Night of the Soulless Heathens – 192



#192. Quantum Bond 1

After half a day of driving from Bel Hoda the city of Btooma came into view in the distance. Azadin was amazed at the sight of the metropolis filled with golden buildings.

“Wow… Is that Btuma? Even if there’s a lot of gold did they paint the building gold?”

“Oh that’s Hwangchil.”

Jiswaga answered Azadin’s suspicions.

“Hwangchil?”

“Yes. It’s a paint made from a special tree resin. It’s cheaper than gold leaf but it’s still an incredibly expensive material.”

“Wow! It looks like real gold from a distance. Is it sturdy? Won’t it peel off in heavy rain and storms?”

“I know it’s sturdy. But it’s not completely indestructible. It needs maintenance from time to time.”

“Really? That’s great. How much does it cost? If it’s cheaper than gold leaf I’d like to paint my own residence later. Right now I’m a wanderer without a home or temple.”

“Haha. It’s incredibly expensive to paint a private residence. They say that one barrel of yellow lacquer costs three times as much as its weight in silver coins. And that’s the lowest grade.”

“Three times the weight of silver? You’re applying that to a building? Is that possible?”

Azadin was surprised by Jiswa’s words. If there were more than one or two buildings with gold exteriors and they were all lacquered then wasn’t the price of the lacquer Jiswa was talking about wrong? Could they really apply lacquer of that price to the exterior of a building like that?

When Azadin questioned Jiswah answered.

“Usually applying lacquer which is not used for dishes art pieces or furniture to a building is a luxury that only Btuma can afford. After all it is the capital of the golden country of Btuma.”

“But is the capital of Btuma Btuma?”

“Non-Bthuman people often have difficulty understanding the difference in pronunciation.”

“They say they applied lacquer three times as much as silver… That’s amazing. But they haven’t gone to war yet. I don’t see any troops going out.”

Azadin looked around the city with admiration.

The city center of Btuma developed around a large crossroads which were wide enough for six carriages to pass at the same time and had a drainage ditch on one side.

Just by looking at the fact that this extremely wide road including the floodgates was neatly paved with stones one could gauge the wealth and prosperity of this city.

“Oh my goodness. It’s amazing that you’re living so well. But this is not the time to be watching. Well then let’s go.”

Azadin’s party headed towards the gates of Btuma.

*********

In front of the Btuma Gate soldiers were nervously watching people passing by.

“Everyone cooperate with the search and inspection as Nagaga may disguise himself as a human and enter!”

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“Damn it! I have so much luggage to ship right now what the hell are you talking about?”

“If the Nagas attack the ships and we have to load them by land is this what will happen?”

“There’s no need to inspect merchants! Just inspect travelers!”

Merchants who had no choice but to bring in goods by land due to the Nagas’ attacks on their ships began to become resentful as customs clearance took a long time.

But the officer conducting the customs inspection was strict.

“You might as well join that group of merchants! Please understand we are also using precious blood magicians!”

To their surprise they were pricking the fingers of those entering the city with needles. Blood mages wearing blue robes were performing the tedious task of testing the blood to see if they were human naga or some other race.

“Ugh… This is a big problem?”

Among Azadin’s group were Shati and Scott who were disguised as humans. If they were to conduct such thorough searches their identities would certainly be revealed.

“That’s stupid. The nagas must have already entered the inside of Btuma in a serious manner.”

Shati now came and laughed at the soldiers who were hastily conducting the inspection.

Of course it would be better to do it now but there would be no point in blocking the Nagas from land as they have incredible swimming skills and can freely move through waterways. It would be much better to bring supplies into the castle quickly…

That’s how much people were afraid of Naga disguised as a human.

“But Shati I have a question.”

“what?”

“Are the Nagas good at swimming?”

“That’s right. The Nagas of the Water Snake Tribe have gills that allow them to breathe in fresh water and the Nagas of the Sea Snake Tribe have gills that allow them to breathe in the sea.”

“Usually even water snakes and sea snakes don’t have gills?”

“They’re not full gills. There’s a respiratory mucosa next to the ear that can touch the water and open and close. When that mucosa touches the water it helps breathing a bit so they can hold their breath underwater for a long time. However it’s dangerous if they touch salt water like a water snake’s gills and it’s dangerous if they touch fresh water like a sea snake’s gills so they just close it and act.”

“I see. Then what about the dry land tribe?”

“The dry land tribes don’t have that mucous membrane. They are also heavy so they don’t swim very well. Instead they have excellent muscle strength.”

“Hmm. Then it seems like it would be possible to enter through the city’s drains and ditches.”

“What are you going to do when you’re testing with blood magic in front of that?”

“There’s nothing we can do. Jiswa and I will go in separately and meet with the Lord of the Cheonggeon Hall. Scott and Shati will wait here?”

“Okay Captain. Then can I eat the cookies that Landa Vanema gave me?”

“We’ll use the snacks and alcohol that Randa gave us as bargaining chips for later negotiations so let’s have a regular meal.”

Azadin said so and headed to the checkpoint with Jiswa. He approached the blood mage who was in a difficult situation due to the large number of people waiting to be checked.

