Chapter 1: Guests at Shinya (1)

Let’s say there’s a military otaku obsessed with firearms.
If you throw him into the midst of World War II, would he be delighted, exclaiming in admiration?

The answer will likely be X.
Because a simple hobby and experiencing something directly are clearly different things.

……So, let’s say there’s an otaku obsessed with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
If you throw that otaku into the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China, a chaotic era where wars often broke out, and moreover, change them into a woman’s body, would they be happy?

They would probably,
no, probably 100% of the time answer with a ‘f*ck off.’

They only liked the ‘story’ of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, they never had a dream of becoming the Emperor of China, and even more, they never dreamed of unifying the world.

“……Sh*t.”

……15 years have passed since I was reborn into this hopeless era.
Today, I lament my fate from the worn-out porch of a thatched house.

Unlike the refreshing scenery around the house, which even a deity might live in, my mind has been rotting with various worries for a long time.
As if it had become a habit, sighs filled with lamentation followed one after another.

“How did it come to this….”

It didn’t take long to realize, 15 years ago, that I was suddenly reborn as someone else. It wasn’t very surprising. I had thought about death and rebirth a few times for fun.

But who would have known that the era I was born into would be the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China, and moreover, the era of the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” When I was 5 years old and didn’t know anything, I almost fainted upon hearing that Lü Bu had died.

……Since being reborn, there have been many things that defied common sense, but the most noteworthy of them was the composition of my family.

“……”

My five older siblings.
All of them had the rather unusual surname of Zhuge. And among them, the second older brother, or rather, my older brother, was named Liang, and his courtesy name was Kongming.

Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Kongming.
Somehow, no, a very familiar name.
A legendary strategist who would be remembered throughout the history of China beyond the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
I can say with certainty that he surpasses Jiang Taigong and Zhang Liang.

…The shock I received when I found out that I was his youngest sister was immense.

At first, I thought it was just a coincidence of the same name, but upon seeing the names of my eldest brother, Zhuge Jin, and my youngest brother, Zhuge Jun, I was able to confirm that I was born as the youngest daughter of this Zhuge family.

However, the puzzling thing was that the fact that Zhuge Liang had a younger sister was not recorded in any historical records.

Two unnamed older sisters were vaguely recorded in the records, but the existence of the youngest sister, of whom even the slightest trace could not be found, was truly unheard of.

Even after several years since my rebirth, it was still a mystery why my record, or rather, mine, was not written in history, not even in a single line.

“……Lang-ah.”

“……!!”

…At that moment, lost in thought, a voice came from behind. Turning my head, I saw a man wearing a robe like a crane’s plumage calling my name.

A tall figure and a face as white as jade,
and the dignity emanating from his demeanor.
My second older brother, who would later become the great prime minister of Shu Han,

It was Zhuge Liang himself.

“Lang-ah.”

“Yes, O, Older brother.”

At his constant calling of my name, Zhuge Lang, I responded awkwardly.
I didn’t seem to get used to the title ‘Older brother’ no matter how many times I used it.

To my hesitant answer, Zhuge Kongming opened his mouth with a serious voice.
A soft yet heavy voice echoed through the worn-out porch of the thatched house.

“……I know your knowledge is outstanding, but you still shouldn’t neglect learning. Read some books.”

The nagging to study.
Who would have thought he was a scholar of this era, always giving me these kinds of remarks when I was even a little bit distracted.

Since the era I was currently in was the era of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which I knew inside and out, I didn’t feel the need to study.

Therefore, I tried to explain a small portion of the information I knew, as if it were philosophy, saying ‘I’m already smart! So I don’t need to study!’ but it was futile to Kongming, the greatest in the world.

“I understand, I’ll look at them in a little while.”

I ended up nodding at his words.
The verbal battles with Kongming, who was often called the sleeping dragon, always gave me a headache, so I gave a half-hearted, insincere answer.

“……Lang-ah.”

“Eh?”

However, Zhuge Liang was still standing next to me even after I answered.
It didn’t seem like he had called me just to nag me.

“Then, how about helping your older brother pack his luggage for a while?”

“Luggage, you mean?”

……As expected, he requested that I help him pack his luggage, clearing his throat.
Kongming often went out to meet his friends, so packing some luggage wasn’t strange, but it was unusual for him to ask me for help, so I frowned.

“Yes, travel luggage.”

Kongming nodded to me, who questioned his request.

“Yes, I understand.”

I couldn’t refuse the request of Zhuge Liang, who was once my idol and is now my younger brother.
It wasn’t a difficult task, so I nodded without hesitation.

“……”

I turned silently and followed him towards his room.
I opened the sliding door of the old thatched house and welcomed the sight of ‘Zhuge Liang’s’ room, which perhaps no one else had ever seen.
Even though I had lived as his younger sister for 15 years, this was also the first time I had entered his room, so it was quite exciting.

