Empire of the Ring

Chapter 56: Burning Nagorno-Karabakh (1)

The stores in Europe generally opened at 9 AM and closed at 6 PM.

Many Korean travelers who were used to 24-hour convenience stores had trouble finding stores in the evening. Youngho, who had been living overseas for nearly three years, sometimes still had problem with this system.

That was why he and the siblings were excited when they arrived at Zurich Central Station. It was 8 PM in the evening, which was like the midnight in here, but stores were open with bright lights on. There were about 200 stores lined up and ready for customers. They sold a variety of things. Tempted by all sorts of things, the siblings did not want to go to hotel. After visiting a souvenir store, mini-sized electronics store, and bookstore, the siblings went to a place where music was coming out. It was the season of Christmas. They could see a giant crystal Christmas tree displayed in front of a building and a few musicians playing carol songs together. People passed by looking at the scene with smiles on their face. Youngho’s heart was warmed. ‘Have I seen such a warm scene like this before?’ he thought.

Listening to the peaceful carol songs, Youngho calmed down his busy heart due to the exciting trip. When he was settling in the atmosphere, Fatima came near him and took his arm. She whispered,

“Oppa, this is such a peaceful place. All these people look like they don’t know about any sadness of the world.”

At Fatima’s remark, he felt guilty for forgetting about the struggling people in Southeastern Europe. At this moment, people were fighting and dying. Many people did not even have food to eat and struggled to survive.

“We should still be thankful for the developed countries. They still reach out to other countries in need to help them.”

“These people’s wealth and comfort were all established by the sacrifices of weak countries. Looking at their relaxed face and attitude, it feels like they are two-faced. All they have is because of their ancestors but they think they are superior.”

Youngho could understand why she was feeling this way.

She had met many foreign travelers when she lived in Istanbul and she could never forget how they looked down at her and her siblings. Even during this trip, many people whom they conversed with seemed to be surprised to found out where the siblings were traveling from. They were ignorant. Not to be treated badly, Youngho took out his US passport whenever he needed. Fatima seemed to be curious about why Youngho was using a US passport. He felt like she was going to ask about it in near future.

“That is why we have to strengthen our economy. Economic power is the national power and people would be treated nicely if the nation has power.”

“I felt that too during this trip.”

“The reason that West Europeans can be confident when they travel as backpackers is that their country is strong.”

Fatima smiled softly at Youngho.

“Their confident attitude is cool but I don’t envy them. We’ll try to be our best but we’ll always have you on our side.”

“...”

“If Zeynep Farm’s wine becomes worldwide famous, I’ll tell people that you are my brother!”

Touched by Fatima’s words, Youngho almost hugged her.

Regardless of the serious talk between Youngho and Fatima, Zeynep and Szechenyi were busy looking around different stores. Szechenyi was 16 now and Youngho trusted him as a bodyguard of his sisters since he had trained him hard.

Spending a long time touring around, the siblings now complained that they needed kimchi and ramen. Because of Youngho and Jongil, they got used to steamed rice, kimchi, ramen, and other Korean dishes. Whenever they ate oily foods, they wanted kimchi to go with them. They were serious, since they even visited a Korean restaurant in Frankfurt after searching on the internet.

After spending a night at Park Hyatt Hotel near Zurich Lake, they visited downtown for a tour. The siblings were impressed by the antique designs of downtown but Youngho did not pay attention to them. He liked much quiet places. In fact, if the siblings were not with him, he probably would have spent the whole day working out in the hotel. Youngho was just following the siblings in responsibility. He thought watching people was more interesting than touring around the city.

There were people who were obsessed with taking pictures to leave proof of their trip. They must have prepared for the trip a few years in advance. There were other people who liked touring around museums and looking at man-made artifacts, they were more classy-kind of people. The siblings did not belong to the two groups of people mentioned above. They did not take pictures nor did they visit any museums and galleries. They just searched for foods and shopping places. They walked long distances touring around city and searching for what they needed, and naturally they had to eat often for all the calories they burned.

Fatima and Zeynep loved shopping for little decorative stuff and Szechenyi liked collecting pocket knives and climbing gears. He bought a few stuff for his friends from school.

Youngho also picked a multi-functional pocket knife and ordered 100 of them to be delivered directly to Baku. It seemed to be a great new year’s gift for anybody.

Due to snow, they had to cancel the outdoor camping near Zurich Lake which Fatima had planned. It was relieving for Youngho.

Youngho was touring around Louvre Museum when he heard about the war from Park Jongil. It was a week before Christmas. He needed to cancel the rest of the trip to go back to Baku. The siblings felt a little bit bad but they were satisfied with the past trip. Zeynep and Szechenyi complained a little but Fatima comforted them with a warm smile.

Youngho hastily came back to Baku from Paris.

It was a ten-day short trip, but it was a valuable time for Youngho and the siblings. The siblings seemed to have fully accepted Youngho as their family now. They did not hesitate to request anything they wanted, bought anything, and even complained to him during the trip. Even seeing their food preference has now become similar to his, Youngho felt that they were now very used to being around each other. Physical contacts like hugging were also usual and he could now accept them easily.

The airport security clearance process was stricter at the Baku airport. Youngho and the siblings came out after a long while. Park Jongil, Karajan, and even Gerhardt were waiting for Youngho at the entrance.

The company split in two cars and drove to the farm. On the way, Youngho heard what went on between the two countries. Jongil said that there was a shootout two days ago and heavy fire arms appeared at the battlefield yesterday.

Azerbaijan was preparing to launch missiles at right time. They would not take long before firing since the international society would try to stop the war if the war lasted long. What Azerbaijan wanted was to retrieve their territories and borderline as it was before the past war with Armenia.

On the TV news, an anchor reported that Azerbaijani army had recaptured a region in Nagorno-Karabakh. Youngho, now used to Azerbaijani language, could understand most of what the TV said.

‘This morning, the army reported that they had gloriously recaptured some of the Western regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. The regions are now returned to us after 20 years. Also, yesterday the army had captured 20 Armenian soldiers...’

Even though the anchor was delivering the news in excitement, the government always reported selected information for their own advantages. However, everybody knew that Armenian army would not be easily defeated. Especially the soldiers who used to be in the militia, they were strong and harshly trained.

Russian army had not shown any movements to involve in the war yet. However, if things go bad for Armenia, they would ask for Russia’s help. Because of this, Azerbaijan side had to end the war before too long.

Youngho called his friends in Yerevan to never get involved in the war even if their former militant trainees ask for help. If they got involved in the war, he might not be able to see them forever.

The international opinion was looking at the war lightly as a local battle. When it seemed that it had come to a state of lull, the Azerbaijani air force’s full-on missile attacks to annihilate Armenian core military unit began.

Armenia tried to fight back but they were helpless in front of Azerbaijan’s attacks using advanced weapons.

Most of Armenian soldiers in Nagorno-Karabakh had retreated or were killed now. Only the former militants who were transferred to the official army and were isolated in Nagorno-Karabakh hid in mountainous areas. They were hiding to conduct guerilla operations.