The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 55

Si-on was experiencing mixed emotions.

He felt disappointment and anger toward his great-grandson Gede and the people supporting him, but he still held affection for the citizens of his territory.

After all, the Duchy was a place Si-on had built from the ground up.

One could say, with a bit of exaggeration, that he had created something from nothing.

How could he not feel fondness for the common folk who were born and lived diligently in this land he had cultivated?

They didn’t need to express gratitude toward him.

As a great pioneer, Si-on was happy and content simply seeing them live their lives earnestly.

But now, there were those trying to seize this great land he had carved out, working together with outsiders—and the worst part was that these were the ones at the highest levels of power.

In contrast, the lowly and unimportant ones, with no chance of victory, were willing to fight against those deemed enemies of the Duchy.

It was an angering yet heartwarming sight.

As the founder and pioneer of this land, Si-on felt this deeply. So he decided to express his feelings honestly.

“Longlive!”

When Si-on called out in a loud voice, Knight Longlive threw off the mercenary’s gear and came forward.

“Guh…! Gah…?!”

Marcos, whose face was red and on the verge of bursting, gasped as soon as he saw Longlive.

The Paloma guards, who had been pointing their spears at Si-on, also widened their eyes in shock.

“Lo-Longlive, Sir?”

“Why is Sir Longlive here…?”

Shaking off his conflicting emotions, Longlive put on a resolute expression and stood beside Si-on.

“Do you know this man?”

“Yes. He’s a steward of Paloma Castle.”

“Right. Well, this man here told me that we should carry out his plan and kill all the guards here.”

“…….”

“Did you know that this would happen?”

“…I didn’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Then tell these soldiers yourself. Tell them what Gede Si-on has planned and what this man intended to do with them right here.”

Si-on threw Marcos, who was on the brink of losing consciousness, to the ground.

“Gah! Gahk!”

Coughing and drooling, Marcos lay on the ground, and Longlive, briefly glancing at him, bit his lip as if making a decision.

He then turned to the guards of Paloma, who were staring at him in shock.

“Soldiers of Paloma! You all know me. I am Ethan Longlive! As a knight of Paloma and Si-on, I have something to confess.”

“No… No, don’t…!”

Marcos tried to interrupt, but his desperate attempts only made Longlive’s solemn demeanor seem even more grave, as if he were giving a final confession.

The guards, already sensing that something was terribly wrong with Marcos’ current state and Longlive’s sudden appearance, were now certain of it.

“Governor Gede Si-on of Paloma, no—the traitor Gede Si-on—has conspired with the Count Pamel family to usurp the Duke’s position!”

“What?!”

The guards were momentarily paralyzed by the shocking revelation, which was beyond anything they could have imagined.

But what Longlive said next was even more devastating.

“Additionally, Gede Si-on ordered Steward Marcos here to silence you all by killing you. If we hadn’t taken down the mercenaries trying to cross the Forest Without Echoes and invade the Duchy, and if the mercenaries sent by Count Pamel were here instead, you’d all be dead by now.”

“Ah… No…”

Marcos’ face turned ashen with despair, while the guards’ expressions quickly twisted into rage.

“Is it true?! Sir Longlive, is that really true?”

“You bastard, Marcos! Is what he’s saying true?!”

The spears that had been pointed at Si-on moments ago all turned toward Marcos.

“N-No, that’s not… a lie… I… I…”

Marcos stumbled backward in a panic, dragging himself on his rear, while Si-on stepped forward amidst the furious, betrayed soldiers.

“What Sir Longlive says is true. Because we’ve already confirmed it with these guys.”

As Si-on gestured with his chin, the soldiers’ gazes naturally shifted in that direction.

Yonas, accompanied by the cavalry and the three elf tribe warriors led by Friel, were dragging along two bedraggled men.

“Sir Yonas?”

“Aren’t those the elf rangers who guard the forest?”

Even those who had been skeptical discarded any remaining doubts as soon as they saw Yonas.

Moreover, many of the cavalry and soldiers who appeared with Yonas were also from Paloma, and some were familiar with each other.

