Chapter 127 The Island As she walked forward, she touched the three...
The rest of the journey was smooth sailing. The treasure ship sailed against the wind and waves for more than forty days, and finally one morning, the outline of the island could be seen in the distance.
The lookout folded up his binoculars and shouted down, "Island ahead! We're almost there!"
Eleanor on the deck heard it too, but she stared blankly at the distant islands for a while before touching the pendant on her chest and saying in a slightly cold tone, "Watch out for the reef to our left."
"Yes!" Everyone hurriedly prepared to stop the boat, while Eleanor remained standing motionless at the bow.
"What's wrong?" Andra, who had been sparring with the others for fun, saw the princess's melancholy expression and used his sword to knock Myrcella away. He then sheathed his sword and stood at the bow of the ship with her.
She instinctively raised her hand to hug Eleanor's waist, but as soon as her fingertips touched the firm waistline, she twitched her lips and lowered her hand.
"...nothing."
Eleanor shook her head, silently watching as the treasure ship and its accompanying warships approached the largest island in the archipelago and slowly made their way to shore.
This is a crescent-shaped island, with a natural deep-water harbor at its perimeter.
The lookout, after peering through his binoculars for a long time, exclaimed excitedly, "I don't see any tall buildings or shipyards. This island only has caves and treehouses!"
The sailors and servants all looked delighted, which meant that no one had occupied the island yet—the natives weren't considered human, and they could plunder all sorts of resources on it at will!
Eleanor remained calm; she was aware of the unwritten rules of coastal nations like Belial.
Since islands don't pay taxes to any country, no country will protect them.
If there are civilized nations on the island, trade or attacks can be conducted as needed. If there are only natives, then all the island's resources can be freely taken by the discoverer.
Splash—splash, clatter.
The treasure ship slowly docked, and the sailors cheered as they lowered the rope ladder.
Thorn emerged from the cabin, strode up to Eleanor, and bowed: "Your Highness, please allow me to lead the way and scout ahead."
The saying "A son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof" is a very reasonable suggestion.
However, Eleanor shook her head, rejecting the idea outright. "No, I will lead the team myself. Have two groups disembark, and everyone must obey my orders. Without my command, no one is allowed to attack anyone."
"Yes." Thorn accepted the order and went to select the men.
With her back against the fence, Andra noticed the meaning behind Eleanor's words.
"You're not planning to attack this island? Is there anything noteworthy about these natives?"
Eleanor nodded. "There's no need to attack. Apart from the islanders, the only valuable things on the island are crops and animals. Why waste our energy?"
"Really?" Andra had a bad feeling; Eleanor's reaction was too bland.
However, since the ship belonged to Princess Noranna, she did not object, but simply organized the weapons.
Crackling sound.
Eleanor, draped in a cloak, stepped onto the deck, golden clover swaying from her collar, five bloodstains on the petals flashing in the sunlight.
......
The first exploration team consisted of only thirty elite members, and under Eleanor's orders, they had to follow her slowly forward.
The scholars accompanying the team would occasionally stop to collect unfamiliar plants with their assistants.
The area is covered with lush vegetation. Apart from a beach on the rocky side, there are tall and straight trees everywhere you look.
Andra walked diagonally behind Eleanor. Before entering the dense forest, she glanced at the surrounding bushes and noticed many signs of logging.
It seems that natives often frequent this side of the coast.
They soon spotted the first native, an unfortunate child.
The child was wrapped in an animal skin, one foot stuck in the trap, emitting mournful howls. It was clear that he had accidentally stepped into someone else's animal trap.
The attendant beside him instinctively pulled out a rope, and Andra even drew his sword slightly.
But Eleanor raised her hand to stop them.
"Hide here and don't move."
She gave quiet instructions, then took the medical kit from the accompanying doctor and went over there herself.
Some people hesitated and wanted to stop her, but when they saw the princess's imposing figure, their worries vanished like bubbles.
Instead, there was a strong sense of trust: How could His Highness possibly be in trouble?
Eleanor approached the child with her medical kit, stopping a step away. She waved to the child to indicate that she meant no harm, then pointed to the kit in her hand and made a sign to help.
The little native let out two mournful cries.
She was terrified of the stranger, but her calves were killing her, and the stranger seemed very kind... After saying that, she couldn't help but wave frantically, begging the stranger to come and help her.
Eleanor nodded, ran over, and with a snap, turned on the trap. Then she rinsed the girl's wound with the cool boiled water she carried with her and finally applied ointment.
These people are in excellent physical condition, and the effects of the medication are almost immediate.
"Ooh..." The little native soon felt a comfortable coolness, and she widened her eyes and even tentatively stomped her feet.
"Wow! Whoosh whoosh!" Wow, what amazing grass!
The child spoke rapidly, rattling off a string of incomprehensible words, but one could roughly guess that they expressed gratitude and amazement.
"Ha ha."
Eleanor spoke slowly, word by word, in Norlana. "We are merchants here on business. I would like to see your chieftain or elders, if that's alright? I'd like to take you home."
The little native seemed a bit confused; she couldn't understand most of the words.
But when she heard "go home," perhaps because the two words sounded similar, she nodded vigorously and then spoke a long string of words at a slower pace.
"Hmm, quack quack..." Go home? You're strangers, you have to stand outside the village, otherwise the sisters will attack you.
Eleanor understood the word "attack".
She discovered that when she focused on listening, she seemed to be able to understand some words that she didn't understand before, wondering if it was a gift left over from a past life.
"Okay." She nodded in agreement and decided to follow at a distance to keep a close eye on the other person's gestures and actions.
Before the people hiding in the bushes could move, Eleanor turned her back to them and raised her hand, making a gesture of waiting in place.
