"We greet the great Overlord of the Sixth Domain."
There was a deep silence that filled the room after the greeting, and Makin could feel a bead of sweat rolling down his neck as he waited for Jason to say something. Finally, after a few seconds, Jason spoke.
"You actually dared to come before me with those parasites behind you? Your words sound respectful, but your actions are showing me otherwise."
The pressure in the room suddenly increased, and Makin looked up in shock.
"I apologise, my lord! These are the guards I chose to serve as my protection for when I become the new King of this world. They had given up their mercenary ways to serve me!"
Jason hummed as he looked from Makin over to the mercenaries behind him. The guards were all looking down, but Jason could easily see how tense their bodies were, and he knew that they were ready to either defend or attack at any moment. Jason was irritated by their presence since he did not like mercenaries, but their presence wouldn’t really change anything, so Jason ignored them and spoke.
"You may stand. I’ve heard quite a bit about you from your brother. Stories of your evil deeds and your planned mutiny. I’m sure you understand that I do not involve myself in the internal affairs of the worlds within my domain, but that changes when a member of one of my worlds hires mercenaries to use as a fighting force to take the throne from the rightful king. Explain yourself."
Makin’s entire body had already begun to grow cold the longer he heard Jason speaking. The things Jason had said about him being evil were obviously lies told by his brother, but Jason’s statement about the mercenaries was true, and Makin knew that Jason would have every right to do whatever he wanted here just for that crime alone! But when Makin heard Jason tell him to explain himself, Makin looked up in surprise.
"E-Explain myself?"
"Yes, explain yourself. Tell me why you decided it was a good idea to go against the Primordial Treaty the way you did, and give me a good reason why I shouldn’t eradicate you where you stand."
This was completely new, and for a moment Makin didn’t know what to do! The previous overlord of the sixth domain, Rubik, had never asked anybody to explain their actions to him before! Rubik was a very no-nonsense person, so the moment you made any mistake, he would immediately punish you without caring to ask why you did what you did!
But Makin realised in that moment that Jason was different from Rubik, and Makin felt a surge of hope rising in his heart as he started to speak.
Makin spoke about all the troubles he faced with his brother. From the jealousy, to the betrayal, to the poisoning, and many more things. Jason had already heard most of these things from Queen Phina, but hearing the story from Makin gave Jason a different perspective that he couldn’t get from Phina.
Jason drummed his fingers against the throne armrest and hummed silently once Makin was done talking. There was silence in the throne room for a few seconds as Jason internalized everything that Makin had said, and then Jason spoke.
"What does your law say about the right of succession?"
Makin took in a shallow breath and answered in a low voice.
"According to the law, the firstborn son of the king has the right of succession unless a new King is selected by the current king himself before his death. But our father is already dead, so my brother was given the throne."
"Did this world suffer under Vanix’s rule?"
"Yes, my lord. The people hated –"
"Do not lie to me, Makin."
Makin shook in fear as Jason’s eyes narrowed, and Makin turned away angrily before he shook his head.
"No, the people did not suffer under him. He was a horrible, jealous brother, but he served the people well."
Jason hummed calmly. This was exactly what Jason had expected! Because even though Jason heard a lot about the King’s misdeeds towards his brother and his wife, none of them had said anything about Vanix being a bad king! And Jason already spoke to the Elder World in charge of handling this section of the domain earlier, and even though the Elder had a lot to complain about with regard to Vanix’s character, she didn’t have much to complain about regarding Vanix’s ability to rule. Vanix always paid his taxes on time, and his people never starved or suffered.
"Do you believe you will make a better King than your brother?"
Jason leaned forward and pinned Makin in place with his intense stare as he asked this, and Jason was surprised when Makin didn’t even flinch. Makin looked Jason right in the eye and nodded seriously.
"I will be a better king than my brother ever could."
"I see."
In truth, Jason knew that this was a simple choice. Jason could see greater potential for greatness in Makin than he saw in Vanix, and Jason knew that Makin would be the better option here. But for some reason, Jason’s gut was telling him not to make any hasty decisions right now. The combination of the gut feeling along with the irritation Jason felt when he looked at the mercenaries behind Makin made it impossible for Jason to give Makin any form of authority right now, and Jason stood from the throne and spoke.
"Very well then, I will sleep on this and tomorrow we will have another meeting with your brother present to decide the fate of your world."
The large green troll behind Makin seemed to grunt slightly when he heard Jason say this, and Jason turned to the ogre and spoke calmly.
"Do you have a problem with my decision?"
The troll bowed his head low.
"No, not at all, my lord. I am just not in support of considering the previous King Vanix for the position of ruler. He has a twisted personality, and even if he has ruled L’horm well up till now, it was only a matter of time before he brought them to ruin."
Jason’s lip curled in irritation, and he regarded the troll in the same way someone would regard a dead rat lying in the corner of their room.
"Do not presume to tell me how to rule my domain, mercenary. Remember that your presence in this world is the entire reason why I am here. You should be more concerned with the fact that your life still hangs in the balance."
The troll was stunned as a sudden pressure pressed down on him! It felt like thousands of creatures were glaring at him at the same time, and the troll nodded quickly while forcing his words out.
"I... apologise, my lord."
Jason watched the troll for a few more seconds before he finally turned away and spoke.
"Stragga, have someone handle the preparations of the room and carry out my earlier instructions. I’ll be back later."
Jason sank into the shadows once he said that, and Stragga grunted in understanding. Jason had instructed the superhumans to go around and speak to some of the servants in the castle to understand more about what was going on, and since Stragga was in charge, he would have to organise them while they worked. Stragga was obviously not happy about doing such grunt work, especially since he was a battle junkie who just wanted a good fight, but Jason was their leader and his word was law, so they had no other choice.