“Do you have a shogi board and game pieces?”
Maomao accepted the items from Onsou. While she was unsure, she’ll play around with it.
She set up the shogi pieces.
“Ummm, silver general five-nine.”
Although she set it up in accordance with the notebook, she wondered if it was pointless. When she was lining up the pawns, her hand stopped. “…how weird.”
Peering at the game board, Chue pointed out, “That’s a double pawn.”
“Ahh, I know about this too. That’s an illegal move, right?” Rihaku also joined in. He spoke like he wasn’t interested in shogi.
“There are three dragons too. It might not mean that it’s the same score sheet, you know.” Onsou also peered over. “At a time like this, would you understand better if you know more about shogi?” He tilted his head.
“Do you not know much about shogi?” Maomao asked.
“It’s not that I don’t play it, but please look at who I’m assigned with. You’ll lose interest if your hobbies are a part of work.” Onsou stared off into the distance.
“I understand that too.” Rihaku shared the same sentiments.
“What happened to Rihaku-sama? I don’t think you have that much of a connection, though,” Maomao asked.
Although Rihaku was a military official, he wasn’t as close to the weirdo tactician as Onsou.
“Look, this shape here. Doesn’t it remind you of a map of the capital?” Rihaku said.
“A map of the capital?” Maomao asked.
“The nicely divided districts and the throne at the top. It fits.”
“So that’s how it is.”
The point was that it can’t be helped that he saw districts in the grids.
(It’s a shogi board so there’s a difference in how rigid it is, though.)
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand what he was trying to say.
“Anyway, let’s set up everything that’s been noted down.” Maomao set it up, and the position of the pieces appeared to be considerably clustered. “What does that mean, in terms of a shogi score record?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” Rin-shoujin said, joining in as well.
While Rin-taijin and the weirdo tactician were both sleeping, Rin-shoujin here was the only person most informed.
“If this isn’t a game record, then what meaning does it have?” Maomao threw her hands in hopelessness.
“Let’s see, it’s because the king piece did an amaaazing move, no?” Rihaku said.
“Chue-san thought so too. Such an intrusive king,” Chue said.
Maomao also agreed with their opinion. The king piece had moved all the way to the centre of the board.
“…the challenger’s king.” Maomao stared at the shogi board. The position of the other king was right in the centre of the north side. There were other pieces positioned with a cluster here and there.
“Rihaku-sama,” she said.
“What is it?” he asked.
“When you see this board as the capital, what can you see?” Maomao turned the board towards Rihaku.
“Hmmm, the king would be the throne. …when I think about it this way…” He pointed, “Right where these pieces are gathered together would be the business district, merchant district, or the residential district.”
“Then what about the challenger’s king?”
“Mmmm, the enemy? A political opponent? Or the house of a powerful high official?”
Rihaku didn’t sound certain of himself.
(Is that so? Is that how it is?)
Maomao widened her eyes and looked at Chue. “Chue-san, did you bring a map of the western capital?”
“Haha, what are you suddenly on about? As if she would bring such a thing–”
“Yes, I have it.”
Ignoring Rihaku’s laughter, Chue immediately produced a map. It was drawn on thick parchment.
“Why are you carrying that with you?!” Rihaku exclaimed.
“It’s Chue-san after all.” Chue acted prim.
It was her first time hearing “It’s Chue after all” but it was true.
Maomao spread open the map she received and compared it with the shogi board. “About the position of the challenger’s king, if you check it with the layout of the western capital, doesn’t it match the position of this villa?”
““!?””
Everyone compared the shogi board and the map.
The western capital was also a city divided in a grid pattern. It wasn’t as neat as the capital, so she had failed to realise.
“Then, this king would be….” Rihaku said.
“Though it’s currently used as the government office, it matches the position of the residence the Ih clan once lived in,” Rin-shoujin explained. It was heartening that they were able to immediately understand since they had a local here.
“In that case, I can also understand the meaning behind the many dragons. If I remembered correctly, there was a store with a name that has dragons.”
The dragon design could only be used by the imperial family, but the store used that word in its name many times.
“Then, what about the pawns?”
Chue pointed to the two pawns.
“Based on its position, it would be along the main street, right?”
