"... So, let's proceed with this matter as just decided."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"I'm feeling a bit peckish. Let's have a quick bite and reconvene after this moment."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
[The historian speaks.]
Clang! Swoosh!
[The king's love for his people is the greatest of all time.]
Clang! Swoosh!
[He even cares that mere slaves do not overwork, so the king's virtue is like the spring sun.]
Clang! Swoosh!
[But the ministers do not receive such spring sunlight, how lamentable...]
"Historian? Are you writing bad things about me now?"
"No, Your Majesty!"
"Then why are you taking so long to write?"
"My hands are still slow..."
"Really? Should I send you back to the administrative training center?"
"I will do my best to write faster!"
"I'll be watching you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty..."
< Prologue. > End
© 국뽕
< Chapter 1: He is Gwangdeok. >
Chapter 1
He is Gwangdeok.
As people often say, the greatest of all hobbies is Western hobbies.
But above Western hobbies, there is one more level, and he is Gwangdeok.
Outskirts of Gasan-ri, Yangsan City, Gyeongnam.
Bang bang bang! Sizzle!
Jinho plunged the steel he hammered with a spring hammer into the water.
With a loud noise, steam rose up.
Jinho took out the cooled steel from the water, checked its condition, and nodded.
"It's well made."
After confirming the condition, Jinho put the steel back into the forge.
"Hey! Little brother! What are you making this time?"
"Oh? Brother! You're here?"
Jinho, who was busily moving between the forge and the machinery, brightened up when he saw the visitor.
"What are you making?"
"I'm making a sashimi knife that was ordered."
"Sashimi?"
When his cousin made a curious face, Jinho quickly added.
"A sushi knife! Someone running a Japanese restaurant in Seoul ordered it! Don't let your professional instincts kick in at any time!"
His cousin, Kim Byeong-ho, was a detective.
At Jinho's explanation, Byeong-ho relaxed his expression.
"Really? You must be doing well with orders?"
At Byeong-ho's question, Jinho wiped his nose with his finger and smiled.
"I'm getting by."
"Is that so... Let me take a look."
"I've just shaped it."
"Hmm..."
Byeong-ho, who was examining the still-red-hot steel shaped like a sushi knife, looked around.
"Why don't you tidy up a bit?"
"Yes, sir."
"You answer well. You answer well..."
While giving Jinho a hard time and looking around, Byeong-ho's eyes shone when he saw a knife in a wooden box lined with soft cloth.
"Hey. This half-moon knife, the blade seems to be set backward?"
Seeing a kukri for the first time, Byeong-ho pointed out that the blade was set wrong.
At Byeong-ho's words, Jinho's expression changed subtly.
"What? What's with that face?"
"... That's a kukri, and it's supposed to look like that."
"... Is that so? It's quite uniquely shaped. Which country's knife is it?"
"Nepal."
"The people of that country must have quite a unique personality."
Jinho, pondering what Byeong-ho's words meant, shook his head.
"Try saying that in front of Nepalese people. They'll roll you off the top of Everest."
"I'm saying it because they're not here. By the way, is that kukri or whatever the reason you called me?"
"Yes. Could you help me get a permit for possessing a sword?"
Judging the size of the kukri, Byeong-ho nodded at Jinho's request.
"Looking at the size, you would need it. But why do you need a sword?"
"I'm thinking of entering a competition in the US."
"Competition?"
At Byeong-ho's short question, Jinho manipulated a tablet he had set aside and showed a video.
After watching the video, Byeong-ho clicked his tongue.
"Tsk. It would have been nice if you made a traditional Korean sword or something and entered..."
"Do you know how many people have been disqualified because their katana bent, or how many have been knocked out because their sword broke? Korean swords or Japanese swords may be sharp, but they're not tough. In competitions like that, heavy and tough swords are the best."
"Is that so? Got it. I'll prepare the documents and bring them."
A few days later.
"Here are the documents and the card."
"Thank you."
Handing over the documents and IC card to Jinho, Byeong-ho's gaze fixed on something.
"What's that?"
"What?"
"That! That!"
Where Byeong-ho pointed, a flintlock rifle was standing.
"Oh! That? I got an order from abroad asking if I could make one, so I tried making it. Reenactors, people who cosplay and reenact the American Revolutionary War, ordered it."
"Hmm..."
Ignoring Jinho's explanation, Byeong-ho picked up the rifle and examined it closely.
