Meat could be hunted in this Wilderness. The boundless plains were not just a natural pasture; with a little modification, they could also be used to grow crops.
Though wood and stone weren't as plentiful, there were ways to solve that. This land could provide most of the materials humans needed.
The only thing missing was people!
This place was at least a ten-day journey from the Debei Kingdom. The stretch of land in between was desolate and uninhabited. The only humans who passed by High Cliff Castle were merchant caravans.
Besides, a populace was the cornerstone that allowed the nobility to maintain their lavish lifestyles. No lord, unless they were hopelessly stupid, would ever let people just walk away from their domain.
To put it simply, trying to poach people from the Debei Kingdom was a fool's errand.
Fortunately, where there's a will, there's a way. After studying the map all night, Levi had found a solution.
A hundred li west of High Cliff Castle was a mountain range—the Kas Mountain Range.
Within this mountain range lived a group of Northern Barbarians, also known as the Ancestors.
They were the subjects of the kingdom that preceded Debei. To escape persecution by the Debei Royal Family, they had fled into this vast mountain range.
Rumor had it that the progenitors of these Ancestors were descendants of a princess from the old Royal Family.
As for how Levi knew this, it was all thanks to a Knightly Novel he had once read.
Though it was called a novel, Levi felt it was more like a travelogue. He even suspected that the protagonist, Ah Bin, was the author himself.
After so many years, if the Ancestors truly existed within those mountains, Levi couldn't begin to imagine how many people might be living there.
If he could recruit them all as subjects, then with both land and people, he would instantly become a Duke no less powerful than Fulina.
"Boss, the pit's dug."
Muto ran over just then, steam rising from his body. He had clearly just finished some hard physical labor.
"Hasn't it been less than half a day?"
Levi was surprised to hear this.
A pit wasn't as easy to dig as one might imagine. He was shocked they had so easily finished a pit over twenty meters long and more than five meters deep.
'These Beastman Barbarians really are natural-born construction workers.'
When he arrived at the site, he saw a pit dug almost exactly to his specifications.
The site was at the foot of the hill, about half a li from the river that flowed down from the heights.
Even if someone had a bad case of diarrhea, they could get here with a six- or seven-minute jog. It was the optimal location.
Of course, Levi wasn't going to build the outhouse on top of the hill. One good gust of wind and the whole area would be blanketed in a truly indescribable stench.
"Reinforce the four inner walls with wood, and then build a simple structure over it for the toilet..."
Levi briefly explained the construction of the toilet to Muto.
Luckily, in his past life, he had been an overworked civil engineering student, so he was reasonably proficient with construction. Building a simple toilet wasn't a problem.
Soon, a lopsided hut with a distinctly Beastman-esque style rose from the ground. A circle of waist-high logs formed the walls, and four thick wooden pillars supported the roof.
The ground inside was sprinkled with gravel, and a series of wooden planks were laid across the top of the pit.
It was a bit ugly, but it would have no trouble providing shelter from the wind and rain.
But this also made Levi realize the lack of skilled labor in his territory. At the very least, he needed to find a carpenter who could build proper houses.
'Sigh, I'm short on everything.'
Levi sighed.
As stated before, pioneering wasn't the romantic adventure depicted in Knightly Novels; it was a deadly serious military operation.
...
As the sun dipped below the western horizon, its last rays bathing the wooden huts in a warm glow, a group of brawny men emerged from the light.
Zat and his men had returned, just in time for dinner at High Cliff Castle.
"Boss, I've scouted out the situation."
"There are three tribes in our vicinity. Two of them are Goblins and Kobolds—nothing to worry about. But the last one is a Jackal Wolfman Tribe."
Zat reported what they had found that day, taking huge bites out of a flatbread the size of his head.
"Those wolf-curs have damn sharp noses. They spotted us from a long way off. The only reason a fight didn't break out was 'cause they couldn't figure out what we were up to."
"Still, I'd guess their tribe has about two hundred members."
'Jackal Wolfmen, huh?'
Levi grew thoughtful.
Compared to the cannon-fodder Goblins and Kobolds, the Jackal Wolfmen were a force to be reckoned with in the Wilderness.
Jackal Wolfmen generally stood around two meters tall, with arms that hung past their knees. They were cruel and bloodthirsty by nature.
They never herded or farmed, surviving entirely by plundering other tribes. They were notorious bandits of the Wilderness.
Letting such a force linger near his territory was obviously not a wise move, especially since they had already discovered the Beastman Barbarians.
Jackal Wolfman Tribes rarely had elderly members. Out of two hundred, once you removed the females and the young, there would be seventy fighting-fit adults at most.
'Not too difficult to handle.'
"First thing tomorrow morning, we all assemble. We're going to steamroll them!"
...
Early the next morning, all but ten Beastman Barbarians—who were left behind to guard High Cliff Castle from a sneak attack—were assembled and ready to move out. The remaining forty stood ready, armed with Giant Axes or Warhammers and carrying five Fine Steel Javelins each on their backs.
Their only weakness was a lack of armor; they all wore loose, short-sleeved linen shirts.
Even so, their equipment outclassed ninety-nine percent of the other tribes in the Wilderness.
Selling iron weapons in the Wilderness was an act strictly forbidden by the Debei Kingdom, and the primitive tribes of the Wilderness didn't know how to forge iron themselves. This meant that the equipment of most tribes was still from the age of Bone Artifacts and stone tools.
Iron weapons were incredibly rare, to say nothing of those forged from Fine Steel.
Levi rode at the head of the column on his nag, a troop of Beastman Barbarians marching behind him, their powerful strides eating up the ground.
The early morning breeze carried a slight chill, but it couldn't extinguish the fire burning in the hearts of the Beastman Barbarians.
Eager to experience the "Gift of the War God," they were spoiling for a fight.
Before long, Levi caught a scent on the wind, one distinct from the usual smell of grass and earth. He followed it and soon laid eyes on the Jackal Wolfman Tribe Zat had described.
He dropped to his stomach in the waist-high grass, observing them from concealment.
The Barbarians behind him didn't understand why, but seeing their boss hit the dirt, they all followed suit, disappearing into the tall grass.
The Jackal Wolfmen were known as the bandits of the Wilderness. They lived for plunder and never stayed in one place for long, two traits that made them incapable of any real construction.
Their settlement was built on the leeward side of an earthen mound, dotted with haphazard stone huts that looked like pimples on a face.
They had clearly stolen this place from someone else.
Though the party from High Cliff Castle had moved stealthily and held the high ground, Levi had overlooked one critical detail: they were directly upwind.
And the Jackal Wolfmen had incredibly sensitive noses.
A few Jackal Wolfmen caught their scent. Howling to alert their kin, they began charging straight toward their position.