Rome Must Fall

"Yes, Captain!"

"Casaridoa."

"Captain, I'm here!"

"According to the information from the third legion that came here yesterday, the leader of this tribe and some nobles have followed their leader to attack our territory. Now they are probably either dead or captured. Only two nobles are still in the village. , you lead your men to catch them, but be careful not to hurt other people."

"yes!"

"Proconsus, give me four of your men. I heard that the third legion plundered the food of the leaders and nobles here yesterday. I have to go and see how long the remaining food will be enough for our team."

"Captain, you don't have to worry about food." Casaridoa interjected: "Even if the leaders and noble families here don't have much food left, it will be enough for us for three days. After three days, those who become foreign assistants will There should be a lot of food in the homes of the Segostika people, food in the homes of those who escaped, and 60% of the food in the homes of those who joined the tribe. At that time, we will discuss with the transportation team and leave Isn’t it just enough food for us to eat?”

"Hey, you still have a flexible mind. No wonder you could make a good living in Sarapia just by blackmailing slaves."

Staggs' compliment made Casalidoa immediately protest: "Captain, you promised me not to mention this matter again!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, it's my fault, I forgot about it!" Staggs apologized hastily and quickly changed the subject: "Nikokus, get ready. After everyone here comes to the square, It’s up to you to convince them to join us as the Knicks!”

Nikokus is a new recruit of Segestica. He is outgoing and quick-tongued. He was not originally part of Staggs' centurion. Staggs asked Captain Bubius repeatedly to come. of.

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

Staggs patted him hard on the shoulder and looked at the others: "Okay, everyone, take action immediately. We must complete this matter before noon!"

The door of Selicis' room was knocked again by the Nix soldier. After opening the door, the Nix soldier who saw him spoke more politely: Please invite Selicis and his family to the square in the center of the village and listen to their captain read the Nix A new decree issued by the tribe against the people of Segestika.

Selicis, who was more curious than uneasy, complied with the request of the Nyx soldier. While comforting his nervous wife, he took them to the center of the village.

Along the way, he saw that other tribesmen were also invited out by the Knick soldiers. Of course, some refused to go, so the Knick soldiers no longer used words to persuade, but drove them away. It was inevitable that they would use violence and push them with shields. , threatened with a short sword, no matter how stubborn the clan members were, they had to obey the Nix soldiers who suddenly changed their faces, considering the lives of themselves and their families.

Most of the tribesmen seemed nervous and uneasy, and they did not dare to say anything when they met Selises on the road. Everyone walked to the square in the center of the village in silence.

Staggs stood on the haystacks beside the square, condescendingly observing the people of Segestika who were gathering from several roads.

He noticed that there were hundreds of Segestika people gathered, almost filling the entire square, but there were very few young and middle-aged people, and most of them were disabled. Most of the minor men were under twelve or three years old. , the elderly men should all be over forty-five years old, with gray hair and beards, and some are even unsteady when walking; the ones who come most often are women, some are delicate and many are strong, and some families don’t even have older men. The woman came with her child...

It seems that in this village now, women have become the main force of work because of the war... Staggs sighed in his heart, always maintaining a serious look on his face.

After his men came over to report that "all the people from this tribe have been brought here," he immediately said loudly in blunt Illyrian: "Segostika, I am the fourth member of the second group of the first legion of the Nyx tribe. Captain of the Centurions - Staggs! I have received orders to lead my men here. We will be in charge of this village for a while! Now let my soldier Nikokus tell you, Chief Maximus. You must listen carefully to the new decree issued!”

The square was unusually quiet. The people of Segostika looked up at Staggs standing tall on the haystack with blank expressions. Then they saw a Knick soldier standing on the haystack and then took off his helmet. , some people were suddenly surprised, because the soldier looked completely like a Segestika.

The soldier calmly looked down at the people in the square and introduced himself loudly: "My name is Nikokus. Some of you may know me, because I grew up in a tribe not far from here. The leader is Lasias, later I joined the newly-established tribe of leader Volris and fought with the Ardei people. Later, the Nyx people came, I was captured, and then joined the Nyx 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 Nyx tribe, for 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!"

There was silence in the square.

Staggs waited for a moment, but no one objected, which saved him some trouble. He nodded to Nikokus.

Nikochus then spoke loudly and slowly: "Fellow countrymen, 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 Nix tribe and swear in front of the soon-to-be-built Temple of Danu, you will be loyal to the Nix tribe and will never betray-"

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

There was a small commotion in the square.

"... After you join the Nix tribe, you will become a reserve tribesman, and the tribe will give each of your families 50 acres of land-"

As soon as these words came out, the commotion caused was even greater than before.

Nicocus took the opportunity to say, "That's right, 50 acres of land will be given 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 tribe members of my tribe didn't have it either. Only the chiefs and clan leaders had more land than 50 acres.

In order not to compete 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 Vollis. I didn't expect... I ended up joining the Nix tribe, and I lived... well in the Nix tribe!

And with the blessing of the goddess Danu, I was able to live... well in this trip. You have made meritorious contributions in the wars and are now promoted to the second-class tribesman of the Nix tribe. You 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 do it in the future..."

Nikokus carefully told his compatriots about the twenty-title system of the Nix tribe. Seeing that everyone in the square opened their mouths in surprise, some of them even showed yearning in their eyes...

He said with some complacency: "In our previous tribe, we worked hard, and there was only so much land. Ordinary tribesmen were always ordinary tribesmen! But in the Nix tribe, as long as you can continue to make meritorious contributions, you can Have more, or even change your identity and become a noble like a chief or a clan leader! ——"

"Nonsense!" A woman in the crowd suddenly shouted: "To become a chief or a clan leader, you 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 Maximus, the leader of the Nix tribe, is the offspring of the goddess Danu, and the gods favor him. Therefore, although the Nix tribe is small, the Pannonian tribal alliance has repeatedly sent out large armies, but they have always suffered failures! These decrees are the Ma "How could it be possible that we would be punished by God?"

Nikochus confidently said loudly what he had heard on a daily basis and what Aymeric 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 get more rewards, rather than those leaders and patriarchs who only knew how to command others to do things and were lazy themselves!"

"Blasphemy! How dare you blaspheme the gods! Watch, the great goddess Danu will punish you, the traitor!" the woman shouted fiercely.

"The Segestica tribe is destroyed!"Nikochus roared: "This is the punishment of the goddess Danu! Who is blaspheming the gods? Everyone should know in their hearts that 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 made a gesture to his men with a sullen face.

Immediately, soldiers squeezed 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 Nix soldiers as if they were avoiding the plague, and watched her being escorted out of the square like a criminal.