Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: From Primitive Era Chieftain to Space Era Emperor
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We returned home triumphantly, having felled the mammoth.
The tribe was in full festival mode, just as you'd expect.
As the leader of the herd, it was an absolutely massive beast.
Its size surpassed that of any ordinary male, which only amplified the awe, and we even had to hack off the tusks and haul them back separately because they stuck out from the cart.
In front of everyone, my devout follower Eagle's Eye reenacted the scene from back then.
Of course, it was pretty much a glorified tale of my heroics.
"It was a near-death situation with those massive paws. That's when the chieftain charged in and pierced the woolly rhino's skull clean through with a single spear. It shuddered violently upon impact and dropped dead, and the sheer intimidation sent the rest of the herd fleeing."
"Ooh!"
"The leader doesn't abandon even a single warrior!"
"Great Whirlwind!"
"A spirit!"
Yellow Hand captured the moment in a sketch on a stone tablet, imagining it vividly once more.
In this way, my saga was being recorded with a bit of exaggeration—and I didn't mind it one bit.
Legends are born from nothing special, after all.
An exceptional person accomplishes great feats, and those get embellished over time into full-blown myths.
I figured everything happening now would one day be recounted as legend.
Everyone was amazed, but the Brown Tribe folk were the most stirred up.
In this era, hunting woolly rhinos was considered outright impossible, so taking just ten cavalry out, smashing them, and coming back had blown past their wildest imaginations.
"Hunting a woolly rhino? Incredible!"
"Our chieftain's different. If the red-haired ones' spirits exist, he's the closest thing to one."
"Ooh!"
The red-haired guys had naturally progressed to outright worship.
They were getting a tad overzealous as time went on.
If their behavior started harming the tribe, I'd have to step in at the right moment and rein them in.
Once the commotion died down, I moved on to the next plan.
"After two days of rest, we'll absorb the Brown Tribe."
"Woo!"
With this colossal mammoth in hand, winter wouldn't be much of an issue.
Of course, I had no intention of letting all those people sit idle.
Even with winter coming, we had hides, furs, and other cold-weather gear, so as long as the temperatures didn't plummet too severely, we could keep firing bricks, building walls, and maintaining the village.
With our numbers tripling, we'd need airtight winter plans.
Bringing in the Brown Guys went smoother than expected.
Transporting the elderly and weak was far less burdensome now.
Thanks to the carts, they didn't have to stagger along on the brink of death.
You'd think a group this large might rebel, but the Brown Tribe warriors volunteered to persuade their kin.
"We're heading to a place where no one dies!"
"Such a place exists?"
"It's nothing like here. Plenty of food, easy living!"
"Then let's go!"
Limited vocabulary made it hard to describe our developing city, but the primitives were satisfied knowing they wouldn't freeze or starve to death.
The Whirlwind Tribe was gradually getting hooked on civilized comforts and could never go back to the old ways, but for people of this era, mere survival was the ultimate goal.
As expected, the Brown Guys were shell-shocked upon first encountering the city.
Going from mud huts to brick houses?
They probably didn't see us as the same species.
Overwhelmed, they fell in line obediently.
With our population tripling, simple labor got a massive boost.
Even brick-making was no exception.
Mixing dirt, dry grass, and chamotte, then pressing it into molds— even kids could handle it.
Hauling raw bricks was the same.
Simple math showed production tripling at minimum.
Plus, our veterans handled the technical stuff while newcomers stuck to grunt work—a division of labor was taking shape.
We prioritized houses, mass-producing bricks before the ground froze. We ramped up kilns from three to five, churning them out nonstop.
In the process, kiln tech improved a bit.
Experience breeds efficiency, and tech evolves the same way.
We figured the optimal firewood ratio and added baffles to the combustion chambers for alternating use without issues.
Less fuel meant higher output, so running five kilns didn't strain our wood supply.
Building houses was similar.
Custom designs take time, but standardized ones speed things up.
We'd build the outer wall after finishing the houses.
While raising brick homes, our scribes sorted the Brown Tribe by specialties.
"Seems like the Brown Guys don't have anyone particularly standout."
"Still, a few catch the eye."
White Sprout was mentioned as a scribe candidate.
A woman just past adulthood, but with meritocracy taking root, it wasn't an issue.
She was assigned under Wise Flower.
We regretted the lack of elite warriors—most had died in the war.
For crafts, we set up workshops.
Surprisingly, when we tried them at tasks—manual labor, tanning, construction—they each had natural aptitudes.
Before, manpower shortages meant rotating everyone; now was the time for specialization.
Black Stone pushed that initiative.
As houses neared completion, we threw everything into winter prep.
Early winter already.
We'd hunted steadily and stockpiled firewood, but we needed to double down.
Fresh logs for kilns were kept nearby to dry—frost prevented quick drying otherwise, so we extracted moisture locally.
A bit of practical wisdom.
Normally, wood needs months to air-dry fully for smoke-free burning, but we used the brick kilns to speed it up.
Total war effort.
Reaching 3,000 people in this era was near-miraculous.
But if we could feed them, rapid progress was possible.
As winter prep clicked along, the first snow fell.
Early winter.
We somehow finished houses for all outer-wall residents before freezing to death.
The result of everyone busting their asses.
The Brown Tribe folk didn't slack off.
Lazing in the primitive era?
Without good reason, you'd get exiled without complaint.
Meanwhile, I oversaw operations by day and gathered advisors each evening to assign winter tasks one by one.
1. Quicklime research.
2. Tanning mastery using it.
3. Policy studies for laws and market economy.
4. Kiln improvements.
5. Limestone mining.
6. Horsemanship and weapon upgrades.
7. Wolf taming.
8. Outer wall construction.
Using quicklime to depilate hides was straightforward.
Soak in lime water for a week, and the hair falls out on its own.
Quality improves, naturally.
Laws and market economy were works in progress.
The market concept was alien, so building it from scratch was a headache.
Outer wall was straightforward per plan.
Wolf taming would be winter's big focus.
Winter's midpoint now, it seemed.
Mornings and evenings stung the lungs if you were out, so work hours shortened.
Still, essentials continued.
Firing bricks and raising the outer wall.
Fishing for food, hauling more wood.
Cutting river ice for ice storage, too.
Scribes researched tasks; warriors trained. Day after day.
As it got colder, expedition hunts stopped, but we kept traps out for steady meat and hides.
One day, Red Rock returned from checking traps loaded with furry bundles.
Puppy-like critters tumbled out of the hide wraps.
"Chieftain! The wolf pups you've been stressing about!"
"Woo!"
The tribe cheered.
We'd drilled the need for dogs into their heads.
From home security to hunting, tracking, scouting, livestock protection, and herding.
Essential in the primitive era.
Two males, three females.
Eyes still pitch black, ears half-folded.
Eagle's Eye and the scouts were overjoyed most of all.
"We scoured everywhere, but finally... wolf pups!"
They trembled with emotion beyond joy.
I checked the pups' condition first.
"Milk scent hasn't faded yet. Plenty of taming potential."
They whined cutely; no feral instincts yet.
Wolf pups awaken wild nature nearing adulthood—that's the turning point.
If uncontrollable, they die, skins harvested.
If they suppress beastly urges and bond with humans, they live.
From what I knew, taming wolves was brutally hard; most were culled before maturity.
But.
Modern standards might not apply here.
Even if we call it beastly instinct, this era's men had savagery to match.