The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 87

Slap!

“Ugh!”

Slaaaap!

“Gah!”

Calbert, who was rolling on the floor of the office, couldn’t grasp what was happening.

What is going on with me right now?

Is this actually real?

It hurts so much.

Blood? Broken teeth? Is that really coming from me?

“Stand up.”

Just hearing the cold, spine-chilling voice brought Calbert back to reality.

“Nuh… Muh… Mmmph…”

Because of the blow ringing in his head, the pain of his mouth being torn, and his teeth breaking, he couldn’t speak properly.

But the young man who had been smiling faintly just moments before, grabbed Calbert by the collar, forcibly lifted him up, and slapped him again.

Slap! Slap!

Si-on delivered four more round-trip slaps with both his palm and the back of his hand, then threw Calbert, who was drooling bloody saliva with unfocused eyes, onto the sofa.

A moment later, cold water was poured over Calbert’s head, jolting him back to his senses.

“Ugh! Uuugh!”

The first thing Calbert did when he regained consciousness was instinctively crawl backward to the edge of the sofa, curling up like a bug.

The sudden and overwhelming violence he experienced for the first time in his life was something Calbert, who had lived like a prince for over 30 years as the heir to the ‘Si-on Rozin’ family, couldn’t withstand.

“Wh-who… are you to… Hic!”

When Si-on sat down across from him, Calbert flinched, curled up again, and covered his head with both hands.

“Hey.”

“…?”

“Raise your head. If you don’t, I’ll kick it off.”

“Gasp!”

Startled by Si-on’s warning, Calbert hesitantly moved his hands and lifted his head.

Si-on, looking at Calbert’s swollen face without any expression, spoke.

“You must be wondering what’s going on, right? You might even think I’ve gone mad. But you need to understand this. There are at least three reasons why I can beat you up, and even kill you right here without facing any consequences.”

“Guh… Ugh…”

“The name I’m known by in the world is Jang Oblas Salen. Yes, I’m royalty. A member of the family whose ancestor was the sibling of your great-grandfather’s mother, and also a sibling of the Hero King.”

“…!”

Although the family had branched out from the time of his great-grandfather, the Si-on Rozin family was still considered a direct line of the Si-on Ducal family.

Because of that, it was impossible not to know the royal and ducal family’s genealogy. After all, Calbert had learned how the Si-on Rozin family began from a young age.

“I am also the plenipotentiary agent, who has been granted permission by both the current king and Duke Si-on to do. whatever. I. want. in regards to certain matters.

Now, even with just this, I already have the authority to punish you, who not only is incompetent but deliberately avoided your responsibilities and duties as the mayor of Rozin.

But that’s not all. Even with that, I couldn’t simply beat you up, as you are still the mayor of Rozin and bear the Si-on Rozin name.”

Looking directly into Calbert’s eyes, which were trembling constantly in confusion and fear, Si-on continued.

“Get a grip and look at me. Look at my face.”

Si-on had the ability to see the level and status of others who were registered as his ‘clan members.’

However, frustratingly, he could only check his own level, not his detailed stats.

This seemed to be due to the “Error” message that had appeared in multiple languages when they reclaimed Sionia.

Because of that, Si-on couldn’t check his own stats like strength or agility, nor could he view his ‘innate talents.’

Everything showed up broken as garbled text or numbers.

The only consolation was that he apparently had more than 10 talents.

Among the 12 talents and specialties Si-on had, he realized one of them was particularly unusual.

It was something he had always been unsure about, but once the status window activated, it was officially recognized as a ‘skill.’

The skill Si-on was now certain of was ‘Intimidation.’

“Look at my face.”

Although he hadn’t tested it many times, Si-on had a feeling that when he spoke with ‘power’ in his voice to someone weaker than him, or to someone psychologically intimidated or confused, they would comply.

It wasn’t as though he could command someone to act like they were under hypnosis.

It wasn’t possible to make someone perform complex actions, but for a brief moment, they would follow simple commands.

For Calbert, who was already crushed emotionally, that was more than enough.

“Ugh… Uugh…!?”

Calbert’s eyes, which had been glaring at Si-on in fear, slowly widened.

After all, Calbert had been born into a family that used ‘Si-on’ as a middle name.

Someone like him could not have avoided seeing the portrait of the great Founding Patriarch of the Ducal family, the very person from whom the Si-on family lineage began.

Additionally, perhaps it was something imprinted in his DNA, or maybe Calbert was just too overwhelmed by Si-on’s ‘Intimidation’ to think clearly.

Thus, in the moment Calbert realized that the person who had just subjected him to this horrific violence bore a striking resemblance to the Founding Patriarch’s portrait…

“S-Si… Sir Founder…?”

Calbert came to realize and accept Si-on’s true identity.

“Do you understand now why I could kill you right here and face no consequences? Descendant of Suo.”

Jang Suo. Si-on’s third son and Calbert’s great-grandfather.

The third son, who passed away a few years before the eldest son, Theo, always had feelings of inferiority toward both his father and his older brother.

Still, he had a kind heart and a strong sense of responsibility, working diligently to develop Rozin.

