Hero Simulator in Type-Moon, Chapter 28

"Since we've started, what does this brother think of this battle?"

Sima Yi glanced at the wooden club hanging from Fujimaru Kyoya's waist and understood that if he made a move now, the back of his head would likely burst open. So he joined Discouraged Brother in discussing the current war situation.

"Luoyang is easy to defend and hard to attack. To breach the city, there must be an inside agent. Yuan Shao, as the leader of the lords, is the one who needs to solve this problem."

"Yuan Shao... Can he handle it?"

Fujimaru Kyoya muttered the name. Even a sure win like Guandu slipped through his fingers; asking him to crack this tough nut of Luoyang might be a bit much.

"Does this brother know Yuan Shao?"

Sima Yi glanced at Fujimaru Kyoya. Over these days, he had also inquired about these two and naturally understood Zhao Tian's reputation as the "school bully" at Water Mirror Manor.

Moreover, when Water Mirror Manor was attacked before, this man alone held the rear. His martial skill was formidable, though his wisdom remained unknown.

"I've only heard he's fond of schemes but indecisive, cherishes his life when facing great deeds, and forgets his life for petty gains."

Fujimaru Kyoya knew the Romance of the Three Kingdoms couldn't be taken as historical record, but this had almost become the stereotypical view of Yuan Shao for later generations.

After all, losing such a sure-win battle as Guandu—truly, even I could do better.

"Ah~ Brother Zhao, you really haven't read the teacher's On Morale, have you?"

Discouraged Brother pressed a hand to his forehead, looking as if he wanted to hide his face in shame.

"Mr. Water Mirror's On Morale says: So-called 'morale' is nothing but belittling the enemy and elevating oneself. If the enemy wins their first battle, you disparage your own generals as reckless. If the enemy wins many battles, you disparage your own strategist as incompetent. If the enemy is ever-victorious..."

Discouraged Brother gazed at Luoyang. At this moment, the city was truly a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

"Then you disparage the enemy commander as brave but foolish. As for Yuan Shao, with so many strategists under his command, if he were truly indecisive, how could he make so many advisors willing to serve him?"

Sima Yi punctured the smokescreen of Yuan Shao's "fond of schemes but indecisive" reputation and seized the chance to pose a question.

"If we follow this reasoning, then Lu Bu would be..."

"If you follow that reasoning, you'd fall right into your own trap."

Discouraged Brother watched as Luoyang's gates slowly opened. Clearly, during his verbal duel with Sima Yi, Yuan Shao's inside agent had finally appeared.

"What does this brother mean?"

"Nothing much. I'm just exposing your plan. Use Luoyang as bait to lure the lords into the trap, burn them all with fire, and help Dong Zhuo unify the realm—that's your goal, isn't it?"

Discouraged Brother looked at Sima Yi.

"You are Dong Zhuo's true strategist. If I had just used On Morale to deduce that Lu Bu was Dong Zhuo's brain, that would have been a grave mistake."

Sima Yi really was full of cunning schemes.

Fujimaru Kyoya drew the wooden club from his waist, waiting only for an opportunity to make Sima Yi's back of the head explode on the spot.

"Both brothers, calm down. Why would I help that villain Dong Zhuo? Besides, he's captured my elder brother Sima Lang. I hate him too much to help him."

Seeing the wooden club in Fujimaru Kyoya's hand, Sima Yi immediately stepped back a few paces.

This was supposed to be a battle of scholars with words, but someone had walked in carrying a club—how the hell was this supposed to continue?

"The Water Mirror Manor convoy was ambushed by Dong Zhuo's men while still on the road. Without an inside agent, how could he have such accurate intelligence?"

"That only proves there's an inside agent among the Allied Forces, not necessarily me."

"But not many people would have no interest in that secret letter."

Sima Yi was not a student of Water Mirror Manor, yet he entered the military tent. And despite his obvious intelligence, he showed no interest in the secret letter at all—clearly abnormal.

