CLS-Chapter 475

Chapter 475:

“……Hmm.”

Zhuge Yeom quietly set down his wine cup.

When thinking deeply, alcohol was usually forbidden, but right now he didn’t particularly want to follow such rules.

Moreover, this wasn’t a matter requiring a sharp mind.

‘It’s something I don’t want to do.‘

He knew that ultimately, the decision had to be made by him. Ever since this conversation began, everyone had been watching for his reaction.

That was the nature of being a strategist.

When things went well, it was only natural, but when problems arose, one received glares.

When absent, their necessity was felt, but when present, their reason for existence wasn’t particularly apparent.

Consider how many of those who held the position of ‘strategist’ throughout history actually left their names behind.

‘It’s a losing business.‘

Perhaps all people called strategists were those who wasted their lives chasing after the few cases who overcame the limitations of being a strategist and made their names known throughout the world.

Such thoughts had been growing stronger in Zhuge Yeom lately.

“You look troubled.”

Zhuge Mun-in filled his cup with wine. Zhuge Yeom nodded with a heavy expression.

“Troubled, indeed……”

Zhuge Yeom lifted the wine-filled cup and slowly swirled it. The wine sloshed inside the cup.

“Look here, Mun-in.”

“Yes, Father.”

“The battlefield is not so different from a chess board. Originally, wasn’t chess simply the war between Chu and Han placed upon a board?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Strategists decide everything on the board. In the end, we play chess with human lives as stakes. On the board, we don’t even hesitate to sacrifice stones. How about it—if you could capture a general in exchange for pushing forward a single chariot, would you do it?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Because that would be the path to reduce casualties.”

Zhuge Yeom quietly looked at Zhuge Mun-in.

“What if it were ten thousand instead of one thousand?”

“The same.”

“What if it were one hundred thousand instead of ten thousand?”

“Still the same. The result of saving more lives doesn’t change.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Zhuge Yeom nodded and continued speaking.

“Then let me ask you one thing. Among those you know, if you could kill one to save ten others, whom would you choose?”

“……Pardon?”

“Didn’t you just say we should naturally choose the path that saves the majority through the sacrifice of a few? Even if your close relative’s death could save others, you should naturally choose that path, right? So whom would you kill?”

“……”

Zhuge Mun-in closed his mouth.

“Why is there no answer?”

“I……”

Zhuge Mun-in bit his lips tightly.

“I dare not make such a choice.”

“Why not?”

Zhuge Mun-in kept his mouth firmly shut.

Why? Why indeed?

He could vaguely understand the answer, but putting that answer into words was difficult.

Zhuge Yeom smiled knowingly, as if he understood Zhuge Mun-in’s feelings.

“That’s what people are like. Whether it’s a thousand or ten thousand, decisions are easy when viewed from above, but whether it’s ten or one, we cannot make decisions when we see them before our eyes.”

“……Yes.”

“If you think of those who must be sacrificed as people who conversed with you and shared laughter together, you cannot calculate the worth of their sacrifice.”

“I realize this anew.”

“Yes. Yet there are times when we must make choices. That’s why this position is not an easy one.”

Zhuge Yeom lifted his wine cup to his mouth.

The burning sensation of the strong liquor flowing down his throat felt like it was awakening his nerves one by one.

“And the problem is that it’s not me.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s what the position of strategist is like. Making decisions is painful, but there’s one excuse we can offer. The excuse that it wasn’t we who made the decision.”

Zhuge Mun-in’s eyes filled with questions.

An excuse—what did that mean?

“A strategist proposes and persuades. But if the person who must make the decision doesn’t decide, the position becomes meaningless. That’s both the limitation of a strategist and also a way to save face.”

Zhuge Yeom spoke bitterly.

“In the end, there’s someone else who must make the final choice. The one who must choose doesn’t even have such an excuse. They must bear all responsibility themselves.”

“You mean the lord.”

“That’s right. Standing at the top means that. Great glory accompanies it, but all responsibility is also placed upon that position. A position where one’s choices change someone’s fate is that heavy and frightening.”

Zhuge Mun-in couldn’t yet fully understand all of Zhuge Yeom’s words.

He understood what his father meant, but he had never experienced firsthand the weight that such a position brought. However, he could understand one thing.

Throughout history, those who achieved great accomplishments never hesitated in their choices.

Only those who didn’t hesitate to throw their children from a speeding carriage or confine their own mothers achieved great deeds and left their names in history.

Therefore, Zhuge Mun-in also thought that those who must lead others should naturally be that way.

However……

How could one force such a thing?

People have dispositions. What might be nothing to someone could become terrible agony to another.

In the end, those who would lead the world were determined from the beginning.

“What thoughts occupy you so?”

“……I was thinking that something might be wrong.”

“In what way?”

“If a lord must make choices, then those who walk that path must possess decisiveness and coldness. But…… Wei Yan-ho doesn’t seem like someone suited for such a position.”

