Unmatched Lovely Princess: Formatting the Three Kingdom

by Normama

What if Kazuto wasn't the only one sent to the Koihime Universe? Will he still be able to unite the land and create his Harem? Lots of action and love...please read. Plenty of OCs too, some with very recognizable by name !

5. Chapter 004: What do you wish to gain he

Unmatched † Lovely Princess ~Maidenly Romance of Three Kingdoms~

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Chapter 004: What do you wish to gain here…Kazuto?

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Disclaimer: I do not own Koihime Musou! This chapter is told mostly in Kazuto's perspective.

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Shou District. Shou Commandry. Yuu-Shu Province. Touka-chan and I were appointed as Chief Magistrates for these areas in the northeast part of the continent. Ever since then, Touka-chan, Aisha, Rinrin, and I have been working every day to rebuild Rou-Sou City destroyed by the Yellow Scarves. As we did that, we destroyed the Yellow Scarves Party Force in the area as well.

All the meanwhile, the more I spent with the people of Yuu-Shu, the more I grow attached to them. I gradually came to learn about the people of this Province and about the people of this world as well.

In the world I came from, light was mostly available at the flip of a switch, and food was presented even at the smallest convenience stores. This world, though, held none of those conveniences.

I never knew how much work it took to obtain our daily food. For instance, to eat rice, one must prepare a field, fill it with water, protect the rice plants from insects and diseases, and finally harvest them. It takes months of sweat and labor before one can finally harvest, then they have to offer it to the government to pay their taxes. What remains after taxes must be rationed out and consumed over the course of the entire year in order for one to survive.

However, they were always smiling. They laugh when they're happy and cry when they're sad. They enjoy this peaceful time. Compared to the aimless life I was leading, their strength and earnestness was so bright that it nearly brought me to tears. I came to truly respect these people from the bottom of my heart.

And that's why…I must eradicate evil people like the Yellow Scarves Party and bandits who try to destroy the peaceful lives of those innocent people. Lately I've grown to believe that is my job, my responsibility, and my mission here.

However…the ones being eradicated must be going through hell. The Yellow Scarves who nested in the Shou District were suppressed, but they fled throughout Yuu-Shu and later reorganized into a large army. That army began to invade the Shou District once again under the name of revenge. We have already received reports that some of our garrisons near the borders have been annihilated.

Fortunately, right now a commander name Kouson-San, who was appointed by the Imperial Court to suppress the Yellow Scarves in a different Prefecture, is fighting courageously against our threat while heading to do the duty the commander was given to do. However, the commander's army is low on soldiers and it's only a matter of time before they break through. The commander has requested the Imperial Army deploy their main force to aid. For some reason or another, the messenger was unable to have Imperial Court send out their forces so the messenger came to us in Yuu-Shu instead. He lost consciousness right after he gave us the message.

Our office was in an uproar. Touka-chan for one could not believe that the Imperial Court would not provide reinforcements to Kouson-San who, according to Touka-chan, was a fellow student and friend of hers in the past. Aisha and Rinrin quickly gave orders to each department, and we deployed our forces to march onward and lend Kouson-San our support.

---

"Our soldiers must be feeling fatigue from these ongoing deployments," Touka-chan spoke up during one of our few marching breaks.

It may not be the best time to mention it, but Touka has gotten a new look when she became a chief magistrate alongside me. While I've only receive what looks like a black silk cape with its inside colored green (Aisha said that I should continue wearing my school uniform since it looks so "heavenly"), Touka no longer looks like a village girl of old time pass but rather a royalty making a comeback.

She now whore a buttoned white strip sleeveless blouse, much like Aisha's, and a short green waistcoat (which end just under her belly region) that has its straps connected to a green Vandyke collar with a pinkish small ribbon attach to the front. She has white detach sleeves each attached to a golden armband with a long fabric draping from underneath. She also wore white thigh-high platform boots and a red skirt that ended two inches before reaching the rim of the boots.

In short, she wore clothes that were similar to Aisha's in a more or less way, perfect for looking like royalty but still flexible enough to fight in. Touka-chan wasn't quite sure she deserved to wear something so glamorous at first, but after the rest of us encourage her she has since accept it. … …Anyway, I'm getting off topic; back to the situation at hand…

"That seems to the case," Aisha nodded in agreement, "and as their fatigue builds up, they will be unable to fight at full strength…"

"We have to think of something…" Rinrin hummed in thought.

"Yeah," I nodded in thought, "Using a shift system would be best, I think…"

"A shift system?" Aisha wondered, "But with our forces as limited as they already are, I doubt splitting them is a good idea…"

"Yes, it will only cause more problem," Touka-chan nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right," I sigh in acknowledgement, "What should we do Rinrin?"

"Rinrin is not thinking of anything!" Rinrin chimed, "It is all up to you and Touka-nee-chan, Onii-chan!"

"Pushing it on us with a smile, huh…?"

As we continue to argue, a messenger arrived from the unit we sent ahead, who knelt before Touka-chan and me.

"Good work, soldier," I responded when he announce his presence to us, "What's the situation?"

"Sir!" the soldier began, "We have discovered a detached force of Yellow Scarves two Li ahead of our unit! The detached force is thought to be planning an attack on the farmers who emigrated from other Prefectures!"

"Thank you," I then turn to… "Aisha!"

"Yes, sir!" Aisha nodded in understanding before turning to all our soldiers, "All units move double time! We must catch up with the other squad and protect the farmers!"

"All units," Rinrin then follow suites, "follow Rinrin!"

"Yeah!" our army shouted in response.

---

Following Aisha's command, our units quickened their march to catch up to our other squad. Shortly thereafter, we encounter the farmers carrying their household belongings.

"Thank goodness!" Touka-chan exclaimed in relief, "We made it in time!"

"Chou-Hi squad," Aisha began to issue orders, "join the other unit and form a front. Kan-U squad and Ryuu-Bi squad, you all shall follow My Lady and I to lead the farmers and retreat for the time being!"

"I appreciate it if you can come back as soon as possible," I told Aisha and Touka-chan, "Since we don't know how many enemy soldiers there are…"

"Of course," Touka-chan nodded, "Please hang in there with Rinrin-chan until we return…"

"Got it. Rinrin, I'm counting on you!"

"Sure!" Rinrin nodded, "Rinrin shall protect Onii-chan. Touka-nee-chan, Aisha good luck!"

"Leave it to us," Aisha smiled at Rinrin's statement.

"Well then," Touka exhaled before calling out on the top of her voice, "Ryuu-Bi squad, Kan-U squad, move out!"

---

Touka-chan and Aisha's units left to lead the farmer away to safety. This left Rinrin, her squad, the rest of the army, and I here to handle the approaching Yellow Scarves.

"What should we do, Onii-chan?" Rinrin asked as we observe our soon-to-be battlefield.

I could clearly see the Yellow Scarves bearing their arms and charging towards us in the distance.

"Let's see…" I hummed to myself for a moment, "they're charging us at full speed, so once they enter the range of our archers, why don't we give them a hail of arrows?"

"Good point," Rinrin spoke as she scan the terrain, "After that, maybe it is best if Rinrin charges in-…" That was when Rinrin abruptly stop mid-sentence, tilting her head and squinted her eyes. "Nyah~?"

There was a sense of urgency behind her murmur.

"There are some people who got left behind…"

"What!?" I exclaimed as I narrowed my eyes to see if I could see them as well, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah! Two little girls and an old person! Nyah~!" Rinrin meowed in panic, "This is not good! Onii-chan, we have to move in! We must rescue them!"

"Yeah!" I turn to our awaiting army, "Everyone, prepare to attack! We're charging in too!"

"Yeah!" The soldiers all unsheathed their swords with brave shouts.

"Move out!" Rinrin hollered at the top of her voice as she dashed forward, "Everyone follow Rinrin~!"

With a cheer, the rest of us followed.

---

Just as Rinrin stated, there were indeed an old lady and two little girls left behind. The old lady was dress in standard feudal era clothing, huffing and puffing from exhaustion.

The two little girls on the other hand weren't even close to normal. The first has chin-length blond hair and bright lilac eyes. She wore a maroon-color beret cape with large green ribbon attachment and an equally colored long-sleeves short-helm jacket, held at the top by two small bells, over her white sweetheart-style dress that end just a little bellow her pelvis region. She wore a blue skirt under her dress and a large piece of green fabric was tied around the mid-region of her dress, forming a large bow behind her. She also had blue slip-on shoes with straps and white stockings. She was currently holding a peacock feather fan in her right hand and a backpack chalk full with stuff on her back.

The second girl had long light violet hair, tied in two long ponytails held in place by fluffy hair ornaments, and had nervous lime-green eyes. She wore basically the same thing as the first girl except instead of a beret she wore a blue witch hat with an aqua-color ribbon tied there, the equally blue long-sleeves short-helm jacket having a white collar attachment held in place with two small fluffy ball, her aqua-color ribbon around her mid-section was located a little bit to the left side of her front, her stocking only reaching pass her ankle with designs near the top, and held a uniquely designed wooden sage staff in her left hand. She also carried a pouch packed full of stuff as well with its sling hanging over her shoulder.

Both of them were at either side of the old lady, offering their shoulder as supports despite being shorter than the woman.

"Hawawa, Hawawa~, Hawawa~!" the first girl panted.

"Awawa, Awawa~, Awawa~!" the second girl panted in the same manner.

"Hah, hah~, hah~!" The old lady panted even harder, leaning on the two girls even harder.

"Madam, just a little more," the first girl encouraged, "please hang in there~!"

"Oh~! I am already done for… …Please save yourselves, young dears…"

"Awa~," the second girl shuttered quietly, "N-No, we can n-not…"

"But if you two stay with me, you all will be killed too…"

"W-We just cannot, desu!" the first girl reaffirmed as the second girl nodded in agreement, "We went to school so we can both protect weak people, desu! So we cannot just leave you here, desu!"

"Ah, young ones," tear began to appear in the elderly lady's eyes, "…thank you. Thank you so much…"

"C-Certainly," the second girl smile, "So h-hang in there, y-you can do it!"

"Okay, I shall do my best!"

"There you go desu!" the first cheered as they continue on.

"Hah, hah, hah…" the old lady patted before peering on ahead, "by the way, young dears…"

"Y-Yes?" the second girl responded.

"What is it, Madam?" the first wondered.

"I know the ones coming from behind us are the Yellow Scarves…but," the old lady pointed ahead where another army was charging their way, "who are the ones coming from our front?"

"Awa/Hawa!?" the second and first girl exclaimed respectively, "Ahoo…/Madam is right, desu!"

"… …I suppose it is time to join the afterlife…"

"Hawawa," the first girl began, "n-not yet, desu! Not yet, desu! If Madam give up, then we really will be done for, desu!"

"Y-Yes, t-that is right!" the second agreed.

"I know," the old lady sighed, "…let us just hope the people we see ahead of us are friendly…"

"Ahoo~…" the two girls wailed at once.

---

…Brattle! Brattle! Brattle! Brattle! Brattle!

Just as three began to get the feeling of impending doom, from the army up front came a speedy little girl wielding a Viper Spear.

"Chou-hi Yokutoku has now arrived~!" Rinrin declared as she came to a sudden halt in front of the three.

"Hawa/Awa!?" the two little girl exclaimed as the witch-hat girl hid behind the blond girl.

"Nyah? The two little girls! Are you hurt?"

"N-No, we a-are not…" the witch-hat girl replied.

"…But," the blond girl suddenly huffed with frustrated pout, "We are not 'little girls', desu! We are grown girls!"

"Rinrin is a grown up too-!" Rinrin began to boast proudly…until she remembers the urgency of the situation, "Ah-hey! This is not the time to talk about that! Onii-chan~!"

Rinrin called back to me as closed in. I am fast, given that I practice martial arts, but there was no way I could be as fast Rinrin. I would not be kidding if I was to say she was as fast as a speeding bullet.

"Hah, hah, hah~," I panted as I halted next to Rinrin, with the her division passing by us not ten seconds later to form a front against the Yellow Scarves, "You run too fast, Rinrin…"

"Onii-chan is the one who is too slow!" Rinrin countered; I probably shouldn't bring up the fact that she outpaced our army, "More importantly, please take these people with you and fall back. Rinrin is going to smash those evil Yellow Scarves!"

"Okay. Be careful…"

"No need to worry about Rinrin! Anyway, they are in Onii-chan's hands!"

"Ah-hey! Gosh, she's gone already…" I called but Rinrin had already shoulder her spear and sped off at full speed on her way to join her troops; I'm slow she says. I turn and spoke to the old lady and the two girls who were fleeing from the Yellow Scarves, "Anyway, are you three okay?"

"Yes," the old lady replied, "We are all okay, have you come to rescue us?"

"Yeah, we are. Do you know of the Rou-Sou City nearby? We came from there…"

"I see. Thank you for coming…"

"Don't mention it. I'm glad we got here in time. The people who were ahead of you are being taken to a safe place by my people. Why don't you go join them?"

"Alright," the old lady nodded at the idea and turn to the two little girls, "Come, young ones, let us go…"

"Hawa," the blond girl stared at me in fascination.

"Awa," the witch-hat girl did the same.

"Young ones?" the old lady wondered in worry.

"Hawa/Awa!?" the blond girl and witch-hat girl cried out respectively before the blond girl spoke again, "Oh, um…Please go on ahead of us, Madam. We, um…"

"Well, okay," though still worried, the old lady went off, accompanied by some of my personal guards, leaving the two girls who continue to peek at me.

"Hmm?" I tilted my head when I finally notice their stares, "Do you two want something from me?"

"Ah! Y-Yes!" the blond girl responded, "Um…Are you one of the Chief Magistrates of Yuu-Shu?"

"Yeah, I guess I am…"

"S-So," the witch-hat girl shuttered from behind the blond girl, "I s-suppose that you are the Messenger f-from Heaven then?"

"Yes, they do call me that…"

"I knew it!" the blond girl exclaimed as she glee alongside the witch-hat girl.

"… …But what about it?"

"Hawawa! Ah-um! My family name Shokatsu! My name is Ryou! And my common name is Koumei, desu!"

"Awawa~!" the witch-hat girl began after the blond girl hurryingly introduce herself, speaking just as quickly, "M-My family name is Hou! My f-first name is T-Tou! M-My c-common name is, umm, Shigen!"

"Huh? Shokatsu-…Hou-…" I repeated in confusion, since they were both speaking so fast, until I realize the significance of their name, "…! Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou!"

Shokatsu-Ryou was renowned as a stunningly excellent strategist in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Hou-Tou was also a strategist who was said to stand on the same pedestal of intellect as Shokatsu-Ryou, in other words as equal. Both Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou served under Ryuu-Bi (in other words Touka-chan) as strategists, with both making extreme contribution to the formation of the Kingdom of Sho-Ku.

