It Wasn’t a Martial Arts World, but the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 31. Preparation for the Banquet

My consciousness floated.

Where could this be?

I was, and I was…

Right.

I would, as always, prepare for work and drag my exhausted body to bed.

After showering, I would gather all my cherished martial arts novels and binge-read them.

And then, tomorrow again, I would read novels on the subway, drink with friends, and curse my boss.

The repetition of daily life only wore me down, and the harsh reality was hard to endure, but I had friends to drink with and parents to see.

Even though the martial arts techniques from the novels didn’t exist, I had thought that this kind of life wasn’t all that bad.

But now, I…

Where am I?

My consciousness floated once again.

When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar tent greeted me.

My body hurt.

It felt like my muscles were tearing, and blood was seeping out, making everything sticky.

My head throbbed as if it would split open, and every joint in my body screamed in agony, so much so that even the slightest movement might bring forth a girlish cry.

And then, the warmth I felt from my right hand.

Slowly, I turned my gaze towards where the warmth was coming from.

“…Unryong?”

A woman with light brown hair.

Her hands were chapped, and shadows loomed under her eyes as she stared at me with wide, surprised eyes.

No way, dammit.

Zhang Yang, what are you doing in my sleeping quarters?

But that thought was brief.

“Your body…,” she began.

She seemed to struggle to get the words out as though something was stuck in her throat, but she finally managed to speak.

“How is your body?”

“…Why are you here?”

I turned my head as I spoke.

In the corner, Haryeong was snoring away, fast asleep.

At that moment, the warmth in my hand grew stronger.

Zhang Yang had tightened her grip on my hand.

“Thank goodness… I thought you were gone… Because of my inexperience…”

Huh? Why was she suddenly crying?

My head felt muddled.

What was I doing before I lost consciousness?

After successfully occupying Si Shui Gate, we headed towards Hu Lao Gate.

There, I encountered Lü Bu, the Peerless Warrior of the World, and fought her in a life-or-death duel.

And I lost.

My brothers threw themselves to drag me away, and the last thing I saw was the drifting clouds and the sky.

The sky.

That was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

“What happened?”

I asked.

Zhang Yang frowned as if something didn’t sit well with her.

“Wouldn’t it be better to focus on your recovery first? I’ll tell you the story slowly. Please, concentrate on getting better for now.”

“I asked, what happened?”

I insisted as if I didn’t care about such things, and Zhang Yang sighed deeply.

She then began to speak.

The coalition forces had won.

Thanks to the time I had bought by holding off Lü Bu for even a brief moment, the encirclement had been completed successfully.

Even the other lords admired how I bravely stood against Lü Bu, sword in hand, until the very end.

I had no memory of such a thing.

“…So we won the battle.”

At last, I could relax my stiffened body.

The process had changed, but it still matched that Lü Bu had retreated.

That was a relief.

“Yes, thanks to your efforts. Because of you, our coalition has moved one step closer to bringing down the traitor Dong Zhuo.”

“I see.”

Frankly, I couldn’t care less about some grand cause.

“Now, our coalition will march into Luoyang. Once we finish regrouping, we’ll depart immediately. The decisive battle will be in two days. Until then, please focus on your recovery.”

“Got it. But stop making that face. People might think I’m dead.”

“…You almost did die.”

Zhang Yang’s shoulders trembled as she spoke.

“Thanks to your incredible recovery abilities, you managed to survive, but you’ve been unconscious for two whole days.”

“Two days?”

I didn’t remember being bedridden for so long since I started accumulating internal energy.

Well, if I hadn’t stepped into the First-Rate realm at the last moment, I probably would’ve been lying here even longer.

I could distinctly feel that my body had changed after stepping into the First-Rate stage.

All my senses were sharp, and I could feel every contraction and relaxation of my muscles with each movement, which was fascinating.

Of course, I had no clear memory of it.

Still, even if I had entered the First-Rate realm, the pain remained.

