Chapter 28: warmth and organizing (part 2)

As Amutenya and Tate Amupolo stepped out of the homestead, the group naturally split. While the men headed toward the center of the village, Ndapandula and Meme Nangula did not follow. With a brief, professional nod to Amutenya, she adjusted her posture and diverted down the slope toward the sound of flowing water. She had no interest in the chaotic spectacle of dividing meat; her focus was entirely on the women working the irrigation trenches. She had a lethal unit to build, and she needed to observe her potential recruits in their natural element, and Meme Nangula will help her identify them.

Amutenya watched them go with a nod of approval before turning his attention back to the rising clamor ahead. 

By the time they reached the ancient omwandi tree, practically the entire village had gathered. The noise was deafening, a chaotic mix of joyous shouting, disbelief, and the frantic chatter of women and children pressing as close to the carts as they dared. 

When Amutenya and Shivute had returned from the crossroads months ago, the village thought they had seen a massive bounty. This haul was at least ten times that size. 

The tarps on the eleven heavy carts had been thrown back, revealing literal mountains of preserved meat, iron, and premium grains. But it wasn't just the sheer volume that had Elder Shikongo clutching his walking stick as if he might faint—it was the nature of the beast. Stacked high were the massive, dark haunches of gemsbok and the towering, unfamiliar cuts of giraffe, animals from the deep brush that the village hunters rarely, if ever, managed to even catcha glimpse of. 

And draped ceremoniously over the lead cart, exactly as Shaningwa had arranged them, were the massive, golden-furred hides of fully grown lions. The sight of the apex predators’ skins, brought back exclusively as a symbol of Amutenya’s conquering status, sent a ripple of absolute awe through the crowd. 

Every villager present was doing the same mental math. They looked at the endless food, and then their eyes drifted to the heavily armored, disciplined soldiers of the Ghost Army standing guard at the perimeter. The fear that had gripped them just an hour ago had completely evaporated, replaced by a surging, intoxicating wave of prestige and security. With an army like this stationed in their borders, no raiders would ever dare approach, and their standing among the surrounding villages would skyrocket. 

Amutenya stepped up onto the wheel hub of the lead cart, raising his hands. The murmurs died down instantly. Every eye locked onto the young man who had left as a herder and returned as a warlord. 

"Fellow villagers," Amutenya’s voice rang out, clear and steady, carrying effortlessly over the crowd. "We have brought back the wealth of the wild. No one in this village will starve. No one will sleep with an empty stomach."

A cheer erupted, but Amutenya raised his hand to silence them again. His corporate mind was already ten steps ahead of their joy. He looked out at the crowd, specifically noting the women who had married into the village from neighboring villages. News of this haul would spread to their home villages within days. If Amutenya simply hoarded this wealth, it would breed intense, dangerous jealousy. The surrounding tribes could easily isolate them, cut off trade, or worse, refuse to send their daughters to marry into the village, threatening to suffocate their future generations, and effectively turning the unwed men of the village against him.

Wealth that is hoarded is a target, Amutenya thought. Wealth that flows multiplies. "However," Amutenya continued, his voice shifting to a somber tone. "This food is not just a prize. It is the foundation for a new era. What we have built so far is not enough. To protect this wealth, we must grow. We must expand. And to do that, I am announcing a massive wave of projects, starting immediately. We will not just hire from within, we will send word to the surrounding villages. Anyone willing to work will be paid in food, at the end of each week. I will provide meals during your work."

A stunned silence fell over the elders. Amutenya didn't give them time to process the sheer scale of his ambition before he laid out the blueprint:

First: The Village Rebuilding. 

"Our homes are frail against the wind and rain. I am going to rebuild this entire village. I will purchase land from anyone willing to sell. For those who sell, my men will construct a new, fortified home for your family, free of charge. For those who do not wish to sell but want a better home, you will join a mutual construction group to rebuild each other's houses. If you refuse to sell or join now, you may keep your current homes, but once construction begins, the window closes. You will have to upgrade on your own."

Second: the water expansion.

"To show you my commitment," Amutenya added, pointing toward his own homestead. "I am leveling my family's estate. We will build a new home farther out, and the well I dug will be expanded into a mini-lake to serve the heart of our new infrastructure."

Third: Farmland Reclamation.

 "We are expanding our agricultural grid. I am hiring labor—both here and from the neighboring tribes—to clear the ekove and turn those hunting grounds into fertile, farmable land. I will also purchase ekove grounds from any family willing to sell."

Fourth: Education and Health.

"Strength is not just in spears. We will be constructing dedicated schools for both our boys and our girls, fees will be communicated after construction, but during construction everyone in the village, no matter your age or gender who does not want to remain illiterate will atttend my classes under this tree every day before the sun rises, every midday during your break and after the sun sets. 

Furthermore, Meme Kauna, Ndapandula and I will immediately begin with training a new generation of healers and establishing the first dedicated clinics for our people, those who want to learn can go and tell Meme Kauna, she will teach you a few knowledge points and test you to see your aptitude, If you pass you will start training immediately.

Fifth: The Garrison and The Refugees.

 "Finally, the soldiers you see before you need a home, as do the refugees who have marched under my banner and the family of these soldiers who will be joining us in the future.We will be constructing a dedicated military camp on the perimeter, and the refugees will be formally integrated and settled into our new, expanded borders as official citizens of this village, they will work on construction and have the same privileges and rights as all of you.

Amutenya looked down at the sea of wide, unblinking eyes. He was fundamentally tearing down the old world and paying them to build a modern city in its place, even if they refused to comply, he will still choose this path, after all he has the time and technology to prepare for the horrors to come, if he still failed under all these cheats, he might as well hang himself with toilet paper and admit his uselessness.

"Tell your wives, husbands, brothers and send word to your home villages," Amutenya declared, his voice echoing against the ancient omwandi tree. "The time for starving in the dust is over. We start building next moon."

Before that, he had to prepare the cement formula, recruit those three refugees he has been eyeing, build furnaces, make coal, draw blueprints, and the most important thing, he had to immediately bring the village under his command, not just as their employer or the "seer boy from the King's court" but as their ruler. 

He had time now, it was just 1812, the West and Eastern powers were still having petty squabbles. The British were fighting America over trade rights, and also smuggling drugs into China, Russia and America were busy forcing Japan to trade with them, and Europe was caught up in the Napoleonic wars, and Germany hasn't even formed a confederate yet. 

If he played his cards right by the time those greedy empires looked south at Africa, he would be able to not only stand against them, but also maybe be able to turn the tables on them.