Empire of the Ring

To Youngho, one of the world’s greatest views was the scene of growing grains in the field.

The field sometimes looked like a water wave when it was shaken by the wind, and the smell of the fresh field tickling his nose was sweeter than any other fragrance.

Whether this year’s crop would be good or bad, the field was again creating a beautiful sight. Youngho, who was driving through the wheat field on a four-wheeler, could not resist stopping to smell the sweet scent. The field had grown about 30 centimeters tall already. Where Youngho stopped was quite far away from the residential towns.

The sunlight in late May was hot enough to make him sweat.

Except for the areas of the wharf and towns, the Arirang Autonomous State was quiet. The field was already well-taken care of that it only needed occasional water until the day of harvest, all farmers left to develop another farmland.

Since wheat fields blocked radiant heat and dust blown from the wind, the state was turning into a pleasant place to live. Apart from the wheat, the trees and grass planted, long stone walls built, and man-made hills had made it a better place by either blocking or changed the course of winds.

The farmland was not developed around the road that connected the towns to the wharf but only trees were planted, since the farmland after harvest was dusty as a desert.

Although not even 30 percent of the territory was developed as grass field yet, the state planned on developing up to 35 percent of the land by the end of next year. The reason for focusing on the development of grassland was because of dust storms. It was an inevitable choice since the farmland after harvest was the cause for dust storms. Farmland would be developed in-between grassland and woods only, but that much area was still enormous that it was estimated to produce more than 40,000 tons of grain every year. The farmland would occupy 20 percent of the whole territory, although it would be a story after several years.

As he was looking around the field, a bunch of four-wheelers was approaching him, raising the dust behind them. It was the teenagers of the towns and each was driving a four-wheeler in groups of two. They were entertaining themselves after school but Youngho could not see any kind of self-defensive arms.

The state’s policy was that teenagers should be guided by at least one armed adult or should be armed with a hunting rifle for protection when they left the towns. In spite of his concern, the teenagers were racing with each other as they greeted Youngho.

“Hey, hey! You aren’t even armed and you came this far?”

“The Countryside Force guards said that we can travel to the boundaries of farmland. They gave us two-way radios and said that they’ll let us know if there’s any danger.”

The guards had built guard posts at the rim of the boundaries of farmland and grassland but the huge area could not be guarded by so many guards. They must have been watching the fields through drone cameras. Since Youngho did not intervene in their work to the detail, he had no idea.

“Alright. How’s riding the bike?”

“It’s fun but there’s not a lot of them assigned to students, so we’re taking turns to ride them.”

“You only have a few at school?”

“They’re temporarily transferred to the development of farmland, so we only have ten at school. You’re lucky if you get to ride it once a week.”

Youngho would have not known this if he did not meet the students. The autonomous state had about 900 families and each had at least two to three children. When the adults were busy for work, their children had nothing to do.

That was why the school encouraged extracurricular activities and after-school programs, the bikes were assigned for students’ entertainment as well. Although there were more students who were below middle school age, there were still 300 high school students and special institution’s students who needed activities to relieve stress and energy.

Since they were the most valuable assets of the state who would take care of the state in the future, they must not be neglected. Youngho thought that the state was taking care of them well. He felt sorry that the most popular activity for them had to be taken away because of adults’ work.

***

“Commissioner Kim. Let’s buy 50 more bikes.”

“What? We have 150 of them already. If we manage their use more effectively, students can have enough fun.”

Kim Chun did not want to waste the state’s money when the bikes were temporarily borrowed by the farmland development project. The residents could not buy their own bikes yet due to their low financial status, the state had to provide the bikes for them.

“You need to subtract the ones that were dedicated to the Countryside Force. From spring to fall, there’s nothing like four-wheeler bikes for patrols.”

The Countryside Force refrained to use light-armored vehicles unless it was for a long-distance patrol since the light-armored vehicles were much more costly and it was easier to use the four-wheeler bikes.

“Then, how about buying 30 more?”

“Please get 50 more just in case. It’ll be nice to have some extras when some bikes need to be repaired.”

“Okay. I think we should recruit a mechanic or train people to become mechanics this time.”

“That’s up to you Mr. Commissioner but please go ahead and order the bikes today, and transport them on a ship as soon as they’re ready. The kids whom I met on the field will be excited.”

“Those kids must’ve nagged badly to you.”

“No, I just felt sorry that I had to make a promise.”

“Man, we’ve already spent so much this time to buy medical devices…”

As a person responsible for the state’s living, Kim Chun was becoming stingy.

“Oh, it’s an investment for the state’s future. Please don’t think this is a waste.”

“I’m just sad that everyone seems to rely on you, thinking you’re their widow’s cruse.”

Although Kim Chun did not like residents taking advantage of Youngho, Youngho was rather the one who had received the most from the Serbian descendants.

The descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom worked hard in the mines to produce gold and made huge profits from the farm and ranch in Baku.

The reason that they produced two tons of gold without a word of complaint was to thank Youngho for taking caring of their people and land. Their work did not go to waste since everything would be inherited to their descendants. Not knowing that Kim Chun was bittersweet toward them. Youngho thought that he should explain this to him so that he did not feel resentful toward the residents.

“Mr. Commissioner. The people who work in the farm and ranch in Baku were the descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom. They’re sacrificing themselves for the glory of the Serbian Kingdom. I’m only using the money they’re making.”

“Boss. It’s not like they built your business from the beginning. It’s natural for them to work, to repay you for creating a place to work for them. They’re already given a life that they’ve never imagined. I heard this from Old Niksic. He said that if it weren’t for you, everyone would still be living in substandard environments now.”

“That’s one thing but the autonomous state wouldn’t have existed without their hard work.”

“Boss. How can I not know what you’re talking about? I just want to say that giving away things so easy for the residents won’t help to build their self-reliance.”

Kim Chun was indeed worried about Youngho. Even if he was his boss, he did not hesitate to express his concern. Youngho was deeply thankful for Kim Chun’s loyalty and friendship.

***

The total population of the autonomous state was 6,222 people of 1,133 families, including the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom, Batumi’s technicians, medical teams, and newborn babies.

It was an extremely small number compared to the whole area of the state but it was quite amazing that such a number of people had gathered in a short period of time.

The state had changed so much since the beginning when there was only bare land. Although the planted trees were not fully grown to provide shade for people, they were giving out fresh scents from every empty lot. All of the roads in the towns were paved that there was no dust anymore.

Human power was indeed astounding to turn a wasteland into a city. Despite the fact, it was still true that there was not much population in the state that it was hard to spot a person on the street during the day time.

In the mid-day, Youngho could only hear occasional voices of children playing in the playgrounds and some people going in and out of the hospital and administration buildings.

As it entered the late spring, the sun was too hot that it was becoming difficult to do any activities outside. The day’s temperature was like the mid-summer and the night’s temperature was like the early spring.

Blocking the bright sunlight with one hand, Youngho was looking around the Archduke’s palace guided by the construction director Nikolaevich Min. The completion of the palace was originally planned to take place in this fall but it was delayed now to be in spring next year.

The reason for its delay was because of the underground floor construction that almost took off the hill’s peak area and the sculpting process of the stone exterior.

“Director Min. I think this is going overboard. Why don’t you try to wrap up at this point?”

“Commissioner Kim is refusing it. He said that it should be perfectly built this time because it’ll be difficult to begin another construction later.”

As the farm becomes an autonomous state, the palace now had a different meaning. As an autonomous state and a kingdom where the Archduchess was alive, Kim Chun wanted the palace to represent the glory of the old kingdom.

Youngho was getting impatient since he did not want to wait another year.

“We’re only going to stay there about half a year only. Please don’t overdo it.”

“The interior will be completed by the late fall, so people will be able to move in but it will be too noisy because the exterior stones would still be in the process of sculpting.”

The noise would not be the only problem but also the dust from construction.

“Phew, I can’t win over Commissioner Kim’s stubbornness.”

“Mr. Lee. The palace it the autonomous state’s pride. Even if the commissioner didn’t ask anything, I would have done his job.”

As plans were delayed, the coronation had to be postponed as well.

Youngho planned to officially claim the new kingdom to the world and actively engage in diplomatic performances before the year passed. Although Fatima was a descendant of the Archduke of a fallen kingdom, there would be a symbolic emphasis that the new kingdom was made in Kazakhstan when other European royal families were now losing their existential values.

It would naturally attract curious travelers, and the Arirang Autonomous State’s status would be raised. To make such good change, the best issue was the Archduchess’ coronation but it had to be postponed again that Youngho was frustrated.

However, he was feeling relieved at the same time since he had earned another year until the huge event. Exposing the autonomous state to the global community would come with a lot of risks and responsibilities, and the state was not stabilized yet.

The residents still thought that they were poor.

Although the state looked like a rich country on the outside, individual income was not a lot. They had plenty to eat at home but could not buy things as much as they wanted from outside. So, Youngho was going to start a tourist business after the coronation had taken its place.

Many West European tourist cities made money from old buildings and structures but the Arirang Autonomous State would have an experienced tour of nomadic villages. Yurts would be installed in the village as lodging facilities. Flying on a light airplane to look at the vast plains could be another business item.

Wolf hunting experience could also be in the packaged item, which would appeal to adventurous travelers. Even the weak Dr. Kim Dong-sung mentioned about such a dream. If travelers actually caught a wolf, it would be a story to tell for a long time.