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Very few people who knew Sion’s true identity were still alive.
It could even be said that, within the ducal territory, no one knew he was still alive.
But there is no such thing as “absolute” in this world, and Sion believed there were a handful of people who still knew about him.
Of those, the number of people Sion had personally revealed his identity to was extremely small.
Leaving aside the potential chaos his revelation might cause in the world, there was simply no reason to expose himself—for the safety of both himself and his descendants.
That had always been the case.
At least, until recently.
After meeting Derkios, however, Sion’s thoughts changed.
He concluded that, while he didn’t need to reveal himself to everyone, it would be better to disclose his identity to at least a select few.
Other “players” would arrive in this world.
And to stay ahead of them, he needed power—he needed a faction.
But Sion didn’t need to create a new faction.
He already had the Sion Duchy and the ducal house. Why build something new when he could simply reclaim what was originally his?
After meeting Derkios, Sion’s next move had essentially been decided.
He needed to bring the Sion Duchy and its noble house back under his control.
To accomplish this cleanly, he needed capable and useful people across various fields.
And the woman before him, Jena Ollot—though she didn’t resemble her father much—seemed like quite a valuable asset.
Moreover, the people Sion needed had to possess not just ability, but also fear, reverence, and loyalty toward him.
There were many ways to instill those qualities, but after living for so long as the legendary Duke Sion, he knew a particularly effective method.
“You don’t believe that I’m Duke Sion, do you?”
“Ah! Eh? Huh! Eek!”
Jena’s reaction was a mix of shock, fear, and disbelief. Sion gazed at her calmly.
“Have you ever thought about why your father stayed here until he died?”
“Uh… maybe because of the Dragon Wasteland…”
“It was because of me.”
“……!?”
“Among the key figures of the Information Guild, a few know about me—roughly, at least. They also know I took quite a liking to your father. That’s why they stationed him here when they built a branch. The Dragon Wasteland was just a cover. They couldn’t exactly say they were sending him to observe Duke Sion, who hasn’t aged or died in nearly a hundred years.”
“Ah…!”
Jena gasped as a long-standing question was suddenly answered in an unexpected way.
Indeed, even she had thought it made little sense to leave a proven talent like her father stuck in a remote place like Burgos for years just because of the Dragon Wasteland.
She also now understood why she had succeeded her father as branch manager here.
Of course, it was still possible that that bastard Yent had reassigned her out of spite or political maneuvering. But if what this customer said was true—that he was Duke Sion—then her initial appointment had likely been for the reason he’d just explained.
Assuming he was telling the truth, of course.
“But why are you telling me this?”
Surely he didn’t expect her to openly inform the Information Guild.
“I have something I need to do. And for that, I need an intelligence network.”
“Don’t tell me you’re asking me to betray the Guild…”
“Are you really valuable enough for that? If I pull you out, it would sour my relationship with the Guild.”
“……”
The bluntness stung, but it wasn’t wrong, so Jena held her tongue.
“You don’t want to stay here forever anyway, do you? Now that I’ve left the Dragon Wasteland, the Guild will probably transfer you somewhere else.”
“Ah…”
“Of course, maybe not.”
“……!”
Her brief moment of joy at the thought of finally leaving this godforsaken backwater was instantly crushed.
He was right.
If he really was Duke Sion, and if she had inherited this position to observe him, then now that he’d left, the Guild had no reason to keep the Burgos branch.
But if that sly bastard Yent interfered or schemed, she could still end up stuck here.
“The reason I told you my identity is simple. Stay in the Information Guild, but become my inside person. Don’t spout nonsense about betrayal. You’re not stupid—you know every key figure in the Guild is connected to powerful families or political backers.”
“……”
Jena was becoming more and more convinced that this customer really was Duke Sion.
His unchanged appearance after more than a decade, his knowledge of internal Guild affairs that only an insider could have—all of it pointed to his claim being true.
And then—
Thud.
“That’s 200 gold coins. Minted by the Enkein Empire during the Dragon War. Check them. That’s roughly two million dien, right?”
Jena swallowed hard and carefully opened the heavy pouch. She flinched.
It was full of imperial gold coins, renowned for their high purity.
Each coin was worth about a million won, so 200 coins amounted to roughly 200 million won.
It was a considerable amount—but not quite enough to shake a branch manager.
Thud.
Sion placed something else on the table.
Two palm-sized papers, elegantly decorated with silver embossing.
“Bank of Brelian checks. One million dien each.”
“Gasp!!!”
One million dien was equivalent to a thousand imperial gold coins—a massive sum.
And there were two of them.
“This is the first investment. Use it however you like—bribe high-ups, buy quality intel, spend it all on yourself. But within six months, I want you officially recognized as my handler somewhere else.”
“I’ll do my best!”
“Do your best? That’s your best answer?”
“……!”
He let out a quiet laugh, but his eyes didn’t soften in the slightest. Jena instantly corrected her response.
“No! I will make it happen!”
“Good.”
Only then did Sion lean back comfortably with a satisfied smile.
