The Lionheart's Tale
Yuan Shu, who had just declared he would feed and house the slave who had been sold to him as one of the three human weapons, led the Western woman straight to the dining hall. After all, it was about time for his own meal. He ordered the servants, and before long a lavish feast was spread across the table.
"Whoa... a noble house really is a noble house."
"I don't know if it'll suit the palate of someone from the far west, but eat your fill anyway. We can't make Western dishes here."
"As long as I can eat it, who cares? I'm starving to death. Besides, I've eaten plenty on the way here, so I'm used to it."
The woman's mind was already completely captured by the food. She immediately began shoveling it into her mouth.
"You must have been very hungry."
Yuan Shao, who had sat beside Yuan Shu intending to dine with her brother, chuckled softly at the sight and picked up her chopsticks.
"If it's not enough, just say so. With a household like ours, you'll never go short of food."
Yuan Shu also began eating heartily, laughing at the sight of the woman in ragged clothes devouring everything like a wild beast. The three of them sat at the same table, yet each ate in a completely different manner: the woman tore through her meal with savage abandon, Yuan Shu ate with bold, straightforward gusto, and Yuan Shao maintained perfect grace and refinement. No two people at the table shared the same eating style.
Every kind of meat—beef, chicken, pork, fish—along with fresh vegetables and herbs filled the table. Countless dishes of the era were laid out, yet they vanished at an astonishing speed, as if to prove they were nothing more than mere food. Before long, the meal that had covered the entire table was gone, and dessert and wine were brought out in its place.
"Hah... so this is the expensive liquor of this country? Not bad at all!"
"From the way you say that, it sounds like you've had cheap booze before."
"I've had my share. I've tried all sorts of things while wandering around... though I never got to taste the liquor from my homeland. Not that I feel any particular nostalgia for it."
Even though she had been dragged across the world as a slave, there was no trace of longing in her eyes. Yuan Shu could tell at once that she was no ordinary person.
"From what I've heard, you've had quite the rough life. How about telling me your story as payment for the meal? We're not fighting today anyway, and I'm curious."
"You bought me as a slave, yet you're curious about that? Accepting my challenge, feeding me... you're no ordinary lunatic either. Well, fine. It's not like it's some grand tale."
With a slight flush from the wine, the woman grinned and began her story. Contrary to her claim that it was nothing special, it was a turbulent and mysterious tale. China was vast enough that most people never left their birthplace, let alone ventured beyond its borders. Hearing about the distant western lands, where even the race of people was different, was more than enough to captivate her listeners.
"You might not know this, but far away there's a place called Rome... or what people here call the Great Qin Empire. I was born in a tribe near that country."
Though not of any noble bloodline, she was stronger than those who were. "Back then my name was Charlotte. But I didn't like it. It sounded too weak, didn't it? So I decided to take a stronger name."
The woman once called Charlotte had punched to death a famous warrior named Richard who lived nearby and stolen his name. Even at a young age, she became renowned for defeating a grown, skilled fighter just to claim his name. Because she possessed the heart of a lion that roamed the wilds filled with fighting spirit beneath a human skin, she came to be called Richard of the Lion's Heart.
It was both a title of praise for her valor and a mark of fear and rejection, as people saw her as a beast wearing human skin. Eventually, even her parents disowned her, and she was soon expelled from the tribe.
"After that, what was there to it? I wandered around starving, fighting, getting captured... sold again and again until I ended up here. Hah, I never imagined as a kid that I'd end up in the eastern lands like this..."
From what he heard, her long life on the run had begun when she single-handedly annihilated a Roman army with nothing but a stone axe and a stolen sword. She had never been caught, but while fleeing from place to place without proper food, her strength had waned even as her striking appearance led to repeated captures and escapes. The cycle repeated endlessly until she reached China. Along the way, she had even learned the language of this land.
'Come to think of it, Richard of the Lion's Heart...? Surely not...'
As he listened, one name came to mind. A child who had beaten an adult to death and stolen his name at an age when most would only be entering elementary school in the modern era. A warrior who had crushed an army with just a stone axe and a single sword. The martial prowess was on a level that was hard to believe could belong to the same person by name alone. There was only one man who fit.
The king who had worn slippers and wielded an axe, leading eighty men to shatter an army of sixty thousand in a display of unmatched valor. A disastrous ruler, yet a warrior whose strength rivaled myth. A king whose enemies had grudgingly praised him as "that bastard is the spawn of Satan." Richard the Lionheart.
'The being that reincarnated me said it would send three talents... but seriously, sending someone who doesn't even exist in this era, and a Westerner at that, not even Chinese...?'
It was absurd, but then again, reincarnation itself was absurd. If some transcendent being had sent him to this world that resembled the Three Kingdoms yet was fundamentally different, it wasn't strange that it could make the impossible happen.
'So I have to win her heart myself, huh? Heh...'
But Yuan Shu wasn't particularly skilled at winning people's hearts. What he wanted right now was a fight with this remarkable individual. If this woman was truly the famous Lionheart turned female like Yuan Shao, then how powerful would this mad human weapon—who had already performed superhuman feats in reality—be in a world where "one man equals ten thousand" was taken literally?
Confident in his own strength, Yuan Shu felt his competitive spirit flare the moment he realized her identity. Was he merely a frog in a well, or could he truly stand against the exceptional figures of this era? He preferred clashing bodies over pointless arguments. A clear victory or defeat was far more satisfying.
It was ridiculous for the legitimate heir of a prestigious family to enjoy such things, but there was nothing strange about a man striving to obtain what he lacked in life. Everyone carried a desire to be special in some corner of their heart.
The wine had gone to his head, and Yuan Shu felt his blood boiling with excitement, but he held himself back. He had already promised to feed and house her before fighting, and now that he knew her true identity, he wanted to face her at her absolute best.
"Alright, get some proper rest. A servant will show you to your quarters. From now on, excuses about losing because you were hungry or tired won't fly."
"Hah! Don't come crying later that you should have challenged me when I was weak! You think a pampered young master like you could beat me at full strength?"
Yuan Shu burst into hearty laughter at her lion-like growl.
"Fine. Let's settle this properly tomorrow. I'll break that arrogant nose of yours!"
"You'd better prepare for that pretty face of yours to get turned into a rag!"
They laughed, neither hiding their competitive spirit, and only calmed their fighting auras after Richard had left.
"Gongno, even I can tell that woman is extraordinary. I don't doubt your victory, but... you might get quite hurt."
"Heh heh heh... Sister, defeat or getting injured doesn't matter. If I ran away from something like that, it would hurt even more."
Yuan Shu laughed boldly, declaring he would properly leash that beast tomorrow.