Chapter 261 - 166: The New Enemy of the Pannonian Tribe Alliance
As soon as he entered the room, a loud voice called out, "Ah! Our great warrior finally joins us! I thought this time the tribal meeting might be missing you!"
The speaker was the Brochi Leader, Bricks, a portly elder whose tone carried a hint of mockery. His relationship with Andres was rather delicate.
During Andres’s father’s leadership, the two major tribes maintained a strong rapport. However, since Andres assumed power, his aggressive expansionist policies had nearly doubled the territory of the Segestica Tribe within just a few years. His growing influence not only enhanced his prestige within his tribe but also began to overshadow the neighboring Brochi.
Andres had earned fame during prior wars against the Skodisqi people, and his continued victories now made him widely admired by young Pannonian warriors. By contrast, the younger generation of the Brochi Tribe grew increasingly disillusioned with their leader, whose life revolved around feasting and leisure, achieving nothing significant for years. In their disappointment, some Noble children even defected to Andres’s side.
Reportedly, Bricks’s invasion of the southern Aldeans was an attempt to restore his standing among his tribesmen.
Given their geographical proximity, Bricks had recently heard rumors of a setback for the Segestica Army in the south, and he now seemed to relish these tidbits of misfortune.
Andres, uninterested in sparring verbally, cut straight to the point, "Who called this meeting? What’s under discussion?"
"This meeting was convened at the request of Antosy. I already sent a messenger to invite you, but you were personally leading troops out of the Main Camp. To avoid disrupting your campaign, we didn’t insist on notifying you. Unexpectedly, you still managed to make it here."
The speaker was Temagis, the slender and refined Mazi Tribe Leader seated at the host’s position. His distinctive demeanor set him apart from the other chiefs, not because the tribal alliance meetings always took place in the Mazi Tribe, but simply due to the annual rotation among the seven chief tribes, with this year being Temagis’s turn.
Temagis then added, "This meeting mainly concerns the Skodisqi people in the east. Sit down first, and let Antosy explain everything in detail."