Though Fujimaru Kyoya and Discouraged Brother also had no interest, they were far away at Water Mirror Manor and couldn't possibly scheme for Dong Zhuo. That left Sima Yi as the last suspect.

"Once Luoyang falls, the lords will rush to enter the city. As long as they can find Emperor Liu Bian or Liu Xie, they can hold the emperor hostage to command the lords. You set this bait, and they have no choice but to take it."

"But what benefit is this to me?"

Sima Yi still refused to admit he was the inside agent or Dong Zhuo's strategist.

"Simple. Because Dong Zhuo is stupid. Propping up a fool to contend for the throne and then replacing him is far better than supporting a clever man."

He could see that far?

Fujimaru Kyoya looked at Discouraged Brother in slight shock. The Sima Clan usurping Great Wei's throne was something that would happen many years later.

He was surprised that Discouraged Brother could see through it now, and even more surprised that Sima Yi already harbored ambitions to seize the realm.

"The Han Dynasty is declining, the world is in chaos. You want to sweep through the land with overwhelming force, then seize the chance to stage a coup, pin all past mistakes on Dong Zhuo, and emerge as the hero who ends the chaos, founding your own nation. Am I right?"

"Is that so bad?"

With his thoughts laid bare, Sima Yi didn't care. The Sima Clan, though doing well among the noble families, lacked the power to take the realm.

No one would believe such "ravings."

"Ending the chaos as fast as possible, then ruling with benevolence to pacify the people, and opening a three-hundred-year dynasty—it's not impossible."

"Impossible. If your foundation is crooked, how can you sit steady? A realm seized by schemes won't be cherished. Not by you, not by your descendants. Your dynasty won't last fifty years before splitting apart, let alone a three-hundred-year golden age."

A three-hundred-year golden age?

Discouraged Brother sneered. The Zhou Dynasty lasted eight hundred years, the Han four hundred. If Sima Yi even succeeded, he'd be lucky to get two hundred.

"But do you have a better way?"

Sima Yi sneered dismissively. He would swiftly pacify the realm, then usurp the throne and seize power. When the time came, the history books would all be written by his own Sima Clan, and every merit and fault would be judged by him alone.

"..."

Silence.

Discouraged Brother remained silent. He had no better solution either. In his calculations, this world had not ushered in an era of great order after the great chaos.

He had no better method.

"But while you're all discussing the realm, the common people are suffering, aren't they?"

Fujimaru Kyoya looked at the chaotic city of Luoyang. Because of the feudal lords' assault, the citizens within the city were teetering on the brink of death.

Fire. A single spark of flame ignited within Luoyang.

A raging inferno quickly swept through the entire city. The scene inside, like a hell on earth, burned itself into Fujimaru Kyoya's eyes.

Chapter 50: Inviting the Crouching Dragon from the Mountain

"The great fire of Luoyang? Why... was this your doing?"

The great fire of Luoyang had been within Sima Yi's calculations, but the timing of its ignition was absolutely not now. Lighting the fire too early would only make the feudal lords hesitate.

Sima Yi turned to look at Discouraged Brother. The only one who could see through the situation now was...

"I'm not the only one who saw through your scheme. If I'm not mistaken, you brought quite a few people this time to capture the students of Water Mirror Manor as hostages. But where are the key ones?"

Just as Discouraged Brother said, Sima Yi had indeed brought many people this time to seize the members of Water Mirror Manor.

Using the sons of noble families to blackmail the great clans was only one part of the plan. The more important goal was to round up all the dangerous individuals in one fell swoop.

"Pang Tong saw through your secret letter but still walked into the trap, because he wanted this great fire of Luoyang to observe the feudal lords' reactions. As for the others, they've already found patrons to serve during this time."

Perhaps others couldn't see through the key points at a glance like Discouraged Brother, but after such a long time, how could they not suspect treachery?

"The first to make his decision was Zhou Yu."

