Thus, this visit to Kaki came to an end.
Chen Heng's gains from this trip had been quite good.
Not only had he received a good territory, but he had also taken this opportunity to get some support from the Kalo Kingdom and also established connections with some nobles and made pledges.
Indeed, pledges.
During his days in Kaki, he had not wasted any time.
During this period of time, he had visited many nobles that Siriv had told him about.
Through Siriv, Chen Heng knew which nobles were amicable with the Arlan family and which ones were antagonistic.
This was the Arlan family's connections web, and he had borrowed it.
In actuality, this was something that he could not avoid.
Even though he was from the Hatim family, his mother was from the Arlan family.
Since they knew of his connection to Siriv, everyone would naturally view him as being part of the Arlan family.
This was something that could not be avoided.
Since he could not get rid of his ties to the Arlan family, the Arlan family's position was also his position.
Thus, those who were friendly with Siriv would naturally be friendly to him, and those who were antagonistic towards Siriv would also be antagonistic towards him.
It would be a waste not to use this web of connections.
Moreover, Chen Heng's efforts over the past period of time had netted him decent results.
At the very least, most people he had visited seemed quite willing to accept him.
Facing Chen Heng's requests, many of them expressed that they were willing to support him in the north.
Of course, there were conditions attached.
It was just that most of those conditions did not require Chen Heng to immediately do anything.
At the very least, for the following period of time, with these people's support, Chen Heng would not have to worry about food.
Following this, more than a month passed.
An army was heading through an overgrown region of land.
"This place has been left completely unchecked…"
Riding his horse next to Chen Heng, Herdosiri looked around and frowned, "This region…"
The Kalo Kingdom was quite empty, but at least on the southern side, there would still be people cultivating the land here and there.
However, here, the situation was completely different.
The land was completely overgrown, and there were very few signs of humans.
This was much more severe than other places in the Kalo Kingdom.
Seeing this scene, Herdosiri could not help but frown, not knowing what to say.
"If that wasn't the case, then how could we gain such a large territory?" Chen Heng said calmly, not seeming surprised at all, "This is quite normal."
He had long since expected this kind of situation.
Before coming here, he had done his homework and had found information about this place.
This region was very big, and in terms of size, very few territories could compare to this region.
In actuality, this was not one complete territory but had been combined from many territories.
In the past, this place had many names.
However, now, those names did not matter.
According to this world's traditions, this place's name would be given by Chen Heng. Ordinarily, his surname, Hatim, would also be added in front of the name.
Chen Heng continued to head onwards with Herdosiri beside him, looking about.
This region looked like it had been completely neglected, with wild grass and weeds growing everywhere.
Often, there would be refugees going to unclaimed areas and cultivating the land there.
The reason why the land was so neglected here was mostly because of the Beastmen.
On the way, Chen Heng saw many Beastmen.
Compared to the relatively-safer southern side, there were many more Beastmen here.
Different from the Beastmen he had seen in other places, the Beastmen in this region were much more savage.
They were about 1.5 meters tall, a bit shorter than grown men, and were skinnier.
However, they were savage fighters and had naturally sharp claws and fangs.
If ordinary people did not wear armor, they would be in great danger.
Moreover, these Beastmen were different from the ones that Chen Heng had seen in other worlds.
In other worlds, they were somewhat intelligent life.
However, in this world, the Beastmen had low intelligence and could not be communicated with.
They did not know how to grow crops and were just like wild beasts, hunting for animals and humans.
On the way, Chen Heng had seen many bones, belonging both to humans and Beastmen.
However, the flesh from all of those bodies had been eaten.
It seemed that the Beastmen ate anything, not just humans, but also their own kind.
To them, their fallen comrades were also delicious meals, and they did not leave any behind.
They were very economical eaters.
It was because of these Beastmen's existence that this region had not been developed; Chen Heng and the others knew this clearly.
"Looks like our first task is to clean up," Chen Heng said as he shook his head, "Otherwise, in the coming years, they will be all over the place."
"That would be a disastrous situation," Herdosiri said as he frowned.
In this world, not only were the Beastmen quite strong, but they also had great reproductive capabilities.
Every year, they would go into heat once and would give birth to four or five every time.
If they were not cleared out, in just four or five years, the babies would mature and begin to mate as well.
From how Chen Heng saw it, the reason why there was the word 'men' in their name was simply because they could walk upright like humans.
Apart from that, there was not much similarity between them and humans.
For the following period of time, they would be Chen Heng's opponents.
Chen Heng and the others headed onwards and soon, they reached the only city nearby.
Of course, rather than a city, it was more of a large town, which only had fewer than 1,000 people.
After the previous ruler had died or left, they had formed a small guard and beat back the Beastmen.
However, that was all to it.
From how Chen Heng saw it, the guard was not strong at all.
After some twists and turns, they entered this town.
As they entered, there were some somewhat well-built men lying on the ground, looking like they had fainted.
This was the result of Chen Heng acting.
When Chen Heng had tried to enter, these people had tried to resist. Seeing that Chen Heng had only come with a few dozen people, they had been planning to chase them away.
Chen Heng had been very calm and had just waved his hand.
Immediately, all of the men fell to the ground.
