My Kingdom Building Done Right!-Chapter 78: Born Under The Star Of Kings

Ulric, Jason, and Yuni took Leone to his sleeping quarters deep inside the cavern, close to where the rest of the Aslanians had built their home.

Jason also ordered Lynceus and Rufus to guard in front of Leone’s house, preventing anyone from disturbing his rest.

"Take care of him," Ulric lightly patted his daughter’s shoulder. "In times like this, it’s best not to leave him alone."

"Understood, Father." Yuni nodded.

She felt a little worried about Leone, so she decided to stay and look after him. Ulric then left, intending to talk with his Great Uncle.

Although he didn’t believe that the strongest shaman in the Borderlands would stoop so low as to harm a defenseless young man, he still needed some answers.

"I think it will be best if you hold him while he sleeps, Yuni." Daedalus had remained quiet, worried that Gundar would discover its existence earlier. But now that the shaman had left, it flapped its pages to hover above its sleeping master. "I think what Leone needs right now is human touch."

On normal occasions, Yuni would have rejected this proposal. But seeing the young man’s vulnerable state, she only nodded and lay on the bed to hold Leone in her arms.

She could still remember his face filled with grief when he looked at her. But after he hugged her, he seemed to have finally calmed down.

"Do you know what happened earlier, Daedalus?" Yuni asked as she held Leone’s body tighter, sharing her warmth with him. "Did Great Uncle do anything to Leone?"

"I don’t think he did anything," Daedalus replied without hesitation. "I have my suspicions, but I can’t confirm it right now."

"Then can you tell me about your suspicions?" Yuni inquired.

"I think... Leone saw a vision," Daedalus answered. "A vision of a possible future."

"He saw a possible future?" Yuni’s expression turned solemn. If what Daedalus saw was true, whatever vision Leone saw was not a good thing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have such a reaction.

"Right." Daedalus nodded. "Perhaps he glimpsed it the moment he did bone reading. The bones might have shown him a future that made him react that way."

"Does that mean Leone has shamanic powers?" Yuni looked at the sleeping young man beside her in surprise.

"I don’t know," Daedalus admitted. "It might have been a coincidence. Or it might just be the residual energy remaining on the bones. After all, they had been used for a long time."

"Then, what can we do?" Yuni looked more worried after hearing Daedalus’ claim.

"The only thing we can do is wait for him to wake up," Daedalus replied. "And ask him what kind of future he saw, so we can make countermeasures to prevent it from happening."

Yuni nodded and hugged Leone a little tighter. That haunting look on his face reminded her of a very bad memory.

A memory that she had buried deep inside her memory.

—————

Inside another spacious cavern, Gundar sat peacefully while looking at Ulric, Kael, and Jason.

A little squirrel was perched on top of Jason’s head, glaring at the old man.

"I’d just like to explain myself lest the misunderstanding worsens," Gundar said. "I didn’t do anything to harm Leone. I swear it on the Earth Mother’s name."

The barbarians worship the Earth Goddess, so they usually took vowing with her name on the line seriously.

In this world, Gods do exist. Making a vow using their name could trigger their wrath when used wrongly.

At that, Kael’s and Ulric’s expressions softened a bit. But Jason remained solemn. Leone was now his Liege Lord, and if anything bad happened to him, the Aslanians would definitely not take things lying down.

"Then what do you think happened, Great Uncle?" Ulric asked. "Any information will do."

"I am not fully certain, but I believe that the Earth Goddess showed him a vision," Gundar replied. "I believe she didn’t want me to see it, so she erased the evidence of that vision." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"The Earth Goddess?" Kael frowned.

Gundar sighed before he started writing something on the ground with his finger. The ground might be hard, but the old man was able to write something in it, which Kael recognized as Spirit Runes.

After he finished his work, he clapped his hands together. A ripple of power expanded outward, and the spirit runes glowed faintly for a few seconds before disappearing completely.

