Chapter 9: Settling at the Carrock

The morning today was as sunny as ever, the sun warm and pleasant, putting everyone busy in the camp in a good mood.

Allen woke up to Yamila's gentle call. While washing up, he observed the group in the camp working in an orderly fashion. Allen understood; this was likely the reason Yamila had two dark circles under her eyes when she woke him up.

After a simple wash and breakfast, Allen set off north along the river with Artimenner, Cress, and Alayen. In fact, Desaiwei and half of the cavalry were following him as well; they were heading north to carry out a patrol mission and happened to be going the same way as Allen.

This situation lasted for about an hour before everyone parted ways when they passed a giant rock. Desaiwei and the others still needed to patrol further north for about half an hour before they could return, while Allen and his group stayed by the giant rock, observing the surroundings.

This giant rock sat on a small island in the middle of the river, with the river forming a circle around it. Allen looked toward the west bank of the river; it was a cliff, with the rushing river below. The east bank here was a shallow beach, the river water both shallow and clear; occasionally, he could see a few fish darting through the water. The riverbank was covered in pebbles, connecting to a vast expanse of grassland that stretched to the distant hillsides. Scattered around were a few small oak forests, very much like the Carrock in Allen's memory, yet there were many differences.

Comparing it to the Carrock in the movie, the surrounding environment was not very similar. In the movie, there were no grasslands around it; it was mostly mountains and forests, and the river did not circle the Carrock. In short, the surrounding terrain was not at all alike, which left Allen very puzzled. Could it be that the movie's perspective was too wide, making it impossible to see what was at the base of the Carrock?

If compared to the Carrock in the original book, it was quite similar, but there were no traces of human carving here. There were no smooth stone slabs on the riverbed, nor were there any stairs carved into the giant rock. This did not quite match the description in the original book. If this really was the Carrock, then there was only one possibility Allen could think of: Beorn had not yet come here to live.

In Allen's impression, Gandalf had passed through here a few years before the Expedition set out, but it was never explicitly stated that this was when he first discovered Beorn.

Gandalf only said that at the time, Beorn, who had transformed into a bear, was on the Carrock, roaring at the sun setting over the Misty Mountains, "One day, they will pass, and I shall return to my homeland."

What did this sentence signify? It meant that Beorn came from the Misty Mountains. Considering the joy Beorn showed upon learning that the Orc King had truly died, it was not hard to guess that he must have had an endless hatred for the Orcish.

If it were the plot from the movie, it was even more pitiful. Beorn himself said that his kin were the earliest inhabitants of the mountains and spoke bluntly about his family being captured by Orcish and put into cages for exhibition and amusement, which was extremely tragic. At the same time, Allen remembered the scars on Beorn's body and the shackles on his wrists in the movie; it was not hard to guess Beorn's experiences.

Moreover, there was a clear difference in personality between the Beorn of the movie and the original book. The Beorn in the original book was more lively, fond of talking and laughing, and liked to listen to stories. Although he did not like Dwarves for various reasons, he accepted the members of the Expedition because of a good story.

But the one in the movie was different: taciturn and vigilant, as if still immersed in sorrow, unable to step out from the shadow of his family's tragic fate. The Beorn here chose to help the Dwarves because they had a common enemy, which was a huge difference.

In fact, at this time, Beorn was leading his kin, resisting wave after wave of attacks from the Orcish.

He had not yet been driven out of his home in the Misty Mountains by the Orc, so it was normal that Allen had not run into him.

Allen was a bit troubled. Originally, he had wanted to borrow Beorn's prestige to live in this place for a while, so as to avoid being wiped out by the Orc while he was still weak. Now that the man hadn't arrived yet, he could only rely on himself. Thinking of this, Allen turned and asked Artimenner: "Artimenner, you say, if I want to build a village here and subsequently develop it into a town, is it possible?"

Artimenner was a professional engineer; building a castle was no problem for him, and planning and building a village was even less of an issue. Hearing Allen's question, he pointed to the highest hillside nearby and said: "My Lord, I need to go to that place and look at the surrounding situation before I can better answer your question."

