Chapter 120 - 10-7
Glen Hilboro, who had become a prisoner of the Kosa army, was leading a comfortable life in a tent. He had been allowed to occupy a tent that was not particularly large. Meals were provided, and he was permitted to do laundry and bathe, allowing him to stay clean.
If his underwear frayed, he could apply to the Southerns serving as guards to buy new ones. He could also buy alcohol and tea. Hilboro had no money, but they agreed to let him pay later.
Hilboro wished to learn how the Kosa people handled horses, so he requested work in the stables.
"We can't let a general do anything," the guard said with a smirk. "I hear you're a noble person. Besides, the stables are already at full capacity. You Northerners are quite opportunistic, aren't you? There are several prisoners who have already bought Kosa horses."
As for what they intended to do with horses, it seemed they were already looking toward the end of the war. Regardless of whether they won or lost, Kosa horses would likely sell for a high price.
"I don't care what it is, even digging holes, just let me work. I'm bored to death."
"If you're bored, how about this?" the guard lowered his voice. "I can bring you a lady. She'll be expensive, but she's more unrestrained than the ladies of the North. You should definitely try her."
"Have you tried the ladies of the North?"
When Hilboro glared with sharp eyes, the guard shrugged with the composure of the victorious side.
"There's a gambling den, too. How about that?"
Hilboro disliked gambling, so he looked away.
However, there were parts of the conversation with the guard that were enlightening. It was regarding economics. It seemed that humans, as soon as they find themselves in even a slightly peaceful situation, relentlessly engage in economic activity. There is no human who is not selfish. There is no human without desire. If there is desire, selfish people suddenly begin the advanced act of trading.
This happened across languages and cultures.
Is economics a state rooted in human instinct, alongside military affairs?
He began to think such things to kill time. In military affairs, once a war begins, the number of uncontrollable elements increases, but economics can be bound by law. Since Hilboro was also a statesman, he thought of such things.
As the saying goes in the streets of Siddim: If the King is fussy, the people are happy. If the King falls silent, tyranny begins. If the King smiles at the people, war is near. Among these, creating the rules of trade must be the work of a fussy King.
Suddenly, the Great King visited Hilboro.
It was night. Hilboro, who had been fast asleep, crawled out from his blanket and lit a lamp.
Hilboro had expressed a desire to visit the prisoners. Pretending to be a fussy King, he had wanted to warn the prisoners not to become too immersed in economic activities. He thought the Great King had come regarding that matter, but something was off. He entered the tent enveloped in a heavy, dark impression.
To begin with, it had been noisy outside. Something had happened.
"I have brought good news," the Great King said. "I thought I would let you hear it as well."
It seemed the Western Army had crushed the enemy forces that had advanced as far as the royal capital.
Hilboro crossed his arms without showing joy.
"This is a golden opportunity."
"For what?"
The Great King's large face moved.
"Is it not an opportunity? I will arrange the connection. You should enter negotiations."
"Who do you suggest I speak with?"
"Princess Lucy."
The Great King shook his head with a grim expression. "Even if I speak with the enemy general..."
Even if he spoke with the enemy general, nothing more than the outcome of the war would be decided.
"Great King, there is such a thing as order. First, we must settle this war. What you truly wish to discuss can be talked over after that. Would it not suffice to establish a trade agreement as part of the terms for ending the war?"
"Trade, is it?"
"I have heard that is your objective."
"Hmm."
The Great King had once said regarding the start of this war—
—It is not something I started because I liked it.
Perhaps the Great King did not view this war as absolute, not to the extent Hilboro had thought. Hilboro pressed on.
"Please, do not consider speaking directly with the King of Siddim," Hilboro said, not so much as a Siddim person, but from the position of a party involved in the situation. "If you meet His Majesty, it should be kept to a ceremonial meaning. Discussing matters with His Majesty is not only meaningless, but it will needlessly provoke the people of Siddim."
"What do you mean?"
—It is better not to touch upon the King of Siddim.
Hilboro spoke of this. "The royal family shows their will through personnel. The one the current King of Siddim has chosen is Gilma Rigardie of the Eber nation. In the end, nothing will be decided unless you speak with him. Since he is a foreigner from the perspective of Siddim, he will speak calmly."
"Are you saying you will arrange it?"
"I believe I am in a position where I should make the effort."