"(The famous strategists are little girls now?)" I thought to myself.

What confused me the most is the fact that Shokatsu-Ryou was supposed to live in Kei-Shou at the center of the Continent and Hou-Tou was supposed to live even further south in the land of the future Son-Go. Shokatsu-Ryou wasn't supposed to join until after Ryuu-Bi came for three personal visits, whereas Hou-Tou wasn't supposed to join until after the Battle of Seki-Heki.

"(What's going on? This isn't how history recorded the events…Maybe…I didn't simply travel through time after all…)" But if it's not historically accurate…then am I in a parallel world?

"(Ha, ha, ha… I thought nothing would surprise me anymore, but this turning out to be like a comic book…)" I was confused by the sudden appearance of not one but two unexpected characters.

"Umm, uh! I-I shall do my excellent!" Shokatsu-Ryou leaned forward. She seemed to have trouble articulating.

"S-s-same her-Eek!" Hou-Tou followed up, only to bite her tongue.

"Huh? Uh…" I managed, unable to decide whether to pay attention to the blonde with speaking difficulty or the witch-hat girl who was nursing her tongue.

"Ahoo, I mess up," Shokatsu-Ryou mumbled in embarrassment, "I used 'excellent' instead of 'best'…umm… …P-Please let us bond your area-! Hawa, I messed up again, desu…and I made it worse, desu…"

"That you did," I sweat dropped as turn to Hou-Tou, "Are you okay?"

"A-Awa~~~," Hou-Tou wailed as she stop nursing tongue.

"Guess not… …Uh, why don't you two calm down first? Take a few deep breaths!"

"Huh? Oh, yes," Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou nodded in agreement…before hyperventilating like crazy.

"… … …No, no," I couldn't help but sweat drop at their perfect unison of taking deep breathes the wrong way, "those aren't deep breaths…"

"HAWA/AWA!?" Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou exclaimed respectively in shock.

"(…Hawa and Awa; what kind of surprise were those?) … …Breathe in… and out… in… and out… Okay, now you two do it with me…"

The two follow my example and it wasn't long before they had calmed themselves down completely.

"Good, good. Do you two feel calmer now?"

"Ah, yes…" Shokatsu-Ryou nodded, with Hou-Tou just simply nodding.

"Okay, then can I ask you two a few questions?"

"…? Y-Yes?" Hou-Tou tilted her head.

"Could you two tell me your names again?"

"Ah, yes, of course!" Shokatsu-Ryou began, "Um, my full name is Shokatsu-Ryou. My common name is Koumei. Also, um, my true name is Shuri, desu…"

"And, uh," Hou-Tou began, "My full name is Hou-Tou. My common name is Shigen. … …Uh, Hinari is my true name…"

"Hmm, thank you," I nodded, "So…why do you two want to join our side?"

"Uh, well…we…" Hou-Tou began but soon shrank behind Shokatsu-Ryou again. Guess she isn't much of a speaker.

"We were both studying at a private school under a famous teacher, Sui-Kyou-sensei," Shokatsu-Ryou took over, "But neither of us could stand seeing weak people suffer…"

"… …B-But the two of us want t-to use our knowledge to h-help people. T-That was when Shuri-chan heard a messenger descended from Heaven in Y-Yuu-Shu…"

"And that is why you two came all this way?" I wondered.

"Yes!" Shokatsu-Ryou nodded with such vigor I thought her head might come off.

"Um, yes but…" Hou-Tou blushed behind Shokatsu-Ryou, "I mostly just want to be with Shuri-chan…so…"

"Oh, don't worry about," I smiled at Hou-Tou, "Everyone has their own personal reason for doing things I guess. I won't look down on you just because you just want to follow Koumei-chan…"

"… …R-Really?" Hou-Tou wondered and brightened a bit when I sincerely nodded; I suppose it is progress, "…T-thank you…"

I smiled before returning to the topic at hand. "Okay. I don't have time right now, but when this battle is all over, let me hear both of your stories. How about that?"

"R-Really?"

"Ah…will that really be alright with you!?" Shokatsu-Ryou wondered in the same manner that Hou-Tou use; I guess neither of them thought I would be so ready to accept them. After all, they don't know what I know.

"Of course," I reaffirmed with a nod, "So why don't you two retreat with the old lady for now. We'll go after the girl (Rinrin) and fight the Yellow Scarves…"

The two look at each other for a moment before turning back to me; was that fire in their eyes I just saw?

"Uh…E-Excuse me!" Hou-Tou called.

"Hmm?" I sounded in confusion.

"We w-wish to accompany you. P-Please let us go with you! We can be some u-use to you!"

"HUH? But…this is a battle…Aren't you two scared?"

"W-…We are not jolted-! Ahoo~…" Shokatsu-Ryou messed up again as Hou-Tou shook her very fast, obviously scared.

"Both of you are so nervous you can't even talk smoothly or act accordingly, huh? Don't worry, I'm scared too…"

"B-But if we run because we are s-scared," Hou-Tou sadly frowned, "we would n-not be able to a-anything…"

Shokatsu-Ryou slowly nodded in agreement. Both were now staring at me with those puppy-eyes; how am I supposed to say no to that?

"…Okay," I decided, "Do you two want to come with me?"

"Are you sure?" Shokatsu-Ryou wondered, surprised as Hou-Tou is that I gave in.

"Yeah. If something happens, I'll protect both of you (I have confidences in that at least). Besides…I'd appreciate it if you two could give me suggestions. I could really use them…"

"O-Of course!" Shokatsu-Ryou cheered, glad that she could be of some help so soon.

"Sure!" Hou-Tou smiled; are those tears forming in her eyes?

"I'm counting on you two, Koumei-chan, Shigen-chan. Now let's go," I turn and signaled my division who stood not too far behind me and began to leave with Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou, "Come on, everyone, we'll catch up to Rinrin!"

---

By the time we caught up with Rinrin, Aisha, Touka-chan, and their units had finished escorting the farmers and rejoined us. The detached force of Yellow Scarves sped up their march and bore down upon us.

"They really are but a mob," Aisha commented as she stared at the approaching Yellow Scarves, "Charging forward is all they can do…"

"But when they are this many, it is not easy…" Rinrin moaned in annoyance.

"That is true," Touka-chan mumbled in thought, "It would be best to surround them and exterminate them…but it is impossible considering our number…"

"According to our scouts," Aisha added, "there are about Ten Thousand of them. Our army numbers only Five Thousand…"

"If there are Ten Thousand in the detached force, there must be more than that in the main force, right? We have to join Hakukei-chan's unit quickly, otherwise we will be in trouble…"

"That is correct. We cannot afford to waste much time on this battle…"

"Then let us do this," Rinrin proclaimed proudly, "Charge! Smash! Victory!"

"It won't be that easy, Rinrin…" I spoke up, alerting my presence to everyone.

"Oh, My Lord!" Aisha exclaimed when she finally notices that I had arrived.

"Hey, everyone, sorry I'm late. But, Rinrin, I have to say if a plan like that had actually worked we wouldn't be having this problem…"

"Boo~," Rinrin comically frowned, "I guess Onii-chan is right…"

"Unfortunately, but I suppose it's a good thing I brought these two here…" I directed everyone's attention to Koumei-chan and Shigen-chan, who peeked out from behind me.

"U-Um," Hou-Tou managed.

"Excuse us," Shokatsu-Ryou timidly spoke up. After doing so she came out of hiding from behind my back, with Hou-Tou in hand so that everyone could have a clear view of them.

"Hmm?" Aisha glared curiously at them, "Who art thou?"

"Oh yeah, I haven't introduce them yet," I scratched the back of my head before pointing to Koumei-chan and then to Shigen-chan, "This is Shokatsu-Ryou and her friend Hou-Tou. They just became one of us just a while ago…"

"Really?" Touka-chan exclaimed as to came forth and bend down to eyelevel with them, "Well then, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ryuu-Bi Gentoku, but you can just call me Touka, okay…"

"Ryuu-Bi Gentoku?" Shokatsu-Ryou tilted her head at the name before widening her eyes in realization, "Oh! You mean you are the Descendant of Imperial Royalty, and the co-Chief Magistrate of Yuu-Shu?"

"That is correct," Ryuu-Bi nodded with a smile.

"One of us?" Aisha meanwhile had turn to me with concern, "Why I was not consulted about this earlier, My Lord? Furthermore, are they not just little girls? How can they be of help in battle?"

"Nyah-ha-ha!" Rinrin suddenly laughed, "Aisha is being jealous~!"

"W-Why would I ever be jealous!? If My Lord placed other women at his side, then the issue of defending them-…"

"Heh, that's jealousy right there~!"

"I said it is not!" Aisha turned beet red as Rinrin laughed.

"Okay, okay," I got in between the two, "continue that argument later. Anyway, let's listen to what Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou has to say?"

"Well, okay," Touka-chan smiled at the two, "Please continue. Is there something you wish to add?"

Since the argument between Aisha and Rinrin intimidated them, I was going to encourage them but Touka-chan did it for me. Good job, Touka-chan!

"Huh? O-Oh," Hou-Tou nodded, "O-Okay!"

"Um," Shokatsu-Ryou began, "judging from the current situation, the Yellow Scarves will continue to charge without organizing a formation…"

"Therefore," Hou-Tou followed up, "W-We believe it would be best for the army to s-spread out in a square f-formation and wait for them to attack…"

"Then, after the initial charge, we have the center force fall back and lure them in between our columns of men…"

"Oh!" Aisha's eyes began to sparkle as she listed to the two. "If that works, we can round them up in one go!"

"… …I see," Touka-chan clapped her hand together in awe, "What a wonderful plan!"

"See?" I nudged Aisha, "Aren't you glad they're on our side?"

"Yes. I am in awe of your discerning eye…"

"Nyah-ha!" Rinrin sneered playfully, "You already let us see your jealousy, so acting good now will not help~!"

Aisha grumbled to herself in embarrassment.

"Hee-Hee," Shokatsu-Ryou giggled in relief after watching Aisha and Rinrin's exchange before turning to Touka-chan and me, "Um, how does that sound?"

"Mm…" I frowned in thought after a while. Touka did the same; guess even she had spot the small problem in this strategy.

"Um…" Hou-Tou shrank a little when she and Shokatsu-Ryou noticed our concerned face, "Do you h-have any complaints with it?"

"No," Touka-chan shook her head, "Not really a compliant. However…"

"…Koumei-chan," I spoke up, "Shigen-chan, isn't your plan rather difficult?"

"That is true," Aisha reentered the conversation, "In order to execute the plan they presented, we would need our soldiers to move in tight order…"

"Right? That's why I think it won't work for us…yet at least…"

"I see," Hou-Tou turn to Shokatsu-Ryou who stepped forward with another suggestion.

"Then," She began, "perhaps it would be more suitable to select an elite squad of men and have them attack from the flank at the right moment?"

"That sounds more realistic," I nodded, "Right now we're up against the Yellow Scarves. As long as Aisha and Rinrin are with us, we shouldn't lose in terms of strength…"

"Yes," Touka-chan nodded, "It is just a matter of minimizing our own losses…"

"Rinrin will do her best," Rinrin glee, "So no need to worry!"

"We'll probably be okay," I lectured at Rinrin, "but we still have to be cautious, right? If this is a detached force, then we must conserve our energy to fight the main force…"

"Boo~," Rinrin comically puffed her cheek in protest, "You worry too much, Onii-chan!"

Suddenly, tense report from the front line came back to us.

"The enemy is here!" the messenger called.

"Okay," Touka gave a firm nod, "Let us move as planned!"

"As you will!" Aisha proclaimed as she turns to give order to the army, "All units, take your positions! Kan-U and Chou-Hi personal guards, standby in the rear flank and await our orders! Rinrin!"

"Yeah!" Rinrin exclaimed as she twirled her Viper Spear over her head, "Everyone, let us move out! Charge! Smash! Victory~!"

The army gave a cheer as they hurry into position.

---

The battle lasted but ten hours, with our army of Five Thousand strong against the Yellow Scarves of Ten Thousand. For this battle Touka-chan and I led the main force, Aisha and Shokatsu-Ryou command the right flank, and Rinrin and Hou-Tou commanding the left flank.

We all agreed to follow the plan suggested Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou (Aisha had made Rinrin swear to Heaven that she would listen to Hou-Tou) and in turn everything went just as the two had stated.

I don't know whether it was because of our number or was it because they were simply stupid, but the Yellow Scarves continue to charge at us the same way every hour without a care in the world. Their formation…scratch that, they had no formation whatsoever throughout the entire battle. Their enthusiasm was overwhelming, sure, but sadly misplace. And their skills, I don't mean to be mean, were pathetic to the point where it is almost sad.

Everything went according to plan. Touka-chan and I led the initial assault against the Yellow Scarves, fought them for an hour or two, and began to retreat. The Yellow Scarves, thinking that they got us on the run, chased after us. Aisha and Rinrin then led the flanks to attack them from both side, once Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou gave the okay of course. We continue this routine for about two more times before we began to slowly outnumber them.

Speaking of which, those two are amazing. Both of them managed to correctly time their attack in synchronization. It didn't seem to matter whether the decision is to attack or to retreat; the two match their decision to the point…from opposite side of the battlefield!

This kind of reminds me of the harmonization both Touka-chan and I mysteriously seem to have. In their case it's understandable since they have known each other and possibly grown up together, not to mention they seem rather close. But Touka-chan and I have only just got to know each other just recently. Maybe because our principle and beliefs are the same.

On that note, during our battle, I notice something else about Touka-chan. Before she was using just her family sword to fight but now it seems she is using another sword. It was a broadsword with a green scaly handle, its hilt serves only to hold the blade, and the blade itself was silver and golden, split in four parts. Its forte shape in a hexagon with a single jewel in the middle, the first midsection had green scaly design in the middle, the second midsection had no unique feature, and its sharp point is triangular and sharp.

Where did she get that sword, I had to wonder when I saw it. She didn't have the sword before when she had led the farmers away. I would have asked about it as well if it wasn't for the fact we were in the middle of battle. I should probably ask Touka-chan properly later.

---

With Aisha and Rinrin's remarkable work, and the suggestions to strike a decisive blow at the right moment by Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou, we defeated the detached force of the Yellow of Scarves.

"Humph," Aisha huffed, unimpressed as our soldier round up the last of them, "They were not even a challenge."

"They were so weak," Rinrin huffed in disappointment, "they stood no chance!"

"Well," Touka-chan sweat dropped at Aisha and Rinrin's ridicule, "I am just glad that we won…"

I nodded before turning to Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou with a question, "What do our casualties look like?"

