Empire of the Ring

Sometimes when people were lost, they should go back to where they were lost.

This phrase was what best suited Youngho’s heart at the moment.

In retrospect, he realized that he did not show enough consideration for his friends. It seemed that he had forgotten his past. He used to share everything his company earned no matter how little it was and explain every single detail to his friend.

However, as the company’s size got bigger these days, all he did was transferring money to his friends’ accounts without any sharing of information. Nonetheless, his friends sincerely followed and supported him without any explanations and did not say anything. If it were not for them, Youngho could not have made it this far.

Though it seemed a little late, Youngho wanted to share his business with his friends instead of hiring them as their boss. Surprisingly, Jong-il and Insoo refused his decision no matter what. He knew his friends’ hearts. It was because they did not work for anything in return. They were rather thankful for Youngho who gave them great opportunities in life.

But, Youngho still pushed his opinion because he knew that he would lose this chance forever if he did not split his business now.

“Guys, I know we’re all family and you don’t want anything in return but people won’t look at it that way. Why don’t each of you take a company for yourself and run it on your own?”

“Dude, you’re not making sense at all. Do you want to part ways from here? Are we that much of a burden to you?”

Jong-il was rather making Youngho feel uncomfortable.

“I’m not saying that, dude.”

“Then let’s forget about what you said today.”

Youngho was not going to back out.

“Insoo, you take the security company and the warehouse complex in Vladivostok and Jong-il, you take the shipping company.”

The warehouse complex was not solely Youngho’s since Yaniv had his share as well but he was going to exchange his share of the offshore oilfield with Yaniv’s warehouse share. Since the offshore oilfield would be exhausted in several years, he was fine with giving up its share.

“Hey, Insoo. He must be sick. He’s being nonsensical now.”

Jong-il still thought that Youngho was being ridiculous.

“Jong-il. You can help your family-in-law and have your children inherit the company in the future. How long will you stay empty-handed?”

“Why are we empty-handed? We have you as our boss. And what makes you think that we wanted to rip you off? We didn’t move for money. We’re here because we’re your friends.”

“I know. That’s why I’m doing this, can’t you see? We will still discuss and make big management decisions together but I’ll turn them under your names for now.”

Since Youngho was strong-willed, Jong-il who had been upset now tried to convince him.

“Youngho. Insoo and I never envied your wealth. You are the one who brought us here from Korea and made us this big here…”

Jong-il could not continue his words since he was being choked up.

“I didn’t achieve this on my own you know. Everything was possible because of you. Just think of this as an emergency saving and store it for now.”

“You’re crazy. How can we save millions of dollars of emergency saving every year? We’re not that money hungry.”

As he was stopped by Youngho, Jong-il picked up a bottle of alcohol. He could not talk without alcohol for being frustrated. It was not that Youngho did not see that but he needed to separate his business now because if the companies kept getting bigger, he would not be sure anymore if he could give them to his friends. Unless one was a saint, one could compromise in front of money.

“I know that your cousins and family-in-laws are in need of help and you can’t support them fully even though you want to. And I also know that there are struggles you go through that you can’t tell me. I have decided, so say no more or I’ll misunderstand that you’re all greedy for money.”

“What’s up with this guy today really?”

“This is the perfect timing to split the business according to our own parts of interest. The security company and warehouse would make only about one or two million a year and the shipping company is only big but has a long way until it can make profits. If they get bigger, we’ll have to go through a confusing general meeting of stockholders. So, just listen to me.”

“Phew. I can’t get through anything to him. Insoo, let’s get out. He’s going to drive us crazy if we stayed.”

“Please don’t take this in a wrong way. Just think that we’re dividing eggs in different containers. If I hold everything to myself and one thing goes wrong, everything will go down consecutively. I’m just preparing for just in cases. Alright? Also, the share of the warehouse store in Georgia will be also passed down to the guys in Batumi.”

Youngho was driven into a wedge.

“I’m not that senseless to not understand what you’re saying referring to the eggs. I’ll go along with you for now. I know that you always want to take care after us. So, tell us anytime if you want them back. We’ll lay down everything.”

As Youngho tried to talk back to Jong-il, he stopped Youngho with his hand.

***

The wind was exceedingly cold.

Jeremic, the Countryside Force, who just passed water, shivered and got on the light armored vehicle. Inside, three of his comrades were snoring.

Since there was a while left until the shift rotation time, he was bored. He turned on the searchlight on the vehicle for a moment and turned it off. For the short moment, he sensed something reflecting the light back.

He turned the light back on and saw several wolves scattering because of the light. The construction of stonewalls around the residential towns was not completed yet and there was a concern that they might come to attack the towns. So, he opened the vehicle’s root and fired blanks randomly.

Startled by the sounds, his comrades all woke up.

“What is it? Wolves?”

“Yeah. I think there might be five or six. They fled to the palace construction site. Call Team 2.”

“Why didn’t you fire an aimed shot?”

“The weather outside suddenly got cold. If I catch them now, I need to skin them. I didn’t want to go through the trouble, so I chased them away to Team 2. Those guys complained that we got the wolves several days ago. I’m letting them have this.”

Wolf skins in the late fall were so popular.

