Red Leaf Tribe

"The branches of the Redwood Tree are used as seasoning in our tribe as well, but we usually rinse and soak them in running water for a long time before using them, reducing their toxicity.

Even so, poisoning still happens from time to time. When someone is poisoned by the Redwood Tree, their sense of taste is numbed first, and they gradually lose the ability to move..."

At that point, Rideriel stopped, because the boy behind him could still walk and fly. Other than his face being a little bitter-gourd-colored, he did not seem to show any symptoms of Redwood Tree poisoning.

"The way our tribe detoxifies it is by picking the green leaves of the Redwood Tree before they mature and turn red, then grinding them into juice to counteract the poison."

As he spoke, the Tribal Chief of the Red Leaf Tribe handed over the green leaf juice he had ground up. He did not forget to state beforehand, "It works very well against Redwood Tree poison, but I do not know whether it will help with the bitterness in your mouth."

Broly took the leaf juice. As long as it could lessen the bitter taste in his mouth even a little, he did not care what he had to drink. He downed it in one gulp.

After drinking it, Broly smacked his lips twice. The bitter taste in his mouth really had faded quite a bit, and his eyes lit up.

"Can I have another cup?"

"Of course. But could you tell me about how you saved my daughter?"

Rideriel took back the clay cup and began asking Broly about it. He wanted to hear the answer from the boy who had saved his daughter.

Hearing that, Broly became somewhat troubled. Saving Rivarina had only been something he did along the way, and there had been seventy-one other children he had rescued along the way too.

Now that the other party suddenly wanted him to explain the details, Broly could not remember at all. He could only say, "There was some kind of prey that big chasing her from behind, then I went up and kicked it like this, and the thing chasing Rivarina went waaah and fell down."

Rideriel: "..."

Could someone tell him what exactly "some kind of prey" was? And what was with this boy lifting his leg and making a kicking motion, adding strange sound effects with his mouth, then sticking out his tongue, tilting his head, and lying down on the ground? Did that mean the dangerous creature chasing his daughter had been killed by him?

Rideriel, as the Tribal Chief of a tribe that lived in the Mangrove Forest, could roughly understand the story. But this abstract yet vivid pantomime felt less exciting than the simple verbal account his daughter had given.

"Thank you for saving my daughter. You will be a friend of the Red Leaf Tribe, and our tribe treats its friends warmly."

After helping Broly cure the bitterness in his mouth, Tribal Chief Rideriel treated him like a benefactor. He had the tribe prepare plenty of food to entertain Broly and the other children.

This meal was far tastier than the roasted meat they had eaten in the forest, since it included many more seasonings, such as the important salt.

"Please, eat as much as you like. If there is not enough, we can make more."

"What is going on with the Tribal Chief?"

"He is happy. His daughter who Disappeared has returned."

"You mean Rivarina? Wasn't she dead?"

"She is not dead. I heard she was captured by Slave Traders from the Empire and sold into the Giant Tree Forest to the north, but someone helped her escape and run back from there."

"So these children are the ones who helped her?"

"Yeah."

"No wonder..."

After discussing it in private, the people of the Red Leaf Tribe understood why their Tribal Chief was using the tribe's food to entertain outsiders.

Although some complained a little, they ultimately did not say anything unpleasant openly. A favor had to be repaid, and most people here agreed with that principle.

The night passed without incident. The children slept soundly in the vine-covered Open Space the Red Leaf Tribe had arranged for them.

When they woke the next day, the tribe had prepared food for them again.

The children were a little bewildered. They realized that they did not seem to need to do anything at all.

They could not help looking toward Broly.

"You only get something if you work for it. Let's help with the hunting too."

They called it hunting, but it was really just fishing. The places in this Mangrove Forest where schools of fish gathered easily had all been claimed by the Red Leaf Tribe.

They did not openly reject them, but they did make it clear that it would be inconvenient for this group of outsiders to catch fish near the fish pits they had worked hard to make.

Fortunately, when they had arrived yesterday, Broly had brought them to another Mangrove Forest. No one was using the waters there.

Rivarina Ran Over to catch fish with them. Since they did not need to travel elsewhere, the day passed leisurely.

Some had originally thought the outsiders were just freeloaders, but they unexpectedly brought back a huge catch of fish that evening. Some members of the Red Leaf Tribe acknowledged these outsider children because of it, but others believed the outsiders had stolen resources from their tribe's Mangrove Forest and muttered unpleasant things.

"The place where we caught fish was not your Mangrove Forest. It was the Mangrove Forest that Broly Big Brother flew us to. We did not steal your fish."