Afterward, the four of them rode their horses for half an hour and arrived at the hillside Artimenner had pointed to. After looking at the surrounding environment, Artimenner pointed to the Anduin River to the east and said: "My Lord, look, the position we are in is the highest point for tens of miles around. We can completely use this as a center to build a castle with a good view. Moreover, this place is very close to a water source. We will build the city walls near the water source so that we won't have to worry about others easily cutting off our water supply in the future. We can also build a road to connect to the other side of the river and find ways to collect resources from the mountains."

"Look over there," Artimenner said, pointing to the distant oak forest. "Those logs can provide us with enough wood for the initial construction of houses, and even building wooden city walls should be enough; we won't even be able to use it all. My Lord, I already have a preliminary design drawing in my mind."

"Don't talk about that," Allen hurriedly interrupted Artimenner. He didn't want to be sought out by bears, Maia, Forest Elf, or whatever else.

"Just looking at these small oak forests around here is enough for our initial use. Even if it's not enough, look at the trees on the mountains opposite; there are plenty, enough for us to use." Allen pointed to the Misty Mountains, then gestured to the surroundings. "Look at these grasslands and hillsides; we can completely reclaim large areas of farmland. We can definitely settle here and build a village."

Seeing the few people following him nod, especially with Artimenner also agreeing with this proposal, Allen took a deep breath, opened the Simulator, hesitated, and gave up his position as Captain of the Veluca Second Legion. He summoned all the soldiers and villagers who were willing to follow him, and at the same time spent a large amount of Dinar to purchase enough food for everyone to eat for a month, as well as a large number of construction tools.

After a large flash of white light, over a hundred soldiers, more than three hundred villagers, and those forty-odd captives who had no choice appeared on the hillside. A large amount of supplies and construction tools appeared behind the crowd. At this moment, Allen turned back and said to Artimenner: "I believe that from now on, you can start building according to the design drawings in your mind, Artimenner."

Artimenner's eyes widened, his mouth agape as he stared blankly at the people who had appeared from the white light, as well as the large amount of supplies and construction materials. He muttered, "You, you," and finally understood what Allen had said last night—what exactly the concept of being able to bring fellow countrymen from Calradia here meant.

As for Cress and Alayen, because of the baptism of past soldier upgrades, they were not too surprised by this sudden appearance of people. They knew their leader had special abilities, but they were very happy because their companions were becoming more and more numerous.

Allen didn't pay too much attention to the feelings of Artimenner, Cress, and Alayen. Instead, he rode his horse to the front of the four hundred-plus people. Looking at the obviously somewhat chaotic crowd, he waved his right hand and shouted loudly: "Villagers, soldiers, do not panic, do not panic, look at me, look at me."

The crowd in front gradually calmed down because they saw Allen, a person who was familiar yet somewhat strange, and heard his loud shouting. The crowd in the back actually couldn't hear clearly what Allen was shouting, but they also inexplicably quieted down. Perhaps the image of Allen covered in blood at dawn was simply too shocking; even though he was dressed properly and riding on a horse now, it still made people feel afraid.

Seeing the crowd in front of him quiet down, Allen gathered his emotions slightly and shouted loudly: "Villagers, soldiers, do not be overly panicked. I want to tell everyone a piece of good news: we are not going to Serenmis anymore. We have now arrived at a much more distant place. This is the Wilderland, far away from the wars between the Rhodok Kingdom and Swadia. We will no longer be exhausted by frequent wars, and we will no longer suffer from hunger and cold due to the endless exploitation by the nobles. I promise, I will do my utmost to protect your lives. I promise to give everyone a peaceful and stable living environment. I promise that everyone's life will get better and better."

Due to the extreme shock, the summoned soldiers and villagers didn't quite grasp how much Allen's words contained, but they heard that they could live a peaceful and stable life, and they understood that.

These villagers who had lived in an era of war mostly hoped for a stable living environment. Their shallow knowledge also meant they didn't have any great ambitions; just living well was already very difficult. Now, a powerful person was promising them a peaceful and stable living environment, a powerful person who could guarantee to do his utmost to protect their safety. For a moment, the crowd fell into an eerie silence.

