Rome Must Perish-Chapter 315 - 194 Nix Tribe Observations (1)

"That’s great! It’ll be much easier for me to take you along now!" Akegu said joyfully, then couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, "Your father is an Illyrian, how did he end up marrying a Latin woman?"

Rochemnix didn’t shy away from the question and said candidly, "Years ago, my father hijacked the merchant ship my mother was on—"

"Ah, I’m sorry!"

"It’s alright. That’s just how pirate families are. Even though life in our village is a bit rough, my mother is very happy now..." Rochemnix responded earnestly before asking curiously, "Earlier, I heard your leader say I’d be assigned to the Secretary Department. What is that?"

Akegu thought for a moment and explained, "The Secretary Department is a newly established... organization in our Nix Tribe, directly under the leader’s command. The people working in it are all around our age."

Although there were unfamiliar terms, Rochemnix roughly understood and asked with interest, "What kind of work does this... Secretary Department do?"

"Helping the leader with copying documents, writing orders, delivering messages, recording meetings..."

Rochemnix was stunned upon hearing this. "But I can’t read."

"Do you know how to do math?"

"Hmm... I think I know a little," Rochemnix replied uncertainly.

"Everyone in the Secretary Department can write and calculate. You might run into some trouble this way." Akegu furrowed his brow and turned to head toward the hall. "I’ll go ask the leader what to do in your situation."

After waiting for a while, Akegu came out of the hall and said to Rochemnix, "The leader hopes you can take some time to study at our tribe’s school. Learning to read and do math will be very helpful for your future."

"Alright, alright!" Rochemnix agreed eagerly. Although he had never attended school, he’d often heard his mother talk about the life of the Romans across the sea and had always envied the idea of education. Now that the opportunity was here, he accepted without hesitation before asking with curiosity, "What is this school?"

"It’s a place where teachers specifically teach children knowledge."

"Are there many kids in that... school?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Yes, quite a lot—several hundred."

"Several hundred?!" Rochemnix widened his eyes in surprise. Growing up in his village, there had only been five or six children his age to play with. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see hundreds of children together. Feeling excited, he asked eagerly, "Where is this school? Quickly, take me to see it!"

Rochemnix’s straightforward agreement made Akegu breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that this mountain-born pirate boy was quite easy to get along with. More relaxed now, Akegu said, "Don’t rush. Are you hungry?"

"Not hungry. Before coming here, I ate a lot at Uncle Budocaribas’s place."

"The school is in another village and a bit far away. Let me first take you to confirm your living arrangements, then I’ll take you there."

"Alright... um—" Rochemnix suddenly hesitated and asked, "If I go to that school to study, does that mean I won’t be able to help your leader with work?"

"The leader said that since you currently can’t read or do math, you wouldn’t be able to do much anyway. If there’s a need to send a message to your village, the leader will arrange for someone to notify you to make the trip."

"Then I can rest assured!... Hmm, is it easy to learn reading and math?"

"It depends on the person," Akegu said, somewhat proudly. "People in our Secretary Department learned fairly quickly—within less than two years, we went from being completely illiterate to being able to fluently write out the leader’s orders. But some people don’t pick it up as fast."

"Don’t worry, I’ll learn quickly too," Rochemnix said confidently.

Akegu didn’t feel offended and instead thought this new companion matched his personality well. Patting Rochemnix’s shoulder, he said, "Want to come meet someone?"

"Who?"

"Someone who usually manages our daily lives."

Rochemnix followed Akegu to the front courtyard of the main house. The training ground there had been transformed into an open-air kitchen. Ten or so makeshift clay stoves made from dirt and stones burned with firewood, and large pottery jars placed on them bubbled with steam. Nearby, people kept a close watch, occasionally shouting, "You can add minced meat now!"

Immediately, someone ran over with a wooden basket and tossed in some chopped and roughly smoked horse meat or pork. But almost immediately, scolding could be heard from the sidelines: "Who is shouting so loudly again?! I’ve said many times before, use gestures whenever possible instead of shouting. Too much noise disrupts the leader’s meetings!..."

A stout, red-brown-skinned woman stood with her hands on her hips, her voice even louder than those busy around the stove.

Akegu approached her from behind and called out, "Acronis Auntie!"

The woman, named Acronis, immediately turned around, her stern face softening instantly. "Little Akegu, is there something the leader wants me to do?"

