Empire of the Ring

The Head of the Lincy Foundation and her secretary’s murder deeply affected the international society.

It was because the two were both Americans. To the public’s eyes, there was no reason for a charitable institution and her secretary to be murdered in public.

The whole Armenia mourned for Tracy’s death. Not knowing the truth of the foundation, it was a natural reaction for the country.

The foundation had been helping the Syrian refugees and had been fighting to end terrorism, so people suspected IS since the foundation was like a thorn in their side.

It was a wild guess, but the nerveless terrorist group did not try to deny the speculation. As the international opinion pointed toward the organization as the suspect, IS, at last, claimed that it was their doing.

Youngho thought that it was a crazy group. Then, the United States warned the group that mass military forces would be deployed by way of reprisal for the loss of its own citizens’ lives.

After sending Vaso back to Baku from Georgia, Youngho was drinking coffee with Michael from the mafia at an open-air café near Batumi Port.

“Mr. Lee, France won’t have thought of sending arms to Armenia, will it?”

“I don’t know. French people have their own unique way of thinking….”

Since the United States and Russia began their salvage work for the sunken freighter despite France’s protest, France might be holding a grudge against them.

Since Russia was close to the Black Sea, the salvage work was being done with equipment provided by Russia.

“We’re still checking every freighter coming to the two ports of Georgia.”

“You’re doing great. Let’s keep it up for a few more months.”

“If people knew that we’re earning money this easily at a vacationland, anyone will make a mercenary company. Our men were exuberant when the bonus commission was paid.”

From the mafia’s standard, they were earning money without putting out a lot of effort, so Michael’s men were high in spirits. It did not seem like a big of a deal for the mafias, but Youngho was glad that they were doing a job that could not be done by anyone else but mafias. Who would recruit Russian sailors in haste and would be able to sell a stolen freighter if it were not those mafias?

The Azerbaijani government had paid the mercenary company a commission of ten million dollars, so Youngho kept half of it for himself. Since he played a key role in the business, the mafias agreed on taking half for themselves. Also, since they would have sold the freighter by now, Sergey would be leaping in joy counting the money he earned.

Youngho’s plan was to watch the ports for about two more months and then withdraw the mercenaries from there. Since France would not be able to make a hasty, reckless decision for the time being and Armenia also was paying for their mistake, it did not seem that there would be a freighter carrying a cargo of arms at Georgian ports any time soon.

***

“Ehem. As your master, I have nothing left to teach you. You can go down the mountain now.”

Jongil gave a twisted compliment when a simple ‘good job’ was enough.

“If I go down the mountain, you’re going to sell my farm.”

“Not only your farm—you’ve got the ranch and the gold mines and plenty of other things that’ll make me rich.”

It was Jongil’s way of praising Youngho since he had discouraged Armenia’s spirit in a snap. Now all they had to do was to wait and see how the war would turn out.

It was a privilege for Youngho and Youngho’s close friends to know the truth behind the different phenomena and watch how things would turn out.

Since Youngho knew the answer to the current war situation already, he felt relaxed. It seemed that the tension in the atmosphere of the farm and the ranch had also gone away already.

The new light armored vehicles brought from Kazakhstan could be driven to everywhere except for very steep slopes. Two were placed at the ranch and one was placed at Zeynep Farm. Those only looked like strong SUV cars. Since there was no need to disguise them, they were placed at the gates of each site. It was a success since even the wine factory staff asked why a cash transport truck was placed at the farm.

If needed, a machine gun could be attached to the roof of each vehicle, and it would turn into an armored vehicle.

It was like having a new toy for Youngho since flying was prohibited in Azerbaijan and his airplanes were useless in the region now.

In their free time, Youngho, Jongil, and Insoo frequently drove the armored vehicle to the mountain in front of the farm.

Going on a patrol was just an excuse since there was no other car that was more suitable to carry hunted deer. Now that transporting dead deer was easier and the gang brought numerous deer bodies frequently, Gerhardt’s family started to smoke deer meats.

Gerhardt’s family and Karajan, who had been staying at Baku’s Arirang Hotel, had returned to the farm already. The security crews’ families were also back and had occupied the residential villas near the reservoir.

The farm’s atmosphere was turning homey again.

In a few days, the Serbian descendants who had gone to Kazakhstan’s Arirang Farm would be returning. Although the war was still not over, they decided to come back since there was little possibility that Zeynep Farm would fall into danger.

In Youngho’s opinion, the Azerbaijani army would strike another blow at Armenia, and soon, both nations would make a mutual non-aggression treaty.

The two nations’ conflict had brought many changes to the Serbian descendants.

One of them is that they had realized that although the farm and the ranch were their home, they could leave those places at any time. If they only had those places, they would risk their lives to defend their living bases, but they had another fertile land prepared for them. They were more relaxed now. Knowing that they had another home, they had no reason to be obsessed with Zeynep Farm and the ranch. They thought that wherever the Archduchess’ power reigned was their home anyway.

***

As Fatima and Sangchun’s parents joined the farm, the liveliness of the farm doubled. The siblings did not come with them this time.

