Resolve (7)
"Ah, there you are. Care to hear a ghost story?"
"Hm? A ghost story, out of nowhere?"
It was the dead of night, the sky long since gone dark. While most of the soldiers had gone ashore to settle their seasickness, a few had volunteered to stay behind and stand watch instead. They were the men Zhou Yu and Sun Ce had assigned to the General-in-Chief, and every last one of them was more at home on the water than on land—so much so that, perversely, they were the ones who felt queasy the moment they set foot on dry ground.
Patrolling the ship in pairs, one of these soldiers spoke up.
"On a creepy night like this, nothing beats a good scary story, wouldn't you say?"
"It's still plenty rowdy out there, though."
Since they would be riding the river again tomorrow, no one was drinking, but those who had recovered their health the instant they went ashore were raising a ruckus in the camp. They would probably carry on like that right up until lights-out, he figured. The soldier flashed an easygoing grin.
"That's just it—I mean normally. You're bored stiff yourself, aren't you?"
"Well... I can't deny that."
His companion nodded.
"All right, let's hear it. Let's see... what would be a good one..."
After a moment of thought, the soldier's face lit up as though something had come to him.
"Got it. This one's a ghost story only us boatmen know, passed around here and there..."
"...Hm?"
Just then his companion made a noise, as though he had spotted someone. The soldier, the tale already on the tip of his tongue, fell silent at the sight and turned his head.
And there—wouldn't you know it—stood a general, gazing into empty space with eyes that gave nothing away. A greatsword that looked, even to the naked eye, like it weighed a small mountain. A face so blank one might doubt she felt emotion at all. And a colossal presence that pressed on the air even though she stood perfectly still. There in the corridor stood the guardian general who was now regarded, throughout the camp, as the equal of that Peerless Under Heaven.
True, her opponents had been mere conscripts, but the sight of her so effortlessly crushing Yuan Shu's army had left a deep impression on every soul on that battlefield. The soldier would probably never forget, for the rest of his life, the sight of blood dripping from the tip of that enormous blade.
...That gave me a start. Why is she of all people here?
He had flinched for no reason at all—he'd done nothing wrong—and then he noticed something odd.
The General-in-Chief's quarters shouldn't be here, should they?
He knew because he had the ship's layout memorized down to the last plank. The General-in-Chief's quarters ought to be the largest room, a little ways off from here. Not that "largest" meant much aboard a ship—cramped was cramped, in the end.
Tap, tap. His companion nudged the still-dazed soldier, as if to say they should clear out of here fast. Even as a soldier, he had no desire to keep lingering in the same spot as a general who might rival the Peerless Under Heaven—or perhaps even surpass her. Honestly, that unreadable expression was simply too much to bear.
The two of them quickened their steps a little, but the girl standing guard before the door showed no reaction to them whatsoever.
"...Ah."
Just as the soldier was slipping past the door, the girl who had stood there without a sound, rooted in place, opened her mouth.
"...?"
It sounded like a lament over something, so he turned his head—
"Whoa..."
—and saw the girl being seized by someone and dragged away without the slightest resistance.
The door, which had opened just a crack, thudded shut a heartbeat later, leaving only the two soldiers in the corridor. Neither of them said a word, as though they had agreed on it in advance. How was one even supposed to describe it—that sight of a general who could cut down hundreds, thousands of men without breaking stride, being hauled off without a flicker of struggle? Yes. It had been truly astonishing.
His companion, who had kept his silence, finally blurted it out.
"...Looks like we won't be needing that ghost story after all."
"No kidding."
It was far more shocking than the old tale of a beautiful woman who appears at the water's edge and drowns men.
As the two stood there in a daze, a familiar voice reached their ears.
"Hm... by my senses, he should be somewhere around here..."
The soldier whipped his head around at the sound.
"Oh—perfect timing."
Blood-red eyes that no one could forget after seeing them just once. The Peerless Under Heaven herself, Lü Bu, appeared, scarlet hair streaming as red as those eyes.
"Hey, you two. You know where Jeong Reung is?"
"Haven't seen hide nor hair of him for a while, so I've been looking."
Lü Bu asked, her beloved Sky Piercer Halberd slung across her shoulder.
The soldier, having just witnessed that entire scene, racked his brains over how on earth to answer.
"...We don't really know either, ma'am."
After a moment of darting his eyes about, a lie popped out of the soldier's mouth. He had a fair bit of sense himself—how else was he supposed to answer? But there was one thing he had overlooked:
the fact that Lü Bu was, to an uncanny degree, adept at sniffing out other people's lies.
