The Japanese who fell into the sandy swamp looked up at the group of horsemen with puzzled eyes.
A man in the crowd shouted at them.
“Since you set foot on this land without fear, you must be prepared to face any punishment, right? You filthy seed!”
Then, Ueda, the leader of the stormtrooper, straightened his upper body and shouted at him.
“Are you guys Keshikten? To me, they just look like peasants!”
The group that appeared on horseback numbered about 50 people.
Most of them were dressed in plain clothes, such as jeans and a windbreaker.
They were also rough faces from the hot desert sun and dry wind.
As Ueda said, they were ordinary nomads common in the Mongolian grasslands.
What was unusual was that half of the group had long swords slung around their waists, and the other half had bows slung over their shoulders.
One of the Japanese saw them like that and murmured softly.
“Uldchi and Koroch…”
Among Keshikten, those who use swords were called Uldchi, and those who use bows were called Koroch.
A man who seemed to be the leader of the group shouted at Ueda.
“You are arrogant on the subject of being trapped!”
Unlike other people, he was wearing Mongolian traditional costumes ‘Del’ and ‘Malgay’.
The del was an outer garment similar to a Korean durumagi, and the malgai was a hat with a pointed crown.
“We are the Khevtul who guard the night of our lord.”
Since its inception, Kesikten has been divided into day and night shifts, with the day shift called Torguud and the night shift called khevtuul.
Ueda smiled and asked him.
“You must be having a lot of trouble standing on the night shift! Then, is the uncle Cervi?”
“Yes.”
Chervi (扯兒必) was the title of the leader of Kesikten.
“I’m Mongolian, but you speak Japanese better than my grandmother who lives in Okinawa, right? Do you take the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) score into account when selecting Kesikten?”
Chervi did not respond to Ueda’s sarcasm.
Ssuk-
Cervi drew an arrow from the quiver and put it on the bowstring.
Then he pointed at Ueda and drew a protest.
hiss-
The straight arrow pierced Ueda’s heart.
fluff-
Ueda, breathless, lowered his head.
The other Japanese frowned as they watched the scene.
They couldn’t understand Ueda’s actions.
Why did you hurt the enemy’s planting and invite death?
When Cervi beckoned to his men, they all dismounted.
Then he walked into the sand swamp.
But they didn’t fall into the swamp.
Only then did the Japanese know.
That the sand swamp they fell into was also an illusion.
From the beginning, everything was hallucinations, including the village that was here, the villagers they killed, and the sand swamp.
He was hallucinating, unable to properly attach himself, and was captured by the enemy.
All the Japanese put on a dejected expression.
Chuang-
The Uldochi (劍士) pulled out the swords from their waists and brought them to the necks of the Japanese.
“From now on, just do as you are told. If you do anything different, I will cut you right away.”
In the meantime, Korochi stood in front of the Japanese with thumb-thick awls and hammers.
“Put your hands out in front of you.”
From noble mtl dot com
“what?! What are you going to do?!”
hiss-
The Japanese who spoke back was cut off by Uldchi’s blade.
Then, terrified, the Japanese held out their palms as they were told.
snap-
The Korochs started punching holes in the center of the Japanese palms with awls and hammers.
kuh-
Japanese people with holes in their hands screamed.
It didn’t end there.
I put a finger-thick rope around the wound where blood was gushing out.
kuh-
As the rough rope penetrated the wound, the Japanese screamed in agony.
That’s how 40 Japanese were threaded into one rope.
“Everyone stand up!”
kuh-
The Japanese stood up with their legs shaking.
“Walk to where your camp is!”
Kesikten headed for the base camp of the Japanese with the prisoners in front.
Cervi muttered.
“I will teach them today that combat is not fought with firepower.”
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self-
A man appeared where Keshikten and the Japanese prisoners had all left.
It was Minhyuk Choi.
He was watching the whole situation while hiding himself with invisibility magic.
‘It wasn’t magic.’
It wasn’t magic that Keshikten had been hallucinating the Japanese a moment ago.
If they had used magic, they would have been able to feel the ‘magic’ through ＜Perception＞, but it wasn’t at all.
What they used was ‘drugs’.
It poisoned the Japanese by burning the leaves of a hallucinogenic plant like cannabis.
hmm-
Choi Min-hyeok’s ultimate goal on this trip was to obtain the gold that was piled up in Genghis Khan’s tomb.
However, the most curious thing at this point was about the ‘golden liquid’ that Kesikten was guarding.
It was necessary to verify that the liquid was indeed an elixir.
‘Let’s watch a little longer.’
Minhyuk Choi went to Suzuki’s base camp.
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.
Hayashi, who was looking ahead through his night vision goggles, widened his eyes in surprise.
“oh my god! What is that situation?”
The stormtroopers who had been dispatched two hours earlier were returning to camp.
But not all of them were talking.
Disarmed, they were walking in a line.
In response to Hayashi’s commotion, Suzuki checked the situation with his night vision goggles.
Looking closely, I saw that a suspicious group was following closely behind the stormtroopers.
“It’s Keshikten!”
At Suzuki’s cry, the foot soldiers nearby raised their guns and aimed forward.
The armored personnel carriers climbed into the armored vehicles and turned the turret in the direction the enemy appeared.
“Damn it…”
However, Suzuki could not give the order to open fire.
Because Keshikten was using the stormtroopers as human shields.