"What nonsense. How can a Mangrove Forest fly? You stole fish from our tribe."

Some of the children got into an argument with the Red Leaf Tribe's children over this, and it even turned into a fight.

The Red Leaf Tribe's children were fierce and capable fighters, but the children from Jiffonora Sea Tree Forest were potential assassins. They were even better at fighting, and won with a slight advantage.

The adults of the Red Leaf Tribe found it somewhat embarrassing and wanted to interfere, but the Tribal Chief stopped them.

"Children's matters belong to children. What does it mean for adults to interfere?"

Words were not the only means of communication; fists and feet could communicate too. Rideriel thought the children who had come with his daughter were quite good, and he wanted to absorb them into his tribe.

The best way to do that was to let the children mingle on their own and naturally come to accept one another.

Just as Rideriel had expected, the initial rejection was natural. After the children had gotten into fights together, they gradually accepted Playing with the outsider children.

The biggest catalyst was actually Broly flying into Jiffonora Sea Tree Forest, hunting several Danger Beasts, and carrying them back.

After the Red Leaf Tribe's children witnessed that scene with their own eyes, they were immediately won over by the outsider children.

Thinking that Rivarina could recognize such an amazing Big Brother, they took the initiative and said they wanted to recognize an amazing Big Brother too.

With someone they all admired, they had something in common to talk about, and the friction naturally decreased.

In short, as long as you thought Big Brother was awesome and were willing to worship him with us, then we were best friends.

Less than five days after arriving at the Red Leaf Tribe, the children under ten were already Playing together.

Things had changed enormously, from "This is our tribe's—our Big Brother's—Mangrove Forest. You outsiders—your tribe—cannot catch fish here," to "This is our Mangrove Forest. Come catch fish whenever you want," and they even compared which side caught more fish.

The tribe's children influenced the adults as well. More importantly, with an additional connected Mangrove Forest, the tribe's daily fish catch increased.

"Broly, I challenge you!"

Just as the outsider children were gradually integrating into the tribe, Rivarina's biological elder brother, Riparip, suddenly challenged Broly.

The reason was that Riparip could no longer stand being increasingly called Second Brother within the tribe.

Before, whether it was his Younger Sister or the other children in the tribe, they would warmly call him Big Brother Rip whenever they saw him. But after Broly arrived, he had been demoted.

Now, Riparip wanted to reclaim his position as Big Brother in the hearts of his sister and the tribe's children through strength.

"Broly, I know you are very strong, so I will not go easy on you just because you are younger than me. I will Go All Out and let everyone know who the true Big Brother of the Red Leaf Tribe is."

This was a battle for status among children. Riparip was fifteen and not yet an adult, so he could still barely count as a child.

"Forget it, Second Brother Rip. You have never even hunted a Danger Beast. How can you challenge Broly Big Brother?"

The children said things that damaged his confidence, and most of those saying them were children born in the tribe.

"Cut the nonsense. I have not hunted Danger Beasts only because Danger Beasts rarely appear around our Mangrove Forest.

When it comes to strength, I can collect Pearls from more than twenty freshwater clams in the Deep Water Area in one go. I will not lose to anyone."

The Young Man leaned over a wooden stump, intending to settle the contest with Broly through arm wrestling.

Then, in a best-of-three match, he lost all three rounds without surprise.

"Being strong is nothing. Let's compare speed next, but you are not allowed to fly."

They compared speed, restricting Broly's flight, but Broly still easily outran him.

"Let's compare lung capacity."

Riparip buried his face in the water and held his breath for thirty minutes before finally raising his head when he could no longer endure it.

"So? My lung capacity..."

"Broly Big Brother has not come up yet."

"Forget Broly Big Brother. Even Akame and Kurome are still holding their breath over there."

In the contests that followed, Riparip lost every single one. Even some of the younger children who joined the competitions midway performed better than he did.

"I lost, Big Brother!"

After a full day of contests, Riparip failed to reclaim his status as Big Brother. Instead, he willingly recognized the younger boy as his Big Brother.

On that day, through all sorts of competitions that seemed like games to him, Broly somehow became the one and only Big Brother in the hearts of all the big and small children of the Red Leaf Tribe.

Of course, Broly did not care whether he was Big Brother or not. What made him happy was the experience of Playing games with everyone.

Akame and Kurome's Happiness Value also increased greatly through those competitive games. Unfortunately, after so many days, Broly still had not met any other Wife who could be acknowledged by the Crystal Palace.