“What is it?”

“This is the Taoist priest Jiswa Nim from Cheonggeondang. I think I need to meet with the Lord because I have some urgent news to share…”

“Oh Master? But the security checkpoints are too far behind. And there are many officers here who are not my brothers so it will be difficult to just let you pass. Unless you give me something…”

“Is money enough?”

“Money is good but you’d have to spend a lot to win him over. On the other hand the captain of the guard likes to drink. I think it would be cheaper if you gave him alcohol.”

“Really? I have something good to share.”

Azadin took out a bottle of alcohol from his luggage and gave it to Landa.

“Ouch. This is it! Yes. This seems to be the way to go.”

Then the officer manning the checkpoint approached.

“What’s that? Why are you sniping?”

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“Oh this person is a Taoist priest from our Cheonggeondang. He said he had an urgent matter and asked if he could come in for a checkup first.”

“No. Do you think there are more than one or two people like that?”

“I’m giving this to the captain as a gift…”

“Hmm. Huh?”

The general’s eyes wavered as he looked at the bottle of alcohol.

“Hey. This is Bel Hoda’s Kashasha. What a precious thing! Well if it’s Cheonggeundang then its status will be confirmed. Okay let’s go in.”

The officer accepted the flask and allowed Azadin and Jisw to pass without even testing their blood magic.

‘Damn. If I had known this would happen I would have brought Scott and Shati too.’

Azadin was flustered not knowing that they would not even inspect him but he had to endure it because asking if his party could pass through now would definitely ruin things.

*********

The city of Btuma was in an uproar as defense work was in full swing.

Workers were mobilized elephants were used to transport timber and sandbags and wooden barriers were built near the waterways to create barriers to prevent the Nagas from entering the waterways but it appears that blocking the waterways will not be easy because there are so many of them.

“Oh elephant…..”

Azadin was excited to see the elephant he had only seen in books in action.

“Hahaha. Are you curious Taoist?”

“This is my first time in the Btuma region. The vegetation in Korasaur is very different from where I used to live but this place is truly amazing.”

But the expressions on the faces of those working with elephants were not very good.

Because Btuma receives a lot of rain during the rainy season cities build flood ditches to prepare for flooding and even build houses on stilts using the ground as a marketplace during normal times and clearing it when it rains.

With its close relationship to the river the sea and the frequent monsoon squalls Btuma is an ideal environment for the Nagas to invade.

Accordingly in order to facilitate defense Btuma carried out evacuation work to evict residents living in areas where water easily seeps in and where it is difficult to build a fence or in low-lying areas.

The problem is that the low-lying areas where water flows in well are where the poorest and most powerless people in Btuma live.

People who are poor find it difficult to survive if they lose their livelihood. People who have money can live somewhere other than their own home but for those who have no money and no place to rely on the evacuation order that was given out for the sake of defense felt rude.

Moreover the attitude of the soldiers was also a problem. They looked down on the low-lying people and bullied them.

“Oh my you want me to get out of here? That’s too much! I’ve lived here my whole life!”

“Shut up! If I’ve lived here my whole life wouldn’t I have no regrets if I died today anyway?”

“We are doing this to protect this city! How dare you interfere with us! You! You are a Naga in human form!”

The soldiers threatened those who interfered with their work with spears and swords and forced them to leave and dismantled furniture and houses to obtain wood.

When a defensive battle is in full swing many people die empty houses abound and lives become more important than property so no one cares whether furniture is broken or not.

However since it was still early in the war and the castle defenses were being strengthened the people were very angry because they were destroying private property. However they could not dare to speak out against the soldiers of Btuma who were leading the elephants.

“Hmm. The atmosphere doesn’t look very good. Judging from the soldiers’ nervousness things must be bad. Where is the Cheonggeondang Heavenly Lord Jiswa?”

“Yes. The Cheonggeun Party is this way.”

Even in this situation Jiswah was cheerful and guided Azadin.

*********

The Cheonggeondang gained many followers by curing the diseases and fevers that had appeared in Btuma. The King’s Church considered the Cheonggeondang a heretical faith and tried to punish it but the public’s opposition was enormous.

Cheonggeun Church which cures illnesses just by joining the church and the King’s Church which cures illnesses only if you make a huge donation.

There was no need to ask which side the people favored.

In response the current king of Btuma Manza-Zadek took steps to regulate the King’s Church from punishing the Qing Dynasty without permission. The King’s Church threatened to excommunicate Manza-Zadek but now that Koral Sahar had fallen to the Heralds the authority of the King’s Church had fallen to rock bottom.

“Because of the endemic diseases of Bthuma people from other regions are not very effective. No matter what the King’s Church says they have no power to overthrow King Bthuma. It is a shame that they cannot help Bthuma when the Nagas attack. However it is a good thing for the Qing Dynasty.”

“So. That Cheonggeun Party was recognized by King Btuma?”

“Yes. He even donated the building himself. That is the Cheonjugak where the Cheonju of Cheonggeondang resides.”

Jiswa proudly introduced Cheonjugak to Azadin.