Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Something Feels Off
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After leaving Princeton amid Billy and the young siblings' belly bows and the residents' cautious yet polite farewells, Sion's group moved swiftly.
They didn't stop at any other villages afterward, but from what they saw and heard in passing, the other places didn't seem much different from Princeton.
Billy and the villagers had spoken the truth.
The administrative power of the Dukedom had gone beyond mere absence.
In crude terms, it was a total clusterfuck.
At least, that's what Sion was convinced of.
‘These fucking bastards….’
Sion's chest boiled with rage.
Even when he'd met Dercios in the Dragon Wasteland and resolved to return to the Dukedom.
Even when he'd learned from Jenna Allot that both the grandson and great-grandson who had succeeded the Duke had met untimely ends, leaving the family and territory in chaos and turmoil.
Though the situation was somewhat complicated, he'd anticipated that stepping in personally wouldn't make it too hard to set everything right and normalize it.
He was angry at his descendants, but he figured grabbing a few heads, giving them a good scolding, installing a suitable one as Duke, and pulling strings from the shadows to decide key matters would sort things out soon enough.
Even after witnessing that bastard Vodka's disgrace back at Iron Mountain, his thinking hadn't changed.
But after seeing with his own eyes Parmel Count's conspiracy—which he'd only heard about as 'intelligence' until then—in the silent forest, and experiencing firsthand the reality of the Dukedom's residents who were born and raised there...
‘I've changed my mind.’
Up until yesterday, Sion had entertained the thought a few times: 'If things are that serious, I'll just smash them all.'
But that had been a vague notion.
Like hearing that your own sons are beating each other bloody and thinking, 'What the hell am I going to do with these kids?' as a parent.
But when you actually face your children, people's minds shift depending on the situation.
Maybe they were just roughhousing a bit, or siblings bickering as usual. In reality, it might not be a big deal at all.
That's why Sion, too, after passing through August Territory and meeting the elves of the three mountains and the Iron Mountain dwarves, had thought the situation might not be all that bad.
However, that changed completely as of yesterday.
The subject-like citizens born and living on the land he had founded were suffering miserably at the hands of his true blood descendants.
It wasn't his children fighting among themselves—it was his children tormenting the cousin-like kids he'd once cared for, and he'd confirmed it with his own eyes.
‘This is my fault.’
It was devastating and shameful.
It was his own doing, for interpreting his wife's dying words only in a way that suited him.
But Sion had no intention of wallowing in useless self-reflection.
He could do that later.
Selfish? Yeah, so what?
First, he'd smash these ungrateful fucking bastards (who were biologically his kids), and worry about the aftermath later.
Not just breaking a few bones—he resolved to truly 'kill' with his own hands, spurring his horse on with an expressionless face.
But two days later.
Right after spotting Shionia's massive walls in the distance, Sion—sharing the same destination but coming from a different direction as his great-grandson—could only mutter the exact same words.
“Something feels off?”
* * *
“When did Shionia ever have this little traffic?”
“I wouldn't know, Grandfather.”
Yonas, wearing a stiff expression with considerable tension—not quite matching Sion's but close—tilted his head.
Given the circumstances, he hadn't visited Shionia recently.
But up until last year, he'd come a couple of times a year, and each time, dozens or hundreds of pedestrians, carriages, and wagons had bustled at the gates.
But now, near the distant gates, there were only as many people as could be counted on fingers.
The same went for the districts formed along the outer walls.
The area where lower-class folk mainly lived showed none of the lively bustle Sion remembered.
There were people around, but a palpable tension hung in the air.
“Hmm. Too quiet.”
“You can see from here?”
“My eyes are sharp. Let's head to the outer wall district first.”
It was rare for a group this large and armed to enter Shionia due to security concerns, but the outer districts could be freely accessed.
Even though it was safer than other places, it was absurd to think a few thousand Dukedom regular troops could cover the vast Dukedom where over 200,000 people lived, and mid-to-small mercenary bands operated within Duke Sion's territory as well.
Sion and his group headed to the nearest outer wall village.
Known as the 'outer village'—a jumble of residences, markets, and red-light districts where lower-class people lived—it was a rough and dangerous place.
Unlike Shionia City, where carrying swords was forbidden except for formal knights, soldiers, and a tiny handful of authorized individuals, there were no such restrictions here; even kids hid knives as they roamed this hotbed of crime.
‘Last time I came, they said 2 or 3 thousand lived in just this one outer village, right?’
Decades had passed, so it was probably more now.
Back then, he'd blamed himself for not being able to make everyone on this land prosper due to medieval desperation and harsh conditions. He'd felt some pity too.
But now, enraged by 'his kids,' Sion could only view the outer village coldly.
As Sion's group appeared, those loitering at the entrance visibly tensed. Some even shouted something toward the interior.