Szechenyi, who was on summer break, had just started working as a private security guard. It was not a great job. As Zeynep and Park Youngsun’s daughter, Park Seoyoung, were on their European trip, he was hired as their private guard.

Since Youngho believed that Szechenyi was strong enough that he could easily knock down three other security guards, especially with the ring’s power, he decided to send Szechenyi along with the girls.

After Fatima’s return, the mansion was crowded with the Serbian descendants who came to pay a visit to the Archduchess every day. Not being able to concentrate on his work, Youngho usually spent his day at the office of Zeynep Security Service in Downtown Baku.

Since the three friends were all usually at the office together, they were chatty.

“I’m saying the Russian armored vehicles had become fixtures on Arirang Farm now. They were wasted in the storage, so I insisted on placing them at the four corners of the farm and the other three are still in the storage. I’m worried that it’s going to get rusty since nobody takes care of them.”

Jongil was upset. He had a special heart for arms.

“You know, they become scrap metals in years anyway. It’s still good that the townspeople feel secure because of their existence.”

“Man, you! You just don’t value them because you make a lot of money now. They would last dozens of years if you take care of them well. Man, what a waste! Also, those expensive light armored vehicles that you bought for patrol now turned into night guard posts. You know how it’s warm inside with the heater. They love it. I gave them only five of them and put the rest in the storage.”

It seemed that Jongil had grilled them to keep the vehicles in good shape since they were brand new and the latest model.

“What about the stonewalls? Are they finished yet?”

“What kinds of stonewalls are so high and thick like that?”

“Kazakhstan’s wind is beyond tolerable. I ordered them to make it high to block the wind. I think we’d need to make a windbreak forest near the stonewalls.”

The continental wind of Kazakhstan was so strong that even thick grains of sand flew around.

“Well, because of the stonewalls, it felt cozier inside the town.”

“We’ll find out if there are other problems at the town once we go through the first winter.”

Many say that one should observe a region for about one year before building a town. The decision should be made after checking if the region is flooded during the wet summer season and if it tolerable during the winter.

However, the more ignorant you were, the more daring you became.

Youngho had not done any basic inspection for the site of Arirang Farm and went ahead to sign the land contract already. There might be many failures along the way, but he was ready for the struggles.

Many Kazakh people considered a land livable if livestock could live in there and they did not care about circumstances too much. If it was a true wasteland, the government would not have accepted Youngho’s agricultural development proposal. Since people who had lived there for thousands of years accepted his proposal, he had no choice but to trust their instinct.

***

People were still firing cannons at the border but it was dramatically weakened compared to the beginning of the war. In the beginning, Azerbaijan’s army was determined to wipe out Armenians. However, Azerbaijan was getting tired as the war went on.

Because of the breakout of the war, the country’s economy had depreciated and many international trades were stopped. Since Armenia, which was thought to surrender after a few strong air strikes, held out for long stubbornly, the economy regressed rapidly.

Although Azerbaijan was still making money from oil crude trade, it was obvious that it would experience tremendous economic loss because of the war.

The situation was the same in Armenia as well.

The country without decent resources was holding on with funds sent by Armenians overseas, but as the Lincy Foundation, which had been the country’s huge support, withdrew from the company, they even lost their power.

When the two countries were ready to end the war, Russia stepped up to arbitrate in the dispute since it did not have a choice but to intervene if the war went on due to its military cooperation with Armenia.

Exhausted by the war, the two countries stopped the fires at the border at once by Russia’s arbitration.

Both countries neither mentioned a mutual non-aggression treaty nor asked for compensation for damages at the negotiation table. It was not a truce but a temporary ceasefire with a loose end.

Youngho and his friends who were waiting to see how the war would unfold were only baffled by the result.

“What kind of ceasefire is this? Russia should’ve pushed both nations to come up with a clear statement. Man, it’s neither this nor that,” Jongil murmured to himself, upset by the turnout of the negotiation table.

Youngho also was in a funny position. He felt drained as he found out that the result of his efforts was only a temporary truce without a clear statement. It seemed that the two countries would never stop fighting against each other when all he wanted was a peaceful life in Azerbaijan.

“Man, I was going to make a forever home here and leave the land for generation after generation, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”

Youngho thought that it was time to make a decision.

It was no use to expect more for Azerbaijan.

It did not mean that he would be abandoning Baku, but he would only consider the city as an investment site only, not as his home.

“You’re right. We can’t leave our descendants in such an insecure place. Why don’t we make the vast continent of Kazakhstan our home then?”

Youngho nodded at Jongil’s words.

To Youngho, the Caspian Sea was not an inland sea since it was open to the Black Sea through the Volga-Don Canal and to the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea through the Volga-Baltic Waterway.

Geographically, Kazakhstan had easy access to both canals since the Volga River was nearby.

Instead of living in a place with an endless war potential, it would be a hundred times better to live peacefully in Kazakhstan.

Envisioning the vast plain, Youngho unknowingly slapped his lap, making a loud noise.

“Man, you scared me! What’s up?”

Jongil and Insoo shouted unanimously at Youngho.

“Let’s draw in the Ural River.”

“That’s our original plan.”

“No, let’s make a canal through it to Arirang Farm.”

“What? A canal?”