My Kingdom Building Done Right!-Chapter 71: The Kids’ Big Brother

"Porkchop, does it feel good?"

*Oink*

"You really like to bathe, huh?"

Runa looked at the chubby pig soaking in the river. It was visibly relaxed, serving as a contrast to the members of the Riverfang Tribe gathering iron sands near the riverbed.

She was the lucky child who had won a Rank 2 Mount from the Wheel of Fortune game Daedalus had hosted during the feast.

At first, she thought she should get a bear instead since Fury had been a good playmate to them all. To repay it, she had planned to give it a wife.

But when she unexpectedly saw the chubby pig from Daedalus’ catalogue, she thought that having a pig as a mount would be good as well.

Because... What if they were stuck somewhere and had no way to get food? Wouldn’t it be great to have emergency food at hand?

*Oink?!*

Porkchop suddenly felt anxious and started looking around its surroundings. For a brief moment, it felt a sense of dread that made it shudder.

However, the only thing it saw when it looked around were the women of the Riverfang Tribe, who posed no danger.

If only it knew that its own master was thinking of using it as an emergency food, the chubby pig might have already escaped from its own master!

Runa continued her work diligently, scraping off the iron sand that had been stuck to the magnet. She was very curious about what this stuff was for, but the adults only told her that it could be used to make various tools and weapons for their tribe.

Everything they had gathered was placed in a leather bag, which they would take back to the camp once full.

In the past few days, they had been doing this task for an hour everyday while taking a bath in the river.

Once they were done, someone else would take their place, continuing the process of collecting iron sands, which their Great Chieftain claimed to be a very important resource for their camp.

"Runa, I think the bag is full," one of her tribe members said. "Let’s go back to the barracks."

"Okay!" The nine-year-old then asked Porkchop to kneel so she could climb on its back.

The Ironhide Pig obeyed and allowed its little rider to sit on its back. It also didn’t move when the bag of iron sand was placed on the strap by its side.

They then left for their camp to deliver the iron sand they had collected and to pass the magnet to the next group, who would head to the river.

As they neared the barracks, they heard the familiar shouts of "Hooh!" and "Hah!" from the warriors, who were practicing their spear thrusts and spear swings.

They all held wooden spears in their hands. The weapons were made of hardwood and as heavy as normal spears made of iron.

Daedalus personally tweaked these spears. That way, when the warriors were given their own weapons, the weight would feel familiar to them.

On the other side of the barracks, the women were training to use bows to hunt and for combat.

Not far from them, children around Runa’s age also held small wooden spears, practicing spear thrusts and swings, just like the adults.

For them, this was like some kind of game. After their training, they could even play around with Fury to their heart’s content.

The Dire Bear had become the personal plaything of the children in the camp, which made it look pitiful.

However, despite what it looked like, Fury didn’t seem to mind playing with the kids.

When Runa and her tribe members first arrived at the Grimjaw Mountain, they felt a little sad after leaving their ancestral grounds.

But after living here for a few weeks, they felt safer. They were surrounded by many strong warriors, and they knew they’d protect them.

There was also plenty of food, and none of them went hungry.

Also, their Great Chieftain, Leone Frontera, was a good person.

Whenever he wasn’t too busy, he would visit the barracks and eat with everyone. Since he was young, the children didn’t treat him like an adult. They often asked him to tell them stories, which he agreed with from time to time.

Leone’s stories would always be about the Frontera Viscounty of the Kingdom of Britannia.

He told them stories about his two older brothers and his little sister, whom he missed very much.

There were times when Runa caught the sad look on their Great Chieftain’s face when he talked about his family. It was very obvious that he missed them dearly.

"Great Chieftain, do you want to go back to the Kingdom?" Runa had asked back then.

"You don’t need to call me Great Chieftain. Just call me Leone or Big Brother," Leone replied.

"But father said I should refer to you as Great Chieftain."

"It’s fine. Tell your father all the kids are permitted to call me Big Brother instead."

""Yay!""

From then on, the kids referred to Leone as their Big Brother.

However, Runa noticed that whenever they greeted Big Brother in this manner, the adults had complicated looks on their faces.

He also told them that he planned to visit his parents in the future, but he would prioritize the growth and prosperity of their tribe for now.

Frankly, she and the other children didn’t want their Big Brother to suddenly disappear and leave them behind.

Why?

Because they had a feeling that if he disappeared, the peace they all enjoyed right now would disappear as well.

Even her parents said that their Great Chieftain was different from the other chieftains in the Borderlands.

Runa agreed with them. Kids mostly felt fearful or intimidated by most chieftains. But Leone was adored.

Some even said they wanted to grow up to be just like him, earning a chuckle from the young man.

Truly, Runa wished that the happy days would last.

Unfortunately, the happy days in the Borderlands didn’t last for a long time.

After eating with their great chieftain, Runa noticed something flying in the sky.

It was a giant hawk, and this bird was descending toward their location.

At that time, they weren’t aware that the arrival of the giant hawk and its Master would bring about great changes to their camp.

It was also the calm before the storm, which would drag their Great Chieftain and their tribe in a conflict that would create great ripples in the Borderlands, making the middle and high-ranking tribes pay close attention to them all.