The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 102

“Come, come this way. I’m sure you’re angry with me, and there’s a lot you’d like to question me about, right? I’ll explain everything, so please, have a seat.”

“…”

The smiling and softly whispering actions of the Mayor of Flandre left Si-on momentarily speechless.

After encountering that man, Zaitz Garen, Si-on had concluded that Flandre was just like Rozin, pulling similar stunts — trying to bring in outside forces to shake up the ducal territory for personal gain.

However, perhaps Flandre wasn’t exactly of the same “breed” as Rozin after all.

“Please forgive us!”

“Please forgive us!”

The Mayor of Flandre, Campbell Si-on Flandre, led the chant as the city officials of Flandre kneeled on one knee before Si-on.

“…What do you think you’re doing?”

Si-on, deeply annoyed, frowned as his descendants, though distant relatives, knelt before a stranger they had never met.

It was disgraceful.

Sensing Si-on’s displeasure, Campbell raised his head cautiously and spoke.

“It seems like this will be a long story. Is that alright with you?”

“Go ahead.”

Curious to hear what excuses this absurd descendant would come up with, Si-on nodded.

Campbell stood up, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

“The truth is, both I and the people here already knew about the accomplishments of you, Instructor, and the Peregrine Division in Rozin. However…”

Campbell’s story continued at length.

“To be honest, even before we heard about Rozin, we had already mobilized a part of the Flandre garrison to send to several villages within our territory. About four or five places? Oh, six? Yes, we took down the small monsters that were lurking around the six villages.

We knew that our garrison couldn’t handle medium-to-large monsters, so we focused on driving out goblins, gnolls, and kobolds. Thanks to that, most of the villages in our territory were stabilized.

The problem, however, was the aquatic monsters inhabiting the Flandre River and the surrounding islands. These monsters would immediately dive into the water or flee to the islands as soon as our forces approached. There were many mid-sized aquatic monsters in the river, making it dangerous to travel by boat.

Anyway, by patrolling the riverbanks regularly, we managed to solve the issue to some extent. But then, one day, the mid-sized monsters suddenly stopped appearing. I wondered what had happened, but then!

A few days later, we heard about the amazing accomplishments of the Peregrine Division in Rozin. Ha! That’s when I realized it. Those monsters must have been terrified and fled upstream!

After that, I felt reassured and awaited the arrival of the Peregrine Division. But, oh no! My wife, having been too frightened and anxious, had already sent a letter to her family, the Garen Count’s family, asking for help long ago.

But I didn’t think much of it at the time. I mean, why would the Garen Grand Territory send troops to the ducal territory? At most, they’d send a few relatives to check in, but sending troops? That’s crazy. And yet! That insane thing actually happened.

Yes, you’re right. I should have protested and sent them back immediately. But the acting lord of the Souden Territory came in person, and his justification was somewhat reasonable.

As a relative, he had come to offer a bit of help after hearing the distressing news about his cousin’s wife. How could I just tell him to leave? So, I had an idea!

This is what I thought. Isn’t the acting lord of Souden overreaching here? I concluded that Zaitz, the acting lord, had overstepped. So, I thought, ‘Can I take advantage of this?’

I decided to wait and see what his true intentions were. I deliberately kept my stance vague to make him feel at ease.

I figured that if I acted rashly on my own, nothing would come of it. Besides, I knew that you and the Peregrine Division would arrive soon, so there was no need for me to spoil things by acting hastily.

And that’s how things ended up.”

***

This guy’s no ordinary person.

No, he wasn’t just impressive — he was remarkable.

Si-on, for the first time in a long while, felt admiration for a descendant.

At first, he had thought Campbell was hesitating in an ambiguous place like Flandre, trying to take a vague stance and choose a side. But that wasn’t the case.

This guy’s vague attitude had been intentional.

After all, if Si-on, meeting Zaitz for the first time, had thought, Is this guy crazy?, it made no sense for someone like Campbell, who had managed the region for generations, not to notice something was off.

If Campbell had been that incompetent, the officials of Flandre would have long since sent a request for help to Sionia.

“…So, what do you plan to do now, Sir?”

Campbell didn’t know Si-on’s true identity.

Even so, the fact that he was behaving so deferentially meant that he was well aware of the role Si-on had played in the recent turmoil within the ducal territory, and of what the Peregrine Division had accomplished in Rozin.

“Let me ask you something first. Could you send the others out?”

Noticing Si-on’s softened tone, Campbell gave a relieved nod.

The officials, whose expressions also brightened slightly, followed Campbell’s signal and filed out of the office.

“So, what was it that you wanted to ask?”

Now that they were alone, Campbell felt a bit nervous.

His counterpart was a young noble who had been entrusted with full authority by Hender Yonas and the elders of Twin-headed Eagle Castle.

Not only that, but…

Where have I seen him before…? Why can’t I remember?

Every time Campbell looked at Si-on’s face, his heart pounded uncomfortably. It was this feeling that made him unable to relax.

“There’s no need to be so tense. What I want to ask is… why did you remain silent when those two degenerates, Gede Si-on and Blint Si-on, were fighting like wild dogs?”

Oh, that.

Campbell breathed a sigh of relief and answered.

