"Me, become your Vassal?" Ulric looked genuinely surprised at Leone's straightforward attitude.
The moment he returned from his hunting trip, the young man approached him and directly asked if he would like to be a vassal.
"Yes," Leone replied. "As you may already know, Daedalus' grants me abilities to build my own kingdom. Right now, Grimjaw Mountain has become my territory.
"However, it's just the beginning. I need to recruit loyal vassals to serve as the pillars of my kingdom. However, I'm not allowed to just recruit anyone. According to Daedalus, only Sir Ulric has the qualifications to become one."
"Oh my, I feel honored." Ulric chuckled. "But you see, I don't want to become anyone's subordinate. If that wasn't an issue, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble for declining the Black Wolf Tribe's offer to merge."
Leone scratched his head before glancing at the grimoire hovering by his side.
"Looks like it didn't work huh?" Leone grinned.
"My goodness, you still need to work on your social skills," Daedalus replied. "Even I will reject your offer. Did you hear yourself? You're so clueless. When convincing people to become your subordinate, don't just ask them if they want to be one or not.
"You should butter them up and ask if they want certain benefits in exchange for working under you."
"That's not really my style, you know?" Leone sighed before glancing at the paper in his hand, reading the script he needed to say next. "Well, I guess it's time for Plan B."
Daedalus tilted its body to the side in confusion. "What Plan B?"
"Building my own kingdom without the help of the Alborin Tribe," Leone said before flipping his hair.
"W-What? Are you mad? You're going to USE that plan?!"
"I'm perfectly sane. And yes, I am going to use it!"
Ulric, Yuni, and the rest of the warriors of the Alborin Tribe looked at the two in amusement. They didn't know if they should laugh, or applaud the two for their attempt at acting.
Daedalus was certainly the better actor despite its rather unnatural line delivery. Unfortunately for Leone, he had a face and a body he couldn't control well enough to act.
His eyes would blatantly dart to the script on his hands, and his expression was too exaggerated.
If they wanted to be convincing, they should've at least memorized their lines and practiced. They were too unnatural!
"Anyway, let's go, Daedalus." Leone flipped his cape dramatically. "Let's go find ourselves a vassal."
"Hah… fine. I'll at least put a flower in your grave if you get eaten by monsters along the way." Daedalus lamented before following Leone out of the cave.
A minute of silence passed after the two left. Yuni glanced at her father.
"A-Are the two of them going to be fine?" Yuni asked anxiously.
"Follow them, and make sure they don't cause trouble. Just knock Leone out and drag him back if things get dicey," Ulric ordered.
Yuni nodded and headed out of the cave. She had no idea what the two planned to do, but the Alborin Tribe owed Leone and Daedalus a debt of gratitude. She would hate it if they got hurt because her father refused to become his vassal.
A few minutes later…
"Alright, Daedalus. Time for us to look for a vassal," Leone said. "Start scanning this entire forest to see if there are any creatures we can recruit."
"T-The entire forest?!" Daedalus thought that it misheard its new Master and decided to confirm if it heard him right. "You want me to scan the entire forest and see if there are any candidates we can recruit?"
"Yes."
"What the…"
In its long career as a King Maker, the grimoire had bound itself to countless people. All of them had taken vassal recruitment very seriously.
Only Leone was such an oddball! Did the boy think that recruiting vassals was as simple as buying cabbage from the local marketplace!
"L-Leone, I think you should reconsider your strategy," Daedalus said with concern. "How about you take some time to think this through…"
"Daedalus." Leone glanced at the grimoire with a serious expression. "I think you're forgetting a very big problem here."
"And that problem is?" Daedalus asked.
"We don't have time," Leone replied. "I already expected Sir Ulric to reject my offer to make him my vassal. After all, he is the Chieftain of a Tribe. As for me, I am just an exiled noble from the Kingdom.
"Even if I played a role in helping with their tribe's relocation and fought alongside him against the gryphon, that's only enough to earn his favor. Had I buttered him up and told him the benefits of becoming my vassal—sure, he might agree to it reluctantly—but then what?
"I don't like forcing people. My father always said that you cannot force others to obey you. However…"
Leone raised his head to look at the heavens as the wind made the cape on his back flutter.
"However… you can give them something worth believing in," Leone finished his statement.
The young man then pressed his hand over his chest, remembering his days back home. His father had always been his role model.
The Viscount of Frontera wasn't a strong warrior or a powerful mage. He was just an ordinary man, and with his good heart and talent, he single-handedly made their land prosper.
"My father once told me that loyalty built on pressure will crack," Leone stated. "Loyalty built on fear will rot, and loyalty bought with sweet words will disappear the moment someone offers a better deal."
The young man took a step forward and walked while he continued his speech.
"I don't want to have reluctant followers," Leone declared. "I don't want people to join my cause because they feel cornered and desperate. I want people to look at what I'm building and think… that they want to be part of the future that I'm creating with my own two hands."
Leone turned to look at the Grimjaw Mountain. The first territory that he had claimed with Daedalus' help.
"This mountain isn't just the first territory I claimed as my own," Leone said firmly. "It's proof that I can carve a place I can call home in the wilderness. Proof that I, Leone Frontera, is alive and will thrive even in the harshest environment."
The young man then smiled faintly before facing the grimoire that had promised to give him the power to control his own destiny.
"If Ulric joins me, I don't want his reason to be my begging," Leone said firmly. "Nor because I tricked him. It must be because he believes that standing by my side will make the Alborin Tribe soar high."
The young man then shifted his gaze to the tree, where Yuni was currently hiding as she stalked them through the forest.
"I won't chase people and convince them to become my subordinates," Leone's voice carried a power that he didn't know existed. "I will build a kingdom so strong, so stable, so undeniable… they will walk to me on their own."
A breeze blew across the forest, ruffling the leaves and Leone's cape.
His figure looked heroic, especially with the fabric flapping behind the young man's back.
"A kingdom isn't made by collecting subordinates like vegetables in the market," Leone shifted his gaze toward the depths of the forest. "It's made by becoming a ruler whom people choose."
The young man started to walk once more, his steps more stable and confident than ever before.
"So what if we don't have vassals now?" Leone smirked. "There are many fish in the sea. We will find them, laugh with them, cry with them, and grow strong together."
The young man's eyes sharpened as he clenched his fists.
"They don't have to be the mightiest warriors or the most powerful of mages. We will start small, and once we grow into an unstoppable force… those who value strength, fairness, and opportunity will come knocking on our doors."
The corner of the young man's lips curled into a confident grin.
"Let others cling to their pride," Leon chuckled. "I'll give them a future that makes pride irrelevant."
Daedalus moved closer to its new Master as if seeing a new side of him that it hadn't seen before.
"You are incredibly reckless," Daedalus commented. "As well as overly optimistic. Two traits that make a really terrible combination."
The young man chuckled a second time. His laugh was free from burdens, fear, and anxiety. It was a laugh that would make anyone think he was just a dreamer.
"But I can see it now," Daedalus said softly. "You are someone worthy of the power I grant you."
Leone reached out to hold the grimoire and placed it on his chest, right above where his heart was beating.
"Scan the forest, Daedalus," Leone ordered. "This isn't out of despair. Every great kingdom begins with a single unreasonable dream."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Daedalus replied playfully.
And somewhere in the forest, unseen by them, a pair of eyes watched the young man with growing interest.