Zhuge Yang (2)
"What is it?" asked the woman in white martial robes, her tone sharp.
"I'm Gwak Jin. Our boss— er, Ma Won here says he has business with Zhuge Yang."
At the mention of my name, her eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. She was clearly displeased. The mood was sour enough that I wanted to step back and ask Gwak Jin who this woman even was, but he, utterly oblivious, only stared at me blankly.
Left with no choice, I stepped forward myself. I didn't know the etiquette of this place, but I folded my hands neatly and spoke as politely as I could.
"My name is Ma Won. I wish to meet Master Zhuge Yang in person."
In an instant, the woman's frowning eyes went as wide as they could go.
"You— how...? You've come to your senses?"
... It seemed she remembered my former self, and the look she gave me was one of open distaste. This is why a person's everyday conduct matters, I suppose.
"Yes. I have come to my senses."
"How remarkable. What is your business?"
Fortunately, she did not seem inclined to make much of an issue of me. I gathered my thoughts and organized what I wanted to say.
Thoughts crossed and recrossed in my head. I want to recruit Master Zhuge Yang? Coming from a twelve-year-old, those words would be nothing but nonsense. For now, I simply wanted to meet the great figure of history with my own eyes. Then I could decide my next move.
"I wish to meet Master Zhuge Yang in person and speak with her directly."
At my words, the woman sank into thought.
Creeeak—. Suddenly, from somewhere past the open gate, came the sound of yet another door. An inner door opening, I guessed.
"... Wait here."
She closed the gate and disappeared, and Gwak Jin turned to me.
"Boss. So what're you gonna do when you meet her?"
The words wouldn't come easily. Recruiting her seemed like a nonstarter, and I hadn't settled on what pretext I'd give for wanting to stay at her side, either. After all, I knew nothing about this place.
With nothing to my name, all I could do was steel myself to knock on that gate dozens of times over, recalling the old tale of the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage.
Gwak Jin went on. "So you do wanna work here after all? But they're looking for a maid."
"They're hiring a maid...?"
I did need a place to stay, and now I had one more angle to work.
Before long, I sensed movement behind the gate. Soon, I would meet Zhuge Yang. At the thought, my heart began to pound. I forced myself to calm down — I couldn't make a spectacle of myself at our very first meeting.
Creeeak—. The gate opened, and the woman in white from before appeared alone.
Why was she alone? Was this the first refusal, just like the tale of the Three Visits? If so, then tomorrow, and the day after, and every day after that, I would come knocking again.
Just as I was thinking that, someone poked their head out from behind the woman in white. A tiny, tiny little head.
From that little head came a clear, bright voice.
"Hi there? I heard you wanted to meet me?"
I froze on the spot at the shocking sight.
There was a certain image that came to mind whenever people thought of Zhuge Kongming — even if that image had been shaped in the public mind through games. A gentle expression, a long, thin beard, a neat white robe, a scholar's cap, a fan of white feathers. That Zhuge Yang... was this little pipsqueak?
It was possible. Since I had no idea what point in time I had fallen into, I could have landed in Zhuge Yang's childhood — if I corrected just one error, that is. And that error was... that the adorable little pipsqueak standing before me was a girl.
It really was Yeonhui Three Kingdoms! I screamed inwardly.
A moment later, I desperately calmed my reeling heart. Once it was certain this was the world of Yeonhui Three Kingdoms, complicated emotions came surging in like a tide.
First, I knew of Yeonhui Three Kingdoms, but I had never actually played it. An unease crept over me — my future knowledge, built mostly on games based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, might not be trustworthy after all. There was still some comfort in the thought that I would likely be able to recognize the abilities of the major S-rank and A-rank generals. A hollow feeling settled in at the realization that I would never get to meet the gentle-faced male Zhuge Yang I had imagined. And last of all, there was the feeling that rose as I watched the young Zhuge Yang beaming at me with a face full of curiosity. That feeling was...
She's adorable!
She was a child with big, sparkling eyes. Beneath long lashes, her curious gaze glittered, and every time she smiled, little dimples pressed adorably into cheeks still rounded with baby fat — from her faintly pink-tinged cheeks down to her long, soft black hair.
As I stood sorting through my tangled feelings, staring blankly at the adorable young Zhuge Yang, a voice sharp as frost cut in.
"You there! The Young Miss asked you a question!"
Eek! Who was that woman, and why was her voice so sharp?
Then came the soft, darling voice of the young Zhuge Yang.
"It's all right, Escort Yeon. I'll talk to him!"
"Yes, Young Miss."
As the woman called Escort Yeon stepped back, the small figure of Zhuge Yang came fully into view, her tiny height and adorable face plain to see. She was short enough that her head would barely reach my chest, but her face was so small that her proportions were lovely.
Zhuge Yang clenched her little fists and asked again.
"What is it? Why did you ask to see me?"