To ordinary people who did not have any mental resistances, Mental Intimidation was very useful and was always guaranteed to work.
Following this, Chen Heng achieved his goal: No one else dared to try to stop him from entering this town.
Afterwards, Chen Heng checked the situation here.
"It's that bad?"
After looking around, Chen Heng could not help but frown.
The situation in this town was quite bad.
Because of the Beastmen, most of the people gathered in this town were refugees.
Their living conditions were all quite poor, and many people went hungry.
Even if Chen Heng did not come, they would not be able to maintain this kind of situation in the long term.
Of course, because Chen Heng took over this place, those problems were now his problems.
"Troublesome…"
He shook his head and looked at Jenri as he asked, "When will the food that His Majesty promised arrive?"
"It will take some time," Jenri said hurriedly, "But it should be soon. Also, after some time, Sir Lamu will bring some soldiers and transport the resources from my father."
Before, Siriv had promised to give Chen Heng some support.
This kind of support also included food.
Chen Heng had left Lamu in the Arlan family's territory, and he was responsible for bringing these things over.
He would most likely arrive soon.
Hearing this, Chen Heng nodded; this was good news.
As such, he thought for a moment before saying, "Send people to hire these refugees in exchange for lunch. We'll at least fix this place up."
The environment here was quite disastrous.
Because of the Beastmen's invasion, all law and order had collapsed here.
There were many problems in this town that required people to fix, and this was a good opportunity to put the refugees to work.
Chen Heng would also be able to use this opportunity to establish his prestige.
As such, things gradually started up.
Jenri and the others took out food to hire those refugees, and they directed them to do all kinds of cleaning and fixing.
This was to reduce the chance of diseases being spread.
Before, there were people everywhere, and all kinds of rubbish and excrement were about, resulting in a terrible smell.
This would be a good opportunity to get rid of all of that.
After the food was given out, the surroundings gradually stabilized.
After those people who had lost everything received some food, their emotions gradually stabilized, and they were no longer as resistant to Chen Heng.
The situation gradually made a turn for the better.
After half a month, Lamu brought people and resources over.
He had brought the remaining soldiers, 300 of them, over and a large amount of food.
This food was from Siriv, and it was support by the Arlan family.
Following this, carriages from other families arrived, fulfilling their pledges to Chen Heng.
With those resources, Chen Heng was no longer in a tight situation and could do more things.
He began to send out Herdosiri and some of the soldiers to clear out the Beastmen in the surroundings.
Even though they had a large stockpile of food now, they could not just sit on their hands and do nothing.
.......
In order to establish long-term stability, they had to go back to normal life as soon as possible.
Otherwise, with the Beastmen outside attacking commoners, very few people would be able to live normal lives.
As such, Chen Heng even personally acted to get rid of the lone Beastmen in the surroundings to keep this area safe.
Only after doing all of this were they able to let out sighs of relief.
...
"Is it ahead…"
In the wilderness, a carriage travelled forwards with great difficulty.
Looking at the town ahead, a middle-aged man looked quite excited and delighted.
"Looks like we've arrived at that Warlock's territory. According to the rumors, he should be here."
Within the carriage, a young man looked incredibly excited as he said, "Praise the Magic Goddess, we finally found this damn place. Heaven knows why this sir would run to a place like this to be a ruler!"
He could not help but complain.
"Alright."
Looking at the complaining young man, the middle-aged man gave a slight smile and said, "Regardless, praise be to the Magic Goddess that we finally found this place. For our plan, let's go and visit him and see if we can establish a partnership with him."
As he spoke, he looked quite excited.
Following this, the middle-aged man and young man slowly walked into the town together, and they were received by the guards stationed outside.
...
"What?"
Sitting within his room and hearing Herdosiri's words, Chen Heng frowned, "Two Sorcerers? Are you sure?"
He could not help but ask.
It was no wonder that he would feel surprised.
In this world, Sorcerers was an incredibly famous and prestigious profession.
Sorcerers were usually nobles; no matter which kingdom they went to, they would be able to easily obtain a title of nobility.
As such, it was quite surprising that two Sorcerers would suddenly come to visit him in such a desolate and remote place.
After all, Sorcerers would normally stay in large and prosperous cities, and they would rarely go to the wilderness.
Sorcerers were not like warriors, who would often go out and train.
Rather, they were quite like the Sorcerers from the Sorcerer World; if they did not have anything to do, they would stay cooped up in their laboratories to do experiments.
In actuality, it was not just Chen Heng who was surprised; even Herdosiri was incredibly shocked.
At first, he had thought that they were two trickers who were here to scam them.
As such, he had personally tested them. After confirming their identities, he had come to report to Chen Heng.
"Have them come in," Chen Heng said as he frowned.
Since they had come to visit, even if it was out of courtesy, he should meet with them.
Moreover, their standings were not low at all.
"Yes," Herdosiri nodded and silently went out.
"Our lord invites the two of you in," Herdosiri said as he looked at the two robed figures.
The room was quite sparse, and even though it was somewhat empty, it was quite clean.
The two visiting Sorcerers were standing within the room.
"Please lead the way then," the older one said, seeming quite excited.
The young man did not say anything, but he also looked at Herdosiri with a look of anticipation.