My Kingdom Building Done Right!

Kael waved his hands like a conductor on an orchestra, ’creating’ stone platforms across the mountain, where the repeating crossbows and the ballistas would be placed.

Stone staircases were also created along with it, allowing everyone to safely travel to these locations during an emergency.

Now that they knew the range and power of the Fireshard Catapults, Daedalus modified the stone walls, increasing its thickness to twenty meters.

This modification allowed them to mount fifty Fireshard Catapults on the ramparts, while the rest were placed on the dozens of stone platforms Leone had added to the Grimjaw Mountain’s defenses.

Some of the Fireshard Catapults would be placed on the balconies of the villas of guest tribes on the day the monster stampede would happen.

"Did you just... make this mountain a hornet’s nest?" Malik asked with an amused look on his face. "You armed it to the teeth."

"If we want to survive, then this is the only way to do it," Leone replied.

Nearly every part of the mountain had repeating crossbows and ballistas mounted on it.

This would ensure that the flying creatures from the monster stampede would be dealt with by the members of the Aslan Tribe.

The reason why Leone didn’t ask the other tribes to operate the repeating crossbows and ballistas was in order to prevent friendly fire.

Although he trusted the middle-ranked tribes, he still needed to be wary of Hagen and the Warclaw Tribe.

After all, the last thing he wanted to worry about was getting hit by a ’stray’ bolt from the crossbows and ballistas being operated by people he didn’t trust.

"Leone, I don’t think anyone will dare to wage war with the Aslan Tribe in the future," Oswald said with a smile. "I’m sure that no one will forget what you did to the Darkmane Tribe for decades to come."

"Indeed." Garen nodded in agreement. "There is probably no safer place in the Borderlands right now. Even the defenses of Eden pale in comparison to the defenses you have here."

"I just hope that the Monster King doesn’t make its appearance," Duncan commented. "We might be able to survive an onslaught from strong monsters, but the Monster King is a true calamity. Only the great shaman will be able to face such a thing and live to tell the tale."

"Come on now. Don’t be pessimistic." Oswald patted Duncan’s shoulder. "Even if the Monster King appears, Leone will shoot it down, right?"

"That’s the plan," Leone replied.

If the Monster King did make its appearance, Leone would have no choice but to face it.

The penalty for failing to complete the mission was simply too great.

Failing the mission would bring him back to square one, wasting the hard work he had put in to achieve his current standing.

Yet, Daedalus had a different opinion.

"As long as you are alive, you can always start from scratch. So, prioritize your survival, Leone."

Of course, the grimoire had no intention of just giving up because they had worked very hard in order to reach this point.

It simply wanted to remind Leone that his life was the most important. If the worst case scenario really did happen, they could simply escape inside the mountain and head to the Hidden Valley until the monster stampede came to an end.

After reinforcing their defenses, Duncan, Oswald, and Garen requested a private meeting with Leone.

They told him everything that Troy said to Hagen, as well as warned him about the ambitious chieftain of the Grimhowl Tribe.

"Thank you for telling me this," Leone said gratefully. "I will do my best to be careful."

"You can trust Gundar, but Hagen is different," Oswald commented. "I’m not telling you this because I am the Chieftain of the Grimfang Tribe. If anything, anyone who wishes to become the Barbarian King of the Borderlands will not hesitate to spill blood when necessary."

"Leone, do you wish to become the Barbarian King?" Duncan asked in a serious tone. "If your answer is yes, then the Redmaw Tribe will support you."

"The Ironhide Tribe will rally under your banner." Garen patted his chest.

"And so will the Grimfang Tribe," Oswald promised. "Then again, I have a feeling that you don’t really need us. With the Ravage Tribe as your ally, we will simply be riding on your coattails even if we were to join you."

"Frankly, my goal is not to become the Barbarian King," Leone replied. "However, that doesn’t change the fact that I am walking the path of Kingship."

The three chieftains exchanged a glance with each other before shifting their attention back to the young man.

"Leone, I believe that the next gathering of tribes will be different from the previous gatherings," Oswald said. "Once the threat of the monster stampede is gone, I have a feeling that both Godwin and Hagen will finally proceed with their plan of rallying all the tribes under their banner."

"Whether you like it or not, you will be an obstacle in their plans. I will not be surprised if the Warclaw Tribe and the Grimhowl Tribe join hands to eliminate you," Duncan stated. "However, now that they have seen how formidable the defenses of the Aslan Tribe are, they will most likely eliminate you when you are away from it."

"With that said, the perfect place to do that is at the gathering of tribes that will happen two months from now." Garen smirked. "Do you know? During this time, each tribe can make a proposal, and the high-ranking tribes will make a vote.

"This means that if either Hagen or Godwin proposed to unite all the tribes under one banner and become the Barbarian King, they would first need to get the majority vote of all the high-ranking tribes."

"Um?" Leone blinked. "Only the high-ranking tribes? The three of you don’t get a vote?"

"No." Oswald smiled wryly. "The low-ranking and the middle-ranked tribes have no voting power. We can only obey what the high-ranking tribes decide to do."

"Since no one wants to see either Hagen or Godwin become the next Barbarian King, the Darkmane Tribe, the Sandreaver Tribe, and the Bonegnash Tribe would always veto their proposal."

Leone frowned. "Then, are you saying that this time, things might become different?"

The three chieftains nodded. They had been discussing this matter for the past few days. With that, they believed that the next gathering would be different from the rest.

"I don’t know if the Darkmane Tribe will still retain its voting rights during the gathering," Garen said. "But, I have a feeling that some negotiations have been done behind closed doors. Knowing Hagen, he might have added that as one of his conditions so that the Grimhowl Tribe will turn a blind eye to this war."

"Seriously, I would rather have my tribe merge with the Aslan Tribe than merge with the Warclaw or Grimhowl Tribe," Oswald declared. "At the very least, I know that Leone will not treat me unfairly."

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea." Garen chuckled. "I’ll do the same then."

"Aren’t you all forgetting something?" Duncan asked them in a serious tone. "We first have to know where Leone stands. The Aslan Tribe might be recognized as a middle-ranked tribe, but after this war is over, I’m sure that they will be elevated to that of a high-ranking tribe."

He paused for a bit before continuing what he had to say.

"However, Leone is not a barbarian," Duncan added. "This means that our laws might not apply to him. So, even if Godwin or Hagen becomes the Barbarian King, Leone has a choice whether he wants to become their vassal or not."

"I don’t plan to become their vassal," Leone replied without hesitation. "I plan to build my own kingdom. In the first place, I declared war on the Darkmane Tribe to show everyone that we, the Aslan Tribe, can not be bullied by just anyone."

"And that’s what makes you dangerous in their eyes," Oswald stated. "They can no longer ignore you, Leone."

Duncan and Garen nodded in agreement.

"Don’t go to the gathering," Duncan warned. "Here, you are protected by your people. In Eden, you will be isolated and can easily be eliminated."

"Just send a delegation," Oswald proposed. "However, don’t send Kael. Right now, every tribe wants him."

Leone couldn’t help but smirk in response because this was the truth.

Kael had been complaining to him as of late because Hagen, Malik, and even the disguised Godwin were trying to bribe him with promises of greatness if he were to jump on their ship.

They even promised to marry Aria to their heirs, who would inherit their respective tribes.

Kael said that he would think about it, giving these chieftains a bit of hope.

However, deep inside, he had no intention of leaving the Aslan Tribe.

After all, Kael knew that they were only trying to poach him because of his "building powers".

The moment they realized that they had been tricked, there was no doubt that the first thing they would do was cut off his head!