"I have sealed off all sounds inside this room to prevent anyone from overhearing our discussion," Gundar stated. "Since it has come to this, I will let you know my true reason for coming here to the Grimjaw Mountain.

"A few days ago, I did a bone reading. I saw a vision of a young golden lion with blue eyes. This vision means that a king candidate had been born somewhere in the Borderlands.

"With my shamanic powers, I learned that this lion had made the east its home. The reason I came here is to determine if that newborn king is a Demon King or not. If he is, I will eliminate him without fail."

After finishing his explanation, Ulric, Kael, and Jason stood up immediately and took a fighting stance.

Lightning sparks streaked in Blitz’s claws as if it were preparing to launch a lightning bolt the moment the old man did something funny.

"Calm down, all of you," Gundar said in a solemn tone. "I have taken a good look at Leone, and I conclude he is no Demon King. Besides, if I truly wanted him dead, nothing you do can stop me from killing him."

The three could tell that the old shaman was telling the truth. But none of them lowered their guard.

"You saw a golden lion with blue eyes, so I assume you are referring to Leone, yes?" Kael asked.

"That’s right." Gundar nodded.

"So you came here to see if he is a Demon King or not," Kael added. "If he is, you plan to eliminate him before he can grow up."

"Indeed." Gundar nodded once more. "No matter how I look at him, I can’t associate Leone with a Demon King. You can rest assured. I have no reason to harm him. However, that won’t change the fact that his life will be faced with many dangers even if I don’t do anything.

"His star has yet to fully grow, and the nearby stars wouldn’t want a competitor to outshine them. That’s why he is meant to take the harsh path where he could lose his life at any moment. Such is the fate of those born under the star of kings."

"You are part of the Grimhowl Tribe, and your superior also calls himself the Great Chieftain," Kael replied. "If he were to learn about Leone, what do you think he would do?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Gundar replied calmly. "Naturally, he will eliminate him. Hagen is not someone who will bat an eye even if he’s killing a young man who had just come of age. He will not hesitate to snap even a baby’s neck if they were to get in his way.

"Right now, he is focused on the upcoming tournament and his long rivalry with the War Claw Tribe. This is why he has no time to look elsewhere. I only told him that I planned to visit acquaintances in the east before I kicked the bucket. After all, I’m getting old, you know?"

Finally, Ulric and Kael calmed down a bit. But Jason still had something to say.

"Then what now?" Jason asked. "Now that you know that Leone is born under the Star of Kings, what do you plan to do next?"

"Good question." Gundar nodded. "And to be honest, the only thing I want to do is to get to know him better.

"I told Hagen I’ll only stay here for a week, then return to the Grimhowl Tribe. Within this week, I want to better understand Leone’s goals and maybe give him some advice on how to grow his influence here in the Borderlands."

"Why are you doing this?" Jason frowned. "What benefit will you get from doing this? Also, are you not supposed to be the right-hand man of the Grimhowl Tribe? Why would you keep quiet if someone threatens the position of your leader?"

"One question at a time, lad." Gundar chuckled. "My purpose for doing this, huh? You can think of it as the whim of an old man who only has a few years left to live. With my old age, I have seen my fair share of tragedies.

"Perhaps I want to do something meaningful that I can be proud of before I cross over to the afterlife. As to why I don’t plan to tell this to anyone, including Hagen... It’s because I like Leone."

"Y-You like him?" Kael blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? The two of you just met."

"It’s hard to explain..." Gundar played with his beard. "It’s like... I’m looking at my younger self, who is lost and doesn’t know what to do with his life. Of course, I’m not saying Leone is lost or anything. But I can’t help but wonder what he will be five years from now.

"Will he be able to wield his own destiny and rise above others. Or will he be crushed by the world before he can even grow to become what he is meant to be?

"As I said, I’m already old, and seeing this new star in the east made me feel that maybe... just maybe, I will see something amazing in the last year of my life."

Gundar truly believed that he didn’t have much time left in the world. Because of that, he wished to spend his remaining days observing if Leone truly could establish his own kingdom in the wilderness of the Borderlands.