Empire of the Ring

Chapter 85: The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (3)

It was useless talking to the intruders since they did not recognize what they had done wrong. They claimed that the guns were just to threaten people, and they did not take money from travelers without leaving them a little amount to travel back. According to them, the travelers must have left the town in a condition that made them unable to report to the police, being too traumatized. If they had reported the town, there was no way that the Azerbaijani government would neglect the town and leave it without any policeman.

Jongil came out with a relaxed face. He had woken up Szechenyi and sent him to the girls’ room with a gun.

“I gave Szechenyi my pistol, so he’ll be fine. I also got this from urging the owners.”

He was holding a rifle.

Szechenyi, who had been training in special combat skills under the guidance of Youngho and Jongil, could take down one or two big guys. He even had a pistol in his hand now. Youngho felt relieved.

“What about Karajan and Fatima?”

“They’re not too worried.”

Since the siblings had seen Youngho taking down three muggers in Paris, they trusted Youngho’s skills.

“What’s this blood?”

“I beat them a little to get words out, but they’re just repeating the same thing.”

They did not open their mouths since the whole town’s safety depended on their tongues.

Jongil clobbered them with a butt plate of his rifle. Because the intruders screamed in pain, some houses in town started to turn on lights. At this rate, Youngho’s company would have to fight the whole town. Because they were outnumbered by the town people, Youngho quickly took everyone into the car.

Youngho could feel the chilliness surrounding him. The ring was sensing danger, which meant there were more enemies around other than the intruders. He decided to get out of the town for now and come up with a better plan. He took the smaller intruder into the car and drove furiously to get out of the town before the whole town could gather and block the gate. Even if there were small obstacles on the way, the Hummer was strong enough to push through.

Without stopping, he drove until he reached the city of Kurdamir. There was no other car following him.

As the big Hummer arrived at Kurdamir’s local police department out of nowhere, people looked out, wondering who it was. As soon as Youngho brought out the intruder with his arms tied up, the local policemen took him away as if they had been waiting for him.

It was because Youngho had already reported everything to the chief manager, Sevan of Baku’s Main Police Department. After the phone call, Sevan ordered the local police department to prepare for Youngho’s company. Since Sevan was high in rank in the Main Police Department, local police departments were under his command.

The police officers treated Youngho’s company nicely since they were friends of Sevan. In the chief’s room, they had a cup of tea and reported the details of the incident. Youngho told the chief to look through other previous reports about missing people around the area. The town people could have killed some travelers, or they still might have some travelers under their custody.

From Kurdamir, the roads were comparatively flat, so they could return to Baku in three hours. Youngho told everybody about the terrible traditions of minor tribes in the mountainous regions and warned them for their future travels.

Youngho still felt goosebumps all over his body, thinking that something terrible could have happened to his family if the ring did not warn him continuously.

It was the last day of 2013.

Because of the end of the year party, Zeynep Farm was crowded with the workers and the farm family. Outside, five whole lambs were rotating on barbecue grills and people were sharing drinks everywhere.

This year’s grapes were great and all of the wines were shipped out to Russia as soon as they were manufactured. Since the company was on a successful route and it offered a great working environment, the workers were satisfied with their jobs.

Zeynep Farm’s employees had pride in their jobs. Making toasts with the employees, Youngho enjoyed the cheerful party with the people.

Youngho gave bonuses to all of his employees for the end of the year. It was natural that their faces were bright. Not to mention, they would be having the New Year’s break for the next three days as a company.

The Fatima siblings looked happy too because they had just been on a trip. Although there was a weird incident at the end of their trip, they did not mind it too much. They considered it a little thrill of the trip.

Cha Insoo, who came back from the CIA’s basic education in Frankfurt, planned to go on a honeymoon trip with his now pregnant wife. Well, since his parents were going too, it was not a honeymoon, but he was such a good son. He wanted to show them around in Europe.

When Youngho told him about the Shatili battle in Georgia, Insoo was shocked to hear that his friends killed people. He kept asking if Youngho and Jongil were okay. He knew how traumatizing a battle could be, so he was worried about his friends.

It finally turned to 2014.

The farm did not do any special party for the New Year’s. Instead, they agreed to have a memorial service for ancestors as done in old Korean traditions. They all changed into Korean traditional clothes, hanbok, which Yunsuh had sent, then prepared a memorial service table.

Since the Fatima siblings enshrined the ancestral tablets for their parents, they bowed in front of the service table to remember and comfort their spirits. Fatima did not get up after bowing. Youngho went to pick her up, thinking that she needed help getting up because of numb legs, but he was stunned to see what was going on.

