Do you know who I am?
Do you know who I am?
"Ah! My lord, please, have mercy!"
"I believe I told you last time. If you want to keep doing business here, you pay the stall fee."
"This is too much. We barely scrape by each day. How can you demand a stall fee?"
"Why you— Still no? Fine! Boys!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Show these wretches a hot time! You will pay dearly for the crime of slighting Lord Gundam, uncle to Jian Shuo!"
"Understood, my lord!"
A gang of rough-looking men.
And leading them, a smarmy middle-aged man.
Under the orders of this man called Gundam, they were rampaging through the shops of the north gate district, wreaking havoc.
A mob flipping stalls, beating people with clubs, and shaking them down for every coin.
Though they ran wild in broad daylight, no one in the gathered crowd dared to lift a finger against them.
Everyone watching knew exactly who these thugs were, and who stood behind the one called Gundam.
A sharp voice cut through the commotion.
"Halt!"
"Hm?"
A company of soldiers pushed through the crowd.
The moment he spotted the red-haired woman at the head of the company, Gundam sauntered toward her with a dismissive smile.
"Heh heh, isn't this the Northern District Commandant? What brings you all the way out here?"
"You ask as if you don't know. I'm certain my subordinates warned you last time. Don't stir up trouble with these so-called stall fees."
The Northern District Commandant of Luoyang, Cao Cao, spoke in a cold voice.
At that, Gundam's men paused their work, glancing around nervously.
"Withdraw at once. If you do not leave now, I cannot simply stand idle."
The massive warrior standing behind her tightened his grip on the great sword in his hand.
A man whose name, as I recalled, had something to do with Xiahou. He was known to possess terrible strength to match his imposing frame.
Yet even under that clear warning, Gundam spoke with an utterly unruffled voice.
"And what will you do if you cannot stand idle? Heh heh... Surely you know who I am?"
"That is precisely why I am making this request. Are you not ashamed before the people?"
"Not at all ashamed. What is there to be ashamed of, watching those insects tremble before me?"
"..."
Cao Cao's expression hardened further at his sneering tone. Seeing this, Gundam raised his voice even louder, as if he had found a delightful spectacle.
"Huh... The young friend seems quite angry. Fine. Strike me down if you can. Surely you've also received a warning from your clan? If you cross me further, unpleasant things will follow."
"You bastard, how dare you—"
"Yuanrang."
"... Tch."
The giant of a man halted his advance at Cao Cao's word.
Seeing this, Gundam turned to the icy-faced Cao Cao, his own expression becoming ever more smug.
"A word of advice. Don't waste your attention here. Know your place as a gatekeeper and guard your gate well. If you want to rise in the world, shouldn't you be learning to read the situation by now?"
"..."
"What are you lot doing! There's no problem, so get back to work! If they can't pay the fee, then strip it from them by force!"
"Understood, my lord!"
At those words, Gundam and his men resumed their work.
Looking on, Cao Cao took no action at all, merely staying silent.
Countless thoughts raced through her mind as she kept her trembling fists clenched.
Gundam's men, rampaging without restraint.
The common folk, helpless before her very eyes.
A corner of her heart ached, but having even received a warning from her clan to wash her hands of this, she had no choice but to let it pass.
This Gundam before her was the uncle of Jian Shuo, the leader of the Ten Regular Attendants.
No matter the strength of Cao Cao's clan, if she mishandled those who held the real power of the state, it was obvious that trouble would follow her path to advancement.
To rise to a high position as soon as possible and set this chaotic age right... for now, she could only endure.
Yet even knowing all this.
Cao Cao could not stomach the situation in the slightest.
A world in chaos.
Everywhere she turned, utterly repulsive scenes played out day after day.
Corrupt officials impoverished the lives of the common people.
Loyal ministers were pressed down by traitors, unable to make a sound.
No matter what the future held, having to turn a blind eye to such things...
This reality was piling up into a dark sediment deep within the heart of the woman named Cao Cao.
A sediment mixed with the cold question: was devoting herself to such a nation truly worth it?
Before she could pursue the thought—
—CRASH!!!
"Gwaaagh!!"
"!"
Gundam's men went rolling across the ground with the sound of something breaking apart.
The eyes of the gang—busy overturning shops—and those of Cao Cao, who was watching, all snapped toward the source of the noise.
"Honestly... Anywhere you go in this Luoyang, it's the same. Filthy insects crawling all over. Can't tell if this is the capital or a garbage dump."
A young man strode forward, grumbling, with delicate, handsome features.
And standing beside him, a woman with blonde hair and brown skin.
Despite her slender frame, she lightly wielded a cloth-wrapped three-pointed blade far too heavy for her build. Even the burly thugs flinched back.
"Wh-who are you bastards! Do you know who I am, to dare act like this?"
"Who else? You're a gunpla... no. A parasitic mongrel who's been swaggering around extorting whatever you call a stall fee."
"Wh-what? A parasite?"
The young man spoke with a cold smile.
Hearing this, the faces of Gundam and his men began to flush with rage.
"You wretches! How dare you show such insolence! Do you truly wish to die!"
"Insolence, my foot. It's you bastards who haven't heard the news, it seems. I am..."
"What are you doing! Strike that wretch down at once!"
"Understood!"
"Haha... you sons of..."
Before the young man could even finish, the thugs surged forward.
The opposition was only two, and one was a pretty-faced youth who looked nothing like a fighter.
Though the woman holding the three-pointed blade worried them, she was still just one person.
