The Scout, Geumsaegdarami

**The Scout, Geumsaegdarami** is the forth episode of the show *Squirrel and Hedgehog*.

## Summary

As a small nod to the previous episode, Commander Jogjebi is seen pulling himself out of the Okchon River and cursing the Flower Hill military.

Meanwhile, the commanders are discussing the situation of survivors from the previous battle having retreated to Mt. Todok to regroup and plan another attack.

Juldarami and another scout, Geumsaegdarami, (or Geumsaegi as he is also known) are recruited and fitted with field mouse muzzle masks in order to slip in with the stragglers as they retreat and spy on enemy forces.

Commanders Darami and Goseumdochi place their trust in their scouts and their decision making, confident in their loyalty and ability. They embrace their scouts one last time before they set off into the snow.

As they come across a group of mouse survivors and the Search Officer Mangko trying to make their way out of Chestnut Valley, before they are set upon by hedgehog scouts who have been ordered not to target the weasel who is identified as.

Juldarami manages to capture a fleeing mouse who is quickly incapacitated by Geumsaegi. The squirrels then "rescue" the Search Officer from the hedgehogs to escort him back to Mt. Todok.

Search Officer witnesses the pair convincingly fight off the hedgehogs who pretend to die or fall back. Pleased with how the ruse went, the hedgehogs retreat to Pyorak Hill.

Back at Mt. Todok, Geumsaegi takes in his surroundings and notes the amount of wounded mice and weasels are recovering from the previous battle before he and Juldarami are brought before the Chief of Staff. The Chief happily welcomes The Search Officer back and obtains from him a map of Flower Hill showing the location of Squirrel Village. Mangko informs Chief that Squirrel Village is no longer on high alert as they believe the mice and weasels to have been exterminated.

The Chief announces he has a new plan, the "Special Operation", and expresses his disdain for Commander Jogjebi, calling him a water demon of the Okchon River. Chief believes they will never win with brute force alone, but must be smart, pretend to be on friendly terms before attacking whilst the guard is down.

Asking who Juldarami and Geumsaegi are, the Search Officer explains the mice he was with where killed by hedgehogs, and that he was rescued by these two "field mice" who express that they are survivors of the water paratroopers.

Despite Agent Commander Aekku's suspicion, the Chief is sure of their loyalty as they had rescued his friend and immediately enlists them to the Special Corps and calls for a mouse to lead them to their quarters. Noting the holes in the ceiling that likely lead to the mouse warrens, the scouts follow.

The squirrels later meet up in a small alcove where they study a map to find the secret office of the Chief of Staff and plan to wait it out there to capture him. After a small debate as to whether or not to take what they can back to Flower Hill or capture the Chief, Juldarami agrees to Geumsaegi's idea to focus on the Chief and offers to send a wireless to tell their commanders later than night.

Sure enough Darami soon receives word of his scouts safe arrival and plan to obtain more information regarding the "Special Operation", signed with the Code Name "Tallang". Figuring the Chief is taking the place of Jogjebi (whom they presume dead), they send a wireless back with their approval.

After receiving the wireless, Juldarami witnesses the arrest of Field Mouse No. 2, who claims he represents Commander Jogjebi. Shocked, Juldarami heads to tell Geumsaegi about the Commander's survival.

Field Mouse No. 2 is brought before the Chief, and claims that Jogjebi awaits the Chief at Toadstool Valley. The Chief is uncertain as Field Mouse pleads with him to remember his face, recalling the events of S01 E02 where the Chief sent him to spy on Flower Hill.

Angry at the idea that Jogjebi survived, Field Mouse No. 2 indicates he brought with him Jogjebi's personal firearm as proof. Realizing that if he faces Commander Jogjebi, he will face consequences for fleeing back to Mt. Todok, and the Chief decides he will betray Jogjebi, and live to become the Commander of Bat Isle.

The Aekku roughly berates Field Mouse No. 2, insisting he witnessed Jogjebi's death with his own eye. The Chief orders him to calm himself and have Field Mouse well-treated, and the Agent Commander promptly calls for a guard escort to be brought to the Chief's office.

The guard in question happens to be Juldarami, and immediately both Field Mouse No. 2 and Agent Commander appear on edge, noting there is something strange about him. Juldarami noticed the unease and notes that Field Mouse looks familiar and quickly recalls that he was one of the spies that infiltrated Flower Hill in S01 E02. Shocked that he survived the encounter, he decides he must be dealt with as soon as possible before Field Mouse outs him as a spy.

Meanwhile, The Chief of Staff, Search Officer Mangko and Agent Commander Aekku discuss their impending betrayal of Commander Jogjebi, considering him to be an unfit leader and incapable of taking over Flower Hill.

A Pact is formed in which they swear to stage a coup. It is made clear that anyone who backs out of the coup will be killed. The three swear that they will work to overthrow Jogjebi, and interest falls on his personal firearm that Field Mouse No. 2 delivered.

Juldarami spots Field Mouse No. 2 heading to the Chief's office, presumably to report the Flower Hill scouts as spies, he draws a knife and prepares to kill the field mouse only to be stopped by Geumsaegi who scolds him for attempting such a reckless action and guides Juldarami to the guard post.

As Field Mouse No. 2 attempts to make his report to out the scouts to Agent Commander, he is interrupted by Geumsaegi who delivers a package of fresh food to Field Mouse No. 2 as a reward for fighting bravely at Flower Hill.

The Chief asks if the pair are acquainted and Geumsaegi replies that indeed they are and that he was the guard that helped him escape from the hedgehogs.

