My Kingdom Building Done Right!

The smell of blood was intoxicating.

The shouts, roars, and dying screams were unending.

Bloodlust and battlelust were intertwined in one deadly dance.

A dance of death where each life hung in the balance.

And amidst all that, a young man stood, panting for breath.

Pain coursed throughout his entire body like a never-ending flood.

Even so, he couldn’t remain still. They would not allow it.

"Grrr..."

The growl that escaped his lips was akin to that of a cornered beast.

His enemies charged at him with their weapons raised high, but none of them reached him.

Jason neither dodged nor ran. He simply collapsed before the attacks could reach him. Before he knew it, he finally woke up from his dream.

"Ugh..." Jason groaned.

He abruptly got up but lost his balance, causing him to fall from his bed and hit his head on the floor.

His entire body was in so much pain that he couldn’t be bothered to move for a while.

Although the injuries he received from that dream were nowhere to be found, the pain lingered as if he had truly suffered it in reality.

After some time, his breathing became a bit steadier, and the pain also slowly faded like the dream he just had.

"I almost died," Jason muttered.

When he got hit by the Ogre Warlord’s attack, he was fully unprepared for it. He could have died back then, but he didn’t.

Even so, it didn’t seem real back then. The shock was so much that he had lost consciousness.

However, in the dream, he felt everything.

Every injury.

Every time he took a life.

And every time he survived, he felt like he gained something in exchange for losing something.

Jason slowly propped himself up from the ground. He remained seated on the floor, soon shifting his gaze to his shaking hand.

The bloodstains were nowhere to be seen. Yet, he understood that his hands had never been clean from the start.

He now finally understood the reality that he had decided to ignore after becoming part of the Aslan Tribe.

Jason had decided to become Leone’s right-hand man to protect his Great Chieftain from all harm, as well as help him lead the Aslanians to greater heights.

However, he tried to keep his hands clean.

He allowed others to do the dirty work that he should have been doing.

In fact, Brann took that role readily.

After all, his goal was to become the darkness of the Aslan Tribe so that Leone could remain in the light. Unblemished, untainted, and shining like the sun.

"I’m so naive..." Jason clenched his fists and buried his face in them. "I acted too high and too mighty."

Although he didn’t want to admit it, he had wrestled and proclaimed himself as Leone’s second-in-command by taking the initiative to become the first person who was part of Leone’s own tribe, which was the Aslan Tribe.

Not the Alborin Tribe, not the Riverfang Tribe, but the Aslan Tribe.

A tribe that solely belonged to Leone.

A tribe whose name would soon resound far and wide.

And now, the Aslan Tribe had truly become a powerhouse within the Borderlands.

Yet... what did he do?

Nothing.

All the hardships.

All the planning.

All the suffering and pain.

Leone carried all of it.

And in exchange for that?

The Aslanians received all the glory.

All the success.

All the growth.

Yet, their chieftain never asked them for anything in return.

He simply wished for everyone to live happy and peaceful lives.

Leone was like a river current, while Jason was simply a leaf who rode that current. He simply followed and basked in the sacrifice of others.

At that moment, he felt ashamed of himself.

How could he possibly call himself Leone’s right-hand man if he only stood by his side and simply watched on as others did the work that he was supposed to do?

"I hate myself..." Jason said through gritted teeth. "I hate how weak I am."

He remembered standing beside people whose names he didn’t even know in his dream. Men who had laughed with him around a fire only hours before they were killed beside him.

Some had begged for help.

While some had died without making a sound.

Jason had tried to save them.

However, there came a point when he couldn’t.

At that time, there were simply too many enemies.

Too many wounded.

Too many people dying.

And every time, he had been forced to make a choice.

Fight.

Or die.

And he chose to fight.

Jason slowly closed his eyes.

The moment his eyelids shut, the battlefield returned.

A blade cutting through flesh.

Bones breaking beneath a powerful blow.

A body collapsing onto the blood-soaked ground.

The eyes of the dying looked lifelessly at the sky, perhaps thinking about their loved ones as they drew in their last breath.

"Hah... hah... hah..."

The young man opened his eyes once more, his breathing turning ragged as he recalled the vivid dream he just had.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door of his room.

"Jason, are you there?"

A familiar voice.

The voice of the young merchant lady that he had gotten along with for the past few days.

And yet... This same voice reminded him of the voice of the person that he held dear in his heart.

Jason scrambled as he stood up to open the door.

And the moment it opened, he saw her...

"Are you okay?" Tianna, who was currently disguised as Natalia, asked with a worried tone.

The young man before her was pale, making her heart ache a little.

Instead of replying to her question, Jason pulled her close to him and held her tightly.

It was then that Natalia realized his body was cold.

So cold, like the body of someone who had died during the night.

"Tianna..."

At that moment, a name that almost sounded like a sob escaped Jason’s lips.

She was the reason why he wanted to become stronger. However, he had forgotten something else.

He was now the right-hand man of the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe. He was no longer the naive young man who was hopelessly in love with the beautiful oracle that was outside of his reach.

Sure, he still loved Tianna.

In fact, he loved her very much.

But aside from that, he now had a responsibility that he must do no matter what.

After all, he was Jason Aslan.

Someone who must become the pillar of the tribe, which meant he couldn’t remain as the naive young man that he once was.

He could no longer keep his hands clean.

He must stand and fight for Leone’s sake, and not let him handle everything on his own.

Jason now understood the role he had to play. But for now, he allowed himself to show weakness toward this young lady, who was currently holding him in her arms.

In his moment of great weakness, he had also found his greatest strength.

He found the role that he needed to play in his life. And with that, he had come to a decision.

Even if he died.

Even if he died many times.

Even if he lost his innocence and became a demon.

He would embrace it as long as it meant that he would have the power to protect the Aslan Tribe and his Great Chieftain from those who wished him ill.

Little did he know that Leone didn’t want him to become a demon. His chieftain didn’t want him to become a cold-blooded killer at all.

He didn’t want him to lose what was important to him.

It was for this reason that Leone had sent Natalia over. He was worried that his right-hand man would eventually become a tool that moved according to his will.

A tool without a soul.

A tool that only followed orders.

"Don’t worry," Tianna said softly as she held Jason tightly, lightly patting his head. "I am here."

Slowly but surely, her warmth washed over Jason’s cold body. Eventually, his face once again regained a bit of color, while the paleness subsided a bit.

The two continued to hug each other, unaware that Daedalus was informing Leone of what was happening through telepathy.

"You made the right call by sending Tianna to him," Daedalus said calmly. "Jason almost broke down just now."

"...I see," Leone replied. "Will he be fine now?"

"For now, yes," Daedalus answered.

The words "for now" sounded ominous. Yet, Leone understood that there was nothing he could do about it.

After all, this was a gamble that he and Jason had taken.

And whether the gamble would pay off or not, only the young man, who had finally understood his place in the Aslan Tribe, knew the answer to that.

But for now, Leone wanted to believe in Jason.

He wanted to believe in the person who decided to raise him as the Great Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe.

"I’ll believe in him," Leone said firmly.

"I’ll believe in him as well," Daedalus commented.

Belief was the power to make miracles happen.

And Leone wasn’t aware that somewhere out there, the gears of destiny were turning.

And somewhere in the Celestial Realm, where the constellation of the Lion was, one of its stars was now shining more brightly than it ever did in the past.

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A/N: Next Chapter will be in three hours.

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