Amid the uneasy atmosphere, Yonas stepped forward cautiously.
“Shall we go in directly?”
“Send a few ahead first. Soldiers, not elves.”
“Yes.”
Yonas bowed his head and gave orders. Knight Longlive called over a few soldiers and headed into the outer village with them.
He exchanged words with some rough-looking men at the entrance—thugs or mercenaries, hard to tell.
The conversation didn't reach the others, including Yonas. But Sion heard it crystal clear.
“Huh?”
“Yes?”
Yonas looked baffled at Sion's sudden surprised expression.
Sion raised a hand signaling to hold on, listened more to Longlive and the outer village men's talk, then furrowed his brow.
“What the hell's going on?”
“What's wrong?”
“They say Blint and the Three-Headed Eagle Castle guys surrendered?”
“What!? N-No way...”
Yonas paled in shock, wondering if his brother Gede had already started something. Sion continued.
“Black Eagle Legion Commander Blaho, Sirvan Sion, and Piot Sion—they surrendered to him.”
“Whaaat!?”
An even stranger exclamation burst from Yonas's mouth.
* * *
“Is this really okay for us?”
“What's not okay about it?”
“Still, this is...”
“Should we have told them back then that we came just to restore your status without any real plans?”
Blaho, who had grown close with Piot over the past few days, chuckled at him, then continued with a blank expression.
“If we hadn't subdued those surrendering guards at the time, if we hadn't accepted the nobles' surrender here, we'd all be locked in the castle's underground prison getting tortured by now.”
“But with Master Blaho here...”
“Are you saying I should've swung my sword at the previous Duke's bloodline and the nobles serving him in Three-Headed Eagle Castle just to save my own skin?”
“......”
Piot shut his mouth.
Even quitting the Black Eagle Legion to join as a commoner and freelancer per 'their' (precisely, Sion's) proposal had already pushed Blaho quite far.
Demanding more would go against the natural order and insult a man who'd lived his life as a knight of the Duke's family.
“I'm not sure if this is right. But hasn't it proven to be the only path where no one gets hurt right now? There's nothing more we can do. We just have to hope Sir Sailun—who sent you—arrives as soon as possible.”
Blaho was right.
There was nothing he and Piot could do now.
So, for the meeting in 30 minutes with Blint Sion and the castle nobles, they'd have to repackage yesterday's words and deliver them smoothly.
-We can only discuss further matters in Sir Sailun's presence from the royal family.
Sir Sailun—Sion—had told them to enter Three-Headed Eagle Castle and wait for him first.
Before that, keep the Black Eagle Legion from moving, or if possible, bring Master Blaho over here.
And now, both orders had been carried out.
Though the stunned Blint Sion and nobles' surrender—along with the vanguard troops followed by thousands of city residents—was an unpredicted variable.
“Good is good. And you know what's even better?”
“......?”
“Gede Sion the Governor's head must be pounding right now. Haha.”
Blaho laughed heartily.
“They should've sent envoys a few times at least, whether to ask intentions or protest. But they marched in that huge force so boldly, and it's getting zero attention—like a neighbor's dog?
So they'll be wondering what's up, what the hell's happening, dying to investigate. But in their current state, they can't come here. Why?”
“The moment they all come... it might really turn into treason?”
“Exactly. That guy's sly unlike the previous Duke. Smart, but kinda like that.”
Even setting aside personal views on Gede Sion, it was clear he was someone who obsessed over formal justifications, at least on the surface.
A few Jansrick mercenaries sent as scouts reported Gede's forces weren't budging from their camp a few kilometers from Shionia.
“But surely they'll do something within a few days?”
“Probably. That's why Sir Sailun needs to arrive fast. Screw this up, and it really turns into civil war.”
Piot shivered at Blaho's warning.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't officially 'Duke Sion family' yet. The founder had acknowledged him, but procedures remained.
Beyond that, Piot hoped no civil war would erupt among the Dukedom's members, washing blood with blood.
Because he was Piot 'Sion' Kilburn.
“Master Blaho! Young Master Piot!”
The door burst open then, and Three-Headed Eagle Castle's guard captain rushed in.
“The meeting with Sir Blint and the others isn't for a while yet.”
The guard captain, face ashen, blurted urgently as Piot stifled a sigh.
“Big trouble! Sir Yonas of Paloma's here as envoy! Looks like Paloma's Governor is issuing an ultimatum to inquire about surrender!”
“Ah! Uh......”
Yonas had come. That meant Sion was too.
Piot shot up, unable to hide his delight, but soon shifted to a troubled look.
To the guard captain, tensed like civil war and flames were about to engulf Shionia any second...
-Yeah, that's actually one of ours?
Piot wasn't shameless enough to say it like Sion would.
(To be continued)