On the west bank of the Piranha River, in the Skeleton Forest.
The blizzard had raged for three days. Breath turned to ice instantly, and even the roar of the Piranha River grew weaker by the day.
A scout from the Iron Jaw Tribe arrived at the riverbank as usual to check the condition of the water.
To his shock, he discovered that the rushing surface, which had been filled with drifting ice yesterday, had frozen into a solid, pale sheet today!
Smack!
Worried he was hallucinating from hunger, the scout slapped himself.
The sting of the cold wind against his face was hot and sharp; this was clearly no hallucination.
He then picked up a stone the size of a fist and threw it with all his might onto the ice.
The rock bounced once and then slid out of sight.
“It’s frozen! The Piranha River is frozen!”
The scout shouted excitedly as he ran back toward the tribe, his voice shaking the snow from the branches.
The Iron Jaw Tribe lived in the mountainous areas of the Skeleton Forest.
Their homes were built within mountain caves, and they survived through hunting, gathering, and worshiping Thornrock, the God of Rock and Thorns.
They possessed incredible endurance and an indomitable will.
However, even the most staggering endurance and will were no match for physical hunger and cold.
Every winter, the Iron Jaw Tribe, like other tribes living in the Skeleton Forest, had to head south to raid the Windmill United Kingdom to seize enough food to survive the season.
To ensure the tribes did not fight among themselves before the raid, the leaders would draw lots to determine the order in which they would strike the Kingdom.
Unfortunately, Gros Broken-tooth, the Chief of the Iron Jaw Tribe, had experienced terrible luck in recent years.
For five consecutive years, they had been among the last one or two tribes permitted to raid!
By the time the earlier tribes finished their plundering, the food in the border provinces of the Windmill United Kingdom was essentially gone.
To find enough grain, they had to venture deeper into the heart of the Kingdom.
However, after the initial raids, the Kingdom’s army would already be mobilized and prepared to surround the invading Barbarians.
Venturing deeper into the heartland at that point required paying a heavy price in lives to return with food.
In the first year or two, they could rely on the tribal warriors’ lives to trade for food.
However, in the last two years, there weren’t many warriors left who could fight.
They could no longer risk entering the heart of the Kingdom.
Gros could only scour the leftovers in the raided border provinces, forcing his people to tighten their belts and abandon some of the elderly and children to barely survive the harshest parts of winter.
This year, the Iron Jaw Tribe had drawn the very last slot again!
At that moment, Gros had wanted to hold a knife to the neck of the priest conducting the draw and demand to know if he was intentionally targeting the Iron Jaw Tribe.
Otherwise, why would they be the ones to suffer every single year?
But with the chiefs of the other six tribes present, Gros suppressed his anger and frustration.
He gripped his beast-bone necklace and prayed to Thornrock to grant the tribe a glimmer of hope.
Gros knew the other six tribes would not help him; they would only kick him while he was down.
Once the Iron Jaw Tribe perished from hunger and cold, they would scavenge their hunting grounds and homes like jackals and vultures.
‘Must I sacrifice more of my people again?’
Gros looked at the child sleeping soundly in his wife’s arms and silently clenched his fists.
In this situation, discarding a portion of his people seemed to be the only solution.
Just then, the scout from the Piranha River returned.
“Chief! Chief! It’s frozen! It’s frozen!”
The scout burst into the cave where Gros lived and knelt on one knee to report.
Gros’s wife covered the child’s ears, looking unpleasantly at the scout who had rushed in so frantically.
“Frozen? What did you say is frozen?” Gros stepped quickly toward the scout.
“The Piranha River! The Piranha River is frozen! The entire surface is solid ice!” the scout reported, gasping for air.
“The Piranha River is frozen solid? Are you sure?” Gros grabbed the scout’s shoulders, confirming he hadn’t misheard.
“It is absolutely true! Chief, I swear it on my life!”
“Fantastic! My Iron Jaw Tribe is saved! Thornrock be praised, thank you for saving us!”
Gros released the scout and placed his right fist over his heart in gratitude to Thornrock.
He believed the god the tribe worshiped was finally protecting them.
“Go and notify the Centurions immediately. Tell them to come to my cave for a meeting at once!”
Gros commanded the scout, not daring to delay for a second after finishing his prayer.
“Yes, Chief!”
The scout understood how much the freezing of the river meant to the tribe.
Without stopping to rest, he immediately ran to notify the Centurions.
News of the Piranha River freezing spread rapidly through the tribe following the scout’s footsteps.
The elderly knelt in excitement to thank the gods, while the young and middle-aged men began sharpening their spears and organizing their arrows and leather armor with the help of their wives or mothers.
They aimed to be in the best possible condition to bring back the most food and wealth for their families.
The eight Centurions of the Iron Jaw Tribe eventually arrived before Gros.
Gros had the Centurions sit in a circle around him.
He then had his wife light the few remaining candles to illuminate the cave.
Once everyone was gathered, Gros opened a parchment map he had prepared and displayed it before them.
“I believe you all know the news about the Piranha River freezing,” Gros said, getting straight to the point as he looked at the Centurions.
The Centurions nodded in affirmation, their eyes unable to resist drifting toward the map Gros had produced.
“Then I won’t waste words. Looking at the map, we are closest to Border City in Hanover Province. Crossing the Piranha River, we only need to travel another 20 li to reach the walls of Border City. As long as we take Border City, we can enter the other cities of Hanover Province.”
“Thirty years ago, the Piranha River froze once. The Chief at that time—my father—led only 1,000 warriors to take Border City. Therefore, even if our tribe can only send out about 1,000 warriors now, I have no fear that we cannot take it.”
“My only concern is how we should proceed after taking Border City. That place is so poor that even the rats go hungry; there isn’t much food at all. If we want grain, we have to keep pushing further into Hanover Province.”
“Although my father took fifteen cities and dozens of manors in the Black Cross Kingdom starting from Border City, he did so with a reserve force of 5,000 men. Currently, our strength is only around 1,000. In any battle, we can only succeed; we cannot afford to fail. We must carefully consider our target after taking Border City. Look at the map and tell me your thoughts.”
After Gros finished speaking, he pushed the map toward the Centurions. A heated discussion broke out immediately.
The Centurions each had their own targets and reasons.
The one-eyed Big Barton pounded the map. “We must hit Rivercenter City! Thirty years ago, I followed the old Chief there and cut down ten knights!”
The cautious Malka shook his head. “Chaff City has plenty of grain, but it’s surrounded by plains. We would be sitting ducks…”
None of them could convince the others. Finally, the eldest Centurion, Old Gula, spoke up to resolve the issue.
“Since our forces are insufficient to take everything like the previous Chief did, why don’t we contact the other tribes? We can invade Hanover Province together and distribute the spoils afterward. Chief, what do you think?”
“Good! We’ll do exactly that!”
Gros slapped his thigh. Since the problem was a lack of manpower, they would simply solve the manpower problem!
He had been so focused on monopolizing the chance to raid Hanover Province that he had overlooked such a simple solution.
Although the other tribes had once plotted against the Iron Jaw Tribe’s hunting grounds, this was a foreign war.
When facing outsiders, the tribes could still follow the ancient covenants and remain united.