Chapter 22

Chapter 22. Village Chief Yobik (1)

The Rong tribe lived scattered across the mountains, surviving by hunting. In those mountains, where supplies were scarce, it was difficult for small groups to survive without bartering with other tribes. Because of that, even though they had no fixed laws, they tended to keep their promises and customs well enough.

The Yeon tribe, on the other hand, lived by driving livestock from place to place as entire tribes, and fierce battles broke out between tribes over the limited oases and pastures. Other tribes were competitors and targets for plunder, and promises changed all too often depending on the weather and circumstances.

So they trusted their own tribe, but were hostile toward outsiders. The only time they united was when they plundered the Empire, and even then, they often moved according to their own interests.

Because they lived on the move and did not unite, they were also difficult to subjugate. It was hard to even determine where they were, and even if one tribe’s base was burned down, the other tribes remained completely unharmed, scattering across the wide grasslands and deserts.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to dispatch envoys to the Yeon tribe as well, find out what they’re doing, and gather information?”

“Who would want to go live among the savage Yeon tribe?”

The envoy looked back at Aslaf and asked.

“You are not thinking of going to the Yeon tribe as an envoy yourself, are you, Young Master Aslaf?”

“Why not? It’s not impossible.”

“Oh dear. Just because you lived with the Rong tribe for a year, it would be a mistake to think you could live well with the Yeon tribe too. Compared to the Yeon tribe, the Rong tribe are gentlemen.”

The envoy shook his head firmly.

“I have gone to the Yeon tribe as an envoy before, but they are barbaric beyond belief. I never want to go again.”

“There are Yeon tribesmen who have adapted to the Empire and live well, aren’t there? Isn’t it just that their environment is different?”

There were also Yeon tribesmen living as an ethnic minority in the Empire. Ranch owners who grazed livestock in the pastures hired Yeon tribesmen to herd their sheep. If they hired the nomadic Yeon tribe, one or two people could do the work of ten imperial people. Herds of sheep and cattle so enormous that even a dozen people would have difficulty driving them could be rounded up in an instant by two or three Yeon tribesmen riding around on horseback.

“Live well? Hardly. They start riots at the drop of a hat. In any case, there is no helping bastards who are barbaric at the root.”

It was true that the Yeon tribe often started riots. Because the Yeon tribe had plundered the Empire and had been at war with it for seventeen years, the Yeon tribesmen living in the Empire were treated with suspicion as enemy spies and suffered discrimination.

In reality, Yeon tribesmen did sometimes infiltrate the Empire to gather information and hide in Yeon villages, and Yeon tribesmen also sent the money or weapons they earned in the Empire to the Yeon tribe beyond the border, so suspecting them of being spies was not entirely groundless.

Even so, the vast majority of Yeon tribesmen were innocent, yet they became targets for people to vent their anger on simply because they were Yeon tribesmen. They were beaten, burned to death, and sacrificed to hate crimes.

Each time that happened, the Yeon tribesmen of the Empire resisted and caused large-scale riots, creating a vicious cycle that repeated over and over.

“Then either expel all the Yeon tribesmen outright.”

The strange situation of living together with an enemy in the middle of a war continued because ranch owners hired Yeon tribesmen as herdsmen.

To reduce costs, they hired Yeon tribesmen and brought them into the Empire, then looked away from the problems the Yeon tribesmen caused when they failed to adapt to the Empire.

“Or else, like Alexei I, make an effort to assimilate the Yeon tribe into the Empire.”

Alexei I had also suffered headaches over the Yeon tribe issue. The Duchy of Azure, which bordered the Rong tribe and the Yeon tribe, had one Rong tribesman among every twenty residents, and one Yeon tribesman among every thirty.

Alexei I built chapels in Yeon villages to spread the Empire’s religion, and dispatched monks to teach them the imperial language, writing, and culture. He also recruited young Yeon men as soldiers, organized cavalry units, and provided them with jobs.

Once the impression took root that Yeon cavalrymen wore the uniform of the Duchy of Azure and protected the nation, hate crimes against the Yeon tribe gradually decreased. As discrimination against the Yeon tribe decreased, more Yeon tribesmen naturally tried to assimilate into the Empire, and the riots also gradually dwindled.

