From Plumera Capital to Huayan County, the straight-line distance was only around five hundred kilometers.
Plumera State was small, with a total area of about one hundred fifty thousand square kilometers. But its territory stretched lengthwise, and the northernmost region where Commander Shu was stationed was about four to five hundred kilometers from the capital, which was also roughly the same distance to Huayan County.
But don't underestimate that five hundred kilometers. In this ancient era where transportation was underdeveloped, even such a distance would take at least five times longer to cover due to the actual winding roads.
There were no highways, and after years of turmoil in Plumera, the already poorly maintained official roads had mostly been destroyed by rebels.
Horse-drawn carriages were already slow. Traveling through damaged or undeveloped paths made progress even worse, sometimes slower than walking.
The road between Plumera Capital and Huayan County also crossed steep mountain ranges and wide, turbulent rivers. The journey often required walking, ferry crossings, or detours that consumed a lot of time.
So when all the delays were added up, even though the straight-line distance was short, it would take at least half a month to reach the destination.
And the route Elara chose happened to be the one that Scholar Fu had marked as most likely to encounter rebel forces.
Her destination was Huayan County, but along the way, she intended to clear out as many rebels and bandits as possible. She wanted to reduce local instability.
With General Qi and his army escorting her, those bandits were nothing more than ants blocking the road.
However, even though it had only been a few days, everything Elara had seen and heard along the way had already shattered her expectations.
Plumera was a small third-class country, the weakest and most chaotic one, with a sparse population.
Along the road, the towns and villages she passed were either destroyed by floods or devastated by plague, leaving not even chickens or dogs behind. Some villages were completely red with blood, the ground covered in corpses, slaughtered brutally by bandits.
It truly looked like a living hell.
Homes destroyed, families broken, the survivors not only endured the pain of losing loved ones but didn't even have food to survive.
In such desperation, many had no choice but to become bandits.
But Elara was determined to reclaim this land. These scenes of ruin would not remain forever. She would restore order and peace.
So every rebel group she encountered on the road, she had General Qi eliminate.
Still, she didn't intend to completely wipe out those forced into rebellion by life's hardships.
From the moment they dealt with the first group of rebels, Elara instructed General Qi to recruit those who could be taken in.
She promised not to treat them as prisoners. She promised food and clothing, and that if they were willing to follow her to Huayan County, she would give them a new place to live.
As long as they no longer clung to rebellion or returned to it later, she would not pursue their past offenses.
Of course, this applied only to those driven to rebel by hardship.
Anyone who had actively chosen banditry and committed crimes like kidnapping, abuse, or murder would not be spared.
At first, the rebels didn't believe her. She traveled openly as the crown princess on the way to her own domain. Even if they didn't recognize her carriage, the grandeur of her procession clearly marked her as one of the nobles they hated most.
But with General Qi's army there, and with their leaders captured or killed, the hastily formed bandit groups had no choice but to surrender.
They didn't believe Elara's promises. In any nation, captured rebels were usually branded and sold as slaves. That was already the best outcome for them.
But what surprised them was that Elara truly kept her word. She didn't treat them as slaves. She gave them enough food and clothes, more than they'd ever had even when they first became bandits.
In a world like this, they had given up being regular people to become bandits just to survive. What they needed most was food.
After a few days of cautious observation, they realized Elara really did honor her first two promises. She didn't treat them like prisoners, and she fed and clothed them.
Even though they couldn't be sure this noble girl wouldn't turn around and sell them later, at least for now, they didn't need to worry about food. They didn't have to fear becoming prisoners of the court every day.
As long as they followed her, they could stay alive.
So the rebels gradually settled down. Without needing pressure from General Qi's soldiers, they began to follow voluntarily.
Once the first group had been successfully taken in, the rest became easier.
Those who joined were placed at the rear of the convoy. A specific unit of General Qi's army was assigned to manage and oversee them.
These people began following because of Elara's promises. As soon as they joined the group, her slowly rising third mission from System 92 — [Gain your first personal force (5000 people)] — saw a rapid increase.
Clearly, these people were now counted as her own force.
Elara lifted the carriage curtain and glanced outside. In that short moment, General Qi had already taken care of the new batch of bandits.
She stepped out of the carriage, ready to see how many had been recruited this time.