This silence made Allen, who looked very calm on the surface, feel increasingly restless inside. He had begun to doubt whether he had any talent for speech, and began to regret not adding points to Charisma when he leveled up, instead putting everything into Strength and Agility. But immediately, this doubt and regret vanished.

It turned out that some villagers had realized it. They knew they finally didn't have to run for their lives to avoid the pursuit of Swadian soldiers, and they cheered. This emotion gradually spread to others, making them forget for a moment that they had left their familiar homes and lost everything they hadn't brought with them.

Allen watched the cheering crowd in front of him and quietly let out a sigh of relief. Afterward, he dismounted and found the elder, calling Artimenner over, because the task of building the village would definitely require the two of them to communicate and complete it. Allen was only responsible for issuing orders; a layman not directing an expert was the correct way to do things.

However, even now, Allen didn't know what this elder's name was.

Allen pointed to the somewhat unnatural Artimenner and said to the elder: "Respected elder, this is Artimenner. He is an experienced engineer. We are going to settle here and live a stable life here. Building our home will inevitably require his help. My preliminary plan is to build a village here. I hope the two of you can communicate more. If there are any problems you cannot handle, just come to me to solve them."

"Ah, this is truly too magical."

After the elder sighed at the current situation, he heard Allen's words and hurriedly said: "You are too polite. Just call me Karl. If you have anything in the future, please feel free to order me. I will cooperate well with Mr. Artimenner to complete the work."

Most of the village elders were old foxes who served the nobles; they were the mouthpieces between the nobles and the commoners. Karl adapted to the change in status quite quickly. Although he felt very surprised that he had suddenly arrived here in his sleep, the reliable young man in front of him made him feel at ease. Moreover, he clearly knew that since they were already here, he could distinguish clearly between what was primary and what was secondary.

Soon, Karl and Artimenner got together to discuss which tasks to carry out first. Some villagers, under Karl's arrangement, had already picked up tools and started felling trees, while other villagers had already started leveling the ground. Gradually, the entire hillside was filled with busy crowds.

Allen looked at these bottom-level people from the era of war, his eyes filled with wonder. Their survival needs were so low that Allen couldn't imagine it, and their will to survive also made Allen admire them immensely.

Seeing the villagers' work get on the right track, Allen remembered that there were still over a hundred soldiers waiting for his arrangements. He gathered all the squad leaders under his command and told them to temporarily lay down their arms and help the villagers, which was also building a place for themselves to live.

Once everything was on the right track, Allen would give them a choice. If they didn't want to be soldiers, they could retire; they only needed to respond to Allen's summons at the most critical moments. Most of the time, they could live the lives of ordinary people. For those who still wanted to be soldiers, Allen would hand them over to Bandak to manage later.

These soldiers had a high degree of obedience to Allen and didn't say much. Most of them were young men from the villages, either the second sons in their families or refugees without land.

Indeed, who with a family and land would voluntarily sign up for the army? Joining the army was also a hope to obtain a better life. At this moment, although they had left their original families, they believed that Allen should be able to lead them to a better life.

As for Allen's personal guard, the nine people who had followed Allen the longest in the simulation, Allen gathered them by his side and pointed to Alayen: "From now on, you are still my personal guard. See that person? He is my Attendant. From now on, he will be your Captain. His name is Alayen, remember that."

Alayen, who was following behind the protagonist, heard Allen's words, opened his mouth in surprise, pointed at himself, and blinked, as if saying, "Is it me?" Seeing Allen nod at him, Alayen thought for a moment and also nodded, taking on this responsibility.

After settling Alayen, Allen carefully observed the remaining nine people. The young man he had found most pleasing to the eye was gone; it was clear he had died in the final battle. Allen felt a bit sad, but he also understood that whether in the Simulator or in Middle-earth in this era, a human not living to a ripe old age was truly a very normal thing.

By this time, Artimenner and Karl had already arranged things here in an orderly fashion. Allen planned to go back to the camp, as there were still over a hundred people there who needed him to bring them over.

