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

Chapter 489 Caslow's Discovery
The next morning, Caslo knocked on Roland's door.

"Clang, clang, clang!" A somewhat dull knocking sound came from behind.

"Hmm?" Roland, who had just finished breakfast, was engrossed in reading a chivalric novel, "The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth." He could only use the fancy gadgets that the system had rewarded him with to pass the time.

"What's wrong? Come in!" Roland said softly, since there was nothing to be ashamed of now that Nyx was out.

“I’ve discovered something that Your Highness should be interested in!” Caslo handed over a memory crystal.

"Hmm? Let me see." Roland inputted some battle energy into it, and instantly the memory crystal was activated, projecting a scene recorded inside into mid-air.

“This is…” Roland’s face lit up with joy. In the picture, a black torrent was rushing across the pale snowfield.

"Where did these horned bulls come from?" Roland stared at Caslo in shock. These basic magical beasts were among the worst, with almost no skills. Brute Force Charge and Primal Body Protection were their only two abilities. Aside from Primal Body Protection, which formed a shield, Brute Force Charge was practically useless—it was powerful, but you had to actually hit someone to use it. The secret to their survival was their sheer numbers. Compared to other magical beasts, their massive population base allowed them to thrive even at the bottom of the food chain. Moreover, their numbers would surge in suitable environments. In Roland's opinion, if these basic magical beasts ever went extinct, then the magical beast species itself would probably disappear.

"You didn't alert them, did you?" Roland suddenly looked at Caslo anxiously.

"How could that be? I recorded it from the sky. If they could sense me without releasing my dragon's might, would they have ended up at the bottom of the entire food chain of magical beasts?" Caslo shook his head and chuckled. A dragon that could detect the hidden aura in the sky meant that it was exceptionally perceptive. If it really had that ability, its early warning capabilities would have made most predators return empty-handed.

“That’s true.” Roland nodded in understanding.

"Any ideas?" Caslo asked Roland with a smile.

"You know perfectly well what I'm asking!" Roland said with a sly smile.

“Summon Lord Omske for me; I need his help with this,” Roland said to the guard.

"Yes, Your Highness!" The guard nodded and turned to leave.

……

“You were looking for my Highness? Hi! Good morning, Knight Caslo!” Omske greeted the two.

"Hmm, take a look at this!" Roland didn't exchange many pleasantries with Omske, but instead showed him the memory crystal.

"What are your thoughts?" Roland asked lazily, leaning back.

"What could they possibly be thinking? Just arrest them!" Omske shrugged and said casually.

“The problem now is how to catch them. I want calves…” Roland pointed meaningfully to the calf of the wild horned bull that was being protected in the middle. After all, snowwing chickens can be trained, so there’s no reason why wild horned bulls can’t. After all, chickens and bulls are among the first domesticated animals by humans.

"You want to get into aquaculture?" Omske was taken aback.

“Of course! Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime! Why would I wander dozens of miles away hunting every day if I could raise them myself? Besides, the taste of the horned bull is quite good.” Roland said matter-of-factly. After all, isn’t an animal with plenty of meat, good taste, and easy breeding the first choice for domestication? “Ahhh!” Little Dos’s eyes lit up with excitement as soon as he heard about the meat.

"Meat...meat!" Little Doss grabbed Roland's shoulder and excitedly started fiddling with it.

"Wow! It can talk now!" Omske exclaimed in amazement. How long had it been since the Golden Holy Dragon learned to speak? Truly worthy of being the pinnacle of intelligent species, its intelligence and learning ability were top-notch.

“That’s a golden holy dragon, not a giant rat! Is there a problem with it being able to speak human language? Have you ever seen a dragon that can’t speak human language? Even that mutated dragon Smaug can say a few words like ‘ah ah ah’.” Roland spread his hands.

"Heh, I've never seen Smaug, but that dragon really had a rough time. You guys skinned it, pulled out its tendons, and cut it into eight pieces," Omsk chuckled.

"There's nothing I can do, he just had to mess with me!" Roland started preparing to show off.

"Alright, Your Highness, we've gone off-topic. Now we're discussing how to take down these big guys!" Caslo interrupted the two people who were about to continue their boasting.

"Okay, you win!" After staring at Caslo for a few seconds, Omske spread his hands and surrendered.

“Alright, young man, tell us your advice!” Roland quickly sat up straight.

“I suggest we send the Knights! Their mobility and combat effectiveness are guaranteed,” Caslo said with a shrug, sounding very straightforward.

“We can kill the adults and leave the young and juveniles to reproduce!” Omske added. After all, winter was almost over and the kingdom’s reserves were running low. This beef could also alleviate the kingdom’s food shortage.

"Sigh, it's not good for us to keep harassing the Knights all the time." Roland looked outside with some pity, and for some reason thought of a friend named Yun Feng. He wondered how Yun Feng was doing in his studio, reviewing documents. People missed him a few days after he moved out.

"Just thinking about how you boss Yunfeng around all day makes your heart ache," Omske teased with a smirk.

"You said it well... Don't say any more." Roland told Omske to mute his microphone with a dark face. The feeling of gratitude and guilt he had just felt for Yun Feng vanished instantly.

"Let's go hunting!" Roland stood up and stretched out his arms. He hadn't been out and about in a long time; if he didn't get out and about, his bones would rust. Well, not rust, since he was constantly being beaten up by that old geezer Adile, dodging and blocking had become ingrained in Roland's bones. Now, if Roland saw anything coming towards him, his first instinct was to block it...

As a result, when that girl Nyx pounced on him to throw herself into his arms last time, Roland, to his dismay, drew his Dragon Slayer Sword and stood ready... You can imagine what happened next. According to the guards and maids outside the door, the great King Roland screamed all night long that night.

"What? Not going to training today?" Omsk chuckled to himself. He knew that Roland was being beaten up by old man Adile every day, and he seemed to enjoy it. Although Roland's fighting skills had improved significantly, Omsk couldn't help but grimace whenever he thought of Roland's miserable state. After all, why not enjoy the throne instead of trying to be like other emperors and light up the title of "Emperor on Horseback"? Wasn't he just asking for trouble?

"Screw you! Slacking off today! I'm not a masochist!" Roland said irritably. He knew that Omske always secretly watched from the sidelines whenever he and Adile trained.

“Alright, then I’ll go assemble the Knights.” Omsk nodded; as a competent general, he was quite efficient.

“Alright, I’ll go get Ajax. Two dragon knights will be good at driving away those horned bulls. It’ll be troublesome if they scatter.” Caslo also turned and left.

(End of this chapter)