After leaving the restoration and protection of Decarbia castle to Eve, the rest of us headed for the home of this mysterious Hero.

He had been dissatisfied by Decarbia, who had summoned him. And now he was living away from the castle.

He tended to his field during the day and read books when it rained.

That was the kind of life he apparently lived.

As someone who was quite busy every day, I was jealous of this slow life.

“You work too much, Master Demon King.”

Toshizou agreed.

So did Jeanne.

“I’ve never seen a king work so hard. I don’t think that Charles VII did one-hundredth of the work that you do.”

“Well, I have a lot to prove. This is what it will take in order to catch up with the other Demon Kings.”

“And finding new men is a part of that.”

“Exactly.”

“By the way, who is this person anyway? I’m sure you have an idea by now.”

“Perhaps.”

“I would very much like to hear it.”

“I don’t mind. But it would be quite embarrassing if I turned out to be wrong.”

But Toshizou insisted on hearing it.

And so I gave him a hint.

“I am sure you have heard of him. He is very famous.”

“From Japan?”

“No.”

“Then he is from China.”

“Correct.”

I answered.

“A very long time ago. Before royal authority existed in Japan. There was already a great dynasty and centralized government in China. However, that dynasty would come to an end eventually. An age of turmoil was approaching. Such was the time that he lived.”

“I see.”

Toshizou scratched his chin and thought about it.

It seemed like he had someone in mind.

“This man accomplished the difficult task of gathering ten thousand arrows in one night. And he even helped a suspicious man, who claimed to be a descendant of the royal line, ascend to the throne. He was seen as a strategist of rare ability.”

Toshizou was convinced after hearing this.

And so he asked,

“You must be talking about the famous strategist that Sima Hui said was the key to uniting the kingdoms?”

“Exactly. According to him, it was either Zhuge Liang or Pang Tong. Having either one of them would allow you to achieve that dream.”

Of course, the man called Liu Bei had both of them, but his reign ended with him only ever conquering the country of Sichuan.

Still, the man called Zhuge Liang remained in Chinese history as a bright star.

As Toshizou had already guessed it, I didn’t bother to hide the name.

“I believe that the person we are looking for is Zhuge Liang.”

Toshizou heard this and let out a whistle. That’s a big one. He murmured.

Jeanne didn’t understand it, however. She just chewed on her dried meat with a blank expression.

Well, this man was quite famous. Most people from Toshizou’s country would know who he was.

Even I did.

However, most people seemed to not know much about him other than his name.

As it were, Toshizou apparently mistook him for some kind of genius tactician.

“He was a Hero who was born during the age of the Three Kingdoms. He helped a man of suspicious origins, called Liu Bei and helped him conquer Sichuan, where he became the prime minister. He is often depicted as a genius tactician in fiction, but he was really more of a brilliant politician.”

“But didn’t he destroy an army that was double the size of his own during the battle of Red Cliff? I heard Liu Bei’s northern expedition beat the Wei army?”

Toshizou questioned.

“The person who achieved the most during that battle was General Zhou Yu. Zhuge Liang was not in such a position. Of course, he did deceive Wu and steal Jingzhou after that, which was impressive.”

“But what about the northern expedition? The fight with Sima Yi is a most famous part of history.”

“It might be, but none of Zhuge Liang’s expeditions were successful. He never defeated the kingdom of Wei.”

“I see. Yes, I suppose that is true.”

“However, it wasn’t because he was incapable. He was really a politician, but was forced to become a tactician as they did not have enough men.”

Had there been enough good generals left, he would have been able to plan in the back and focus on governing in the capital of Sichuan. History might have been different then, but there was no point in thinking about that now.

What we had to do, was bring Zhuge Liang into the fold.

I had an idea about how to do this, but I wasn’t sure if it would work.

In any case, we had to move on.

And so I started to walk towards this hermitage where he lived.

Apparently, it was inside of a forest. That was according to Fuma Kotaro’s report.

In a thick forest, he lives with a monk who was his servant.

Before we reached it, I told the others,

“We will likely have to visit this place a number of times.”

Jeanne looked surprised.

“Why? Can it not be done in one visit?”

“It cannot.”

Then Toshizhou opened his mouth.

“So you intend to visit three times.”

“Exactly.”

“Three times?”

“It’s a tradition from that other world. It has to do with the man, Zhuge Liang. His master was Liu Bei, and he had to visit his home three times in order to persuade him to join. And so it has become a tradition whenever you want to bring a brilliant person in to work for you.”

“But isn’t this man weak in battle? I do not see the point of bringing someone like that in.”

“He is not weak. It is just that his talents are more fit for governing.”

I explained. Just then, the forest opened up and we could see his retreat.

I had imagined an old, Chinese house and a garden with bamboo trees, but what we saw was a western, medieval house.

Though, perhaps it was to be expected. This was a different world, after all.

A monk was working in front of the house.

I decided to talk to him, but I already knew what the answer would be.

He would say that Zhuge Liang was not home.

I said this to Jeanne, and I was right.

“My Master is not here right now. Please come again tomorrow.”

He said with a smile.

I smiled back. Jeanne looked shocked.

“Amazing. Did you receive a divine revelation from God?”

She asked through blinking eyes.

Well, this was the predictable beginning to the story about the three visits.

Toshizhou didn’t seem surprised either. But as someone who didn’t know anything about it, Jeanne thought I was some kind of prophet.

I chuckled and wondered if she would be surprised if I predicted what would happen on our next visit. And with that, we turned on our heels and went to at an inn that we had passed by on the way.