"Well," Hou-Tou began; it would appear she got enough confidence now to speak normally, "There should not be much of a hindrance for a battle with the main force."

"Yes," Shokatsu-Ryou nodded in agreement, "In this battle of Five Thousand against Ten Thousand, we have only suffer a loss of Two to Three Hundred at most, with injures in number of Four to Five Hundred, desu. All we need to do is send the injured back to rest and we shall still remain efficient enough to battle…"

"Thanks you two," I thanked before suddenly realizing something, "Hey, I'm already making you two acted as my aid-de-camps, aren't I?"

"It is well alright, desu" Shokatsu-Ryou smiled, "We only know a bare minimum of martial each to defend ourselves, but that is pretty much the extend of combat usefulness, desu…"

"Yes," Hou-Tou agreed, "We cannot wield actual weapons and fight. This is the best we can do to help…"

I smiled at them; they were tougher than me in terms of dedication. "Thanks, Koumei-chan, Shigen-chan…"

"Y-Yes!" Hou-Tou welcomed, "U-Um, by the way…Um…"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Um," Shokatsu-Ryou took over, both of them now blushing in bright red, "If possible, we would like you to call us by our true names, desu…"

"Huh? But… …True names are special names, right? I thought one only let those they held in special regard use that name, right?"

"Yes," Hou-Tou nodded, "That is why Shuri-chan and I want you to use it…"

I blinked. "Are you…sure?"

"Yes!" Shokatsu-Ryou answered, "You are the one who will me Our Lord, so Hinari-chan and I wish that you call us by our true name, desu!"

I thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay. I will call you two by your real names then. Shuri and Hinari…right?"

"Yes!" Shokatsu-Ryou (Shuri) nodded with a smile.

"That is right," Hou-Tou (Hinari) nodded with a blush.

"Okay Shuri, Hinari, we'll be a good team from now on, okay?"

The two giggled before replying together, "Yes, My Lord!"

"…Shuri-chan," Hinari giggled, "We were called by our true name…"

"Yes, Hinari-chan," Shuri giggled in response.

I smiled at the two, until…

"Ahem," Aisha cleared her throat, "Uh, ah…Now that the introductions are over, shall we depart?"

"We better hurry," Rinrin added.

"Yes," Touka-chan nodded, "otherwise Hakukei-chan will be in trouble!"

"Yeah, you're right," I stated, "Let's go!"

"Yes!" Hinari nodded as Shuri turns to the troops.

"All troops," Shuri ordered. "Onward forth, desu!"

---

Now that the Yellow Scarves' detached unit was defeated, we reorganized our formations and moved on. We've also sent back our injured soldiers, under the Hinari and Shuri's suggestion, before making haste towards the camp where the Yellow Scarves' main forces were deployed.

"… … … …No matter how far we go," I commented suddenly; the silence was getting to me so I thought I should strike up a conversation, "the scenery is always the same…"

Unfortunately, my comment had a totally opposite effect on Aisha…and even Touka-chan, since they were both sweat dropping with either a sigh or a nervous giggle.

"Honestly," Aisha began to preach, "How can My Lord be so relaxed? We are heading to a battlefield!"

I laughed slightly at Aisha's rebuke. "Sorry…I couldn't help it…"

"Onii-chan is not mentally prepared at all!" Rinrin joined in on Aisha's side, "Both Onii-chan and Touka-nee-chan!"

"Huh?" Touka-chan staggered (how she does that on a horse is beyond me), "Why am I pulled into this?"

"Because Onii-chan and Touka-nee-chan are like two pees in a pot…"

Touka-chan sweat dropped. "Uh, Rinrin-chan, the saying goes as 'two PEAS in a POD'…"

"That is what Rinrin said, 'two pee in a pot'…"

"Uh," I sweat dropped, "Putting Rinrin's misused of words aside; I sure don't want to hear that from you, Rinrin…"

"Heh-Heh," Rinrin chimed confidently, "Rinrin is always mentally prepared~!"

I narrowed my eyes in doubt, so I decided to make Rinrin dig her own grave. I suddenly pointed off in some random direction and shouted, "Hey, look~! There's a puppy~!"

"A puppy~!? Where is the puppy~!" Rinrin exclaimed as she scanned around in excitement.

"Rinrin," Touka-chan sweat dropped, "There is no dog…"

"…Ah-!"

"See?" I huffed with a knowingly smirk, "you aren't prepared, yourself!"

Rinrin puffed her cheek and growled, "Boo~! Onii-chan trick Rinrin!"

"Ha-ha, you're the one who fell for it!"

Aisha gave a sigh at the two of us. "Good grief…"

Hinari and Shuri on the other hand giggled at our exchange… …which didn't exactly please Miss Stone-Heart.

"You two should not be laughing either, Koumei, Shigen. This friendly atmosphere will affect our troops' morale. Furthermore…"

"Oh…Um, Kan-U-san," Before Aisha could continue, Shuri spoke up, "Ryuu-Bi-dono, Chou-Hi-san as well…"

"Hmm?"

"Yes?" Touka-chan tilted her head upon being mentioned.

"Nyah?" Rinrin questioned when she was mentioned.

"Um," Shuri began, a little sober, "Could you both please call us by our true names as well? Otherwise, Hinari-chan and I will feel like there is a wall between us…"

Hinari nodded in agreement.

"I do not mind," Aisha began with a seldom expression, "But are you two sure? It is a taboo to let other call you by your true name unless you have acknowledged them."

"Yes, that is right," Touka-chan added, "If a stranger were to call you by your true name, would that not be an insulting disgrace to your honor?"

"Also," Rinrin joined, "Both you and Shigen had not yet acknowledged Touka-nee-chan, Aisha, or Rinrin yet!"

"Rinrin is correct," Aisha nodded, "That is why we have been calling you both by your common names…"

"T-That is not true!" Hinari inclined.

"Yes," Shuri continued, "Kan-U-san and Chou-Hi-san are both very strong! Ryuu-Bi is very brave and kindhearted! All three of you try very hard as well; we thought you three of you were amazing! So…if I do say so myself, I greatly acknowledge the three of you, desu! Hinari-chan as well, desu!" Hinari nodded three times to confirm. "That is why; um…If you all would be so grateful enough to acknowledge us, then we would like you all to call us by our true names, desu…"

"Hmm," Aisha hummed to herself after a little while, "you both have proven your abilities in the last battle, and we do acknowledge you two. Both of your insights to spot the right moment to attack or retreat, and also both yours flexible strategies are absolutely impressive…"

"Both of your coordination as well," Touka-chan added, "it is as if you two are not even separated during the battle, making decision that match each other's thinking. That itself is very rare in the world…"

"Uh," Rinrin growled nervously at not being able to think of any other good compliments to add, "R-Rinrin thought the same as well…"

"Then why don't you all call each other by your true names?" I suggested, "You all acknowledged each other…"

Touka-chan thought about it for a while before nodding. "Yes, Kazuto-kun is right. Since we have acknowledged one another, there should be no problems…"

"Ah, then…" Hinari wondered hopefully.

"Yup!" Rinrin nodded cheerfully, "Rinrin's true name is Rinrin! Shuri, Hinari, we look forward to having you!"

"Same here," Aisha added, "My true name is Aisha. … …Let us continue to fight together."

"And my true name is Touka," Touka-chan smile brightly at the two, "We shall all be friends now…"

"Yes!" Shuri and Hinari nodded in joy.

I watch the five of them as they finally began to get along and smile at each other.

"Anyway," I spoke up to hurry my relaxing friends, "now that we have deepened our bonds, let's quit chatting and head to the next battlefield…"

Aisha grumbled. "Was My Lord not the first one to relax?"

"That is right!" Rinrin puffed her cheek in comical anger.

"Hold on," Touka-chan sweat dropped, "Rinrin, did you not join him?"

"N-Nyah? Uh, well, so did Touka-nee-chan!"

"No, Rinrin," Aisha glared, "You dragged Our Lady in…"

"…Boo-Boo. Aisha betrayed Rinrin…"

Shuri and Hinari giggled at Rinrin's reaction.

"You two should not be laughing either, Shuri, Hinari. This friendly atmosphere will affect our troops' morale. Furthermore…" Aisha started to preach the two again as we headed towards the next battlefield.

"Aisha is going off again…" Touka-chan giggled gently next to me.

"Yeah," I chuckled, "And to think I only accidentally started this so that we could have something to talk about…"

"I know, but it would seem that the conversation had taken a different turn…"

"… …Speaking of 'different'," I began as I pointed to the new sword case that was strapped to her back along with Virtue, "Touka-chan, I've been meaning to ask… …when did you get that sword?"

"Hmm? Oh you mean this?" Touka-chan pointed to the new sword, "I got it after I escorted those farmers away…"

---

A few hours ago, Touka-chan and Aisha, with their units, had finally led the farmers to a secure area.

"…From here should be good enough," Aisha nodded to herself before turning to the farmers, "Dear farmers, this is as far as we can escort you. A little ways from here is Rou-Sou City of Yuu-Shu, where we had come from. It is currently a safe haven from the turmoil of the land, so if you are tried please go and rest there! My Lady and I must head back now to aid our comrades! Have a safe journey!"

"Thank you, General Kan-U! Lady Ryuu-Bi!" Many of the farmers called as they hurried on their way.

"We must go now, My Lady," Aisha informed Touka-chan as she watch the farmers began to leave, "They should be fine from here on out…"

"Uh, okay," Touka-chan nodded and began to turn her horse around when…

"Excuse me!" an elderly voice called out, "Wait a moment please!"

Touka-chan and Aisha turned to see an old man and probably his grandson trotting up to them.

"Is something wrong, good sir?" Touka-chan wondered.

"Yes," the old man managed, "By any chance are you the Descendant of Imperial Royalty who is now governing the Yuu-Shu Province alongside the Messenger from Heaven?"

"Uh, yes. I am…"

"Oh, good, this shall make things easier for us…"

"Is there something troubling you two?"

"Not at all!" the child shook his head, "we just wanted to present to you a gift…"

"…? A gift?"

"Yes," the old nodded as removed from his luggage a grand-looking sword, "It is this sword…"

"A sword?" Touka-chan picked up the sword and observe its unusual design and gave a couple of swings, "It is well made and a splendid piece of work. It is strong yet light! I had never seen such a sword, where did you obtain such a weapon, old one?"

"Oh~! That is a long story! You see, my grandson and I lived in a small village close to a lake that was called the Dragon God's Lake because it is said that a dragon god dwells there. On one very stormy day, as my grandson and I were fishing in it, we witness the lightning striking at a large rock that was called the Dragon's Egg because of its shape; it is said that when it breaks a dragon shall emerge from it. After several hits, the rock finally broke and while no dragon emerges from it, instead we found this sword within its shattered remains…"

"Really?" Aisha hummed in thought as she observe the sword in Touka-chan's hand before noticing some engraving on the small hilt of the sword, "My Lady, there seems to be something written on its hilt…"

"Hmm?" Touka-chan looked at the sword's hilt and found the words, "There is! …It said 'Ryuu-Tei-Ken (Emperor Dragon Sword)'…"

"Yes," the old man nodded, "we believe it is a sword left there by the heavens so that someone, like My Lady, will use it to help you fight. When the Yellow Scarves began to attack, we travel to Rou-Sou City to give this sword to you…"

"Oh that is very kind of you, but…is it really okay for me to have this sword? If anything, should it serve more purpose in the Messenger from Heaven's hand…"

"Well, actually," the boy spoke up, "I had a dream last night. In the dream, a great Dragon God came to me and said to bring his 'scaled claw' to the Descendant of Imperial Royalty. I think it is of no coincidence that we manage to meet My Lady here and we have a chance to presented to you so the must belong to you!"

"Hmm," Aisha hummed, "I suppose that makes sense…It would appear that the Heaven had given even more support to you, My Lady…"

"…Hmm," Touka-chan hummed as she held up the sword, "Ryuu-Tei-Ken, huh…?"

---

"…With nothing to say otherwise, I accepted the sword," Touka-chan ended her story, "And that is how I obtain it…"

"Heh~," I awed, "So things like that exist huh?"

"Yes. But…if you want it…"

I shook my head. "No, you can keep it, Touka-chan…"

"But you are the one without a proper weapon…"

"Not really," I huffed as I gripped my wooden sword, "I feel more at ease with my wooden sword. It has help win numerous trails before without taking a life and it had save my life once. To me, it may be a wooden sword but nevertheless it's the only sword that suite me…"

"…Kazuto-kun…"

"… …Ahem!" Aisha cleared her throat next to me.

"WHOA! Aisha!" I jumped, and so did Touka-chan.

"My Lord and My Lady. May I ask that you keep up with the pace? You both are falling behind…"

"Ah-Really?" I scanned around; it was true, "Sorry…"

"We are really sorry," Touka-chan apologized with a nervous smile, "we got so caught up in the conversation that we…"

"… … … …" Aisha simply stared at us with an emotionless expression.

"Aisha?" I wondered.

"Uh, anyway, let us catch up with the front…"

"…? Okay…"

---

The encampment of Kouson-San is approximately Two Li east of the field where we defeated the Yellow Scarves' detached forces. Once we arrived at the encampment, I headed to my meeting with Kouson-San with Touka-chan and Shuri so we could have a war council.

Once there, a dignifying female came up to us. She had red hair in a small ponytail held in place by a white hair-ornament, brown honest eyes, wore a red dress shirt with a long red drape on her front that extend down just pass the knee and dark-blue skirt, orange-sleeves gantlets and with under-knee high red boots, she has white breastplate and white armor gantlets with her straight sword hanging beside her hip in its sheath.

"Touka," the girl exclaimed in joy, "It really is you!"

"Hakukei-chan," Touka exclaimed as she hugged the redhead, "It has been so long!"

"It has! The last we met was when we graduated from our teacher!"

"Yes! Look at you now! You have become a splendid general! I heard that you are now known as the White Horse General…"

"Yes, my Calvary Units are still unmatched. But that is nothing compare to your accomplishment! Are you not called the Descendant of Imperial Royalty and now rule over the Yuu-Shu Province?"

"I am, but Hakukei-chan you are still the one I admire the most!"

"Mou~, you have not change at all…well, at least now everyone will now know your heritage…"

"It is rather of embarrassing though…"

The female laughed at Touka-chan's before setting her sight on me. "Hmm…So you are the man they call the Messenger from Heaven, huh?"

"Hello…" I answered sullenly as the female check me out from head to toe, as if she was staring at a rare animal.

"Hmm…" she hummed for a moment before smirking to Touka-chan, "Messenger from Heaven, huh? Sounds to me that it is all a cover up for what is really going on…"

"Eh?" Touka-chan sweat dropped, as did I; did this girl figure out our deception? "W-What do you mean, Hakukei-chan?"

