Rome must fall.

Chapter 297 Entering the Village
"Yes, Captain!"

"Casaridoa."

"Captain, I'm here!"

"According to the intelligence from the Third Legion that came here yesterday, the leader of this tribe and some nobles have followed their great leader to attack our territory. They are probably either dead or captured. Only two nobles are still in the village. Take your men to capture them, but be careful not to hurt anyone else."

"Yes!"

"Proconsus, assign four of your men to me. I heard that the Third Legion looted the food of the leaders and nobles here yesterday. I have to go and see how long the remaining food will last for our team."

"Captain, you don't have to worry about food." Casalidoa interrupted, "Even if the chiefs and nobles here don't have much food left, it should be enough for us to use for three days. After three days, the food in the homes of the Segesticas who became foreign vassals, the food in the homes of those who escaped, and 60% of the food in the homes of those who joined the tribe should be quite a lot. By then, we can discuss with the transport team and leave enough food for us to eat, right?"

"Hey, you are really smart, no wonder you were able to live well in Sarapia just by extorting slaves."

Staggs' praise made Casalidoa protest immediately: "Captain, you promised me that you would never mention this again!"

"Oh, sorry, it's my fault, I forgot!" Staggs apologized hastily and quickly changed the subject: "Nikokus, get ready. Once everyone here arrives at the square, it will be up to you to convince them to join us, the Knicks!"

Nicocus was a new recruit from Segestica. He was extroverted and eloquent. He did not originally belong to Staggs's century, but was brought in after Staggs repeatedly requested the captain Bubius.

At this moment, although Nikokus was a little nervous, he said firmly: "Captain Staggs, don't worry, I'm ready!"

Staggs patted him on the shoulder and looked at the others: "Okay, everyone, get started immediately. We must get this done before noon!"

The door of Selysis's room was knocked by the Nyx soldiers again. After he opened the door, the Nyx soldiers who saw him spoke politely: Please invite Selysis and his family to the square in the center of the village to listen to their captain read out the new decree issued by the Nyx tribe against the people of Segestica.

Feeling more curious than uneasy, Celisis obeyed the request of the Nyx soldier, and while comforting his nervous wife, he took them both to the center of the village.

Along the way, he saw that other tribesmen were also invited out by the Nyx soldiers. Of course, there were also those who refused to go. Then the Nyx soldiers no longer tried to persuade them verbally, but drove them away. Inevitably, they would use violence, pushing them with shields and threatening them with daggers. Even the most stubborn tribesmen had to obey when faced with the Nyx soldiers who changed their faces in an instant, for the sake of their own lives and those of their families.

Most of the tribesmen seemed nervous and uneasy. They did not dare to say much when they met Serisis on the road. They all walked silently to the square in the center of the village.

Staggs stood on a haystack at the edge of the square, looking down carefully at the people of Segestica who were gathering from several roads.

He noticed that there were several hundred Segestica people who had gathered, almost filling up the entire square. However, there were very few young and middle-aged people, and most of them were disabled. Most of the underage men were under twelve or thirteen years old, and the elderly men were probably over forty-five years old, with gray hair and beards, and some could not even walk steadily. The majority of the people who came were women, and there were few weak ones, but mostly strong ones. Some families did not even have older men, and it was the women who came with their children...

It seems that in this village now, women have become the main workers because of the war... Staggs sighed in his heart, keeping a serious expression on his face.

After his men came to report that "all the people of this tribe have been brought here", he immediately shouted in stiff Illyrian: "Segestica people, I am Staggs, the captain of the 400th Squadron of the Second Battalion of the First Legion of the Nix Tribe! I received an order to lead my men here, and we will be in charge of this village for a while! Now my soldier Nicocus will tell you the new decree issued by Chief Maximus, so you must listen carefully!"

The square was unusually quiet. The people of Segestica looked up blankly at Staggs who was standing high on the haystack. Then they saw a Nix soldier also standing on the haystack and taking off his helmet. Some people were surprised because the soldier looked exactly like a Segestica.

The soldier calmly looked down at the people in the square and introduced himself loudly: "My name is Nicocus. Some of you may know me because I grew up in a tribe not far from here. The leader is Lacias. Later, I joined the tribe newly established by the leader Volris and fought against the Ardi people. Later, the Nix people came and I was captured. Then I joined the Nix tribe...

