My Kingdom Building Done Right!

Chapter 195: The Aslan Tribe’s Hospitality [Part 1]

"Your temporary lodging is here," Leone said to the warriors of the three tribes. "Your banners are already planted at the residence prepared for you, so you don’t have to worry about entering the wrong residence."

Leone had personally remodeled the existing buildings to make them look more uniform. He also divided it into three sections so each tribe could hang out on their own without worrying about privacy.

Aside from that, he also built a central hub or a village square, where all three tribes could chat and mingle with one another, giving them space to foster both camaraderie and friendships.

"I am speechless, Leone," Duncan said with a smile. "We were prepared to pitch tents during our stay, but you’ve just made things more comfortable for us."

"Duncan, I think there’s a big misunderstanding," Leone replied. "The chieftains have their own private rooms in the mountain. I’ll show you guys later."

The chieftains regarded each other as equals, so they decided to simply call each other by name, dropping the honorifics. It was something that the young man didn’t expect to happen.

Leone was the youngest among all of them, so he felt a bit awkward saying their name at first. However, the three insisted this should be how they referred to each other from now on.

Sensing their sincerity, he finally agreed and hit it off with the three rough men, who were liking him more and more. Not only was he pleasant to the eyes, he also had the charisma to back it up.

"Just remember the bridge over there leads to the territory of the Ravage Tribe." Leone pointed at the bridge, which also had lamps lighting the path. "Orcs regularly traverse it, so don’t attack them."

"A-Are you sure they won’t attack us first?" Hugo, who was now one of the high-ranking officials of the Grimfang Tribe, asked.

"They won’t," Leone replied. "Just like you guys, they also feel anxious about traveling from their camp to our fortress since they have to pass through here, where you’ll be around. But you know? Orcs are surprisingly honorable monsters once you get to know them.

"Of course, there’s still a language barrier between them and us, so a grunt of acknowledgement might easily be misunderstood as provocation. With that being said, I ask everyone to practice self-restraint during your time here."

It was then that a dozen Orcs crossed over the bridge. Though when they saw that hundreds of barbarians were waiting on the other side, they hesitated and stopped in their tracks.

Seeing them pause, Leone hurried to their side and told them it was fine to cross. Since they recognized the young man, they chose to believe in him despite their anxiety.

Once they crossed the bridge, the barbarians moved to clear a path for them, allowing the Orcs to cross to the Aslan Tribe’s fortress.

The Orcs gave the barbarian warriors a brief nod before walking past them. There was no denying that the atmosphere had become tense for a few minutes. However, as soon as the Orcs were no longer in sight, everyone had finally calmed down.

"I will post guards here to prevent friction between you guys and the Ravage Tribe from happening," Leone stated. "Barbarians are honorable warriors, so you guys should show the Orcs that you will not attack them unless they provoke you first."

The barbarians glanced at each other before reluctantly nodding in affirmation.

"Castor, Pollux, you will guard here as planned," Leone stated. "Horus and Seth will swap with you guys four hours later."

""Yes, Great Chieftain!""

Leone then shifted his attention toward the warriors gathered around them. "Each house is stocked with beef jerky, as well as plenty of drinking water. Although all of you are already full, those who want to grab some midnight snacks can help themselves to those without worries."

The young man then asked the three chieftains to inspect the interior of the three-story houses. The first floor housed the dining and living room, while the second and third floors each had three rooms.

Every single one was very spacious and fully furnished.

Although the beds weren’t as high-class as the ones in the special villa, they were still very comfortable compared to barbarian standards.

In fact, the warriors were very happy. This was the "softest" bed that they had ever lain on.

After everyone had finally settled into their temporary accommodations, the young man took the three chieftains to the fortress up the mountain.

All of them were in awe of the fortifications that had been built, including the defensive weaponry placed along the ramparts of the fortress.

Truth be told, they dug out more space for fortifications to house ballistas, catapults, and repeating crossbows.

The entire mountain was a fortress. Even if the Darkmane Tribe were to arrive in force, they would realize that they had simply poked a hornet’s nest!

Instead of entering the cave, which was the main entrance that led to the Aslan Tribe’s underground cities, Leone took the stone steps that led higher up the mountain.