"I shall consider it for a bit."
For a moment, it seemed a spark returned to the Great King's clouded eyes.
"The enemy army is coming. You should fold your tent and load it onto a wagon."
Was the faint light that dwelt in his eyes an illusion? Carrying a dense darkness on his back, the Great King left the tent.
As for what Geraha Wolf was doing at this time, he was struggling against the soldiers of Saranti.
It was the highway heading east from the fields of Brazm. He defended it to prevent the enemy from entering. On his side, they pushed toward Saranti, where it was said there was a port. It wasn't that they couldn't push. However, it felt as though the more they pushed, the firmer the enemy became. Eventually, they couldn't move them an inch.
In the end, they ended up staring each other down, separated east and west along the road. The enemy established a defensive posture with a speed of one or two days. They installed things called sakamogi (T/N: abatis), which were logs with the ends sharpened and pointed toward them like a mountain of needles, and they erected logs to create a fence that one had to look up at.
On his side, he had them pile logs to create a camp.
Both sides of the highway were forests. He should have explored these forests to establish a route to strike the rear of the enemy camp. Geraha ordered this, and soldiers were deployed into the forest. However, no significant results were achieved. The enemy soldiers had also entered the forest, and it turned into forest warfare.
Geraha saw that a shift in thinking was necessary.
The first thing he thought of was the sea route. If one proceeded north through the forests of the highway, they would hit the Northern Inland Sea. That said, it was a sandy beach. Since there was no port, they couldn't launch ships. To begin with, there were no ships. There was no time to build ships.
However, perhaps they didn't need large sailing ships. Small boats would suffice. If they were small boats that ten soldiers could carry, no port was necessary. They weren't heading into the open ocean, so they wouldn't need sails. If they had oars, couldn't they head for Saranti along the coast?
While building large sailing ships was reckless, they could probably make small boats. If they could make about two thousand, it would take shape.
While he was conceiving such things, news arrived.
Simultaneously, defeated soldiers arrived one after another from central Siddim.
—Big Brother Mozu.
The first thing that came to mind was his brother's face.
He would intercept the pursuing Western Army here in Brazm.
Geraha thought. Naturally, it had to be so. It should be so. The Kosa army had invested vast military strength and human lives to seize this point. He could not let it go at this juncture. If he let it go, this would be a complete defeat. It would signal the failure of the operation and his own defeat to both internal and external parties. It would also be irritating if the enemy soldiers turned this place into a base.
He hadn't noticed it himself, but at this time, what was sticking in Geraha's heart was a sensation like vanity. It was the first time in his life. During his ugly childhood, he knew he was hated. He had given up on how others spoke of him. Now, Geraha cared about his own face. He thought it concerned morale. He feared it would affect leadership.
Big Brother Tenge, Big Brother Astai, and Big Brother Mozu were all gone. The people who protected Geraha were dead. The people who would cover for Geraha's failures had all died.
—By myself.
He had to maintain the army alone. If so, he had to be ever-victorious. He had to keep winning. As long as he was winning, the soldiers would follow. He could not admit defeat.
However, the cold part of Geraha's brain questioned the meaning of maintaining this land. Why had they eliminated the enemy army in Brazm? To take the East. By entering the East via the northern highway from Brazm, they would support military actions at the Twin Forts. It was to pincer the East from the north and south.
This was a story possible only because the Kosa army surrounding Malfa City was dealing with the Western Army. Facing the Saranti army in the fields of Brazm while fighting the Western Army at their rear. He wouldn't say it was impossible. However, it was already a combat state where one didn't know what would happen. If they welcomed the Western Army, the unstable elements there would double. They might lose.
Was there still value in staying in Brazm? There was value in stopping the Western Army here. But then, they too would be unable to move from here. Brazm had relatively open terrain, and cavalry could move freely. If they could take the method of drawing the enemy in and crushing them, there might be a chance of victory.
But the enemy was not stupid. They wouldn't fall for such provocation. They would continue to threaten them without leaving the highway.
In the end, they too would be constrained. They would become unable to move from here. In the East, the soldiers of the Twin Forts and the Eastern Army would clash head-on. As for Geraha, he could only pray for a gamble of a victory.