＜Can you hear me? You bastards sneaking into our land!＞
A radio came in from Kesikten.
He was using communications equipment stolen from the stormtroopers.
Hayashi shouted into the walkie-talkie, veins forming on his forehead.
“Yeah, sounds good! Damn you bastards!”
Just as many countries in Asia called Japanese bandits Raegu, the Japanese also called the soldiers of the Mongol Empire who invaded them Wongu (元寇).
The radio went on from Kesikten.
＜I remember when I followed Khan’s orders and went to trample the monkeys with swords!＞
I was talking about the Mongol Empire’s ‘expedition to Japan’.
At that time, the Japanese soldiers were helpless by the Mongolian army, but they had no choice but to do so.
At that time, Ikito (一騎討: one-on-one mounted battle between generals to prevent unnecessary loss of troops) was popular in Japan.
Even when the Mongols invaded, the Japanese generals asked for a daily meeting, and the Mongols laughed at the Japanese generals and fired their bows into hedgehogs.
And captured Japanese prisoners of war and civilians were used as human shields.
The old-fashioned Japanese army, which worshiped the samurai spirit and honored daily fighting, was completely overrun by the Mongols, who did not hesitate to use human shields to defeat the enemy most effectively.
＜If it weren’t for the typhoon you guys call Kamikaze, the name Japan would have disappeared from the world map, wouldn’t it?＞
When the Japanese army was brutally crushed by the Mongolian army, a big typhoon suddenly came.
Because of this, the Mongols lost 200 of their 900 warships in one day and had no choice but to withdraw.
Japan, which won thanks to the typhoon, called the typhoon kamikaze (divine wind).
And hundreds of years later, during World War II, they gave the name to their suicide bombers.
pududeuk-
Hayashi gnashed his teeth and shouted.
“Are you using people as shields again like your ancestors? Demonic Mongolians!”
Then, Cervi smiled and responded.
＜People from other countries are allowed to curse at us, but only you freaks can’t curse at us. You guys are one step ahead of us in the skill of using human shields.＞
Japan also invaded other countries during World War II and used prisoners of war and civilians as human shields.
Even in the Battle of Okinawa, even the own people committed a bizarre atrocity that they used as human shields.
After that, they tried to revise their own textbooks to cover up their atrocities, but failed due to resistance from Okinawans.
“Sheesh!”
Hayashi was speechless.
I ran out of things to say when I looked at the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
Suzuki responded by snatching the radio from Hayashi’s hand.
“What do you guys want?”
＜You talk fast. Are you their captain?＞
“Yes. I am the decision maker.”
＜Leave the stone box and withdraw 10 km. Then I will release all the prisoners.＞
The biggest purpose of Cerbi bringing the Japanese prisoners of war here as human shields without killing them was to obtain a stone box.
hmm-
Suzuki was lost in thought.
He longed to find Khan’s tomb, but he wasn’t driven mad enough to sacrifice the lives of his allies for that goal.
In addition, infantry support was essential to continue the expedition.
If you lose all 40 raiders, you will not be able to explore Lake Baikal even if you get the golden liquid.
Therefore, it was a reasonable decision to save the lives of allies who were taken hostage and aim for the next opportunity.
“I get it. I will pass the stone box. As promised, release the hostages. request.”
＜Don’t worry. Keshikten has no mercy for his enemies, but he never lies.＞
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Suzuki’s unit demolished the base camp.
Then, everyone got into the vehicle and evacuated.
There was only one folding table left in the place where the camp used to be.
A stone box was placed on top of it.
jump-
Cervi jumped off her horse.
Then he walked over to the table and picked up the stone box.
‘Finally recovered.’
The stone box that fell into the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army was recovered after 80 years.
A subordinate who was looking in the direction the vehicle disappeared with night vision goggles reported to Cervi.
“They withdrew 10 km out.”
“Free the prisoners.”
Keshikten untied the Japanese prisoners of war.
And they returned their belongings, except for weapons.
Beep beep-
The Japanese took water bottles out of their backpacks and drank the water first.
The bleeding made her thirst even worse.
“Never set foot on this land again! I will never let you live then.”
Kekshikten rode off, leaving the Japanese behind.
Everyone silently looked in the direction Keshikten had disappeared.
“Everyone, wake up! Treat each of your wounds first!”
At someone’s cry, everyone took out a first-aid kit from their backpacks.
The wound was then disinfected and the bleeding stopped with a bandage.
“Let’s go back!”
trudging-
Everyone started walking towards the friendly vehicles.
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After the Japanese disappeared, a man appeared.
It was Minhyuk Choi.
‘It ended blandly.’
After succumbing to the hostage situation, Suzuki handed over the stone box to Keshikten.
If left as it is, Suzuki will give up this expedition and return to Japan.
‘I can’t do that.’
He must continue to find Khan’s tomb.
The reason why you can leisurely enjoy camping while fishing in the oasis is because Suzuki does the work for you.
So we will create the conditions for him to continue his exploration.
The method was simple.
All you have to do is put the stone box filled with golden liquid into Suzuki’s hand.
Then he will carry it and head to Lake Baikal, where Genghis Khan’s tomb is located.
Anyway, I had to confirm the identity of the ‘golden liquid’ guarded by Kesikten.
It’s supposed to be an elixir, but it’s not certain yet.
‘You’ll understand when you see it yourself.’
Minhyuk Choi started chasing Keshikten.