Fatima was silently crying.

Everybody became quiet. Suddenly, Szecheyni and Zeynep started weeping too, missing their deceased parents. Their shoulders heaved as they sobbed. Because of poverty, they could not even buy medicine for their parents and had to let go of them.

Since their passing, they had not been able to have a memorial service for them. They felt sorry that now they were living well without their parents. As they cried harder, everyone was busy comforting them. Because of Insoo’s father, who said that it was not good to be too sad on a good day, they could complete the service.

Everybody in hanbok gathered in front of the management building for a group photo.

Fatima and Zeynep looked great in hanbok dress. However, Fatima’s face turned red by Jongil’s single comment.

“You look great in hanbok. Now all you need to do is putting the bridal headpiece on top. What’s your Korean age?”

Since Fatima had studied Korean traditions, she knew what Jongil meant. If not, there was no reason for her to feel shy.

After shooting the group picture, Insoo’s family went to the Baku Airport to set off to Europe. Insoo now knew some decent English, so Youngho was not worried about him going on a trip. Since Fatima had made reservations for every hotel and transportation, they would be having a comfortable trip. Fatima was now an expert of traveling after a few trips with Youngho.

To Youngho, who was having a relaxing day in a long time, Jongil suggested going hunting.

“Aren’t you tired of firing guns?”

“I’m going to take Szechenyi too. It’s all part of the training.”

“I doubt that you’re going for his training. You just want to avoid Karajan’s complaints, don’t you?”

“Oh, please. Why would Karajan complain to me? Did you install a camera in our house?”

“Dude, that’s so you. I don’t put cameras in other people’s houses. Hmmm. Did Karajan say that she needs to eat deer meat because she’s pregnant?”

“Jeez, you’re such a fortune teller. How did you know? She wanted to keep it a secret for now.”

Youngho was surprised because he just said anything to turn Jongil’s attention away because he was too lazy to go hunting, but it seemed that his words were true.

“Man, congratulations, Jongil! We need to celebrate.”

“It’s too early now. Karajan’s going to kill me if she finds out that you already know. Don’t say anything, okay? And let’s go get some deer.”

“Hahaha.... You should tell your unborn child that I’m the godfather, okay?”

Youngho laughed after hearing the good news. It was something to celebrate. He decided to go hunting with Jongil since Jongil would complain and pay him back in some way in the future if he did not go.

Szechenyi was excited to go hunting together, feeling like he was considered a grown-up now. He was proud when Jongil gave him a pistol to protect the girls in middle of mountains. He went down to the basement and brought rifles.

They got ready and went up the mountain near the farm. Because Zeynep, who drooled over deer meat, cheered them on as they left the farm, they were determined to find a deer for sure. Gerhardt said that he would prepare the fire.

They left without Gerhardt because all of them had put on the leather shoes. Since it would take hours wandering around the mountain before finding a deer, they prepared a tactic. Jongil had borrowed Fatima’s ring since Fatima did not use the ring often. Fatima already recovered her health with the power of the ring, and if she was tired, she could use Zeynep or Szechenyi’s rings for a while. So, she let Jongil borrow hers for a long term.

The three guys ran around the mountains at a tremendous speed. Szechenyi, who was now used to using the leather shoes, controlled them well. Since he had an outstanding vision, he even dodged faster than Youngho and Jongil if he found obstacles in the mountain. Jongil also freely used the leather shoes.

Szechenyi, who was running in front, suddenly reduced his speed.

He finally found an elk. The size of the elk was about two-thirds of the size of the elk they caught previously. The elk was grazing the grass and turned its head to the rustling sounds made by Youngho’s company.

Youngho and Jongil gave a chance to Szechenyi. He released the safety catch of his rifle and fired a shot accurately in the frontal part of the elk’s body. It seemed that his training was paying off.

The elk which was about to jump fell down, its body twitching.

They gutted the elk and drained its blood, but it still weighed 300 kilograms. Youngho and Jongil carried it together on their shoulders with a wooden pole. It felt lighter once they moved. The leather shoes were lightening the weight upon them. Jongil looked surprised when they walked fast.

The weight of the elk had been reduced in half because of the leather shoes, so it felt light on Youngho’s shoulder. It was a new power of the ring and shoes because the color of the rock on his ring was lighter now.

Because of the hunting, Youngho could reveal a new power of the mystical relics. He was excited to find more about their powers in the future.

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