Checking the firing mechanism, Byeong-ho turned to Jinho.
"This is that gun, right? The one used in the American Revolutionary War in that Mel Gibson movie?"
"Yes. It's a Kentucky rifle."
"Why are you making American guns?"
"It seems like there are fewer craftsmen over there too. And the guns they have are becoming almost like treasures..."
"So you made it?"
At Byeong-ho's question, Jinho nodded.
"I made just one for now, but if the evaluation is good, I think I can export 5 to 10 a year. That means I could earn about 2 to 3 thousand."
"Hmm..."
Watching Byeong-ho's reaction, Jinho added.
"So for this project, I need some documents..."
"Do I have to do it again?"
"Please, help me out. If it goes well, I'll treat you to something big later..."
"You talk well."
Despite his indifferent voice, Byeong-ho examined the Kentucky rifle with a serious face.
Pulling the cock without a flint attached, Byeong-ho pulled the trigger.
Click!
"Oh? It moves properly? Hmm... Is the muzzle supposed to be this small?"
"No. I blocked it so that gunpowder can go in, but bullets can't."
"Hmm..."
Listening to the explanation, Byeong-ho examined the barrel and found a small crack about 1cm from the muzzle.
Carefully examining the crack, Byeong-ho firmly grabbed the barrel and pulled the upper part of the crack.
Pop!
With a small sound, the muzzle part separated from the barrel, and Byeong-ho examined the inside of the muzzle.
Six grooves of rifling were seductively coiled inside.
Confirming the rifling, Byeong-ho grabbed Jinho by the collar.
"You damn bastard! You said it's a prop! Why did you cut rifling into a prop!"
"If you're going to make it, you have to make it properly to meet the customer's needs..."
"Are your customers shooting snuff films or something! You, you bastard! You came here to use me for this, didn't you! You want me to cover for you!"
"I can't say no..."
"You bastard!"
"It was in the requirements! To be usable in case of an emergency..."
"What nonsense is that from people living in a country overflowing with more dangerous things just across the threshold!"
After a long scuffle, they agreed to weld the muzzle cap onto the already made rifle barrel with an electric welder and add the following note to the related product listing on Amazon.
- According to the manufacturing country's law, the muzzle has been modified to prevent the use of live ammunition.
"Sigh..."
"Tsk!"
Unable to hide his disappointment, Jinho retracted his neck when Byeong-ho glared at him.
Byeong-ho read the advertisement Jinho posted on Amazon and asked a question.
"You said you made it according to historical accuracy, are you making it with the same materials from the start?"
"No way. If I made the most important part, the barrel, in the old way, the price would have another zero added to it."
"That makes sense."
While they were talking, an old woman entered Jinho's forge.
"Is the blacksmith lad here?"
"Welcome!"
"These are seed potatoes, can you store them in your warehouse?"
"Yes, understood."
Receiving the box of seed potatoes from the old woman, Jinho placed it in a separate warehouse behind the forge.
After the old woman left, Byeong-ho looked at Jinho with a newfound curiosity.
"You seem to get along well with the village elders?"
"Well, we help each other out with various things."
"Then why are they using your warehouse?"
"Because some of the chemicals used in the forge are sensitive, I paid extra attention when building the warehouse. Thanks to that, it's good for storing seeds or fertilizers, so many people use it."
"Really? Let me take a look."
"What are you trying to see again?"
"Tsk..."
When Byeong-ho's expression turned sharp, Jinho, with a retracted neck, led him to the separate warehouses behind the forge.
Seeing the piles of steel plates in the first warehouse, Byeong-ho turned to Jinho.
"There's quite a bit of scrap metal?"
"Spring steel is the best for making knives and other things. Thanks to that, I'm a regular at the junkyard."
"Is that so? Open the other warehouse too."
"... Alright."
At Byeong-ho's urging, Jinho opened the second warehouse.
Entering the cool warehouse and examining the items inside, Byeong-ho glared at Jinho.
"Why do you need those chemicals in a forge?"
"For etching decorations and various additional processes."
"You bought them legally, right?"
"Do you want to see the receipts? Geez... You really are a detective."
Despite Jinho's protest, Byeong-ho's eyes were fierce.
"If you cause any trouble, you'll pay for it with your life."
"I won't cause any trouble!"
"A guy who makes homemade guns?"
"..."
