But in terms of what’s on the board right now …… Ika is doing it.
“You said you haven’t given your software a name, yes? In that case, I’ll give it one for you.”
“……”
“Its name is―――Ika Sainokami.”
Ika is one of an extremely limited number of people on earth who can run deep learning software in their minds.
Knowing that, Okito-sensei gave her a continuous stream of data to process and therefore honed that rare talent.
I doubt that’s ever been done before.
That’s the very same experiment that Ai Yashajin conducted with the supercomputer Awaji, but Okito-sensei did it with his own daughter’s brain.
The result …… Ika successfully replicated Awaji’s playing style in a match of Shogi.
“Please answer one question for me,” I ask, dropping my voice as low as it can go.
The one question I had to ask no matter what.
“Were you ………… experimenting on Ika? Your own flesh and blood ……”
In that moment he woke up in a hospital bed after losing to software drove him to attempt suicide.
He then received a daughter who has the talent to surpass software itself.
Did he …… start plotting his revenge against software?
“She drifts further and further away from being human every time. Yes, her Shogi skills got stronger …… But still!”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ika Sainokami hurt someone very dear to me. That’s why I’ll never forgive her. I couldn’t care less if she breaks, and I’d gladly give her a taste of her own medicine if I got the chance.
But.
I still yelled.
The old man in my dream made me.
“Do you think she’s really happier this way?! Do you want your daughter to be killed by a computer just like you?! The daughter you only just met!!”
“Then, answer me a question.” Looking down on me with glass-like eyes, Okito-sensei asks. “Would you be able to stop your apprentice from doing so when they yearn for strength? Even if said method defies convention?”
“……!!”
“Will your apprentice win, or will my daughter?”
Shifting his gaze to the board on which Ika was starting to pull even further ahead, King Yo Okito quietly murmurs.
“Let us watch and find out …… whose love prevails.”
Confronted with a pro Shogi player who referred to the board to determine the strength of love, there was nothing I could say.
The coalition of five newspaper companies that sponsor the Empress Title Match and the Empress League itself have a negative stance about livestreaming matches.
While I personally think they’re twiddling their thumbs in the past, I can’t think of anyone who would want to show the world what Ika is like during matches.
The only camera in the arena for this particular match is fixed to the ceiling above the board and we can kind of hear what the players are saying in the association green room.
“Hehe! Heeeeeee ………… Hihihehehhehihi!!”
Even from our only view inside coming from one ceiling-mounted camera, Ika’s near-euphoric state comes through loud and clear.
That weird laugh of hers rings out as her pointer finger dances across the board, making most of her moves without using a single second of waiting time. The only exception was the five minutes she waited before making her first move. As to why, I have no clue.
The board is beyond complex.
This match started out as Static Rook, but the big pieces have slid around and changed hands so often that it’s impossible to classify anymore.
Of course, no match between human beings has unfolded this way before. But no one would’ve imagined formations like this, let alone researched them. Ika doesn’t seem to care about that and barrels forward at breakneck speed.
Those fingertips of hers strike like lightning.
Her formations fit together like clockwork, the gears spinning in overdrive. Ika lives up to her Worldly Thunder nickname in every sense of the word.
Meanwhile, Ai Yashajin is quiet.
“…………”
Well, that’s normal for Shogi matches …… But I’ve got a pretty good idea what’s going through her head right now.
I’d bet she has one hand over her eye, reading as deep into the board as she can while meticulously managing her time and choosing her next move.
Typical Shogi senses won’t work in that arena.
The only option is to read what you can and reinforce what you see. There’s no way to tell if you’re ahead or behind in matches like this ……
“Yashajin-sensei. You have one hour remaining.”
“……”
The match recorder’s voice, followed by a soft click of the tongue. Ai’s hand still hasn’t shown up on the screen.
“Heeehahahaha!”
Another round of Ika’s high-pitched laughter comes through the wall.
“Ika has pulled ahead,” I mutter to myself after checking Awaji’s rating.
