Chapter 60 The Future You See: Killing You, I Won't Back Down...

The sun at nine or ten in the morning shines warmly on you, casting a hazy glow over the entire street.

Andra and Eleanor strolled along the main road, the cobblestone path beneath their feet neither clean nor particularly dirty.

After all, there was no industrial wastewater back then, and people didn't have packaging bags or leftover food at home.

The only thing to worry about, "fertilizer," was rarely found at their doorstep because nobles' carriages passed by so often.

Even so, Eleanor would sometimes see suspicious stains on street corners.

After all, the agricultural level of the Moonlit Continent needs to be improved. People have only a superficial understanding of the power of fertilizers, and many places do not compost fertilizers. They only know from experience that "crops grow better in places where people and animals have lived".

Therefore, in those days, the collection of fertilizer was still a labor service forcibly assigned by the city lord or ministers, and the citizens also needed to pay an extra tax to "invite" someone to collect it.

Eleanor pondered how to quickly implement the new planting method in this life, ideally starting from the capital and spreading outwards. Eva wasn't stupid; as long as...

"Your Highness, are you looking at that flower?"

Andra's voice interrupted her thoughts. Eleanor looked up and happened to see a cluster of particularly vibrant flowers.

It is "Mandala".

Because the flowers are bright, beautiful, and easy to grow, they are often brought out of the forest by the Norlana people and planted in their gardens and on their balconies.

The homeowner must be a well-off aristocrat, as the courtyard is filled with colorful flowers.

Andra naturally reached out to the flower, holding a silver coin in her hand, clearly intending to make a deal.

“No, Andra, I don’t really like this flower,” Eleanor said softly.

The boy withdrew his hand, blinked in surprise, and asked, "Your Highness, don't you already have quite a few plants in your flowerpots?"

“...That was planted for my mother. She loves flowers.” Eleanor walked ahead on her own, and Andra stopped dwelling on the matter, readily withdrawing her hand and continuing on with the princess.

It was quiet behind them; not many people would pay attention to these two children.

Beside them was a burly royal slave: she was only slightly shorter than the little giant Salin and was quite agile.

She was a special bodyguard assigned to protect royalty. She was supposedly helping carry things, but actually, two iron hammers were hanging under her cloak.

As for Manzhu and Jingji, they stayed even further away, watching their backs from a distance as the princess commanded.

Even though the surrounding environment was safe, Andra kept her breath in her throat, carefully watching her step and the road ahead, with the tall guards standing in front and behind Eleanor in the middle.

As she walked, she finally saw the magnificent market in the city and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lily, we've arrived."

Andra calmly called out the princess's "pseudonym," and she knew this most luxurious market in Norlana quite well; one of her subordinates even had a shop there.

The market is filled with entertainment options from the outside in.

The princess is too young to go to many places, but fortunately there are many cute little animals and some normal song and dance performances... She can already smell the rich aroma of incense.

However, Eleanor merely glanced inside from outside the bustling area before shaking her head in boredom.

Those luxurious "lights" that used jewels to reflect sunlight even in broad daylight failed to leave a trace of light in her eyes.

"Not here, it's the one closer to the outskirts of the city."

The outskirts of the city? Andra immediately realized that Her Highness wanted to buy war slaves.

Her subordinates had gathered relevant intelligence; there were many slave legions stationed outside the city, one of whom, an old man named Scarface, had been quite active on the border. They could try to subdue him.

Slave legions... Andra's eyes flickered: she really liked these kinds of legions, but unfortunately, such things existed in Hetuya... and they didn't.

The reason for this is that the king of Hetuya and the leaders of various tribes did indeed possess a large number of slaves, and if these people were organized together, they could form several legions.

However, Hetuya's slaves were generally not foreigners, especially not foreigners who came to make a living.

Who would come to Hetuya to make a living? Their slaves are mostly members of defeated tribes: they might have cooperated in the previous hunting season, but in the next hunting season they would become master and slave.

This is also why "Hetuya had no slave legions".

Because these slaves were actually somewhere between slaves and free people. It was better not to be involved in wars; they might be able to work for the corresponding tribe for ten or twenty years, and their descendants would have their bloodlines directly mixed up by intermarrying with the tribe of their "masters".

