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

Chapter 218 Departure
“Stop messing around. The trade route is blocked. We can only get some materials from the elves and dwarves, but the quantity is limited. So, you have another task for this trip: see if you can open up the trade route so that caravans from the western regions can come here,” Yun Feng said.

"Are Western caravans unable to come over now? Isn't there Rivendell? They should be able to come through the elven territory." Roland hadn't really paid attention to this kind of thing.

"Um... the question is, who are the caravans doing business with? The woodland elves and the orcs from the Darkwood?" Yun Feng shrugged and asked in return.

“Indeed, there are very few things that humans have that the elves would be interested in.” Roland sighed helplessly. Demand determines supply; without demand, no one will come.

“So you need to contact the human world in the west and tell them that Lonely Mountain has been rebuilt.” Yunfeng nodded. The wealth of the dwarves would drive merchants to come, and the various products near Lonely Mountain were also unique to this place. When several kingdoms stood here again, people would naturally flock to it.

“I’ll give it a try,” Roland replied.

……

"By the goddess above! We've only had a few days of peace, and you're already starting another war?" Vervier sighed helplessly, holding his head as he watched the army being assembled.

"Yes, the dwarves are here. I promised them they would help us reclaim Moria, after all, the kingdom needs money to develop..." Roland shrugged helplessly.

“Alright then, but I’m afraid my people and I cannot go together this time.” It’s common knowledge that elves dislike fighting in confined spaces, and elves, who are skilled in kite tactics, are rarely willing to venture deep into caves to fight.

“It’s alright, that’s not your war, you don’t need to blame yourself.” Roland nodded in agreement, there was no reason for him to need the grassland elves’ help to make money.

"Thank you for your understanding," Verway said gratefully. After all, each less battle meant less risk of casualties, and Verway valued his remaining tribesmen very much.

"Wish me a safe return!" Roland nodded, looking at Verway.

“I believe your regal bearing will dispel the darkness deep within Moria!” Verway said firmly.

"Thank you for your kind words, Omske! Caslo is gone! And my dear, have you seen our dragon?" Roland shouted.

“Here! Your Highness, I’m here!” Caslo desperately pushed through the surging tide of soldiers below and raised his hand.

"Oh! Dragon God! This little guy is still sleeping!" Nyx rushed out in a flurry, holding up a small blue dragon, and handed it to Roland.

"Caslo, it seems you need to lose weight!" Roland teased, looking at Caslo who was being squeezed and deformed by the crowd.

"Your Highness, I'm ready!" Caslo, whose dragon armor was askew from being jostled, finally leaped through the crowd and stood before Roland.

"Hmm, the road here needs to be widened!" Roland said noncommittally. The road, which he usually didn't notice, now seemed a bit narrow. "Dragon God above! Are you trying to kill this old man, Your Highness?" Old Master Radil was so angry that he was blowing his beard and glaring. If not 100% of the infrastructure in the entire Swiftflow City, then 80% of the civil engineering work was done by Old Master Radil. Earth mage (×) contractor (√).

“It was already quite spacious when it was built! It was enough to accommodate two four-horse carriages traveling side by side. The reason you think it's narrow is because you crammed over five hundred fully armed Lagrang soldiers into such a small space!” Radil rolled his eyes, expressing his dissatisfaction with his king’s unnecessary trouble-making.

Roland finally determined the size of the expeditionary force, which included: 100 Dovenian heavy swordsmen, 200 Lagrange Royal Guards, 50 Lordaeron Rangers, and 150 Lagrange City Guards, totaling 500 men. The accompanying generals were Omske and Kaslow, while the rest remained in Stream City.

"Alright, let's get ready to go! By the way, check if the supplies are adequate. I don't want my soldiers to be starving before they even see the enemy!" Roland certainly didn't forget the most important logistical support. Thanks to that damn bread with such a short shelf life, even black bread wouldn't last long. You see, they were going to go through forests and underground caves, and the damp dew would soak the bread.

"That's why things like spatial rings came into being..." Yun Feng walked out with an expression of concern for a mentally challenged child.

"Are you keeping such a big spatial ring to store stones, Your Highness?" Yun Feng sighed and tossed Roland a brand new spatial ring.

"It's stuffed with nearly 60,000 long loaves of bread and 5000 jin of smoked meat and fish, enough to feed 600 people for a month. It's a bit monotonous, but at least you won't go hungry," Yun Feng explained.

"Thank you very much. This way we can save manpower from watching over the supply wagons." Roland had indeed forgotten that he had a system space...

"No need to thank me, you should thank the women and cooks in the city. They've been working day and night for a week to prepare these things!" Yun Feng said. Don't underestimate this 500-person team. It's completely different from when Roland first started out. Back then, Roland fed his first army with the food he received as a sign-in reward. But now... the damn system doesn't provide food anymore. Even if it does, it's just some fancy snacks. They're fine for Nyx to have a little treat, but they can't possibly feed an army of 500. They could starve 60 people for three days straight.

Besides, not everyone in Middle-earth is like Behemoth or Abel. You can ask these soldiers to fight bravely, but to make them play a "survival" game? Forget it! The fact that they don't rebel already shows their loyalty to the kingdom.

Roland solemnly put the precious ring containing the lifeblood of his army into the system space, and then breathed a long sigh of relief. Once it was under the system's jurisdiction, even a god couldn't take away his army's food supplies!
"Very good! Let's go!" Roland rode his Charles warhorse, full of vigor, high spirits, and high blood.

The scene suddenly fell silent, and everyone stared at Roland as if he were made of gold.

“Very well, let’s go. So, Your Highness, where should we go?” Caslo, his face flushed red with frustration, finally asked.

"Um...where to? That's a good question! So the dwarves didn't tell us where to meet?" Roland was incredibly embarrassed. He suddenly realized that he had forgotten to agree on a meeting point with the dwarves.

“Oh! Dragon God... all the ancestors of Lagrange…” Omsk covered his face, unable to bear to look.

"I'll go ask... If they've set off, I'll look for them along the way." Caslo came to Roland's rescue. If the dwarves hadn't set off, he'd notify them; if they had, he'd find them and arrange a meeting point. It was a good solution, especially since such a short distance was nothing for a flying dragon.

"Your Highness, such recklessness will cause a big problem..." Omsk leaned closer and whispered. His king's face had been slapped hard. Under the watchful eyes of the people, who lined the streets to bid farewell to the expeditionary force, his king had made such a blunder. Even if a dwarf is a little dim-witted, he can't be completely brainless... Omsk was on the verge of tears. He could only order the army to leave the city. He had to take responsibility for his king's mess, even if it was a tearful one.

(End of this chapter)