“Oh……”

The walls with a musty smell, the old documents piled up in every corner of the room, and the feast of knowledge that leads to the brush and ink stone.
Perhaps in this room, which could be considered the starting point of Shu Han, I started to look around, as if bewitched.

“…Bring those books over there to here.”

“……”

Zhuge Liang was saying something behind me, but instead of answering, I was just looking at a large map filling one side of the room.

The map I was looking at was a map of China during the late Han Dynasty.
It was a detailed map showing various prefectures such as Jingzhou, Jizhou, Yizhou, and Yuzhou.

“Lang-ah, I told you to get those books.”

“……”

However, the reason why I was drawn to it was not simply because it was detailed, but because the continent was divided into three parts, like the legs of a cauldron.
…And at that moment, one theory flashed through my mind.

“The Plan for the Three Kingdoms.”

The theory of dividing the world into three, occupying one of them, and then unifying the Central Plains, The Plan for the Three Kingdoms.
In other words, Zhuge Liang’s first goal for Liu Bei’s unification of the world.

“Ha!”

As if I had actually come to a tourist spot in a movie,
as if I had actually seen an imaginary animal,
my heart began to pound.

Who would not be thrilled to see the legendary theory devised and drawn by Zhuge Liang of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?

“……Lang.”

“Ugh?!”

Just then, immersed in the map as if I were looking at a historical artifact, Zhuge Liang suddenly tapped my shoulder and spoke.
As I jumped in surprise and turned around again, he was looking at me with a rather stern face, unlike before.

“What did you just say?”

“……Yes?”

The solemn voice filling the room.
Frowning his eyebrows, it seemed he didn’t like something very much.

“Ah.”

Only then did it come back to me why I was in this room.
Come to think of it, I had ignored him several times even though he told me to bring the books over there, so I thought he would feel quite annoyed.

“I’m, I’m sorry, Older brother.”

I quickly bowed my head and reached for the books he had asked me to bring earlier.
However, Zhuge Liang firmly blocked my fair arm in the air.

“What are you….”

As I spoke in a panic,
He looked me in the eye and repeated the words he had just said.

“……I asked what you said while looking at that map.”

“Map?”

Zhuge Liang’s gaze turned towards the map of the Plan for the Three Kingdoms.
My expression began to harden as I realized what it meant.

‘Sh*t.’

Come to think of it, the theory of The Plan for the Three Kingdoms was not publicized at this point in time, it was a strategy devised only by Kongming.
Even if someone else had the same idea, it wasn’t a plan that a mere girl like me would devise.
……It would be a surprise in many ways.

In the end, I began to mumble to him hesitantly.
The black pupils hidden beneath the long bangs stared at the sage of the mountains.

“I, um, The Plan for the Three Kingdoms, I said….”

I spoke carefully, in an unconfident voice.
Then, Kongming’s expression began to become even more serious.

“Where did you hear that? Did you peek in my room? I told you not to do that several times!”

“……”

The first time I saw my older brother so excited.
I secretly enjoyed his reaction and continued to speak in a timid voice.

“I devised it myself, looking at the map divided into three parts….”

In fact, I had already seen it about 2,000 years later, and I was familiar with most of the other strategies, but for now, let’s just make something up.

“Hmm……”

My words made Kongming’s expression even more serious.
And then, after letting go of my tightly held wrist, he let out a deep sigh.

“Sometimes I’m afraid that you can read my mind.”

Zhuge Liang shook his head as if scared.
He then grabbed my shoulders, who was smiling and spoke in a sincere tone.

“Then we must be even more careful. Lang, listen to me carefully.”

Kongming’s voice began to echo in the room.

“Someone will come looking for me within this week, and if they ask where I went, don’t tell them.”

“Yes?”

“Also, if they ask for your wisdom, don’t say anything. Especially about the Plan for the Three Kingdoms!”

“Yes? Yes… I understand.”

I nodded blankly to him, who was speaking so seriously.
But who was coming to this mountain village that the Zhuge Liang was so scared?

Unable to contain my curiosity, I swallowed and asked Kongming gently.

“But who on earth is coming to this mountain valley?”

“You’ll know the person.”

Zhuge Liang turned around to pack his luggage for his trip again.

“It’s a person who’s currently governing Xinyang, his surname is Liu, his given name is Bei, and his courtesy name is Xuande, he is known as Uncle Liu.”

“Liu, Bei…?”

A hesitant voice came out of my mouth as I heard him.
Liu Bei, Liu Xuande, Uncle Liu, who existed in this era, is the one Liu Bei who would become the emperor of Shu Han later.
And that Liu Bei was coming to find Zhuge Kongming….

“Older brother, how old are you this year?”

I asked Zhuge Liang’s age quite urgently.
Kongming answered without looking at me.

“I’m twenty-six this year.”

“Twenty-six…”

Zhuge Liang’s age is 26,
Then this year is the 11th year of the Jian’an era of the Eastern Han Dynasty, one year before Liu Bei recommended Kongming.
At the same time, it was also the year the ‘Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage’ began.