Rome Must Perish-Chapter 301 - 186: New Homeland

"I understand. Should I also remind the others behind us?"

"Hmm, sure, you go ahead. Volenus, can you tell me which field is planted with soybeans, which with chickpeas, and which with lentils?..."

"Leader, the field right next to us is planted with chickpeas. Look, its stems are already as tall as half a person, and when fully grown, they can reach a full person’s height. Soybeans don’t grow this tall. Take another look at the edges of its leaves, they have serrated edges and feel prickly..."

Maximus listened attentively as Vorelus explained the crops in the fields, and before he realized it, they had reached the front of the village.

"Leader, we’re home!" Fesaros’ slightly excited voice interrupted Volenus’ explanation.

Maximus looked up at the gate of the village. Above the gate was a brand-new wooden board, which he had specifically ordered to be placed yesterday. On the board, he had personally carved Latin words with his knife—"Snowdonia," transliterated into the Illyrian language, meaning "First Home." This was the name he had given to this village. The village further east had been named "Westeni," meaning "Second Home"—simple and direct, which appealed to everyone, so there had been little opposition when he proposed it yesterday.

Home... Maximus stared at the wooden plaque, feeling emotional. Then he turned back and said, "Raise the flag of our tribe here."

"I’ll do it!" Fesaros enthusiastically took the flag from the cavalryman, pushed open the slightly ajar village gate, and walked in. Soon, he was atop the gate and quickly secured the flag against the wooden wall.

In the gentle breeze, the flag unfurled and fluttered. The divine dragon Maximus had personally drawn bared its teeth and roared, as if proclaiming to the world: This is the territory of the Nix Tribe!

"Let’s go, we’re going home!" Maximus shouted excitedly.

The soldiers responded with cheers.

The gates of the village swung wide open, and the procession marched grandly into Snowdonia.

Most areas of the village, having been uninhabited for over a month (earlier, the Pannonian Army had stationed only 1,000 men here, occupying a small central portion of the village), were covered in dust, fallen leaves, and cobwebs. Various buildings were beginning to deteriorate...

However, in the past few days, the Nix Tribe had dispatched many people to clean and organize the entire village and make some repairs to damaged buildings. So, when the soldiers entered the village, they saw a relatively tidy environment, with no obvious foul smells, quite different from the scene they’d encountered the last time they captured the village. This made them all the more delighted.

Maximus’ residence was, of course, in the main house at the center of the village. Several mansions that once belonged to the Segestica nobles, situated next to the main house, were assigned to the nine departments of the Nix Tribe for use as their offices. The houses of Segestica commoners were first allocated to newlywed Nix couples who had completed marriage registrations, while the remaining houses for commoners were temporarily used for shared living by single Second-class Tribe Members.

Reserve Tribe Members and Segestica Prisoners were temporarily housed in the areas that had originally been inhabited by Scodisqi slaves.

Supplies transported from the temporary camp were stored in the warehouses within the village.

Originally, Snowdonia had been built for approximately 15,000 members of the Segestica Tribe, so it was clearly insufficient to accommodate the more than 36,000 members of the Nix Tribe. However, Maximus and his people had planned ahead, relocating the entire Second Legion and Third Legion—a total of around 13,000 soldiers and their families, along with some Reserve Tribe Members—to Westeni.

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

"Creak—" The door creaked open, and a sliver of light spilled in.

Anfel walked into the somewhat dim room with a face full of delight, only to find it empty. Feeling puzzled, she suddenly heard a loud "Wah!" from behind her, scaring her into a scream. She turned to run outside but was caught firmly by a pair of arms. A familiar voice rang in her ears: "Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting forever!"

"What time do you think it is, and you’re still playing childish games like this? Are you trying to scare me to death? Go find someone else next time!..." Anfel scolded him while smacking Tini Bazus on the head.

Tini Bazus offered no resistance, standing still and willingly taking the hits.

After a few blows, Anfel’s anger subsided. With a feigned sternness, she asked, "Before I got here, you were just sitting around in the room doing nothing, weren’t you?"

"Who says I did nothing!" Tini Bazus loudly protested his innocence, then grabbed something from the corner of the room and proudly displayed it. "I found a long wooden stick, pulled out some dry grass and twigs, and spent half the day making a broom. Take a look—pretty good, huh? I even went to the Supply Camp and borrowed a wooden bucket to fetch water from the river..."

"Hmm, not bad." Anfel’s earlier dissatisfaction completely vanished from her heart, though she still pretended to look stern. After scanning the entire room, she said, "Let’s clean up this place first."

"As you command." Tini Bazus grinned, eager to please.

Although the tribe had sent people to thoroughly clean and tidy the village earlier, none of the individual houses had been touched. The roof was draped in cobwebs, and the floor was coated in thick dust...

The two got to work immediately.

Removing cobwebs, sweeping the floor, wiping down the room, making the bed, folding the blankets... Both were accustomed to hard work, and their efficiency showed. In no time, the room looked completely transformed.

Anfel wiped the sweat from her forehead. Looking around the now spotless room, a sense of happiness welled up within her.

Tini Bazus embraced her again, this time with an eager tone, "Anfel, the room is clean now, so should we... go to bed?!"