Figxin stood on the fourth floor of the castle, in what served as her study.

She didn’t read much, but a study also typically served as a space for discussions—though she hardly ever had any.

So she decided to make the most of it and filled it with some nice things she’d brought from Twin Tower City.

A game console, a mahjong table, and a video camera for recording her life.

Although its tall, slender form looked unsettling and had scared quite a few children when it was first brought into the castle, it wasn’t so bad after a while. She even found it unexpectedly cool.

’What was that word for it? High-tech.’

Sitting in the East Wind seat at the mahjong table, she had a perfect view of all of Winter City through the window.

When she was a child in the Royal City, she had no real concept of a city’s scale and had been excited when she first arrived in the Northern Domain.

Now she realized that the entirety of Winter City wasn’t even as large as the Mixed Zone in Twin Tower City, and its economy was likely worse.

It was as if this place had lost decades; while the rest of the world was changing day by day, it had completely stopped developing.

’It’ll definitely get better.’

’But I really want to play a round of auto chess... No, that thing is dangerously addictive. Once you start, the whole day magically disappears.’

’It’s fine. Just one look. I’ll just test if the matchmaking function still works this far from Twin Tower City.’

She infused it with Magic Power and started up the auto chess console.

After a short startup animation, the matchmaking screen she expected didn’t appear.

Instead, an image of Zog appeared, arms crossed, giving her a sidelong glance. Below him were two lines of text.

"How can you bring yourself to play? How can you bring yourself to play at a time like this?"

"So here’s a new game that’s more your speed."

Figxin’s eyelid twitched. ’Isn’t this false advertising? A classic bait-and-switch?’

Then, the so-called "new game" appeared.

Northern Domain Reform Achievement System - Beta Version.

It opened up to reveal a progress bar with a cute Red Dragon running along it. The finish line was a Platinum Trophy.

The progress bar was composed of many smaller objectives, such as: conducting a census, promoting literacy, abolishing the remnants of serfdom, establishing a security force, weakening gangs, eliminating bandits, building a Teleportation Array...

Furthermore, she could click on each objective to see details, which listed various points of caution. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

It felt like she was being babied, giving her a sense of déjà vu, like someone saying, "Good job, sweetie! You finished all your food today. Here’s a little red flower sticker for you."

There were many points she agreed with, such as the need for a security force to be strictly disciplined and obey orders without question, which her Personal Guard could already do.

There were also some suggestions she’d never heard of but that seemed very reasonable, like establishing standards for formations and internal affairs, which, if followed long-term, could enhance discipline.

But there were also recommendations she couldn’t quite understand yet.

It specifically mentioned the need to strengthen the "spiritual and cultural development" of the armed forces and raise their level of education, stating that a truly effective fighting force is one that knows what it’s fighting for.

She had never seen any country try to raise the intellectual level of its army.

On the contrary, aside from commanders and generals who consciously pursued knowledge, the illiteracy rate among common soldiers was extremely high.

It was a common belief that low-ranking soldiers only needed to obey their superiors; being too smart made them more likely to be cowardly in battle.

Just as Figxin was studying the various suggestions in the achievement system, there was a knock on her door.

"It’s me." It was Gelda’s voice.

"Come in."

Gelda entered with a small booklet. "This is the list of people who signed up for the security force. They all have clean backgrounds and a grudge against the gangs."

"Why are there so few?"

Figxin took the booklet. It was quite thin. Because it also included backgrounds and listed Skills, each page only had room for two or three names.

Looking through the whole thing, there were just over a hundred applicants in total.

The larger bandit lairs had thousands of men. Even if they weren’t all fighters, it was still a manpower gap of several times her own.

She wasn’t some Legendary creature; no matter how good a fighter she was, she couldn’t take on a hundred enemies at once. If the other side just set up a few crossbows and matchlocks, they could wear her down and kill her.

Logically, there should be well over a hundred thousand people in the Northern Domain who have been oppressed by gangs.

This wasn’t a forced conscription drive, either. She had sworn an oath to guarantee their wages, and even promised that anyone selected after signing up would receive their first month’s pay in advance.

And here, an oath was truly an oath. Breaking one would result in a backlash from the Magic.

Moreover, the pay she offered was considered a middle-to-high income in the Northern Domain.

In the past, what military pay? Peasant soldiers had to bring their own rations to the battlefield.

"Actually," Gelda hesitated, unsure if she should say it. She didn’t want to discourage Figxin, but it was the reality. "People don’t trust us at all."

"Why—"

Before she could finish, Figxin realized how stupid the question was.

The people had no reason to trust her. After all, she hadn’t accomplished anything since becoming the County Governor.

’Just because of my title as a Princess?’

’For all I know, they might respect me on the surface because of that title, but hate me even more in their hearts.’

And the previous County Governors... their conduct was barely human.

The last County Governor who recruited soldiers made all sorts of wonderful promises, but in the end, he just dragged everyone he recruited off to the mines and forced them to sign exploitative contracts.

’Eliminate bandits? Impossible. Too dangerous. Besides, a bandit who pays taxes is a good bandit.’

"I’m going to visit the nearby villages and towns. I need to show everyone my sincerity."

Gelda looked at her determined expression and held back the discouraging words she wanted to say. ’Sincerity isn’t something you can just show people.’

Figxin, clad in her full, magnificent armor and accompanied by her Personal Guard, arrived at a village near Winter City.

The village chief gathered all the villagers who were present to listen to the Princess’s address.

The sallow and emaciated villagers gathered in an open area, their faces grim as if at a funeral.

In their experience, nothing good ever came from a visit by such a dignitary.

Figxin’s plan was to recruit on the spot and hand over the wages to the new recruits in person.

This was to show that her recruitment plan was no joke.

She would also pair this with a rousing speech—a required course for every noble.

Inspiring fighting spirit through the power of words was key; before any famous battle, there was always a general’s speech destined for the history books.

She spoke of their current predicament, the meaning of resistance, the possibility of victory, and her beautiful vision for the future.

Her words were simple and sincere, her tone firm and powerful, a culmination of the Zete Mage’s years of literary tutelage.

Yet all the villagers remained unmoved.

’Why is this so different from how I imagined it would be?’

’Weren’t their spirits supposed to be ignited?’

Standing before the crowd, she felt her confidence draining away. Pair after pair of hollow eyes stared in her direction but never focused on her, sending a chill down her spine.

"HAHAHA!" An exaggerated, hoarse laugh rang out.

Figxin looked toward the sound. Under a crooked tree, an old man missing an arm and a leg was leaning against the trunk, letting out a grating laugh.

"I’m missing an arm, and I’m missing a leg. I can’t swim. I’m drowning, I’m drowning, and you’re just standing on the shore, watching from a distance.

"You say, ’Hurry, swim harder! You can do it! The land is right there! You won’t die if you just make it to shore.’ But all you do is talk.

"But I’m drowning, and I can’t swim. Hahaha..."

The Zete Mage looked at Figxin, signaling to ask if he should deal with the man.

Figxin didn’t react, merely watching the old vagrant who was laughing so hard he looked like he might vomit.

’He’s right. What’s the point of all these pretty words?’

She suddenly remembered a line from the achievement system, under the objective for weakening gangs.

’They’ll side with whoever is winning.’

"The bandits that raid your village the most," Figxin said, turning to the village chief. "Where are they?"