The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 122 The Beginning of Fame

"Baron Lance!" Roland greeted Lance warmly upon seeing him come to report.

"Your Highness! The soldiers are all ready!" Lance walked over and reported to Roland.

“Yes, this trip is of great significance! Sending you there is not only to escort the goblin king Jessie Ava, but also to contact the current leader of Gondor—Tegan! We cannot fight alone. The forces in the north are still too weak. We need Gondor and Rohan as allies. Of course, we are not in a hurry to go to Rohan. The current king of Rohan is incompetent. As long as you contact the vizier of Gondor, our northern chess game will be revived! Otherwise, without Gondor to restrain the Mordor army, they can easily crush all the kingdoms around the Lonely Mountain! We need to let Gondor know that we are still fighting in the north!” Roland smiled bitterly. Although the two thousand troops in Streamstream City were impressive, they still did not have much of an advantage over the tens of thousands of orcs! Not to mention that the Eastern Barbarians, who are even more troublesome than orcs, have not yet appeared. These two thousand men are more than enough to protect Streamstream City, but it is hard to say who will win in a field battle.

"I understand, Your Highness!" Lance quickly grasped the concept. As a Lagrange nobleman, his political awareness was exceptionally high. Among all those under Roland's command, he was probably the only one who truly understood nobility...

“I’ll write a letter to the Master of Gondor in a bit. You must deliver it to him. He’s a smart man; he’ll know what to do.” Roland smiled. Roland didn’t believe Tegan couldn’t see the benefits of mutual support between the North and South. Although in his memory Tegan was a wise regent, he couldn’t rule out any unforeseen circumstances. After all, there were too many magical secrets in this bewitched Middle-earth that could control a person’s body and even soul. It was always better to be careful.

“I know what to do, Your Highness! Should we bring them some gifts?” Lance asked cautiously.

"Of course! Let's bring some scrolls as gifts!" Roland suggested after a moment's thought. After all, he didn't have much to offer; he couldn't very well send a griffin cub!

After much deliberation, Roland finally decided to get some magic scrolls to give to them. After all, he had wise men in his family, and these things were just numbers, provided there was enough time and raw materials. They were convenient and not cheap, since magic scrolls were valuable items!

"No problem! I'll go back and prepare right away!" Yun Feng bowed slightly to Roland, then activated his teleportation skill and disappeared, traversing space...

"My lord! What are you thinking about?" Caslo, seeing Roland deep in thought with a troubled expression, had no idea what was wrong and could only come up to comfort him.

“Oh! I was thinking that if the Dongyi people attacked in this flat plain... we might not be able to spot them in advance! Don’t forget that the Tuput tribe is just guarding the forest; they can easily bypass it…” Roland stopped the conversation. Needless to say, any smart person could imagine what would happen next: the working Lagrange people would face fully armed Dongyi people.

"Alas! We are short-handed... We can only send out as many soldiers as possible for surveillance and reconnaissance." Renault said helplessly. After all, you can't cook without rice. The entire Lagrange Plain is so vast, and we are already thankful if our 2000 or so men can keep track of every little thing within a 50-mile radius of Swiftstream City.

"We'll have to make do for now. After all, Lagrange City wasn't built in a day. As long as we proceed steadily, we shouldn't have any major problems!" Lance said quickly when he saw the atmosphere was a bit heavy.

"That's right! We still have so many people!"

"They cannot conquer Lagrange!"

Upon hearing Lance's words, everyone expressed their praise. After all, one must eat one bite at a time. Besides, King Rolandi is blessed by the heavens, and people from the empire are constantly coming to join him. They believe that it won't be long before the glory of the empire shines upon the entire River Flow once again!
"Have you decided how to proceed?" Roland looked at Lance expectantly. After all, he was the commander of this expedition. As the saying goes, "An incompetent general can lead to the downfall of the entire army!" Roland certainly didn't want his subordinates to be "war gods." At the very least, they should have basic military skills.

“Yes, this is what I’m thinking. First, we need to cross the entire Mirkwood and reach the western part of Mirkwood as soon as possible, which is near the Anduin River. Then we can take a boat and sail downstream to Gondor.” Lance gestured with a twig on the ground.

“That’s basically it, but have you considered how to cross the Dark Forest? And how do you get a boat to cross the river?” Roland asked, which was also a test! “We can go around the Woodland Kingdom! Anyway, we can’t go through the Old Forest Road!” Lance shook his head and said helplessly.

"Why? Wouldn't it be more convenient and faster to go through Old Forest Road?" Roland asked deliberately.

“I don’t want to feed the monsters…” Lance rolled his eyes and said casually.

"It's good that you're confident! This journey will be long, so be careful on the road! You bear the heavy responsibility of contacting the Southern Kingdom! The starting point for the Kingdom of Lagrange's rise to fame will be born there!" Roland grabbed Lance's shoulder and patted him on the shoulder before speaking passionately.

"Your Highness, rest assured! I will not fail your trust! I will definitely bring you good news!" Lance assured him.

“I understand! Take the soldiers who are about to embark on their journey back and rest! You can set off first thing tomorrow morning!” Roland patted Lance.

"As you command, Your Highness!"

……

"Lance is leaving already?" Caslo sighed.

“Yes! Our political officer… I’m really not used to him leaving!” Renault said sincerely. He and Lance usually had a good relationship. Lance always had to ask Renault for permission when arranging field military affairs. After all, Renault was in charge of the dispatch and command of most of the troops in Swiftstream City. Over time, the two became familiar with each other.

“Even a little goblin has a king… When will the grassland elves be able to establish their own kingdom?” Verway muttered a few words, just enough for Roland to hear.

Roland blushed. He seemed to have boasted that he would help Verway be crowned king. However, he had been busy with other things and wanted to keep these wandering grassland elves in Swiftstream City, so he hadn't brought up the issue before. But now that Verway had brought it up, he still needed to deal with it.

"Stop nagging! I'll definitely keep my promise. If you're in a hurry, I can find you a piece of land belonging to the grassland elves in the Dark Forest right now!" Roland said earnestly, staring into Verwy's eyes. After all, he owed Verwy a favor, and he had to acknowledge the grassland elves' military assistance. Exchanging a favor for a piece of land was a good deal for Roland! After all, it's hard to repay a debt of gratitude!

"Forget it! Let's stay here for now! It's not bad to have food and lodging provided. We grassland elves are dirt poor. If we really set off to build a country, we don't have that many supplies." Verway said helplessly. After all, the grassland elves, with their sparse population, didn't have much stored up. They were truly penniless!
"..." Upon hearing that these elves were just freeloading, Roland immediately lost the urge to keep them.

"Alright! You can take your time, I'm going home now!" Verway hummed a tune as he walked home with his hands behind his back.

"I hope this journey will be safe!" Roland glanced at the stubborn Verway before looking away, his eyes filled with worry for the departing soldiers.

(End of this chapter)