When he suddenly passed away in a carriage accident, Si-on felt pained because he hadn’t been able to be by his side in his final moments, unlike with Theo.

Out of regret, Si-on had quietly extended a lot of goodwill toward Suo’s descendants, including Calbert’s generation.

It was because of this that Rozin became the third port city under the Si-on Rozin Duchy, following Paloma and Fland.

And it was also why the main family had turned a blind eye to the mismanagement and corruption of the Si-on Rozin family’s descendants.

But as soon as Si-on witnessed Calbert and the state of Rozin, he realized the truth.

Had he continued to watch over them with love and care, things would not have turned out this way.

What Si-on had shown Suo’s descendants wasn’t love and kindness—it was neglect disguised as goodwill.

“Who could I blame? It’s all my fault. But, descendant of Suo, you have crossed the line. Incompetence, I can tolerate. But you should never have gone beyond that.”

“Sir… Sir Founder… please… please forgive me…”

Calbert had heard stories as a child when he visited the Twin-headed Eagle Castle, playing with his cousins (the direct descendants), about the legend of the ‘Immortal Founder.’

As he grew older, he laughed it off as a childish tale, but knowing that his father and grandfather had heard the same stories growing up gave him a chill.

Eventually, he had forgotten all about it.

But now, he understood.

The man standing before him was none other than the Founder Duke, Jang Si-on.

How could he be so certain?

—Would you like to rejoin the Si-on Clan as a member?

“Make your choice.”

Because a message he had never seen before appeared right before his eyes.

Although he couldn’t read the words, Calbert understood that the Founder was giving him one last chance.

“I… I…”

Tears welled up in Calbert’s eyes as he began to speak.

Bang!

The door to the office swung open without a knock as a group of people entered.

* * *

“You’re saying he’s in a private meeting?”

“Yes. He had a certificate stamped with the Duke’s family and Hender’s seal. He even carried a verification letter bearing the royal seal of the Kingdom of Obla.”

That was enough to indicate he was a guest of the highest status, like an ambassador.

If Si-on’s Duchy were in normal circumstances, it would mean he was a person who could meet with the current Duke in a private audience.

For someone like the mayor of Rozin, which was just a subsidiary city of the duchy, it wasn’t even a matter of whether he could hold such an audience—it would have been a privilege just to be in the same room as such a guest.

“No, no matter how important, this is absurd.”

“This is an incredibly critical time for Rozin. How could they leave the mayor alone with him?”

Hearing Belin and Miuran’s words, the city official furrowed his brow. He was one of the high-ranking officials who had not been swayed by Yazan.

“You’re being rather harsh. No matter what level of envoy you claim to be from Yazan, can you really compare it to someone with a verification letter stamped by His Majesty, the King of Obla? Is Yazan’s influence on that level?”

“……”

The two of them frowned and fell silent.

Indeed, Yazan had been rising rapidly in power over the past few years.

But when compared to Obla, one of the three most powerful kingdoms surrounding the inner sea, Yazan, a city-state no bigger than a grand estate despite its wealth, was not even on the same level.

It was regarded two or three levels below at best.

“In any case, the mayor said to send you up as soon as you arrived. So if you want to go, go.”

The city official, who hadn’t been too fond of Belin and Miuran in the first place, spoke curtly and turned away.

“That son of a…”

“Let it go, honey. He’ll be out of a job in a few days anyway, so why bother?”

At Belin’s calming words, Miuran, whose pirate temper was about to flare up, cracked her neck from side to side and took a deep breath.

“Hoo! You’re right. Let’s go. Who knows, maybe that ‘distinguished envoy’ might mess things up?”

“Heh, not that it would change anything. But it wouldn’t hurt to introduce ourselves. It might be fun imagining how that high-and-mighty envoy will crumble later.”

The two of them, certain that everything was already over, dismissed their Yazan mercenary escorts and headed toward the mayor’s office.

Completely unaware that the ancient monster inside, busy disciplining his descendant, already knew they were coming and had even heard the conversation in the hallway.

Without knocking, the two opened the office door.

And what they saw was…

The mayor, his face swollen and covered in blood, crying as he sat on the floor, while a young, handsome man sitting before him coolly gestured for them to come in.

“……!”

“What… what?”

When people are shocked beyond words, their minds briefly stop working.

That’s exactly what happened to Belin and Miuran.

The mayor being attacked in his office?

Well, that could happen. But for the person clearly responsible to be sitting there comfortably, acting as if it were his own office, and even waving at them to come over?

“You’re the ones causing a ruckus from Yazan, right? Come here.”

“Y-you… who are you?”

“Is this guy… insane?”

Though Belin, being a woman, remained frozen in shock, Miuran, who had seen and done all sorts of things during her pirate days, quickly rushed toward the man.

But she should have stopped right there.

What she shouldn’t have done was reach for the hilt of her cutlass—the so-called sailor’s sword, which had drawn the blood of dozens despite its decorative appearance.

Thud!

In less than a second, before Miuran even realized the man sitting on the sofa had moved, she felt a powerful impact on her left side and right jaw, collapsing to the floor in an instant.

“Gasp!”

Belin, unable to comprehend what had just happened to her brutal pirate lover, felt her legs give way and fell to the floor in terror.