With the ironware provided by Knight Romon, which was nominally a trade but actually an act of assistance, the progress of the settlement camp's project suddenly accelerated a lot.
You know, before this, the exploration camp didn't even have enough hoes to distribute one to each person, let alone other steel tools such as long saw blades, iron drill bits, and carpenter axes.
Half of the old and weak could only go to reclaim wasteland empty-handed or with the small iron picks and javelins discarded by the defeated kobolds.
In the first few days, cultivating farmland on the riverbank was just about manageable. But when it came time to prepare for logging and building houses, the impact of the lack of tools became very serious.
Facing a big tree that one person could just wrap their arms around, the villagers without proper tools hardly knew where to start. And a tree of this size was still considered a small one in the western dense forest. Most of the trees were at least thick enough for two people to hug.
With this batch of ironware from Knight Romon, Leo also gained a bit more enthusiasm for labor. Early in the morning, he cheerfully accompanied the villagers into the forest to operate a two-person saw.
However, after spending almost the whole morning with a group of villagers felling a big tree, cutting it into sections, and transporting it back to the settlement camp, Leo's enthusiasm for labor was completely drained.
Unable to bear such inefficient labor, Leo decided to reconnoiter upstream along the Anzerno River.
This was definitely not shirking work!
According to the intelligence revealed by the kobold Fisa, there was still a wild folk tribe under the waterfall at the source of this river.
The armed forces of the exploration camp were only able to intimidate the weak kobolds. Facing the fishing and hunting tribes in the deep mountains and ancient forests, Leo didn't dare to act rashly until he was completely healed.
The cold Northern Region was not conducive to farming. More than half of the villages north of the Anzerno River mainly depended on fishing, hunting, and nomadic herding. Javelins and hunting bows were the standard equipment for the villagers.
Needless to say, for the wild folk hiding in the deep mountains and ancient forests, Leo seriously doubted that if he rashly led a group of militiamen who were formerly farmers to 'quell bandits', they might be shot to pieces on the way.
However, according to Lisa's description, this wild folk tribe didn't seem as fierce and barbaric as he had imagined. Perhaps they could also coexist peacefully through communication and trade.
Before firmly establishing a footing in the exploration camp, Leo didn't intend to have any conflicts with them.
He even instructed the scouts patrolling around the settlement camp that when scouting upstream along the river, they should try not to go beyond a radius of ten li. Even if they encountered the wild folk, they should try their best to avoid conflicts.
The scout militiamen who could patrol alone outside were all the core members personally trained by Ulyan. Losing even one of them would be a great loss.
But the more capable these scout militiamen were, the greater the chance of conflict with the wild folk. Whether it was the wild folk or the militiamen who suffered casualties, it would push the situation towards hostility and ultimately become irreparable.
Of course, for the first contact, they should try to make a good impression on the other side. As the second best talker of the exploration team - the first was Ulyan, Leo decided to go in person.
Leaving the river - bend peninsula and moving along the winding source of the Anzerno River, the terrain gradually became steeper.
The river water rushing down from above splashed all over the exposed rocks. From time to time, a small waterfall four or five meters high blocked the way. In some places, the river channel was even split into four or five swift deep gulleys by the jagged rocks. After flowing separately for hundreds of meters, they would merge again downstream or simply disappear underground.
After walking along the fragmented river course for over ten li, Leo suddenly heard a sound. He quickly crouched down and hid in the shadows of the forest, observing secretly.
On the gravel river beach ahead, several short kobolds were standing scattered in the river water, holding short wooden spears and staring fixedly at the river surface.
One of the kobolds suddenly stabbed the short wooden spear into the river, then happily retracted it, only to find that the spearhead was empty.
It let out an annoyed yelp, but then heard the happy cries of its companions beside it. Turning its head, it saw that another kobold's short spear was pulled out of the water, with a one-foot-long black fish skewered on it.
The kobold that caught the fish let out a happy cry and immediately took a big bite on the fish's belly, tearing off a large piece of fish meat.
And several of its companions all pounced on it simultaneously, wrestling with each other and snatching the black fish from the kobold's hand.
In less than ten seconds, the one-foot-long black fish disappeared into their mouths, leaving only a few streaks of blood quickly dissolving in the river water at their feet.
After dealing with kobolds several times, Leo could already tell from their build and equipment that the few kobolds in front of him couldn't even be considered kobold warriors. At most, they were just newly grown-up kobolds.
In the simple minds of kobolds, there was no such thing as getting rich through hard work. So after meeting their basic food needs, many kobolds quickly got tired of the work of carrying iron ores. Some went back to dig for their shiny things, while some slipped out to hunt for meat.
These young 'kobolds' in front of him were in a stage where they hadn't deeply experienced the cruelty of the wilderness yet. They still retained their innocence and fearlessness, and at the same time, being in the growth stage, they were extremely eager for fat and protein. That's why they took the risk of leaving the main group and came to this remote river beach to fish on their own.
An evil idea popped into Leo's head. He slowly squatted down, picked up a cobblestone, and was about to teach them a lesson in wilderness survival.
Just then, he suddenly felt a pang of unease in his heart. A sense of crisis welled up, and he froze where he was.
Looking up, Leo saw a tall figure standing majestically on a huge rock above the river course. The figure stared coldly at him.
He was wearing clothes sewn from animal skins. The helmet made from the complete head of a giant wolf covered most of his face in shadow. As long as he lowered his head slightly, he would look like a standing giant wolf.
There were also various sharp animal teeth and bones inlaid on the furs on his wrists, shoulders, and waist as ornaments.
These sharp and hard objects were not just mere decorations. They could also be used as armor or weapons during battles.
There were two handaxes hanging on his waist, a huge longbow and a quiver of arrows on his back, and a white bone spear stuck beside him.
This getup instantly made Leo think of the barbarians in a certain game. Although the appearances in various film and television works were somewhat similar, in terms of both temperament and build, there was a huge difference.
In fact, Leo's own clothing wasn't much different, except that the other person was more wild and menacing. In comparison, it was like the difference between a herbivore and a carnivore.
The two stood facing each other at a distance. In the middle, several kobolds were still fishing carelessly.
After a few seconds of stalemate, seeing that the other party had no intention of attacking, Leo released the pebble in his hand, slowly raised his hands, and stood up, flashing a bright smile to indicate that he meant no hostility.
The discarded stone rolled down along the rock wall and splashed into the water. Several kobolds instinctively raised their heads to look around warily, and then saw the Wild Folk Hunter standing on the boulder upstream.
They instinctively took a few steps back, hiding the wooden spears in their hands behind their backs, not even daring to point their spears at the other party.
A kobold shorter than one meter plucked up the courage to bare its teeth at the Wild Folk Hunter, but was hit on the forehead with a wooden stick by a companion beside it, and immediately drooped.
The Wild Folk Hunter ignored these kobolds. With a wave of his hand, the kobolds were like prisoners granted amnesty. Like a flock of birds being shooed away, they picked up their wooden spears and scurried into the forest and ran away.
Leo couldn't help but find it interesting. The kobolds' attitude towards this Wild Folk Hunter was one of great respect and awe, but they didn't seem too scared.
It was like a bunch of naughty kids who were secretly taking cold showers got caught by a strict elder in the village. Although they were afraid of being scolded, they didn't have to worry about losing their lives.
After the kobolds had scurried far away, the Wild Folk Hunter sized Leo up again before slowly taking a few steps back and disappearing behind the boulder.