At Aslaf’s words, the envoy stuck out his lower lip and retorted.

“And yet, in the end, a Yeon riot still broke out in the Duchy of Azure. I tell you, they are ungrateful bastards.”

After Alexei I ascended the throne, the Duchy of Azure, where imperial people, the Rong tribe, and the Yeon tribe had lived together peacefully without ethnic conflict, was thrown into chaos by a sudden riot in the final year of Alexei I’s reign.

Because of the Yeon tribe’s riot, Alexei I could not mobilize enough soldiers when he went to fight Marquis Georg. It was difficult to recruit soldiers from among the Yeon tribe who had started the riot, and he also had to leave troops behind to suppress the riot within the duchy.

‘Why did the Yeon tribe, who had been living well, start a riot?’

It was a question that still had no answer. The Yeon tribe had no reason at all to be dissatisfied with Alexei I. He provided them with basic education free of charge, there were plenty of jobs, and by mediating conflicts through Yeon tribesmen who had lived in the Empire for a long time, the Duchy of Azure had gained a reputation even among the Yeon tribe as the best place for Yeon tribesmen to live.

Even so, the fact that they had started such a radical riot, and that the Yeon soldiers within the Duchy of Azure’s army had not noticed any sign of it at all, smelled suspicious.

When dissatisfaction spread through Yeon villages or there were signs that a riot might break out, the Yeon soldiers serving in the army would notice in advance, report it to Alexei I, and prevent it before it happened.

But when he was setting out to fight Marquis Georg, Yeon riots broke out sporadically all across the duchy with no prior warning.

‘Could someone have stirred up the riots deliberately?’

Because he had to set out in haste, Alexei I left part of his forces and the cavalry under Cavalry Captain Churin to suppress the Yeon riots, then headed to the battlefield.

After suppressing the riots, Churin was leading his troops to catch up when he fell into Marquis Sigrid’s ambush and died before he could join them. Because of that, Alexei I never heard the detailed circumstances of why the Yeon tribe had rioted. Alexei I himself died in battle soon after, and the incident of the Yeon riots was forgotten just like that.

Aslaf still did not know the reason either. Even after that, the Yeon tribe occasionally caused riots, but there had never been another riot as radical as that one, where they set villages on fire and even harmed other Yeon tribesmen.

“Then I will be heading home now.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After entering the Empire’s border, Aslaf parted ways with the envoy delegation and headed toward Beden Castle, where his family was.

At a fork in the road, Aslaf stopped for a moment and fell into thought.

“Beden Castle is this way, though?”

Iwan looked at the map and pointed out the road to Aslaf.

“I know. There’s somewhere I have to go before that.”

“Where?”

“Azure Castle.”

Aslaf changed his mind and set his course for Azure Castle.

Azure Castle had once been the capital of the Duchy of Azure. It was the place where Alexei I had been born and lived.

“Oh, Azure Castle? I’ve heard the name, but this is my first time going there. I heard it used to be a rather wealthy city.”

Iwan shrugged and followed after Aslaf. Since he had followed Aslaf all the way into barbarian territory before, he said nothing more even at the sudden change in destination.

After they traveled south for about two days, the pointed spire of a chapel appeared beyond a hill.

“We’re here already.”

Iwan put a hand to his forehead and studied Azure Castle.

As they kept going, the castle walls soon came into view.

The flag planted at the gate was not the banner with the eagle crest symbolizing Alexei I’s family, but a green lattice-patterned flag indicating that this was Marquis Sigrid’s domain.

‘No wonder it didn’t feel unfamiliar. To think it was my hometown in a previous life.’

He had visited it before when he had been a Gypsy, but back then, he had not felt anything in particular. But now that he had recovered all his memories, even a single flag or pillar did not look ordinary.

‘I passed through that gate countless times. Why are there arrow marks on the gate? They weren’t there before.’

‘The three-hundred-year-old zelkova tree in the square is still there. I used to climb it and play there often when I was little.’

‘The candy shop is gone. Well, these days, with the war going on, finding sugar is like plucking a star from the sky.’