Because the wolves finished molting already to prepare for the winter, their furs were dense and sleek. If tanned well, wolf skins could be sold at 400 dollars for each piece. Therefore, the Countryside Force that patrolled around the farm at night were actively looking to hunt wolves. They would receive a hundred dollars at the farm’s office when they brought a skin, so it was a great way to earn some pocket money.

This might sound like a horror story to animal activists but that was the case in an advanced country that was willed to protect wolves that faced near extinction in national parks. In the plains of Siberia or Kazakhstan, any wolves spotted were to be killed since they were mere hazardous beasts. Because they killed livestock every day, hunting wolves were directly related to living.

Besides, the wolves in Kazakhstan were too many that their population should be reduced. If they were left alone untouched, they would grow in number at a tremendous speed and people would not be able to walk off the farm freely in fear of wolves. There were no protecting wolves in the wild plains of Kazakhstan.

“Youngho. Let’s go make money at Arirang Farm.”

Jong-il, who heard about the reward for hunting wolves, could not sit still.

“You just started managing your business. Why are you trying to take a little pocket money?”

“I just received a company in huge debt. I need to sell wolf skins to make up for that.”

“Man. It’s a company with assets of over a hundred million dollars. How dare you call it a company in debt!”

“You siphoned off the best part to the farm and gave me a company that won’t make profits until a few years. I’ve got to exchange it with Cha Insoo’s companies.”

Although Jong-il complained, he was actively engaged in the shipping business and frequently contacted with Choi Sunkil. Since he was the owner of the company now, he became more passionate about it.

The vessels that sailed across the Atlantic would not make profits until the loan amounts were paid off but the two bulk grain carriers and two other general cargo freighters would make him quite a lot.

He still complained but his face looked brighter. It seemed that he could save his face by helping his family-in-laws.

What Jong-il referred to as the best part was the car ferry vessel since Youngho turned its ownership to Arirang Farm. It was what the residents would have to use now and since it would transport parts for drones and materials for machine tools, it became the farm’s exclusive vessel.

***

“Jeez. Did you gather all of the wolves in Kazakhstan here?”

Youngho could see dozens of wolves through the starlight scope.

Youngho and Jong-il were aiming the wolves from a light-armored vehicle.

“I told you last time. Zeynep freaked out after seeing dozens of wolves when we went to survey Koryoin town. The wolves here are huge. Even tigers dodge them.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“It’s true. According to the elder Kim Sung-chan, Tigers stay away from wolf packs.”

“These continental people are just big talkers.”

In Kazakhstan, people said that a group of two to three wolves could hunt a tiger. Also, wolves were so common that some people would capture and train newborn wolf pups for their own use. Generally, wolves were known to be impossible to train but Kazakh people believed that a pup that was less than a month old could be trained.

“This winter’s going to be a war against wolves just like last winter. The hungry packs will crowd in smelling the livestock on the farm.”

What Youngho and Jong-il caught that day were five wolves.

Even though they fired aimed shots from sniper rifles with a silencer, the rest of the wolves still sensed the two and ran away. As other wolves fell down in pain, they intuitively fled to hide. Since they were that prudent, they kept snatching away sheep in secret.

It drove people crazy since sheep would be gone even under their watch.

As they followed the blood stains, the only remains they could find were thick bones and skins of sheep.

The strong teeth of wolves could chew up any decent-sized bones.

In every winter, professional hunters would catch wolves but they could not reduce the number of wolves. It was said that they did not come around when dogs barked near residential areas but they were getting bolder every year.

This was what Youngho was worried about.

Losing livestock was something that had been happening for a long time but if children were lost while playing outside the walls, it would be a huge problem at the farm. If those kinds of accidents continued to happen, the farm would not be a good place to live for many. Youngho could not watch that happen and that was why the farm was actively getting rid of wolves around it.

Since wolf skins were sold at a high price, people were eager to catch more wolves.

The farm’s management office was not going to sell the skins as they were because if they processed a little bit more, they would be sold at several times more the original price. So, people were going to make clothes, hats, and arm and leg warmers to sell them in the market.

Among the 4,000 residents, there were quite a lot of people who had dressmaking skills. There were even crafty women who could read a magazine and make similar design clothes.

The wolf skins caught in the late fall was highly priced. Especially, Russians were fond of wolf fur, and there were not enough wolf fur products in the market for them.

Youngho thought of Sergey in Volgograd.

Indeed, mafias were the best agency Youngho could trust especially in Russia. There was no one who would buy mafias’ products at cheap prices.

Selling wolf skins was a business that would kill two birds with one stone.

To the people enrolled in Countryside Watch, it would be a way to make allowances and to women who possessed dressmaking techniques, it would be a great source of money.

If the residents had enough money, it would also be directly related to the farm’s development.

Excited, Youngho did not waste a minute to call Sergey.

“Brother. I have an excessive number of wolf skins. Do you have any furriery that you know well?”

“Wait, why would you give them to a furriery? We also treat furs.”

Youngho had forgotten that the mafias would get involved in any business to make money.

“You’re not going to pay me a dirt cheap price, right?”

“Hahaha. Alright. Don’t worry about such a thing. Why don’t you bring some sample pieces first? We can only negotiate the price after I look at the products.”

“Very well. I’ll fly to Volgograd the first thing tomorrow.”

Now that the farm’s residents would have another job to do, their winter would be warm and full.