Empire of the Ring

Chapter 86: The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (4)

With the successfully hunted elk, the farm family had their first big deer meat party in a long time. People complimented Szechenyi since it was his first time hunting a deer. The charcoal-roasted meat tasted great after it was marinated with wine for a while before cooking. They tried a variety of ways of eating the deer meat, such as eating it raw, broiling with salt, roasting with garlic, and so on.

Zeynep ordered Szechenyi to hunt deer every weekend. When the party was in full swing, Youngho announced Karajan’s pregnancy since he could not hold it in any longer.

Gerhardt’s mother, who was Karajan’s aunt, told Karajan not to eat the raw meat, but Jongil was trying to make her eat it behind Gerhardt’s mother. It was Karajan who made Jongil go out for a deer hunt because she wanted to eat raw deer meat so badly.

Youngho had seen a pregnant Korean woman craving for watermelons in the winter when the fruit was not easily found, and Karajan was craving for certain things too. Korean elderly people often scolded young pregnant women, telling the, what not to eat. It seemed that Azerbaijanis shared something in common with Koreans, since Karajan was told not to eat raw meat.

***

Youngho was smiling while looking at sales settlement data in his library when Fatima came in with some coffee.

Lately, Youngho had been avoiding Fatima because he sensed something in their relationship. It was hard to tell what it was. She sat down on a chair across from him and vacantly scanned the data he was reading. Youngho hurriedly asked a question before she said anything.

“Fatima, do you have something to say?”

“No, I just came to drink coffee with you quietly.”

Youngho feared that she might drop a bombshell that could change their family’s relationship.

During the previous trip, Fatima was very affectionate with Youngho. Not minding the Jongil couple’s eyes, she held his arm and hugged him frequently. It was nothing serious, but it was hard for Youngho since their relationship was not defined yet.

Looking at Youngho being nervous in front of her, she smiled. Unlike him, she was enjoying this situation because she knew that his face was hardened whenever she came near him. Although she was young, being fast-witted, she was already above Youngho.

“Oppa, you are hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

‘What is she talking about out of nowhere?’

“I feel like you have another job. Since you can’t even share it with me, I assume it’s an important secret for you to keep, but you need to come clean to me. As your family, I have the right to know about you.”

Youngho was guilty because she was right.

“...”

“I was sure something happened to you in Georgia but I didn’t say anything. I’ve been watching you, and you just looked distressed and insecure.”

She acted stern.

The shootout against the Russian border security soldiers was a traumatizing experience for Youngho. Of course he tried to hide his feelings to the best of his abilities; he was unstable, and anyone who knew him well could find out the difference in his behavior with just paying a little attention to him.

Fatima was the one who sensed the change in his condition. Youngho knew he could not get out of this with a simple lie. If he did not come clean this time, it would damage the trust between them. Youngho was not sure how much he should tell.

After about an hour, Youngho and Fatima came out of the library with happy faces. Youngho came out of the building and lit a cigarette. He saw Jongil come out of his house. Spotting Youngho, Jongil came to him to see what was in his friend’s hand.

“A cigarette? Why are you smoking here in this cold weather?”

“I just came out to smoke. You and I need to talk. Let’s walk toward the factory.”

“Give me one too. I think I should quit soon because of Karajan’s complaining.”

As they walked toward the wine factory, which stopped operating for the break, Youngho told Jongil what happened with Fatima.

“Wow. Fatima is surely quick-witted. Were we that obvious?”

“You know, I couldn’t get out of that when she confronted me directly. She made it so serious, and it felt like she was going to renounce me if I didn’t say the truth. I only told her a little about the jobs, but I’m going to have to give her a report on every business trip from now on.”

“Is she going to tell Karajan too?”

“No, she won’t. What good is it if we deliver this to a pregnant woman? She said she’ll keep it to herself forever.”

“Hey, it’s all good then. You know we need someone in the family to know about us if something goes wrong during a mission.”

“Dude, don’t say that. That’s a bad luck. Why would things go wrong with us?”

Although Youngho was scolding Jongil, he agreed with Jongil.

Fatima actually liked the fact that Youngho was a CIA agent. She did not understand why Youngho kept it a secret when he could be proud of his job. Youngho drew the line and said that there was nothing dangerous in his job because he went to business trips to meet government officials and politicians of different countries for information.

Also, about why he was distressed in Georgia, he told her that he was only distressed because he had to come up with the measures for some rebels who received supplies from the CIA because they were attacked by an opposing force.

Fatima, satisfied with being able to share Youngho’s secret, did not ask for more. She left the library with the face of a student who had solved a mystery math question.