If that could stop the movement of the Western Army, it would still be fine. But the enemy could enter the East from Aver City via the sea. In other words, it was almost meaningless. If they could have defeated the Saranti soldiers, the meaning of Brazm would have changed. If they had seized the port of Saranti, the enemy would have had no moves left.
But they weren't in time. The enemy was one step faster.
Emotionally, Geraha wanted to cling to Brazm.
He felt sorry for Pusiteto. He had held his ground well in this difficult land. He felt sorry for Kohal. If it were real, he wanted to go and pick her up. And then there was Big Brother Mozu. To retreat in the face of the massive sacrifice that was Big Brother Mozu's death. Just thinking about it sent shivers of self-loathing through him.
However, if he thought rationally, what he should do was clear.
He had to admit his own failure.
Let them have Brazm. It had no strategic significance anyway.
—If I'm to lose, I'll lose big, like the Great King.
Now, they were the weak ones.
Geraha's cheeks trembled with anger, and he grit his teeth.
The retreat of the Kosa army left the Western Army stunned.
On the southern highway connecting central Siddim and Brazm, the Siddim Western Army pursued the retreating enemy forces.
The Western Army did not pursue the retreating enemy while maintaining a simple advantage. The enemy counterattacked fiercely and repeatedly. The Western Army understood that this was how a retreat battle worked. Even so, it was tremendous. After stalling them with ferocious counterattacks, the enemy would retreat their soldiers little by little.
"We're pushing them, we're pushing them!"
The one encouraging them was a captain named Kashu Coil. He was a still-young, fat Easterner. A homegrown member of the Fourth Army, he had some knowledge of military affairs. The youths of the Western Army mocked Kashu from head to toe. Behind his back, they called him "Sheep."
It was when a report was made that the enemy's counterattack was too intense. Kashu said:
"It's fine. We're pushing."
"I understand, but—"
"We aren't retreating. I won't give the sheep to anyone."
"Sheep?"
After the enemy army left Malfa, many sheep had been left behind.
"They aren't just sheep," the usually lax captain said, his face tight at this moment. "To the enemy, sheep are fodder. They can be eaten. Since we took them, I won't give them to anyone."
In any case, he seemed to have an obsession with sheep.
When did this captain ever sleep? He was always at the front. He stuffed bread into his bag and ate it on horseback. Occasionally, he would get off his horse to do gymnastics or enter the forest to relieve himself. He did nothing particularly like commanding, only saying "We're pushing." The soldiers rotated, but the captain was always in the same place.
When it came to this, he gained a bit of popularity.
"He's still there."
"He doesn't even yawn once."
"I guess he can't sleep until he eats the sheep."
The Westerners had no choice but to acknowledge the captain's stamina in being able to stay awake.
From Kashu Coil's perspective, that was about all he could do. He simply couldn't take his eyes off because it would be troublesome if the front collapsed. He did doze off on horseback, so he could somehow endure it. Fortunately, the enemy always retreated after launching a fierce attack. He just had to be patient without charging from his side.
In the end, it took five days to reach Brazm.
The retreating enemy soldiers were the same in that they couldn't sleep. At a certain point, the resistance of the Kosa side's infantry became weak, and they vanished into the night darkness. The forest fell silent. The soldiers of the Western Army noticed the sound of insects for the first time.
Around dawn, everyone was surprised when they emerged into the fields of Brazm.
It was completely deserted. There wasn't even a trace that humans had been there. In a state where not a single piece of trash was dropped, the grasslands swayed in the wind.
It was an eye-opening retreat.
General Codin Dorsey became a hero of the liberation of the royal capital.
Malfa City apparently boiled over with festive cheers.
This was also a joyful thing for Yugis Necrat. When a hero appears, the army gains momentum. General Dorsey was to be in charge of the defense of Malfa City and Aver City.
That said, the influence of the Western Army could not be completely erased. He decided to leave a portion of the soldiers gathered from the Western Army and the center.
The threat of the enemy army in central Siddim had vanished.
The Western Army's next objective would be to "merge with the Commander-in-Chief."
"Finally, the time has come."
On the morning of departure, at the stables of Aver City, Godly Curier was rubbing his hands in delight.
Finally, he was returning to the East. Yugis also felt a surge of emotion. "Lord Curier, do you intend to return to Dint immediately?"
"Of course. I can finally bring you back to the East." Lord Curier had been on a mission to search for Yugis under the orders of Cloden Danforth. "I want to bring back some kind of souvenir to see how the young master is doing; what do you think would be good?"
