บท 211: Market Price
The capture of Kaesong, one of North Korea's largest cities, was initially expected to be a sluggish affair.
The battle inside the densely built-up city center is a maze of hundreds or thousands of fortifications.
The streets are too narrow for tanks and armored vehicles to enter, and the attack fronts stretch up, down, left, right, and everywhere, so you never know when or where an attack will come.
Worst of all, the civilians are the most vulnerable.
They'd rather use artillery and missiles to level the city than risk the casualties of warfare, but international criticism would be unavoidable if civilian casualties were high.
But hunks of armor chewing through bullets and anti-tank missiles raining down from windows?
-Quack, quack, quack!
-Shoot! Shoot them all!
Countless bullets and anti-tank rockets raining down from building windows and rooftops.
Despite the poultice of firepower that would have melted tanks, the Knights of the Burning Sword continued their conversation.
"Lord Tarhan, can you hear me?"
"It's okay, Sir Raihar! These things are really noisy! How about Sir Kim Jae-hyuk over there!"
"Ah, ah ah! I think my eardrums are gone! Can you use some holy techniques?"
"Why are you like this? Sir Han Soo-ho seems to be doing well here!"
"That's because his shield is a fraud!!"
After 30 minutes of walking around the city of Kaesong the amount of gunpowder rained down on the knights was enough to blow up a whole armored army if stacked, but they pounded on with their bare bodies and advanced.
"Is this the workhorse weapon of this world or what, Lord Tarhan?"
"What is it, a plain blow? Is that what the Man-At-Arms call it? Is that what the younger generation calls it?"
"You're struggling at two hundred and eighty, Lord Tarhan!"
"Don't leave out the frozen years! I am two hundred and ninety years old, Lord Raihar!"
"Whatever! It's all a bunch of hot air, and it won't mean much, especially to knights of Lord Petos like us!"
""------""
Jae-hyuk and Soo-ho were left speechless by the conversation between Lord Raihar and Lord Tarhan.
Although the Holy Knights are the best of the best, they are monstrous creatures who treat an anti-tank rocket like a stinging toothpick.
And it's a shame that they're among them.
"Lord Raihar, I've sent you all my observations!"
"Really?! Then send the information directly to Lord Spinner!"
With that, Soo-ho pulled out his communicator and entered his biometric information into the terminal.
"Is this thing really working? I don't understand how it tracks the direction of your gaze and sends the information."
"I don't know. It must be some kind of mysterious futuristic technology."
The information collectors Yappy had supplied to the Knights and all of Man-At-Arms were new, collecting information from the bioscopes and transmitting it to a centralized system.
He heard it's part of the cyber-optics prosthetic eye that's inserted during the cyborg conversion process, but the word cyborg makes Jae-hyuk uneasy.
-He's-- what's he doing with the normal eyes?
-It's a rudimentary implant.
Anyway, all of TTG Temple members had to accept this bio-modification. This is because the camera-based reconnaissance system in North Korea has been a complete failure.
Therefore, an inefficient technology called the Biometric Tracking System was used to counteract this camera distortion, and──
"Transmission complete!"
-beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!
At the same time as the information was transmitted, thousands of bullets fired from somewhere rained down on the buildings in Kaesong City, and the city fell silent.
"Did they kill them all?"
"No, they said they're going to take them as serfs and keep them for 20 years, so they're just going to blow up one place------"
That's scary enough. Knowing how serfs were treated, the two men sympathized with the North Koreans.
"Haha, don't worry too much, you two."
Lord Raihar patted the younger knights on the shoulder, as if he knew their worries.
"Unless you're a direct follower of the demon, you'll suffer moderately and die. At least your soul won't be crushed."
"Dying is a given?!"
Lionheart is no slouch at serfdom but it doesn't change the conclusion that they will die.
It was a merciful thing to do, given Lionheart's emphasis on the afterlife.
"Anyway, let's head to the center. We need to finish taking the city."
The Knights chuckle frighteningly, as if nothing is more meaningless than caring about the lives of serfs.
