Chapter 68 Only after returning to Enlin Andra on his third trip to this land...
What kind of place is Enlin? Andra only realized how bad it was when he set foot on the land again: Oh, it really is rotten.
A dilapidated fence served as the city wall, and a strange smell could be smelled even without getting close to the low-lying mansion: in order to show respect for the princess, the acting "city lord" ordered people to build the princess's mansion on an open space that was indistinguishable between the city and the outside.
Unfortunately, it's not fixed yet; they just put up a scaffold.
The car door opened, but Coral and Thorns were a step too slow and missed reaching the little princess's hand.
Eleanor swept past the horses and walked forward in her boots.
"Wait a minute, Your Highness, it's dirty here!" Coral hurriedly caught up, with two slave attendants following closely behind: according to the rules, they should carry the little princess on their backs, how could they let her touch such dirty ground with her noble feet!
"Alright, alright." Eleanor turned her head away helplessly and waved to the people around her: "Listen to me."
Her tone was soft, but her undeniable authority made Coral slow down. The others were also intimidated by this atmosphere, and the group immediately slowed their movements.
Da da, da da.
The crisp sound of hooves stopped not far away. Andra dismounted, tossed the reins to his attendant, and said as he ran, "The legion is stationed outside the city, in a not-so-good location. We'd better find a place to shelter from the wind and rain as soon as possible."
“Yes.” Eleanor nodded.
Andra put it rather tactfully, but in reality, Enlin is now defenseless, essentially exposed on three sides.
When the two arrived here at the age of 18 in their first life, they were shocked to see Enlin's condition: if the turmoil in the capital had not ultimately not affected this place, even a genius general like Andra would probably have had to continue to flee.
She walked to the "construction site" and stared blankly at the people coming and going.
These people... these people dressed in tattered clothes are not slaves, but commoners.
They were required to pay taxes for Norlana and Enlin, and the taxes were not only in money and food, but each family also had to send one person to perform three months of forced labor each year.
Andra followed the little princess, turning sideways to protect Eleanor from both sides. When she saw the commoners working in the fields, she couldn't help but chuckle.
What is there to be wary of? Their ribs are about to slip out of the cracks.
Not many people have complete sets of clothes to wear. In such poor rural areas, a family might only have one set of clothes, which is worn by whoever goes out.
They are now moving large, square stones one by one, stacking them up little by little with their arms and waist strength.
This friction can damage clothes, so many people don't wear clothes, but only wear an apron around their waist.
Andra looked at Eleanor.
The little princess gave the order she expected: "Stop. Go home first."
The common people numbly turned their heads away. Some people continued to move the stones forward, but the clever ones had already put down the stones and made the people on both sides kneel down.
The overseer was the first to move. Upon seeing Eleanor, she threw the whip aside, stretched her neck like a fat goose, and lay prone on the ground, hiding her hands under her belly, too afraid to come out.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, you've arrived! We'll do our best to... uh..." The man stopped mid-sentence, remembering the princess's earlier command, and quickly shut his mouth.
Eleanor shook her head; what she said this time was not quite what Andra had imagined.
She didn't blame the overseer, but simply waved her hand gently and said, "You should go back too. Have someone call the city lord over; I have something to say to her."
"Yes, yes!"
The overseer ran away, and the guards who had been standing nearby moved even faster than she did. They stood tall and proud by the fence, as if the king's palace were behind them.
Hmph... Andra looked them over with a mixture of amusement and exasperation: old and young, and even disabled people?
Hetuya's warriors who are crippled will be cared for by their tribe, but most others can only turn around and follow the wolves.
The Norlana followed a different tradition, keeping the disabled employed. This sounded good, but having disabled soldiers guard the city gates was utterly foolish.
She sighed.
"What's wrong?" the little princess asked softly.
“Your Highness, this city is completely undefended,” Andra said bluntly. “Give me a small squad and I could wipe out half the city.”
As for the other half, it's not that they can't be killed, but that they can't be caught up with.
Eleanor neither argued nor responded. She walked to the pile of stones and picked up a hemp rope. The rope was very strong and was specifically designed to bind stones and planks to a person.
The Stone Age has passed in the Moonlit Continent, but when humans build houses, they still have to use brute force to lift them up.
The Moon People are much stronger than the Blue Star People, and this advantage has actually slowed down the progress of tools and technology.
“Your Highness, please return to the city lord’s mansion to rest. I will go and talk to her.” Andra touched the hilt of his sword, his body subconsciously leaning to the side.
Eleanor paused for a moment, lost in a hazy memory.
In her first life, she was just like that; she rushed to Enlin with Andra, filled with anxiety, but she didn't have many followers.
At that time, Enlin's acting lord was quite arrogant and even secretly set a trap to capture the two of them and offer them to the final victor.
The city lord hosted a banquet, serving them fragrant unleavened bread and roasted meat, the meat studded with daggers, and swords hidden under the table. Her men were everywhere, inside and outside the city; the princess's guard and the remaining retinue, numbering only a few hundred, had no chance of escape.
"Your Highness, please go back and rest."
That day, Andra touched her forehead and said with concern in front of everyone, "You have a fever, go to sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up tomorrow."
The city lord did not insist on letting Eleanor into the city, because all she cared about was the prince in front of her: once Andra was captured, what did the little princess matter?
She had a beautiful dream: her soldiers, grinning maliciously, drew their longswords during the banquet, and then—the swords flashed like rain.
When Andra's sword severed the city lord's right hand and drew a red line on her neck, the city lord instantly collapsed like mud, revealing in one breath her insignificant background and ambitions.
Ah, you still enjoy taking care of Her Highness so much.
Eleanor smiled helplessly.
