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

The team organized by Lonely Mountain had just set off when Ajax, who was wandering around in the sky, saw everything clearly.

"Huh? The dwarves are carrying so much stuff? Has the kingdom been trading with the dwarves recently?" Ajax tilted her head, looking down at the dwarf procession that looked like crawling worms.

……

"Hmm? The dwarves have sent a whole group of people to our kingdom? And they've sent all sorts of carts and wagons?" Roland raised an eyebrow at Ajax.

“Yes! I saw them when I went out for a walk!” Ajax nodded.

"Yunfeng? What do you think?" Roland looked up at his strategist.

"They probably know about the battle situation in the north and have come to establish friendly relations!" Yun Feng smiled and calculated that the news of the battle situation in the north should have reached the vicinity of Lonely Mountain by now. Faced with an extremely powerful ally, any dwarf king who wasn't a fool would know what to do.

"Hmm..." Roland nodded. That should be the case. After all, dwarves wouldn't just come to visit people randomly if they had nothing else to do.

……

"Kili! We've arrived!" Philip suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh? Isn't this wasteland?" Qili was a little confused.

“There are boundary markers here!” Philip gently kicked Qili’s leg and gestured to him with his lip.

"Let's send an envoy to inform them! After all, so many of us entering their territory could easily cause misunderstandings..." Philip said cautiously. After all, dealing with a nation capable of unleashing a powerful forbidden spell meant they couldn't treat other countries the same way they had. All etiquette had to be impeccable, just in case relations deteriorated...

"Whoa!" Just as the two were discussing who should go and announce their arrival, a troop of cavalry came galloping by.

"Dignified dwarf friends! This way, please!" The leading knight bowed with his hand on his chest.

"Huh?" Qili and Feili exchanged a glance, both showing shock in their eyes. They knew they were coming from so far away from Jili City? Little did they know that Ajax had seen them as soon as they set off.

……

"Kili! Phil!" Roland reached out and hugged the two of them.

"What? What brings you here?" Roland feigned ignorance.

"We've come to pay you a visit and also to apologize for our mistake..." Phil said somewhat awkwardly. The result of the dwarven defenses being breached was that a large number of orcs marched south, countless Lagrang farms were destroyed, and some orcs even began attacking farmers. Iruber, powerless to solve the orc problem, could only watch helplessly as Lagrang sent out its iron cavalry... and then cast a great forbidden spell on the North!
“It’s alright… It’s not your fault. Defending those areas is too much for you…” Roland was very understanding of them. After all, in such a large area as Lonely Mountain, a thousand dwarves on the border wouldn’t even make a splash. As for the River Valley… Roland felt a little sorry for Bard. That wretched place… emm, the garrison would have a hard time even protecting the castle.

“Thank you for your understanding… We have brought you a thousand fine steel round shields, one hundred thousand triangular armor-piercing arrows, and some fine steel ingots as gifts to thank you for your contributions to the Alliance!” Kili and Fili were humble; they understood that a powerful human kingdom was about to rise in the southern part of Lonely Mountain!

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony! It’s what we should do as allies. Oh, and just a heads up! There’s a huge griffin clan in the Gray Mountains. Tell your dragonhawk riders to stay away…” Roland suddenly said, as if remembering something.

"Huh? A wild griffin clan? In the Gray Mountains?" Qili and Feili exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in their eyes.

"It's nothing serious. Just don't provoke them; griffins are quite docile!" Roland smiled at the two dwarf brothers, whose expressions had changed. "Thank you for reminding us!" the two quickly replied.

"It's alright, I've arranged a banquet. If you're not in a hurry, you can come and try the food and wine of Lagrange!" Roland extended an invitation. Fortunately, the castle in Swiftstream City has undergone preliminary repairs and can now barely accommodate foreign guests.

"Then we'll have to bother you!" The two had initially wanted to refuse, but upon hearing about the fine wine, they readily agreed.

……

"How is it?" At the banquet, Roland couldn't help but swallow hard as he watched the two dwarves drinking strong liquor. He had brought out genuine Erguotou... but the two dwarves were chugging it down like water! Roland's eyebrows twitched as he watched.

"Strong! Truly strong! King Roland! I toast you! This is the wine a real man should drink!" Philip's tongue was already starting to curl.

"Uh..." Roland's forehead creased with annoyance. Good heavens! The baijiu's potency was kicking in? Drinking baijiu straight from the bottle really does cause trouble...

"Tsk tsk tsk!" Yun Feng shook his head as he looked at it. This liquor was distilled by him, and he knew better than anyone how much stronger it was than ordinary ale.

“I think you could consider selling this as our specialty!” Yun Feng whispered to Roland. After seeing the dwarf’s reaction, Yun Feng felt reassured. After all, if even the dwarfs, who were known for their high alcohol content, approved of the wine, it must be of good quality.

“Brewing wine requires a lot of grain! Wine is the essence of grain!” Roland glanced at Yun Feng. Of course, he knew that Erguotou was stronger and more fragrant than rum and the like, but given the bottomless pit that Jiliu City was in, large-scale brewing was still out of the question.

"Foolish! Once we open up the trade routes, we can sell wine to exchange for grain!" Yun Feng shrugged. This stuff, if packaged properly, would definitely be in high demand. The people of the Central Plains, accustomed to drinking light ale like beer, had never experienced the baptism of 50-proof Erguotou! For alcoholics, this stuff was no less than nectar! And he believed that wealthy nobles would be willing to pay for it! After all, wine was an important part of noble banquets. When you could bring out a bottle of good wine, in the eyes of other nobles, you were a person of substance! He believed that no noble could refuse such a strong liquor that would allow them to show off.

"Your Highness, is this your specialty?" Qi Li wasn't drunk, and he raised his glass to Roland in a toast.

“Yes! Production is not high…” Roland nodded in agreement.

"This is really good wine! Does it have a name?" Qili asked curiously.

"It's called Qianlizui! It's made through hundreds of processes..." Roland went on and on, almost praising this ordinary Erguotou to the heavens.

"..." Yun Feng's lips twitched. If he hadn't personally distilled it, he would have almost believed Roland's words. What girl fermenting it by stepping on it? Isn't that wine? Yun Feng looked at Roland, who was bragging, speechless.

"Have you considered selling it...?" Qili asked somewhat embarrassedly. He wanted to buy a batch to take back to his people, because good wine should be shared!

"Of course...but because it's a large amount of grain essence..." Roland started spouting nonsense. Having experienced the information age, Roland quickly fooled Qili.

……

"You're really greedy!" Yun Feng's eyes were already wary of Roland. Just listen to the price Roland quoted: a mere ten-liter jar of Erguotou was being sold for the price of a ton of grain... and the dwarf actually accepted it?

"Cough cough! I'm not lying! Wine is the essence of grain! I should at least make some profit, right?" Roland coughed a few times and argued.