An Unexpected Visit (5)
With Zhang Fei leading the way, Liu Bei's trio combed the stable from end to end, leaving not a single corner unexplored.
They looked determined to take however long it took, so long as it meant finding an exceptional horse. It was an exceedingly cautious approach, but framed as a free shopping spree with only one chance to choose, it hardly seemed strange. Considering the role horses played in this era, they had every reason to be that much more careful.
A mount was what carried a person from place to place — in modern terms, the role of a car. Which meant they were expensive, never cheap, no matter how you looked at it.
Trailing the Liu Bei sisters step for step as they scoured the stable was its own ordeal, so I settled into a convenient spot to rest and waited for them to bring their picks back. And since sitting idle while I waited would have been boring in its own right, I perched Seo Yeo on my lap and kept kneading that sweet-rice-cake face of hers.
"…"
Seo Yeo accepted my mischievous hands without a flicker of reaction.
What was so entertaining about this, anyway? However far I pulled, her cheeks stretched right along with my fingers — though mercifully not to any physically impossible degree. Normally, someone whose face was being toyed with like this would show some kind of response, but Seo Yeo displayed no such sign whatsoever. Even studying her expression was pointless; it was fixed in the same look day after day, so the only way to gauge her state was to read the room and take my best guess.
Put into words, that sounded pretty extreme. Maybe enough years at Seo Yeo's side would grow me an intuition I never had. Or I'd simply die first.
Seo Yeo was docile toward me and me alone; with everyone else she could be surprisingly merciless. She didn't so much as open her mouth for anyone who wasn't me — that said it all. Honestly, it was terrifying just to imagine what would have become of her if my past self hadn't scooped her up as a child.
"…?"
When I paused my kneading and lowered my hand, Seo Yeo tilted her head up at me with a trace of puzzlement. Honestly, if she found it unpleasant I would have stopped — but when she was the one practically begging for more, what could I do? I set my hands moving again and let my thoughts wander.
I didn't much care what horses Guan Yu and Zhang Fei would come back with, but I was a little curious what Liu Bei would choose. Because Dilu — the horse Yuan Shu had sent me a while back — was stabled here. Would the two of them really be drawn to each other as fatefully as in the stories?
Whenever I so much as approached Dilu, the staff glared at the horse like they were ready to end its life on the spot, so I couldn't ride him even if I'd wanted to. They looked prepared to kill him the instant I laid a finger on him — what choice did I have? To me, he was nothing but a rice cake in a painting: lovely to look at, impossible to have.
And yet the stablehands who worked here — men genuinely devoted to horses — didn't care about any of that and raised him with real devotion. When I'd found a spare moment recently, I'd gone to have a look, and there was Dilu, sprawled out in comfort under everyone's care, living the good life. He'd clearly been eating well and exercising often; he'd grown into a handsome animal with firm, well-laid muscle all over.
I honestly couldn't tell whether he'd become a fine horse because he was Dilu, or whether he was a fine horse who'd simply had the misfortune of being Dilu.
Just then, having apparently finished a full circuit of the stable, the three sisters gradually came into view, each leading a horse. I gave Seo Yeo, still seated on my lap, the signal that it was time to get up.
"…"
"…"
Why wasn't she getting up?
I patted her knee to hurry her along, but Seo Yeo only lifted her head and stared blankly up at my face. She knew perfectly well what I wanted and was pretending otherwise. She was light enough that my lap didn't ache or anything, but carrying on a conversation with Liu Bei in this pose would look utterly undignified.
In the end, I had no choice but to slip my hands under the arms of the Seo Yeo stubbornly refusing to budge and hoist her off by force. She had already removed the Chu Heaven Sword she always carried on her back and set it down beside us, so she wasn't that heavy.
I set the visibly sulking Seo Yeo down beside me, rose from my seat, and brushed off my clothes.
"So. Found them all?"
"Yes."
Liu Bei, who had somehow drifted over to me, nodded at my question.
Told by the General-in-Chief to pick whatever she liked, Zhang Fei — who had been roaming the stable this way and that, sizing up the horses — spoke up.
"They all just look good to me?"
Every last one of them was big-bodied and brimming with stamina. A few seemed to have rather fiery temperaments, but that posed no problem for Zhang Fei whatsoever. Horses like these weren't produced by fine breeding alone, and Guan Yu, too, let a sigh of admiration escape her.
"I have heard it said that no force under heaven can match this one in cavalry. Now I see there was good reason."