"How about horses?" Yugis said. "Dint has cavalry. If you bring back Kosa horses, it will bring a hundred-year plan to the territory."
"A hundred years, that's nice," Lord Curier smiled with a dreamy face. "It makes one want to live a long life, doesn't it?"
Around this time, Yugis had heard that the pursuit of the enemy army by Kashu's unit was becoming a fierce battle. He wanted to set out immediately.
Just then, a messenger from the royal capital arrived.
"Yugis-sama, you're a bit cold, aren't you?" it was Father Gurt, wearing a smelly monastic robe. "Please have a meeting with the Lord Prime Minister."
Yugis had held discussions with the officials of the royal capital and the military bureaucrats of the capital's defense force to confirm the operation. However, he had been running away from General Codin Dorsey and Lord Gilma Rigardie. He thought that if he met them, he would end up bringing back stories that would become an unnecessary burden to Princess Lucy, the Commander-in-Chief of the Siddim army.
"Please tell His Excellency to forgive my rudeness."
"No, he's already almost here," Father Gurt showed his white teeth.
"Did you bring him here?"
Yugis, who had been running away, was cowardly, but Gilma was one step ahead.
"Young Master," Dash pointed, and Lord Rigardie arrived alone, his long red hair fluttering.
"Yugis, Yugis," he came over, waving his hand amiably. "Good, I made it in time!"
Dash took the bridle of the Prime Minister's horse and guided it.
"Good work, Dash," Lord Rigardie was attentive even to the attendant. "Lord Curier, it's been a long time."
The hawk-nosed Prime Minister extended his hand to Yugis after dismounting. Yugis responded with a handshake.
"What is the meaning of this, not letting me offer my congratulations?" he said with a laugh.
"I should have thanked you for the cooperation of the Western Army, but—"
"No, no, no," Gilma waved his hand cheerfully. "Rejoice, Yugis. The prospect for the revival of the Necrat family is in sight."
"Is this a conversation that should be had now?"
Yugis was cautious. He feared the stories brought up after good news.
From the direction of the stables, a forced clearing of the throat was heard. It was Dash, who was tying the Prime Minister's horse.
"Yugis, that's not it," Gilma's expression changed. "This state where those who are not nobles are participating in the core of the army is something that stains the dignity of the military. It is our duty to correct that."
"The Western Army is an army of the people."
"It is no longer the Western Army. Since operations were carried out with the defense force, which is His Majesty's army, this should be called a joint army, and the one who should oversee it is His Majesty." The Prime Minister tilted his hawk nose up. "Regarding this, I have confirmed the proposal previously put forward by General Hilboro to make His Majesty the Supreme Commander. All armies should be treated as the King's army and reorganized."
"No, w-wait a moment," Yugis stammered. "There is the Commander-in-Chief of the Siddim army—Her Highness Lucy."
In other words, this seemed to be an attempt to strip the achievements of the Western Army from Princess Lucy and consolidate them under His Majesty. Naturally, Yugis had no objection. There should be none. All victories should be dedicated to His Majesty.
He thought Princess Lucy likely wouldn't complain about this either. She would probably think it wasn't her own power or achievement. However, Yugis felt he should cling to this.
He felt that if he accepted this—even though he had to—the loyalty he had offered the Princess would fall to the ground. He felt that it was something the Princess and the people had promised and achieved. He felt that it would vanish.
"As for Her Highness Lucy," Gilma said in a solemn voice. "She shall continue to hold command. Listen, this is an imperial decree."
Yugis, who had been about to argue, closed his mouth upon hearing "imperial decree."
The men other than Gilma knelt on one knee and bowed their heads.
—Full authority for negotiations with the Kosa Empire is granted to Princess Lucy.
Something to that effect, Gilma said.
Yugis, intending to take responsibility for this situation, spoke instinctively.
"With all due respect!"
He had spoken, but nothing followed. Sweat erupted from his entire body.
Full authority for negotiations was a distraction. If it was peace negotiations in the sense of cleaning up the war, Yugis could do it. He had studied precedents. But when it came to full authority, someone of Yugis's level could no longer handle it. It wouldn't end with just talks of borders or reparations. In the end, he would have no choice but to cry for help from Gilma.