"Heh-Heh, there is no need to hide it, Touka. How far did the two of you went~?'

"Eh? … … …! EH!? N-N-No, you got it all wrong!"

"Did I now~?"

"Yes! There is nothing going on between us!"

"Really~?"

"…"

"Ah~, so that is how it is~…"

"H-H-Hakukei-chan~~…!"

The girl giggled. "I was kidding~! Sorry, that was rude of me…" She then turned to me. "And sorry about staring at you like that a moment ago…"

"Uh," I managed, "No problem…"

"But I was a little curious, you know, about the whole 'Messenger from Heaven'…" her expression quickly changed to an honest smile, allowing me to relax a little, "Allow me to start over. My name is San. Family name Kouson. My Common name is Hakukei. And my true name is Pairen. Touka-chan and I go way back…"

So she really was Kouson-San Hakukei. If I remember correctly, Kouson-San was an acquaintance of Ryuu-Bi, studying under the same teacher. They were on good terms even after they grew up, with Ryuu-Bi coming to Kouson-San aid when the warring of rival lords began. Unfortunately, when Kouson-San was defeat by En-Shou Honsho later on the General lost his life in the process.

"I'm Hongou Kazuto," I greeted as I shook her extended hand, "Sorry for being rude myself. I couldn't help it, because you asked me if I was the Messenger from Heaven out of the blue like that…"

"Do not worry," Kouson-San reassured, "I was rude to you first, so I do not blame you for being angry…But, well any friend of Touka is a friend of mine…so, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here. By the way, thank you for holding back the Yellow Scarves. If it weren't for you, the people in this area would have been attacked…"

"What, that~?" Kouson-San wondered, seemingly treating it as if it was no big deal, "I was just on my way back to my nest in Ryou-Sei Prefecture. It was just a stop on the way…"

Even though she said it in that way, she waved her hand and bashfully turned away. Somehow I felt like we could get along well. Well, she is Touka-chan's friend after all.

"Either way, I thank you so much…" I repeated my thanks.

"T-That is enough already," Kouson-San bashfully turn away from me, muttering something about 'no wonder Touka has…', and addressed Touka-chan, "By the way, Touka, how many soldiers did you bring with you?"

"Uh, about that," Touka-chan turned to Shuri, "Shuri-chan, go ahead…"

"Yes," Shuri nodded before continuing, "Considering the casualties we suffered in our battle with the Yellow Scarves' detached force and the reserves called in to replace them, we currently have roughly Five Thousand men."

"Approximately Five Thousand, huh?" Kouson-San wondered to herself, "Adding them to my soldiers, we have a little over Ten Thousand…"

"And the enemy numbers?"

"Roughly Twenty-Five Thousand. The difference in numbers is so vast that we have had trouble just slowing them down."

"Letting Five Thousand stand against Twenty-Five Thousand would be too reckless," I commented.

"Ah, you realized it too? That is how it is. …Now you know why we blocked off the roads to Shou District and confined ourselves in this encampment. If they cannot get into Shou District, then the only other places for them to assault are Kyo-Shou and the Ki-Shuu, right? The stronghold of Sou-Sou and En-Shou are there, and they are well protected, so there is no point in protecting them…"

"So Hakukei-chan guarded this place for us…" Touka-chan wondered.

"Fool, I already told you I was just in the neighborhood! That is all! It is not like I thought I had to protect you or anything! And definitely not because I heard that Touka-chan was here!"

I sweat dropped at her denial; there is a limit to how shy you can be. "Thank you…"

"Hey, shut up, do not thank me!" Kouson-San grimaced at my gratitude with a blush, "You are embarrassing me!"

"Don't be so shy about it…"

"I am not being shy! I am just…embarrassed!"

"(Isn't that the same thing…?)" I couldn't help but smile on the inside as Touka-chan and Shuri giggled on the sideline.

"Kouson-San-dono. May I?" A girl who had remained behind Kouson-San up until now stepped towards us in a dignified manner. She wore a white "hat" with long red ribbons on that rest softly on top of her short sky-blue hair with a single thin but long ponytail, confident lilac eyes, a white kimono-like dress with its helm ending just a few centimeters below her pelvis region, wide sleeves with butterfly-like design, the front of the dress emphasizing her breast, and a dark-teal ribbon tied around her mid-section like a slash with the ribbon located on the back, white split-toe socks that covers most of her legs, and dark-teal platform shoes. Wields a spear that resembles a bident (think trident except with only two prongs) with its thick and jagged prongs twisting around each other.

"What is it?" Kouson-San wondered.

"Reinforcements have arrived, which is splendid news," the girl began, "Therefore, I would like to hear your plan for defeating the Yellow Scarves. Thereafter, I shall lead the vanguard and confer victory upon you…"

"There you go again," Kouson-San huffed; apparently, she had heard this kind of talk more times than she would care to count from the girl, "I can understand your desire to prove your valor, but I am talking with Hongou and Tou-Um, Ryuu-Bi right now. Do you not think it is insolent to interrupt?"

"Was I your vassal, then that would be the case," the girl countered, confident in her opinion, "However, I do not recall becoming your vassal…"

Kouson-San frowned, but nevertheless nodded. "That is true. Then what do you say we do?"

"It is obvious. We are up against a mob. If a matchless warrior attacks and strikes fear into them, they will surely rout. We should charge immediately…"

"That is a crazy idea! They outnumber us above twice as many! The most basic strategy in war is to ready more soldiers than your opponent. With that in mind, attacking them with our current force is unthinkable!"

"That would be correct if we faced a legitimate army. But we need no strategy to defeat those ruffians. All we need is a mighty warrior and a relentless attack!"

"There you go, boasting again. Are you saying we have a daring general capable of such frightening ferocious attack in our army?"

"There are at least three here…"

"Oh? Name them, then…"

"Kan-U-dono, Chou-Hi-dono, and then I…"

"Kan-U and Chou-Hi? Who are they?"

"Ah!" Touka-chan spoke up, "those two are my sworn sisters. We are currently having them wait with our soldiers…"

"Your sworn sisters?" Kouson-San widened her eyes, "Are they as good as this person here claim?"

"Yeah," I answered, "I'm confident in that. They are awesome. I can't really how awesome they are, but they really are awesome!"

"If anything," Shuri spoke up, "Both of them are equivalent to a thousand strong warriors each…"

"Hmm," Kouson-San hummed, "If Touka and the Messenger from Heaven says so then I am positive they are. However, that does not mean we can waste our soldiers' lives in such a reckless attack. We still also need to worry about The Iron Gates Passage afterwards as well, where the supposed chief of this group resides! If we waste men here, how do you suppose we conquer that rumored passage?"

"The Iron Gates Passage?" I wondered, "What is that?"

"Ah, right, you are not aware of it. The one who is organizing this large force is said to be residing in the mountains. To get there, there is a ravine we must travel in. The Yellow Scarves are calling it the Iron Gates Passage. According to rumors, the organizer is said to using sorcery and had placed a curse there so that all enemies who enter will be killed…"

"Seriously?"

"Hah, skeptical huh? Well I did not believe it myself at first, but one time the Yellow Scarves retreated through the passage to rest. I thought I could take out some of them so I lend a thousand after them. But, whether it was sorcery or not, we could not take even take one of them down. Instead, five hundred of my men were slaughter. The rest of us were lucky to get out of it alive…"

"No way," Touka-chan awed in worry.

"Well," the girl smirked, "we can deal with that hindrance after we take care of the Yellow Scarves in our reach. Even if we cannot followed them as they retreat into the Iron Gates Passage, we can still take many of them out…"

"Again!" Kouson-San huffed, "I told you to come up with another plan that does not sound so suicidal! I will not have my men participate otherwise!"

The girl huffed in mockery at Kouson-San claim. "Kouson-San-dono, you may be the general of a district, but you shall never be the ruler of a country that way. You are way too soft…"

"How dare you-!" Kouson-San began, before calming down, "Fine, I am soft, I admit that. With my skill and sense of belief, I stand no chance in terms of leadership of a country. I know my limits…"

"Hmm, well then I shall take back my mockery then, Kouson-San-dono. At the very least you deserve your title of General…"

"But I still cannot agree to your plan! If you are that confident, then why do you not do as you wish? I will not stop you…"

"Humph. Offer accepted…" Contrary to Kouson-San who was still a bit furious, the girl simply nodded with little word, turned around, and left.

---

"… …Sorry about that," Kouson-San turn to us with an apologetic expression, "Forget about what just happen…"

"It's not a matter of remembering it," I commented, "Anyway are you alright? You look seriously shaken…"

"I am fine. It is not the first time I have been in a conversation like that… … …though I must admit this is the first time I had called 'soft' so bluntly…"

"Hakukei-chan…?" Touka-chan sounded in confusion.

"That is a story for another time altogether, Touka-chan. Do not worry too much on it…"

"… …Okay, if Hakukei-chan say so," Touka-chan gave a nodded, though it's the type of nod that didn't have a lot of comfort behind it, before she started staring off in the direction the girl left towards, "…Is she going to be alright? From what I have witness, she looks like she truly intends to charge in alone…"

"A worrywart as always, I see," Kouson-San huffed a small chuckle, "…Just leave her be. Despite her attitude, she is a capable thinker. I do not think she will actually charge in alone. She probably claimed so in pride… And even if she did, she shall either meet an honorable death or flee with a broken pride…"

"But…" Shuri began worried, "If a general falls before the battle, then would it not affect the morale of the whole army?"

I thought about it for a moment before nodding. In every melee game where the objective is to rout the enemy's forces, the best way, if you have confident in your picked character, is to take out the enemy commander. Usually when that happens, the small fries would become leaderless and eventually flee the area, unable to carry on without a head figure to follow.

"That is true," Touka-chan nodded as well in concern, "What should we do?"

"Let me see…Please wait a moment," with that Shuri fell silent, cupping her chin. She seems to be working her brain at an amazing pace. You could almost hear the clicking chatter of an abacus as she ran her calculations. After that period of silent thought, Shuri finally spoke; like a flower suddenly blooming, a smile blossomed on her face, and she tugged my sleeves. "I got it! I have devise two plans; one for if she does attack and one for if she does not!"

"Oh, now that's our Shuri," I commented as rubbed her head.

"You are so reliable, Shuri-chan!" Touka-chan joined with praise.

"Hee-Hee," Shuri closed her eyes blushes from my rubbing and both of our compliments, "My Lord rubbed my head…and both My Lord and Lady flatter me…"

"Uh," Kouson-San began to object with a look, "Not to sound evil or anything but…are there any reasons to go that far in saving Chou-Un? Would it not be more constructive to devise a plan for wiping the Yellow Scarves out with our force?"

"… …! Wait a minute!" I suddenly exclaimed, "What did you just say?"

"We should devise a plan for wiping The Yellow Scarves out with our force-…"

"No, before that. Did you say her name is Chou-Un?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, her name is Chou Shiryuu. She said she wanted to protect people, and ended up staying with us. … … …Well, she is strong and smart, so I decided to let her stay as an ancillary general…"

"I see…"

Ryuu-Bi, Kan-U, Chou-Hi, Kouson-San, Shokatsu-Ryou, and even Hou-Tou. They are all girls, so I half suspected Chou-Un to be a girl in this world as well…

"(But…)"

Ryuu-Bi, Kan-U, Chou-Hi, Shokatsu-Ryou, Hou-Tou, and Chou-Un… Each one of them is a great general who gather under the banner of the Sho-Ku Kingdom. With just these people together would be enough to send shiver down any rivaling warlords…yet here I am also part of the equation, not as a useless side-character but as supposedly one of the one that gather these heroes.

"(The setting is like a RPG, but if that is the case who am I playing as? I'm definitely sure there was no Messenger from Heaven actually present during the Three Kingdom era…)"

And speaking about the members of Sho-Ku, will other people like Ba-Chou and Kou-Chuu join in soon?

"(But I thought Shokatsu-Ryou and Hou-Tou didn't join until after the Yellow Scarves Rebellion…)"

Yet, they both joined in the middle of the Yellow Scarves Rebellion…That means…

"(Is my role here altering history accordingly? … … …No, wait…If I really did just travel back into the Romance of the Three Kingdoms era, all these general would be guys…This must be a parallel world.)"

If that's the case, then will what I know about the Romance of Three Kingdoms be of any use at all? Well, I only know what I've learned from novels and TV shows, though… My reverie was broken by a loud uproar from nearby.

"Eh? What?" I began, before calming down enough to call out straightly, "What happened?"

A soldier ran up to Kouson-San to give a report. "My Lady! Chou-Un-dono has left the camp and is preparing to charge the enemy army!"

"…!"

"What-!" Kouson-San exclaimed, "Damn it, she actually did it! What is she thinking?"

"T-This is not good," Touka-chan began.

"Shuri!" I called to, who answered with a "Yes!", "Tell Aisha and Rinrin to gather the soldiers! We are deploying immediately!"

"Hawa!? R-Roger!" With that, Shuri bolt towards our army.

I nodded to Touka-chan who immediately nodded back, and we began to follow Shuri. That is until Kouson-San stopped both of us by the shoulder.

"Hey, what do you mean?" Kouson-San began, "Why do you not leave her be?"

"Hakukei-chan, how can you say that?" Touka-chan exclaimed, "We cannot do that! How can we just stand here when someone's life is in danger?"

"I agree," I joined, "Sorry, but we'll go after Chou-un…"

"What are you two saying?" Kouson-San exclaimed, "If our soldiers do not join forces, then we cannot beat them-!"

"We'll manage with or without you," I declared, "I trust you'll do well, General Kouson-San. … …You can even use us as bait if you want to. But we are going!"

"…You cannot do that to me. …But…hmm, bait, huh?" Kouson-San muttered, before considering my words, "… … …Fine. Then we will use you as bait. We shall lay in ambush them from behind…how about that?"

Touka-chan nodded. "Thanks for the help, Hakukei-chan…"

"…To be honest, I feel quite petty using you as bait in all of this, Touka. But…be warned…you must endure their attacks to at least allow us to prepare. Carve that into both of your minds…"

"Got it," I nodded, "We'll find a way…"

"… …And if I think it is too risky, we shall pull out. My men come first here; I have little reason to stay with you at that much risk to us…"

"I understand," I nodded again, with Touka-chan nodding in understanding.

"Yes," Touka-chan sadly stated, "this is not originally your fight after all, Hakukei-chan. I understand…"

"… … …" Kouson-San looked, almost pitifully, between us before sighing, "But…Well, I guess…I will be praying for both of your success and safety. If things do go out well, you can bet on the fact that my White Calvary shall come to assist you!"

