My Kingdom Building Done Right!

"Father, why must we leave this early?" Gromm grumbled as he mounted his horse. "Can’t we at least have breakfast first?"

"You’re still hungry after all that feast last night?" Brann asked in disbelief. "Are you a pig?"

It just so happened that Porkchop had passed by at that moment, and it heard what the Chieftain of the Stormhorn Tribe had said.

Raising its head arrogantly, it let out a haughty squeal as if telling Brann not to insult pigs by comparing his son to them!

Brann seemed to have understood what the Great Pudge was trying to convey, which made him chuckle.

"See, even that pig is disgusted with you." Brann chuckled before mounting his own horse. "Let’s ride!"

Brann led his people to leave the forest under the cover of darkness. He had always been a very decisive person, and the moment he set his heart and mind to it, he would take action without fail.

Gromm and the warriors followed behind their chieftain, though they were also confused why they had to leave so early in the morning.

Little did they know that thanks to Brann’s foresight, the Stormhorn Tribe managed to escape a fate that would have forced them to eat a bitter pill.

A few hours later...

"They left before dawn?" Leone asked Daedalus, who had reported that Brann and his men had left before he even woke up.

"Yes," Daedalus reported. "I don’t know their reason for leaving, but I was hoping Brann would first talk to you in private to discuss future cooperations. I have a feeling the Stormhorn Tribe doesn’t wish to become our enemy."

Leone nodded in agreement. "They didn’t send any of their warriors to help the Bloodtusk Tribe during the war. Also, they sent us some supplies before our enemies arrived at our domain. It’s safe to say they are indeed not our enemies."

The young man and the grimoire were a bit disappointed about missing the opportunity to talk to Brann before he left.

"Well, there’s no use crying over spilled milk," Leone stated. "For now, let’s tie up some loose ends."

Today, he planned to have Ross and Harold executed.

They were the two ringleaders of this whole incident, so Leone wouldn’t show them any mercy.

This was the least he could do. To prevent that future he saw, he had even gone as far as to personally end Varus and Ragan’s life with his own hands.

He might as well get to the root of it all. Tying up loose ends was something he had to do no matter what.

Half an hour later, Leone called out his vassals, including the Chieftain of the Black Wolf Tribe, Otto, to discuss the matters they would do during the day.

"We will execute Ross and Harold at noon," Leone declared. "It will be done here in the fortress."

Leone could have ordered this execution to be done at the base of the mountain. However, he decided it would be better to do it inside the fortress instead.

That way, unexpected variables would be less likely to appear during the time of execution.

"Leone, please allow me to kill those two for you," Ulric proposed. "You don’t need to dirty your hands by dealing with those two bastards."

Jason nodded in agreement. If Ulric hadn’t said it first, he would have proposed the same thing.

"Great Chieftain, when it comes to these matters, you should rely on us more," Kael commented. "We are your hands and feet, so move us as you please. Just as Ulric said, those scum are too lowly for you to personally take action. All you have to do is watch as their heads roll on the ground."

*Squeak!*

Blitz raised its hands to show support toward Ulric’s and Kael’s statements.

Max also nodded its head firmly, agreeing with everyone’s proposal.

Leone gave his vassals a glance before nodding his head to accept their arrangement.

"Very well," Leone replied. "I’ll leave it in your hands, Ulric. They have suffered enough from the torture you have given them yesterday. Give them a quick death."

"Yes, Great Chieftain!" Ulric promised.

Leone could have chosen to make Ross and Harold’s death slow and painful. However, he didn’t want the high-ranking tribes to see him as someone who didn’t know how to show mercy.

The barbarians also believed in a popular saying that went, "A warrior can be killed, but never humiliated."

While not all of them followed this rule, those who aspired to become the King of Barbarians favored this mentality.

After all, they would only gain respect from their subjects if they were to allow their enemies to die with dignity.

"Now, let’s talk about what to do with the prisoners," Leone said calmly. "I have two options in mind. The first one is to let them work in the mines. However, this is a double-edged sword.

"Using them as manpower to mine will speed up the process of our digging project. But people might discover what we’re doing inside the mountain. While I don’t think this will have any lasting impact even if outsiders know of it, I would like to know your thoughts on it."

Kael pondered over it for a bit before giving his reply. "While it is true that information of us digging our way through the mountain might reach the ears of the middle and high-ranking tribes, I don’t think it will have any lasting consequences.

"So what if they know that we’re digging across the entire mountain range? What can they do about it?"

Ulric agreed with Kael’s statement. "If you’re worried about security, we can bring thirty people at a time and have them change shifts every three hours. I’ll also ask Fury to watch the entrance of the tunnel so they don’t get any funny ideas."

They might be prisoners, but they were still warriors. In their hands, a pickaxe could also be considered as a weapon.

Of course, they might also rebel. But if their numbers were minimized to ensure they couldn’t overwhelm the defenders, they would definitely think twice before trying to mount a counterattack.

"If Fury is not enough, I will also ask Fenn to watch over the prisoners," Jason commented. "Having more workers will be helpful to Maximus as well."

"Gau!" The White Kobold did a fist pump because it was very excited to have more slaves—errr... volunteers to help with its digging operation.

While the Aslan Tribe didn’t mind helping it dig through the mountain, Max felt bad about it because they could do more important tasks like help in patrolling their territory.

However, Leone had already told his familiar and vassal that it didn’t need to worry about these things. After all, mining also helped increase the warrior’s strength stat, which had already improved significantly ever since they started helping out with the digging.

"Very well. We will do that then." Leone nodded. "I believe that after the execution, our guests from the high-ranking tribes would also return to their respective territories.

"I will also designate a few warriors from the tribes that we have captured to return to their own domains. This is to inform their chieftain about the ransom for their warriors under our custody."

Kael smirked as he thought back to the many years his tribe had suffered in paying tribute to the middle-ranked tribes. Now it was their turn to pay them compensation in order to retrieve their warriors who surrendered to them.

Of course, Kael also understood that their rise in power would not go unnoticed by the high-ranking tribes.

Even now, he believed that the moment the representatives returned to their respective camps, they would start their discussions about handling the Aslan Tribe, which was now the Overlord of the East.