Black Swan Chapter 4

― Such insolence!

The old ruler crumpled the flyer into a ball and threw it away. Meanwhile, the officers were reading the flyer around, murmuring among themselves.

― Throw those scraps of paper away this instant!

Just as the old ruler was about to roar, urgent news arrived. It was the report that ‘Ilhwaywolguk❨日和月國 ― Land of the Sun and Moon❩’, led by Wang Hui, had crossed the border of ‘Usaguk❨羽蛇國❩’. The contents printed on the flyer had come true in reality. A heavy silence settled over the meeting room.

The old ruler bit his lip and stood up.

― What are you making such a fuss about! Don’t tell me even you guys believe that cult leader bastard has powers of foresight? I must go punish Wang Hui first. I’ll finish it quickly and return, so you guys wait just a little while.

In just three hours, the king of the snakes took twenty-seven of his sons and left the border. Behind the garrison officers who were whispering among themselves, overcome with anxiety, the young snake stood with his mouth tightly shut.

After a long while, the young snake shook his head and walked away. The ground was sloshing with filth from the excrement and urine that the private soldiers and warhorses had relieved anywhere. Starting just two days ago when September arrived, the Sybir north wind had abruptly ceased. The late summer sun beat down boiling hot. Clammy humidity covered the soldiers’ skin like moss, and warm steam rose thick and fast from the warhorses’ rumps. A group of private soldiers walked over from the opposite side of the young snake. Their faces were all broken out with red sores indicating signs of infectious disease. Private soldiers polishing weapons were rare; most gathered in groups of three to five, immersed in mahjong or looking over the flyer.

― Four earthquakes will occur in one year and 240,000 casualties will result…? Is the rumor true that Lee Hwa is a prophet?

― They say it’s true. They say he foresees the future even a thousand years from now. If Lee Hwa performs a curse ritual, even people on the African continent vomit blood and die. Mukso fled because he was terrified of Lee Hwa’s curse too.

― Since it’s come to this, why not just scrap the liberation business altogether; what is this? The weather’s hot enough to kill us as it is.

― If he scrapped the liberation business altogether, wouldn’t people mock Mukso for being scared of Lee Hwa? For Mukso, throwing one hundred thousand soldiers onto Lee Hwa’s ritual table would feel better than having his own face humiliated.

― The Continent is wide and people are many. Even if one hundred thousand people die, it won’t make a dent. Damn it, they say the remaining military rations here are only a month’s supply; will the main base keep distributing rations to us?

Suddenly, a piercing screech surged up. At the screams poured out by hundreds of amplifiers, all the private soldiers grimaced and covered their ears. On hundreds of extra-large screens lined up across the border line, white light turned on one after another, and the ‘Blood Ritual’ unfolded.

The young snake stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at the video on the screen. Wearing a black hood and draped in a long cloak, the priest slowly raised both arms. It looked as if a wicked demon king were spreading massive bat wings wide open. The priest spoke in a gentle, melodious voice: Praise the great God, Lee Hwa. Praise the King of the North, the sacred Prophet, Lee Hwa.

At the priest’s agitation, the fanatics wailed passionately and offered prayers. Ah, O God. O God!

The Country of God❨神❩.

After ‘those days’ ended, the Western Continent met the so-called New Spring and Autumn Warring States Period. Due to the endless struggles of warlords that persisted for as long as five hundred years, the population of the Western Continent ended up shrinking from 1.3 billion down to 300 million. Even after that, the Western Continent, which continued to fracture again and again, barely settled into four kingdoms just over a hundred years ago. ‘Ilhwaywolguk❨日和月國 ― Land of the Sun and Moon❩’. ‘Usaguk❨羽蛇國 ― Feathered Snake❩’. ‘Saengmyeongmokguk❨生命木國 ― Tree of Life❩’. ‘Hyeon-tapguk❨縣塔國 ― Hanging Tower❩’.

On the other hand, the Eastern Peninsula was split into north and south right after ‘those days’ ended, maintaining that status quo all along to this day. The northern ‘Country of God❨神❩’ bordering the Western Continent. The southern ‘Country of Ryun❨侖❩’ facing the Far Eastern Archipelago with the East Sea in between.