It hurt like hell.

“Please don’t push yourself like that again… When you suddenly ran out like that, my heart nearly stopped.”

“Well, there wasn’t much of a choice…”

“Promise me.”

Huh? Has she always been like this?

She was pushing her face towards me with a somewhat scary intensity.

Seeing her like this, she looked rather pretty. Her skin was translucent, and her bright eyes sparkled like those of a small animal.

“All right, all right. But, how long are you going to keep holding my hand?”

“…Ah! Aah!”

—Thud!

She launched herself backward with such force that she landed on her rear a good distance away.

Thanks to that, Haryeong, who had been sleeping soundly in the corner, woke up.

“Big Bro?!”

Oh, damn.

I quickly covered my ears.

“Big Bro! Oh no! Oh no! Why do you look so haggard? Are you okay now? Oh no, what should I do? Your wounds haven’t reopened, right? I need to change your bandages right away!”

As expected, the moment Haryeong opened her mouth, the noise level skyrocketed.

Forcing myself up from the bed, I pressed down on her head.

“I’m fine, so please, just be quiet.”

Usually, this would calm her down, but her voice continued to ring incessantly.

“Do you even know how worried everyone was?! Baekrang, Unsam, the others, even the Governor of Shangdang! They stayed up for two whole days without sleep!”

“…W-We agreed not to speak of that!”

Good grief, when these two get together, the chaos is no joke.

With my head pounding, I pressed my forehead and shook my head.

Just then, a sound came from outside the tent.

The flap lifted, and people poured in.

“…You’re awake.”

The first person I saw was Liu Bei.

With her jet-black hair flowing freely, she smiled as usual.

“It’s truly fortunate.”

“Wow, you’re a real monster! Damn, how did you wake up so quickly? You were practically a corpse!”

Next came Zhang Fei.

Despite her rough language, her braided hair stood out in twin pigtails.

“I’ve told you repeatedly, Yide, mind your language. We’re in the presence of a patient. Show some restraint.”

Lastly, Guan Yu entered the tent, chastising Zhang Fei.

Even though her hair was tied in a single braid, it reached down to her waist.

Each one, with similar features, clasped their hands respectfully.

“Your loyalty to the Han Dynasty, Unryong Gong, and your courage, unyielding even in the face of death, have deeply moved me.”

Please stop calling me by such burdensome titles.

There was no loyalty or courage in me, just a desperate attempt to save my brothers.

“Man, that Lü Bu chick was no joke. Watching you fight her so fiercely almost brought tears to my eyes.”

“Come on, quiet down a bit. I heard we’re marching to Luoyang in two days. Should you really be so relaxed?”

At my question, Liu Bei stepped between her two sworn sisters.

“We’re ready to go. Once we finish inspecting the grain supplies, we’ll set out immediately, so there’s no need to worry.”

Her gaze felt overwhelming.

She seemed to look at me with sparkling eyes, even more so than when we first met.

Her smile had become subtly more pronounced, too.

What happened while I was unconscious for everyone to act like this?

“So, if your body is well enough, how about stepping outside and joining us? You haven’t eaten anything for two whole days, so filling your stomach would be a good start.”

I heard that a small banquet was being held outside.

Of course, “banquet” was just a word. It was more like everyone drinking and eating together.

In a situation like this, there was no way they could throw an extravagant banquet.

With Haryeong’s help, I stepped out of the tent.

The soldiers were all holding bottles of alcohol, chattering away excitedly.

Even after two days, the joy of victory had not yet worn off.

The first person I saw upon stepping outside was Unsam.

He was sitting on a rock, quietly holding a cup of wine.

“You’re here.”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Are you feeling okay now?”

“It hurts like hell, you idiot.”

“Haha, I never thought I’d see you acting weak. Looks like the sun might rise in the west.”

He chuckled as he poured wine into the cup before him.

In response, Haryeong’s eyes widened.

