Chapter 480: I Will Not Treat Any Of You As Cannon Fodder

A minute after Leone used his power to remodel the villa...

"W-What’s going on here?!" Andreas asked, his voice a little more high-pitched than before. "Did we return to the ducal residence?!"

As for Jeeves, he went to touch the walls and pillars as if to confirm whether they were real or mere illusion.

The three were still at the balcony for the VIP guests of the Aslan Tribe. However, everything around them now looked exactly the same as the meeting room meant for VIP guests in the Helion Family’s residence.

The same place where Leone had eaten snacks while chatting with his great grandfather and great grandmother.

Important business deals were usually handled in this room, so Andreas and Jeeves were more than familiar with the room’s setup.

If not for Aslan City’s view before ?them, they would have believed that they had suddenly teleported back to the Helion Family’s residence.

"We’re still in Grimjaw Mountain, Grandpa," Leone answered. "I just did a bit of remodeling. Well, do you like it?"

The corner of Andreas’ lips twitched after hearing his no-good grandson’s reply. "Only a little bit of remodeling, you say?"

"Yes. Only a little bit of remodeling," Leone replied with a smirk.

Andreas then shifted his attention toward Jeeves, who nodded in affirmation.

"They are real, Master," Jeeves stated. "They are not made from illusions."

"I believe you now understand how Aslan and Soleil City are built," Leone stated before snapping his fingers once more.

Soon, the villa reverted to its original design, making both older men look at Leone as if he were some kind of monster.

However, Andreas suddenly had a thought. Then, he asked Leone to confirm it.

"Leone, can you really build anything within minutes?" Andreas asked him in a serious tone. "What else can you build? Can you build a castle? A fortress? How about a golem? Can you do it?"

"I can build most things," Leone replied. "But I haven’t tried building a golem before."

The young man then asked Daedalus if it was possible to build a golem. If they could, lack of manpower would no longer be a problem.

’The possibility exists,’ Daedalus answered. ’But to do that, you need to raise your rank first. Once your territory is upgraded to Rank 3, Golem Creation might get unlocked.’

This bit of information was welcome news, and Leone could already see an explosive growth in the Aslan Tribe’s unfinished projects in the future.

"For now, creating golems isn’t possible," Leone replied. "However, it can be possible in the future. I still haven’t met the right requirements to make it happen."

"Requirements?" Andreas’ face turned solemn. "What requirements?"

"First, I need to repel the invasion of the Aurelion Army," Leone replied. "Second, I need to make the Borderlands stable. Once those two are done, only then can I focus my attention on finding ways to create a golem."

"I see." Andreas nodded. "I think that’s fair. So the war must end first at all costs."

The young man was curious to know why his grandpa seemed to be interested in golem creation, so he decided to fish for answers.

It turned out that the Radiant Empire was already trying to make artificial golems.

These golems would be powered by Magic Crystals, but there were also designs meant to be powered by Beast Cores.

However, the Radiant Empire had yet to make a breakthrough.

The Helion Family only got this information thanks to Lugh. Back when he was still active, he had taken a couple of students, and one of them happened to mention it during a visit to the Helion Duchy.

For the Helion Duchy, golems could be used for many things, including food production, as well as guarding their territory.

So, when they saw that Leone had the ability to "build" things in a short period of time, Andreas thought it was a good opportunity to ask if he knew how to build a golem.

Building things out of thin air was a secret that not many people knew about. Except for a handful of people, the rest were fooled into believing that Kael was the one with this miraculous power.

Leone only had one reason why he had shown it to his grandpa. He recognized that the Helion Family was a valuable ally he could count on when in a pinch.

And by showing this kind of power to his extended family, Leone believed that they would also find value in him as an individual and wholeheartedly support him in the future.

The young man believed that his great-grandfather wouldn’t mind lending him a hand whenever he needed it.

However, Andreas was different. He was the current Patriarch of the Helion Family. That being so, he must always prioritize the well-being of their family.

Since Leone was a descendant of theirs, the more promising he was, the more Andreas would be willing to protect him at all costs.

No one would want to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs, after all.

"Well then, I should prepare for tonight’s journey," Leone said before standing up. "The high-ranking tribes will head to our temporary base near Eden. Before that happens, I need to have a proper talk with the Gryphon Battalion. I’ll see you later, Grandpa."

After saying those words, Leone finally left.

Arion took off with Leone on its back and flew towards Zephira, who noticed their approach.

She then screeched to call the rest of the Gryphons, as well as their riders, before following behind Arion, who was flying back to the fortress.

Clearly, they were going to have a serious talk about the role that the Gryphon Battalion would have in the upcoming war.

Leone was a kind person. But he knew when to be firm and when to be soft.

Although he had schemed to make the Gryphon Battalion ?a part of his strength, he had no intention of making them suffer.

In fact, he even planned to make their lives as comfortable as possible.

However, everything had a price.

When they first met, they were enemies.

So, Leone didn’t feel any guilt in binding them to him using a magical contract.

Although they were not chained or wearing any slave collar, it didn’t change the fact that Leone was now their new Lord and Master, whether they liked it or not.