“Wouldn’t that be the bookstore and paper store? In the meaning that they are stores where you can buy regular small things.”
“…mmmm, it doesn’t seem like there’s a store like that.” Rihaku groaned.
Maomao checked the locations the other pieces indicated.
“It just occurred to Chue-san, but wouldn’t the map of this period be no good?”
It was as Chue said. Seventeen years later, the shops could be out of business and there could even be new buildings.
“Excuse me, I’m going to get the old map. Can I leave my grandfather to you for a moment?” Rin-shoujin stood up.
“Understood.”
Maomao’s group was absorbed in comparing the shogi board with the current map.
.
.
.
Which was why no one noticed.
.
.
.
“We’ve covered most of what we understand.”
Maomao double-checked the parts that overlapped with the map.
“But he’s taking his sweet time, huh.” Rihaku lifted up the curtain and looked outside. He was probably looking at the setting sun. “It’s already been half a dual hour.”
“Does it take that long to find a map from seventeen years ago?”
While thinking that, Maomao had a bad feeling that her judgement had been slightly off here.
“Fuaaaaa.”
As if to add to her sense of dread, the monocled old man, who had dozed off after getting served wine, woke up.
“Good morning. Looks like I’m still dreaming. I can see Maomao.”
The weirdo tactician was still half asleep. Onsou offered him a cup to wake him. It probably contained fruit juice.
“….Nn! It really is Maomao.”
“Arrgh, shut up,” Maomao blurted out.
She wanted to ignore him, but discussions won’t progress so she laid out a row of dishes between her and the weirdo tactician.
“Please don’t pass this,” she said.
“Woww, just like Elder Sister Maamei,” Chue exclaimed.
Apparently, Chue’s sister-in-law treated Gaoshun in a similar manner.
Maomao put the shogi board before the weirdo tactician. “You won’t understand either way, but I have a question for you. It’s about the western capital from seventeen years ago. If this is the former Ih clan residence and diagonally down is Gyoku’en-sama’s residence, then what do the other pieces represent? That’s right, you don’t understand.”
“Lass, the old man hasn’t answered yet.” Rihaku treated him as an old man before the person in question.
“This pawn was the shogi hall. The pawn underneath is a shop that sells shogi and go,” Rakan answered.
“Rakan-sama only remembers what he’s interested in.”
“Ohh, really now,” Maomao replied to Onsou’s explanation with no interest whatsoever.
“This dragon is the eating house. When you win a game of shogi against the shop owner you can eat for free,” the weirdo tactician answered smoothly. Seeing how they were locations related to shogi, she also understood it overlapped with the places Rin-taijin indicated.
(If only he had been sane from the start.)
Maomao thought selfish things.
Chue also crossed her arms. “Did we make a mistake?”
“I’m not sure about this knight. Next is the promoted gold general.”
The weirdo tactician said he didn’t remember just these two places.
“The first one seems to be a shrine. The other one seems to be in the residential district so it might be the place where the game records were first found.” Chue circled the map.
“Then, the shrine that’s left is suspicious.”
When they hit on the answer, the weirdo tactician suddenly looked around restlessly.
“What’s wrong?” Onsou asked.
“Where’s Rin-shoujin?” Rakan asked.
“He went to get the old map.”
“Hmmm.”
It was unusual for the weirdo tactician to be interested in other people.
(Rin-taijin aside, shoujin would be…)
Maomao pondered over it once more.
(Shoujin would be…)
Maomao slapped the shogi board.
Everyone looked at Maomao in shock.
“What’s wrong?” Rihaku asked timidly.
Maomao pulled a face as she looked at the weirdo tactician.
There exists a person who has a unique ability in this world while not making good use of it.
“The shoujin of Rin-shoujin is…” Maomao was glaring at the weirdo tactician. “Does it mean a bad person?”
“That’s right, Maomao. He’s a bad person. He’s full of lies.”
“….” Face contorting, Maomao fell to her knees. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I mean, he has nothing to do with us, right?”
That’s right. The weirdo tactician was this kind of person.
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Afterwards, they immediately headed to the suspicious shrine but found nothing. Only signs that someone had searched through the entire place and something had been carried away.
