The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 75

As Si-on passed the retainers and officials stuck to the walls like cicadas, he encountered several knights who were already heavily drunk, even though it was still broad daylight.

“Huh? A knight I haven’t seen before?”

“New around here, are you? Then you must join us for a drink!”

The knights wore quilted armor reinforced with dense chains at their armpits and elbow joints, which looked quite luxurious.

From this, Si-on immediately recognized them as knights brought by Baron Botan from the royal capital.

Knights from smaller territories or wandering knights, who often had tight finances, wouldn’t walk around in expensive gambeson armor inside.

They’d be lucky to have a simple shirt.

“Hey there.”

Si-on raised one hand, approaching the knights who, despite their smiles, began to look a bit confused.

“But, Sir, why are you holding a sword?”

That was the last thing they said.

Walking toward them, Si-on slightly lowered his body and unleashed a strike.

In an instant, all three knights collapsed, their necks either slashed or pierced, dead where they stood.

“Gurgle! Gah…”

Ignoring the knights who flailed about, clutching their throats as they bled out, Si-on continued walking.

One brave official who had been trembling at a distance rushed over and began dragging the near-dead knights away, grunting as he did so.

Si-on turned back, noticing this, and gave a small laugh.

“You’re quick on your feet. I’ll remember you, Sir.”

“Th-thank you.”

The official, having realized that Si-on was willing to overlook the situation, understood this would mean starting from zero again.

And though his time around Si-on had been short, the brave official quickly grasped that while he might not face punishment, his career was essentially over unless he acted now.

Even in situations like this, those who succeed are those who take action.

“Sir Salen! Baron Botan is in the lord’s office with Madam Varetti. There’s also a member of the Information Guild and some local dignitaries with him.”

“Oh, thanks for the info. I’ll really remember you for this.”

“No, Sir. We should be thanking you for what you’ve done for the August Estate.”

Well, look at that.

If you do good, it really comes back around.

With that thought, Si-on lightly ascended the stairs toward the lord’s office.

* * *

“Is that true?”

“Yes, sir. I just received the news urgently.”

Jens’ face looked desperate as he answered Baron Botan’s question.

“You’re telling me the Si-on Ducal family made Count Pamel surrender without even a fight? And that it was revealed Count Pamel was involved in poisoning the former duke, leaving him unable to utter a word? What idiots.”

“…”

“And why the hell did they wrap up the aftermath so fast? Normally, it takes at least a couple of months to negotiate all this stuff. Typical country bumpkins. They don’t even know the basics of negotiation, huh?”

‘How the hell am I supposed to know? I’m from the capital, too, dammit…’

Jens had thought he’d hit the jackpot when he got connected with Earl Rundel, one of the royal capital’s powerful figures and the uncle of the crown prince.

At the time, Jens believed that after enduring just a few months of hardship, a bright future awaited him.

However, the moment Jens met Baron Botan, the man sent by the crown prince to oversee the August Estate, all of his expectations crumbled.

He began seriously doubting whether he had backed the right horse.

“Anyway, it’s strange. Why are you telling me all this?”

Jens bit back the urge to call Botan a “dumb pig” and forced a smile.

“Baron, the August Estate is essentially the front yard of the Si-on Duchy. If word of this gets out, the Si-on Ducal forces could head this way after their conflict with Count Pamel.”

“What? Ha… Hahaha! Hahaha!”

Baron Botan suddenly burst into laughter, his belly shaking, and Jens’ brow furrowed even deeper.

‘Is this guy insane? How can he laugh at a time like this?’

“You call yourself an Information Guild collector, but this is disappointing. I mean, you’re just a commoner, so what would you know? But listen carefully. No matter what happens here, the Si-on Duchy cannot redirect its army here.”

Baron Botan’s words were filled with certainty, and the local dignitaries from Varetti’s family, as well as Madam Varetti herself, who had been silently fretting, perked up their ears.

“The conflict with Count Pamel had legitimate grounds. That’s why it’s fine for them to fight each other. But what grounds do they have here in the August Estate? Not only that, they cooperated with a royal impostor and helped replace the lord whom His Majesty, the king, had recognized.”

“That’s right! Even now, I still get furious thinking about it. I’m so grateful that Baron Botan came personally to correct this injustice,” chimed in Madam Varetti, inserting herself into the conversation. She slyly reached out, and Baron Botan gently took her hand.

“Madam, I am simply following the will of the crown prince. And the will of the crown prince is the will of His Majesty. So, thank the king, not me.”

“Oh, you’re so humble!”

Even though she was a baron’s second wife, she exchanged affectionate glances with the visiting nobleman.

The others in the room pretended not to notice.

Everyone knew that Madam Varetti and Baron Botan had already been intimate.

However, perhaps feeling a sliver of guilt, Madam Varetti shyly pulled her hand away, twisting her body as she did so. Baron Botan, looking disappointed, cleared his throat.

“Ahem! Anyway, the Si-on Duchy won’t be sending troops here. And if they do, all the better.”