With Longlive, Yonas, and the well-known cavalrymen all present, without raising any objections, it confirmed that the words of this mysterious knight disguised as a mercenary were indeed true.

At the same time, it meant that Marcos had lost any last shred of hope.

* * *

“I am the only one who can do this.”

After a quick wash, Gede Si-on muttered to himself as he stared at his reflection in the metal mirror.

Though he was over fifty, he still appeared vigorous. He was confident he would live at least another twenty years.

And during that time, he would become the Duke of Si-on and lead the Duchy to a new era of prosperity.

“This is my destiny.”

He couldn’t allow his nephew, who had devoured his own brother, to inherit the dukedom.

Capability? Justification?

Even the nobles of Twin-headed Eagle Castle, who supported his nephew Blint, would secretly admit that Gede was better than his nephew, who was both incompetent and committed patricide.

And what about legitimacy?

His father was a direct descendant of the great Founder, Duke Jang Si-on.

Compared to his nephew Blint, born from his late brother’s second wife, Gede had a purer bloodline.

“There’s nothing I lack.”

That’s why he took action.

He couldn’t let the family and the Duchy fall into danger.

Only he, Gede, was the one destined to make Si-on Duchy great again.

Gede truly believed this.

“Hoo…”

After taking a light breath, Gede turned and saw his eldest son, Hozat, standing there, suppressing his excitement and nerves.

Naturally, seeing Hozat reminded him of someone who looked a lot like him.

His youngest brother, Yonas.

‘There shouldn’t be any problems, right?’

It had been over a month since Yonas had gone to the August Estate with his youngest son, Sirvan.

A boy who claimed to be the grandson of Grand Aunt Maria had come seeking recognition as a Si-on.

When Gede sent Yonas to the August Estate after hearing the news, he thought it was a good opportunity.

If the boy was indeed Grand Aunt Maria’s grandson, Gede would acknowledge him as part of the Si-on family and bring him to his side.

And if he turned out to be a fraud?

Yonas and his son Sirvan would execute the imposter for tarnishing Si-on’s honor, turning it into a credit to Gede.

It would also provide an opportunity to attack Blint, who had brought shame upon the proud family.

But there had been no news from them since their last message about a fortnight ago.

‘They should’ve returned to the Duchy by now…’

There was no reason to be worried, but Gede couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

Still, he shook off those thoughts.

His youngest son, Sirvan, and his brother Yonas, who had no other connections except with Gede, would never act against his wishes.

Especially Yonas, who knew to some extent about Gede’s plans and intentions.

As always, he would be doing something that would help his brother.

Perhaps, by now, he had even recruited Grand Aunt Maria’s grandson and arrived at Twin-headed Eagle Castle.

“Father, it’s time to go.”

“Mm.”

At Hozat’s words, Gede stood up and spread his arms.

The attendants, who had been waiting, quickly approached and dressed him in a brand-new, tightly woven chainmail shirt (hauberk) over his red gambeson, fastened his belt, and equipped his sword.

Lastly, they placed a thorn-like iron crown on his head, making Gede look the part of a high-ranking noble knight.

With his neatly groomed gray beard and piercing eyes, Gede’s face exuded an unusual aura.

Though not as towering as the legendary Founder, Duke Jang Si-on, his tall and sturdy frame added to his imposing presence.

When Gede stepped out of the tent, the gathered nobles and knights, who had been waiting, all bowed their heads.

They were his vassals and the commanders of the Paloma area.

The commanders of Si-on Duchy originally began with knights who had followed the Founder, Duke Jang Si-on, and veteran soldiers who had distinguished themselves.

However, they didn’t start off overseeing a hundred households each.

At the time, the Duchy’s population was so small that they usually managed 30 or 50 households.

Moreover, they practically governed the commoners under their charge like small lords.

But now, with the population more than ten times what it had been during the Founder’s era, most of the small villages that the commanders used to oversee had grown into large towns with over a hundred households each.