With the help of ruthless superhumans and AI killing machines that are beyond the reach of earthly technology, the capture of Kaesong City goes smoothly.
But they encountered unexpected resistance from the North Koreans.
"Kyo, don't move! If you get any closer, I'll kill all of you South Korean bastards!"
* * * * *
"A hostage situation?"
On the eve of the final phase of the capture of Kaesong, TTG Temple and the National Army were confronted by North Korean troops holding hostages.
Leon was puzzled and asked the ROK army division commander.
"Why are the people of South Korea in their hands?"
Leon asked the division commander, who didn't understand the situation.
Leon's last memory of South Korea was of the 1990s, and he couldn't comprehend that South Koreans were in North Korea.
"Oh, there's an industrial complex in North Korea where our private companies have set up shop. It's called Kaesong Industrial Complex, and they hire North Koreans to work there and manage them."
Leon gave him a blank look.
North Korea sends its own civilians to build factories and manage them?
"Foolish, isn't it? Those dishonorable people will take them hostage."
"Yeah--- there were political reasons, like it was proof of North-South reconciliation."
"Tsk, tsk, no matter how important public affairs are, how could they send their people to an enemy country as hostages?"
The division commander doesn't excuse the politicians, saying it was a necessary decision.
North Korea had always done crazy things, and it didn't take a genius to realize that they would take their own people hostage in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in an emergency.
"By the way, it became a headache. A hostage situation like that when the city was occupied."
Expecting to take a heavy toll, the city was able to break through with tanking by the knights and indiscriminate sniping through Yappy city center.
But the North Koreans' choice of hostage-taking worked brilliantly against them.
"What are you going to do with them, sir?"
"I'm going to call in a negotiator. We'll see what they want."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Leon gave him a disapproving look, and the division commander grew cautious.
After all, the president himself had just told him to listen to whatever Leon wanted. In this war, the TTG Temple were to be treated as 'allies' rather than conscripts.
As a division commander, it's hard to disagree with Leon.
"I can't let them get away with this. Leave them to the knights."
"What?"
Was there a counterterrorism specialist in the ranks?
The division commander gave him a puzzled glance, but Leon summoned the knights because it was his duty as a knight to save the people of his allies.
* * * * *
"There are more hostages than I thought, we need to be a little cautious."
In the TTG Temple Barracks Beatrice spoke of prudence.
"Hmm, but we must not show weakness to the serf candidates!"
Vulcanus was a hardliner. An authoritarian who would rather have a few hostages die than have a knight's dignity disgraced, which he could pass off as collateral damage.
"Ha, but they're innocent, and my country has to prioritize the safety of its citizens!"
Ha-ri's response was exemplary for a public servant. Regardless of her position, in her mind, giving up the hostages is not an option.
-Trying to save them could cause more harm. Risk the loss of a few hostages and the certainty that force will save many.
Yappy, being the calculating machine that he is, proposes a complete and total extermination of the hostage-taking North Koreans. He's even more hardliner than Vulcanus.
"No, subjugation is subjugation, but the problem is that we don't know the exact size of the hostages and the hostage-takers. Even if we wipe out the hostage takers in front of us, there will be a time lag before we can rescue the hostages inside the complex. They could all be executed in the meantime."
Karina had a realistic suggestion.
"I think we should prioritize negotiations first, Your Majesty, and determine the exact size and location of the hostages and their captors."
"Hmm--- Archduchess Karina is right. At this point, it would be best if we could get to know them under the guise of negotiations."
Leon lifted Karina's hand and turned to his knights.
"It is unpleasant to even speak to these unruly men, but we must do so for the sake of the innocent people. Do your best to rescue them."
First batter Han Ha-ri.
Ha-ri shouted into the megaphone to the North Korean troops barricaded in front of the hostages, who shouted wildly as they saw the lone colored woman come to the entrance of the empty industrial park.
"Yankee Go Home!"
"Eh?! I'm a Korean, a native Korean!"
