The evening was rather warm.
It was now warm enough to even spend the evenings outside in the verdant field.
That evening, Kim Tae-Hoon went on an intel mission.
"Out of that big, big incense-burner, began rising golden smoke and the smoke formed in to a Monster."
Covered up only in a shirt…a man that was sitting on his knees without slacks and undergarments was Kim Tae-Hoon's first prey.
Rather than a prey, he was more like something that was ripe to be picked.
Hunting, for Kim Tae-Hoon, requires self determination as sometimes it requires him to put his life on the line.
As such, implying that ruthlessly killing a woman to avoid any consequences of forcibly raping her was hunting, was an insult to what he knew as what hunting was supposed to be.
"No, a beast rather than a monster was more appropriate. Tigers, wild boars… elephants! Yes, there were even elephants!"
Therefore, Kim Tae-Hoon had no intention of being the gracious winner, or showing the hunter's mercy to the man before his eyes.
"So, what is the location of Baekjae's Grand Gilt-Bronze Incense Burner?"
"Yes?"
"Where is this Messiah that you serve right now?"
"That, that…."
"I will spare your life if you answer me, I did clearly give my word."
What Kim Tae-Hoon wanted to make good on was the deal that he had made with the man.
"Let me repeat. Where are they?"
"I, I really don't know. He and the guardians are always on the move. When the guardians with stigmata regularly collect their grafts… that's the only times that they come here!"
"Where are they?"
"I, I told you everything. Everything I know! I kept my word, please spare me my life…."
If you answer, your life will be spared.
To put it in another way.
"After all, I assume that the woman that was raped and murdered was obliging to you, bastard, until you killed her."
"You, you, son of a bitch!"
If no answer, no life will be spared.
"There was never any intention of sparing…uk! Uk-uk! Uk…."
What Kim Tae-Hoon wanted to keep was only that.
Swishing!
The sound of a neck twisting has passed the stillness of the mountainside.
It was a very weak sound.
Unless you were near the source of the sound, it was too faint to be heard.
"Really…."
To put it in another way, the fact that Kate had heard the sound has placed her near the source.
"Do you really have to kill with such indifference?"
As the night fell, Kim Tae-Hoon began gathering intel.
After abducting the remnants of the Messiah Clan, in Buyeo, who call themselves the agents of Messiah, he squeezed out information from them.
Then he killed them.
Kate had no choice, but to witness these events first hand.
Kim Tae-Hoon didn't do this to torment her. Kate was a hostage and Kim Tae-Hoon just needed to ensure that she did not cook up anything.
Anyhow, it was not a pleasant sight by any measure.
"You didn't have to kill them so mercilessly?"
The situation has caused Kate to finally burst and protest with complaints.
"I didn't need to kill them, but there were enough reasons for them to be killed. Pillaging, rape, murder, robbery. Based on the US laws, there were more than sufficient causes to send them to the electric chair."
"Nevertheless, isn't it the right thing to do to offer them the chance to repent?"
Kim Tae-Hoon's actions were viewed as being too extreme from Kate's point of view.
"You are not passing judgments on them."
Kate was not a virtuous person. She did not seek to be a good human.
However, she did have that small goodness in her. She had her own view of righteousness.
Her view of righteousness comes from a coin.
On one side of the coin was repentance while the other a written judgment. That is, offer a second chance to those who truly repent, but judge those who do not.
"Let me make one thing clear before we go any further."
Kim Tae-Hoon responded to Kate.
"I have no intention of judging them. I destroy them because they become potential threats."
"Potential threats?"
"Hostage requires a guard. A hostage without a guard is not a hostage, but a variable like a landmine that may explode at any time. It is better to become a killer than offer mercy and show the human side to those landmines before I, my colleagues, and subordinates become casualties.
"What do you…"
As he was explaining, Kim Tae-Hoon truly felt a bit humorous, seeing Kate's responses.
"Potential threats are pre-eliminated using any methods available, isn't that the American way? Isn't it the same argument that the NSA, CIA, and FBI agents deploy $200M Global Hawk and take photographs of their own agents, acting as the locals in phony mustaches, halfway around the world in Afghanistan?"
The country that moves to eliminate any potential threats with the utmost passion, discipline, and callousness for their own country in the world is none other than the USA.
"That's…."
Kate knew that fact, very well, as the daughter of the US ambassador.
At last, Kate kept silent.
As long as she kept the identity of US citizenship and being the US ambassador's daughter, she could not counter against Kim Tae-Hoon's argument.
Seeing her demeanor, Kim Tae-Hoon did not explain any further.
It did not matter or was important to Kim Tae-Hoon as to what Kate's value system was.
What was important now was to organize the acquired intels.
Then Kim Tae-Hoon took out a thermos bottle from his bag. He then took a sip and savored the coffee that he had brewed before the night fell.
Kate plopped down on to the ground with a big sigh, accepting his intention of no longer wanting to engage in the argument.
Then she pulled her pretty blond hair as if to pull them out.
In the mean time, Kim Tae-Hoon began to put together a puzzle from the short intel.
'The newly encountered Messiah Clan was powerful beyond one's thoughts.'
According to the intel, this Messiah Clan was the most organized and calculating, of all the clans that Kim Tae-Hoon had encountered up to this point.
'Exploiting religious characteristics.'
In large part, there were four Classes in the Messiah organization.
At the top was the Messiah, or god, to put it simply.
Below that were those who had stigmata, the Guardians, who guard god.
The next was the Followers that believe and worship the Messiah as god.
The bottom of the totem pole was the slaves. Not being considered and treated as humans, they are simply the labor to be used.
Of course, it doesn't appear to be any different than other ordinary organizations that were class based.
'Well exploited the mystique.'
The difference was in the paths of the Guardians and Messiah.
Rather than staying put in one location, they roamed the Chungchungdo area, eliminating the monsters and distributing food and weapons to the survivors.
Of course, the food and weapons were distributed to only those who followed, believed, and worshipped them.
They displayed salvation and benevolence.
As a result, Messiah has naturally become the religion of choice in Chungchungdo area, to those who wished to live like humans, remain in power and maintain statuses.
'It was more beneficial to be a god than a fumbling king.'
This was the reason that Kim Tae-Hoon believed this Messiah to be intelligent.
In reality, it was difficult to manage in situations, where most of the social infrastructure has been demolished.
Furthermore, unlike Seoul, Chungchungdo is not a small, concentrated populous region with infrastructure. Rather, there is vast land with population and infrastructure are dispersed everywhere. There are more mountains than buildings.