“You’re not thinking of giving that to Big Bro, are you?”

“Well, men heal their wounds with alcohol. What would a brat like you know?”

“Are you crazy?! What nonsense are you spouting?!”

“Ryeong, stop. Your Big Bro needs to have a word with Unsam.”

“…”

When I sat next to Unsam, Haryeong sighed heavily and smacked her forehead.

“Honestly, men… But no alcohol. Do you understand?”

She probably figured it was better to leave us alone for now. As wild as she seemed, she was sharp.

The others were the same.

They all bowed slightly and stepped aside.

I took the trembling cup of wine with my shaky hands.

Even then, I could only lift it with one arm.

“You’re incredible. To think you fought so fiercely against Lü Bu. I knew you were amazing, but I didn’t know you were this much of a monster.”

“Fought? Nonsense, I barely survived.”

“Well, at least you didn’t die. I nearly died after one exchange.”

“That’s because you’re weak.”

“That’s true, too.”

Then Unsam gestured towards the cup of wine.

“You sure about drinking this? Haryeong’s going to throw a fit.”

“Well, Baekrang will stop her.”

“True enough.”

We laughed heartily as we downed our cups together.

“How many?”

I asked.

Unsam’s face darkened instantly.

“Thirty-seven. We lost a lot.”

“Yeah.”

The sun had set, and night had fallen.

The crescent moon shone faintly in our cups.

“Foolish bastards. They swore they’d stay with us for life, and then they go and leave first.”

“Yeah, seriously.”

“Do you think they’re in a better place?”

“Of course they are.”

At my words, Unsam quietly nodded.

“That’s a relief.”

We silently emptied our cups several more times.

Soon, the alcohol dulled the pain.

Eventually, Unsam, thoroughly intoxicated, began to speak.

“We’ve come a long way. For beggars like us to have come this far… it’s all thanks to you. I could never have imagined this. That we’d be fighting alongside the people we used to only see from afar.”

“Yeah, you’ve worked hard.”

“We’ve all worked hard. You, me, and the others. We’ve all been through a lot.”

Yes, as Unsam said, we had come a long way.

It had taken more than ten years to get this far, ever since I had been transmigrated into this unfamiliar world.

“Remember what you said long ago?”

Unsam twisted his lips into a smile, though I couldn’t tell whether it was a genuine smile or something else.

“You said we’d go somewhere quiet, hunt bandits, and pursue the martial arts life you talked about. At the time, I couldn’t understand it. You had power. Power that could even rival the Peerless Warrior of the World, yet you didn’t seek some grand cause. It didn’t make sense to me.”

Why would I chase after some grand cause?

I just wanted to live quietly, as he had said.

People fear death.

They fear the unknown, and they fear the future.

In the face of such anxieties, humans often struggle to find their way.

I was no different.

I was just an ordinary person, albeit with a little more power than most.

Everything scared me.

When I first transmigrated into this world. When I first fought bandits.

And even now.

“But now, I think I get it.”

Unsam spoke.

“Let’s settle down somewhere quiet. I’ll pour you drinks, and you’ll accept them. We’ll laugh with the others, catch some bandits from time to time, and share with the people. That way, we won’t lose anyone else. We can all stay together for the rest of our lives. Isn’t that the martial arts life you’ve been talking about?”

You’re right, Unsam.

Yeah.

Let’s do that.

I don’t want to lose you all anymore.

My lighthearted desire to see you all succeed has only led you into danger.

Yeah.

Let’s stop this.

More battles are waiting ahead.

How could I bear to lose you all again?

Yeah.

Let’s do that.

Let’s pursue the kind of martial life I’ve dreamed of, somewhere quiet.

Wouldn’t it be nice?

To share drinks and live in peace with you all.

By now, Unsam had succumbed to the alcohol and fallen asleep.

I tilted my head back.

A crescent moon hung in the night sky.

Still, I had no idea where I was.