CHAPTER 337: CHAPTER 216: WATCHING A FOOTBALL GAME

Gowes was new here and had originally intended to get to know more of his compatriots, so he smiled and said, "I am Gowes, from Segestica. And you?"

The name "Gowes" was mentioned, but none of the people in the room seemed surprised. Evidently, they were unfamiliar with the name, which left Gowes feeling slightly disappointed.

"My name is Teressa, from Brochi. Besides you, the rest of the people in this room are all from Brochi—" The man named Teressa puffed out his sturdy chest with his thumb and emphasized, "And—I am the dorm leader of Room 10!"

Gowes immediately asked curiously, "What is a dorm leader?"

"This is an appointment given by the tribe, tasked with managing the brothers in the entire room, ensuring everyone abides by the tribe’s decrees, works diligently, and helps everyone become official tribe members as soon as possible to acquire the land we want!" Teressa leaned forward, stared straight at him, and said in a stern tone, "Do you understand?!"

Gowes met Teressa’s sharp gaze, neither submissively nor arrogantly, and replied, "I think I understand a bit."

"Good that you understand." Teressa continued to stare unflinchingly at him. "I want to warn you first: there are some Pannonian reserve tribe members here. No matter how deep your past hatred for them runs, within this tribe, do not clash with any Pannonians! And absolutely do not injure or kill them! Otherwise, if you act on impulse, all of us in this room will suffer alongside you! If we ever see you showing such tendencies, we will intervene to stop you first. Don’t blame us when the time comes, do you understand?!"

Upon hearing this, Gowes felt instantly enraged and questioned, "Are you truly my fellow Skodisqi tribesmen?! Have you completely forgotten our hatred for the Pannonians? Our tribe was destroyed by them! How many of our comrades were brutally killed by their spears? For more than a decade, they have never stopped oppressing us! Have you forgotten all of this? Or have you already succumbed to the Nix Tribe and decided to make friends with the Pannonians?!—"

"Shut up, you Segestica outsider! You don’t understand anything, so don’t spew nonsense, or you’ll regret it!" Teressa glared fiercely, raising his fist and shaking it in front of Gowes.

Gowes showed no fear and stiffened his neck, leaning forward as he defiantly retorted, "What’s this? Afraid to fight the Pannonians, so you bully your tribesmen instead? Come on, let’s see who’s scared!"

"Who’s afraid of fighting the Pannonians? You little brat know nothing! Back in Brochi, we formed a team with the help of the Nix people to defeat the Brochi people’s troops multiple times. We destroyed their villages, killed their men, ravaged their women, and scared the remaining Brochi people into trembling in their forts..." Someone next to Teressa proudly rebuked.

Gowes felt stirred and pressed on with the same tone, "If you’re heroes resisting the Pannonians, then why are you now working the fields together with your enemy, the Pannonians?!"

"General Pequot once said that the Pannonians are currently incredibly strong. If they take us seriously and decide to fight us, with our current strength, we stand no chance. The Nix Tribe aims to overthrow the Pannonians, and our participation helps the tribe grow and strengthen rapidly. When the tribe eventually launches an offensive against the Pannonians, they will be defeated, and we will rescue our tribesmen!"

"The Nix Tribe wants to eliminate the Pannonians?!" Gowes questioned skeptically. "But I heard they’ve ceased fighting the Segestica people, and the two sides have stopped their war!"

"What do you understand?!" Teressa said impatiently. "The tribe needs time to cultivate the land and produce enough food; it needs time to smelt iron ore and forge sharp weapons. Otherwise, how could we possibly defeat the Pannonians with empty hands and starving stomachs?"

You fled here and joined the tribe simply because you knew there was food here to fill your belly. Otherwise, wouldn’t you have starved to death in the wilderness?"

Gowes was momentarily silenced, unable to refute.

"I’m done talking to you. Tonight’s meal—your portion has been brought back for you. Eat it; we’ll soon go and strike the Pannonians. You can follow everyone to watch if you want." After Teressa finished speaking, someone brought Gowes a ceramic pot and bowl, placing them by the bedside.

The ceramic bowl was filled with thick porridge; atop the ceramic pot was a piece of bread roughly the size of two palms.

Gowes picked up the bread, and inside the ceramic pot was steaming soup and snowy white fish meat...

Seeing the hearty dinner and smelling the aroma of the food, Gowes, already somewhat hungry, felt even more famished. He temporarily cast aside some of his lingering doubts and began devouring his meal...

........................

The midstream banks of the Kupa River are lower on the north side and higher on the south, resulting in many sandbanks left behind by the river flooding during the rainy season.