"What kind of Korean walks around with gochujang hair and piercing eyes?"
"It's the effect of awakening, so there must be similar cases in North Korea!"
The hostage-takers didn't say much more, as it was surprisingly common for body parts to change under the influence of awakening.
"Now, calm down and tell us what your demands are, we'll take them into consideration. We're all one people, right?"
"Our demands are one! The invasion of the South Korean capitalists, led by their unnamed front men, must cease and desist immediately!"
"······Hey? You all hit first, right?"
Besides, the U.S. military hasn't even shown up yet. The South Korean military has mobilized reconnaissance satellites, but even Yappy's reconnaissance system is prone to errors. The U.S. military's reconnaissance assets would be of little use at this point.
Besides, who is the aggressor? Wasn't it North Korea that preemptively attacked?
For Ha-ri, a South Korean, the North Korean military's brazenness in labeling the U.S. as the aggressor was staggering.
"If you surrender now, you can still be treated like a human being!"
"What?!"
Ha-ri's provocative words enraged the hostage-takers. But what if it was true?
If they surrendered now, Ha-ri would move them to a military facility as an agent of the South Korean government.
But if it's not her, but someone else? They'll be reduced to serfdom.
The UN Human Rights Commission would say something about the Geneva Conventions, but Leon wouldn't listen. They'd be lucky if he doesn't ask them if they're possessed by the demons.
"I'm serious, I'm the only one thinking about you right now, so turn yourself in and find your light."
"Shut up!"
-Tudadadadadada!
"Ugh! Aaah!"
Ha-ri took a baptism of machine gun fire and fled back to the camp.
Second batter Vulcanus.
"I am Vulcanus!"
As Vulcanus approached, the North Koreans began to stir.
"What's that lump of tin?"
"Is that a big man?"
Over two meters tall and clad in a full suit of armor that must have weighed hundreds of kilograms.
"To the insolent hostage-takers!"
"Ouch, ouch, my ear, my ear!"
"What human voice is this---"
Vulcanus threatened the hostage-takers' eardrums with his gravelly voice, without a megaphone. The words that flowed from his booming voice were simple.
"If you free all the innocent people, I will kill only one of you for every ten and be done with it."
"------what?"
"What did you just say------?"
"Wash your neck quickly and choose the ones you want to give up. If it's hard to choose, draw lots. Come on!"
"What the hell is that crazy guy saying?!"
"Don't you see these South Korean bastards! Ugh! I'll kill you!"
Vulcanus shrugged as he watched the North Koreans point at the hostages.
"Kill them."
"What?"
"If one hostage dies, I will burn a hundred of you alive. I'll show you what soul-consuming pain is."
With those words, Vulcanus turned around.
"When I return in a little while, choose your victims carefully. Or I'll burn you all."
Madman.
The North Korean soldiers realized that the knight in front of them was no ordinary madman.
"This is not ------"
"Is this how the South Koreans negotiate?"
Suddenly, they remembered what the red-haired girl had said at the beginning.
"If you surrender now, you can still be treated like a human being!"
They swallowed hard as they remembered the desperation in the girl's eyes.
Third batter Yakt Spinner.
-Yuck.
Some kind of minimalist machine.
They thought it might be one of the South Koreans' unmanned drones, but it announced to the North Koreans with an eerie mechanical sound.
-Initiate a citation under the laws of the Lionheart Kingdom. Non-citizens destined for serfdom.
Non-citizens?
-I am Yakt Spinner, Grail Knight of Heto, God of Iron and Blacksmithing. You are in violation of many of the laws of the realm.
-You are not entitled to any legal protections as a non-citizen, and these offenses will only increase your punishment.
What's he saying, this one?
But regardless of the North Koreans' response, the machine continued.
-Disarm yourself immediately and cease all life activities. This is a very humane consideration from the warmth of our hearts.
These guys are crazy.
Why does it seem like things get worse with each new one--must be the mood?
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
TSareyouthere
TSareyouthere translation : please die
Novel Ended
thank you very much to all the Readers who followed me !!
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