At that adorable sight, my mind went white for a moment. Why had I asked to see Zhuge Yang again? To recruit her? I'd thought recruiting her would be hard because of my age, but she looked even younger than me? Just as I was floundering through the fog, Gwak Jin's words suddenly surfaced.
Ah! The maid!
In my muddle, I barely managed to force the word out.
"I-I want to be a maid!"
Only a few seconds after the words left my mouth did I realize what I had done. Ah — I'd meant to say servant...
Before I could correct myself, Zhuge Yang's wide, curious eyes curved into crescents, and she burst into peals of laughter.
"Ahahahahaha!"
It was a delightful laugh — and the feeling that flooded me the moment I heard it was pure embarrassment.
"A s-servant... I said it wrong..."
I belatedly corrected myself in a small voice, but it was drowned out by Zhuge Yang's cheerful laughter. From her being a girl, to her being far too cute — one unexpected shock after another had piled up until I'd gone and blundered like an idiot.
The woman standing behind Zhuge Yang looked at me as if I were hopeless, and from behind me came the faint sound of the children chattering.
"Pfft. He wants to be a maid."
"Looks like Ma Won's turned into an idiot again!"
After a while, Zhuge Yang finally managed to stop laughing — there were even tears in her eyes. Wiping them away, she said,
"I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard!"
"I-I just said it wrong..."
"I heard you. You want to be a servant? But we were planning to hire a girl?"
At the very least, she hadn't chased me off as an idiot — that much was a mercy. Desperately, I began pitching everything I could do. No — I was pitching things I'd never even tried.
"I'd be better than any girl! I'm super strong, and I'm great at cleaning! I'm good at laundry too, and I can cook!"
A part of me wondered whether a former lightweight champion really had to sell himself like this — but this was Zhuge Yang we were talking about. I wanted to keep that thread connected, whatever it took.
Fortunately, Zhuge Yang did not brush my offer aside.
"Let me talk it over with Escort Yeon for a bit — I'll let you know!"
The gate closed again.
I sank into thought as I looked over the house I hadn't had the presence of mind to study earlier. Zhuge Yang's home was far too small to be called a manor. It didn't seem to have more than a few rooms, and if this was a place where only Zhuge Yang and the woman called Escort Yeon lived, then hiring a girl would indeed make more sense than taking in a boy like me. Looked like I might have to come back tomorrow and ask again.
"Hey, Won... you didn't turn back into an idiot, did you?"
"I told you, I just misspoke!"
I tussled with the kids. Hanging around with twelve-year-old brats from the moment I possessed this body seemed to have rubbed off on my mental age. No — come to think of it, even as an adult, I'd only ever known how to look dignified on the outside; inside, I had always been a big kid. Even after becoming champion, I'd tease people on social media and catch flak from my own fans for it... And besides, Zhuge Yang really was about Gwak Jin's age.
"He doesn't seem like an idiot?"
At Zhuge Yang's words, Yeon Hwa nodded.
"It would seem so. I hear his senses have returned to him."
"Hmm. That's amazing? Can that even happen? Anyway, should we just hire him?"
Yeon Hwa shook her head firmly.
"That will not do."
"Whyyy? Is it because of his face? They're just burn scars."
"It is not his face — he is a boy, is he not? There would be much discomfort on both sides."
"Still, thanks to him I laughed my fill for the first time in ages."
Zhuge Yang dug in her heels. Yeon Hwa knew she could not let her heart waver at a time like this.
"Even so, no. I will go reason with him and send him on his way."
"Tch..."
Phew. I barely talked her down. Thinking so, Yeon Hwa turned and headed for the gate.
Just then, Zhuge Yang asked, almost in passing,
"By the way, Escort Yeon — they say he doesn't have parents?"
Yeon Hwa froze. She had been asked, so she had to answer. But the words would not come easily.
"Why? Do you know something?"
She could not tell a lie. In a village this small, if Zhuge Yang learned the truth later, she would be gravely disappointed in her. In the end, Yeon Hwa laid out what she knew.
"From what I have heard... when Ma Won still had not come to his senses even after growing this tall..."
"Hadn't?"
"... his parents set fire to the house... and fled."
"......"
A heavy silence settled. Yeon Hwa knew better than anyone how Zhuge Yang's heart would take it. She had never intended to bring up his parents or the burns at all... What came next was obvious.
"Sister Hwa."
It was the name Zhuge Yang called Yeon Hwa whenever she was dead set on having her way.
"... Yes."
"Let's hire Ma Won."
"... As you wish."
"The Young Miss has given her consent. Follow me."
At the woman called Escort Yeon's words, I pumped my fist.
Yes!
I had braced myself to be turned down flat, so this was an unexpected turn. So the world was not ruled by looks after all. Laundry, cleaning, and cooking truly were the essential skills for getting through life!
"Whoa! Boss! That's great!"
"Y-yeah. Thanks."
On my very first day in this world, I had landed a job as Zhuge Yang's maid.