Night of the Soulless Heathens – 457



#458. Bamboo Growing 2

Kaspar had as his governor Gil Sang-han the count of Chitai chieftain of the Black Eagle tribe and the king’s sixth cousin.

They prepared for a desperate fight against Azadin’s forces and prepared to defend themselves.

“Azadin’s army has come this far at a rapid pace so they must not have proper siege weapons. What we should fear are the hippogriffs flying from the sky so double the number of sentinels and deploy wizards to keep a close watch!”

The auspicious Count was using his own money to hire magicians and Sellswords to strengthen his forces.

But then an envoy from Azadin’s army came to visit.

“If this is an obvious offer to surrender then cut off the envoy’s head!”

“No but that’s difficult.”

“What? What are you talking about? What’s the problem? Because of the custom of hospitality?”

There is a custom among nomads of hospitality and they never harm guests without reason.

Harming the delegation is a violation of hospitality customs so everyone is reluctant to do so.

But now was not the time for Gil Sang-han to be picky about what was hot and what was cold.

If everyone had to follow customs because of superstition he was willing to personally cut off the heads of the envoys.

however….

“King Azadin is in the delegation.”

“what?!”

After hearing that I couldn’t help but meet the delegation.

*********

Surprisingly Azadin himself was at the head of the delegation.

“I came here to talk about something first. Since it’s an important matter I think it would be better for the person with the highest decision-making authority to come in person right?”

“I’ve heard rumors before but this is even bolder than the rumors. The person who dared to stain our people’s blood comes to us as an envoy!”

Gil Sang-han secretly criticized Azadin who had advanced rapidly into Chitai territory.

“If you say it is the blood of the nation don’t you commit more resentful acts by massacring civilians?”

“Ha. We just took back what was taken from us by the settled people.”

“We have been living in a barren land since long ago having had our good land taken away by the settled people so it is inevitable that we will kill you and take your property.”

“….”

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Many nomadic peoples tended to view the wealth of settled peoples as something that was originally theirs to enjoy.

They think that they are stuck in a rough area because the good land they lived in was taken away from them by the settled peoples a long time ago.

So Azadin’s subjects could not control their anger at his behavior of rationalizing their plunder and robbery by saying that they were simply recovering what had been taken from them in the past.

“You’re laughing! How can you ever justify raping women and killing children!?”

“You are beasts without human affection! If we don’t cut you down right now….”

As Azadin’s subjects became indignant Gilsanghan’s subjects also became excited. As both sides became excited Azadin raised his hand and struck the negotiating table.

-pop!

The table leg exploded drawing everyone’s attention.

“Now everyone be quiet. If killing someone was going to solve the problem we wouldn’t have bothered to arrange a gathering like this. And before I opened my mouth who said it was okay to talk as I pleased? Are you trying to smear my face as the king?”

Azadin stopped them.

Azadin’s subjects immediately shut their mouths tightly when they saw Azadin so angry.

As clapping requires two palms to make a sound when Azadin’s subjects kept their mouths shut no matter how much Gilsanghan’s subjects chattered they soon became quiet.

“What are you talking about? This isn’t something that happened yesterday or today. Let’s talk first. First open the walls and surrender right now. If you release our people who were captured here I will end it by holding those who committed excessive killings accountable. If you block the walls and insist on a siege I will pay you back for what you did. It will start with castrating every man in this castle.”

‘You want to castrate me? Are you in your right mind?’

‘Are you kidding?’

Azadin silenced everyone and spoke the content of which was extremely murderous.

“Ha! That’s funny. What would I do if I didn’t let you live right now?”

“You’re trying to kill me here after defeating the vampires of Banreung single-handedly? The heads on your necks right now are already mine at this distance. However I’m not taking it because the benefits we’ll gain from negotiations are clear and if I cut off all your heads at the negotiation table who would dare stand in front of me in the future? That’s why I’m putting up with it. I hope you don’t say whatever you want just because you have a mouth on your neck.”

Azadin glared at Caspar’s governor and his men and smirked.

Everyone was astonished to see that even though the king had come as an envoy into the middle of enemy territory he was not at all intimidated but rather treated their heads as if they were beads in his pocket.

Do you really have the skills to show off like that?

Judging from the fact that he just blew up the table his talent seems quite impressive but no matter how talented an individual is it is difficult for one person to handle ten hands.

It is doubtful whether Azadin has the ability to overcome these numbers but the rumors and tales of his exploits are equally terrifying.

In order to verify the truth of that rumor you have to hang yourself but if you hang yourself here it doesn’t end with just your own neck.

Azadin’s army was now so poisoned that they could truly castrate every male in this castle.

It was not only nomads who suffered from involuntary castration but it was also an unbearable humiliation worse than death.

As everyone was frozen in fear and unable to properly respond to Azadin’s threats Azadin opened his mouth to speak after seeing them.

“If you surrender I promise you a prosperity unlike any you have ever experienced before.”