"Okay, thanks…" Both Touka-chan and I bid farewell to Kouson-San before heading to Aisha and Rinrin.

---

"…Sigh…" Aisha heaved a deep sigh when she saw us, "What were My Lord and Lady thinking? Good grief…"

Shuri must have told her everything.

"Sorry…" Touka-chan muttered the only phrase I could think of.

"It is not a matter My Lady can simply apologize for," Aisha preached, "Please think about our soldiers…"

"What you say is true," I nodded, indicating I was well aware what we were deciding, "…but that girl is one that we must save. We need her help to end these wars…"

"Is she that powerful?"

"Yes. Most likely… …No, I'm sure she'll join our side…"

"Kazuto-kun," Touka-chan began, "Could it be that you know something about her in the same matter that you know us?"

"Kind of. In the story of my world, her character is one of the most powerful and loyal of the five people gather under your character. Chou-Un character was famous for battling through an army of thousands in order to reunite his Lord with his child who was left behind…"

"Heh~…"

"Hmm," Rinrin began, "maybe Onii-chan has a point. That girl did seem rather strong…"

"You can tell, Rinrin-chan?"

"Sure. Just by watching the way she walks Rinrin can tell she does not have a single opening…"

"That is true," Hinari poked in, "And just looking into her eyes one can tell she is one of great mental capacity, as well…"

"…However," Aisha began, "attacking a rebel army that large all by herself is nothing but reckless…"

"I know," I nodded, "But that's why we have to save her…"

"You may be right, but…their numbers are vast and ours are not. What are saying we should-…"

"I have a plan, desu," Shuri suddenly sounded.

"You do?"

"Yes. There may be a difference in our forces, but we can handle them with what we have…"

"Really?" Rinrin exclaimed, "That is amazing, Shuri!"

"Yes," Hinari nodded, "Shuri-chan truly is amazing like that…"

Shuri giggled embarrassingly. "Thank you…"

"Indeed impressive," Aisha praised, "So what is the plan?"

"Well, I say 'plan', but I am not sure if it is big enough to call a plan, desu. Still, here is the idea; Aisha, as soon as Chou-Un-san charges in, take your personal guards and have them charge in with you…"

"Oh? I shall be charging in too?"

"What about Rinrin?" Rinrin asked eagerly.

"Rinrin-chan, please lead the troops with Our Lord and Hinari and prepare to back up Aisha-san. However, please place twice the number of standard bearers…"

"Standard bearers?" Touka-chan wondered, "Why are we doing that?"

"I see," Hinari awed, "We shall increase the number of flags to make the enemy think we have a huge army…"

"I see," Aisha smiled, "We are going to trick them, huh?"

"Yes," Shuri nodded, "The enemy is relying on their size and charging in, so Aisha-san, once your squad clashed with their vanguard, please retreat quickly to the main camp where My Lady and I will be station at…"

"To confuse them, right?" Hinari wondered.

"Yes, desu. But, Aisha-san, when you retreat, please makes sure you bring Chou-Un with you, okay?"

"Hmm…" Aisha hummed in worry, "I hope Chou-Un-dono would not refuse to retreat…"

"If that happens, we shall think of something else," Hinari claimed, "In the meantime, Aisha-san, Shuri-chan will signal you to retreat from the main unit, so please do not miss it, okay?"

"Is that right," Aisha turn to Shuri who replied with a nod. Stun that Hinari got it right, she soon recovered, "Well then, of course. But what will happen after that?"

"While Aisha-san retreat, My Lord and Rinrin-chan's unit will spread out and surround the Yellow Scarves' vanguard. When we do this please leave their rear open or they shall become desperate to break through…"

"But," Rinrin tilted her head in confusion, "would it not mean they shall escape?"

"That is fine, Rinrin-san," Hinari smiled, "If they were to become desperate, we shall only suffer unnecessary great casualties…"

"That is right," Shuri nodded, "After that, we shall match our timing with Kouson-San and catch them in a pincer attack…"

"I see," Aisha spoke up, "We use our charge to confuse the enemy, then we make a strategic retreat to lure their vanguard out and buy time for Kouson-San's army…"

"Exactly…"

"Hmm…that is impressive, Shuri, Hinari…"

Shuri and Hinari giggled at the compliment.

"Very well. I leave our main unit in your hands… …I shall be counting on you for our signal, Shuri…"

"Yes!" Shuri nodded, "…My Lady, let us go lead main force…"

"Okay," Touka-chan nodded.

"Hinari," Aisha then addressed, "I shall leave coordination of My Lord and Rinrin's unit to you…"

"As you wish," Hinari nodded.

"I wish to you both luck. My Lord and Lady, I shall be going now…"

"Yeah," I nodded, "Stay strong…

"And be careful," Touka-chan wished.

"I thank My Lord and Lady for the kind words. … …Farewell…" After a quick bow, Aisha led her squad onto the battlefield. Touka-chan and Shuri left soon afterwards.

---

"Boo~!" Rinrin growled, "Rinrin wants to charge too…"

"Hey, hey," I noted tiredly, "give me a break, Rinrin. You need to stay by my side. If you don't, then who will command the soldiers?"

"That is something Onii-chan or Hinari can do…"

"No we cannot," Hinari whispered sadly, "All the soldiers follow Rinrin-san because they know Rinrin-san is very strong. And while Shuri-chan had shown achievements during the last battle I have yet to show any, so I doubt the soldiers would accept my commands…"

"That's the same with me," I gave Hinari a pat on the shoulder for comfort, "Don't be sad about that, Hinari…"

"…Okay…" Hinari nodded.

"Hmm…is that how it is?" Rinrin puffed her cheek, "But Rinrin knows that Onii-chan is amazing and that Hinari is amazing too!"

"I'm glad to hear you say that," I accepted Rinrin's compliment, or at least what sounded like a compliment, "but you're even more amazing, Rinrin…"

"Rinrin the amazing one?"

"Yeah, you are. You're so strong, brave, and heroic…you're the absolute best!"

"…Hee-Hee," Rinrin smiled happily at my praise before proudly giving us her promise, "Okay, Rinrin guess Rinrin shall endure for a while and protect both Onii-chan and Hinari…"

"We're counting on you…"

"You better!" Rinrin replied rather childishly, but she was also charming and reassuring.

"Okay, let's deploy so we don't fall behind. The timing-…I mean, the moment we come in is crucial so I'll leave that to you, Hinari. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Hinari nodded, "Leave it to me!"

"Okay. Let's go!"

"Everyone, move out!" Rinrin bellowed to our units, "Follow boldly after Rinrin~!"

---

The dark writhing mass of the Yellow Scarves shrouded the earth. One girl stared at that mass and curled her lips into a smile.

"Heh-Heh-Heh," Chou-Un Shiryuu chuckled in delight, "A brave bunch all thee art…"

Across from her marched an army of Twenty-Five Thousand bandits which covered the entire field. Twenty-Five Thousands of them against one girl with a spear (actually closer to a bident). However, there was not a speck of fear in the heart of Chou-Un. All that lies in her heart is the joy of defeating those bandits accompanied by gratitude for the opportunity to display her military prowess. To her, the sound of the Yellow Scarves' charge was applause for leaving her mark on history.

"Chou Shiryuu is my name. I shall now go down in history, so be proud thou hast heard my name!" She whispered mostly to herself.

In her hands she held her dear comrade, one she had spent every day and night with. Her hands were accustomed to it as if it was a part of her. By swinging her spear, she communicates with it. The pleasant sound of it dancing through the air was a proud display of her existence. As it slides through the air, it catches the sharp light of the sun and glitters as if it wore a cloak of light. When the Yellow Scarves' vanguard caught sight of that glimmer, their pace slowed down a little.

"Humph. … …Flinching before just one opponent? Bandits are nothing but bandits. Unless they join together, they are nothing but trash…" She sneered and pointed the tip of her spear at the rampaging herd.

Did they notice her sneer? The Yellow Scarves picked up speed after being called trash and continued to charge, preparing to ruthlessly trample her underfoot. A cloud of dust rises in their wake and blots out the blue sky. Chou-Un hid none of her discontent and furrowed her beauty brows.

"Thy churls, who cannot understand beauty, kneel before my spear and apologize for the sin of soiling the blue sky!"

After shouting her derision, she readied her spear at her side and slowly lowers her hips. The air around Chou-Un suddenly changed. The warm and comfortable breeze was now hot enough to burn the skin.

"Whew~…" A long breath escaped her luscious lips. Then, when all the air is out of her lungs… "I am the Rising Dragon of Jou-Zan, Chou Shiryuu! I shalt defeat thee heinous bandits and protect the innocent in distress! Thy churls, who have piled up thy misdeeds, let all the people know that my spear is the hammer of justice! Now! On Guard!"

After heroically shouting her name, Chou-Un readied her single spear against the wave of oncoming rebels and kick off the ground. Her sleeves fluttered as she glided over the bumpy field like the wind. The difference in their forces was obvious. As the distance between them shortened to nothing, a vulgar war cry erupted around her.

"HAAHHH~!" FLASH!

Her long spear swung through the air, mowing down the Yellow Scarves surrounding her and sending the black mass flying back.

"Thou who fear, turn and run! Thou who do not fear me come! My name is Chou Shiryuu! My blade and I are one!" WHOOSH!

Her spear thrust out with the ferocity of a blaze, each thrust ending the lives of several rebels and planting fear in the hearts of those who remained.

"Here, here, here~!" WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

It was like a dance of death… Her spear arced through the air, glittering as it stole the lives of those rebels. Despite her beauty, she crushed the rebels' souls with the harshness of a reaper. Some were fascinated by her beauty. Some were captivated by the angel of death. Her spear reaps the souls of the frozen rebels, painting death on the sky in the proud strokes of a great warrior. Every time the tip of her brush sparkled in the blue sky, a deep crimson string of blood became her paint and depicted the death of the rebels in detail.

"There is only one of her, and she is a girl! What the heck are you doing? Surrounding her and kill her!" By the time their leader shouted in irritation, dozens of his companions had already left this world. But…

"Please do," Chou-Un called as she continue to reap more lives, "Otherwise, thou shalt lose your lives for nothing. However! Do not think it will be that easy!"

Her brave cry impresses many. Her voice could even entrance an angel of death, easily causing those threatening to surround her to back away.

WHOOSH! Sometime she jabbed them.

WHOOSH! Other times, she mowed them down.

With a flash of light, the bandits flew away like they were caught in a windstorm. Every time a flash of light arced through the air, a multitude of rebels trying to surround the girl became dozens of corpses piled around her. As the bodies continued to pile up into motionless heaps at her feet, so too did their resentment and obsession. The fence of rebel corpses around the girl began to interfere with her deadly dance.

"Shit!" Chou-Un clicked her tongue as she began to feel the strain of trying to swing her spear in that narrowing foothold.

"Good! Keep it up! Continue until she cannot move anymore!" Their leader issued his command, ignoring the value of their lives, and the rebels, mad with their seething blood, carried it out without hesitation.

FLASH! Another FLASH! The merciless spear of Chou-Un drank their blood and turned mad, raging rebels into a fence of corpses.

"HAHH!" the voice of Chou-Un started to sound annoyed.

But she could not help it. The abominable wall of rebel corpses had piled up to her waist. She was literally knee-deep in corpses. Will she soon lose the ability to move and come under attack from those rebels? She became impatient and irritated. A premonition of death rises with her chagrin…

"But…I shalt not fall yet!"

She tried to shake off the thought running through her head, and shouted to steady her wavering attitude. Then her spear danced through the air with another glitter of death. However, as expected…the flash starts to lose its sharpness, and shadows are now discernible on the tip of the spear. Chou-Un was well aware of that. However she continues to fight to protect her pride as a warrior. However, the end was already near…

The bloodthirsty animals are about to descend on the lone girl, when…

---

BANG! BANG! BANG! The sound of gongs resonated throughout the battlefield, announcing the arrival of an army that had gone unnoticed due to the attention on Chou-Un.

"Brave warriors of the Yuu-Shu army! Now is the time to show the world our strength!" Aisha's beautiful, dignified voice resounded across the wild battlefield, "All units, charge! Fear not death! Uphold your honor! We are proud heavenly soldiers protected by Heaven and of Imperial will!"

A small squad of soldiers appeared from behind, and with a brave cry, rushed in to save Chou-Un from danger. The rebels nearly began to flee at the appearance of a new enemy. Chou-Un seized that moment to regain her stance.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Chou-Un tilted her head in suspicion as the soldiers intruded upon her stage and charged into the enemy.

"…Good grief," Aisha huffed as came up to her, "It was crazy of you to charge in alone…"

"Hmm?" Chou-Un hummed in surprise as she notice Aisha's weapon of choice, "The Green Dragon Crescent Blade? Are you by chance the brave and honorable Kan Unchou-dono?"

"Yes I am. I have followed My Lord and Lady's request and arrive to rescue you. … …Can I ask you to fight with us?"

"Of course. I appreciate the help…"

"Good. Then after a brief clash, I would like to have you retreat with us…"

"Oh~…I see. You are going to lure their vanguard, huh?"

"That is correct. How did you know?"

"Humph… Any competent general would be able to see that much…"

"I see. That makes things simpler," Aisha nodded, both impressed and glad that Chou-Un was anything but incompetent despite her recklessness, "We shall crush the enemy for now, and then we shall retreat…"

"Very well," Chou-Un smirked confidently, recognizing Aisha's honest valor that instantly demands respect, "If I can entrust my back to the renowned Kan Unchou, then I can fight seriously as well…"

"You sound promising…"

"So do you…"

"Alright…then let us begin?"

"Sure," Chou-Un gave one final nodded before turning her attention to the mob, "Listen up, thee worthless dogs! I am Chou-Un Shiryuu! If thou can hear my name and not tremble in fear, then come and try to take my life!"

"Do not forget about I, bandits! I am Kan-U Unchou! I am the first regent of the Messenger from Heaven, Hongou, and the Descendant of Imperial Royalty, Ryuu-Bi! If thou wish to taste my Green Dragon Crescent Blade, then come!"

The two were back to back. Their voices rang out like a proclamation of death to the bandits. The two of them matched their pace as they covering each other's opening as they danced, spraying the rebels' blood everywhere. Each time the Crescent Blade split the air, a rebel's head bounced away like a ball. And each time the blades of the spear of Chou-Un flashed like lightning, a guttural moan and a spray of blood arced through the air. It was a living hell for the bandits. Piles upon piles of bandit corpses knelt before a mere two girls.

"What is the problem, bandits!? I am still standing! Is there no one hither who can threaten my life!?" Chou-Un tempted, smirking as she continue to reap the lives of the Yellow Scarves.

