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

Chapter 285 The Wronged Seed = Roland

"What? Ajax agreed?" Roland immediately guessed, looking at Balin's delighted face.

"Of course! Lady Ajax is truly beautiful inside and out! As a Dragon Knight, she is so approachable..." Balin flattered Ajax to Roland, who looked up and glanced at Ajax, who was squinting not far away.

To the Dragon Knight's abnormal hearing, such a short distance was no different from a whisper. It's clear that women need to be praised; for example, Ajax is currently enjoying Balin's words very much.

"Stop, stop, stop! Alright! Let's get down to business!" Seeing that Balin was almost being praised to the point of origins of Middle-earth by this girl, Roland quickly called a halt. If he didn't stop, Ajax could be his ancestor according to seniority.

"Ahem! Okay! What do you want to say, King Roland?" Balin coughed twice to ease the awkward atmosphere.

"Ahem! Um?" This time it was Roland's turn to be embarrassed. He "shyly" stretched out his right hand and gently rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, making this universally recognized gesture—asking for money!
"Huh?" Balin was taken aback, then looked at Roland somewhat awkwardly and stammered.

“Bahrain, you know… my army has paid a heavy price, and my kingdom is in dire need of rebuilding. Although I understand that you also need a large sum of money to revive Moria, but… the Kingdom of Lagrang really can’t afford to delay…” Roland thought that Bahrain was going to owe him money, so his expression immediately changed and he started to play the victim.

“Um…King Roland, if I may be so bold, there seems to be some problem with the profit-sharing agreement we signed before. I am willing to offer you half of Moria’s wealth as compensation!” Balin said, bowing his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Huh? Half? Half is too little... Huh! Half! Are you crazy, Balin?" Roland jumped up. Good heavens! Half of Moria's wealth? What an astronomical figure! The wealth accumulated by the dwarves over thousands of years, and he's giving away half of it? This isn't a reward, this is robbery! Even robbery doesn't bring in money as quickly as Roland!

“Um…excuse me for being blunt, but you might be a little disappointed…” Bahrain’s face revealed an ambiguous meaning.

"How could that be? Let's go! Balin! I'll go and install it for them! I'm not bragging, but this spatial storage device passed down from our empire is big enough to hold the entire Moria!" Roland boasted about the sheer size of the system space...

……

"What? That's all? Are you kidding me, Balin? It's fine, you don't have to give more, I just want the wealth from the previous contract!" Roland stared dumbfounded at the mountain of gold piled up in front of him. Although the gold mountain looked impressive, it was definitely not even one-tenth of Iruber's gold.

"Alas... You have misunderstood King Roland... Everyone knows how wealthy Moria is, but have you ever considered this: when the orcs occupied this place, they must have consumed a great deal of wealth... Damn it! They are all thieves! Robbers!" Balin was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

"..." Roland was dumbfounded. He took out a mirror he had gotten from the system check-in and looked at himself.

Very good! From left to right, he looks like a traitor; from right to left, he looks like an idiot!
In fact, Balin hadn't lied to Roland. The orcs had indeed been living off the dwarves' wealth, engaging in no production or planning, squandering Moria's reserves like draining a pond to catch all the fish! Otherwise, how do you think Gombad Fortress could have been built so impregnably, becoming a thorn in the side of everyone in the North? Even Azog relied on Moria's gold to build his powerful orc army!

"Congratulations, host, you have gained 40 wealth points!" the system's voice rang out. "Great! It's even with the odd amounts! Add it together with the previous ones and it's 50!" Roland almost laughed out of anger.

Logically, Moria's wealth should far surpass that of Irubor; the dwarves' millennia of digging are no joke! They can even dredge Balrogs from the earth's core! Not to mention gold and mithril. However, the difference lies in the fact that Moria is occupied by orcs, while Irubor is occupied by the dragon Smaug! The dragon's greed far surpasses that of the dwarves; any creature attempting to steal the treasure will be attacked by Smaug! Meanwhile, the orcs, like bandits, squander the cave's riches! This results in Moria being actually poorer than Irubor.

"Looks like we have to thank you dwarves for this in the North! Thanks a lot! You've armed the orcs to the teeth!" Roland said with a wry smile.

Those orcs have no shortage of standard dwarf and human weapons! Never underestimate the depravity of humans; after all, for gold, those unscrupulous merchants are even willing to sell their own mothers into brothels! Roland knows for a second that those damned human smugglers have sold countless weapons to orcs! After all, apart from the industrialized production lines developed under Saruman, the metallurgical capabilities of orcs elsewhere are truly appalling…

This can be seen from the Moria orcs. Despite possessing the world's largest mine, the Moria orcs pitifully still use weapons left over from the dwarven era, and the weapons they make themselves are even more crude and unbearable! They even destroyed the Moria Core Furnace... If that thing had been running, the orcs would have been armed to the teeth long ago.

Roland felt incredibly frustrated. He fought his way from the Southern Heavenly Gate to the Eastern Road of Penglai... no! He fought his way from the Dark Forest all the way to the Misty Mountains! And all he got in the end was a Dragon Knight General and 40 wealth points?

Leading a massive army on a rampage, I'm a scapegoat, remember that! Roland truly orchestrated a whirlwind of activity in Middle-earth... and it certainly went fast! Leading a bunch of tin cans on a forced march, he was wiped out by Moria. The dwarves were happy, Roland was heartbroken... It's not that he didn't profit, it's just that the psychological gap was too huge!
Roland had initially thought he could at least add a hundred knights to his arsenal this time, but looking at his pitiful wallet... wouldn't it be better to just stick with the Swift Infantry? They're durable and reliable! Most importantly, they're cheap!

……

"Thank you, beautiful Lady Ajax!" Balin bowed deeply. The dragonfire from the fiery dragon Renoir had indeed saved the Moria dwarves' lives! They had begun to restore their industrial capacity and could now forge weapons and armor! Most importantly, they could now accept the dwarves scattered throughout the western world! After all, not all dwarves had gone to Irubor; those unwilling to travel could also choose Moria, as the ancient dwarven capital was very accommodating!

“Ballin, remember to buy plenty of food! You’re all alone here! Beware of the orcs in the Misty Mountains! Don’t try to fight back when things get desperate! Go to Lorian and ask Queen Galadriel for help! She’s not like Thranduil, the Elven king who would stand by and watch someone die! Remember! Moria absolutely cannot fall!” Roland pulled Ballin aside after the banquet and whispered his instructions.

"Don't worry! I will protect her with my life!" Bahrain assured him firmly.

“Beware of orc attacks! Never travel alone! I have a feeling Sauron is coming back! You stay here! The aid route from the Western world can quickly reach the North through the Misty Mountains!” Roland explained.

"Hmm? You mean there's danger in the North?" Bahrain sensed something unusual.

“The Eastern Barbarians could come at any moment! How long do you think the kingdoms below Lonely Mountain can hold out? This is a tough battle! We need you to guard this lifeline!” Roland whispered.

Roland couldn't help but recall the tragic history of the future Lonely Mountain Twins.

(End of this chapter)