Azure Castle had grown more desolate than it had been when Alexei I had lived there. Broken buildings had been left unrepaired, and there were no people walking the streets. The city had lost its vitality, and perhaps because its population had fallen, there was no warm liveliness left.

Azure Castle had always been in a remote location, but Sigrid might have deliberately isolated and neglected it in order to break apart the forces that had followed Alexei I.

Aslaf passed through a market street with hardly any goods, then walked into a winding alley.

When they left the city center and entered a dark, secluded path, Iwan looked around anxiously. There was no sign of people, and it felt as though a petty thief might leap out from somewhere at any moment.

“Ah, you scared me.”

When a cat slipped past his feet, Iwan cried out and stuck close behind Aslaf.

As they kept walking, a bleak empty lot appeared behind the buildings. A fence where skinned sheepskins were hung out to dry came into view, and the smell of singed wool hung in the air. Beside it stood a huge, high-ceilinged tent, made by draping woolen cloth over long wooden poles.

“This place.... Isn’t this a Yeon village?”

“Yes. It is.”

On the east side of Azure Castle, there was a village where Yeon tribesmen lived together.

Aslaf strode toward the tallest tent.

Then he raised his voice and called for someone.

“Village Chief Yobik. Are you inside?”

Yobik had been the chief of the Yeon residential district during Alexei I’s time. He had also played the role of recruiting trustworthy Yeon mercenaries and providing them to Alexei I’s army.

There was no answer from inside for a long while.

‘Does he still live here? I hope he does.’

Aslaf hoped that he still lived in this place.

Due to the habits they had formed while living on the grasslands, Yeon tribesmen sided with the Empire and turned their backs on their own people according to their own interests, then betrayed the Empire again if something displeased them. Because of that, it was difficult to find a trustworthy Yeon tribesman who would not betray a relationship of trust as Yobik had.

If Yobik was still alive, he would become a decisive force in restoring the Yeon tribe information network.

Just then, the tent flap slowly opened, and an old man came outside.

“Who are you?”

It was Yobik. He had aged greatly and looked frail, but Aslaf recognized him at once.

‘Yobik. You were alive.’

At the sight of his old subordinate after so long, Aslaf felt glad, and without realizing it, he smiled and approached.

“Greetings. I am Aslaf, son of Baron Lenke of Beden Castle.”

But Yobik, who did not know that he was the reincarnation of Alexei I, stepped back with a suspicious look in his eyes and grew wary.

“What business do you have here?”

Aslaf wanted to speak with him, so he addressed him in a gentle voice.

“I have something to ask about the Yeon tribe.”

Aslaf treated him politely, but Yobik avoided his gaze and shrank back as though afraid.

“I know nothing, my lord.”

Aslaf understood perfectly well why Yobik was reacting so defensively. Every time a Yeon riot broke out, Marquis Sigrid had sent soldiers to search the Yeon village and drag away anyone who seemed suspicious indiscriminately. Yobik must have been dragged away too, beaten and tortured as they demanded he tell them where the rioters were.

“I am not a bad person. I have not come to arrest anyone. I simply want to speak with the Yeon tribe.”

To avoid frightening Yobik, Aslaf did not approach him and instead stood in place, waiting for his answer.

Even so, Yobik remained frightened and hesitant.

“What kind of story do you wish to speak about?”

“What happened to the Yeon tribe....”

Aslaf stopped speaking midway. Yobik’s hand had caught his eye. Several of his fingers had been cut off, and all of his fingernails were missing. They were clearly traces of torture.

‘Sigrid. What did you do to Yobik?’

His head rang. Seeing what had happened to his own subordinate with his own eyes made it difficult to suppress his anger.

‘Sigrid, you did this to my subordinate’s hand? I’ll break your neck just the same.’

Aslaf clenched his fist and made a vow.

‘Ha, that damned bastard. He failed to recognize talent like Yobik and treated him like this?’

To think he had persecuted Yobik, a Yeon information source who had been loyal to the Empire.

In the end, it was Marquis Sigrid’s own fault that his domain had been attacked by the Yeon tribe for seventeen years while he floundered helplessly, unable to do anything.