Zhuge Yeom also nodded slightly, agreeing with Zhuge Mun-in’s words.

“That’s right. He’s someone unsuited for it.”

Zhuge Yeom’s gaze turned to the swirling wine cup.

“I don’t believe that people are born predetermined for such roles. If one desires it, anyone could do such work. But those who can do that work well and those unsuited for that position are predetermined. Even one born without talent could overcome it through effort if they had passion, but……”

Zhuge Yeom poured the wine into his mouth.

‘What about someone who never wanted it in the first place?‘

The person who must bear the weight of the position is one who sought to rise to it. But if someone who never wanted to rise is forced to sit in that position, who could demand responsibility from them?

The honor and wealth they would receive in return would all be things they never wanted.

Zhuge Yeom looked outside with a heavy expression.

Through several recent events, he had learned something. Wei Yan-ho appeared decisive on the surface, but inside he wasn’t that strong. Rather, he had aspects more tender than ordinary people.

Wei Yan-ho was someone who shouldn’t stand above others.

But the world was forcing him to lead from the front.

‘It’s a sad affair.‘

The wine going down his throat was bitter.

He didn’t like the idea of making this young man, who hadn’t even lived half his life, bear this heavy burden. But if not him, there was no one else to carry this burden.

“It’s shameful. What have we been doing all this time?”

They had felt reassured.

They believed that since the Demonic Cult had suffered the same pain they had endured, at least in this generation, another war wouldn’t break out.

So they had turned against each other.

Since no one would come to steal what was theirs, they bared their teeth at each other, seeking to take what belonged to others.

The martial world was torn apart, each faction eyeing others’ throats with hungry eyes.

This was the result.

For those with deepened emotional grudges to join forces and fight together wasn’t easy. So a buffer zone was needed. A strong figure equal to the previous powers but who held grudges against neither side.

‘But isn’t that also just saving face?‘

The best method would be for those who had reddened faces to resolve their mutual feelings and unite again. Even a three-year-old child would know this. But Zhuge Yeom hadn’t attempted that method.

Because he knew it was impossible.

Pride was a useless emotion that made people more troubled the more one tried to protect it. But human beings didn’t easily abandon their pride.

Even if Zhuge Yeom immediately abandoned his pride and advocated for an alliance with the Righteous Martial Alliance, who would follow his words?

‘It’s the same from a practical standpoint.‘

Even if they bowed their heads, would the Righteous Martial Alliance accept them without resentment?

It was obvious they would use the pretext that they had bowed and surrendered to use them as sword-fodder in the fight against the Demonic Cult. It wouldn’t be Divine Strategist’s decision alone. No matter how powerful a strategist he was, he couldn’t decide everything according to his own will.

If those who had been supporting the Righteous Martial Alliance complained, he too would have no choice.

‘That man probably foresaw this far.‘

In Zhuge Yeom’s view, Wei Yan-ho was a card dealt by the Divine Strategist.

For the Heavenly Alliance to join hands with the Righteous Martial Alliance, a mediator was needed. A mediator who wasn’t greatly connected to the Righteous Martial Alliance but was valuable enough to break away from the current Heavenly Alliance and join together.

The Divine Strategist he knew couldn’t have failed to consider this point. It meant to use Wei Yan-ho appropriately to break through the current situation and join hands with the Righteous Martial Alliance.

The Righteous Martial Alliance also needed the Heavenly Alliance’s power.

They were in a relationship where they needed each other but couldn’t extend a hand to each other. To change the relationship, they had to change their positions.

Though it felt unpleasant to follow his intentions, he couldn’t deny that it was the best move.

‘But……‘

Was it really the best move?

“Mun-in.”

“Yes, Father.”

“We must prepare.”

“What do you mean?”

“Heaven doesn’t give people sufficient time. Whenever something is about to be accomplished, disaster inevitably strikes.”

Zhuge Yeom quietly closed his eyes.

‘If the fortune and misfortune of the world depend on Wei Yan-ho, Heaven will surely try to test him.‘

Such was the principle of the world.

Trials inevitably accompanied heroes. If Wei Yan-ho could overcome the trials that would befall him, he would remain in history as a hero, but if he couldn’t endure the trials that would come to him……

‘He won’t be recorded.‘

Because history itself would disappear.

The world would be reorganized under the Demonic Cult, and all the martial history they had built would be torn to shreds. With time, even the fact that they had existed would be forgotten.

‘We must prevent that at all costs.‘

“Don’t take your eyes off Wei Yan-ho. Something will definitely, definitely approach. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Even while hearing Zhuge Mun-in’s answer, Zhuge Yeom couldn’t feel at ease. He knew well how cruel fate could sometimes become.

‘I need to hurry a bit.‘

If a shock couldn’t be avoided, minimizing that shock as much as possible was what a strategist should do.

‘But can Wei Yan-ho truly endure the trials that will come to him?‘

As great as the task he must accomplish, so too would be the weight he must bear.

A deep shadow fell across Zhuge Yeom’s face.