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

Chapter 31 Bahrain's Request

"Thorin!" Roland saw Thorin in the Royal Hall.

"Roland?" Thorin was surprised to see Roland, as he really didn't expect Roland to return so soon.

“Yes, I’m in trouble. I need the dwarves’ help…” Roland explained his predicament.

"Hmm? Trouble? Orcs are here?" Like Bard, Thorin immediately thought of orcs.

“It’s not a problem with the orcs,” Roland explained with a dark expression.

"What? Famine?" This made Thorin laugh. He never expected that Roland, who had a dragon knight under his command, would be overwhelmed by refugees. "So you've finally met your match!" Thorin laughed happily.

"What the hell? Thorin, what do you mean? My people are staring at each other like this, and you're still laughing?" Roland's eyes widened.

"No, I just never thought that you, the King Roland who beat the orcs to a pulp, would one day be eaten out of house and home by your own people..." The aloof Thorin Oakenshield was already laughing so hard he was doubled over.

"Outrageous... Is there any necessary connection between these two things?" Roland said expressionlessly, but inwardly he was in a state of utter disbelief. How humiliating! He'd embarrassed himself in front of the dwarves! Bard was starving and freezing because Smaug had forcibly taken his home, while he himself was starving and freezing because he hadn't prepared to stockpile food at all...

"Tell me, do you have any extra food or warm clothes? If so, I'll use these to buy them!" Roland said, opening a small leather pouch and emptying out all the gems.

"..." Thorin was completely stunned, not by Roland's wealth, but by his utter shamelessness... What was this? Taking my money to please me? I just finished plundering him and now he's back to spend gems. Typical Roland!
Instantly, Thorin's gaze towards Roland changed.

"Yes, of course we have some. It would be too hurtful to talk about money when we're just friends." Thorin remembered that the Ironhill dwarves had brought a lot of supplies, and since they couldn't use them all, it wouldn't hurt to share some with Roland.

"That's great, it's free!" Roland was shocked by Thorin. "Thorin, you're something else!" he thought. "The king down the mountain is truly extraordinary; his wealth is something else." Overjoyed, Roland prepared to collect the jewels from the table.

"Swish!" Thorin swept the jewels into his arms with a flourish, chuckled at Roland's bewildered expression, and turned to leave. "You've already taken so much gold from me, I'll just reluctantly accept this reward. After all, every little bit helps."

Roland finally came to his senses. Thorin had gone bad! What happened to the simple and honest dwarves? What happened to the kind dwarves? What happened to the hospitable dwarves? Oh well, he thought to himself, "I'll just take from the people and give back to the people."

……

"Pat pat!" Thorin patted the newly tied-up carriage hard, checking the strength of the ropes.

"How is it? Is this enough?" Thorin looked up at Roland and asked.

Twenty large carts were piled high with various goods: five carts of flour, five carts of various dried meats, five carts of leather and linen clothing, and five carts of various tools. Roland nodded in satisfaction. With these things, this winter would undoubtedly be much easier to get through. Roland had also organized people to break the ice and fish.

"It seems I can consider arranging those 100 Lagrange City guards when I get back," Roland thought to himself. Although the orc army had retreated to the north, if the small groups of orcs wandering the wasteland gathered together in winter, they could basically wipe out the still weak and developing Swiftstream City from scratch.

"Roland! I'll have Balin take some men to send it back to you." Thorin considered that Roland's men were insufficient to protect the supplies, so he planned to have Balin deliver it and also familiarize himself with Roland's house.

"Of course, I'd love to." Roland, who was worried about the lack of manpower, couldn't refuse Thorin's kindness and quickly agreed.

……

"You've established a town at the mouth of the lake?" Balin looked at the lord who had changed the landscape of the north with curiosity.

“Yes…” Roland didn’t intend to say much. “By the way, King Roland, I have a request. I wonder if you can grant it?” Balin suddenly remembered something and said somewhat awkwardly.

"A request?" Roland thought for a moment and immediately understood what Balin wanted to say.

"Are you planning an expedition to Moria?" Roland stared at Bahrain, scrutinizing him.

"Oh! You are so wise!" Balin was impressed by Roland's wisdom; he hadn't expected that Roland would guess what he was trying to say.

"Why go and retake Moria? Isn't Irube City good enough now?" Roland asked, puzzled.

Balin shrugged, paused for a moment, and then slowly said, "Kazarm is the dwarves' most prized city... It's their ancient capital, and I hope to rekindle the glory of the descendants of Turin there..."

"I remember Thorne led you to attack Kazamdu, didn't he?" Roland recalled that the final Battle of Azanubiza had taken place at the eastern gate of Kazamdu. The battle ended in a Pyrrhic victory for the dwarves, but because the Balrog still lingered deep within the city, the remaining dwarves were unable to reclaim Moria...

“Yes, but we failed…” Bahrain said in a low voice.

Roland opened his mouth, about to try and persuade Bahrain, when the system's clear and pleasant voice rang out—

"Ding-dong! Side quest activated: Recapture Moria. Quest duration: 1 year. Reward: 1 random attribute dragon rider."

"No more words! I'm definitely going to help you out! Based on our life-or-death friendship, I'll give you everything, not just Moria! I'll even go to Gangaba with you!" Roland patted his chest and promised. There was no way... Roland couldn't escape the "it's actually good" phenomenon. A Tier 5 Dragon Knight General! Roland convinced himself before he could persuade others.

"Ah, this..." Roland's bizarre move completely baffled Balin. This guy had just been advising him not to put himself in danger, but now he was rushing in even more eagerly than Balin. Balin's poor brain capacity simply couldn't process it.

"Damn it!" Caslo, following behind Roland, cursed inwardly. The Balrog was a super magical beast… who else but himself could fight a super magical beast? It was truly a case of "I'm not worried if I don't go in!" Caslo rolled his eyes helplessly at Roland, watching his king ruthlessly sell him out. Caslo was already pondering what could increase fire resistance; he should prepare some in advance, lest the Balrog cremate him…

"We're here!" Roland saw the familiar broken stone wall and immediately felt a special sense of warmth. Although it was a bit broken, it was still his first home in Middle-earth, wasn't it?

"That's really impressive! In just a few days, your city has already taken shape," Bahrain exclaimed.

“That’s right! That’s right!” Roland was very pleased.

After directing his men to unload and store the goods, Roland once again expressed his gratitude to the dwarves. As he watched Balin and his men turn the cart pulled by the ibex around, Roland suddenly remembered something.

"By the way! Balin! If possible, let's set the time for recapturing Moria for next summer. I will lead my army to help then." Roland shouted to Balin after thinking for a while. Setting it for summer was a decision Roland made after careful consideration. You know, it was definitely impossible to launch an expedition to Moria this winter. Spring was for planting and building cities, so only in summer would Roland's army be free.

“Very well, King Roland, I will set off in the summer to meet you.” Bahrain bowed in respect.

"Take care! Be careful on your journey!" Roland waved goodbye to the departing dwarf caravan.

Second update! Dear readers, please shower me with recommendation votes!

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(End of this chapter)