Chetamja: The King’s Eyes — Chapter 22

THE AIR IS COLD.

WINTER IS HERE.

MANZHU LI

HEAD CHIEF OF THE JIANZHOU JURCHENS

HEAD CHIEF, HE'S HERE.

HELLO. I'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU.

...?!

YOU...

HADAR

HEAD CHIEF OF THE HAIXI JURCHENS

COME NOW.

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE LAST MET.

I HOPE YOU'VE BEEN WELL.

HEAD CHIEF...!

MANZHU LI... YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE...

...SHOWING YOUR UGLY FACE HERE.

WHY DON'T YOU CALM DOWN SO WE CAN TALK?

STOP ACTING LIKE A SAVAGE.

A SAVAGE? THAT'S INTERESTING!

I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT REAL SAVAGERY LOOKS LIKE--

YOU CAN HAVE YEOYEON.

HA! THAT'S A FUNNY WAY TO PUT IT.

I KNOW THAT LITTLE COUSIN OF YOURS TRIED TO TAKE IT AND FAILED NOT TOO LONG AGO!

YES... YOU'RE RIGHT. AND THAT'S WHY I'M OFFERING IT TO YOU.

WHY WOULD I TAKE THAT RISK BASED ON YOUR WORDS?

WE ALL KNOW THAT JOSEON HAS BEEN REINFORCING THEIR BORDER PATROLS LATELY.

THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. I'LL TELL YOU WHEN THEIR PATROLS BECOME LAX.

IF YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION, WHY DON'T YOU TAKE YEOYEON YOURSELF?

BECAUSE I CAN'T.

THANKS TO HAZHU'S LITTLE STUNT, JOSEON IS KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON ME AND MY PEOPLE.

HENCE THE BEST OPPORTUNITY.

JOSEON'S ATTENTION IS FOCUSED SOLELY ON JIANZHOU.

SO YOU AND THE HAIXI ARE FREE TO STRIKE THEM.

WHY?

WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS OFFER?

"WHEN 10,000 JURCHENS GATHER UNDER ONE BANNER...

...THE WORLD WILL TREMBLE AT THEIR FEET!"

DO YOU SPEAK OF...

...UNIFYING THE JURCHENS?

PERHAPS IT WILL BE MY JIANZHOU JURCHENS OR YOUR HAIXI JURCHENS.

IF NOT, IT MIGHT EVEN BE THE WILD JURCHENS.

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO DOES IT.

EVENTUALLY, THE JURCHENS MUST BECOME ONE.

THAT IS THE ONLY WAY FOR US TO SURVIVE.

AND JOSEON...

IS THE ENEMY WHO STANDS IN OUR WAY.

THE ONLY WAY FOR US, YOU SAY...?

VERY INTERESTING...

I DON’T ENJOY HEARING BOLD AND ARROGANT WORDS COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH.

BUT AN ARMY OF 10,000 JURCHENS? FINE, I’LL DO IT.

THAT DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT JOSEON IS RAMPING UP ITS DEFENSES.

SO HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIND HOLES IN THEIR DEFENSE?

THE KING OF JOSEON PLANTED HIS EYES ON US. BUT HE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE.

I, TOO, PLANTED THE EYE OF THE JURCHENS IN JOSEON.

EVERYTHING’S FINE NOW, HARI!

NO ONE WILL EVER BOTHER YOU ANYMORE.

CHANGRYONG! GWIYEONG!

COME ON! WE HAVE TO GO!

B-BYE, HARI. WE’LL BE BACK TO GIVE YOU A PROPER APOLOGY NEXT TIME.

I’M SO GLAD IT WORKED OUT.

AREN’T YOU GLAD TOO, HARI?

HEY! HURRY UP!

OKAY, OKAY! I’M COMING!

SEE? WHAT DID I TELL YA?

WE SHOULD’VE STOPPED THIS NONSENSE LONG AGO.

THE AGENT IS DEAD.

WHAT? YOU SAID HE WAS FOUND.

THAT'S TRUE. WE DID FIND HIM.

WHAT DO YOU SEE, DUMOK? IS SHE FOLLOWING US?

NO, I DON'T SEE HER.

TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!

THE AGENT WAS FOUND DEAD...

...ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT LAKE.

SO IT CAME TO THIS...

HOW DID IT GO, GWIYEONG?

DID YOU NOTICE ANYTHING?

HER EXPRESSION CHANGED WHEN YOU BROUGHT UP THE AGENT.

BUT THAT ALONE DOESN'T TELL US MUCH.

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING AB-?

ASIDE FROM THAT, SHE SAID AN OBVIOUS LIE ABOUT LEARNING SWORD MOVES FROM HER FATHER.

GWIYEONG! DID YOU SET HER UP?

YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME ABOUT THIS!

THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN HARI.

SEE? YOU GOT INVOLVED AND NEARLY MESSED EVERYTHING UP.

ARE YOU DEFENDING HER BECAUSE PEOPLE TREAT HER LIKE A LOWBORN?

DON'T FOOL YOURSELF. HARI IS NOTHING LIKE YOU.

SHE'S A BARBARIAN...

...LIKE THE ONES WHO KILLED MY SISTER!

I REMEMBER...

...SLITTING THE RADIAL ARTERY ON HIS RIGHT ARM...

...AND SLASHING HIM ONCE AGAIN NEXT TO THE CAROTID ARTERY.

THEY WEREN'T THE MOST PRECISE CUTS...

...BUT THOSE WERE FATAL BLOWS.

THEN HE STARTED RUNNING, AND I LOST HIM.

BUT HE SHOULD'VE BLED OUT FROM THE WOUNDS.

MAYBE THEY'RE TRYING TO TRICK ME.

BUT IF THERE'S EVEN A SLIVER OF A CHANCE...

...THAT HE SURVIVED...

...THEN ACTING INNOCENT WON'T SAVE ME ANYMORE.

THEN...

...I WOULD HAVE TO--

HUH? DID SHE NOTICE US?

DUMOK.

WE'RE PRETTY CONVINCED ALREADY. WHY DON'T WE CAPTURE AND INTERROGATE HER?

DO WE REALLY NEED SOLID PROOF BEFORE WE MAKE OUR MOVE?

IF SHE'S A SPY, INTERROGATION WON'T GET US ANYWHERE NEAR THE TRUTH.

WE'LL NEVER KNOW IF SHE'S ADMITTING THE TRUTH OR GIVING US WHAT WE WANT SO WE'D STOP TORTURING HER.

THAT GIRL IS PRETTY SMART.

WE CAN'T LET OUR GUARD DOWN.

HEY! IT'S ALREADY PAST CURFEW! WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?

A WOMAN GOING AROUND BY HERSELF AT THIS HOUR? TSK...

I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!

IF YOU DON'T ANSWER, WE'LL TAKE YOU TO THE AUTHORITIES!

THE TWO OF YOU...

...ARE GOING TO HELP ME.

DO YOU THINK KAI WILL SHOW UP?

IF OUR INTEL IS RIGHT... YES, SHE WILL.

SHE'LL THINK IT'S NECESSARY TO GET RID OF THE AGENT.

BUT SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE HERE HERSELF.

SHE'S MORE LIKELY TO SEND AN ASSASSIN FOR THE JOB.

THAT DOESN'T MATTER AS LONG AS WE CAN ESTABLISH THE LINK...

C-CAPTAIN!

WE LOST HER... HARI SLIPPED AWAY.

WHAT HAPPENED? WASN'T GWIYEONG AND DUMOK ON HER TAIL?

REPORT

I'VE CARRIED OUT RECONNAISSANCE ACTIVITIES IN JOSEON'S NORTHERN REGION AS PER YOUR ORDERS.

I'VE CONFIRMED THE EXISTENCE OF JOSEON'S INTELLIGENCE UNIT.

IT IS A NEWLY ESTABLISHED UNIT WITH LIMITED MANPOWER.

IT IS SUSPECTED TO BE A ROYAL UNIT CREATED BY THE KING OF JOSEON.

HOWEVER, THE UNIT IS STILL IN ITS INFANCY...

...AND LACKS TRAINING, DISCIPLINE, AND COHESION.

THE GIRL SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED THE PLAN.

SHE ATTACKED THE GUARDS AND SET HOMES ON FIRE TO ESCAPE DURING THE CHAOS.

WELL, ONE THING IS CLEAR NOW.

SHE IS THE EYE OF THE JURCHENS!

THEY ARE CALLED EITHER A CHETAMJA OR A CHETAMIN.

YUNDEOK CHOI AND SUNMONG LEE SEEM TO BE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE UNIT.

HOWEVER, THEY DO NOT COMMAND THE INTELLIGENCE UNIT AT THE PRESENT MOMENT.

AT THE TIME OF WRITING, BOTH ARE CONFIRMED TO BE AWAY FROM THE NORTHERN FRONT.

THE JOSEON MILITARY HAS GROWN OVERLY RELIANT ON THE INTELLIGENCE UNIT, LEADING TO LAX BORDER CONTROL.

GIVEN ITS INFANCY AND THE ABSENCE OF ITS TOP-LEVEL COMMANDERS...

...THIS SEEMS TO BE THE BEST TIME TO DESTROY THE INTELLIGENCE UNIT BEFORE THEY TAKE ROOT.

END OF REPORT...

I SEE.

...BY KAI.

IT'S TIME.

RIDE SOUTH AND TAKE IT ALL...

...HADAR.