Empire of the Ring

Chapter 57: Burning Nagorno-Karabakh (2)

The presidents of different countries around Caucasus started to pressure Azerbaijan to agree to a truce with Armenia. Russia also stated that its troops would be dispatched if the war was escalated.

Azerbaijan yielded unresistingly and retreated from the Armenian domain to the border area. It was a gesture to sign that they would not cross Armenian borderline and would not make further attacks. Since Azerbaijan’s goal was to recapture their lost land, the country was in the mood of victory and celebration. Not only it was their first victory over Armenia but also they had just retrieved 14% of their territory which was taken away from them for the past 20 years.

Youngho reported about Azerbaijan’s situation to the European chapter and took close attention to the government’s further decisions. Now the problem was left for Azerbaijani government to decide on behalf of the Armenians residing in the retrieved territory. The international opinion suggested permitting Armenians freedom to reside in the land. Azerbaijan’s takeover was internationally official to the world.

Armenian force that has been fiercely fighting back was now getting weaker. Not only were they outnumbered, but also they did not have a good reason to fight back to keep the territory since it was Azerbaijan’s land in the first place. Since the war was provoked by Armenia’s preemptive strike, Azerbaijan had more than enough reason to be confident in their victory in front of the international opinion. Azerbaijan was using the international opinion to their advantage over the war.

Azerbaijan’s public was at peace as if the war was already over even though the army was still fighting back the guerrilla attacks of the former militants. Youngho could already notice that the sales of his stores were rising again, it meant that the citizens were opening their pockets again. The war was ending.

Now that his stores and the farm were operating regularly, Youngho went for hunting with his two friends, Jongil and Insoo. It was a relaxing Saturday in a long time, so went up on the mountain chatting with each other.

“Youngho, I saw workers building something on the farm, next to the lodging facility. What is that?”

Guessing that Jongil and Karajan would get married this fall, Youngho was building a house for them to live. The farm was spacious and had clearer air than the inner city. If they did not want to, Youngho could use it for something else, but he wanted to do something for his friends.

“That’s where you’re going to live. We are 30 now. We should start getting married and make children.”

“What? You’re building my house? Are you serious?”

“It’s better than in the city, man.”

“I was going to live in an apartment with Karajan. Why would you do that?”

“Oh yeah? Okay. I’ll just finish building it and whoever gets married first can have the house.”

Jongil looked puzzled for a while and he became quiet. He was touched by Youngho’s thoughtfulness.

“Man, I didn’t even propose yet.”

Although Jongil did not fully accepted Youngho’s suggestion, he was excited since he always thought that he wanted to stay in Baku with Karajan.

Listening to their conversation, Insoo interfered.

“Youngho, can Koreans come here and live?”

“Of course. They’ll be accepted if they submit an application to become a legal resident. What’s up?”

Cha Insoo never seemed to be interested in dating. It was weird but Youngho did not pay attention to it and just thought he was shy.

“I got a girl in Korea that I’m engaged with, and I’m the only son. I should take care of my parents too.”

“Dude, why didn’t tell me earlier that you have a girl? I was looking for a girl to introduce to you.”

Insoo scratched his head and blushed.

“We’ve been dating for long. If I hadn’t come here, we would’ve gotten married already.”

“Man...”

Youngho thought he was silly, if he had told about that earlier, he could have found a way to bring her here on a long-term stay visa.

Cha Insoo’s parents were farmers in Korea. If they moved to Baku, there were plenty of things to do in Youngho’s farm.

“You need to go to Korea for the New Year’s and bring your girl and parents! Since Jongil said he’s going to live in the city, you can take the house when it’s done. There will be extra rooms for your parents too, but do you think your parents will leave Korea?”

“They’ll come if I ask. I don’t have a lot of relatives, so it’ll be better for them to live in here with me.”

Youngho was glad that he will have more people added to the farm family. Living in a foreign land, more family was always welcome in the farm. If Insoo’s parents were nearby, Youngho thought it would be also good for the siblings.

Azerbaijan looked like a dangerous country with constant disputes from outside but it was actually a safe place aside from the disputed areas. Especially Baku, which was touching the Eastern coast, was irrelevant from wars. However, not knowing about this, Youngho’s sister in Korea, Yunsuh, called him with a worrisome voice.

“Oppa, are you really safe? Nothing happened, right?”

“Man, again, I am seriously okay. I don’t want you to worry about me. Where I am is totally irrelevant from war. Can’t you see that from the clothing orders from my stores?”

“I know, but I feel insecure. Promise me you’d leave the country right away if there is a slight sign of danger.”

“Okay, okay. Where is your husband?”

“He’s out for a business meeting. I’ll tell him to call you back.”

After hanging up the phone, Youngho once again realized about the potential of danger in Azerbaijan. Her concern was understandable. Even though he was safe now, the future was unpredictable. The reason for his boldness was the mystical ring and leather shoes. He thought he could escape whenever he wanted if there was danger since he could flee and fight for himself with ease.

The CIA’s European chapter ordered Youngho to investigate the situations of Nagorno-Karabakh. The field agent Philip who was in charge of Georgia and Armenia regions had gone missing two days ago. He was told to investigate from outside of Nagorno-Karabakh which was isolated now but it seemed absurd since they had contacted him because they could not find out what went wrong even with their tight information network. It was not known why Philip had to go in there but Youngho needed to get in to find out about it.

Even without the CIA’s order, Youngho was dying to go back to Nagorno-Karabakh to see how things had changed. After all, he had relations with the state and the militia members. He also wanted to know who Azerbaijani government was treating Armenians. Youngho requested that he would go in Nagorno-Karabakh with Jongil as a backup agent. The European chapter asked to stop the mission but he insisted to find Philip on his own.

Now it was time to reveal the secret of the ring and the leather shoes to Jongil. Although Park Jongil was a strong guy with extraordinary military skills, the state was full of militants trained for war. Youngho and Jongil needed extra help to stay safe. He asked for Fatima’s ring in an excuse of doing some experiments on the ring. She gave her ring without any complaints, in fact, she did not like the rustic design of the ring so she always left the ring at home when she went to school. It was not a big deal for her.

Youngho explained everything to Park Jongil. He made him promise that he would not tell anyone about this until death. Stunned by the secret, he just nodded with eyes wide open. There was no wonder that Jongil was surprised, he just witnessed something that would only exist in fantasy novels. After giving Jongil the ring and another pair of leather shoes to put on, Youngho trained Jongil with the ring and shoes. Jongil, who had a trained body, got used to the mysterious items soon. After running around the mountain in front of the farm, he asked,

“Youngho, can’t I buy these from Fatima?”

“Man, this is Fatima’s family relics. I’m borrowing these too. They’d give them to us if we asked, but don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”

Although one pair was for Youngho, he lied to Jongil that he was only borrowing. He knew Jongil would want to have a pair no matter what if he told him the truth.

“Phew, you’re right.”

“I’m only using these relics to protect people and that’s also why I am protecting the siblings to the best ability I can.”

“...”

“And nobody should find out about this. If the secret leaked, we’ll be in grave danger.”

Jongil nodded knowing what he meant. The mystical relics would bring misery to them if people found out about the truth. People would come day and night to steal the priceless mystical items. Jongil shook his head thinking about the possible future.