Content, the Chief gives Field Mouse No. 2 a letter to deliver back to Jogjebi before Agent Commander asks him what had he intended to say before Geumsaegi's arrival. No longer feeling safe in the presence of one of the scouts, he had planned to out Field Mouse's requests the return of Jogjebi's pistol instead.

Caught on alert by the sudden request, the Chief wonders if the gun has been bugged, and instead of handing it over, and asks Agent Commander to prepare a room for Field Mouse No. 2 and have him make leave for Jogjebi in the morning.

Geumsaegi is concerned as to why the pistol was not returned and opts to discover why the simple request was denied.

Juldarami distracts the guards by bringing a meal for the Chief of Staff, only for the two guard mice to begin to fight over it, leaving Juldarami to break up the fight whilst Geumsaegi scales the walls and slips into a mouse warren. Drugging a sleeping guard with a narcotic, he takes a call demanding for all emergency exits to be sealed.

Geumsaegi reaches the mouse hole leading to the Chief's office and watches as the Chief deconstructs the pistol to find that it has indeed been bugged with a recording device. Angered at having been recorded, he replaces the recording chip with a small explosive with the intent to kill Jogjebi upon the pistol's return.

The next morning, Field Mouse retrieves the firearm, and in spite of noticing it's heavier weight, he holsters it and sets off.

Juldarami and Geumsaegi discuss how to deal with Field Mouse and Juldarami volunteers to follow him and get rid of him before he is able to report their status as spies to Jogjebi. Geumsaegi refuses to allow him, pointing out that Jogjebi knows Juldarami for a spy and that he should go instead. It is agreed and they part reflecting on the words of their commander, that he trusts their courage and decisions.

Geumsaegi sets off in pursuit of Field Mouse No. 2, using his squirrel agility to dive and leap through the trees to prevent leaving footprints in the snow, but accidentally overtakes Field Mouse No. 2 and enters a confrontation with him.

Geumsaegi tries to smooth talk his way out of trouble, but it is useless as Field Mouse No. 2 knows he is a Flower Hill spy. Geumsaegi asks why he left without the letter the Chief of Staff initially gave him but a firefight erupts without reply. As Geumsaegi runs out of bullets, he slips behind the mouse and disarms him, leading the two into fierce unarmed combat.

Field Mouse No. 2 is rendered unconscious and buried beneath a heap of fallen snow and Geumsaegi retrieves his carry-bag and fruitlessly searches for Field Mouse's dropped pistol.

Before he can retrieve it, he is lifted into the air by Jogjebi's crows who had been searching to retrieve Field Mouse No. 2 and take him back to the Commander.

Hearing the gunshots, Juldarami runs after them only to find nothing and curses that he hadn't gone instead of Geumsaegi, presuming him to have failed. He is surprised by Agent Commander who asks why he is out so far into the woods. Juldarami responds he is unwell. Unconvinced, Agent Commander asks where Geumsaegdarami is. Juldarami replies that he has left to escort Field Mouse No. 2.

Angry at Juldarami's lies, he grabs him and drags him back to the Agent Corps.

Field Mouse No. 2 regains consciousness and woozily retrieves the pistol, swearing to out Geumsaegi's identity.

Commander Jogjebi is recovering from a severe concussion which leads him to have small fits. Two of his mice attempt to care for his ails, but are rebuffed. Geumsaegi is brought before him by a soldier and introduces himself as the Chief of Staff's liaison. Handing over the letter, Jogjebi asks where Field Mouse No. 2 is, to which Geumsaegi replies that he is a traitor and requests they speak privately.

Jogjebi is uncertain as to believe that Field Mouse No. 2 has betrayed him, and recalls that the Chief of Staff fled from the battle of Okchon River. Soldier reads the accompanying letter that seems to portray the the Chief of Staff and soldiers of Bat Isle as being overjoyed at his survival. Jogjebi is unimpressed, noting that the letter is trying very hard to be very nice, citing it as meretricious.

At that very moment, Field Mouse No. 2 arrives, wounded and Geumsaegi immediately accuses him of treachery, saying that he is plotting with the Chief to kill him. When Field Mouse No. 2 offers Jogjebi his pistol, Jogjebi demands Geumsaegi be arrested and a scuffle ensues. He attempts escape via a Mouse warren but cannot see and is quickly apprehended and thrown in a cell.

He thinks hard as to how to escape, and recalls Commander Darami's words of encouragement and requests to speak with Jogjebi, who complies, deciding he might as well execute the spy then and there.

He questions as to whether the Chief of Staff was aware that he had the pistol bugged. Geumsaegi replies that not only was he aware, but he replaced it with a bomb as an assassination attempt and warns him against removing the magazine.

To put the warning to the test, he calls Field Mouse forth and orders him to remove the microphone from the magazine. Field Mouse No. 2, unaware of the bombs presence, obeys and is promptly killed in the ensuing explosion.

Convinced of Geumsaegi's loyalty, he orders his release and rewards him the title of the Leader of the Security Platoon at Toadstool Valley. Geumsaegi responds that he will help Jogjebi get revenge on the Chief of Staff.

The episode ends with Commander Darami, having received a report of the recent events, congratulating his scouts.

## Characters

### Heroes

* Geumsaegdarami
* Juldarami
* Commander Darami
* Commander Goseumdochi
* Commander Mulori

### Villains

* Field Mouse No. 2
* Commander Jogjebi
* Chief of Staff
* Scout Commander Aekku
* Mangko

## Errors

* **CONTINUITY ERROR:** Field Mouse No. 2 claims the Chief of Staff sent him to spy on Flower Hill. It was in fact Jogjebi who had issued the order.
* **CONTINUITY ERROR:** Geumsaegi claims to have been the one to shoot Field Mouse No. 2 in episode 2, but it was a hedgehog.