Perhaps due to changes in interests and feelings, the second incarnation of Andra did not say anything similar.
"Your Highness?" Andra's voice was cautious. "Please forgive me, I didn't mean to make decisions for you, I was just worried that you were tired from the journey and it might have hurt your health."
Eleanor shook her head and said softly, "It's alright, I know you meant well."
Besides, this is not bad; Andra's changes will let her know that they are not far from the path of the first life.
Da da, da da da!
The rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly stopped.
The round-faced city lord rode up on his horse, pulled on the rope, and rolled to the ground with a clattering sound.
She pushed herself up with both hands and bowed deeply, prostrating herself on the ground as if kowtowing, shouting, "Princess, please forgive me—it was my fault for failing in my duties!"
He was very serious, but Eleanor didn't even bother to look at him. She simply waved her hand at this acquaintance from both lifetimes and said, "Yes, yes, you're incompetent. Hurry up and go downstairs. Remember to hand over the ledgers and the seals."
Everyone was stunned by this statement. Shouldn't the normal procedure involve some polite exchanges and some back-and-forth? Why would someone remove a city lord who has been acting as an agent for several years right from the start?
The city lord raised his head with a cry of surprise, scratching his teeth: "But...but how could I, your subject, dare to delay Your Highness's affairs!"
"It's your presence that's causing trouble."
Eleanor didn't even look at the notice, and immediately turned around and shouted to her entourage, "Hudora, you take the position of city lord. Let her go back and get some rest."
"Yes, Your Highness." A tall young man stepped down from the carriage and walked steadily to the city lord's side to discuss the handover.
Andra raised an eyebrow in surprise: Wasn't this scholar bought from the slave market?
She even specifically asked what book the scholar had written, and it turned out to be related to insects. How could Eleanor have made her the acting city lord? This "scholar" clearly has no experience in governing a city at all.
The surroundings were quiet. Each of them had doubts in their hearts, but Enlin was the princess's territory, and the princess had the right to transfer any position.
The city lord sighed and lowered his head, seemingly resigned to his fate.
Eleanor knew that she was planning to use nonviolent non-cooperation with her subordinates, but she had used this tactic in her past life, so there was no need to counter it; she could just ignore it.
This time, she gathered dozens of talented individuals from the capital and city-states along the way, and transformed Enlin with ease.
Her Highness the Princess led a large entourage to occupy the city lord's mansion.
The scholars and commoners who were brought along seemed to be quite capable; almost all of them were literate and, under the princess's arrangement, they smoothly replaced each other in various positions.
Andra also received a task.
The princess handed over more than half of the army and city guards to her, ostensibly to train hunting teams, and asked her to lead them to "patrol" the nearby city-states, while also cleaning up the giant beasts and thieves.
Andra readily accepted the order. He could enjoy the battle while also scouting the surrounding terrain. Why not?
She scoured the area thoroughly, even going to nearby city-states to hand over the heads of thieves in exchange for bounties, and also got some supplies.
This was the first time Andra had led such a large group into battle; back in Hetuya, Attila had always been the leader.
When she pulled the sword from the bandit leader, when she had finished off the last enemy, and when she suddenly turned around and saw countless eyes full of admiration, her blood boiled.
Andra quickly won over the entire team with one attack after another and one victory after another. In just a few months, she commanded them as easily as she swung her own arm.
As autumn ended and winter arrived, when Andra and his men came down from the mountain after completing their second round of tour, they encountered on the road a group of people who claimed to be helpers from the Marigold Merchant Guild.
They exchanged their abundant spoils—especially heavy animal bones and hides—for food, fresh water, and clean cloth.
Andra knew about the Marigold Merchant Guild; the name came from a pact between Eleanor and Scarface. He was surprised that they had developed a trade route in such a short time.
A simple encampment was built outside the city, with at least a roof to shelter it from the wind and snow.
When Andra had arranged for the garrison to prepare to ride into the city, his eyes widened even more.
She had thought that Eleanor would give up on building the princess's palace, or simply build some warehouses on the spot, but instead she saw a sturdy mansion rising from the ground.
So soon, Eleanor was willing to have those commoners whipped?
Andra looked left and right, and realized that not only the city lord's mansion, but also the entire outer fence had been removed—oh, she understood.
Looking at the small square bricks in people's hands, she understood part of it.
These small, square stones are definitely easier to stack than large stones. Now the question is, where did these small stones come from? They probably weren't cut from rocks to make them so flat.
Andra walked over and tapped it with his finger. The material of the brick was not like stone, but much harder than dried mud. It felt like a substance somewhere in between.
She walked along the brick wall and finally understood why the princess was able to build the legion's camp, the buildings outside the city, and start building the walls so quickly.
Eleanor not only created stackable bricks, but also placed some strange devices on the ground.
For example, there are lifting platforms constructed with wheels, ropes, nets, or planks, as well as long-handled shovels and wheelbarrows.
Andra picked up the cart somewhat helplessly and pushed it, finding it very easy.
She's only been gone for three months, and Enlin has completely changed. Isn't that too... weird?
It's worth noting that whether it's Hertuya or Norlana, there's almost no noticeable change throughout the year.
Unless a famine brings a major disaster that destroys the wealth that everyone has accumulated, it takes several generations and years to leave even a trace of the power of nature in times of peace.
How did you manage to do that, my princess?
Andra mounted her horse and galloped toward the city lord's mansion, eager to hear Eleanor recount the events of the past few days.
How long will Princess Andra's whimsical ideas last? Both the current Andra and the Andra six years from now eagerly await the answer.
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Author's Note: Sharpening the sword, after the transitional chapters, a new journey is about to begin.
This Eleanor will not let Andra live a peaceful life in this lifetime.
Andra: [Cracked]
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