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept in, driving the great fire within Luoyang toward the imperial palace. And inside that palace lay what all the various factions wanted.

"Gong Jin, they say you're skilled at controlling water. I didn't expect you to be this adept at fire attacks too."

Inside Luoyang, Sun Ce, who had secretly infiltrated the city long ago, was setting fires everywhere. With the wind, the flames would soon engulf the entire city.

"Among Water Mirror Manor, I am the foremost in the arts of water and fire. Bo Fu, let's hurry to the palace."

"The palace? Are we going to snatch the emperor along with Yuan Shao too?"

"No."

Zhou Yu shook his head. The current Sun Clan was far from strong enough to contend with Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo. Even if they got the emperor, they couldn't keep him. What they wanted was not a living person but a dead object.

"We're going for the Imperial Seal."

"Zhou Yu wants to seize the Imperial Seal?"

Sima Yi gritted his teeth. He had personally infiltrated the feudal lords' army as a mole. While this let him confirm intelligence in real time, it left him with little flexibility within Luoyang.

The emperor was indeed important, but to accomplish great deeds, one must have the Imperial Seal.

If the Sun Clan obtained the Imperial Seal, whether they used it themselves or handed it to someone else, they would reap enormous benefits.

"Seizing the seal amid the chaos and then pinning the crime of burning the city on Dong Zhuo—Senior Brother, your plan is shrewd, but it's not without cruelty."

Discouraged Brother looked at the common people. What had these people done wrong to suffer the torment of this great fire?

"No wonder those people weren't around. But it doesn't matter. I still have a catch today."

Sima Yi stared at Discouraged Brother. This big fish was far more valuable than any Zhou Yu.

"The other day, Mr. Water Mirror bestowed the title of 'Fledgling Phoenix' upon Pang Tong. I imagine the name 'Crouching Dragon' has been reserved for you, sir. I haven't yet had the honor of your name."

"Zhuge Liang. An insignificant nobody."

"Then I'll ask the Crouching Dragon to accompany Dong Zhuo and take up temporary residence in Chang'an."

Almost in that instant, Fujimaru Kyoya flashed behind Sima Yi and swung a staff at the back of his head, shattering the entire figure into pieces.

"An illusion?"

"Just a substitute. The real body far away must not be feeling too well either."

Zhuge Liang seemed to have expected this. After all, how could a schemer so easily place himself in danger?

"What do we do now?"

Fujimaru Kyoya looked at Zhuge Liang. Though he had more or less guessed, the Zhuge Liang before him was still a bit different from the one in his memory.

"What else can we do? Slip away before we get caught."

"And after we slip away?"

Fujimaru Kyoya followed closely behind.

"After that..."

"You saw it. The great fire of Luoyang."

"Mm."

"I want to save people."

Fujimaru Kyoya had long been prepared for the cruelty of this era, but when certain things unfolded before his eyes, he still couldn't look away.

"I cannot."

It was hard to imagine those words coming from Zhuge Liang.

"I cannot save anyone. I have calculated countless possibilities, but Heaven's will is hard to defy—the Han Dynasty's fate has already reached its end."

"So what?"

Fujimaru Kyoya felt no particular attachment to the fall of the Han Dynasty. After all, in this world, where was there an eternal dynasty? Only...

"Many people are suffering. I intend to help them."

"Even if the future is a tragedy, and everything you do will turn to dust, you still want to help them?"

"The future is rooted in the present. Only Heaven knows what the future holds, but if you save the life of the person before you, then they can live one more day."

Though Fujimaru Kyoya believed the future was important, if one couldn't even survive the present, what was there to say about the so-called future?

"Consider it a favor to a friend. Zhao Tian invites the Crouching Dragon to leave the mountain."

Fujimaru Kyoya extended his hand, and Zhuge Liang grasped it in return.

"Just this once."

"Then let's go."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Zhuge Liang was taken aback—Fujimaru Kyoya was actually pulling him to leap directly from the cliff. This could kill them.