"My, my. Lying to my face, are we?"
"Hey. Do I look like a pushover to you?"
"N-no, ma'am!"
The soldier answered, his body snapping rigid.
"What, you want me to pretend Jeong Reung doesn't exist?"
"That's not it, it's just..."
"Good enough, then."
Having seen through the lie in an instant, Lü Bu growled low in her throat.
"Last chance. Do you know where he is?"
"...Yes, ma'am."
In the end, the soldier could only answer, utterly deflated. So this was how bitter it felt to stand in a position where, when pressed, you simply had to yield.
They say the General-in-Chief once remarked that Lü Bu possessed a brusque yet adorable voice. To a common soldier, an utterly incomprehensible assessment. Goosebumps came crawling up his skin as though he stood before a savage beast—what part of that was adorable? He would stake his life on it: Lü Bu could fell the faint of heart with a single shout.
The soldier guided Lü Bu to the very room the girl had been guarding.
"...The General-in-Chief is in this room, ma'am."
"...Here?"
Lü Bu narrowed her eyes a touch and stopped in front of the door.
"I can't hear a single thing from inside..."
Just then the door opened a crack, and someone spoke.
"I heard your voice, so I was waiting."
"Wait, what's that supposed to—?!"
Just as the girl had done moments before, Lü Bu was yanked bodily into the room. The door thudded shut behind her, and flustered voices drifted out from within.
"N-no, hold on, what is this?! Just how many are you taking on all at once—!"
"Quiet. There are people right outside."
"Mmmphh?!"
There was Lü Bu, unable to so much as twitch against a single man. The soldier who had guided her there withdrew from the spot, shaking his head in disbelief. So the General-in-Chief had already stretched his devil's hand toward even the Peerless Under Heaven. And here he'd wondered why there were so many women hovering nearby—so that was the reason.
If the soldier's guess was right, then the General-in-Chief was a man who, as one of his own sex, he could not help but respect from the bottom of his heart.
"As expected of him—commanding all under heaven even on the battlefield of night."
His companion, who like the soldier had a wife and children waiting at home, murmured in genuine admiration. The soldier spoke up.
"Let's pull back now. Lingering here any longer wouldn't be proper, would it?"
"Right."
Having roughly caught on to what was unfolding inside, the two of them hurried away from the spot. The night was still long.
After a night like a passing storm had come and gone, I woke and stared around the empty room, unable to hide my bewilderment. No—to be precise, one person was still there.
"...You're awake, my lord."
Seo Yeo, her own clothing already neatly arranged, offered me her greeting.
I asked her,
"Where did everyone else go?"
"Before the soldiers could wake, they slipped out of the room, saying they were going to wash."
Ah...
Well, they had sweated plenty last night, after all. The rivers of China would one day be fouled by every manner of industrial waste, but for now the water still ran clear enough for that to be possible. Down toward the Yangtze, if you were lucky, you might even spot a dolphin.
Confirming that it was early dawn, the sun not yet even risen, I began throwing on my clothes. And the moment I'd haphazardly draped them over myself, Seo Yeo set about straightening my attire with practiced hands. For a while, I simply watched her at it.
Anyone else looking at her right now would surely have called her neat and composed. But I, who had spent long years at her side, could tell. Strands of hair escaping here and there, small fumbles she herself didn't seem to notice—it all told me that Seo Yeo was not quite herself today.
Did I wear her out too much yesterday?
I opened my mouth and asked what I'd been wondering.
"Did you wash, Seo Yeo?"
"...No. I must remain faithful to my duty as your guard."
I knew she'd say that.
"Then let's go wash together."
At my suggestion, Seo Yeo held her silence for a moment, then looked up at me.
"Is it... still not enough?"
"...What on earth do you take me for?"
A flustered reply escaped me before I could help it. Knowing the devotion Seo Yeo poured into me, if I said it wasn't enough, she would doubtless give more. But I am not the sort of man who pounces without regard for time or place just to satisfy his own appetites. I am no lecherous tyrant, I'll have you know.
"Moving around feeling grimy like that would be miserable, wouldn't it?"
Seo Yeo said nothing.
"If I told you to go wash alone, you wouldn't listen—so I'm telling you we go together."
Seo Yeo answered in her flat, even voice.
"...It makes no difference to me."
"It makes a difference to me. Come on, let's go."
My attire now presentable, I took Seo Yeo's hand and started walking. She simply let herself be pulled along.