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

Chapter 863 Cyclops
“No need… Lagrange City doesn’t have any dragon riders that need training… Alright, that’s all for you, get out of here!” Roland said with a dark face. He didn’t care about formalities and there was no need to drag his subordinates over to make a fuss.

“Oh.” Darian Nightblade nodded and then slowly disappeared in front of Roland.

“Aragorn…tsk!” Roland shook his head as he thought of the historical records of Aragorn, guessing that Aragorn was probably in the woods with Legolas right now.

"Summon His Excellency Adolf Heinrich for me!" Roland tapped the bell beside the table, and the jingling bell immediately attracted the servants waiting at the door.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” The attendant looked around and then lowered his head.

……

"Your Majesty!" Soon Adolf Heinrich arrived in front of Roland, carrying a bundle of white paper and looking somewhat hurried.

"What? You seem to be busy?" Roland looked at the paper in Adolf Heinrich's hand and smiled. Compared to the wretched parchment in Middle-earth, the blank paper our system gives us is much more appealing!
"Yes, let's go post a notice!" Adolf Heinrich waved the stack of papers in his hand.

"What's new this time? A new law has been enacted? How come I didn't know?" Roland looked at Adolf Heinrich with curiosity, after all, before the Imperial Diet, the enactment of various measures required the king's approval.

“No! A pack of dire wolves has come to the wasteland. Our knights are driving them away. We are just notifying the surrounding settlements and Dragon Cliff Fortress to be on high alert!” Adolf Heinrich shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Roland was relieved. Although the inner city of Lagrange was not yet fully completed, settlements of various sizes were beginning to appear around it, with numerous wooden and thatched huts springing up. It was estimated that tens of thousands of people lived in this area. Clearly, Adolf Heinrich was informing the residents.

"What do you need me for?" Adolf Heinrich then remembered to ask Roland why he wanted to see him.

"Well, I see that winter is fast approaching. How are our winter reserves? Do we have enough hay and food? What about cloth? Do the kingdom's inhabitants have enough supplies?" Roland asked.

“I’m not too clear about the situation in the Swiftstream City area. Duke Joelster and Yunfeng are managing it, but the area around Lagrange City is definitely well-supplied! We’ve been stockpiling all sorts of supplies since the summer…” Adolf Heinrich said with a wry smile.

"We have many warhorses, and we need a lot of fodder. If it's not enough, we should harvest some more now before the snow covers the ground!" Roland murmured, looking at the sky outside where snowflakes were beginning to fall.

"Don't worry, we won't let the warhorses lose weight! We've stockpiled a lot of beans and dried vegetables! I'm more worried about the people than the warhorses!" Adolf Heinrich said somewhat awkwardly.

“The living conditions of ordinary residents are very poor. In winter, there are no fresh vegetables, and their only food is pickled vegetables, bread, and salted meat soup!” Adolf Heinrich said with some emotion. After all, the kingdom’s conditions were poor and it was impossible to supply fresh fruits and vegetables to the residents.

"Not bad. Tell them to prepare more dried and pickled vegetables. As long as no one starves, we'll be lucky!" Roland didn't feel dissatisfied. Compared to the first two years after he arrived, Roland's warlike and militaristic approach to the military and civilians was devastating. If it weren't for the system, they probably would have resorted to cannibalism!
"Then it's alright. As long as those storage equipment and warehouses don't accidentally explode, the kingdom's residents will have no worries about food and clothing this winter! I'm talking about the area around Lagrange City!" Adolf Heinrich nodded and assured him, casually adding a caveat in case Swiftstream City pulled him in the wrong direction and he was embarrassed on the spot.

“There’s another thing, there’s a little problem at Baron Ismir’s frontier territory!” Adolf Heinrich turned to Roland as if he had just remembered something.

"Tell me about it? What happened to that kid? I remember him as being quite smart! Who tricked him?" Roland asked with a hint of curiosity, after all, Ismir, that pure-blooded Lagrange brute, didn't seem to have suffered any losses yet, did he?

“Well, a group of wandering Cyclopes accidentally stumbled into their territory and stole Baron Ismir’s cattle and sheep…” Adolf Heinrich said awkwardly. “And then? Don’t tell me Ismir just swallowed his anger and let it go?” Roland raised his head, signaling Adolf Heinrich to continue, after all, Ismir wasn’t one to take a loss lying down.

"No, now the army is fighting the Cyclops... How can he possibly lose? Taking a few of his sheep is the same as killing him..." Adolf Heinrich said, both amused and exasperated.

"Let Renault help out, don't let this kid get himself killed!" Roland laughed and scolded. Just because Lagrange doesn't cause trouble doesn't mean he's afraid of it. If Soren is blind and comes in person, Roland won't mind splattering him with blood!

“Yes, General Reynolds knows what he's doing…” Adolf Heinrich nodded, while thinking to himself that Baron Ismir didn’t seem like someone who would easily suffer a loss.

……

"So this thing isn't related to you by blood?" Ismir joked during a break in the battle, trying to lighten the mood.

"Ha! What do you mean by mixed bloodlines? We're half-giants! These things are more like uncivilized beasts!" Ymir scoffed.

"Your relatives are all strong! It's a shame they're not out there doing manual labor!" Ismir chuckled. If there had been a bunch of Cyclopes working during the construction of Windhelm, the efficiency would have been incredibly high.

"Keep dreaming! What are you going to do to restrain these four- or five-meter-tall giants?" Ymir retorted.

"Roar!" A deafening roar interrupted their bickering.

"The bastard is coming?" Ismir looked at Ymir, since Ymir, who was nearly three meters tall, could see much farther than him.

"Just look at the commotion, and you'll know that thing is coming!" Ymir pointed to the large trees in the distance that were constantly leaning and breaking. Guess why those trees are leaning all over the place? Is it because they don't want to straighten up?
"All troops, prepare for battle! General Ymir's poor relative has come to visit! Give him a good welcome!" Ismir raised his staff, ready for action.

“I…you!” Ymir’s eyes revealed visible disgust and contempt. She had already told him not to confuse them with these brainless big-eyed guys.

"Hahaha!" The soldiers of Windhelm burst into laughter, which greatly eased the tense atmosphere before the battle. This made Ismir, who was very perceptive, breathe a sigh of relief. After all, when facing the huge Cyclops, the soldiers' tense nerves might break down and trigger a chain reaction.

"Roar! Crack!" With a roar, a head covered in sparse, messy hair emerged from the dust amidst a flurry of flying wood chips.

"Fire!" Ismir waved his hand, and several light crossbows behind him were immediately activated, sending out several spear-like bolts.

"Bang!" A stone axe as tall as a man smashed the crossbow bolt, then roared and charged towards the square formation.

"Ouch!" But not everyone is so lucky. A big-eyed handsome guy was pierced by a crossbow bolt. The powerful stopping force brought by its thick skin, muscles and fat made the crossbow bolt lose its momentum and stay inside its body. The pain made the big-eyed guy cry out.

"Prepare to engage the enemy!" Ismir's palms were sweating.