Because I am your compatriot and you can understand what I say, the captain asked me to tell you about the new decree issued by Maximus, the leader of the Nix tribe, regarding this land and you! "At this point, he raised his voice and said in an unusually loud voice: "From today on, this village and the land around the village are the territory of the Nix tribe!"

The square was silent.

Staggs waited a moment, but seeing no one objected, which saved him some trouble, he nodded to Nicocus.

Nicocus then spoke loudly and slowly: "My compatriots, you will definitely ask, 'What should we do if we live here?' Don't worry, Chief Maximus has specially formulated a new decree for you. As long as you are willing to join the Nyx tribe and swear in front of the soon-to-be-built Temple of Danu that you will be loyal to the Nyx tribe and will never betray -"

When Nicocus said this, he saw the originally silent people of Segestica were surprised and began to discuss in a low voice. He immediately said loudly: "Don't be surprised. The people of the Nix tribe also worship the goddess Danu, the mother of all things, just like us. A temple of the goddess Danu will be built on this land soon, and everyone will be allowed to worship and pray!"

There was a small commotion in the square.

"...After you join the Nix tribe, you will become reserve members. The tribe will give each of you 50 acres of land--"

Once these words were spoken, the commotion they caused was even greater than before.

Nicocus took the opportunity to say, "That's right, 50 acres of land will be distributed to each of you who join the Nix tribe! Think about it, have you ever owned so much land before?! Anyway, my family didn't have it before, and the tribesmen in my tribe didn't have it either. Only the chiefs and clan leaders owned more than 50 acres of land.

In order to avoid competing with my brother for land and to make our land able to support my brother's family, I chose to join the tribe newly established by Chief Walreath. Unexpectedly, I ended up joining the Knicks tribe, and I lived in the Knicks tribe... very well!
And with the blessing of the goddess Danu, I have made great contributions in this war and have now been promoted to a second-class tribesman of the Nix tribe. I will receive 60 acres of land - don't be surprised! Fifty acres of land is the initial reward after you join the Nix tribe. If you want to..."

Nicocus earnestly told his compatriots about the twenty-title system of the Nix tribe, and saw that everyone in the square opened their mouths in surprise, and some even showed longing in their eyes...

He said with some complacency: "In our previous tribe, we worked very hard, but there was only so much land, and ordinary people were always ordinary people! But in the Nix tribe, as long as you can continue to make contributions, you can have more, and even change your status and become a noble like the chief and the patriarch! -"

"Nonsense!" A woman in the crowd suddenly shouted, "To become a leader or clan leader, one must have noble blood and must be recognized by the gods. This is the sacred tradition of us Pannonians. Anyone who violates this sacred tradition will be cursed by the gods!"

"Do you know that the leader of the Nix tribe, Maximus, is the offspring of the goddess Danu, and the gods favor him. So even though the Nix tribe is small in number, the Pannonian tribal alliance has repeatedly sent out large armies, but has always suffered defeat! These decrees were issued by leader Maximus after he received divine inspiration. How could they possibly punish us?"

Nicocus confidently said out loud what he had heard on a daily basis and what Aymeric had deliberately spread: "Because the goddess Danu gave birth to all things and treated everyone fairly, those tribesmen who were diligent and brave and made more contributions to her beloved Nix tribe should naturally receive more rewards, rather than those leaders and chiefs who only knew how to command others to do things but were lazy and gluttonous themselves!"

"Blasphemy! How dare you blaspheme the gods! Just wait and see, the great goddess Danu will punish you, the traitor!" the woman shouted.

"The Segestica tribe is destroyed!" Nicocus roared, "This is the punishment from the goddess Danu! Everyone should know who is blaspheming the gods. Only by joining the Nix tribe can we regain the favor of the gods!"

"Nonsense! Nonsense! You traitor!..." The woman kept shouting like crazy.

Staggs scowled and gestured to his men.

Immediately, soldiers pushed their way into the crowd.

The people of Segestica recognized that the woman was the wife of the tribal leader. No one dared to offend her in the past. But now, seeing that her mouth was stuffed with rags and her hands were held hostage, no one dared to stop her. Instead, they took the initiative to make way for the Nyx soldiers as if they were avoiding the plague, and watched her being escorted out of the square like a criminal.

(End of this chapter)