My Kingdom Building Done Right!

Vlad remained crouched inside the small cavern, waiting for his heartbeat to slow to normal.

Although he had successfully passed through the entrance of the underground tunnels with flying colors, he knew the difficult part had only just begun.

He had memorized the map his Sister Natalia had given him. Based on the landmarks, as well as the route he ought to take, he understood that the underground tunnels were vast.

Leone was the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe. This meant that his living quarters had the highest level of protection in the entire tribe.

Vlad understood that getting to his idol’s location would not be easy, so he planned to advance carefully yet steadily.

Blitz remained perched on his shoulder, while Porkchop trailed behind the young man, keeping watch over their rear.

Since someone could enter the cave at any time and approach Vlad from behind, the Great Pudge was making sure that it could warn the teenage boy in time.

Blitz could have scouted ahead, but Vlad forbade it. As much as possible, he wanted to clear this mission using his own strength.

Of course, the strategist within him was telling him that letting Blitz scout ahead would make things many times easier. However, Vlad already felt guilty for asking the two to help him bypass the entrance of the cave.

That being so, he decided to take the lead in their exploration, ready to react to any situation.

Vlad then took out one of his scrolls and activated its effect. Soon, a small fairy the size of his hand appeared in front of him.

The fairy nodded at its Master as if understanding what it needed to do before flying a few meters ahead of them.

Vlad followed closely, but he made sure that there was a good distance between them. This would allow him to react in time if something unexpected happened.

While following behind the fairy, he gripped another scroll in his hand. This scroll would transform him into a squirrel, indistinguishable from the ones everyone would regularly see in the Aslan Tribe.

However, there was a catch. Due to the disparity in size between him and a squirrel, the effect of this painting only lasted for three minutes.

Of course, three minutes was nowhere near enough to reach Leone’s home. But it was definitely enough to hide Vlad’s identity, allowing him to proceed deeper inside the cave.

After a few minutes, the fairy flying ahead raised its hand. Its wings started to blink red, informing its Master that there was danger ahead.

Without even batting an eye, Vlad activated the scroll in his hand and transformed into a squirrel.

*Squeak!*

Blitz looked at Vlad in disbelief. It even reached out to lightly pinch the new squirrel’s cheek, making Vlad cry out in response.

"Ouch—I mean, Squeak!"

Then, as if waiting for that moment, a few warriors walked into the tunnel, heading toward the entrance of the cave.

One of them stopped and looked around his surroundings.

"Did you hear someone say ouch?" one of the warriors asked.

"No," another warrior replied. "But I did hear a squeak."

*Squeak!*

At that moment, Blitz made its presence known. The warriors didn’t notice the flying squirrel right away. It was small to begin with, and the cave was barely lit by torches and luminous stones.

"Ah, it’s just Blitz and Porkchop." One of the warriors chuckled. "Are the two of you taking a stroll?"

*Squeak!*

*Oink!*

Of course, the warriors also noticed that there was another squirrel standing beside Blitz.

They all greeted it, to which Vlad had no choice but to return their greeting with another *Squeak!*.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Vlad then started to run past the warriors before the effect of his transformation became undone.

Blitz and Porkchop then hurried behind him, with the warriors thinking that the beasts only wished to head to the Hidden Valley to sleep for the night.

Usually, Porkchop slept at the Hidden Valley with Runa.

On the other hand, Blitz usually slept at Leone’s home. However, ever since Yuni and Aria regularly slept with Leone at night, Jason and Kael told Blitz that it could only sleep with Leone on Sundays.

Blitz was fine with that. Anyway, it usually took a nap with Leone in the afternoon.

The fairy that guided Jason had already disappeared after it gave its Master a warning.

Exactly three minutes later, Vlad’s transformation came undone. He had traveled as far as he could in that form, while paying close attention to his surroundings.

After resting for a bit, he continued his journey, not forgetting to double-check the map just in case he made the wrong turn.

’I will soon appear in the place with branching tunnels,’ Vlad thought.

This was the first location where the branching tunnels would appear. Up ahead was a small clearing with four tunnels that led to different locations.

The left side would allow Vlad to connect to the Hidden Valley.

The tunnel beside that led to the tunnel where the iron ores were being mined.

The third tunnel led to the underground city, Soleil.

And last but not least, the fourth path would lead him to Leone.

Of course, each of these paths would lead to clearings where branching tunnels would also be located.

Though if Vlad wished to meet Leone, then there was only one place where he needed to go.

’There are guards in the first and last tunnel,’ Vlad thought. ’In that case...’

The teenage boy took out another scroll from his storage ring and activated it.

A moment later, a small orb of light appeared. It was only the size of Vlad’s thumb, hovering in place.

"Go," Vlad ordered silently.

The orb of light then flew towards the clearing, growing in size until it became a ball of light that was twice the size of an adult man’s head.

It also made a buzzing sound, which caught the attention of the guards.

The moment the guards locked their gaze onto the orb of light, it flew towards the third tunnel.

The four guards hesitated for a bit before running after the glowing light.

After all, the third tunnel led to the underground city of Soleil, which was one of the most important places within the Aslan Tribe.

If something ever happened to it, they would definitely be punished later on.

After making sure that the coast was clear, Vlad hurried to the fourth tunnel.

Similar situations appeared along the way. However, since the teenager had already managed to reach that far, his confidence was starting to grow.

Of course, the confidence he felt wasn’t the arrogant type of confidence.

Instead, it was the confidence he developed after activating the right paintings for the right situation.

After many close calls, Vlad had finally arrived at the path that led to the place where Leone lived within the Aslan Tribe.

He originally thought that getting this far was already enough for the security to lighten up. Yet, he was wrong.

Blocking his way from the tunnel leading to the cavern where the first Aslanians lived were not one, not two, not four, but six guards.

Six people!

Vlad thought that he would only need to face Jason as the last hurdle. But at the sight of this lineup, he felt a little intimidated.

He checked his storage ring and hesitated over which of the three remaining scrolls he should use for this operation.

After a short internal battle, Vlad gritted his teeth with determination.

’Fine, I choose you!’ Vlad took out one of the scrolls and activated it.

Soon, his body transformed and turned into Kael.

He had been closely observing the shaman’s speech and mannerisms, which made him confident that he could pretend to be Kael for a short period of time.

And so, with a faint smile on his face, Vlad walked toward the guards, hoping that he would finally overcome the last hurdle that stood in his way.

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