Even human eyes can tell that she has a commanding lead at this point.
“Mine matches that evaluation as well. Offense has a distinct advantage,” Okito-sensei says just as quietly.
If a computer played from this point, Ai’s chances of turning the tables are pretty much zero.
The only thing that could save her now is Ika making a mistake ……
“You stated earlier that I am using my daughter, yes? That she …… That I am making Ika carry out a personal vendetta against computers.”
“What about it?”
“I did not feel the slightest hatred or despair when I played against software.”
The first pro player to formally lose against a computer continues this trip down memory lane despite my confusion.
And he ends up using a word that doesn’t fit at all.
“It was love.”
“……………… What?”
“You have faced off against a supercomputer, have you not? Didn’t you feel it as well? That overwhelming mix of admiration and jealousy one feels for a strong opponent. Did you not see it for yourself? The beauty within that Shogi?”
“……!!”
I played against Awaji nonstop for nearly a month.
At first, it was nothing but torture …… But I did pick up on it at some point. Once I uninstalled the way human beings play Shogi and installed software’s version of the game, that is.
I realized just how much fun it was.
But I used a younger version of Big Sis to trick myself into matching Awaji.
―――Because I thought I’d die if I didn’t. Still ……
Looking back on it now, I make another realization.
―――Maybe I didn’t have to go that far to abandon my own humanity ……?
“That is the same as my daughter’s love for you.”
Awaji’s rating leans further and further toward Ika with each passing moment.
Almost like the two are merging together.
“Even after learning Shogi, my daughter’s talents were exceptional. She became isolated, unable to see eye-to-eye with anyone until encountering a prodigy named Yaichi Kuzuryu …… The impact of that moment must have been equivalent to seeing light shine through complete darkness. Surely you can understand? The genuine purity of only being able to love a person via Shogi.”
“………… I’m afraid I can’t, and I’ll never have feelings for Ika.”
I answer as bluntly as possible to hide that fact I’m a bit shaken. My heart is pounding enough to make my ribs hurt.
“So then, who is it you intend to play Shogi with in the future?”
“What do you mean who ……?”
“Ginko Sora? She may have attained a professional rank, but she will never be capable of challenging you in an even match. In fact, no one in your generation or below can hold a candle to you. Only the Meijin can match your talent, but his skill will inevitably decline within the next few years.”
“What does that have to do with anything? I understand admiring strong players, but it’s nowhere near the same thing as love―――”
“Then allow me to rephrase my question.”
As if to trap me in a pincer formation to checkmate the King, Ika’s father presses me even further.
“You will end up spending the most time with my daughter. Will Ginko Sora be able to endure?”
“…………!”
“As a rather considerate boy said, the current format for title matches allows for players to spend a total 171 days together with you should they clash in all the title matches, as well as regularly scheduled league matches. My daughter started openly talking about becoming a professional player once she heard that.”
The very thought of that nightmare coming true makes me gasp for air. Could that actually happen in the future ……?
For better or worse, Okito-sensei’s advance gets cut off there.
“H-Hey! Look at the screen!”
One of the association staff members jumps to their feet with a start.
“The Empress took off her eyepatch!!”
“Seriously?! Does that mean the match is almost over?!”
Ika’s face is on the screen.
The whole screen.
In other words, she’s stood up to get as close to the ceiling-mounted camera as possible.
“YAAAIIIIIIICHIIIIII.”
She shouts my name.
“You better WATCH CLOSELY! Put on those glasses you wear for matches! I’M GONNA PLAY JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT♡♡♡”
Somehow, Ika’s naked left eye has an ominous glow on the screen.
It’s zooming around from side to side, almost like a fish with no eyelids. It’s not looking anywhere close to the board, so what in the world is she seeing right now?
“I’ll make you understand.”
Ika’s declaration echoes through the wall.
“That twerp Sota, this brat Ai and of course that silver-haired hussy aren’t worth your time. Only me, your lil’ Ika Sainokami, IS WORTHY OF YOOOUUU!!”