Gilma was saying that the final touches should be left to him.
Everything would be centralized in Malfa.
Naturally, it should be so, so Yugis could say nothing. He understood the logic, but he couldn't accept it. A childish, strong repulsion existed within his chest. At this rate, the reward for the Princess and the people was too small.
"With all due respect, I, your subject Yugis Necrat," feeling a sense of defeat that seemed to melt his vision, Yugis had no choice but to say, "I shall convey the imperial decree."
"Very well, that is all. ...Lord Curier," Gilma was twisting his mustache. "I hear that unexpected investments have gathered in the Western Army."
"Yes," Godly Curier answered.
"Investment, that's a good word, isn't it?"
—What is he talking about,
Yugis thought.
"Loans believe in the power of money, but investments are different. They believe in the target of the investment. The people invested their meager money. Believing they would win. Money is still fine. It's a matter of just paying it back. But the Western Army, you see, the people invested themselves. Human lives are something that cannot be returned even if one wishes to. Yugis, what you did is that kind of thing."
As expected, he couldn't stay silent after being told that much.
Yugis struggled to stand up due to his single arm.
"That's fine. The soldiers of the Western Army invested themselves in the Alish family, and they invested their lives in Siddim. Shall we not answer that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Since you've gone that far, I'm saying we have no choice but to place His Majesty at the head and create a world centered on the people."
Gilma Rigardie wore a smile and spoke calmly. "Yugis, you've run wild a bit too much. Imperial decree."
As the Prime Minister spoke again, Yugis knelt.
"His Majesty does not blame Her Highness. Along with Her Highness, he has mentioned your name. Far from blaming, he praised you with many words. His Majesty simply rejoiced in the liberation of Malfa. Regarding the use of the people as soldiers and the fact that there were many casualties, His Majesty said only one thing."
—The royal family shall eternally console their spirits.
He apparently said he would pray for the soldiers who died in battle. Eternally.
Is there anything more that can be done for the dead soldiers?
Yugis's body trembled several times. Once told that, he could no longer utter a word of protest.
The youths of the Western Army had scattered before the enemy with frigid resolve. They had leaped into the enemy ranks with vigor. Even for the soldiers who had to die while fleeing with their backs to the enemy, thinking of their hearts made his chest ache with their regret. All those deaths were being gathered into a formula. They were being settled as impersonal deaths.
Everything would be centralized in Malfa. Even the sins Yugis had to bear, even the deaths of the soldiers, His Majesty had readily taken upon himself. Normally, one should be moved to tears. However, Yugis could only shrink back like a child who had been hit on the head.
Yugis arrived at the fields of Brazm carrying a heavy heart. There, he met a nostalgic face, and for the first time in a while, a smile escaped him.
"Yugis, it was you, then."
It was Raslaf Dravar.
Yugis exchanged an embrace with Raslaf with one arm. Back in the Fourth Army, Raslaf had a very childlike look, with beautiful straight hair in a bob cut. In the time he hadn't seen him, he had grown taller and more bony.
Yugis became happy.
"I hear you drove back the Great King of the Kosa Empire."
"I thought so too. Because the enemy suddenly vanished. It was you, then."
"No, you were the one who won," Yugis said. "If you had lost, the East might not have been saved."
That night, Yugis decided to have a meal with Raslaf Dravar and Kashu Coil.
Yugis heard about the situation in Saranti from Raslaf.
He had heard from Kashu that Zett Mengel of the Fourth Army was in Saranti. The devout Zett was said to be gathering the respect of the volunteers gathered in Saranti.
"Zett's unit has become like a group of holy warriors,"
Raslaf said with a laugh.
"Are they strong?" when asked,
"They're strong. However, the attrition rate is high,"
Raslaf answered curtly.
The heavy heart began to resurface in Yugis's chest, but then Kashu entered the camping tent carrying a large platter. Dash followed behind with alcohol and cups.
"Did you know?" Kashu placed the plate on the table. "Kosa people aren't the only ones who eat sheep."
"Doesn't it look delicious?" Yugis said,
"It's not my first time," Raslaf said.
Mutton seemed to be commonly eaten in Siddim, especially in the West.
Kashu took a bite of mutton, then slumped over the table and began to snore. He must have been extremely tired. When Dash called out outside the tent, five or six soldiers from the unit Kashu commanded gathered. All of them, smiling, carried Kashu away.