Akegu pulled Rochemnix closer and introduced him. "His name is Rochemnix. He’s the son of Karsipengpas, the Alde Tribe leader, and he’ll be working in our Secretary Department from now on. The leader asked you to arrange a place for him to stay, preferably with me."

Acronis carefully examined Rochemnix and spoke warmly, "You look quite like your father. Don’t worry, little one, I’ll take good care of you. If you have any needs, just let me know. Treat this place like your own home—don’t think of yourself as an outsider."

"I will, thank you, Acronis Auntie!" Rochemnix replied politely.

"Oh, you can speak Latin!" Acronis exclaimed with a hint of surprise but didn’t dwell on it. She said to Akegu, "Your room already has six people; it’s quite crowded. I’ll arrange for him to stay in another room."

"The leader asked me to look after him for the time being. It’d be more convenient if we stayed together. You can transfer Casius to another room. He was just in the hall; I’ve already talked to him."

"Alright then." Acronis nodded in agreement but didn’t immediately take action. Her priority now was to prepare lunch before the tribesmen rested.

As Akegu led Rochemnix out, Acronis casually asked, "Where are you headed?"

"To Westeni. Acronis Auntie, no need to prepare lunch for us; we’ll eat over there."

Rochemnix, already curious, became even more intrigued and asked in a low voice, "You eat lunch here too?"

"Of course."

"That’s wonderful! In our village, we only eat in the morning and evening," Rochemnix said enviously, rubbing his belly. He had abundant energy and ran all over the mountains every day, often getting hungry before dinner, relying on wild berries and fish from the creeks to fill his stomach.

"When we were slaves before, we were lucky to eat once a day, let alone three times. Later, everyone rose up and resisted. At first, we could only afford two meals a day, but after our leader came to lead us, life got better. He always said we must eat enough to have the strength to fight enemies and the energy to learn properly...

And these days, the leader has been emphasizing that since the tribesmen are working so hard to build our territory, with such high physical exertion, we must ensure three meals a day—even if food is tight, no one should go hungry!" Akegu said proudly.

"Your leader is amazing!" Rochemnix said earnestly, recalling the scene earlier in the hall when he saw Maximus. As his father had described, the leader seemed very young—likely only a few years older than Rochemnix himself—yet somehow facing him felt even more intimidating than standing before his father.

The more he thought about it, the more embarrassed he felt. He shook his head vigorously to clear his mind and changed the topic. "Is that Acronis Auntie responsible for cooking for the whole tribe?"

"Yes, she used to be the kitchen manager for our group, preparing all our meals. She earned quite a reputation in the group. After we arrived here and established our tribe, the leader appointed her as Chief of Internal Affairs—"

"What’s a Chief of Internal Affairs?"

"It’s similar to the housekeeper for nobles, but in our tribe, it’s an official position with a wide scope of responsibilities. For example, since the Secretary Department directly reports to the leader, we live in this courtyard, so she manages our food, clothing, housing, and supplies. She also looks after over a hundred children without parents living in this courtyard. Additionally, the Guard securing the main house sometimes has to follow her orders... So, you must listen to her and avoid upsetting her in the future."

"Don’t worry, I’m not that foolish," Rochemnix replied. Then, glancing behind him, he asked curiously, "You said there are so many people living in this courtyard, but I only saw a few buildings."

"They’re all behind that big house," Akegu said, pointing to the towering building in the center of the courtyard—the one used for Political Affairs Hall meetings. "There are 20 rooms back there. The leader mentioned that the previous Segestica Chief built the main house as a small camp, with servants to care for him and Pannonian soldiers he recruited from other tribes living in it... Now we have over 100 people staying here without feeling crowded. Over in that direction—"

By this time, Akegu had already walked out of the main house and stood on the road, pointing southward. He added, "Some longhouses house dozens of people. Now that’s cramped! But it’s all temporary. Before long, we’ll build plenty of new houses to solve everyone’s living problems."

Rochemnix didn’t doubt Akegu’s words at all, as the Snowdonia Village had already turned into a large construction site: tribesmen were tearing down wooden walls to expand the village, sawing and chopping wood to build houses and bridges, repairing homes, and hammering wooden boards in front of the main house’s gate... Everyone was fully engrossed in their tasks, with workers hauling timber and materials moving briskly without a moment’s pause...