"What is wrong!? Thou may be a churl, but thou art man, art thou not!? Name thyself and fight!" Aisha roared as swung her Crescent Blade with great skill.

The girls continued to ridicule the bandits, and cut them down one by one. They were truly like fierce goddesses of war. The overwhelming bandits began to show fear in the face of these twin incarnations. Although the battlefield was filled with madness, they still feared to challenge them and lose their lives for nothing. The bandits surrounded the two fierce goddesses, but they were too afraid to move in closer.

"It is about time…" Aisha muttered, remembering that they had a plan, readying her Green Dragon Crescent Blade and looked around from the corners of her eyes.

BANG! BANG! BANG! That's when the signal from the main unit rang out over the battlefield.

"There is our signal. Chou-Un-dono, fall back!"

"Yeah!" Chou-Un nodded.

---

"Ah…My Lord!" Hinari called, "Aisha and the others are retreating! The Yellow Scarves' vanguard is in pursuit! It would also appear that Shuri is having the main unit charging forward to cover Aisha's retreat. It will soon be our turn to move!"

"Good," I nodded, "Our plan is working so far. Okay Rinrin, now it's our time to move out as planned!"

"Leave it to Rinrin!" Rinrin replied before turning to her squad, "Everyone, prepare for battle!"

At Rinrin's command, the soldiers got up and ran towards their stations.

"Let us surround the incoming enemy and beat them to a pulp! Everyone, follow Rinrin!"

Rinrin ran out in the lead, and the soldiers followed her towards the Yellow Scarves' left flank with a war cry.

"Hongou units!" Hinari raised her voice as loud as she could, "We shall attack the right flank. Our success depends on this!"

"Forward!" I called and our units rushed forward to cover the right flank.

And now our battle has begun…

---

Due to Chou-Un and Aisha's initial attack, a staggering number of Three Thousand Yellow Scarves had already been taken out. But even so, their army was still a hair-raising Twenty-Two thousand strong compare to our army of a little under Five Thousand. We were still outmatched in terms of numbers.

But perhaps due to witnessing Chou-Un and Aisha's prowess earlier, our soldiers were in high spirit and more than willing to face the immense force before them. From where I was station I saw soldiers with spears tighten their grips on the wooden pole, archers pulling the strings of their bow so enthusiastically I thought their bow nearly snap with every firing, and interceptors charging forward with great speed whenever they are asked to despite primarily using bulky shields and heavy swords.

It was clear which army had the higher moral, but despite that, Hinari advises both Rinrin and I to have our units remain mostly on the defensive. And it would seem Shuri had done the same with Touka-chan's units. Even the mighty Kan-U and the daring Chou-Un, both who seem to have gotten the message, had reframe to only defensive formations.

The reason was simple; high in moral we may be, we were still outnumber almost four times over. Our main goal is to buy out time and wait for Kouson-San's unit to provide us backup while keeping our casualty number at a minimum.

According to Hinari, if everything goes out well, Kouson-San would be ready and attacking in at least fifteen hours. Until then we must endure the Yellow Scarves constant wave of force.

But that didn't mean we weren't going to take out as many as we can. So we decided on using ambush maneuver alongside using defensive maneuver. I claim no offense when I say this, but the Yellow Scarves were surprising slow-witted. Every time we charge in only to retreat hastily, they were always stupid enough to allow their vanguard to chase after us. And every time, our ambush units will spring up from either side and took them out.

Following Shuri and Hinari's advise, we left their rear route clear to ensure that the Yellow Scarves wouldn't get desperate and cause unnecessary damage to our forces. We repeated the procedure about every hour between our defensive maneuvers before they began to realize our tactic.

However, by then it was too late. By the fifteenth hour since we started the battle, we have greatly reduce their army of Twenty-Two Thousand to about Fifteen Thousand while they only manage to reduce our army from Five Thousand to roughly over Four Thousand. In other words, while they lose about 31.8% of their armies we've only lose roughly 20% of our army. Though it may not seem much, but if we count on Kouson-San reinforcement of around Five Thousand that will soon join us, in reality we've only lost roughly 10% of our actual force.

Well, assuming Kouson-San really is coming. By the fifteenth hour, there was still no sign of Kouson-San's army and as we slowly slipped into the sixteenth we were beginning to fear the worse.

"Shuri!" Aisha called out, "Where is Kouson-San's army?"

"I do not know! They should show up any time now, but I do not know how that general will…" Just as Shuri was trying weaving a response for Aisha, a soldier interrupted.

"A cloud of dust and cavalry on white horses have been spotted behind the enemy!" the soldiers informed.

"What flag do they fly?" Chou-Un questioned in a hurry.

"Two flags! Kouson and…and the Imperial Kan! It is our reinforcements!"

"Excellent!"

"We did it, Aisha!" Hinari cheered.

"Yes!" Aisha nodded with a renew sense of determination, "Now it is the time to go on the offensive! Let us join Kouson-San's Army and catch them in a pincer attack!"

"Charge! Smash! Victory~!" Rinrin roared.

"All units, charge~!"

With a roar, our fired up army finally charge forward to display their high valor.

We rejoined the battle with Kouson-San's army and attack the stunned Yellow Scarves with full force.

The reinforcements were staggering. We had expected Five Thousand to come to our aid. Well, it did happen and then some. Somehow, Kouson-San had gained an additional Three Thousands and now we are a little over Twelve Thousand strong altogether. So in a sense, while the Yellow Scarves had suffered 31.8% casualty we have only lost 7.7% of our actual force. Our number of Twelve Thousand against the Yellow Scarves' Fifteen Thousand now looks reasonable.

So we went on the offensive. I must say, I have very little doubt now why Kouson-San was nicknamed the White Horse General now. Her cavalry units consist of mostly horses of white hair coats covered in bright silver armor. And their speed was tremendous! They along with their riders gallop through the Yellow Scarves from behind, trampling through them at an alarming rate. And their riders weren't useless either. Kouson-San and the other riders swung their blades or spear down at the rebels as they sail through them ending many lives. Each cavalry possesses the strength of twenty each, and since there was at least One Hundred in Kouson-San's army, the White Cavalry Units managed to take Two Thousand in one run, with the rest of the ground troops of Seventy-Nine Hundred rushing in after, using the route the cavalry units had made as a path.

Thanks to that, it took about five more hours before we manage to reduce the Yellow Scarves' army down to around a little fewer than Seven Thousand. Our army in all of Twelve Thousand was only reduced to a little above Eleven Thousand.

By then, the Yellow Scarves finally realize they didn't have a hope in winning and began to make a desperate attempt to escape. They managed somehow and their army of now only less than Five Thousand retreated towards the nearby mountains.

---

"Hakukei-chan~!" Touka-chan called out after the battle as she ran up to Kouson-San and gave her a big hug, "You came! You actually came~!"

"O-Of course I came!" Kouson-San managed as she tries to remove herself from Touka-chan's hug, "I-I-I always keep my words! A-Anyway, Touka, get off! I c-cannot breathe~!"

"Ah-! Sorry…" With that Touka-chan released Kouson-San.

"Good grief! You truly have not changed…!"

"…Ahem," I coughed as I walked up to Kouson-San, "Thanks for the assistance, Kouson-San. You came just in time…"

"Huh? O-Oh, yeah. Uh, well, I did say that I would help you all if things look like it was going well…so there is no need to thank me. I came late anyway…"

"That reminds me, where did you get this extra force?"

"Hmm? Oh, from the imperial court. They finally sent reinforcements, though I expect more than Three Thousand though, they came about five hours ago and they were the reason I was late…"

"I see…good timing…"

"Well, anyway, I should be the one thanking you; you all did a splendid job…"

"Of course," Chou-Un smirked as she joined the conversation, "As if there was any doubt…"

"… …Yes, yes," Kouson-San sighed, "I was in the wrong, you were in the right. Happy?"

"Hmm… …well, I guess I can accept that…"

"Good grief," Aisha rolled her eyes as she came up to us, "well, putting that aside for now…My Lord, My Lady!"

"Hmm?" Touka-chan hummed in question as I simply turn my head to Aisha.

"I hate to say this, but roughly Five Thousand of the Yellow Scarves had escape and had headed towards the mountain not too far from here…"

"Oh great," Kouson-San sighed, "So in the end, we could not avoid facing the Iron Gate Passage…"

Upon hear those words many of Kouson-San army nearby flinched in fear, which was notice by everyone on our side.

"That story of magic and death again?" Chou-Un wondered, "Since I joined a little after the incident, I have yet to experience it…"

"I still find it preposterous," Aisha frowned uncomfortably, "Do the Yellow Scarves really possess magical power?"

"No way~!" Rinrin whined, "Rinrin do not believe! Rinrin has never heard of anyone who has conquered the world using sorcery~!"

"Hmm, that is true," Touka-chan muttered.

"…But," Shuri frowned in thought, "If it is possible for Our Lord to have descended from Heaven, we cannot through the possibility out…just yet…"

"Boo~! Even Shuri think so?"

"I can almost guarantee it is sorcery," Kouson-San spoke up, "How else can you explain why I cannot penetrate it myself?"

"Alright everyone," I huffed, "Let's not jump to conclusion. First let's go to see the Iron Gate, then we can decide what to do, okay?"

"My Lord is right," Aisha nodded, "We cannot decide anything from here…"

"…Hmm, alright…" Kouson-San nodded.

"All units!" I called out, "we now march to chase after the fleeing Yellow Scarves! Onward…to the Iron Gate Passage!"

---

"… … …So," I managed as I stared at what looks like a ravine in-between two cliff-faces, "This is the Iron Gate Passage?"

It had taken us an hour to reach here. Our army of Eleven Thousand now faces the Yellow Scarves stronghold.

"W-What an eerie looking passage," Touka-chan managed.

"Yes," Shuri commented, "I have never seen such a passage…"

"Well," I huffed as I started for the passage, "We are not going to get anywhere just looking at it now…"

"Whoa! Hold on Hongou!" Kouson-San halted, "we are not seriously going after them through here are we?"

"How else are we going to attack, Kouson-San-dono?" Chou-Un wondered.

"Yes," Aisha nodded, "This is the only path right?"

"Uh…" Kouson-San frowned.

I looked back at our army and notice that while our initial army and the imperial army was fine, Kouson-San's army was nervously glancing at each other. They all had somewhat the same kind of face on, all saying "I don't want to go".

"…Alright then," I decided, "Kouson-San Army and the Imperial Army shall remain here. Our troops shall move forward instead for now…How's that?"

"…Hmm…" Kouson-San looked between me and Touka-chan in worry before nodding, "Alright, but be careful…"

"Of course!" Touka-chan chimed.

"Hee-Hee" Rinrin chimed as well, "Watch out, Rinrin is going to go wild~!"

---

So our army consisted of roughly Four Thousand enter the Iron Gate Passage with confidence. With me were Touka-chan, Aisha, Rinrin, Shuri, Hinari, and even Chou-Un.

But it was surprisingly hard march. As soon as we enter the ravine, we were hindered by a huge gust of wind. Even the Aisha and Chou-Un were having trouble balancing themselves.

"Ugh! This wind!" Aisha commented, "Are winds supposed to blow this strong?"

"No way!" Hinari managed, "if winds were to blow this strong anywhere else villages would be strip clean of roofs-…"

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA~!" an ominous laughter erupted throughout the ravine.

"W-What?" Aisha exclaimed in shock.

"Where did that voice come from?" Chou-Un wondered.

"So another foolish army wants to enter through these gates of hell~? Then I shall open them for you~!"

"What the-?" I managed.

All of a sudden, arrows rained down upon the army.

"Argh-!" a soldier cried as he was struck by an arrow in the arm.

"Help m-Ah~!" another exclaimed as he was hit in the chest.

"Ugh-!" another managed before he collapsed dead with an arrow lodged in his face.

Move scream of terror and panic ensure as more arrows rained down and struck more of our troops. Aisha and everyone else did their best to avoid the rains of arrows.

I on the other hand besides dodging the arrows had my mind set to work. Was it magic? Definitely not. If magic were involve, what were the needs of arrows? If magic was involved, why did they not use out in the battlefield earlier? But if magic wasn't involve, why were there such great winds here? I had so many questions in my mind but no answer…

"There is no miracle at what I do, just careful planning…" Those words from my past suddenly popped into my mind. It was from those words where I receive a sense of calmness and observe my surrounding, carefully noting every details and pouring every bit of knowledge I had to draw conclusion.

I widen my eyes. I know, or at least I think I know, what was going on.

"Kazuto-kun!" Touka-chan cried, shaking me out of my daze, "We cannot fight like this!"

"Yeah!" I nodded and called to the army, "All forces retreat for the time being!"

"My Lord! We cannot just simply-!" Aisha began.

"Rinrin want to continue fighting-!" Rinrin shouted at the same time.

"Hawawa! T-This is no time to be proud!" Shuri wailed as she used her peacock feather fan to knock aside some oncoming arrows.

"Awawa! Yes," Hinari agreed as she used her wooden sage staff to knock away oncoming arrows, "we must retreat and think of something else!"

"Shuri and Hinari are right!" I nodded, "Beside I think I got it all figure out now…"

"Huh?" Touka-chan tilted her head in confusion as she continues to use both Virtue and Ryuu-Tei-Ken to block the arrows that sail towards us, "Figure what out?"

"I'll explain later. For now we must retreat!"

"…! … …Very well…" Aisha hesitantly obeyed.

"Boo~!" Rinrin booed but nevertheless follow in suite

---

"I told you we would have problem with this passage! Even if we are winning, it will mean nothing if they retreat through the Iron Gates Passage to recover!" Kouson-San sighed in despair.

It has been five minutes since we evacuated from the Iron Gate Passage. Our force of Four Thousand luckily only suffered some minor casualty, but nevertheless we still lost the lives of around Fifty to Sixty brave soldiers. When we had return, Kouson-San had set up a small camp preparing what she had expected.

"Hmm, Kouson-San-dono is right on that," Chou-Un frowned, "Even I Chou Shiryuu is at a lost…"

To everyone, the Iron Gate Passage had not only stained their pride but also had affected our moral. Now even our soldiers were beginning to show signs of discomfort.

"To think we are being kept at bay by sorcery of all things…" Aisha pounded the table at where she sat in frustration.

"Yeah…" Touka-chan frowned.

"…Sorcery?" I finally spoke up, finally ready with my conclusion. I have been staring at the Iron Gate Passage, trying to see if my theory could have a problem in it or not; it had none. "Bah, don't be fool now everyone…"

"Huh? Ah, that reminds me! Kazuto-kun, what did you mean back then when you said 'you figure it out'?"

