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

Chapter 812 The Lord is in Action!
"Hurry, hurry! Little Apophis, bring out all the good wine and meat!" Old Leo said without any politeness, his eyes fixed on the fragrant bread in front of him as he began to dig in.

"Ugh! Damn it! After running around for years, it's either dried meat or roasted field mice every day! Catching a fish in the pond in the meadow is like celebrating the Dragon God Festival!" Old Leo sighed. With his daily battles of wits with those bastards, where did he find the time to eat anything good? Add to that the orc tribes on the wasteland who were poorer than ghosts, and it's safe to say that Old Leo couldn't get any useful food at all. Being able to pick out something to fill his stomach was the best result Old Leo could achieve.

“You’re still injured, so you shouldn’t drink alcohol,” Apophis Breo said hesitantly.

"Bullshit! How could the old men have survived without alcohol! It was all thanks to those old men who made it all the way back from the north!" Old Leo retorted. Although the orcs didn't have much food to eat, surprisingly, they did have a lot of alcohol to drink. The cheap potato wine was spicy and pungent, but it could warm people's bodies in the cold northern wasteland.

"Good heavens... it's a miracle you didn't drink yourself to death!" Apophis Breo's eyes twitched. If you're still alive, the ancestors of the King's Landing family must have kowtowed to the Dragon God! You dared to drink cheap wine through freezing weather while under a death curse? Fine, fine, fine! Lagrange brute, I won't watch without you!
"I'm incredibly lucky! By the way, who's the king now?" Old Leo spat, then asked.

"The royal family? The royal family is long gone!" Dula shook his head and sneered.

“Yes, Your Majesty Leo, there is no longer a royal family!” Olaf nodded in agreement.

"..." Old Leo was struck dumb, frozen in place. He stared at the three men, trying to discern from their expressions whether they were playing a prank on him.

“There is no royal family anymore…” Apophis Breo nodded and said softly.

"Waaah..." Old Leo covered his face and burst into tears. The impact was no less than that of telling the old folks that the Qing Dynasty was over. This left Old Leo, who had always taken it upon himself to restore the empire and be loyal to the royal family, completely dumbfounded.

"The current king is King Roland of the Romanian royal family. He is currently stationed in Lagrange with his troops. He recently recaptured the old capital!" Apophis Breo told Old Rio.

"Excellent! Well done! You've successfully recaptured it!" Old Rio nodded repeatedly in praise.

……

"Lord Ismir, I bring His Highness Nyx's greetings!" Lance walked slowly forward, holding high the Bauhinia dragon banner that symbolized the Queen.

"Greetings, Baron Lance! May you be well!" Ismir hurriedly emerged from the humble Windhelm to greet Lance and his entourage. Ismir astutely noticed that the soldiers who had come seemed to be Queen Nyx's private army; the powerful force, led by the Knights of the Crossbringer, made the already small area outside Windhelm even more crowded. "Set up camp here!" Lance turned and ordered, clearly indicating that the cramped Windhelm could not contain this army.

……

"Tsk! Are you crazy! You've built this lousy place like a fortress?" Lance exclaimed in surprise as soon as he entered Ismir's castle. No wonder Windhelm Town hadn't expanded much in the past few years after it became Windhelm City. It was more of a nominal change from town to city. Now Lance finally understood what Ismir had been doing all these years!
This thing actually built a three-story castle entirely of brick and stone, and it insanely abandoned comfort and versatility, focusing entirely on defense! The magic-patterned stone bricks mixed in told Lance that this monstrosity might even have a shield function...

"Sigh... It's tough! I don't want to die! What other way is there besides frantically building a small castle?" Ismir shrugged. Unlike other nobles who had some resources, he was penniless and as a pioneering lord, it would be difficult to defend his land! He had only been able to dominate for a few years by taking advantage of the kingdom's military might. But Ismir believed that the Ringwraiths weren't idiots. If they calmly investigated, they would find that there were no high-level human professionals stationed in this settlement. Perhaps the Ringwraiths were afraid of the kingdom's professionals, but they could easily remove this mere outpost!

"To thank you for your contributions in battle, Queen Nyx, on behalf of the royal family, rewards you with 10,000 gold coins and 100 sets of brand-new enchanted heavy infantry plate armor!" Lance finally got to the point. 10,000 gold coins were nothing; what was truly valuable were these 100 sets of enchanted infantry armor! These were the kind of things that money couldn't buy!

"Self-healing, lightness, and sturdiness are three basic enchantments. Although they are not rare, they are definitely useful! Seeing your current situation, I can confidently give them to you!" Lance smiled.

"Huh? So you originally didn't intend to give it to me?" Ismir was taken aback, somewhat at a loss.

“It’s alright to speak the truth. I’m here on Queen Nyx’s orders. The ten thousand gold coins are a reward for your sacrifice. As for whether you should have these enchanted equipment, it depends on your future prospects. After all, the kingdom won’t invest in a pioneering territory that could be destroyed at any time!” Lance spoke very frankly, but Ismir agreed wholeheartedly. As a pioneering territory, it’s natural to need someone to show others your significance and value. Nobles without ability are destined to be eliminated, and the kingdom’s approach is justifiable.

"I see!" Ismir felt relieved. After all, if the Queen had given him a hundred sets of armor for no reason, Ismir wouldn't have felt comfortable accepting them. Who knew if the Queen was planning to send him on a "glorious" mission? Now, Lance's words dispelled Ismir's concerns. As long as he wasn't sent to be cannon fodder, he was fine with it.

"Alright, I'll be going if there's nothing else. Be careful and pay attention. If anything seems amiss, immediately send out reinforcements! General Renault isn't the type to stand by and watch someone die!" Lance whispered a few words of advice.

"By the way, I see you're short-handed here. Once the snow melts a bit, you can go to Swiftstream City to recruit some people. There are quite a few refugees migrating outside the city; they'll be heading east along Swiftstream Avenue!" Lance whispered. After all, this was something that could be done, but no third person could know. Those were Roland's people; it would be tantamount to Lance teaching Ismir to undermine Roland... That would be a matter of nature and loyalty! Nobles could do it in private, but they absolutely couldn't bring it up in public!
"Thank you for the pointers!" Ismir nodded gratefully. Lance's inside information had been a great help to him; at least he knew where to focus his efforts.

Ismir quickly came up with a plan. After all, with the Queen's support, Windhelm could expand its army again. Although his knightly troops had been wiped out, his infantry remained intact! He could find a way to bring back some free citizens and recruit some freelancers from the kingdom to assemble a large army to fight against Dolgodo!
Ismir, who had just been soundly beaten by the Ringwraiths, was certainly not going to back down. His mind was now filled with thoughts of how many troops he could muster and how many Orcs from Dolgoth could stand up and charge! Fear? That wasn't a word in the Lagrange brute's dictionary!
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(End of this chapter)