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

"Your Highness, welcome!" Adile gave a knightly salute and looked at Roland respectfully.

"What's going on?" Roland narrowed his eyes. Last time there were quite a few knights and squires, but now there are only eight left.

“These are all promising talents who can gather battle aura. The others are doomed to become knights, but they still have hope!” Adile said with relief.

Roland nodded. These people only had battle aura in their bodies, but they had not yet reached the entry standard. Before they entered the entry level, no one could guarantee whether they could become a true knight. However, compared to others, their chances were much greater.

"Do your best... The training period for knights is very long! As you know, many knights spend their entire lives as apprentice knights!" Roland shook his head, without being harsh. In the end, it was because the kingdom's foundation was too weak. It's easy to choose a knight seed from more than 10,000 people versus from 100,000 people. Even a fool knows.

"Thank you for your understanding!" Adile bowed, patting his chest.

"How's the situation? Are there any difficulties? Of course, these are limited to supplies and such." Roland looked at the knights and squires training on their warhorses.

“What about those discarded knights’ squires?” Adile asked.

“We can recruit them as the knights’ logistics personnel…” Roland thought for a moment.

"Aren't you planning to enlist them as regular cavalry?" Adile was taken aback.

"No..." Roland shook his head with a bitter smile, his eyes filled with bitterness and sorrow.

“This time we successfully defeated the chariot civilians, and a light cavalry unit played a crucial role…” Roland shook his head.

"Did they... sacrifice themselves?" Adile asked tentatively, looking at Roland's expression.

"Yes, they died a horrible death! So I don't plan to recruit ordinary cavalry anymore!" Roland nodded.

“You are a benevolent king, but for the sake of this kingdom, they died without regret!” Adil said solemnly, his hand on his chest.

“But if we patrolled with several squads of knights as scouts, the result would be much better… If I had enough knights…” Roland said bitterly. At least the knights could fight back, while ordinary cavalry would be doomed against professionals.

“I will train them well, and soon your knights will have fresh blood!” Adile promised, pounding his chest.

"It's alright, no rush! We don't lack knights now, and the kingdom won't have any large-scale wars for a long time!" Roland patted old Adile on the shoulder. Although this old hero showed signs of aging, he still had unfulfilled ambitions and could burn brightly for at least a few more decades.

"Our journey has only just begun! The road to the kingdom is still long!" Roland's gaze was profound.

“Yes, Your Highness!” Adile replied respectfully.

"Alright, I won't see you off! I'm going to check out other places!" Roland nodded.

……

"Grandpa Radil! You've worked hard!" Roland looked up and saw Grandpa Radil busy making magic-inlaid stone bricks.

"Greetings, Your Highness! The construction here will take some time!" Radil waved his staff as a greeting to Roland. "Alright! Take your time, I'm not in a hurry!" Roland nodded. After all, those buildings were just temples for other professions to change to. Roland didn't even have a qualified profession instructor yet, so even if they were built, they would be useless. However, he wanted to prepare the site first, so that it could be used later when a suitable profession instructor was available. Roland's vision for the kingdom was to realize the training capabilities for knights, warriors, and archers.

……

"Your Highness!" A call interrupted Roland's thoughts; it was two maids.

Roland shook his head. The maids in the castle were all recruited by Nyx. These maids were selected from respectable girls in the city. They had regular features and good figures. Although they were not stunning, they were still very pretty and pleasing to the eye.

"Are you personal maids?" Roland suddenly noticed that both maids had a bow with the golden dragon emblem of the Lagrange royal family tied on their right arms, which clearly distinguished them from ordinary maids.

"Yes, Your Highness." The two maids lifted their skirts and bowed slightly.

"Let's go! Take me to the study!" Roland nodded. Since she was a personal maid, there was nothing to worry about. These kinds of maids all had indentures; they were born to be the lord's people and would die with him. These maids would eventually become the nobleman's mistress or concubine. Since Nyx had chosen her, Roland could use her with peace of mind.

……

"Bang!" As the door closed, the huge study fell silent. The two maids quickly and skillfully lit the fireplace, then lit the oil lamp for Roland and stood obediently to the side.

"Lock the door!" Roland idly flipped through the books. There were quite a few books on the bookshelves around the room, all of which were random things Roland had gotten from signing in. They were useless except for showing off his erudition.

"Take off your clothes!" Roland commanded after feeling the temperature in the room.

The two maids exchanged a glance and then obediently took off their outer clothes, leaving only their inner garments.

“Continue,” Roland said.

A blush rose on their faces, and they slowed down their movements. A minute later, their two delicate bodies stood in front of Roland.

Roland stood up and carefully examined the two girls. He had to admit that Nyx had a good eye for talent. It was not easy to find two girls among these people who were considered exceptional by ordinary standards. The two girls were well-developed, and because they lived in the lord's castle and had abundant resources, they were very clean and had no odor. Instead, they had a faint body fragrance.

"Huh? Why isn't it there? Bend over!" Roland asked curiously after circling around twice, and then ordered the two girls to bend over.

Roland quickly found what he was looking for: on the tailbone of each of the two maids was a royal crest mark the size of a fingernail, indicating that the two were Roland's servants. Moreover, this kind of secret mark could not be removed by ordinary people and would stay with them for life.

"Alright! Put your clothes on!" Roland said softly after looking at them. The two girls' bodies had been trembling, which made Roland feel secretly pleased, but he didn't have a penchant for forcing them. It has to be said... there really is a reason for the decadence of the nobility.

“Since you have all obtained Nyx’s consent, you will follow me and Nyx. When I am in Stream City, you will serve me and Nyx, and when I am away, you will serve Nyx separately!” Roland explained the general scope of their work to them.

"Yes, Your Highness," the two replied respectfully.

"Alright, go learn the etiquette a personal maid should know. You two are my esteemed servants, don't embarrass the king!" Roland gently patted their cheeks to dismiss them.