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

Chapter 490 Hunting
Soon, Omsk assembled the knights of the Knights Order, a total of 110 vanguard knights of the Lagrange Empire. The menacing presence of the knights caused the hibernating commoners of the kingdom to peek out from their homes. Since they had nothing better to do, they figured it would be good to come out and see what the commotion was about.

"What's going on? Who is the kingdom going to beat up in the dead of winter?" the unsuspecting people asked curiously.

"Hey! You guys don't know this, do you? His Majesty the King plans to restore the glory of the Empire and is going on an eastern expedition!" An old man said in a mysterious low voice.

"What? Really? Old Parker, you can't be talking nonsense!" Some people clearly didn't believe it.

“Tsk! How could I lie? My neighbor’s third aunt’s second uncle’s grandson is on duty in the kingdom’s army. He secretly told us that His Highness will be returning to the old capital soon!” Old Parker said with a serious expression.

"Really? That's amazing!"

"I knew Your Highness was extraordinary..."

……

"Who spread this rumor?" Omske's lips twitched; his keen hearing allowed him to clearly hear the people's discussions.

"What's wrong? What happened to Omsk?" Roland asked, looking at Omsk's strange expression.

“Yes, that’s how it is…” Kaslo told Roland with a smile before Omsk could speak.

"What? Who's making such a fuss? I just went out hunting because I was craving meat and they're spreading rumors about me?" Roland almost fell off his horse.

"It's easy to spread rumors, but hard to refute them!" Roland was exasperated by the increasingly outrageous rumors. He clenched and unclenched his fists several times before the great King Roland sighed and could only helplessly let things go.

……

"Has the dwarves made any moves lately, Kaslow?" Roland asked Kaslow. After all, the northern gate of the entire kingdom was in the hands of the Lonely Mountain dwarves, and if Thorin got drunk one day and let the orcs in, things would get really messy.

"No, the dwarven garrison in the north remains vigilant. Although there are still loopholes, they have done their best to maintain border security throughout the north. At least they can provide early warning of large-scale orcish forces approaching." Caslow was pessimistic about the Lonely Mountain dwarves' defenses. After all, the north was too vast. If they could really hold out, Caslow and Ajax wouldn't have to spend all day flying around in the sky. No, wait! Now there are five more unfortunate souls flying around in the cold wind.

The current reconnaissance force of the Kingdom of Lagrange is structured as follows: Ajax and Caslo, the two dragon riders, are responsible for patrolling other dangerous areas outside the border, while the griffon riders are responsible for patrolling within the kingdom's territory. After all, griffons are inferior to dragons in terms of endurance, speed, and stamina, and are considered short-legged among the mounts of the air knights. These few people are responsible for protecting the entire kingdom's airspace. The northwest wind blowing against them every day almost makes the griffon riders numb; they weren't even told they'd be dealing with the northwest wind all the time!

“However…” Caslo seemed to remember something and looked at Roland hesitantly, a hint of embarrassment flashing in his eyes.

"Stop beating around the bush! Speak quickly!" Roland urged. What kind of man speaks so hesitantly and indecisively?
"The Ironhill dwarves are reinforcing the mountains and clearing away rubble..." Caslow hadn't finished speaking when he saw Roland awkwardly turn his head to the side.

Roland apologized, saying he'd spoken too loudly and asked if she could take back her words. Now, Roland reacted like a mouse before a cat at the mere mention of Dain's name. After all, he'd almost wrecked Dain's house, even though it wasn't his intention. But since he was the one who created the dragon, he felt responsible for his actions. Roland reached into his pocket and realized that his ever-present shadow, Dain, had chosen to stay warm by the fireplace because it was cold outside, and hadn't gone out with him at all. "Oh well, it's just a matter of a dragon flute," Roland consoled himself.

……

“I think we’ve arrived!” Omske said quietly.

"Huh?" Before Roland could react, Omsk raised his whip.

Looking in the direction of the whip, Roland realized that he had actually arrived beside the black "torrent". The sight of those muscular, explosive bulls made Roland's heart flutter.

Roland stared at the horde of magical beasts before him, his eyes gleaming with greed. He looked at their flowing black manes, their powerful limbs, and their massive bodies, resembling rhinoceroses from his past life, weighing one to two tons. His mouth watered at the sight of their enormous horns, the source of their name. Truly, a beast so large it couldn't be cooked in a single iron pot.

Looking at this behemoth that weighed as much as an earth dragon (and it was a pack animal), Roland's legs went weak without him even realizing it. To be honest, the sense of oppression from this thing was even stronger than that of Smaug. Even though they were just leisurely digging for food in the snow, their massive size still gave Roland the illusion of hundreds of main battle tanks.

"Go!" Omsk commanded the knights in a deep voice.

"I'd like to trouble you two to help gather them together and prevent them from scattering!" Omske turned to Caslow and Ajax and said.

"Don't worry, General Omske, we will do our best!" Before Caslo could speak, Ajax's crisp voice rang out.

Roland glanced at it. Who said women can't do it? Look at Ajax, can't she cut you down? In terms of combat power, the combination of Ajax and the Fire Winged Dragon Renoir is much stronger than the combination of Caslo and the Storm Dragon Kaldor. One is a born dragon and the other is an evolved one, so there is still a difference in combat power.

Moreover, compared to Roland's loyal lackey Caslo's moderate and peaceful personality, the lively and emotional Ajax is more warlike. Not only is she warlike, but she is also a formidable fighter! Like a little firecracker, Ajax is quick to ignite, and with the glory of the empire in her heart, she is truly terrifying.

"Hey girl, calm down, don't try to touch everything!" Roland saw Ajax's eager expression and knew things were going to go wrong. It wasn't that he was against Ajax taking action, but if she did, everyone would be eating roasted meat every meal—all cooked by dragon flame.

Roland felt that Ajax should be given some background music: "I only made a slight move and I knew the orcs' limit to temperature tolerance. That year, I had my hands in my pockets and the orcs were so hot that they didn't dare to fight back!"

"Oh." Ajax's excitement visibly faded. She wouldn't be happy if her baby didn't breathe dragon's breath!
"Make sure the cubs are alive! Whether you can eat meat every day from now on depends on you! If you hurt any of the cubs, you'd all be cleaning toilets!" Omske roared with all his might, his voice reaching the ears of every member of the Knights. They looked at each other and laughed. You tell me, this guy's not sleepy anymore! He'd better make sure everything is arranged properly.
After all, as a kingdom that inherited the legacy of the Lagrange Empire, these knights were originally the standard knights of the empire. Under the leadership of one Lagrange emperor after another, they were invincible throughout the Middle Kingdom and could be called the top of the Red Flower Double Staff in the entire Middle Kingdom. Lagrange knights never ask about the number of enemies; they only need to know where the enemies are!

"Slap!" Roland slapped himself in the face helplessly. How could he possibly play after Omske's order? These professional brutes were perfect for this job. By the time they started, all that would be left would be corpses and cubs.

"Sigh..." Roland looked at the knights who had surrounded him and helplessly put down his bow and arrow.

(End of this chapter)