Ch.182Middle East (4)

“Are you alright! Brother!”

Munglig entered the tent fully armed.

I sighed and pointed at the assassin who had collapsed in front of me.

“Next time, I’d appreciate if you were a bit faster.”

“I apologize, Gurkhan. I will pay for this sin with my life.”

“That won’t be necessary. I know why you were late.”

I waved dismissively and helped Munglig to his feet.

After subduing the assassin who had come to kill me, I had called for the Kheshig guards who were securing the ger.

Then I ordered them to investigate the surrounding situation.

The Kheshig who returned delivered shocking information.

“You’ve fulfilled your responsibility and duty by protecting Temujin, the generals, and those who surrendered, so there’s nothing to blame yourself for.”

These crazed assassins hadn’t just come for me.

They had sent assassins not only to my son Temujin, but also to Munglig, Jamukha, Jebe, Jelme, Muqali, Chilaun, and Bo’orchu.

Additionally, they had sent assassins to the Iqtas who had surrendered to me, so punishing Munglig, who had defeated his own assassin and saved everyone else, wouldn’t make sense.

If not for him, the Mongol army might have had to return to the Great Capital.

“If it weren’t for you, my son and Elunka’s son Jamukha, as well as the generals serving the Ulus, would all have died. So don’t blame yourself too much.”

“Thank you, Gurkhan. However, failing to protect you from danger was my fault.”

Munglig wore a determined expression.

I nodded in response.

I drew my sword.

And pointed it at Munglig’s neck.

Munglig looked at me with a resolute expression.

“It has been an honor to serve you, Gurkhan.”

He closed his eyes tightly.

I put strength into my grip and swung the sword.

Something fell with a thud.

“…”

“With this, you are now dead. So your sin is as good as erased.”

“Brother…”

Munglig stared at the sidelock of hair that had fallen to the ground, unable to continue speaking.

The Mongol hairstyle involved shaving everything except the front and side hair.

Of course, there were exceptions like me who didn’t shave everything, but most kept it this way.

Anyway, I had cut off Munglig’s sidelock.

Instead of taking his life.

“The assassins might launch additional attacks. Strengthen security and gather all key personnel.”

Munglig nodded.

And moved to carry out my orders.

* * *

“We had no idea assassins would come.”

“Yes, how could something like this…”

The Iqtas who had surrendered to me looked at me with shocked expressions.

In response, the Mongol generals who had also been targeted began pointing fingers at them.

“They’re lying, Gurkhan.”

“That’s right. They must have made a false surrender and tried to assassinate Gurkhan. We should interrogate them to extract the truth.”

Amid the hostile atmosphere created by the Ulus generals, the Iqtas immediately proclaimed their innocence.

“It absolutely wasn’t us.”

“The Nizari Ismaili state is our enemy. We have no reason to hire them, and since we’ve surrendered, we have no reason to harm Gurkhan.”

“Ha! You’re obviously seeking revenge for Hamadan.”

“Or perhaps you planned to assassinate Gurkhan and announce it to the Islamic world to gain military support from Baghdad!”

“That’s too much of a logical leap.”

“We absolutely did not take such actions and have no reason to do so.”

“We can swear by Allah.”

Opinions clashed sharply over who had hired the assassins.

I raised my hand to calm everyone down.

“Everyone, please calm down. I’ve captured an assassin, so we can interrogate him to find out.”

The Iqtas looked shocked.

My mention of subduing an assassin seemed quite surprising to them.

“Y-you subdued an assassin?”

“Yes. I took him down with exercise equipment.”

At my words, the Ulus generals nodded with expressions that suggested they expected nothing less.

“As expected of Gurkhan.”

“You truly are the Iron Incarnate.”

“You are indeed blessed by Daiichi Tengri.”

Unlike the Ulus generals, the Iqtas muttered to themselves with blank expressions.

“He subdued that notorious assassin with his bare hands…”

“Without even weapons or armor, it’s unbelievable.”

“Is this… the power of the Ulus?”

Ignoring their comments, I gestured for the assassin to be brought in.

An assassin was brought before me in restraints.

“Remove his gag.”

With his gag removed, the assassin began speaking strange words.

“!@(*#(!”

“Translate.”

The translation proceeded, and after listening two or three more times, the soldier in charge of translation reported to me.

“It… was an insult to the Khagan.”

“I see. Why couldn’t you translate it immediately?”

“His teeth were crumbling, so I couldn’t hear properly. I apologize, Khagan.”