Under Maximus’s orders, the Nix Tribe transformed a large sandbank near the Snowdonia wooden bridge into a sports field. After rugby matches began being held, it wasn’t long before not only the reserve tribe members but also the tribesmen grew to love them.

As a result, one sandbank after another was converted into sports fields. To date, Snowdonia alone has seven makeshift rugby fields, and the tribe even adjusted the reserve tribe members’ afternoon labor schedules, making the kitchen prepare dinner earlier, all to allow them more time at dusk for matches.

After dinner, apart from the city guards and patrol teams, the vast majority of tribesmen flocked to the north bank, either participating in or watching the rugby matches, with the fervor rivaling the love Roman citizens have for Gladiator tournaments.

During the day, Gowes hadn’t seen many people when entering the camp. But by dusk, as he reached the north bank of the Kupa River, he saw people packed everywhere, brushing shoulders and elbows, creating a boisterous noise that left him somewhat dizzy.

Luckily, today was the turn of personnel from Dormitories 1 to 10 to be selected for matches at Field 1. Those who weren’t picked had long been sitting on the sidelines to cheer for their companions. If Gowes had arrived a bit later, he might have gotten lost amidst the sea of people.

He hadn’t expected one Nix Camp to have so many people!... As he marveled in surprise, he heard the voice of a companion named Gleson in his ear: "This isn’t fair! I’ve worked hard today, so why wasn’t I chosen to play in the match?!"

"We all work hard, but Teressa and the other four don’t just work hard—they’re efficient. Their sowing is fast and skillful, which is why they were picked. And I find it convincing."

"I agree."

...

Several companions chimed in agreement, leaving Gleson speechless.

When Gowes was eating dinner in the dorm, others had already been gathered in the dormitory district’s open space to be selected. He was entirely unaware of the process, simply being led here by his companions in confusion.

He asked in puzzlement, "Such a large space—couldn’t everyone participate in the... match?"

"How could that be possible! There are 600 to 700 people across the ten dormitories. If everyone went up, even the largest field would be packed." Gleson, who had previously exchanged quips with Gowes, now patiently explained, "Leader Maximus invented this rugby match with strict rules. Each side can only have 15 players on the field. With the two sides combined, that’s 30 players, plus two referees, for a total of 32 people. The matches are intense and exhausting, so both sides have 35 reserve players for substitutions, according to the rules.

There was originally just one field, but later four more were added for reserve tribe members to play matches. Since our Skodisqi reserve tribe members are so numerous, the tribe implemented a further rule dividing Dormitories 1-10, 11-20, and so on into groups that rotate for matches. This way, our dormitory gets its turn every four days, and each time, five individuals deemed the best performers in those four days are chosen to play..."

The string of numbers from Gleson’s explanation left Gowes feeling overwhelmed. He didn’t fully grasp the system for organizing matches, but he caught one phrase: "best performers." So he casually asked, "How do they determine who’s the best performer?"

"People from the Agricultural Department follow us!" someone interjected nearby. "They keep track of our performance in the fields. Back in the dormitory, the patrol soldiers also monitor our behavior in the dorm district... So the ones selected to play are generally well-accepted by everyone..."

As Gowes listened, he suddenly grew angry and exclaimed, "You’re constantly being monitored by these Nix Tribe officials, forced to work hard. What kind of reserve tribe members are you? This is practically the same as being slaves under the Pannonian Tribe!"

"It’s completely different!" Gleson retorted with conviction. "The staff from the Agricultural Department never shout at us to work faster, nor do they whip or beat us when we take breaks. They just quietly record what they see."

If they notice someone struggling with the work, they patiently and carefully guide them. If they see someone injured while working, they take them to the hospital for treatment."

"Also, also!" another companion added, "At first, when we got thirsty working in the fields, we drank from the water canals. The Agricultural Department staff warned us against drinking unboiled water to prevent illness, but some didn’t listen. Later, they started bringing several buckets of boiled water to the canals every day, offering us bowls whenever we felt thirsty... They genuinely care about our health and really treat us as one of their own!"

"Do we even need the Agricultural Department staff to urge us on? Absolutely not!" Yet another companion chimed in. "Nowadays, everyone works with enthusiasm and diligence to become official tribe members quickly and secure fertile land of their own. This is because the tribe has long announced that outstanding reserve tribe members can shorten the time required to become official members.

The tribe is true to its promises. When the Pannonian Army besieged the camp earlier, they declared: ’If we repel the enemy, all reserve tribe members in the camp will have one year deducted from the time required to attain official member status.’

At that time, we hadn’t joined the Nix Tribe yet, but because we assisted General Pequot in battling the Brochi people and greatly alleviated the Pannonian Army’s assault on the Nix Camp, the tribe voluntarily deducted one year for us after we joined..."

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