***

Youngho heard about the village in a mountainous area where Youngho’s company had night visitors. Chief Manager Sevan called him in excitement. / update by

“Mr. Lee, you’ve given us a great clue to a big mystery. Six people known to be missing in the mountains were captured alive in that village. They were all women and the local police just rescued them. The chief complimented you for helping in resolving multiple cold cases at once.”

It sounded like the police department was happier to resolve cold cases than to save the victims.

“So, it sounds like we still don’t know how many people went missing in that town.”

“Unfortunately, that’s true. We’ll be reporting this to the president, but not to the press. People won’t visit Azerbaijan, knowing that these kinds of things happen in addition to the fact that we are still a disputed country.”

What he was saying was true, but villages like this could be more than one. The remote mountain villages in the rough Caucasus Mountain Range could be many, lying where the government’s administration could not reach.

“I agree with you on that part, but what if there are other villages like this?”

“For now, we are evacuating and closing the town. We will also do a complete survey around the Caucasus mountainous areas with local police offices. Mr. Lee, you should drop by the department to receive our appreciation plaque from the chief. It’s an award for your efforts.”

Youngho clicked his tongue at the police’s conduct. They did not really care about missing people’s lives but were focused on saving their faces. Youngho had nothing to say on that since he took away many soldiers’ lives to fulfill a purpose.

The Main Police Department prepared an appreciation plaque for Youngho since they achieved accomplishments and received compliments from the president.

The case of the missing foreigners was a big mystery that not only police officers, but also consuls and ambassadors from different nations had investigated. Although not wholly resolved, parts of the case were settled.

The chief asked if Youngho could overlook the fact that they would be receiving credit for the achievements by reporting to the president that it was a result of a long-time effort of the police department. Youngho agreed since the department would owe him for this. He just said that he was glad to help out as an honorary police.

He felt weird to receive an appreciation plaque because he was responsible for multiple incidents in Baku such as: fires, the explosion in Charles Wine Company, and a terrorist attack in a luxury neighborhood.

Chief Manager Sevan was now part of Youngho’s family because his distant cousin Karajan was married to Jongil, Youngho’s best friend.

To Sevan, Youngho was a lifesaver because Youngho had been strengthening his position by doing big businesses and investments in Baku and offering great information to him, saving his face. Not to mention, this time Youngho played a key role in resolving unsolved cases. Because of Youngho’s help, Sevan was sure that he would be a strong candidate for the position of chief executive.

Since he trusted Youngho immensely, he told Youngho anything.

He even shared the shuffling of high officials in the Azerbaijani government, so it was a piece of cake for Youngho to collect exclusive information. After Sevan was promoted to general manager, he had been sharing information exchanged with politicians. So, Youngho could learn what the Russian government requested from the Azerbaijani government.

The two were having a leisurely conversation with tea in Sevan’s office.

“Mr. Lee, our government had an unofficial contact with the Russian government, and there will be an exchange of memorandums of understanding between the two soon. They agreed on extending the railroads, with the consent of the Iranian government. So, I’m looking to find a business place for us.”

“Chief Manager, it might not end well. Why do you want to be involved in the government’s business?”

Sevan looked at Youngho as if his response was absurd.

“You are a businessman. Don’t you have any ambitions? If the railroads were set up, there would be stations. We should look into that in advance and buy out the lands near stations, then we could build any structures on the lands. If you don’t want to, then we can sell the lands at much higher prices.”

“...”

“Russia has high expectations for this since it will be a mega business that they can attract traders with using the Suez Canal to pass through. If the railroads were set up, the cities around the roads will gain wealth. It’s a great business opportunity.”

‘This guy is suggesting a real estate speculation. This is dangerous.’

Sevan wanted Youngho to be his business partner. Since he was an official, it would be too suspicious if he bought and sold large lands under his name. Sevan would give him information about where the railroads would be set up in advance, and Youngho could buy the lands around the expected areas. Because of the kind of government corruption like this, it was easy to earn money if you had good connections in a developing country.

Youngho was not sure whether he should take his offer since he wanted to make money properly. However, it was intriguing at the same time. He thought he could buy lands first and sell them back at regular prices to people who needed the lands, so he took Sevan’s offer.

There would be many other people who would want to secure the lands near the expected railroad route. Youngho thought it would be stupid if he did not take the business opportunity because of a fumbling sense of morality. With his wealth, what he could do now was to secure lands to be developed. He would worry about what he would do with the lands later.

Thinking that it would be a great idea to predict where the railroads would be, Youngho went to a bookstore to get a map book. He also wanted to get some books for the family. Looking at himself, changing like a rough and desolate Caucasus Mountain Range, he thought he could use some intellectual nourishment.

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