My Kingdom Building Done Right!

Chapter 88: The Arrival Of The Middle-Ranked Tribes [Part 1]

In the three weeks succeeding Gundar’s departure from the Grimjaw Mountain, Leone and his people tested many things, including the usage of their new weapons and armors.

"How is it, Lynceus?" Leone asked.

"I can’t believe how light this spear and armor are," Lynceus replied. "Yet they still hit incredibly hard."

As if to prove his point, Lynceus thrusted his spear at a tree, and it easily pierced through the other side.

"You have mastered your martial arts well," Leone praised. "Well done."

"Thank you, Great Chieftain." Lynceus bowed respectfully.

Everyone in the camp was practicing spear arts, including Ulric, Kael, and Jason.

Although the Chieftain of the Alborin Tribe specialized in wielding axes, that didn’t stop him from wanting to wield a spear.

Kael used a staff to fight, so learning how to use a spear would only make him deadlier, proving the saying, ’even an old ginger could still be spicy.’

Jason mastered the spear fairly easily, and he also spared time into mastering hand to hand combat he could use when he transformed into his White Werewolf Form.

His sparring partner was always Ulric since only he could fight him head-to-head. It was always efficient to hone own combat skills by sparring with a powerful opponent.

Technically, Jason was stronger than Ulric. However, the latter had fought more battles than the former. His experience allowed him to overpower the young man in their sparring matches, prompting Jason to learn many things.

Without a doubt, Leone’s people were preparing for war.

They understood that to protect their peace, they would have no choice but to become stronger and fight for it.

Aside from the tribute they were preparing to give to the middle-ranked tribes, they also stored up food for their own use.

Leone was quite surprised to see that. It seemed like the people under him viewed the middle-ranked tribes more negatively than he expected.

In their eyes, they were just bullies who wanted to show off their powers to those weaker than them. Recalling that they didn’t dare to make any noise against the high-ranking tribes, Leone thought of the nobles in the kingdom of Britannia.

They were the perfect examples of those who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Since the only language they understood was the language of power, they would only listen to those they deemed stronger than them.

Suddenly, they heard a screech from the sky.

Yuni’s Red Tail Falcon descended and landed on the tree branch right above Leone’s head. It then started to screech at the young man, telling him that it saw several people mounted on horses heading in their direction.

"They came a few days earlier than expected." Leone frowned before giving Lynceus an order. "Sound the alarm."

"Yes, Great Chieftain!" Lynceus ran to the barracks and sounded the bell, informing everyone that people of unknown origin were coming.

Leone called out to Arion to take him back to the cliff so he could change his clothes. His identity as a noble from the kingdom of Britannia was something he planned to hide for as long as possible.

Half an hour later, nearly all the tribe members, except for those stationed at the watchtowers, had gathered in the barracks.

Leone wore a special ceremonial attire his vassals had prepared for him.

"Remember, everyone. We will handle this matter peacefully," Leone said firmly. "No acts of aggression are allowed. Do I make myself clear?"

"""Yes, Great Chieftain!"""

After waiting for several more minutes, the scouting parties, who were ordered to meet with the representatives, escorted them to the barracks.

To Leone’s surprise, it wasn’t just the middle-ranked tribes who had sent their representatives.

Ragan of the Ashclaw Tribe and Gromm of the Stormhorn Tribe were also there. Both of them looked at Ulric with contempt as if they had gained the balls to walk all over him.

"Who is your leader?" Ragan shouted. "The representatives of the middle-ranked tribes are here. Show them respect!"

Leone stepped forward. "I am the one who leads these three tribes together. You can call me Leone."

Ragan glanced at the person that was wearing a mask and eyed him from head to toe.

Nearly every part of Leone’s body was covered, making it hard for anyone to tell if he was a young man or an adult.

"Why are you wearing a mask?" Ragan asked.

"I don’t have to answer to a grunt like you," Leone replied calmly. "Are you a representative of the middle-ranked tribes? If not, then you don’t have any qualifications to talk to me. You’re just a side character, so know your place."

"S-Side character?" Ragan didn’t expect the masked man to talk back to him.

Leone ignored him and spoke calmly. "I came here to greet the representatives of the Ironhide Tribe, the Grimfang Tribe, the Redmaw Tribe, and the Bloodtusk Tribe. I’m sure all of you are busy people, so it will be best if we don’t waste each other’s time."

"Well said!"

A man then tapped Ragan’s shoulder, prompting the latter to move aside.

It was then that Leone saw one of the representatives. Though, the moment he saw him, the young man subconsciously clenched his fists.

If not for the mask that was covering his face, everyone might have seen him gritting his teeth in anger. That was because the one that stood before him was the same man who had tried to have his way with Yuni in his vision!

"I am Varus of the Bloodtusk Tribe, and I have come here to make sure that the tribute you owe us will be paid in full." The warrior, who looked as massive as Ulric before he became Leone’s vassal, stood before them.

He looked very much like a veteran warrior. His presence made Ragan and Gromm smirk, for they were promised an interesting scene if they came along with them to collect the tribute.

"I heard that you will not be paying your tribute this year. Is that true?" Varus asked, eyeing the tribe members who stood behind Leone. His gaze momentarily landed on Yuni, making the smile on his face widen.

Yuni, on the other hand, felt disgusted by the look that Varus gave her.

Noticing what just happened, Leone moved to stand in front of Yuni, shielding her from the lustful gaze of the warrior before them.

"I don’t know who told you that we won’t be paying the tribute, but that is a lie," Leone replied. "We have been busy preparing our tribute, and all of you can confirm that for yourselves over there."

Leone pointed at the plaza where several wooden barrels were located.

Varus gave it a glance before shifting his attention back to Leone. "That’s not enough."

"What do you mean that’s not enough?" Leone asked back. "That is a month’s worth of food for thousands of people in accordance with the agreement with the lower-ranked tribes."

"If I said it’s not enough, then it’s not enough," Varus replied with a smirk. "The ones who decide the tribute are the middle-ranked tribes."

"If we aren’t satisfied with the tribute, then you can compensate with other things to satisfy us... For example, I heard that you have these monsters called Raptors. Give me all the Raptors your people have, and I’ll deem it enough for this year’s tribute."

Leone ignored Varus and shifted his attention toward the other representatives of the other tribes.

"Do you all share the same opinion?" Leone asked.

"The Redmaw Tribe doesn’t share the same greed as the Bloodtusk Tribe," a man replied. "As long as the tribute you prepared is in accordance with the agreement of the tribes, I don’t have any problems with it."

Varus frowned as he glanced at the representative of the Redmaw Tribe, who went by the name Ronan.

Their two tribes were known to not see each other eye to eye. While he was certain that Ronan didn’t favor the low-ranking tribes, that didn’t mean he would hesitate to embarrass Varus in front of everyone.

This turn of events made Varus curse the bastard in his heart, who didn’t even attempt to hide the displeased look on his face.

Ragan and Gromm glanced at each other in response, thinking that their plans to humiliate Ulric and the other chieftains might fall apart because of Ronan’s unnecessary interference.