Reincarnated to the Past 49 (Patreon)

Reincarnated to the Past

Chapter 49

-VB-

In my pursuit to see my people safe and rich, I had done what any other empires in the past, present, and future have done: fight, oppress, and annex. A lot of the fighting had been intentional; I raised a banner to fight the Istrians and Byzantions. A lot of the oppression had been intentional as well; Istria choked under my chemical and biological assault and Byzantions saw a good third of their men die against my frontal assaults and reduced to a tribute-paying city. I annexed both Istria and Byzantion as well as all of the villages in between them and between Istria and Lower River Kettins.

Along with the Greater Kettin Confederation, I was now part of a “country” that was a little smaller in size than New York State back home in the 21st century.

Size, however, didn’t mean much when we were a confederation of European tribes at a time when Europe was the literal backend of nowhere. Better than all of North America and Japan at this point in time but that was not a consolation prize I wanted or needed.

Worse, I learned very quickly that my ascension was viewed by many of the Kettish tribes to our west.

“Thank you for telling me of this, Chief Homkal,” I said to the man who had once been my rival at the gathering of chiefs.

He snorted. “I don’t like how the rest of our kin and kith act. What you did should be praised, not kept at a wary distance,” the larger man huffed as he ate one of my vegetable chips. “Making the rest of the Kettish safer while increasing the food we get? That’s something we should do more of.”

Of course, he approved because his lands and tribe was the closest to the Dacians to the north in what would come to be known as Transylvania (if one ignored the fact that it was actually the Vin’s Tribe that was the closest to the Dacians).

“What do they think I will do?”

“What they all thought I would do to them, of course,” he chuckled. “That you’ll come after them once you finish the neighbors to the south and east.”

I snorted. “My hands are full keeping the Istrians in line and Byzantions in check. I’ve also used up most of the good will I had with my appointment,” I grumbled.

“Exactly. Most of them don’t consider that you might be too busy or that you depend on them just like I do.”

Ureya walked into the room at that point, which seemed to surprise Homkal for a moment but only for a moment. When Ureya picked up a chip herself and walked out, he turned to me quizzically.

“You let a woman just walk in on men’s conversation?” he asked me.

“Not to be rude but to a degree,” I replied. “She is my connection to the Lower River Kettish.”

He nodded slowly, now more understanding of the circumstances than before, though I doubted he had the full picture in his head yet. “I see.”

“She is also not someone who will accept the traditional role, either.”

“And you are … alright with that?”

“Yes,” I replied with a hum. “Ours was not an arranged marriage, not that I would have accepted one, and the people I hail from have a more equal standing between men and women in many things. As such, in my household but not in any other Lower River Kettish, my wife is the one in charge of the household, not my baby son or her male relatives, when I am absent.”

“It is very different to what I am used to,” the normally belligerent chief hummed, andthat was by itself a very telling sign that he was being careful with me. After all, we fought the last time we met. “But we will see how it turns out for you.”

I nodded. “Now, you came to me with information I appreciate. Is there something I can do for you?” I asked him. This was politics. A give and take.

Homkal nodded. “Your warriors are experienced in siege combat. There is a Dacian stronghold just on the edge of our lands. I would like your help, or that of your warriors, in taking it down.”

“... tell me everything about the stronghold.”

-VB-

Homkal was ambitious, though he was not that different than myself. Maybe a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more daring, and definitely a bit of a gambler.

The stronghold in question, which their people called kalnbrias but which the Kettish called volorio or “mountain hold.” It was served as main entrance into Tranylvania from the Wallachian plains and the major trading route between our two peoples… when we weren’t raiding and killing each other.

Homkal’s tribe had tried many times to break the mountain fort but they never succeeded in breaking it open over generations that they had to watch it. It didn’t help that the Dacian tribes behind that fort used it as both a base of operation during “raiding season.”

It was also what had protected them from the Scythians on the few occasions that they struck that deep into our lands.

Of course, there was a good reason to help Homkal but also a reason to not heed his call.

If Homkal was busy with the Dacians once the fort broke down, then he might get the other tribes to join him once they saw wide open Dacian Transylvania was, according to Homkal. This might help them keep their minds about me long enough to reduce their anxiety about my expansion.

On the other hand, his words about what the other Kettish tribes felt about me was an opinion I heard about only from him.

The good reason to not help Homkal was in line with what I had said earlier about my status. I may be chief now, but it took a lot of convincing prior to it and my own fame and conquest boosting me up. It’s one thing to attack the ones attacking us but it’s another to engage in war beyond it. That’s why I had so few warriors join me for the Byzantion campaign. Another good reason was that I wanted to start developing my tribe in all aspects I could improve. Everything from sanitation, fortifications, and the like, and if I left to pursue war somewhere, then I wouldn’t be able to do that.

On the other hand, having the support of the largest tribe west of us in the confederation was sure to prove beneficial, right?

… but what if I sent someone who was with me for much of my campaigns? Sure, he might not want to go, but if I provided enough incentives, then he would go. Hell, I wouldn’t even have to send many people, just advisors who might want to try their hands at copying what I did.

I will, however, have to warn Homkal about the “lack of warriorness” that my tactics and strategies have. It wouldn’t do for my volunteers to surprise him later when they start flinging dead bodies into the enemy fort or poisoning their wells.