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

Chapter 29 Famine
"Ah! This hammock is so uncomfortable to sleep in!" Roland, who had just woken up in the early morning, twisted his tired waist.

"Damn, no way, I'm so young, I shouldn't be weak, right..." Seeing that no one was around, Roland began to contemplate the happiness of the rest of his life.

"My lord, it's time for dinner!" Caslo suddenly pushed open the door, the dilapidated wooden door creaking under its weight.

"Put it on the table!" Roland said casually, looking at the table that still had fresh stubble.

"Yes, sir, please enjoy your breakfast." Caslo respectfully placed the breakfast on the table and then withdrew.

"Hmm, not bad, quite exquisite!" Roland looked at the breakfast in front of him: a bowl of oatmeal porridge, three slices of white bread, and two palm-sized grilled fish. Roland couldn't help but be surprised. These grown men's cooking skills were really that good? The food they made could only be described as either not killing you or not starving you...

Thinking of this, Roland pushed open the door and went out, but with a loud bang, the wooden door finally gave way and collapsed. Roland's lips twitched, and he helplessly ordered the two knights on guard to clean up.

"Caslo, who made breakfast today?" Roland asked curiously as Knight Caslo wolfed down his food.

"Hmm...it's the lady of the house from the refugee family that arrived yesterday. After all, none of us are very good at cooking, and Ivy is just a glutton! She's not like a woman at all," Caslo muttered.

As they spoke, Roland noticed the black bread and water pouch in Caslo's hand and frowned: "You eat this stuff?"

Roland was greatly surprised. He never expected that the noble dragon knight would have a day when he had to eat black bread. Thinking of this, Roland was extremely angry. How could these people make black bread for the soldiers who were protecting them! Roland quickened his pace and walked towards the home of the refugees he had visited the day before.

The Leopard family was busy preparing breakfast for the soldiers. They carefully mixed milled flour with bran and other ingredients to bake black bread, which they then distributed to the already hungry soldiers. Beside them, a large pot of mushroom and wild vegetable soup simmered. The lady of the house thoughtfully served each soldier on guard duty a bowl. Several children, their eyes wide with longing, stared intently at the bread and steaming soup, but simply huddled behind their parents, trying to inhale the aroma…

"Breakfast is ready!" The mother smiled as she served breakfast to the children: a bowl of thin porridge made with bran, vegetable roots, and a small amount of wheat grains.

The children immediately crowded around, received their share of food, and happily began to swallow it. The bran and vegetable roots, which were hard to swallow, tasted as sweet as delicacies in their mouths.

Roland, who was full of anger, had just leaned in when he saw this heartbreaking scene. His anger vanished instantly. He looked at the bowl behind the couple, which contained the food they had left for themselves—a clear soup with a few vegetable leaves floating in it.

Roland looked at all this helplessly, not understanding why this was happening. Caslo, who had just realized what was going on, quickly pulled Roland aside.

"Sir, we don't have much food left, so we'll have to eat sparingly..." Caslo explained in a low voice.

"I just want to know why my people are eating chaff and wild vegetables! Why my soldiers are gnawing on black bread!" Roland's voice was low but unusually angry.

“It’s winter now! We have no supplies…” Caslo lowered his head and said sadly. This is the tragedy of a power without any foundation… A cold winter could bring him down. Roland had only replenished his supplies with the food he received as a system reward, but of course, he had nowhere to replenish them. This led to the biggest problem facing Swiftstream City now – famine!
Roland rubbed his nose helplessly. All his ambitions had vanished like bubbles. How could Roland, who couldn't even get through this winter, have the right to revive Lagrange's glory?

"Let's organize the archers to go hunting!" Roland could only solve the immediate problem by hunting.

“Knight Commander Renault has already led his men there! Since this is a wasteland... there are bound to be few large prey…” Caslo didn’t want to say it, but he could only pour cold water on the situation.

"Hasn't anyone been organized to go fishing? The swift-flowing river is less than two kilometers away! There are plenty of fish in it for us to eat!" Roland asked again.

“Without fishing boats and nets… fishing with a rod is just a matter of luck, and the catch is woefully inadequate…” Caslo explained.

The air suddenly fell silent, and Roland Caslo and his companion stared at each other, at a loss for what to do.

"Wait! What do you mean we're missing?" Roland's eyes suddenly lit up.

“Fishing boats and fishing nets!” Caslo repeated, puzzled.

"Hahaha! Problem solved!" Roland suddenly burst into laughter.

Caslow was startled, thinking his king had been driven mad. "We have ships! Have you forgotten the galleons we used to board Lake-town?" Roland now felt incredibly wise about his decision to pack up those ships.

"What about the net?!" Caslo asked urgently. If the boat was gone, how could they use their hands to catch the fish?
“Why don’t you go look in the ruins of Longlake Town? There were quite a few fishing boats that the archers used to escape back then! There must be a complete set of fishing gear on them. Ride your dragon and fly around the lake and look carefully!” Roland quickly suggested.

"That's right! My lord, you are truly wise!" Caslo excitedly ran to an open space, summoned his dragon, and soared into the sky.

"Someone come here!" Roland called out.

"My lord!" Several knights on patrol rushed over upon hearing the order. After all, only knights remained in Swiftstream City, as the skilled archers had all gone out hunting.

"Call upon the knights who are free, let's go fishing by the river!" Roland ordered.

After having the knights assemble, Roland headed straight for Radil's house.

"Lord Radil, we need to address the food shortage in the city. Could you please look after things here?" Roland instructed.

"Haha, Your Highness, rest assured. As long as this old bone of mine is still alive, there will be no danger in Swiftstream City," Radil said with a smile, reassuring Roland.

……

"Boom!" The heavy dragon body crashed onto the grass by the river with a dull thud.

Roland smiled as he saw the large and small bags on the dragon's back. It seemed that Caslo had made a good haul on his trip. Dried fish could be vaguely seen peeking out from one of the bags.

"How was it, Caslo?" Roland asked about his findings.

"What a great harvest! I thought they took everything before we chased them away, but I didn't expect they left quite a bit behind!" Caslo showed off his haul with great enthusiasm.

"How many fishing nets are there?" Roland asked, addressing the question that concerned him most.

“Oh! Fishing nets! There are 17 here! And 8 damaged ones, which can be used to repair the good ones later.” Caslo untied the fishing nets from the dragon’s back. The young wind dragon grumbled impatiently, seemingly dissatisfied with being used as a tool to carry goods.

"Hahaha! Brothers! Let's go fishing!" Roland exclaimed happily as he released the Gallen ship that existed in the system space.

……

As evening fell, watching everyone gather around the fire to roast plump white fish, Roland smiled happily. He had fulfilled his duty as a lord, ensuring the people's basic needs were met. Looking at the smiling faces of the people, Roland suddenly felt sad. They were holding the roasted fish with only a thin linen garment over their arms, shivering in the evening chill...

"My lord, eleven more people have arrived today. They are from three families..." Ivy, who had stayed in the city, introduced the newly arrived people to Roland.

"Looks like I'll have to go to Irubb..." Roland sighed helplessly as he looked at the new citizens, who were also dressed in only a single layer of clothing.

"Caslo, come with me to Irubor tomorrow. Renault, you take your men and continue fishing!" After giving his instructions, Roland turned and left. He didn't want to see that heartbreaking scene.

"System! You're a real rip-off! You can't even afford to give the refugees a few extra pieces of clothing!" Roland cursed the system silently in his heart.

Second update! Readers, let's get those recommendation votes flowing!

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(End of this chapter)