But once they get involved in war, they can quickly regain their glory and freedom through battle: because according to Hetuya tradition, the victorious warriors are naturally free, as for the defeated... the defeated either die or are taken away by foreigners, so they are no longer considered their own slaves!

Andra pondered the differences between the two options and concluded that it was better to buy slaves from Norlana if he wanted to.

These war slaves are trained from childhood, do not engage in production, and have no means of survival if separated from their masters. In some ways, they are even more loyal than the warriors of the Hetuya.

"Andra~ Hurry up, hurry up."

"good."

She looked up and saw that the little princess had already waved to flag down a horse-drawn carriage and gotten in with the guards.

Andra got into the carriage, and the wheels started rolling.

As she swayed in the car, she glanced at Eleanor's profile and suddenly paused: The little princess probably rarely goes out, right? And she seemed quite curious about the lives of ordinary people. So why... is she not looking out the window even once now?

"..." Eleanor naturally had no idea what Andra was thinking.

She closed her eyes to conserve her energy for the important matter ahead, and after a long period of contemplation, she slowly spoke: "Andra, if someone gave you a legion of slaves, what would you do?"

Of course, we should engage in war.

Andra unconsciously moved her lips: Buying a slave army must be for this purpose only. She needed a fearless force to forge a new future with her.

Generally speaking, a princess sent as a hostage to another country basically means her future is ruined.

The exchange of hostages between two countries, or the unilateral sending of hostages, is itself an act of goodwill; no one would send out a truly noble princess as a gift.

Regardless of whether she is the youngest princess or not, and regardless of her mother's age, the fact that her mother did this means that her mother will have another child within a few years.

Thinking of this, Andra's spirits lifted: Her Highness wouldn't speak without reason; her question in the carriage likely represented an implication.

As a hostage, the princess seems to have many choices, and in extreme circumstances, it's not impossible for someone to return to their homeland and inherit the throne.

But considering that Agnor still has a long life ahead of her, her best chance in the next 20 years is either to marry Eleanor or to gain some power in the Norlana court.

These two are not mutually exclusive; in fact, they complement each other.

Once she becomes Eleanor's prince, she can establish a guard under the princess's banner and rule over one or even several territories as the princess's representative.

Andra is very confident in his abilities

Even if the future princess guard doesn't completely obey her, she's confident that with her initial one or two legions, she can slowly erode some of the peripheral city-states, first expanding her wife's territory, and then—

Andra quickly regained his composure and gently placed his hands on his lap, saying, "Your Highness, I am your guardian knight. Your territory is also where I should protect it. If I had a legion, I would certainly prioritize protecting your territory."

Hearing her answer, the little princess smiled with emotion.

Haha, Andra did indeed give a very similar answer to the first one.

This is certainly not a lie; the first incarnation of Andra kept this promise completely... at that time, they had no other choice.

After laughing, the little princess was silent for a moment. She looked out the car window and said quietly, "And then what? I'm very curious about what happened next."

after?

Andra did not give the princess a perfunctory answer because of her young age. She replied earnestly, "I will lead them to victory after victory. Whether it is suppressing bandits or hunting, I will bring back the spoils and the hides and bones of the prey to the city to reward those who have contributed."

At this point, she seemed to finally realize that the slave army still nominally belonged to the princess, and quickly added, "Of course, in the end, it is up to Your Highness to decide how to distribute these spoils of war."

That's well said.

Eleanor turned her gaze back with emotion: she believed in the boy's sincerity at this moment, because Andra had spent his entire life practicing this cycle.

However, there is one thing that she, Andra, and even everyone around her all know—the reason the leader is called the leader is because she can lead everyone to victory.

Whether it's Eleanor from her past life, the Eleanor from her previous life, the Eleanor of this life, or the Eleanor of the future... as long as she hands over the army to Andra, the army's recognized leader will only be Andra.

Andra is practically the embodiment of the goddess of victory; no warrior could help but adore her.

Even those who harbor resentment towards Andra will become completely devoted to her in a very short time if they happen to go to the battlefield with her by chance.

Even I would be deeply attracted to her.

Eleanor sighed softly to herself. Hadn't her heart also been stolen by this war goddess-like girl?

