The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 101

The Inner Sea.

The official name was the Eltis Sea, but people in this world simply called it the Inner Sea, a body of water that resembled the Mediterranean quite closely.

However, there was one difference from the Mediterranean — the Inner Sea didn’t have a peninsula cutting through its middle like Italy does.

To be precise, it was as if the Italian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula were joined together without the Adriatic Sea in between.

In any case, the Inner Sea was a vast, elliptical sea, with nothing in its center, unlike the Mediterranean.

While there were dozens of islands, even the largest was smaller than Jeju Island.

As a result, there were no islands with distinct cultures or meaningful powers, unlike Sicily, Cyprus, or Crete in the Mediterranean.

If there were an exception, it would be Eltis Island, which derives from the Inner Sea’s official name and is one of the mysterious locations in this world.

However, since no one had ever actually visited it, it had to be considered an outlier.

Nevertheless, the powers surrounding and sharing the Inner Sea were numerous.

Even the Mediterranean is bordered by many countries, such as Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt.

In contrast, the Inner Sea of this world had at least twice as many cities, territories, and nations clustered around it.

All of these powers formed a vast economic zone centered around the Inner Sea, with the Kingdom of Guslander being one of its key participants.

As for the relationship between the Kingdom of Guslander and the Kingdom of Obla?

It could be described as neither particularly good nor particularly bad.

Since they were neighboring nations, their languages were similar, to the point of sounding like dialects of the same language.

The royal families and noble families of both countries were also intertwined through marriage.

Whenever disputes arose, they were almost always settled through dialogue.

The border was loosely guarded, so there was no issue crossing as long as one’s identity was clear.

It wasn’t exactly a “We Are the World” kind of harmony, but it was akin to a situation where, after getting drunk together and exclaiming, “Aren’t we like family?!” they might send each other an awkward message the next day saying, “Let’s have lunch sometime!” — a vague promise they might never keep.

However,

This was only true of the relationship between the Kingdom of Guslander and the Kingdom of Obla. It had nothing to do with the Si-on Duchy.

The Si-on Duchy was part of the Kingdom of Obla, but it was treated almost like an independent nation.

Even if siblings had lived together under the same roof for a long time, once the younger brother married and moved out decades ago, the elder brother wouldn’t say, “Work for me!” or, “Bow to me every time you see me!”

So,

The words of the noble Zaitz Garen, who was grinning before Si-on, were nothing but worthless nonsense.

“You’ve obtained the Kingdom of Obla’s consent?”

“Yes. Given the situation of the Si-on Ducal Family, I conveyed our position to the Kingdom of Obla and then came here. Haha.”

What Zaitz Garen was trying to say was this:

When Flandre found itself in a crisis, they requested help from a grand noble of the Kingdom of Guslander.

Unfortunately, this happened at a time when no one had yet been appointed as Hender of the ducal territory.

Thus, when the Kingdom of Guslander decided to offer assistance, they were concerned that their “goodwill” might be misunderstood, so they sought the consent of the Si-on Duchy’s “superior authority,” the Kingdom of Obla, before coming.

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be any issue with this statement.

“Your words contain two errors,” Si-on said.

“Hahaha. Errors, you say?”

Zaitz remained relaxed and unbothered as Si-on looked at him with an indifferent gaze.

“First, the Kingdom of Obla has no right to give or receive consent regarding the Si-on Duchy’s foreign relations.”

“…”

Zaitz’s smile remained, but his eyes hardened slightly.

“Second, even if they had such a right, did the Kingdom of Obla really permit a foreign military to enter its territory?”

“…”

Zaitz’s entire face stiffened, and his smile became noticeably awkward.

“So, let me ask you, Sir Zaitz Garen. Did the Kingdom of Guslander truly obtain the Kingdom of Obla’s consent in this matter? Choose your words carefully.”

From Si-on’s perspective, there was a 99% chance that Zaitz Garen was lying.

There was no way that the Kingdom of Obla would allow the Kingdom of Guslander’s military to enter the Si-on Duchy.

Both the leadership of Obla and Guslander would be well aware of this fact.

So, there likely hadn’t been any request for consent in the first place.

Moreover, though Si-on hadn’t noticed it at first, upon closer inspection, the insignia on the armor of the knights standing behind Zaitz was not that of the royal family of Guslander.

It was likely the crest of some noble or territory within the Kingdom of Guslander.

In other words, Zaitz was from the Kingdom of Guslander, but he hadn’t been sent by them.

Hadn’t Jaiphron said something similar?

— “We are from the Kingdom of Guslander.”

It was like how a fifth-grade civil servant from Korea, traveling abroad on personal business, might say, “I’m from Korea,” but it was entirely different from saying, “I’m from the Korean government.”

The former is used for personal travel, while the latter is used when conducting official business.

In Si-on’s view, Zaitz Garen was the former — someone acting on personal matters but pretending to represent the latter.

And Si-on’s suspicions were indeed correct.

* * *

Zaitz Garen was a direct descendant of the Garen Count’s Family, one of the grand lords of the Kingdom of Guslander, and served as the acting lord of the only port city in the Garen Grand Territory, Souden.

As the heir to the Grand Territory, Souden’s lordship would eventually pass to Zaitz’s eldest brother.