Allen just wanted to call Cress to go back with him, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Cress had disappeared again. Alayen gently tapped Allen's arm with the back of his hand, helplessly pointed in the direction of the Carrock, and then spread his hands ╮(╯▽╰)╭.

Allen looked carefully, and sure enough, this girl was already galloping on her horse to the foot of the Carrock. It looked like she was preparing to wade across the river. Allen hurriedly found Artimenner and Karl to give them a few instructions, saying he was going back to the camp first and would be back in the afternoon, and that they should handle things for now. At the same time, he had Alayen stay there with the personal guard to protect the villagers, so as to avoid any blind beasts attacking them.

After arranging all this, Allen mounted his horse and ran toward the Carrock. By this time, Desaiwei had also returned from patrolling with the cavalry. By the time Allen ran near the Carrock, Desaiwei was leading the cavalry, looking up at Cress climbing the Carrock.

Allen dismounted, led his horse, and just as he walked up, he heard Desaiwei shout loudly: "Cress, hurry down! The Lord is coming over immediately, he will scold you."

Then Cress, who was halfway up, stopped abruptly and shouted without looking back: "Let him scold me! I just want to go up and take a look. It's not the first time he's scolded me. It's fine, I'm used to it." After saying that, she continued to climb upward.

Hearing this, Allen suddenly felt like an old father facing a disobedient daughter. Once upon a time, his six or seven-year-old daughter was like this too. You would scold her, and she would pout and stare at you, ignoring you. After you finished scolding, she would go back to doing whatever she was doing. It was typical: you say your piece, but I won't listen, and I won't change. It often left Allen unable to laugh or cry.

Thinking of these things, Allen, who was in a foreign land, felt a trace of warmth in his heart. The annoyance he had just felt because of Cress's mischief vanished just like that.

Desaiwei, who had noticed Allen coming over long ago, bowed to Allen and said: "My Lord, you are here. Cress, she..." Allen smiled, shook his head, and waved his hand, saying: "It's fine, it's fine." Then he looked up at Cress continuing to climb the Carrock. Desaiwei saw that Allen was not angry, so he reported a few things about the reconnaissance in a low voice—that everything was normal and no abnormalities were found—and then didn't say anything else.

Just like that, everyone watched in silence as Cress climbed to the top of the Carrock.

"Is it fun up there?"

Watching Cress, who had climbed to the top, Allen cupped his hands into a trumpet shape and shouted loudly toward her.

In fact, Cress didn't hear clearly what Allen was shouting at all; she only heard a familiar voice. She looked down, startled, and knew that things were bad—a scolding seemed unavoidable. She complained to herself, why did he finish his business so quickly?

Then her eyes darted, she waved at Allen, took a large bundle of rope from behind her back, tied it to a stable boulder, gave it a tug, and quickly slid down the rope to a platform halfway down the boulder; then, with a few agile leaps, she descended the giant rock, arrived at the island in the middle of the river, and waded through the river to Allen's side with a sheepish look on her face.

As she walked, she shouted: "I just wanted to go up and see if there were any enemies around; what if those monsters from yesterday rode wolves and snuck up on us, right? If there's danger, I can still warn you."

Watching Cress, who was still making excuses as she approached, Allen reached out and ruffled Cress's hair vigorously, saying irritably: "It's so far away, are you going to fly over to warn me?"

After speaking, Allen stopped the movement of his hands, sighed, and said softly: "You must tell me next time, do you understand?"

Seeing that there was no angry expression on Allen's face, Cress quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then walked to the side and whispered with a grin to Desaiwei: "Do you know how beautiful the scenery is up there? Let's go up and see it together next time."

The two of them actually started chatting and laughing.

Watching this scene, Allen thought helplessly that James even said his temper was getting more and more irritable, yet he couldn't see any sign of these two being afraid of him at all.

"You two, you two, let's chat on the road, we're in a hurry."

Allen, who had mounted his horse, interrupted the two girls' conversation irritably and urged them to hurry toward the camp.