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

Chapter 405 Going Home
"Citizens of the Empire! Hasten! We're going home!" Lord Lafitte Antony's eyes suddenly reddened. Home... what a distant concept. In their memories, home was a faraway place. They had never even seen a home, only a beautiful, dreamlike kingdom and a powerful army passed down through generations...

"Go home? My lord, are we going back to the Empire?"

"Sir, are we really going back?"

"Great! Finally, we have a country to protect us!"

Lord Lafitte Antony looked at the people following behind him, his eyes welling up with tears... Empire... such a familiar yet unfamiliar word.

"It is regrettable, but I must say that the empire has vanished into the annals of history... The only thing that remains now is the Kingdom of Lagrand!" A vanguard knight, seeing the moved crowd, did not want to disturb them, but still chose to speak, since the current situation was somewhat different from what they had imagined.

"It's alright... It won't be much worse than it is now anyway..." Lord Lafit Anthony shook his head. The honor of the nobility still made him stick to his original intention to treat the people well, but they had been wandering for too long... so long that people had lost hope in their eyes. The light in those people's eyes had long since disappeared. The only swift infantry that could be trained was of questionable quality. It was only because of the knights who had occasionally awakened on their own over the years that this group of imperial remnants could hold on. However, the knights had long been in a predicament of lack of successors. If there was any mishap, the knightly tradition could be lost. After all, their highest-ranking third-tier grand knights only possessed the skills of ordinary second-tier knights.

"Hmm..." The vanguard knights fell silent, looking at the pale-faced ordinary civilians, a feeling of sadness welling up in their hearts.

……

In the end, the packing by the common people lasted for almost a whole day, and it wasn't until evening that these ordinary people finally appeared carrying large and small bags...

The knights and heavy cavalry who had been gathered outside were getting impatient, and only then did they see the civilians emerge from the low wall.

"Dragon God... have they lifted the ground up?" The knights and heavy cavalrymen frowned. Were those people carrying dead wood serious? And that old lady carrying a stack of firewood... what kind of monsters are these?
"Are these people serious? It's almost dark!" The leading Grand Knight looked at Lord Lafit Anthony with displeasure, wanting an explanation.

"It's easy to set up a business, but hard to shut it down... These ordinary people are eager to grab every resource they can get their hands on. They're used to hardship, so please forgive them..." Lord Lafitte Anthony said with a forced smile.

"..." The Vanguard Grand Knight took a deep breath, speechless. He couldn't possibly send his troops to drive out those civilians, could he?
“Let’s walk at night! Everyone’s used to it. The people scattered across the North aren’t that delicate!” Lafit Anton noticed the knight’s displeasure and quickly spoke up. After all, he wasn’t sure how this nation, born from the corpses of the Empire, would treat them. Even though Lafit Anton was a member of the Dragon Rider family, he didn’t carry much weight without riding a dragon. It was hard to say whether they would even give him face.

“It’s not safe at night; this isn’t an area controlled by the kingdom!” the vanguard knight replied after a moment’s thought.

“It’s alright. There shouldn’t be anything that can stop us along the way. After all, the Knights’ authority is still quite significant. I don’t think the orcs would be so foolish as to attack a civilian group protected by the Knights. That would be a losing proposition…” Lord Lafitt Anthony analyzed for the leading vanguard knight.

“That makes a lot of sense, and I’m convinced. But that’s not enough to justify the risks we take. His Highness’s orders are to bring you back safely. I don’t want to cause unnecessary casualties just for the sake of speed…”

"Don't worry! We have 300 Swift Infantrymen and seventeen knights here, and among the remaining civilians are many skilled hunters! We can protect ourselves! If all else fails, you can have your heavy cavalry come with us!" Lord Lafitte Antony suggested.

After all, everyone understands that the Knights need to constantly move to maintain speed in order to be able to charge into the enemy lines at any time. Therefore, the Knights basically move at a trot. Heavy cavalry is different. Organized heavy cavalry is the most powerful iron fist besides the knights! However, without the enhancement of battle aura, they cannot keep their warhorses and themselves in a state of motion for a long time. Therefore, heavy cavalry are almost always trotting slowly except when fighting. After all, iron cans that charge by inertia do not need to maintain a high speed.

“Alright! Have your men follow, and I’ll clear the way for you! These heavy cavalry will help you clear obstacles along the way! If they can’t keep up with our speed, remember to send someone to let us know!” the vanguard knight instructed. “Good!” Lord Lafitte Anthony nodded. This arrangement was indeed reasonable; they needed people to clear dangers along the way.

……

"What's wrong? Why are you so gloomy?" Nyx poked Roland, who was standing on the balcony gazing into the distance.

“…Phew.” Roland shook his head without speaking. He just stared at the system screen he could see, which showed that his support mission had been successful, but four days had passed and the person still hadn’t appeared.

"Don't stand in the wind outside, it's chilly in late autumn!" Nyx said with concern, draping a fur cloak over Roland's shoulders.

"Mmm!" Roland pulled Nyx into his arms, and with a few casual strokes, Nyx felt aroused, her eyes glazed over...

"Satisfied?" Roland gently kissed her forehead and asked tenderly.

"Ugh... I'm ignoring you! You're always being naughty!" Nyx covered her blushing face and ran inside.

"Hehehe..." Roland looked at the unidentified liquid in his hand and let out a laugh that only men would understand.

……

"Crackling and popping~" The bonfire on the city wall was burning brightly. Several patrolling guards were leaning against the wall to warm themselves by the fire. Although the fatigue in their eyes was undisguised, these loyal soldiers still persevered in their posting and sentry duty.

"Hmm...hmm!" Suddenly, an older city guard stood up abruptly and slowly poked his head out to carefully examine the situation.

"What's wrong, Brother Richard?" the others asked in hushed tones.

“Dekai! You have sharp eyes! See if there’s anyone ahead?” Richard said, pointing to a soldier. This soldier was a second-tier Battanian archer with sharper vision than the others.

"What's wrong?" The Battanian archer, known as Dekai, poked his head out.

"I just heard the sound of horses' hooves, it sounded like..."

(End of this chapter)