"Well, at first I thought it was real sorcery too since I was sent here to this world and all. But now that I've seen it, I can grantee it's anything but sorcery. Rather, a very careful and crafty parlor trick…"

"EH?" Kouson-San exclaimed as everyone stared startle at me; even the well-educated Shuri and Hinari and the collective Chou-Un couldn't help but at least widen their eyes in shock, "What do you mean, Hongou?"

"Well, you were right about the fact that entering the ravine is dangerous. In fact the ravine is actually a trap! It is all due, I think, to the unique layout of the Iron Gates Passage…" I pointed to the passage. "As you all can see, there are constant fog and cloud high above the ravine. In my science class, or a teaching of how the world naturally works, fog and clouds are results and signs that the air is cold. Cold air naturally flow downward and couple with the fact the ravine is shape in such a way that flowing air are funnel through it, it creates strong winds, much like how a river bed guides flowing river water. The 'Sorcerer' is taking advantage of all of that to pass it off as Sorcery, frightening enemies and inspiring the followers all in one…"

I couldn't blame even Shuri or Hinari for not knowing or even coming up the idea. For me it was the fact that I had taken Ecology Class…and the support and wisdom of a particular friend… that help me formulate that theory.

"… … I-Is such a thing possible?" Kouson-San wondered, with a face that told me that she understood less than half.

"Hmm…" Hinari hummed to herself before slowly nodding, "…if it is as My Lord stated…"

"Then it must be it, desu!" Shuri exclaimed in admiration.

"You mean we have been tricked?" Kouson-San managed before twisting her lips into an angry frown, "Damn it, so that how they doing it!"

"Hmm…impressive…" Chou-un sounded.

"Chou-Un, please do not compliment the enemy!"

"I did no such; I was directing my word to the Messenger from Heaven…"

"Ah, yes, if it is like that, the compliment is well deserved. As one would expect of a person from Heaven, to see the trickery that the enemy claims to be the will of Heaven…"

"Ah, it was nothing…" I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment.

"Ahem, uh…well," Aisha began, "that is all well and good. But that does not bring us any closer to taking them out…"

"Nyah-ha-ha! Rinrin has a good idea!" Rinrin suddenly chimed.

"… … … …You do?" Aisha asked skeptically.

"Boo~! How rude! Rinrin does, Rinrin just was not sure we could do it if it was real sorcery. Since there is no sorcery, we can do it!"

"Really?" Chou-Un raised an eyebrow, "What do you have in mind, Chou Yokutoku?"

"Simple~! Let us just scale the cliffs," Rinrin pointed to the sides of the ravine.

"The cliff?" Touka-chan sweat dropped.

"Oi, is that even possible?" I wondered with a sweat drop.

"If it looked easily climbable than it would not make a good surprise attack!" Rinrin noted.

Hinari hummed to herself for a moment before nodding. "Hmm, I think Rinrin is right! It is because it looks hard to climb that the attack will be effective if we do so!"

"Hmm, so how about we do this?" Kouson-San stated after doing some thinking herself, "Some of us shall scale the cliff and attack them unexpectedly from behind while others remain here and pick them off when they try to escape?"

"Huh~!" Chou-Un smirked at Kouson-San's idea, "A tiger in front and a wolf from behind~! A brilliant plan Kouson-San-dono…"

"Thanks…"

"Indeed," Aisha nodded before looking at her young sworn sister, "but the most surprising plan of all would have to have come from Rinrin…"

"Ha-ha, yes!" Touka-chan giggled, "Rinrin-chan actually came up with a reasonable plan…"

"Boo~!" Rinrin puffed her cheek comically, "Everyone is making fun of Rinrin…"

We all laughed at Rinrin's pouting before I cleared my voice.

---

"Alright then," I began with a nod, "let's go and do this!"

In the end we decided to have Kouson-San lead her units and that of the Imperial Court to remain in front of the Iron Gate Passage. Touka-chan and I, along with Chou-Un, were tasked with attacking the Yellow Scarves from behind. Of course to do that, we first have to scale the cliff face of the ravine.

It certainly wasn't an easy climb. The stronger one of us had to be the first to climb to find climbing path for the rest. Once that was settle, we had to organized between two type of lines; one line where the soldiers would climb, the other line used to bring up the spears and weapons that could not be brought up on hand with the owner. I can't possibly tell you how difficult it must have been for the soldiers who had to lift Aisha's Crescent Blade up the cliff. I was fortunate enough not to be stuck with either the first climbing unit or part of the weapon lifting crew. It took us a whole three hours for our entire force to scale the cliff.

"Nyah-ha!" Rinrin laughed as I manage to place my hand, at long last, on the edge of the cliff, crouching close to where I was climbing up from, "Not too bad once you actually try climbing it, huh Onii-chan?"

"Yeah… …now pull me up already!" I barked in frustration. It's no joke when you had to use all of your strength to climb a nearly impossible cliff face.

"Nyah, sorry Onii-chan…" With that, Rinrin stuck out a hand. Once I quickly grabbed it, a good yank from Rinrin and I stumble on top of the cliff.

"Phew, alright, did everyone make it?"

"Yes My Lord, but…" Aisha informed, before her downcast expression got my attention.

"But?"

"They are still wary of the sorcery thing. I could not convince them otherwise…"

"Hmm…" I looked over at our roughly numbered Thirty-Five Hundred. All of them were wearing tired but brave face, but the expressions were forced at best. Most of them still believe that sorcery was involved and that scaling the cliff wasn't going to help.

"What do we do Kazuto-kun?" Touka-chan asked me in worry and concern, "If this keeps up…"

"Hmm…" I continued to hum before I got an idea, "Light a small fire…"

"Nyah?" Rinrin asked me in surprise, "But we worked so hard to sneak around the enemy. What is Onii-chan planning to do?"

"Just trust me…"

---

After a small campfire was set, I went up to it, weed in hand, and began to silently "pray" right in front of it.

"…? What is My Lord doing, My Lady?" Aisha inquired after about a minute. Even the soldiers were beginning to wonder amongst themselves.

"I have not the slightest clue…" Touka-chan frowned.

"Is your lord always this mysterious?" Chou-Un asked Rinrin.

"Nope!" Rinrin chimed, "Onii-chan is mostly more silly than mysterious…"

While I had the right mind to shout in denial, I kept myself silent. If this trick was going to work, I have to play my part exactly.

"… … … …Amen," I finished praying after about another minute and turn to everyone, "Did you see that, everyone?"

"…?" Everyone gave me a curious glance.

"I've just prayed to my fellow comrades who reside in the Heaven to dispel the evil sorcery cast by the Yellow Scarves' Sorcerer! With this, he's now powerless! As proof, look towards the sky! Aren't the skies that looked so murky back down at the Iron Gate now perfectly clear?"

Everyone look up to see that it was true.

"Now fear no more and fight courageously!"

The soldiers gave a great "Yeah!" with the enthusiasm they had before entering the Iron Gate Passage.

Everyone was shock by the sudden change in moral amongst the soldiers, until Shuri thumped her palm in realization. "…I see!"

"…? Shuri?" Touka-chan noted in confusion.

"My Lord is appealing is appealing to the superstitious heart of our troops to ease their fear and raise our moral!"

Aisha, Rinrin, and even Hinari gave a "oh~!", now understanding my act and admiring my quick-thinking.

"Hmm~! Impressive, once again," Chou-Un smirked as the rest of us began to lead the troops to battle, "The Lord of Yuu-Shu is even better than I have originally given him credit for…"

---

The Yellow Scarves were caught completely off guard when we suddenly sprang up from behind them. We took a couple of hundreds before the entire Yellow Scarves camp began to start rallying.

All together, we had thirty-five thousand and the Yellow Scarves had a number of fewer than six thousand. However, because we had appeared from behind and rebels didn't even think that anyone would try scaling the cliff, the Yellow Scarves were still confuse upon who we were. Taking advantage of that, we quicken our attempt eliminate as many as possible.

"Everything is going out as plan, Kazuto-kun!" Touka-chan chimed as she began hack at any Yellow Scarves that came in range.

"Yeah!" I nodded, before a sudden thought struck me, "…Hmm…"

"…? My Lord?" Shuri wondered.

"…Shuri, can't we try to cause a ruckus to throw the entire camp into more panic?"

Shuri tilted her head in confusion until she understood what I wanted. "Yes, My Lord! …All force, use fire to burn everything! Then ring the gongs as loud as possible and make a racket to throw the enemy into confusion and panic!"

"Soldiers!" Hinari called, "Raised your voice and downgrade the ways of the Yellow Scarves! Have them think we are revolting in the camp and that others are among them!"

---

In one way or another, no doubt due to Shuri and Hinari's ideas, the Yellow Scarves were left in an inescapable state of confusion, unable to tell ally or enemy apart. Thanks to that, the Yellow Scarves began to attack each other in panic.

Suddenly a soldier came up to me with information. "Sir, we have discovered the position of the Sorcerer!"

"Really?" I exclaimed; the sorcerer was pretty much the leader, if we could take him out the Yellow Scarves would be left leaderless and their moral will further drop. In other words, checkmate! "Great, have General Kan-U launch an attack-!"

"General Kan-U is currently taking down many Yellow Scarves alongside General Chou-Hi and General Chou-Un in the heat of battle. And My Lady is currently holding her own over on the other side. We cannot reach either of them!"

"Hawa!" Shuri exclaimed, "This is not good, if he is to be allowed to escape, all of this shall repeat itself!"

Everything will repeat itself? The needless battle that cost the lives of so many people, soldiers and rebels alike? The fleeing farmers and villagers rushing our way because their homes and lives were destroyed by the chaos started by the Yellow Scarves? Watching more needless blood spill onto the ground? All of that could happen again?

…No! That is something that must not happen again!

"…Shuri, Hinari," I commanded in my most determined voiced yet, "you two stay here. As soon as Aisha, Touka-chan, and the others get here have them headed to the location…"

"Hawa?" Shuri tilted her head in confusion, "What about My Lord?"

"I'll go on ahead and see if I can stall him…"

"AWA!?" Hinari exclaimed, "N-No, My Lord, you cannot!"

"I won't allow all of this needless battle to happen again!"

"Hawa! My Lord! Wait~!" Shuri called after me as I ran towards the location of the Sorcerer.

---

Honestly, I have to keep wondering to myself, what am I going to do with this personality of mine? Wasn't this the same attitude that got me into trouble last time? I'm not strong like Aisha and Rinrin, smart as Shuri and Hinari, or daring and confident enough with my skill like Chou-Un. So why do I always seem to want to stick my head into a hornet's nest?

Well, none of that really matters now. Somehow or another, I manage to reach the altar in the center of the Yellow Scarves' camp. When I arrived, I couldn't help but notices that no other soldiers or rebels were anywhere near it. It was like the whole setting was screaming at me, telling me that it was a trap.

"…But," I whispered to myself, "I've got to do this…"

With my trusty wooden kendo sword in my hand, I slowly and cautiously made my way up the stairs of the altar. Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to have been any plans to ambush me.

When I finally reached the top, a lone man was waiting for me. He was a mostly bald old man with bread braided and visible wrinkles all over his face. He wore gown of black and yellow with yin-yang symbols decorated all over. And in his hand was a large staff with a dragon design. Those clothing look familiar.

"…A Taoist?" I wondered.

"…" the old man just glared at me, with eyes full of emotions. But there were only two emotions that I could really see in those eyes: the pride of a leader and the hatred he had of me the enemy leader.

"So you're the sorcerer!" I got into my stance, ready to do battle. I don't think I could kill him even if I had the strength to, but if I could at least subdue him…

"…The Kan…"

"…?" I hesitated when I heard his shrived and whispered voice escape from his mouth.

"…The Kan hast already breathed its final breath~!" the Sorcerer suddenly declared in a huge voice, no doubt from the echoes of the ravine. Suddenly, the unthinkable happen right in front of my eyes, the sorcerer began to slowly float upward until he was about two meters above me. "Fools who defies Heavens will~…witness their angry wind of displease~!"

As if on command, strong winds blew at me causing me to stagger a bit.

"(Scary~! Is this real sorcery at work?)" I wondered, and almost instantly a feeling of dread began to well up in me. If this really is sorcery, how can I an ordinary boy who only claim to be the Messenger from Heaven beat him? "(…But…)"

"Don't think so much! In a fight there is only you and the enemy, nothing else!" Those words from memory rang in my mind. That's right, I can't get scare now! I came here to end this once and for all. My enemy isn't the sorcery or my self-doubt…just this one old guy.

"…For the sake of my comrades, and for all the people who put their trust in me, I won't retreat!" I declared and retook my stance.

---

The air around me got cold again, like it was telling me that this was to be my final battle or something. But I didn't pay attention to it. My focus was only on the Sorcerer.

"Blow, winds of Heaven~! Tear the infidels to pieces~!" The Sorcerer called into the sky as he continues to float higher into the sky, well beyond my reach.

More torrents of winds blast at me, but this time I stayed firmed.

"There's no way I'm going down by a little wind," I shouted in protest. As I said that, I narrow my eyes, checking out my surrounding.

After everything I've seen, I came to one conclusion: there is no sorcery at work here, just cheap parlor tricks. This must be no different. All I have to do is figure out the trick he is using.

That was when I notice the four cauldrons in the four corners of the area. The winds were coming from there, funneled through vents! But how? And is it just me or are the cauldrons moving? Also, air seems to be streaming in from underneath them. That was when I saw it, since every cauldron was kept aloft by three legs, yellow shoes trying to conceal themselves.

"…Oh I see! Clever, he somehow managed to make use of these natural air vents to 'call upon' the wind~…" I nodded in understanding. Now that I think about, if I look closely at the Sorcerer's body, the Sorcerer has what looks like parachutes on him barely visible due to the cloudy sky. That must be how he was able float upward. "But if I can take advantage of that, I can turn the tide of this battle…"

I shift my focus and ran over to the closet cauldron. As to be expected, a Yellow Scarves member was there. Before he had time to react, I quickly knock his lights out and began to turn the cauldron so that the air was funnel towards the Sorcerer's location. I quickly repeated the same process three more time, with only the last two bandits giving me minor problems.

"W-What is this~!?" The Sorcerer cried out in shock. The force of the winds being directed at him had made him raise incredibly height.

"You want to fly towards the Heaven?" I called up in a gloat, "You got it!"

"Insolent fool~!" the Sorcerer angrily called, "Dost thou think I cannot return to Earth~?"

With that, he began waving his staff above him, causing him to slowly descend. He must be using the sharp points of his staff to cut the strings of his parachute one by one. He obviously came prepare to deal with it…however, so was I.

After taking a shallow stance, I gave a long deep breath. I slowly raised my wooden sword, kept it above my head, and waited. As soon as he was deemed low enough, I sprint forward, closing the distant between us, brought down my wooden sword.

