The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 105

“Let’s go, then.”

“Oh, yes, yes.”

Zaitz quickly regained his senses.

“Oh~ I’m so drunk. Hiccup!”

Si-on, putting on an exaggerated performance that was hard to believe came from someone whose only acting experience had been as a tree (1), turned his body away.

Zaitz, too, started to walk back the way they had come. Or rather, pretended to.

Thud, thud, thud…

Once Si-on’s footsteps could no longer be heard, Zaitz, who had been hiding in a corner of the hallway, stealthily revealed himself.

Like a cat burglar, Zaitz quietly tiptoed toward the door and pressed his ear against it.

He heard nothing from inside.

After confirming the hallway was clear once again, he slowly, cautiously pushed the door.

Creak…

As the hesitant sound of old hinges filled the air, a sweet floral scent, identical to the one that wafted from Stella’s body, tickled his nose.

Zaitz’s body trembled with excitement and delight.

‘Finally… finally…!’

Just the act of opening the door was enough to send waves of joy through his body, causing a tightening ache below his waist.

Zaitz quietly entered the room, just as cautiously closing the door behind him.

Using the moonlight streaming through the window as his guide, he tiptoed toward the bed.

The sweet floral scent grew thicker the closer he got, and soon he could make out the bulging shape of the blanket on the bed, like a small mound.

Shaking.

Zaitz’s fingers, trembling as if he were about to catch his first bug as a child, grasped the edge of the blanket.

Once he pulled it back, he would see the body of the elf that had left him spellbound, even with clothes on, now in its full, natural form.

And from this moment forward, that body would be his.

Huff, huff…

His breath, which he could no longer suppress, escaped between Zaitz’s lips. At last, he moved to pull back the blanket.

Creak…

The sound of the door opening struck Zaitz’s ears like thunder.

“So, he’s even more lust-crazed than I thought.”

Standing against the wall at the end of the dark hallway, Si-on folded his arms and quietly muttered as he watched.

He was well aware that, after he had led the elves to the duchy, it had become even rarer to see one.

Sure, there were a few groups of wandering elves moving from one place to another, but they always kept their faces tightly wrapped up, making it impossible to tell whether they were elves or humans.

In any case, the difficulty of seeing an elf had made the admiration and desire for them much greater than when Si-on had first arrived in this world.

Back then, only a small number of people with money and power “owned” elves, but it hadn’t been that hard to see one.

But times were different now.

Even for the pompous nobility, owning an elf, let alone seeing one, had become incredibly difficult.

So, Zaitz Garen’s mind being clouded and enthralled by Stella was something Si-on could understand.

That was exactly why he had ordered Stella to perform, even if it was a “terrible act.”

“I do feel… quite sorry, though.”

Of course, he felt sorry for Stella, not for Zaitz.

He felt guilty for ordering her to pretend to seduce Zaitz and for staging the soon-to-happen attempted assault.

What made him feel the most sorry was that she had accepted his proposal without a second thought.

Both Stella and Friel had accepted his request not for the sake of their race or their tribe, but for the sake of the “Si-on Duchy.”

They had trusted him because of the long-standing bond they had shared since ancient times.

“I’ll have to make sure I handle this well to make it up to her.”

Crack. Crack.

Si-on, watching as Zaitz snuck into Stella’s room without a clue that he was being observed, cracked his neck and stepped away from the wall.

As he took a few steps forward—

“Hm?”

Si-on halted and moved like a ghost, pressing himself against the hallway’s pillar.

Suddenly, three long shadows appeared at the other end of the hallway, sneaking forward with steps that didn’t match their bulky frames.

‘Those guys…’

They were knights from Souden.

Though they hadn’t acted recklessly in the banquet hall due to the presence of high-ranking individuals like Si-on, they had constantly been glancing at Stella throughout the night.

The Souden knights, not noticing Si-on standing against a pillar in the dark hallway about thirty meters away, chuckled sinisterly as they approached Stella’s room.

“……”

He hadn’t expected to catch three more “big fish,” but for some reason, it made him feel even more disgusted.

“Hoo. I’m never doing something like this again.”

Reminding himself once more that this was something neither he nor Stella should ever have to endure, Si-on steadied his breath.

Once Stella gave the signal, he would deal with the four lust-crazed dogs. Then, this disgusting feeling would vanish.

And just a few seconds later—

“Screeeam! Aaaaahhhh!”

“……”

For the first time, Si-on realized that a scream could also be part of bad acting.

Still, the sound was loud enough, and Si-on quickly ran down the hallway and opened the door.

As planned, the room was dimly lit by the soft glow of the moon, with shadows cast across the space.

“What, what is this? You guys!?”

“Ahhh! Kyaaahhh! Help! Me!”

“Damn it, shut her up! Or just pin her down!”

“Screeeam! Screeeam!”

“Take care of that guy! Ugh!”

In the darkness, the panicked voices of four beasts and the awkward screams that sounded like a kid reading from a textbook mixed together in a strange harmony.

But thanks to his superhuman sight, Si-on could see the chaos in the bedroom as clearly as if it were broad daylight.