An enormous amount of care must have gone into raising horses like these. Add the tremendous time and vast resources that must have been poured in, and it was easy to understand why the security had been so airtight when they'd entered.
At Guan Yu's praise, the stablehands milling about broke into proud expressions. Having their efforts recognized by such a beauty apparently felt wonderful.
"I'm taking this one!"
"Then I shall have this horse."
After a short deliberation, Zhang Fei chose a dark bay, and Guan Yu, following her lead, picked the chestnut standing beside it. Watching a stablehand lead her chosen horse out, Zhang Fei turned to Liu Bei.
"Sister Xuande! Did you pick yours yet?"
At Zhang Fei's guileless question, Liu Bei gave a small shake of her head.
"No. Nothing in particular has caught my eye."
"Huh? They're all fine horses — none of them do it for you?"
"It's not that they displease me…"
Liu Bei trailed off for a moment, then showed a wry smile.
"I just have this feeling there's a better horse somewhere else."
"Eh?"
Liu Bei took the bewildered Zhang Fei by the hand and drew her along.
"Let's move a little faster, shall we? Keeping the General-in-Chief waiting too long would be a discourtesy, no?"
"Wha— hold on a second!"
Guan Yu watched the two of them slowly recede, hand in hand, and a smile touched her lips.
…But does this mean I must now look after Yide's horse as well?
Feeling the dark bay Zhang Fei had chosen staring blankly in her direction, Guan Yu let out a long sigh.
"Ah! This is it! I will take this horse!"
"Sister Xuande?!"
Just then, from far ahead came Liu Bei's voice, declaring her choice of horse, and Zhang Fei's voice, sounding thoroughly flustered. Even to Guan Yu's ears, the choice reeked of spur-of-the-moment impulse, and she made her way over slowly, puzzled.
Well, well. She really did come back with Dilu.
While Zhang Fei had brought back a dark bay and Guan Yu a chestnut, Liu Bei alone had hit the jackpot. Her eye for talent truly was in a league of its own. The horses Zhang Fei and Guan Yu had chosen were fine animals, but set against Dilu, there was a clear gap in class.
Still, I figured I ought to tell her what needed telling, so I addressed Liu Bei, who had chosen Dilu.
"The other horses are all perfectly fine, but the one you picked has a slight problem."
"…Pardon?"
She hadn't imagined I would say any such thing, and looked visibly flustered. Judging by her expression, she hadn't heard a word of explanation, so I asked, in mock curiosity.
"Did the stablehands not explain anything while you were choosing?"
"…The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was the one. So I chose quickly."
What could have been so urgent that she darted off to grab him? I shrugged and spoke.
"If no one explained, then I will."
"Yes…"
"That horse is an ill-omened steed known as Dilu."
"Dilu?"
Liu Bei showed no sign of knowing anything about the name. Meeting her black eyes — eyes so like the Emperor's — I continued.
"You must have wondered why a horse this fine was sitting in a stable, no?"
"……"
To my question, Liu Bei held her silence, neither confirming nor denying. I observed that reaction for a moment, then nodded.
"The reason is simple. There's a superstition that Dilu brings death to whichever master rides him."
"I see."
"You chose without knowing, so if your mind has changed, I'll give you the chance to choose again. What will you do?"
Knowing the Liu Bei I knew, though, she wouldn't give Dilu up. I'd only asked out of curiosity — I wanted to see how she would react. As I waited unhurriedly for her answer, Liu Bei opened her mouth.
"Do you believe in that superstition as well, General?"
Why ask that all of a sudden? I was curious, but she had asked, so I answered her honestly.
"No. I can't say that I do."
"Then why do you not ride him?"
Was she trying to work out what sort of man I was? I smiled faintly as I replied.
"Because the people around me guard me a little too zealously, that's why."
"……"
"They refuse to leave so much as an opening for me to come to harm in the first place."
And those openings included every rumor drifting about as mere superstition.
"If I ever so much as rode Dilu, there are plenty of people who would kill him on the spot."
Even now, one of those very people stood at my side. At that, Liu Bei let a small laugh escape.
"You are dearly loved, General."
"It can be a bit much sometimes, mind you."
I looked at Liu Bei and went on.
"Is that answer enough for you?"
"Yes."
"So what will you do?"
At my question, Liu Bei answered with a calm expression.
"I will keep him, just as he is."
"Good."
I nodded. Just as I'd expected, Liu Bei did not give up Dilu.
Live happily with your new master.