"YAAH!" I gave a shout as my wooden sword struck…WHOOSH! …Got him!

There were only two problems. At the last second, as soon as his foot touched the ground he tries dodging my attack but accidentally ending up in the path of my attack. I was aiming to strike the area between his shoulder and neck, therefore effectively knocking him out, but because of his movement I struck him squarely on the forehead. The second, most regrettable, problem was the fact that at that moment I had remember everything that the Yellow Scarves Rebellion had done to the lives of many people I have seen and met. Those memories had made me angry so I had put more force than I needed.

All of that combine…CRACK! …had me cracking his skull.

"Argh~!" He fell to his knee.

"[Oh shit]!" I swore, "Oh no! Are you alright!?"

I was a little shock; I thought for sure that in that one blow I had killed him. After all, Kendo started as a martial art used in combat, slowly becoming a friendly sport as it advance towards modern days. True I had use the same amount of force before, but my opponent had protective headgear so it wasn't so damaging. But taking on a full-force strike with an unprotected head…at that age!? You were as good as dead.

Or so I thought. The Sorcerer was still alive, coughing blood with a bloody head, but nevertheless alive. But even so…

"…Thou-…Thou care for my health~?" he ask with a mixture of confusion and astonishment.

"Of course I do!" I shouted back, "I was only aiming to subdue you! Here, let me help you-…"

I extended a hand out to help him up, but the Sorcerer roughly push it away before glaring at me, "…What can a man of thy indecision hope to achieve by defeating me~?"

"Huh?"

The sudden question stunned me for a moment. How could he possibly ask such a question now? In that condition, no less. But his dying eyes shined with curiosity. Perhaps he knew that the damage had been done and wanted to leave the world with some peace in mind.

So I began to think about his question. What is it I want out of all of this? Was it fame? Was it power? Was it wealth? No, none of them sounded right to me. I definitely didn't do any of this for those. My thoughts eventually return to Touka-chan, Aisha, and Rinrin. Their dreams and goal in life echoed within my ears. Those dreams, I now realized, had become mine as well.

"…All I want…is to end the chaos that makes so many people suffer…" I answered slowly and seriously. It was my fault that the man is dying now. If this is what the Sorcerer had wanted to know, I had to reply firmly.

"…Ha-Ha-Ha…Thou art fool~," He suddenly laughed, got up and slowly came closer to me, clearly on his last leg, "The era of the Kan is over~! Defeating me would not stop anything at all~!"

"…I know," I nodded. After all, the Yellow Scarves Rebellion wasn't the end of the chaos; rather it was a beginning of more chaos that eventually led to the creation of the Three Kingdom Era. "But…I owe the people of this world, for showing me kindness and for placing their trust in me. Me, a boy who had amount to nothing back in his world, who up to this point only been good at spouting words of self-righteousness. Here I can make a difference; my words won't remain as words…so wherever people are suffering I will be there!"

The man stood there for a moment before his face twisted into a wicked smile and laughed hysterically before drawing in close to me. "Thou art so naïve, you poor, deluded fool~! That naivety of thy~…will bring great suffering to those~… close to~…thou~…"

With that he fell backward onto the ground, succumbing to his wound. Not five second later, as I stared at his lifeless, before my very eyes his body dissolved into dust, which promptly got blown away by the next small gust of wind.

"He's gone…" I stated the obvious. While his body's disappearance mystifies me, at that point my mind refused to figure out the logic behind it. It wouldn't make any difference, the fact remains that since I came here and for the first time in my life I had taken away a life directly. I killed a person with my own hands.

Back in my world, such an act would have no doubt landed me in prison for several years…not that I would complain about. Even I feel like wanting to lock myself up for several years too right now to repent for what I had just done.

"…-chan! Onii-chan!" a voice of a child called out

"Kazuto-kun!" another voice of sweat and benevolent followed.

"My Lord! Are you alright?" and finally majestic but concern voice called.

I turn around to see Rinrin, Touka-chan, and Aisha climbing the flight of stairs, waving to me in concern or relief, weapons in hand.

…Locking myself up to repent? Nah, that didn't sound right. Not in this situation. Not when there are heroes—or heroines—who had done what I had done only much more are here. Not during this time of chaos and turmoil. In my world maybe, but here it would look like I'm just running away from it all. And these three warriors here, these great heroines of the late Kan Dynasty, are all counting on me to guide them. I can't be absorbed in my sea of guilt now. There is plenty of time for that when it is all over.

"… …Yeah, I'm alright…" I gave my comrades smile of reassurance.

---

With our army causing panic within the camp and Kouson-San picking off those who tried to escape through the Iron Gate Passage, the deadlock soon turned to our favor. Even as I was dealing with the Yellow Scarves' Sorcerer, Touka-chan and everyone else didn't let this chance escape. With just some swift commands, they easily had the Yellow Scarves eliminated or flee into the awaiting Kouson-San Army.

Their skill was wonderful to watch. As expected, only Ryuu-Bi, Kan-U, Chou-Hi, Shokatsu-Ryou, Hou-Tou, and Chou-Un could have done it. I'm a little disappointed as a man for not being able to handle just as much. Even if I did take out the Yellow Scarves' Sorcerer, I wasn't exactly proud of it. Even Aisha had given me a hard lecture about facing the enemy leader by myself.

Nevertheless, Aisha congratulated me for my victory against the Sorcerer alongside Touka-chan, Rinrin, Shuri, and Hinari. Even the soldiers cheered for me saying things like, "As one should expect from the Messenger from Heaven" or "As if a mere Sorcerer could match against a Heavenly being" or even "Heaven has truly sent us a saint"! Even Kouson-San congratulated me upon our return. She was so impressed in fact that she invited all of us to her private feast to celebrate the successful victory.

Well, compare to the victory celebration we had back in Yuu-Shu, it was more tame at best. But there was laughter and drinking, to an extent of course. It lasted well into the night.

---

The next day, we all began to leave in our own direction. Kouson-San would be taking her troops and the Imperial Reinforcement up to her station in the Ryou-Sei Prefecture to carry out her long-delay duty as we were going to head back to the City of Yuu-Shu.

Before that, however, I decided to meet up with Chou-Un.

"Hey, Chou-Un!" I called out to the female warrior as I approach her with my comrades.

"Hmm?" Chou-Un turned away from packing her horse and smile when she saw us, "Ah! Hongou-dono, Ryuu-Bi-dono!"

"Hey, we didn't get a chance to talk the other day. You did a good job yesterday…"

"Indeed" Touka-chan nodded in agreement, "By any chance are you injure?"

Chou-Un giggled. "It is by far a little late for such a question, but nevertheless I thank you for your concern. Fortunately, I am uninjured…"

"Well, that's great and all; I'm glad," I smiled before sweat dropping, "But, I have to say as one who fought alongside you…that WAS reckless of you, Chou-Un-san…"

I was referring to Chou-Un daring attempt to fight off the Twenty-Five Thousand Yellow Scarves the other day. If it wasn't for the fact that we had stepped in to help, Chou-Un would have died in that battle.

"Oh, that?" Chou-Un asked with a smirk, as if the fact she nearly died that day didn't really matter much to her, "That wouldn't exactly fall into the category of reckless…"

Are you kidding? If that wasn't reckless, what COULD be considered reckless?

"More importantly…how did you come to know my name? I do not recall ever introducing myself to you once…"

That is true. Even after the Yellow Scarves were eliminated, not once did she formally greet me.

"Hakukei-chan told us," Touka-chan informed, "She told us you became an Ancillary General…"

"Yes, that would be correct," Chou-Un shrugged before turning back to her horse, "However, I unfortunately doubt that Kouson-San-dono will be my lord any more…"

"Is that right?" Aisha asked, startled that a vassal was saying she was leaving their lord.

"Yes, she is certainly not incompetent, but she will never become a ruler capable of protecting the people and ruling this world. She has valor, but she lacks what it takes to become a hero…"

"That is rude," Rinrin frowned; Rinrin, you are in no position to say that.

"What~? I am merely telling the truth," Chou-Un retorted, "…Well, there are only a few people who do have the skill and the courage to be a hero on this continent…"

"Is that true?" Hinari wondered.

"And they would be…?" Shuri wondered.

"…First there is Sou-Sou of Kyo-Shou. There are very few capable of loving promising talent and using those people efficiently…"

"Who else?" Rinrin wondered.

"…The second would be Son-Saku of Kou-Tou. She has proven her worth at a young age and as soon as she accepts her despair for the death of a love one, she would be ready to conquer the world…"

"Anyone else?" Hinari managed.

"…The third would also be from Kou-Tou, Son-Ken Chuubou. …Well, compared to Son-Saku, she is rather conservative, but Son-Ken probably has more of what it takes. If she can awaken the hero within her, then she will be someone to watch out for. The last ones are…"

"Our Lord and Lady, of course!" Aisha proudly declared as she pointed Touka-chan and I out.

Chou-Un gave a content huff. "Yes, Hongou-dono and Ryuu-Bi-dono, the two who made a name for themselves in Yuu-Shu as the Messenger from Heaven and the Descendant of Imperial Royalty…"

"Who, us?" I pointed at myself and the equally startled Touka-chan.

"Why are My Lord and Lady surprised?" Aisha wondered in shock, "Think of both of your benevolent governing of Shou District and countless Yellow Scarves you two have crushed together. Of course the people will extol you two as benevolent rulers, My Lord and My Lady…"

"But," Touka-chan nervously waved her hands in denial, "that is all thanks to Aisha and Rinrin-chan…"

"…My Lord and My Lady," Shuri began, "by any chance do you two recall the classic sages and great Emperors of the past? Each one of them was essentially a benevolent person who used their vassals well and became a hero…"

Hinari nodded in agreement. "That is why My Lord and My Lady too will be heroes someday…"

Touka-chan and I gave each a stun expression.

"Me, becoming a hero, huh?" Touka-chan wondered out loud.

"(Me, becoming a hero, huh?)" I thought sadly; I can't really say I could be my idea of "hero" since not too long ago I took a life for the first time. Because of that, I still don't feel like I can be, but I'm happy to have Aisha and the others' stamp of approval. "That would be great. By the way, what are you going to do now, Chou-Un-san? Are you going to follow Kouson-San to Ryou-Sei Prefecture?"

"There is no reason to," Chou-Un huffed a laugh as she mounted her prepared horse, "I think I shall travel the continent for a while and see if there are not any other heroes worth serving…"

"If you are looking for a hero to serve," Aisha began, "then are there not two of them right here?"

"Heh-Heh, that is true…" Chou-Un looked at Touka-chan and me and smiled (was it my imagination or was she smiling at me differently?).

"… …If you'll acknowledge us, Chou-Un-san," I began, "then I'd like you to join us…"

"I appreciate Hongou-dono offer. … …However, I have already spoken. I will not turn back on my words…"

"You are surprisingly stubborn," Rinrin booed; Rinrin, again you are in no position to criticize others.

"Yes, I am. I find that trait too much for myself at times, but…I want to find someone worthy to serve with my own eyes. Besides, I still have much to learn. I must find out how this continent is doing now and how it will change…"

"I see," Touka-chan gave a sad but understanding smile, "That is unfortunate…"

"Yes. Ryuu-Bi-dono and Kan-U-dono especially. It has been an honor to fight by your side…"

"Same here," Aisha smiled back, "I was glad to fight alongside one such as yourself. … …Will we meet again?"

"Yes. I promise. …Although…" Chou-Un looked at me as she spoke, more seductively (?), "That time may come sooner than you think…"

"Rinrin hope so!" Rinrin chimed.

"Yes," Hinari began, "Chou-Un-san, the way you fought was amazing…"

"… …I wish we could fight together…" Shuri added.

"Thank you. But let me have my way. Sorry…" Chou-Un chuckled.

"No need to apologize," I smiled before a sudden thought struck me, "How about this? If you haven't found a good person to serve at the end of your travels, why don't you come back to us? We'll be waiting for you…always…"

Chou-Un blinked at my proposal before firmly nodding with a genuine smile. "Yes… When that happens, I would love to…Now then…Farewell!"

Her beautiful hair swayed as she made her horse turn around and galloped away.

---

"That was unfortunate…" Aisha managed after we could no longer see the daring female warrior in the distant.

"Yes," Touka-chan nodded, "we could have been great comrades…"

"I know, but we couldn't stop her," I gave Touka-chan and Aisha a firm pat on the shoulders.

"Will we really get to see her again?" Hinari wondered.

"We will. One day, she's sure to come back to us. I'll believe in that and wait for her…"

"Oh~?" Aisha gave me a suspicious look, "… …My Lord has grown quite attached to her…"

"Huh? Oh…Is that how it seemed?"

"… … … … … … … …A little…"

"Nyah-ha!" Rinrin sneered at Aisha's pouting, "Aisha is acting jealous again~!"

"I…I am not jealous! Positively not!"

"Heh-Heh, Aisha-san," Shuri giggled, "your face is beet-red…"

"You too, Shuri? I shall say it again, what reason do I have to be jealous in the first place!?"

"I do not think you want us to say it out loud, Aisha," Touka-chan sweat dropped.

"Yes, yes," Hinari giggled.

"Hinari! My Lady~!" Aisha exclaimed.

We pulled through the fierce battles and further deepened our bonds. As I half listened to their chat, I began to think about the future…and the final words of the Sorcerer reappeared in my mind.

"Thou art so naïve, thou poor, deluded fool~! That naivety of thy~…will bring great suffering to those~… close to~…thee~…" was what he had said.

"(History has already shown us what will happen,)" I thought, "(Is my dream to save the people and the land itself destined to go unrealized as well?)"

After a moment, I shook my head. That is definitely not right. I had end up in a parallel world of the Three Kingdoms, where some of the famous Heroes had become Heroines. Although many series of events so far follow the original Romance of Three Kingdoms it is not the same. I am now a factor, and the two will-be famous strategists of Sho-Ku has joined us much earlier than history said it would.

"The future of this world has not yet been written in stone…" If that was the case, I could prevent many events like the death of Hou-Tou, the Son-Go Betrayal that led to the death of Kan-U and Chou-Hi, and even the attempt for revenge against Son-Go afterward by Ryuu-Bi.

"I can make a difference…" I smiled to myself, "I won't allow the tragedy to repeat itself here…"

---

Yeah~! Kazuto got a major role in this chapter. And I guarantee Kazuto will have much more in future chapters.

The next chapter will shift the focus back south, where I plan to have Taiki be more of a badass… …and a bit of fluffs as well with two additional characters that didn't make it into the first game but got a chance in the second game.

And for those of you who notice the various elements from other Three Kingdom base ideas, good job! There were three; did you get them all? Anyway, please review and leave your comments~!