Thirty meters above the main cave entrance was a giant balcony made of stone. There were a few tables and chairs on it, making it look like a "gathering place" where people could talk and dine together.

The three chieftains then saw something that they had never seen before.

There were at least twelve doors leading to the guest rooms. These were meant for special guests who could live in the mountain during their stay.

Each villa also had their own balconies, where they could enjoy seeing the sunrise and sunset at their own leisure.

"These are for the special guests," Leone explained. "However, the place where the chieftains of the middle-ranked tribes will stay is at a different place."

He then led everyone to another set of stairs that led them twenty meters above the villas for the special guests.

Similar to what they had seen earlier, there was a massive balcony meant for gatherings. Though unlike the first layer meant for guests, there were only six rooms available on the second layer.

However, those six rooms were at least three times bigger than the guest rooms.

The three chieftains also noticed the banners of the Redmaw, Grimfang, and Ironhide Tribe fluttering on each villa, which represented where they should be staying.

"These villas are meant for the chieftains, their families, or attendants," Leone stated. "Each of these villas has six rooms, one of which is a master bedroom for the chieftain, complete with a king-sized bed. It can also be used as a meeting place for you and your elders if you wish."

Leone then invited them to enter the villa for the Grimfang Tribe. He wanted to show them how to use the facilities like the shower and bathtub, which only the nobles of Britannia couldn’t live without.

"If you move the lever here, it will release water," Leone explained, moving the lever to show everyone how it worked.

A moment later, the shower started sprinkling water, making the three chieftains’ eyes widen in shock.

"We have soap you can use to wash your body," Leone added. "As for the hair, you can use this herbal concoction called shampoo. I plan to use this for trade in the future, so all three of you will be the first to sample it."

In reality, Leone was also unfamiliar with shampoo. It was Daedalus who taught him the recipe to make it, which used a plant called soapwort. The grimoire even told Leone to get scented oil that could be bought from the Arcane Store to add to the mixture.

With that, he bought Lavender and Mint Oil. Then, he created two batches of shampoo following the grimoire’s instructions.

The ladies fell in love with the shampoo made from a soapwort and lavender oil combination, while the guys preferred the soapwort and mint oil combination.

When Yuni and the other ladies tried to use it for the first time, it became an instant hit. Because of that, they now used soap and shampoo whenever they bathed.

Making it was also very easy. All they needed to do was boil water, add the soapwort, and let it simmer until they got the result they wanted.

Now, a good portion of the hidden valley had soapwort growing on it. The roots of the soapwort must be mature enough for the shampoo to work perfectly, so it would still take them a month to harvest.

Fortunately, Leone had bought the matured plants at a cheap price in the Arcane Store, allowing everyone to use soap and shampoo until the planted soapwort could be harvested and used for future soap and shampoo production.

As for soap used to wash bodies, it only needed ash lye, animal fat, and mint leaves, which were also very easy to procure.

"This is the bathtub," Leone said. "You can fill it up with water and soak in it if you feel like it. Truth be told, it would be better if we had magic crystals. That way, we can make the water hot or cold depending on everyone’s preference."

In the Kingdom of Britannia, Fire and Ice Crystals were used to control the temperature of the water when bathing. This was something the noble households enjoyed very much.

Unfortunately, those were not available at the moment.

Of course, Leone could purchase them in the Arcane Store. However, he decided not to do it. He felt a little guilty that only he would be able to enjoy such luxuries, while everyone simply bathed in cold water that came from the underground river.

For Leone, all of these were things supposed to be part of everyday life.

But for the barbarians who only bathed using well water and rivers, this was considered a luxurious upgrade from what they were used to.

"Please use this place to rest for the night," Leone said. "If you need anything else, ask the warriors I will assign as guards to watch over you tonight.

"Though if you wish to invite your elders, attendants, or your personal guards to stay here with you, you are free to bring them over. Just tell the warriors, and they will head to the village to pick them up."

The chieftains thanked Leone and immediately asked the guards to call some people to stay with them for the night.

Although they didn’t want to admit it, the accommodations prepared for them were way better than their homes in their own territories.

That night, the chieftains slept extremely well on their comfortable beds and eventually woke up to see the sun rising in the east.

It was a surreal experience. Because of that, all of them looked forward to the arrival of the high-ranking tribes, who would also experience the same surprises as them.