Since the Grand Territory’s heirs rarely remained stationed in Souden, it was customary for them to appoint a trusted sibling or a collateral relative as the city’s administrator.

Two years ago, Zaitz had become Souden’s acting lord, appointed to represent his older brother, who had been chosen as the heir when their father became the count.

At just 24 years old, Zaitz was filled with ambition.

He didn’t want to live idly in a small village like his other siblings, content with a modest income from a manor, claiming the title of the count’s child in the capital or in Souden.

However, the fact remained that his eldest brother was the heir to the grand territory, and that would never change.

From a young age, Zaitz had pledged his loyalty to his elder brother and begged him to appoint him as Souden’s acting lord when he assumed the title of lord.

Zaitz dreamed of proving his abilities as Souden’s acting lord and becoming its “governor.”

Even when his father passed away and his brother became the count, Zaitz believed that he could continue ruling Souden as its governor if he managed to prove his worth.

Souden had always been a place where the heirs of the Garen Counts passed through, increasing their wealth but never really getting involved in its administration.

If Zaitz could demonstrate his ability as acting lord and provide his brother with greater profits than their father had ever achieved, he believed he could remain as Souden’s permanent governor.

But once he began working in Souden as acting lord, Zaitz quickly realized how difficult that dream would be.

The power of the entrenched interest groups there was overwhelming.

Given how important Souden was to both the Garen Grand Territory and the entire Kingdom of Guslander, it was not surprising that those groups, deeply rooted over many generations, were powerful forces to be reckoned with.

The fact that Souden had been a temporary stopover for each generation’s heir meant that those in power wielded even greater influence over the city.

Young and ambitious, Zaitz had failed to consider this.

As a result, the entrenched interest groups played with him as if he were nothing more than a toy.

And it wasn’t like Zaitz could directly confront them, as many of these powerful figures had been favored by his father and grandfather.

Some were even close to his uncle, the former acting lord. It was impossible for Zaitz to take them on alone.

These power-hungry individuals would provide a consistent profit to the heirs of the Grand Territory, and they would pocket the rest for themselves.

To achieve his ambition, Zaitz had no choice but to offer his brother greater profits than their father had earned, but this made him increasingly anxious.

No matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t find a way to carve out a bigger share of the existing pie.

If he even hinted at such a move, those entrenched groups would never leave him alone.

After two years of growing frustration, an opportunity finally presented itself.

Zaitz received a letter from his cousin, who had married into the city of Flandre, asking for help.

The letter reached Zaitz, not his elder brother, the lord, as his brother had spent less than a month in Souden before leaving.

Zaitz immediately knew this was his chance — a tremendous opportunity to leave a deep impression on his brother.

Thus, Zaitz began persuading Souden’s entrenched interest groups.

If they played their cards right, they could establish a foothold in the Si-on Duchy.

His persuasion worked, and eventually, Zaitz gathered knights and soldiers from some of Souden’s most powerful factions and set off for Flandre.

As for the justification?

His cousin, the wife of the mayor of Flandre, had sent a heartfelt plea for help.

How could he, as a member of the Garen family, ignore the desperate cries of a cousin he had cherished since childhood (though, in truth, he barely remembered her face)?

What would he do if the Si-on Duchy protested later?

What of the Si-on Ducal Family?

What? They were the heroes of the Dark Dragon War?

That was ages ago — why were people still bringing that up?

In Zaitz’s eyes, the Si-on Duchy was nothing special.

It was merely a territory clinging to its former glory, pretending to be noble.

Even if it claimed to be a ducal territory, it was far inferior to the Kingdom of Guslander, let alone the Garen Count’s Territory.

And when he finally met his cousin, the mayor of Flandre, he found him to be weak.

While he didn’t seem to be lacking in intelligence, he wasn’t particularly sharp either.

He wasn’t unattractive, but he wasn’t handsome enough to be called a good-looking man.

He was a person of middling qualities.

The city officials and local notables were much the same. Though Zaitz didn’t know why, they seemed to be cowed, constantly watching for others’ reactions, and it was pathetic.

So, when the Si-on Duchy’s Great Monster Division arrived with its leader, a “trainer,” Zaitz wasn’t nervous at all.

Far from being tense, he simply thought about how he could manipulate this youngster, who seemed to be around his age, and have him dancing in the palm of his hand.

Compared to Souden’s entrenched powers, this youngster was nothing more than a seal before a killer whale.

Until just a minute ago, that’s exactly how Zaitz had thought.

‘Who is this guy?’

Zaitz was startled.

How could a bumpkin raised in the backwater Si-on Duchy have such sharp insight?

Salen? He had heard of it somewhere before, but so what? It wasn’t even part of Si-on; it was just a collateral branch of the ducal family.

‘What should I say? Damn it! Do I have to sell out my family now?’

While Zaitz was still flustered, the mayor of Flandre and the city’s officials, having heard that reinforcements had arrived from Twin-headed Eagle Castle, came rushing out to greet them.

“Oh my goodness! The pride of our Ducal Family! The pride of the Kingdom of Obla! My pride! Lord Salen, you’ve arrived!”

“…???”

Zaitz was dumbfounded.

His cousin, who had been indecisive and unclear about everything, suddenly seemed like a completely different person.

‘What’s going on? Is this some kind of hidden camera prank?’

Si-on, who had been contemplating how best to deal with this impudent bastard, was just as taken aback.