He spoke mainly about the future with Raslaf.
Though talk of negotiations with the enemy had come up in the conversation with the Lord Prime Minister, the situation still did not allow for any predictions. The fact that the Kosa army had vacated the fields of Brazm meant that the enemy could still make calm judgments.
"The enemy is still motivated," Yugis said.
—Will they not just flee back to Kandasyata as they are?
Such a rumor was apparently circulating within the Western Army. That possibility could not be ruled out.
"However,"
The enemy probably wouldn't flee completely.
It was conceivable that the enemy would simply shut themselves in beyond the Twin Forts. However, there was a limit to the soldiers that could be accommodated beyond the Twin Forts alone. If it snowed, passage through the road said to lead into the dark forest would become difficult.
"I suppose so," Raslaf agreed. "There is only one condition for the Kosa army to be able to winter in the bases they built in Siddim."
It was to take Ganlord. To maintain cavalry and sheep, a certain amount of wide space would be necessary. For the infantry, it would be desirable to turn a city into a base. One should consider that the enemy has a plan to make that possible.
"In other words, I think there's a possibility this war will carry over into next year. I wonder if the Western Army can hold out."
To Raslaf's question, Yugis shook his head.
The Western Army could not hold out until next year. They probably couldn't be fed. He had boasted that a Princess's army, which could replenish soldiers indefinitely, could fight forever, but in truth, there was a deadline. Once the military funds ran out, the magic would break.
—By winter.
I will produce results, Yugis had once declared to the Princess. This was because he estimated that was about how long the army could be maintained.
He had to prevent Ganlord from being taken and the war carrying over until next spring.
As for Yugis, he couldn't be at peace until he defended Ganlord to the end and recaptured the Twin Forts.
In short, it was the sweeping away of the Kosa army within Siddim. If they could be swept away, all that remained was to monitor and defend the dark forest and the mountain paths of Tosha. It could be continued by the East alone.
Next time, Geraha Wolf will come in earnest.
If he doesn't come, this war will not end. And Yugis believed that a man like Geraha would come.
"Why is that?"
"If you ask why, I don't know," Yugis answered. "But I think Geraha is that kind of man."
When he thought of Geraha, he felt as if his own heavy heart was melting.
Yugis had arbitrarily made His Majesty's people into soldiers.
By borrowing the power of His Majesty's daughter without permission.
Moreover, he had let those soldiers die.
His Majesty had silently taken upon himself the responsibility for the great evil Yugis had committed.
But he had no choice but to do so. If he hadn't, they couldn't have come this far. Would Geraha understand that? Yugis had such a daydream.
In Geraha Wolf's heart, there was not a shred of sweet daydreaming.
However, just like Yugis, seeing a familiar face cleared his sense of defeat slightly.
One was Hazab. During the move to the East, Geraha heard the information about Big Brother Mozu that Hazab had gathered. Big Brother Mozu had apparently leaped into the enemy's castle leading about twenty riders.
To think it was reckless would be too cold-hearted for Geraha. With Big Brother Mozu's abilities, he could have done various things other than war. There were many things Geraha wanted him to do. Even so—.
While thinking he shouldn't, tears fell silently.
What was Big Brother Mozu trying to say? 'I have taken the lead, Great King.'
He could almost see Big Brother Mozu's smug face.
Big Brother Mozu was a warrior. All Kosa men are warriors. Big Brother Mozu died as a Kosa person.
—Since he was fighting, he loses.
Geraha felt ashamed of himself for thinking of things like being ever-victorious.
He decided to stop pretending to be a general of a defeated army and shrinking his massive body to return to the Twin Forts. Big Brother Mozu fought and lost. That was a splendid thing.
Geraha returned to the interior of the Twin Forts. It was a space surrounded by steep hills like great waves made of earth. Fortification using embankments and timber was progressing.
The soldiers welcomed him with cheers, but it felt somewhat chilly.
Guided by Kirikiri, the King of the Mamukuri, Geraha visited the West Fort of the Twin Forts.
The second familiar face was there.
"Ho, it's been a long time," Geraha smiled broadly. "If I recall, you were called Udoh Renne."
Udoh Renne, the prisoner who should have escaped, was sitting on the floor of the dungeon, bound with ropes. Turning his black, swollen face to the side, he spat.