They had no reason to lose, outnumbering them ten to one. That was what they thought.
They only thought it.
*
Emperor Ling, the twelfth emperor of the Later Han.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, his role basically amounts to dying right after the Yellow Turban Rebellion. But in truth, the colossal mess of the Three Kingdoms essentially started with this bastard.
His Majesty personally ran a sale of offices, cultivating corrupt officials with his own hands.
Naturally, anyone who bought a post with money became frantic to recoup the investment and turn a net profit, wielding their power to exploit the common folk.
This naturally sent the mighty Han Dynasty, with all its unified imperial power, staggering into ruin.
It wasn't as though the Yellow Turbans had rampaged through the opening of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, or the corrupt officials led by the Ten Regular Attendants had run riot, for no reason.
It all happened because His Majesty the Emperor, sitting high above, was personally and brilliantly running the nation into the ground.
One needn't look far. The father of the Cao Cao right in front of me, Cao Song, apparently bought the post of Grand Commandant—a ministerial-level position in modern terms—with money.
Even though Grand Commandant was treated as something of an honorary post, it was one of the Three Excellencies, the highest positions in the court, ranking within the top three.
The simple fact that such an office could be purchased with money already signals the nation was a complete mess.
As a result, the Han state—not just its frontier regions, but even here in the capital, Luoyang—was packed full of thoroughly rotten officials and the hangers-on who threw their weight around in their name.
And so.
The post I currently held was precisely the Changshui Colonel, charged with keeping the peace inside this very Luoyang.
In the Original Timeline, Yuan Shu used this post to run around like a political enforcer, no different from a hunting dog for the Ten Regular Attendants.
He built up a vile notoriety as the Street Ghost of Luoyang, drawing every imaginable curse upon himself. From his very first appearance, he showed moves entirely befitting the greatest fool of the Three Kingdoms era.
And of course, I, who had become Yuan Shu, had exactly zero desire to do any of that insane bullshit.
Comparing the Changshui Colonel to the modern day, it was a position like the Chief of the Capital Police.
Moreover, as the person considered the de facto heir to the Yuan Clan, the most powerful family in the Han Dynasty, no ordinary official—not even the Ten Regular Attendants themselves—could touch me lightly.
In other words, I had the power to legally crush the corrupt officials running their rackets and their underlings without having to care about anyone around me.
Just like in the past, and right now, facing this Gundam or Zaku or whatever his name was before my eyes.
Well... truthfully, this particular case was a bit different from the ones before.
"Gwaaagh!!"
"Wh-what the hell is this strength... Kwak!"
The thugs writhed on the ground, letting out miserable screams.
They looked capable enough, but unfortunately, they had met the wrong opponent.
The woman whose blonde hair flew as she swung her cloth-wrapped three-pointed blade lightly with one hand,
Ji Ling.
She might not have been an S-rank general, but a typical punk was no match for her, a warrior at A-rank even by the Original Timeline's standard.
Had any of them been capable of beating her, I would have attempted a recruitment, but no such talent was visible here.
"Gu... urgh..."
"Ughn..."
More than half of Gundam's men had been taken out in an instant.
Seeing the men rolling on the ground and Ji Ling standing before them without a scratch, still holding her blade, the remaining thugs finally realized something was seriously wrong and began edging backward.
"L-Lord Gundam, let us retreat for now."
"It... it's no good. That wench... she's too strong."
"Tch..."
Gundam began cautiously sizing me up, prompted by his subordinates.
Personally, I'd hoped he'd throw a tantrum, something like 'I cannot retreat like this!' but unfortunately, he didn't seem to be quite that dense.
Well, the result was the same either way.
"Ji Ling, that's enough."
"Hmm... It feels a little lacking... Can't I deal with just a few more?"
Ji Ling spoke with genuine disappointment in her voice.
I placed a hand calmly on her shoulder as she seemed to be revving up, ready to leap forward the moment permission was given.
"Hold back. This much is about right. If we push too hard and they start running at full speed, it becomes a nuisance."
"Hmm... Well, if that's my lord's command..."
Ji Ling drawled a little, still not quite satisfied, and smoothly pulled her body back.
Seeing her posture, Gundam, who'd been thoroughly terrified until moments ago, seemed to find a little courage, raising his voice to shout.
"You... you cur! Do you think you'll be safe after this! I am Gundam, uncle to Lord Jian Shuo, a great minister of the Han Dynasty! You will pay dearly for—"
"I know. I already got word on my way here."
He was a nobody who didn't even warrant a name in the Original Timeline, but I'd already confirmed whose backing was letting this guy strut around so arrogantly.
That was the very reason I had made a point of coming all the way to the far north gate at this time.
"Wh... what? If you know, then why..."
"You've been extracting stall fees by oppressing the merchants, haven't you? And wreaking havoc like this on anyone who refuses."
—Snap!
"?!"
Government troops began to reveal themselves from all around at the snap of my fingers.
As he watched them, having completely surrounded the area while Ji Ling and I drew a bit of aggro, Gundam's already rigid face turned utterly pale.
"And so it goes. By the authority of the Changshui Colonel, I will now summarily punish you lot according to the laws of the state."
"Wh... what?"
"The... Changshui Colonel?"
"C-could it be... You're...?"
By the looks of it, Gundam and his gang might not have known my face, but they had certainly heard my reputation.
At this, I gave a warm smile and finally disclosed the correct answer to the man who was only now catching on.
"That's right. I'm Yuan Shu, the Changshui Colonel of this Luoyang."