Elara first sent the upgraded parasitic Puppet Soldiers that had eaten Oswyn's special eggs to scout ahead.
They found that the dense and dangerous feeling of malice was mainly concentrated on the north side of the river. The farther north they went, the stronger and more dangerous that feeling became.
She summoned new Puppet Soldiers and had them explore the southern area.
The feeling of malice in the south was indeed much weaker, and it decreased further the more they went south.
When the southern scouts found a place where the army could cross the river and the surroundings were mostly free of the parasite's malice, Elara immediately ordered the army to head south.
Only she, who had spiritual power, could sense the malice from the parasitic insects from a distance. Prince Yu, Giles and Gareth had no idea what had happened, but they still obeyed her orders and told the army to follow her southward.
Oswyn had produced many special pills in Plumera City, and Elara brought some for emergencies during this mission. But there were only about ten thousand, which was not enough for everyone in the two armies to take one as a preventive measure.
So for the next part of the journey, Elara instructed that only the Plumera Kingdom soldiers who had taken the special pills would walk along the edges. They each carried torches and were told to burn any suspicious creatures or eggs on sight. She also occasionally used her spiritual power to scan the army and make sure no one was infected.
Since their main goal was to reach Prince Leland first, even though they knew something was wrong upstream, Elara couldn't stay to investigate. She picked a team of one hundred from the Puppet Soldiers that secretly followed her and had them check upstream.
But even though the Puppet Soldiers could investigate in depth, they couldn't go too far from her.
After going about one hundred kilometers upstream, they had to return to the group.
The information they found was very limited. Other than confirming that the parasite's malice increased the farther north they went along the river, there was nothing else for now.
Elara recalled the Puppet Soldiers, thought for a moment, then wrote a letter to Plumera City and decided to set this problem aside for now. She planned to check again after solving the Prince Leland issue.
Still, since parasites had already appeared even in this area, both Prince Yu and Prince Leland needed to be on alert.
After the whole army safely crossed the river and Elara confirmed that no one showed any unusual signs or infection, that night she spoke with Prince Yu, Giles and Gareth in their temporary camp about what had happened.
All three of them frowned deeply as they listened.
There had been no such reports in Dahlia Kingdom territory so far, but since it was happening here, it could very well spread there in the future.
Prince Yu frowned tighter and even folded away his fan. "In that case, I'll send word back immediately and ask the Imperial Medical Court to send people to Plumera City to learn how to make the pills from Young Master Oswyn, just in case things get out of control later."
Elara nodded, then waved to her attendant. Not long after, the attendant brought over a huge box. When opened, it revealed rows of neatly arranged pills inside.
"I didn't bring many pills on this trip, around three thousand here. Each of you take one first, and the rest are to be given to key generals. This way we can at least prevent some problems."
After Prince Yu and Giles took the pills down for distribution, that same night Elara ordered the army to light a ring of fire around the camp.
She made sure the night patrol watched the fire at all times to prevent it from going out or spreading, then finally let the army rest.
Early the next morning, they hurried toward Prince Leland.
The westernmost part of Gladiolus Kingdom was facing off against several countries. Prince Leland Hanhe was naturally stationed there. Elara and Prince Yu did not stay long after entering Gladiolus Kingdom's territory. After restocking all kinds of supplies, they went straight to the western border.
When the armies of the two nations were about to reach the easternmost city, Elara and Prince Yu first had the army change its symbols and disguises to appear as reinforcements from Gladiolus Kingdom. Only then did they enter the eastern city.
Prince Leland Hanhe had already been waiting for them at Bluestar City in the east.
As soon as they arrived, Prince Leland Hanhe personally came out to welcome them. After bringing them into the main camp, he prepared a large feast full of meat and wine. Then without wasting time, he directly explained the situation with the countries confronting them at the eastern border.
This eastern city of Gladiolus Kingdom had already extended deep into the central content.
The central content had the most countries, the strongest forces, and the largest land area.
There were currently five countries confronting Gladiolus Kingdom from the eastern border. Three were second-tier small countries, one was a second-tier medium country, and one was a second-tier large country.
These five countries were mostly gathered at Gladiolus Kingdom's northern and southern regions, forming a pincer movement from both ends. The terrain already placed Gladiolus Kingdom at a disadvantage.
However, outside Gladiolus Kingdom's easternmost border, there was a second-tier top-level country led by women that was even stronger in territory and military power than that second-tier large country.
This powerful matriarchal country was located in the content's center. It was one of the strongest countries apart from the three first-tier nations.
Its position happened to sit between the five countries surrounding Gladiolus Kingdom, separating the three northern ones from the two southern ones.
With the power and geography of this matriarchal nation, if it leaned slightly toward Gladiolus Kingdom, Gladiolus Kingdom's current crisis could be easily resolved.
But unfortunately, matriarchal and patriarchal countries had always looked down on each other. If they didn't end up in conflict, that was already considered a decent relationship.
This powerful matriarchal country had remained indifferent to the five-nation encirclement of Gladiolus Kingdom. Gaining its support was extremely difficult.
After hearing Hanhe explain the eastern situation, Elara asked,
"What is the name of this matriarchal country and the surname of its royal family?"
"The country is called Gerbera Kingdom. The current empress and royal family all have the surname Bian."
Bian? Elara glanced sideways at Prince Yu, but he was still staring at the map with a frown, showing no particular reaction to the surname Bian.
That made sense. In this world, Bian was not a rare name. The eastern-central part of the content had many matriarchal nations. Among all those countries, it didn't necessarily mean this Bian was Leif's family.
Elara looked away, just as Prince Leland Hanhe picked up his wine cup and downed it in one gulp. Then he slammed the cup heavily onto the table and said,
"Tonight, I will secretly go to Gerbera Kingdom."
Elara and Prince Yu both looked up at him. Prince Yu moved forward to sit closer to the table. "Brother Leland, what are you planning to do?"
"These five nations suddenly ganged up to attack us for no reason. We've never had any conflict with them. There must be someone behind this."
"I've received secret information. Today or tomorrow, Wisteria Kingdom from the north, a second-tier large country, will secretly meet in Gerbera Kingdom with Phlox Kingdom from the south, a second-tier medium country, and Ranunculus Kingdom, a small second-tier country."
"I want to go there myself and find out why they suddenly teamed up to attack Gladiolus Kingdom."