Zaitz and one knight were wrestling on the floor, while another knight struggled to pull them apart.

And the final knight…

“Argh! My neck, my neck! Ugh!”

“Kyaaah! Oops!”

…was writhing on the bed, locked in a headlock by a completely expressionless Stella, who was still “reciting” her screams.

“Urk! Argh!”

Contrary to common misconception, archers are undoubtedly “strength” types.

Ordinary people can’t even pull the string of a standard bow easily, and the bows used by the elves of the Si-on Duchy had much stronger elasticity.

If even seasoned mercenaries couldn’t fully draw those bows, how could an elf, who had trained with them her whole life, not be strong?

“Cough. Gurgle…”

The knight, who had his neck caught by the bulging biceps of the elf ranger who had spent her life pulling bowstrings, soon went limp.

“You filthy rapists!”

Si-on, now fifty percent genuinely angry, shouted as he threw himself into the chaos, tackling the three lust-driven beasts still wrestling on the floor.

***

“What? The acting lord and the knights were beaten to a pulp? By who? No, wait, why!?”

“They were beaten to within an inch of their lives by the Peregrine Division’s instructor. The reason is… they, um, got caught trying to assault an elf knight…”

“Aaaaghhh!”

A scream, far more genuine and intense than the one Stella had let out, echoed through the building where the Souden guests were staying.

“Holy shit! Were they out of their minds?”

“Were their brains in their pants? Trying to assault an elf knight, not even a maid, on someone else’s land?”

“That’s not even the biggest problem. The mayor of Flandre and the Peregrine Division’s instructor are absolutely furious. They’re demanding Souden and the Count’s family be held accountable.”

“Ah…”

The faces of the nobles from Souden who had accompanied Zaitz paled.

Getting caught in an attempted rape would have been bad enough, but the fact that the victim was none other than the acting lord and the son of the current count made it even worse.

If this incident got out—

“Ugh…”

They were doomed.

No joke, every single person here would be absolutely doomed.

“What if… we try to deny it?”

“Do you think that’ll work? Not just Zaitz, but three other knights got caught, and you think we can deny it?”

“Oh.”

The Souden nobles fell into despair.

Even if Zaitz’s baseless claims about leading troops into Flandre without permission could be overlooked, this was indefensible.

“Hey.”

“……?”

One man cautiously raised his hand and spoke in a low, ominous voice.

“What if… there were no witnesses?”

“What…?”

“I mean, if there’s no one to testify about the attempted assault, wouldn’t that solve the problem? Besides, we have twice as many troops as they do. And they’re all right here in the castle.”

“……!”

The Souden nobles, startled, exchanged glances with each other.

“Assault? What assault?”

“There wasn’t any.”

“It happened, but now it didn’t.”

“Alright. In that case, let’s take over the castle. Gather the men!”

“Yes!”

The Souden forces had been using a separate annex, so it wasn’t long before the commanders of the troops were assembled.

However, while they were using a separate annex, there were still staff working there, and since the day the Souden nobles and troops had arrived, everything they did had been reported to the mayor.

This time, the Souden’s movements were reported even faster.

***

“Are they out of their minds?”

Si-on muttered incredulously as he received Campbell’s report.

Then again, it hadn’t been that long since he’d last seen how the so-called ruling class of this world behaved, with their irrational and reckless actions.

Even in Korea, where most people received higher education and university entrance rates exceeded 70 to 80%, you still heard about events that made you wonder, “Do these people even have brains?”

Especially in the genres of alternate history or fictional historical web novels (which Si-on hadn’t read much of)—

– “Oh, come on, author! Where’s the logic? This plot makes no sense!”

– “Ta-da! But it really happened! Go ask the author of Earth.”

Such things happened all the time.

And in this world, things were no better.

In fact, they were often worse.

When someone’s life was hanging by a thread due to an unexpected event, or when they found themselves in the worst predicament of their life, like a gambler who’d lost everything, including the horse and carriage they’d ridden in on, it became hard to think rationally.

That must have been why they made the absurd decision to use their troops to occupy the town hall of someone else’s territory.

Si-on had anticipated that possibility and had prepared for it, just in case.

“Are our people ready?”

“Yes.”

“Good. As soon as they come out of the annex, subdue them immediately.”

“Yes.”

Friel, who was leading the Peregrine Division in Stelman’s absence, answered and quickly left.

***

“As soon as we get out, take down that Peregrine Division or whatever they’re called first!”

“Kill them if you have to! No, actually, leave only the mayor and his wife alive. Kill anyone who resists!”

“No witnesses, no problem!”

“Leave the elf women alive! Let’s have some fun with them!”

“Kehahahaha!”

Following the Souden nobles’ orders, knights and mercenaries alike burned with (lust-fueled) battle fervor.

And so, the men of Souden, armed with swords and spears and sporting raging erections, stormed out of the annex.

But what awaited them—

Growwwl! Growwwl!

—were the fully armed members of the Peregrine Division, mounted on their Gau.

“You bastards dared to target Lady Stella!?”

“Kill them all!”

The members of the Peregrine Division, angrier than they’d ever been while fighting monsters, charged at them like demons.