Chapter 549

Natsume Chikage was stunned.

"Teacher, you're going to my house to...?"

Sakai Shion explained:

"A home visit."

Natsume Chikage's expression became somewhat strange.

"There are only my sister and me at home, and there are no elders at home... so a home visit from you might not have much meaning."

"If there's anything, just tell me directly."

Sakai Shion glanced at him with her cold, piercing gaze.

"You don't have to work, and you and your sister are both free at home; that's enough."

"As for whether it's necessary, that's not for you to decide."

"I'll come over tonight; remember to keep your phone on and wait for my call."

Natsume Chikage was silent for a moment, then thought that having a teacher visit wasn't impossible.

After all, there was nothing shameful in the house.

Let her come if she wants.

"What time will you be coming over?"

Sakai Shion thought for a moment.

"Around six o'clock."

Natsume Chikage looked troubled.

"Can you change it to around eight o'clock? I have some other things to do at six."

He still had to have dinner with Yasui Ryouto and the others in the evening, so he really couldn't get away at that time.

Sakai Shion was casual:

"Fine."

Teachers' office.

After Natsume Chikage arrived with Teacher Sakai.

Shogi Club advisor Nomura Tomohiro immediately called him over to his desk.

Teacher Nomura adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, looked at Natsume Chikage, and said with a mix of annoyance and amusement:

"You kid are something else; quietly, you defeated Tamura Yuuto on the field."

"I won't waste words, Teacher just wants to ask you, since you have the strength of at least level 3 in the Incentive League, why do you refuse to join the Shogi Club?"

Natsume Chikage smiled bitterly:

"Teacher, I have no money and no time."

"You should know a little about my situation."

Nomura Tomohiro pondered:

"These aren't big problems."

"Teacher knows your special situation and can allow you to leave early for work at my discretion."

"So, quit that Collection Club and come to my Shogi Club."

"To reach the level 3 of the Incentive League at your age, you can be considered talented; you shouldn't waste your time on irrelevant clubs. Playing to your strengths and improving your shogi skills is the right path, understand?"

Other teachers in the office were also quietly listening to the commotion here.

After hearing Nomura Tomohiro's words, most felt it was reasonable.

After all, being able to win three rounds in a row, he should indeed continue to study in the Shogi Club; maybe he could break into the fourth round.

Natsume Chikage, however, widened his eyes.

What?

He wants him to quit the Collection Club?

Absolutely not!

You have to know, the Collection Club has Saionji Nanase, a "treasure girl" keen on collecting all sorts of things.

By her side, it's very likely he will encounter many more special pieces of equipment.

Moreover, there might be other clubs or students in the school hiding special equipment.

If he loses his status as a member of the Collection Club, it would be very difficult for him to find a suitable reason to contact and collect these pieces of equipment.

Therefore, he couldn't leave the Collection Club no matter what.

Natsume Chikage immediately declined politely:

"No, Teacher. I'm doing very well in the Collection Club and have no intention of leaving."

"And I'm really just playing shogi for fun; I have no intention of delving into it deeply."

Nomura Tomohiro couldn't help but complain:

"Since you're just playing for fun, why did you participate in the shogi tournament?"

Natsume Chikage said frankly:

"For the prize money. If I win, I get money; my finances aren't good right now, so of course I have to participate if there's an opportunity."

Nomura Tomohiro was somewhat dumbfounded.

It's only because you were lucky enough to break even that you dare to say that.

If you hadn't broken even and still participated, you would have really become a sucker.

"Alright, since it's come to this, Teacher won't force you."

"But you still have to participate in the fourth round. Since you're aiming for the prize money, at least for these few days, you should properly hone your shogi skills, right?"

"How about this, come to the Shogi Club to practice when you're free these days."

"Our school's Shogi Club is very strong."

"The club president is an active professional shogi player, the vice president Yasui Ryouto is a shogi player about to step into the professional threshold, and Araki Keiai is also a women's third-dan. The three of them, like you, participated in this rookie tournament and all advanced to the fourth round."

"Instead of pondering alone, why not exchange and learn from them in advance, and strive to win in the fourth round? Wouldn't that better improve your financial situation?"

Physics teacher Ishida Nobuya, who was on the side, heard this and understood that Natsume Chikage really didn't have much interest in shogi and was purely "dabbling."

As a physics teacher, he was accustomed to calculating probabilities.

He had roughly estimated earlier: from the initial 2048 players to the current fourth round, a large number of people had already been screened out, leaving only 256.

And those who could make it this far were mostly members of the Shogi Association, with strength far exceeding that of ordinary enthusiasts.

Even if there were a very small number of players who advanced by luck, in terms of probability, the possibility of Natsume Chikage encountering them was extremely slim.

Therefore, it could basically be concluded that Natsume Chikage's next opponent would only be stronger than the previous Tanabe Yuuto.

If his luck were worse, he might even encounter a professional shogi player directly—after all, the retention rate of professional players was the highest.

This meant that the difficulty of every subsequent match would increase sharply!

And Natsume Chikage himself didn't specialize in shogi; being able to defeat Tanabe Yuuto, a third-dan in the Incentive League, was probably already close to his limit.

Under these circumstances, he would most likely be eliminated in the next round.

Moreover, there were only a few days left until the next match.

In just a few short days, no matter how hard he tried, it would be difficult to have a qualitative leap.

If there really were potential for a breakthrough, it should have appeared long ago; why wait until now?

Instead of applying pressure, it would be better to let him relax his mindset.

Thinking that Natsume Chikage had once saved him by a stroke of luck.

Ishida Nobuya took two steps forward and timely relieved Natsume Chikage:

"Teacher Nomura, are you done talking with Natsume-kun? I also have some things I need to find him for."

Nomura Tomohiro had no choice but to give up for now:

"You kid, remember Teacher's words."

Natsume Chikage responded with a laugh:

"Thank you for your concern, Teacher. If I have time, I will consider it."