“All the better… how?”

“Wouldn’t it be perfect? We can charge them with the crime of aiding a royal impostor. I’d welcome it if they came here. It’d save me the trouble of visiting that backwater myself.”

‘He’s insane. This guy is completely insane.’

Jens was now genuinely terrified.

On the surface, Baron Botan’s logic seemed sound.

But it conveniently ignored several critical facts and only fit with his own biased conditions.

First, the person Baron Botan labeled as a “royal impostor” was certainly no such thing.

The Information Guild had not only classified him at the highest level, but they had gone to the trouble of giving him an alias and managing his information with utmost care.

How could such a person be a mere impostor?

Even the crown prince himself would need to be cautious when dealing with this person.

Second, the Si-on Ducal family was one of the strongest supporters—and actual blood relatives—of the Obla Royal Family.

Though the current king had not appeared in public for some time, it was well-known that he respected and adored Princess Stella, the wife of the late Duke Jang Si-on, as if she were his own mother, not just his aunt.

In other words, the Si-on Ducal family and the Obla Royal Family were still bound by a strong “blood alliance.”

Demanding accountability from such a ducal family?

Even if the crown prince personally got involved, there was a high chance things would turn ugly. So what chance did Baron Botan, who was merely one of Earl Rundel’s lackeys, have?

‘This guy has no sense of reality.’

Jens felt a sinking despair.

His despair deepened when he realized that the royal capital nobles who had come with Botan all shared similar thoughts.

They were frogs in a well.

Flowers raised in a greenhouse.

These people had spent their entire lives basking in power in the royal city and had no understanding of the significance of the Si-on Ducal family.

“The information you brought isn’t bad. But if you work for the Information Guild, you should be able to analyze that information properly. Tsk tsk. What a shame. To think a First-Class Collector is in such a state…”

Baron Botan clicked his tongue in disappointment, and Jens desperately fought the urge to close his eyes in frustration. Instead, he forced a smile.

“I apologize. I have much to learn. Please guide me well in the future, Baron.”

Despite the hopelessness of the situation, Baron Botan was still Jens’ only ticket out of this backwater village.

‘At least I dealt with that Olrot woman. Now I just need to manipulate this foolish pig and get back to the capital as soon as possible.’

“You don’t have to worry. How many times do I have to say it? Just trust me and the crown prince.”

“Yes, yes. That’s why I’m suggesting it might be better to return to the capital soon. The situation here seems to have settled, and staying any longer might get you caught up in unnecessary trouble.”

“What are you talking about!? Justice! Justice hasn’t been fully served yet!”

‘Ah, I forgot about this crazy woman.’

Jens felt like the world was closing in as Madam Varetti interjected, her eyes flashing with anger.

“Baron, a wise man like yourself must finish this properly. You must put the Si-on Ducal family in its place. At the very least, you need to officially appoint my son as the lord. That way, even the Si-on Ducal family…”

*Bam!*

“Ah!”

“Holy sh—what the hell was that!?”

Everyone in the office jumped in shock as the door suddenly crashed open, flying off its hinges and slamming into the wall.

“What… what is this!?”

Baron Botan, so startled that he

had fallen to the floor, stammered in confusion as a figure calmly entered the room.

“Gasp!”

“S-S-S-Sir Salen!”

Upon seeing Si-on’s expressionless face, Madam Varetti and her companions instantly paled.

But that only lasted a moment.

Pointing at Si-on, Madam Varetti shrieked in a shrill voice.

“T-that’s him! He’s the one who pretended to be royalty and struck my son! Baron, do something!”

One of the knights, who had been helping Baron Botan to his feet, drew his shortsword.

“You! Impostor! By the authority of the crown—”

*Thunk!*

The knight’s forehead was pierced by a dagger, and he collapsed backward like a felled tree.

“…!!!”

When people are too shocked, they freeze.

Who could have imagined someone would barge into the lord’s office in broad daylight and, without a word, drive a knife into the head of a noble knight?

The sheer absurdity of it left the other knight frozen, mouth agape. Before he could react, Si-on’s sword lashed out.

Thang!

The second knight, struck on the forehead by the flat of Si-on’s blade, stiffened and collapsed backward, just like his comrade.

The only difference (luckily for him) was that he hadn’t died.

After taking out two knights in the blink of an eye, Si-on glanced at the gaping Baron Botan.

“Was it Rundel who sent you?”

“H-huh? Wha… uh…”

“Sending an underqualified fool like you to test the waters… Those bastards are just as underhanded as ever.”

“Wh-what are you doing? You… You…”

“You can die now.”

*Thunk!*

Pommel’s sword came crashing down on Baron Botan’s gleaming forehead.

His skull caved in, and his eyeballs popped out as his massive body slumped to the floor.

“…!”

It all happened in an instant.

The men sent by the crown prince, the next-in-line to the throne and the very center of power (as everyone in the room believed), were dead.

And the remaining frogs in the well could only tremble in fear as they stared at the unpredictable force that had just shattered their world in five seconds.