The most effective way to inspire reverence and loyalty in capable people was through authority—followed by money. A lot of money.
“Here, I brought everything.”
“Mm.”
Sion received several sealed letters from the now exceedingly polite Jena and sliced the seals open with a small knife.
This was why Sion had visited the Burgos branch of the Information Guild.
After the death of his eldest son Theo, Sion had tried to avoid thinking about the ducal house and territory as much as possible.
But completely ignoring the house and lands he had built with his own hands was impossible. So he had commissioned the Information Guild—specifically the now-deceased Ollot—to gather yearly reports on the Sion Ducal House.
Ollot had been a diligent and trustworthy man, and even though Sion had been absent for years, he had faithfully fulfilled the request.
“Let’s see. Up until before I entered the wasteland, nothing major happened…”
While Theo’s son, Bayen, wasn’t as outstanding as Theo, he had managed the house and territory reasonably well.
Sion found him a bit soft-hearted and too easily swayed, but thanks to the solid vassals Sion and Theo had established, there hadn’t been any serious problems.
Just as Sion expected, the reports confirmed that the duchy had been running smoothly, with only minor incidents here and there.
But the last report was different.
“…What?”
Sion froze as he read through the report from two years ago.
His expression hardened as he read it to the end, then he spoke to the visibly nervous Jena.
“Is this the last one? What about last year’s?”
“It hasn’t arrived yet. Every year the reports are sent to headquarters in December, then arrive here by February.”
Unfortunately, it was now January. They’d have to wait another month to learn about last year’s events.
“Do you personally know anything about what’s happened in the duchy recently?”
“I’m sorry. It’s so far away that hardly any news reaches here.”
Jena bowed apologetically.
Sion clicked his tongue inwardly, but he couldn’t blame her.
The only means of communication in this world were by courier, pigeon, or hawk.
And with monsters, wild animals, bandits, and criminals scattered everywhere, long-distance communication was even more difficult.
Only an organization like the Information Guild could collect a year’s worth of news from the distant Sion Duchy and deliver it here within a month.
“Hmm…”
Sion fell into thought.
What he had just read was shocking—even for him, who was rarely surprised.
Worse, it directly involved his bloodline.
‘And this happened more than half a year ago. Should I move immediately?’
He considered it briefly, then shook his head.
Rushing in now would only lead to disaster.
The situation had already progressed too far; it would be better to investigate thoroughly and plan carefully.
Sion looked up at Jena.
She was clearly dying to know what was going on—typical of a Guild agent.
‘This is a good opportunity too.’
Sion made his decision.
“We’re changing the plan.”
“Yes.”
“You have two months. Next month, last year’s information should arrive, right? I want that, and I want you to gather every piece of information you can—by any means necessary—about the Sion Duchy and House. Can you do it?”
“I swear I will.”
Jena now almost completely believed he was truly Duke Sion.
His ageless appearance, his casual display of century-old gold coins, his commanding presence—everything pointed to that conclusion.
Isn’t it strange for someone to live over a hundred years without aging?
Of course it is.
But so what?
Duke Sion was the hero of the Dragon War, one of the greatest rulers of his era.
Assuming he had some unknown magic or mystery was the simplest explanation.
And really, if he were evil, would he have spent all those years quietly hiding? He’d have conquered the world or built some evil empire long ago.
More than anything—
‘I trust my father’s judgment.’
Though he had been a stern man and they hadn’t been particularly affectionate in her adulthood, Jena respected her late father deeply.
Even judged purely as a Guild member, her father had been a remarkable man.
And this was the man he had maintained a loyal relationship with for over a decade.
That fact alone was enough for her to follow this customer—no, Duke Sion.
“Alright, what came before doesn’t matter. Just read this and burn it.”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
Jena felt a flicker of awe as Sion handed her the final report.
Information commissioned by a first-class client was not for just anyone’s eyes.
Even vast wealth couldn’t easily buy such valuable intelligence; only a handful of top Guild officials knew of it.
For him to show it to her so readily…
‘His generosity matches his wealth…’
“Huh…!”
Jena involuntarily gasped, eyes trembling as she looked at Sion.
The contents were that shocking.
The previous Duke Sion, who had died suddenly last year, might have been poisoned—and the likely culprit was his own younger brother.
On top of that, the conflict between nephew and uncle over the ducal title was intensifying, drawing in the house’s vassals and neighboring territories. It was explosive news.
“There’s a lot to investigate, isn’t there? Get everything on Gede Sion and Blint Sion—their direct and collateral relatives, vassals of the house, and the Pamel and August territories. I need to know exactly what’s happening. Then I’ll punish who needs to be punished and eliminate who needs to be eliminated.”
Sion’s voice and demeanor were calm, but Jena could almost smell blood in the air, and she shivered.
Having grown up accompanying her father, she could tell.
This man had “eliminated” a great many people before.
She was now completely convinced.
This was truly Duke Sion.
Who else but Duke Sion himself could casually declare his intent to punish and execute members of one of the greatest noble houses in the land?
Cleaning up a ruined household was the responsibility of the patriarch.
(To be continued)