After warning Jinho, Byeong-ho turned around, sniffing and grumbling.
"Which house is it? How much fertilizer did they spread for it to smell like this..."
"It's my field."
"Huh? Are you farming now too?"
"Hahaha..."
At Jinho's peculiar laugh, Byeong-ho's expression turned sharp again as he examined the field.
The field, about 500 pyeong in size, was half-covered with solar panels, and the other half was covered with fertilizer.
Observing the setup, Byeong-ho looked directly at Jinho's face.
"The only decent thing about your personality is that you can't lie. It's definitely not a farming field, so what is it for?"
"Well... It's for saltpeter..."
"Saltpeter?"
"I was thinking of making some potassium nitrate..."
"Why potassium nitrate?"
"To check if the Kentucky rifle is properly made, I need some black powder, but it's hard to get black powder..."
"You bastard! This is beyond covering for you!"
It wasn't just because Jinho was making gunpowder that Byeong-ho turned pale.
Three days before Byeong-ho visited Jinho, an agent from the National Intelligence Service came to see Byeong-ho and his colleagues.
The NIS agent's visit was about 'Islamic terrorist organizations' activities in the country.'
"Since Osama was eliminated, Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organizations have been operating independently. Currently, no organization has been found in our country, but it's considered very dangerous. The reason is that a significant number of illegal workers from Pakistan and Southeast Asian Muslim countries are working illegally."
According to the NIS's explanation, the situation was quite tricky.
Most of the illegal workers were experiencing overwork, wage arrears, and even assault.
As a result, the number of illegal immigrant workers harboring resentment towards Koreans and Korea was increasing, and the possibility of self-organized terrorist groups forming among them was growing.
"... Thanks to this, I sometimes wonder if I'm part of the NIS or an investigator for the Ministry of Employment and Labor. I'm spending my days recovering unpaid wages for illegal workers and getting treatment costs for those injured in industrial accidents. Even if we deport them, we need to eliminate any ill feelings."
After a brief complaint, the NIS agent got to the main point.
"The reason I met with you is because of the unique situation in Yangsan."
"There are hardly any factories in Yangsan where illegal immigrants can work, though?"
When one of the detectives attending the meeting pointed this out, the NIS agent nodded.
"That's correct. However, there are many farms around. These days, another demand for illegal immigrant workers is in these agricultural and livestock complexes."
At the NIS agent's answer, the detectives nodded.
Farming is tough, but livestock farming is truly hard work.
After taking a sip of water, the NIS agent displayed a few slides on the screen.
"The photos you're seeing now are from several bombing sites, including the Oklahoma bombing. The important thing here is the materials used for the explosives, the main tools of the terror. While there were cases of using actual military or civilian explosives, there were also many cases of using materials available in the market. In such cases, nitrogen fertilizer is a very useful material. By mixing nitrogen fertilizer with diesel, kerosene, or lubricants, you can create a very effective explosive."
"Hmm..."
At the NIS agent's explanation, the faces of the detectives around the table turned serious.
There was an abundance of nitrogen fertilizer in the farms around Yangsan City.
"Of course, nitrogen fertilizer can be obtained not only in Yangsan. However, to the east of Yangsan is Busan, and to the west is Changwon. If they obtain a detonator from the Russian mafia in Busan or make one themselves, and then drive a truck loaded with explosives to the defense industry complex in Changwon and detonate it, a catastrophic situation would occur."
At the NIS agent's explanation, the detectives nodded with serious faces.
The farms and agricultural supply stores on the outskirts of Yangsan were overflowing with fertilizer, and there were fuel tanks filled with fuel for use in greenhouses and other agricultural facilities, as well as lubricants for agricultural machinery.
Moreover, 1-ton trucks were common.
Lastly, they had heard rumors that there were quite a few people bringing in Pakistanis or other Southeast Asians to farm or raise livestock and working them harshly.
Sensing that the detectives understood the seriousness, the NIS agent moved to wrap up.
"The reason the NIS is asking for your cooperation is not only because of the illegal foreign workers but also to monitor the organized crime groups in Yangsan City. According to the NIS investigation, brokers connecting illegal immigrants with jobs are linked with organized crime groups, and these groups are also involved in preventing and managing the escape of employed foreigners. We ask for your focused management on this part. It is a very important task for national security."
< Chapter 1: He is Gwangdeok. > End
© 국뽕