“…”

It seemed I had hit him too hard.

I nodded inwardly and looked at the assassin.

When our eyes met, the assassin suddenly widened his eyes and began calling out to Allah.

“Evil being in human disguise! Begone from my sight!”

“Seems you haven’t been hit enough.”

“Hii…hiiik!”

The assassin trembled as he looked at me.

I thought assassins were highly trained to remain silent during interrogations…

“To think a Nizari Ismaili assassin would be so frightened…”

“My God… I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“I never thought this would actually happen.”

The Iqtas looked at the Nizari Ismaili assassin while making such comments.

According to them, assassins weren’t normally like this.

I feel a bit sorry now.

Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.

“Who hired you to assassinate me, my generals, and the surrendered Iqtas?”

“I cannot say.”

“Your body is trembling, but you’re being honest? It would be better to tell the truth.”

“My resolve will not waver.”

The assassin said this while steeling himself.

Seeing this, I nodded and stood up. Then I called for Munglig.

“You called, Gurkhan?”

“Go bring the Truth Extractor.”

“The Truth Extractor? What is…”

“You know, that thing.”

At my words, Munglig’s eyes widened.

He looked at me with an expression asking if I was serious.

“Are you planning to use that?”

“Now is an appropriate time to use it.”

“But that’s too cruel… Ah… no. I’ll bring it right away.”

As I conversed with Munglig, the assassin, though unable to understand our words, seemed to grasp the atmosphere and turned pale.

“It will be difficult to get the information you want from me, infidel king!”

I didn’t respond to the assassin’s words.

Soon, two wooden sticks arrived, and I smiled.

“Here it is. The Truth Extractor.”

This was a torture device that had been used during the Ming Dynasty and was later transmitted to Joseon where it was greatly developed. In Chinese characters, it was called Jian Dao Zhou Lao, but its famous media name was leg-screwing torture.

Since it didn’t exist in this era yet, I had deliberately named it this way.

“Th-this is…”

“An appropriate torture device for Islamic people.”

Both Islamic and Ulus people considered torture that caused external bleeding to be the worst form of punishment.

So they typically either executed quickly or used punishments that didn’t draw blood.

Of course, this was just the surface appearance, and in actual history, much more horrific scenes unfolded.

Regardless, this was the best bloodless torture and interrogation technique recognized by the Ming Dynasty and Joseon.

“Place it between his legs.”

At this, two burly Kheshig inserted the two pieces of wood between the assassin’s legs.

Seeing this, both the assassin and the Iqtas tilted their heads in confusion.

“Is that… supposed to hurt?”

“I wonder if it actually works.”

The assassin openly mocked me.

“Hahaha! I thought barbarian torture would be cruel, but you’re playing children’s games!”

I didn’t bother to respond.

Instead, I smiled and ordered the Kheshig.

“Extract the truth.”

“We obey the Khagan’s command!”

“Haaaap!”

At that moment, the wood pieces crossed and began twisting the bound assassin’s shins.

Feeling the intense pain, the assassin’s face turned red as he screamed.

“Aaaaargh!”

“…?”

“…Is that… really that painful?”

The observers couldn’t understand why it was painful.

Not a single drop of blood was shed, and it just looked like two pieces of wood crossing and spreading the legs apart.

But in reality, it was twisting the shin bones, a horrific torture that twisted bones while the victim was still alive.

In actual history, there are records of it being used occasionally for illegal methods even after the fall of Joseon.

Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.

I looked at the assassin and asked a question.

“Who hired you?”

“Grrrk… guk…”

“It seems the truth is still insufficient. Extract more.”

At those words, the Kheshig went at it again.

The assassin convulsed and screamed.

“I’ll tell you everything! I’ll tell you everything! Khagaaaaan!”

But it was already too late.

The leg-screwing had already begun again.

“Aaaaargh!”

With that scream, the assassin’s eyes widened.

As soon as the torture ended, he began begging me, rubbing his hands together.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Khagan. I’ll tell you everything you ask.”

I didn’t know the Truth Extractor also had a manners injector built in.

Well, experiencing such pain would probably restore any lost manners.

“Good. Who hired you?”

“It… it was him.”

The assassin pointed to a man among the Iqtas.

The man immediately shouted that it was a lie.

“I-I have evidence. Look here.”

Looking at the proof the assassin handed over, it was indeed sent by that man.

The document contained a promise to rebuild the Nizari Ismaili fortress and pay a huge commission fee if the assassination was successful.