In the global ranking of land area, the Western Continent took ninth place, and the Eastern Peninsula took forty-second. However, if you asked Westerners on the other side of the globe if they knew any nation among the Far East Asian countries, nine out of ten would answer the ‘Country of God’. The ‘Country of God’ gained notoriety for its unique political system to the point where it could not be helped.

The ‘Country of God’ was an unprecedented cult nation. They revered a living person as a god and king. That king was called by the name ‘Lee Hwa’ generation after generation, but regarding the current Lee Hwa, almost nothing was known other than the fact that he was an old man over sixty.

The young snake spat on the ground.

― What kind of god is a god. He’s just an idol.

Soon, he slouched his shoulders and walked toward his tent. Thick darkness painted over his silhouette from behind.

The Prophet peeked at everything.

The ruler of the snakes did not return for over a month. The news that arrived to the border garrison only after three months was merely a unilateral notice cutting military rations by 30%. As even their pay was delayed, deserters broke out day and night in rapid succession.

The young snake suggested to his superiors that they reclaim the wasteland near the garrison camp.

― Rather than letting the private soldiers’ hands lie idle, how about we reclaim the fields to farm and harvest military rations ourselves? It rains often here, so if we build a reservoir to store water, we can use it as agricultural water.

― Do you know how long reclamation takes? With what money do we buy the farming tools needed for reclamation? Everyone is starving to death as it is, so if we force heavy labor on them, deserters will increase even further.

― This bastard doesn’t know how to look at land. Does the soil quality here look so easy to you that crops will pop right up if you just scatter some fertilizer?

The superiors immersed themselves only in mahjong and ignored the young snake’s suggestion. The young snake did not back down easily.

― Give me two thousand private soldiers and one year’s time.

After two weeks of entreaties, the young snake obtained five hundred private soldiers and half a year’s time. Afterwards, every morning he took the lead among his subordinates to gather human waste and horse dung scattered across the camp, processing them into fertilizer. Selling a portion of that fertilizer to merchants at cheap prices, he purchased farming tools and used them for the reclamation work.

In two months, the superior officers changed their attitude. Because human waste and horse dung, which had been headaches for camp sanitation, were neatly cleared away, infectious diseases dropped drastically. The officers gave the young snake two thousand more private soldiers and actively encouraged reclamation. While the young snake was immersed in reclamation, just as Lee Hwa prophesied, four earthquakes occurred in Usaguk, resulting in casualties approaching 240,000 people.

In one year, the old ruler returned. To the king who praised the reclamation project, the officers competed with one another to say it was their own achievement. Not a single officer said that the person who suggested and commanded the reclamation project was the young snake. This time, too, the young snake held his tongue and stayed quiet.

The old ruler said:

― Now that I have returned, your troubles are over. This time for sure, we will settle this once and for all!

Unlike the king’s boast, the snakes failed to settle things once and for all, merely letting time pass by. This was because every time they tried to advance into the Eastern Peninsula, incidents obstructing the snakes broke out. As the sluggish situation continued on, the border standoff between the ‘Country of God❨神❩’ and ‘Usaguk❨羽蛇國❩’ reached its seventh year before anyone knew it.

― I can’t stand it any longer!

The old ruler slammed his fist on the table.

― No matter how outstanding Lee Hwa’s foresight may be, he won’t be able to block a million-man army! We will crush them with human wave tactics!

By the king’s order, nine hundred thousand cavalrymen gathered before the border line. One million invaders crossed the border line in one go and advanced into the ‘Country of God’. The Country of God collapsed so easily it was anti-climactic. Though they fought a fierce battle due to the frontline vanguard unit’s extremely violent resistance, they were no match for the million-man army. The members of the vanguard unit met their deaths without exception.

― Hahaha! It was merely this much! You treacherous cult leader bastard! You toyed with me for seven whole years with your clever tongue! Kill them all! Anyone who shows even a shred of mercy to the enemy citizens will be considered a traitor!