“The reason was that neither of them was qualified. That’s what I’d like to say, but that’s not the whole truth. Honestly, I didn’t care which one of them won. I believed that the division of the ducal territory was inevitable. At the time, that is.”

“Hmm.”

Seeing Si-on’s gesture to continue, Campbell sighed and went on.

“Yes. So I thought that as long as we here in Flandre and Rozin held things together, it would be fine. Then the elves of Namsan might cooperate with us. If we could unite Flandre, Rozin, and the Namsan elves…”

“Unite, and?”

“Then we could negotiate with whichever of the two degenerates ended up in power on favorable terms. At least the people of the southern part of the ducal territory could continue living as they always had.”

In short, Campbell had aimed to maintain the status quo.

His goal was neither to improve things nor to let them worsen. He simply wanted to live as they always had.

As a mayor responsible for a region, one could call this a somewhat pathetic idea.

Because of this, Campbell glanced at Si-on nervously, waiting for his reaction.

But then.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“…???”

Campbell’s eyes widened in astonishment as Si-on clapped rhythmically.

“Impressive. As the Mayor of Flandre and a noble of the ducal territory, you made the best decision you could at the time.”

“Is that… is that true?”

“Of course.”

Si-on was being sincere.

To be honest, ever since returning to the ducal territory, in terms of quick thinking and awareness, this guy, Campbell, was at the top.

But the reason Si-on was clapping wasn’t just because of that.

“Since you’ve been honest, I’ll be honest as well.”

“Yes…”

Watching Campbell gulp nervously, Si-on continued.

“Like I did with the Mayor of Rozin, I originally intended to punish you. Using the authority granted to me by Yonas and the elders of Twin-headed Eagle Castle.”

“…!”

“Handling the situation with Zaitz Garen, the acting lord of Souden? Although it was an excellent maneuver, it doesn’t absolve you of responsibility. Why? Because it was simply your duty as the Mayor of Flandre. However, the words you spoke just now…”

“…”

“Maintaining the lives of the residents. Wanting them to live as they had before. That deserves praise. Ah, you might say that was also part of your duty? Sure. But Gede Si-on and Blint Si-on both abandoned that duty. Even the Mayor of Rozin lost sight of that duty for a moment. But only you.”

Si-on, the Founding Patriarch of the ducal territory, smiled gently at Campbell, who was staring at him in a daze as if he were under a spell.

“Only you upheld that duty — the most fundamental duty of those who bear the blood of Si-on. Campbell Si-on Flandre.”

“Huh…”

Campbell, bewildered by the sudden change in the way he was addressed, stammered in confusion.

“Look at me closely.”

But when Si-on smiled warmly,

“And think about why Yonas and the

elders of Twin-headed Eagle Castle entrusted me with full authority.”

And when Si-on hinted at the suspicion Campbell had harbored all along,

“Huh? Huh? Huhhh!”

The intelligent descendant, who had been deliberately vague in assessing the situation, finally realized.

“Yes. It was I who sent your grandfather to develop this city.”

***

“What the hell? What’s really going on with them?”

Zaitz muttered anxiously as he paced the room restlessly.

“Alright, so that guy Salen is one thing. But why has Campbell Flandre, who’s been so ambiguous all this time, suddenly changed?”

Zaitz recalled how Campbell had greeted Salen.

The man who had been evasive with his brother-in-law, Zaitz, suddenly acted as if he were about to offer his very soul to this person he had just met.

No, it was more than just acting friendly.

“It was like watching Rotti.”

His beloved pet, who would roll over whenever it saw him, came to mind when he thought of Campbell’s behavior today.

“I miss Rotti. No, no! That’s not what’s important right now.”

Zaitz paused, gulped down some water, and wiped his mouth, frowning deeply.

“What could they be talking about? Are they going to just tell us to leave? I bet they will.”

If that happened, there’d be no choice but to leave.

But had he really come all this way, on a boat to this backwater place, without thinking that far?

“A husband has to take responsibility for his wife’s mistakes, right? Heh heh.”

The cousin he had supposedly been close with since childhood was long gone (though she had never really existed to begin with).

From now on, it was the Mayor of Flandre’s wife who had contacted her family, the Garen Count’s family, to negotiate in place of her husband.

And Zaitz, as the acting lord of Souden, had carefully considered the offer and accepted it.

So, having brought such a large force with him, he deserved compensation, didn’t he?

What if they pressured him, claiming he hadn’t obtained permission from the Kingdom of Obla?

“I sent a letter seeking permission. To the Crown Prince. It’s probably arrived by now.”

It wasn’t uncommon for letters sent to foreign nobles to be “slightly” delayed.

After wrapping things up here and slipping part of the profits to the Crown Prince of Obla, they would play along.

How could he be so sure?

Because Zaitz knew that the Crown Prince had no fondness for the Si-on Duchy.

Didn’t the Crown Prince’s faction send some noble named Botan or Butan to probe the Si-on Duchy?

So if Zaitz succeeded, the Crown Prince would be pleased.

The old powers in Souden would be satisfied too.

They might not be thrilled, but what choice did they have?

I succeeded. With what?

“I’ll pay them back when I’ve taken enough. When I’ve taken enough.”

That was the truth of life.