"This method has its pros and cons; many aspects are indeed secured, but the incentive policies may not always be as substantial as this time."
"To seek stability or profit, that’s for you to consider, as there’s no such thing as having the best of both worlds."
Stirred by the fervent migration scene, there were indeed some who impulsively joined, but they were few and far between. By the end of the first day, all in all, only about a hundred people had joined—not even an average of one additional person per battalion—and not a single person had dropped out.
The lead-up to this event had been lengthy. Before the departure, they had reorganized on the spot for five days, giving those of weak will ample time to reconsider. Those who remained were firmly bound by a series of policies, promises, and meticulous preparations.
The migratory army’s communal meals remained highly attractive to many Tesserl citizens.
Tesserl had been in disarray and weakened for a long time. Even with Zalanda taking over Darama, the changes brought to the area in the short term were relatively limited. It merely allowed many to feel they were treated fairly and justly, but those who struggled below the poverty line still continued their struggle, and ensuring they did not starve was already the extent of Zalanda’s capabilities.
Why did Zalanda agree so readily to help Gaven with the arduous migration?
Personal feelings played a part but were not the driving factor. The real reason was that Darama was indeed overpopulated; many people were living in hunger, especially those citizens forced to stay outside the city. Euphemistically called tent camps, they were in fact refugee camps. Without delving deep, one couldn’t imagine the hardships within or fathom what they might do for a morsel of food.
Among the migrants, there were indeed some smaller families and wealthy individuals looking to relocate and expand their influence, but they made up less than a tenth. This was evident from the livestock and wagons accompanying the convoy.
Out of a thousand wagons, only a hundred belonged to individuals; the rest were either purchased from Darama citizens who had no intention of migrating or were refurbished from old and discarded wagons. In any case, Gaven held all the ownership titles, and the beasts of burden were primarily in a similar condition.
Gaven and others had initially worried about migrants not wanting to sell their grain and accept the unified distribution, but these were in the minority. Most accepted the condition—some even overjoyed.
Many of them were struggling at the subsistence level with little food left. If Gaven hadn’t continuously promoted the great migration, many would have been forced to leave Darama and return to their homesteads in the wilderness, where at least they had a piece of land to farm and make a living.
In short, the migratory movement was primarily made up of the impoverished.
There was another class—traders, especially grain merchants—who were eagerly preparing for the event, even hoarding a large stockpile of grain, ready to sell to the migrants at high prices on the journey. Even the penniless didn’t matter; they could still sell themselves into servitude, signing work agreements for several, or even over a decade. Even upon reaching the Valley, they would transform into the biggest Pioneers.
But Gaven’s policy of unified grain distribution was a heavy blow, scattering all the speculators’ plans like smoke.
Sell to Gaven at the regular market price or await financial ruin.
That’s because in Darama, Gaven had taken away a large part of the main buyers of grain, and within ten days, the first batch of potatoes blessed by Zalanda with the Divine Artifact of the War Path would be harvested from the war farms, with a bumper crop fully expected.
By then, Zalanda would start a work-relief program, hiring a large number of people to refine and optimize the migration route, as per the already agreed-upon strategy.
There were wise merchants who cut their losses early, but there were even more who were foolish and greedy.
In any case, the far-reaching impact of this great migration initiated by Gaven would exceed many people’s expectations, and Darama would be the first to feel it, quickly and acutely.
On the first day, the migratory army covered twenty-four kilometers. When they set up camp, the sun was still well up in the sky—they could have easily continued another ten or eight kilometers—but Gaven and his team chose to stop. They spent significant time holding a meeting of all the Knight captains to debrief and make adjustments.
Many issues couldn’t be anticipated in advance; they only emerged sequentially while on the road, necessitating optimization and adjustment.
"Since we have ample time and the roads, after being leveled, are much more passable than we anticipated, and because the mobile canteens resolve most of our food needs on the go, why don’t we adjust our marching schedule?"
"How do you propose we change it?"
"Set out at dawn, march and rest intermittently for five hours, then rest on the spot for four hours. After that, we march another five hours. We set up camp before nightfall."
"I agree with this decision. Such intense labor is challenging even for the Treants, let alone the Enlightened Trees. They can’t fully recover with just the nighttime rest. If possible, it would be best to start an hour earlier in the morning and push an hour later in the evening, extending the midday rest period to six hours, to provide them ample time to absorb nutrients."