?"

"I collected enough stamps and entered the lottery—then I won third prize, a whole thousand yen!"

"Tomorrow, Ruri will use this money to buy lots of fresh ingredients and make something delicious for you, big brother!"

Chikage froze for a moment. Then, seeing his sister's excited little face, he laughed and rubbed her head. "Our little sister is really lucky!"

"Of course I am!" Ruri puffed out her small chest and grinned happily.

"Oh, right, big brother." Remembering something important, she asked, "Didn't you go to Aunt Kondo's house? Did you get Dad's keepsake?"

"Yeah." Chikage nodded and handed the ancient, weighty chess manual in his hand to his sister.

After taking it, Ruri examined the stiff cover with a puzzled expression. "This chess manual is Dad's keepsake?"

Chikage explained, "Calling it a keepsake isn't entirely accurate."

Ruri looked confused. "Why not?"

Looking at the thick cover of the chess manual, Chikage explained,

"Our father bought this from a street stall when he was in high school."

"Then, before graduation, he gave it to a junior from the same club—Aunt Kondo Miyuki."

"She's a full-time housewife now and has no use for this chess manual, so she wanted to return it to its original owner and give it back to us."

"So it counts as a keepsake, but not entirely."

Ruri suddenly understood. "So that's how it is!"

She flipped through a few pages and looked at the densely packed game records and annotations. Her little brows furrowed slightly. "But Ruri isn't really interested in shogi either. What should we do with this thick, heavy thing...?"

Chikage promptly held out his hand and smiled. "Then let me keep it. I've recently become somewhat interested in shogi."

Ruri was stunned by his words, her large, watery eyes full of surprise. "Big brother, you're actually interested in shogi? When Dad used to teach you, you could barely be bothered. You'd sneak off before you even sat there for ten minutes!"

Chikage gave a light cough to cover himself. "The past is the past. Things are different now."

Ruri tilted her little head and thought for a moment, believing she understood—her brother must have been reminded of their father by the manual and started missing the times they played shogi together, which was why he suddenly wanted to pick it up again.

But when she thought of her brother's old skill level... she couldn't help secretly laughing to herself.

After all, she had personally watched games between her brother and their father. They had been simply unbearable to watch.

She even felt that, despite having studied for only a month back then, she could have easily beaten their father, who had spent years studying shogi.

Ruri thought she had some talent, but she had only mediocre interest in shogi, so she had never seriously pursued it.

Only then did Ruri notice that Chikage was carrying a plastic bag in his other hand. Inside was a brand-new, unopened, simple shogi board.

She was even more surprised. "Big brother, you even bought a new board? Don't tell me you really plan to spend time studying shogi?"

Chikage shook his head. "I wouldn't call it studying. I just want to try something."

Hearing that, Ruri became interested as well. Since they already had a board, it would be nice to play a few games.

She wasn't especially enthusiastic about shogi, but it was fun to play occasionally.

As for beating this silly brother of hers, she felt there was no suspense at all.

Eagerly, she suggested, "Since we bought a new board, let Ruri play a few games with you, big brother!"

"Sure, let's play a few." Chikage readily agreed.

He knew his little sister was a genuine genius.

Leaving aside the fact that she ranked first in the entire school during middle school.

Even in shogi, she truly had remarkable talent.

Although Ruri's father wasn't especially strong, he was still somewhat well-known among amateur players.

He was at a level that ordinary people simply couldn't beat.

Yet even such a father had been defeated by his sister after she had studied for less than a month.

That showed just how formidable his sister was.

So he was also curious to see how he would fare against this genius sister after equipping the Dust-Covered Chess Manual.

Ruri happily took the new board from the bag and sat on the tatami with her legs folded to one side. At the small table, she deftly tore open the transparent plastic wrapping, set out the smooth wooden board, and began arranging the pieces, sorting them and placing them on both sides.

While his sister arranged the board, Chikage's attention returned to the ancient, weighty chess manual in his hand.

[Dust-Covered Chess Manual]

[Quality: Blue]

[Effect: After equipping it, you can instantly learn all the knowledge contained in this chess manual. Furthermore, you possess extraordinary comprehension in chess, allowing you to draw inferences from one example; your understanding of shogi is beyond what ordinary people can imagine!]

[Description: If you do not play shogi, seeing me is like a frog at the bottom of a well gazing at the moon in the sky; if you do play shogi, seeing me is like an ant trying to shake the heavens!]

[Synthesis Requirement: At least three pieces of equipment of the same type are required!]

[You have obtained ownership of this equipment. Would you like to register it?]

[Yes/No]

Yes!

[Registration successful!]

[One special piece of equipment remaining until your attribute point reward!]

[Would you like to equip "Dust-Covered Chess Manual"?]

[Yes/No]

"Yes!"

In an instant!

A vast amount of profound shogi knowledge, countless classic game-record formations, and exquisitely brilliant methods for solving endgames surged into his mind like a raging flood!

Not only that, he felt as if his mind had been completely opened up and reshaped. His understanding, insight, and calculating ability regarding the board had all reached an unimaginable level.

Merely looking at the squares on the board, countless possible moves, subsequent developments, hidden traps, and killing moves automatically raced through his mind, combining and optimizing into one incomparably clear optimal path after another.

It felt as though he had immersed himself in this art for decades and become a shogi master commanding the board!

"Big brother, why are you still standing there?" Ruri's crisp voice pulled him back from that mysterious, powerful sensation.

She had already arranged the pieces and was looking up at him. A hint of teasing amusement appeared on her little face as she patted the space opposite her. "I'm ready. Come sit down!"

"Yeah." Chikage looked at the ancient chess manual in his hand, took a deep breath, suppressed the shock and excitement in his heart, and sat cross-legged across from his sister.

The small board lay between them, its pieces gleaming softly beneath the light.

"Big brother, do you want to go first, or should I?" Ruri looked relaxed, carrying the smug air of a "senior" guiding a "junior."

"You go first." Chikage's expression remained calm.

Although he knew the first move held a certain advantage in shogi, he no longer cared about such a slight difference in win rate.