The servants, bewildered, scrambled back to their seats, eager to catch up and, ideally, to protect the princess closely.
But then he thought that the princess's martial prowess, if not invincible, at least crushed the natives on the island, so he obediently hid himself.
About fifteen minutes later, Andra stood up from the bushes and went after them alone.
......
Rustling.
The shadows of the leaves swayed, and two figures moved through the forest.
Eleanor quickened her pace slightly so that the girl could see she was still there every time she turned around.
"Phew..." She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped on the fallen leaves.
It wasn't that she wanted to be presumptuous and insist on meeting the island's native inhabitants alone; it was just that her companions' actions "a few days ago" were too suffocating.
As she walked forward, she touched the engraving on the clover pendant again.
The bloodstains on the upper side were well "worth it".
If she did not have the ability to rewind time, the fleet would have suffered heavy losses five days later, with the treasure ships and warships all being burned and scuttled by the natives at great risk.
The story from five days ago is simple.
The treasure ship ran aground near the island, but the damage was nothing. There were plenty of crew members on board, and everyone went ashore to prepare to cut down trees and make repairs.
Due to the uncertainty of the initial landing, Eleanor stayed on the shore after being persuaded by everyone.
The expedition team was led by Andra, supplemented by Mysera, who was eager to play adventure games, and Thorn, who was relatively reliable. The rest of the team members were also elite members of the royal guard.
After the incident, Eleanor interrogated the surviving guards and learned their general movements.
Their landing strategy was apparently hunting and plundering.
Perhaps because Andra is still too young in this life, she believes that she is destined to inherit Hetuya, so she does not intend to establish any contact with the natives.
As for Mysella, she only uses her brain when the game is going against her. If Andra charges in, she dares to charge in too!
In short, on the first day, the expedition team barely followed Eleanor's instructions, sending out scouts and scholars to explore the surrounding area as much as possible.
But from the moment they discovered the indigenous tribe the next day, they drew their swords and began to "cleanse" them up very efficiently.
Eleanor bit her lip. She hadn't witnessed the massacre of the natives firsthand, but she could fully imagine the bloody horror it must have been.
This was an era in which slavery had not yet ended.
Perhaps "civilized" nations like Belai and Norlana would show each other a degree of respect when they attack each other, and after a city is captured, they would primarily retain slaves.
But when this group of "civilized people" found an "unclaimed" island far from the mainland and faced natives with whom they could not speak the language, even the option of "capturing them and selling them into slavery" no longer existed.
"They're just a bunch of talking beasts!"
On that day, Mysera was covered in blood, mostly from the natives, and some from her servants who were trying their best to protect her.
The enraged young man shouted out his innermost thoughts, shaking Eleanor violently so that she would also draw her sword and slaughter all the damned natives, throwing the remains into the sea to console his fallen companions.
Andra didn't say those things that day; she saw the pain and sorrow on Eleanor's face.
Even though she didn't understand, she simply raised her hand and gently patted the girl's shoulder.
"If you don't want to go, leave it to me. I'll kill that damned native king."
On that day, Eleanor picked up a sword.
She wasn't seeking revenge for her comrades; she simply wanted to see with her own eyes the land stained with blood, and the people who fought to the very end on that land.
......
Are you alright?
Xiao Guo turned her head and saw the strange woman, pale-faced, bump into a tree trunk. She stopped in her tracks with concern.
That pretty lady probably didn't have a stomachache from eating bad mushrooms, because she smiled gently at her.
Xiao Guo blushed, turned around excitedly, and continued running towards the clan.
She walked briskly, and her sister behind her walked steadily; the two of them moved quickly through the woods.
As the sun sank lower into the sky, Little Fruit cried out joyfully, "Sun!"
A burly young man processing wild boar outside the village looked up, his golden-red eyes reflecting the sunlight.
Yang noticed the stranger behind Xiaoguo immediately.
She is very strong.
Her instinct towards the strong made her grip the stone knife tightly, but when she saw the girl's beautiful face, the young man's cheeks flushed slightly.
Her long, jet-black hair was very distinctive, and also...beautiful.
......
Eleanor stopped a distance away and examined the young man who had risked his life to burn the treasure ship during the last time travel.
The indigenous people call her "Yang" - which is definitely related to primitive sun worship. It is probably an honorific title they use for the strongest warrior in their tribe or the daughter of the chief.
Her companions called this man "the Native King," not because they confirmed that Yang was the leader of the natives, but because they had almost wiped out the island's inhabitants in a few days, leaving only Yang and a few of the bravest natives to put up a stubborn resistance.
Actually, she last saw Yang "a day ago".
At that moment, she was in a hurry to rewind, so she only glanced briefly at the young man who was screaming fiercely in the fire, and the shining characters above his head, the circular totem like the sun.
Now that she had time to look closely, she discovered that Yang Ting resembled Andra.
They both had long, golden-red hair and eyes, and were about the same height. However, Yang's features were more broad and rugged, and her frame seemed a little larger... um.
A knowing smile appeared on Eleanor's face; she seemed to have guessed whose bloodline Elisa was in her past life.
......
Andra followed the footprints, carefully parting the grass.
Eleanor was just ahead.
A slight smile appeared on her face as she quietly moved forward diagonally, trying to get a clear look at Eleanor's profile.
She saw Eleanor raise her right hand and wave amicably to a native.
The two looked at each other from afar. The native's cheeks flushed slightly, and he raised his hand and waved shyly at Eleanor.
Then the two of them stood at the doorway, looking at each other and smiling.
Andra's smile vanished.
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Author's Note: Eleanor: Alright, we can now trade with the islanders for the best potatoes, corn, and their pig breeds.
Andra: There can't be cows, can there? No cows allowed.
Eleanor: ?
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