Some places even had a thousand households, with populations of three or four thousand.

Since it was no longer feasible for the commanders to manage everything as before, they had become local influential figures or landed gentry.

In the vicinity of Paloma alone, there were more than ten commander families, and over half had joined Gede’s plan and gathered here.

“Zerbi, it’s been a while. It feels like just yesterday that we defeated and burned down the goblin horde of Zoffin together.”

“Haha! That was over twenty years ago, wasn’t it? But Viscount, you haven’t changed a bit since then.”

“Nonsense! If anyone hasn’t changed, it’s Poltner over there. I thought his belly would stick out more with age, but he’s still the same. How curious.”

Hahaha!

Gede’s lighthearted greetings had always kept him on good terms with the commanders of Paloma, and his jokes drew hearty laughter from the group.

“By the way, I don’t see a few of them here.”

“……”

The laughter died instantly at Gede’s remark as he glanced around.

Not all the commanders from Paloma had shown up. About 30% had chosen not to follow Gede.

“Spineless cowards.”

“They’re just fools who can’t see the tide.”

“Shouldn’t we deal with those bastards first?”

Some commanders made aggressive suggestions.

Gede shook his head.

“Not everyone can be brave and wise. Those who aren’t here are just a little more cautious and reserved. But.”

With a soft smile, Gede raised his voice with a resolute expression.

“Only the brave can claim glory! So, tell me, are you ready to share that glory with me?”

Uoooohhh!

They might consider themselves patriots, but to others, they were nothing more than a group of traitors seeking to usurp power, and they roared in unison.

Ahead of them, the troops prepared to march were lined up.

Their destination was the heart of the Duchy, Twin-headed Eagle Castle.

In three or four days, everything would be decided.

* * *

“There it is, Uncle. That’s Sionia, the capital of the Duchy.”

With excitement and pride overflowing, Sirvan pointed toward a distant location.

“Wow…”

Piotr couldn’t help but gape in awe.

The city sprawled across the area beneath and halfway up a trio of modestly tall peaks.

The sheer size of the settlement was far beyond anything Piotr had ever seen.

The tall, imposing city walls stretched at least three to four kilometers in length, enclosing thousands of buildings meticulously arranged within their confines.

A river, clearly man-made, flowed right through the middle of the slightly oval-shaped city, its widest points appearing to be over a hundred meters.

And it wasn’t just the city surrounded by the approximately ten-kilometer-long walls that stood alone.

Outside the walls, various districts, each comparable to a large town, were filled with hundreds of buildings facing the city fortifications.

Even combining just the four largest of these districts would likely account for a population in the tens of thousands.

And that wasn’t all.

From the hill where Piotr and his companions stood, he could see about ten more villages scattered around the city.

Though it was too far to gauge their exact sizes, each seemed roughly equivalent to the village surrounding the estate of Piotr’s hometown, Logos.

‘The place where Grandmother was born… the very root of my heritage, nurtured by the Founder.’

Piotr’s heart pounded with pride.

He was thrilled by the sight of the grand city and proud that the true master of this magnificent place was his great-grandfather.

But Piotr forced himself to calm down.

He hadn’t come all this way to be a tourist.

He had to fulfill the mission his grandfather had entrusted to him.

“Uncle, Uncle! Let’s go quickly! I’ll give you the full Sionia experience—”

“Wait a moment, nephew.”

“Yes?”

Sirvan, who had been excited at the thought of showing off the Sionia “full course” (though he didn’t really know much about it himself), paused.

“Smirnov, where should the Black Eagle Regiment go?”

Smirnov, the leader of the Cheolsan Dwarves, climbed onto his pony’s saddle and pointed.

“That way. It looks close from here, but it’s still about five kilometers away.”

“The Black Eagle Regiment? Why are you going there, Uncle?”

Sirvan asked, puzzled.

“I need to meet the commander there.”

A key figure in the current situation and perhaps the man who might become Piotr’s ‘Master’—the commander of the Black Eagle Regiment, Jorden Blaho.

He was a Swordmaster.