She hated war and disliked killing.

But whenever Andra finished slaughtering his terrible enemies and returned safely to her side in a strong embrace, she couldn't help but want to transform into a little bird and snuggle into her lover's arms, forever and ever...

Not to mention Andra, even a mediocre leader like Mysera has his own faction.

I also want a legion that is solely loyal to me; the Princess Guard is still not large enough.

Eleanor planted a new seed in her heart.

She looked up and continued, "And then, after dividing the spoils... what else will you do?"

And then? So there was another part?

If someone else had asked this question, Andra would definitely have thought they were being provoked.

However, Eleanor's eyes were so serious that she clearly really wanted to know what else she would have the legions do after dividing the spoils.

After dividing the spoils, the next step, naturally, is to attack the next city.

Andra continued to think along the same lines he had just been following.

If she had a slave army, she would definitely fight to the death, only attacking cities that were already wealthy enough, then distributing some of the spoils to boost morale, and then exchanging most of the spoils for new slaves.

As long as she wins enough, this cycle will make her army grow larger and larger.

Andra opened his mouth, wanting to tell the little princess these true feelings.

But she instinctively sensed that Eleanor didn't want to hear that answer.

Andra then changed the subject, asking curiously, "Your Highness, what will you do with the legion? I will make sure they train well in their spare time."

Her words seemed to answer the previous question, but they didn't; she was actually waiting for the other person's answer.

Eleanor smiled inwardly with relief: Andra... you're not as good at pretending as you were in your first life, after all, you haven't grown up yet.

The little princess looked up and gave a sighing reply to the person beside her: "After fighting for so long, people eventually want to go home."

Oh, so the little princess wanted to discuss how to treat veterans well.

Andra followed her lead and said, "That's for sure. I will promote some veteran soldiers who are good at fighting and give them the status of free men or even noblemen. As for soldiers who are really not good enough, as long as they have followed me long enough and never betray me, I will also assign them slaves and estates."

Eleanor nodded and said nothing more.

There's no need to ask anymore. Andra now... and perhaps Andra in the future won't give any other answer either.

In her eyes, slaves, nobles, and commoners were all just tools.

Andra doesn't care about the desire for or thoughts of tools; every action she takes is solely for the purpose of acquiring useful tools or making the tools at hand even better.

"Eleanor, thank you."

Her first love hugged her waist tightly, his voice filled with joy.

"You—you really researched such a high-yield crop, ha...and medicine too. With those medicines, casualties are much more controllable."

The handsome king laughed heartily under the moonlight, she said.

"They are truly fortunate to have been able to unify this continent with me during their lifetime!"

The wise Angel caused the earth to grow an endless stream of seedlings.

The sweat of the elderly, children, and livestock falls drop by drop onto the land, and as the seasons turn, the grain is harvested.

The great Anya led the various tribes of Hetuya—as well as the young men who had submitted to other tribes—to the battlefield.

They killed and killed—the rivers, lakes, seas, wastelands, and cities were stained with blood.

The soldiers' hair turned gray from the fighting.

Oh—thank you, thank you, kind Angel, for raising these emaciated children.

They took the knives and guns from the old man and used the strength they had accumulated from eating meat to crush the grass-fed lambs!

Who dares to disobey? Who dares to rebel?!

Hetuya smeared the flesh and blood of their enemies, smoothing over the chasms between races—Hetuya unified the world! The world belongs to Hetuya!

"Eleanor, how did your body become...so weak?! Quack doctors! They must be quacks! I'm going to settle accounts with them—"

Angie stopped the enraged Anya, coughing as she tried to calm her down, saying that everyone has their own destiny, and that Anya had already lived for decades under the care of doctors.

Angie whispered many new stories and newly compiled books in Anya's ear.

But she didn't say... she didn't say that the white-haired poet who gently sang in her ear that day wasn't a lullaby, but a "folk song".

She didn't say... there are many, many more things she didn't say.

Andra, I know, I shouldn't have taken this chance.

You have no concept of a truce, nor of a peaceful future.

Your vision of leaving together by ship to explore unknown continents was never your dream, but rather a hypnotic repetition of my words in your ear.

Andra, I have no regrets...

So I won't regret killing you.