General Qi worked quickly, his methods swift and efficient.
After learning that Elara wouldn't directly kill those rebels, General Qi's soldiers relaxed. They handled similar problems with high efficiency. In no time, they cleared out the worst of the rebels and brought back those who had been forced into it but still had some conscience left, organizing them into the ranks of their reorganized troops.
General Qi saw her. He dismounted in one step and bowed his head respectfully to her.
"Your Highness, we have taken in fifty-nine people. Forty-five are adults, six are elderly, and eight are children."
He had been escorting Elara the whole way and clearly knew what she had come to see. Before she asked, he gave her a full report. His voice was pleasant, steady and calm, with a mature rasp that was easy to listen to.
Elara nodded. Her eyes glanced over his tall, armored figure before turning to the newly recruited rebels in the distance.
After reviewing the new arrivals, Elara returned to the carriage and called Uno out. She asked him about Imani. Since Imani was clearly a spy, she had no intention of letting him go unchecked.
The "Wei" agents she had stationed in Plumera's capital had already delivered their findings. Elara had discreetly examined Imani's body. There was nothing visibly wrong, no external injuries, but his internal muscles and bones had clearly taken serious damage.
No wonder a small bump earlier had almost caused him to collapse.
She opened the message scroll. It said that the day before Imani left the capital, he had secretly visited his family home. After that visit, he left with serious internal injuries.
Once she finished reading, Uno handed over the intercepted messages Imani had secretly tried to send in recent days.
"Your Highness, we now fully understand how Imani was communicating with the capital."
Elara had allowed Imani to move around freely and even interact with her at will. She had done this for a reason. Now that they had identified all his methods of contact with the capital, every message he tried to send could be intercepted.
This was much more effective than locking him up right away. Originally, she had planned to find an excuse to imprison him once they reached Huayan, but now that she controlled the channel between Imani and Lord Gregory, there was no need to act rashly.
She might even be able to use this to her advantage later.
While thinking, Elara accepted another intercepted scroll from Uno. What surprised her was that Imani's messages only contained unimportant, trivial information. Even if Lord Gregory received them, they would not affect her in any real way.
More surprisingly, Imani said nothing about her progress in taking down rebel groups.
Elara narrowed her eyes and quickly considered all the possible reasons he might do this. The thoughts tangled in her mind. She rubbed her forehead and decided not to rush to any conclusions.
After burning all the intercepted scrolls in the incense burner, she calmly told Uno,
"Keep watching him. Report any unusual behavior to me at once."
"Yes."
The days that followed were filled with climbing mountains and absorbing rebels into the ranks. Oswyn continued helping her recover. Imani still tried to stay close to her, acting like he wanted her favor.
Every time the two crossed paths, it became a subtle battle of wits. But neither of them dared to push too far and risk angering Elara. They kept their distance, even if they disliked each other.
There were also occasional assassins along the way. Although Lord Gregory and the others had agreed to let her go to her territory, they clearly had other ideas.
Thanks to the Wei agents and General Qi's army, most assassins couldn't even get close. But when Uno brought captured killers to her again and again, Elara understood that the capital would not leave her in peace.
Still, her journey went smoothly overall. By the time they approached Huayan, nearly four thousand rebels had joined her forces.
Damon at the Bai merchant stronghold had also continued gathering refugees for her. Together, these numbers brought her third mission progress to [4931/5000].
She needed only 69 more people to complete it and obtain papermaking technology.
The day before they reached Huayan, they wiped out the last rebel group in the area and took in seventy-one more people.
Then, for the first time in a long while, Elara heard the mechanical voice of System 92:
[Congratulations. You have completed your third mission and obtained your first basic faction along with papermaking technology.]
[Because of your excellent performance and fast completion speed, you have officially passed the novice phase and integrated into this world. From now on, new missions will be issued in groups of two or more.]
[You can choose which missions to complete first based on your situation. There is no need to follow the order.]
[Now issuing the fourth and fifth missions.]
[Fourth Mission: Acquire one million silver coins in liquid funds. Reward: Ancient Cold Weapons and Armor Forging Manual.]
[Fifth Mission: Stockpile one million jin of grain. Reward: Basic Ancient Agricultural Tools Collection.]