“Huh. Everyone says that…”

“No if you think about it even a little you will know that what I am saying is not an empty boast. You are called a trading city in Chitai but who do you trade with? At most you buy the skins and horses of the nomads transport them to the Chitai coast and buy grain cloth and handicrafts there to sell to the nomads isn’t that all? It is called a trading city to that extent but in reality it is nothing more than a country market.”

“Are you trying to insult us?”

“Let’s talk realistically. When I previously offered to hand over Kaspar for negotiation let’s say the negotiation was accepted and my country’s trading post was established in Kaspar. Then the products of Naisandhokar Sandhokar Banrung and Arangi would flow into this land and it would be reborn as a true trading city. It would be a world of difference from a rural market in the inland to a trading post between countries right?”

“….”

“The benefits will never be small. Well I have no intention of stopping the army here but even so this is a city located on the edge of the North Sea so even if I conquer all of Chitai it has enough potential to develop as a trading city. The products of Aranggi and Banryeong and even more so Btuma will be transported by ship from here to the North Sea region and the customs and transportation revenue alone will promise prosperity for the city. Think of the money the caravan will spend while staying here. Even Caspar’s wild dogs will have silver coins in their mouths.”

Caspar’s subjects were perplexed when they heard Azadin’s words.

When you hear it you can’t help but feel very touched.

Originally this place was called a trading city but the trade here was limited to internal trade where horses dairy cattle wool and leather raised by scattered nomadic people were purchased and transported to the coastal areas where settled peoples lived and in return products necessary for the nomadic life were sold.

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As Azadin says if Azadin’s forces occupy this land it will be reborn as a trading city between nations and the income of the entire city will increase incomparably from what it is now.

There is no guarantee of victory in fighting against Azadin’s army and if they lose they are promised prosperity in the city if they surrender to Azadin who threatens to castrate all the men.

You have to balance the two: becoming rich and prospering.

“Don’t make me laugh! I’m a Cheetah man! What’s the big deal about making money? I’ll fight to the end and show you the spirit of a Cheetah man!”

Gil Sang-han was furious at Azadin’s threats.

It is insulting to be offered to become a man and serve two lords but to try to persuade him with this kind of benefit is an insult.

How could anyone come up with such a proposal without seeing themselves as mere profit-seeker?

When Gil Sang-han became angry his subjects were surprised.

“Oh could you please wait a moment?”

Gil Sang-han’s subjects asked for Azadin’s understanding and briefly took the angry Gil Sang-han beyond the curtain to persuade him.

And after a while the blood-covered servants returned.

“I surrender.”

They offered the freshly cut and still warm head of Gilsanghan to Azadin.

“It looks like there was some pretty aggressive persuasion involved. I didn’t mean for it to turn out this way. Okay.”

Azadin was thus able to take over the trading city of Kaspar with little bloodshed.

*********

“That is what happened.”

When Sebalhan heard that Kaspar had fallen he was very surprised but he just thought that Azadin’s army had taken control of the castle using the hippogriff.

But after hearing the inside story I was speechless.

I never thought I would be able to achieve bloodless entry.

‘No it’s not bloodless. Taesu’s blood is flowing. Gil Sang-han is also my relative….’

The subordinates cut off their master’s head and offered it to the enemy to surrender.

If they had done such a thing they would never return to Sebalhan no matter what they did. Instead they would have become Azadin’s most ardent supporters.

Even if you say that you will not be held accountable for killing Gil Sang-han the king’s relative the other person will not believe you and Se Bal-han’s authority will only fall for no reason.

How dire must the situation be for someone to even whine and say they will forgive those who cut off their relative’s head?

If this fact becomes known the local leaders will leave more quickly.

“If those guys had personally beheaded Taesu Gil Sang-han they would all have become ardent rebels by now?”

“Yes. A significant number of the nomadic tribes of the steppes have turned against King Azadin.”

The trading city of Kaspar also served as a lifeline for nomadic tribes.

If they cannot get the necessities from the market here the quality of life of the nomads will rapidly decline and they will be unable to survive. Although the nomads are accustomed to a harsh life there is a limit to that.

Without metal tools pottery forge equipment and medicine a nomadic life would quickly be reduced from a nomadic tribe to a primitive tribe.

Would you be able to handle wearing clothes made of steel needles and then having to use bone needles and knives like a primitive tribesman?

Azadin’s victory over Caspar with a three-inch tongue was equivalent to winning the leash over all the nomadic tribes that made a living by trading with Caspar.

Now that Kaspar was in the hands of Azadin’s army the nomads could not rebel against Azadin.

Accordingly the nomads had no choice but to make peace with Azadin on the condition that they hand over the commanders who had participated in the massacre as Azadin wanted.

Azadin took the commanders who had participated in the massacre hostage and conscripted a nomadic light cavalry force to spearhead the attack on Chitai.

The light cavalry the pride of Chitai took the lead in Azadin’s army and advanced into Chitai.