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

Chapter 887 The Vanishing Aragorn
"Keep a close eye on the roaming orc groups in the north! Ignore those in the south who can't even cross the river yet!" Roland waved his hand because the Swift River isn't completely frozen in winter; there will be large-scale ice jams in early spring. If the orcs try to cross the river, they're bound to succeed! Those ice shards, when hit by the current, won't just leave you with bruises; they'll likely leave you with patches all over the place!
"Yes, Your Majesty, that Gondor army has been completely transformed!" Darian Nightblade reported to Roland, seemingly having just remembered something.

"Yes, those are all good young men selected by King Denesor II. With proper training and good food, turning them into soldiers won't be difficult!" Roland waved his hand. They were good candidates for soldiers to begin with, and most of these good young men came from free peasant farmers! Resilient and hardworking were their hallmarks! Having grown up doing manual labor, they were quite strong! So, after Roland had those soldiers use their positions for personal gain in a few counterinsurgency battles, it actually gave these former militiamen confidence!

"The soldiers are good soldiers, but the generals... well, that's a long story! Most of the lords of Gondor are... well, that's a long story!" Darion Nightblade said disdainfully.

“Come on! Let’s go for a walk!” Roland suddenly said.

“Oh!” Darian Nightblade nodded. While other assassins yearned for darkness, he embraced the light.

……

"What wonderful land! It's a pity it's been ruined by those flashy gadgets!" Roland murmured, gazing towards the Rune Sea. The Rune region boasts a warm climate, fertile land, and flat terrain ideal for lush pastures and animal husbandry. These dense grasslands and vast lands have forged the renowned Rune warhorses, horses with even greater explosive power than Shire horses, the cornerstone of the Chariot People's prowess on the Middle-earth stage! After all, the Middle-earth stage is a stage where "come and get the job" is no joke!

“Alas… I have walked on thin ice my whole life. Do you think I can ever reach the other side?” Before Darian Nightblade could speak, Roland became melancholy again.

"..." Darian Nightblade, hello Thin Ice Bro! You've perfectly exemplified the saying "having your cake and eating it too"!

"Your Majesty, why don't you send some men to set up a few outposts on the other side? Anyway, the Chariot Democratic Forces won't be provoking us for a while. With the Dragon Knights protecting the skies, we have no reason to lose! Send a legion straight over! By the time they react, we'll have already established a foothold!" Darian Nightblade thought for a moment and pointed somewhat aggressively to the distant riverbank.

“You’re being too radical. Be more conservative… Let’s launch a direct expedition to Rune and break the backbone of the Eastern Barbarians once and for all!” Roland said rather “conservatively.”

“…Very well! I say Your Majesty is right!” Darian Nightblade’s eyelids twitched. So your conservatism means the radicals are too conservative, right?

"Alas, I am so envious! The land under heaven belongs to the virtuous. Although we are virtuous enough, we are too few in number!" Roland lamented that although he had the ability to take things from a bag, he had no one to occupy the land.

……

Just as Roland was lamenting his lack of talent and resources, the kingdom's war machine was quickly mobilized. Large numbers of soldiers were dispatched to search for wild bison herds. The bison on the Lagrange Plains were in dire need of protection. Previously, only hunters would hunt these bison with restraint, but today they were met with a massive, coordinated hunt by the kingdom's army! This was a disaster! Fortunately, the soldiers used traps and tripwires to bring down the bison, large and small. Although some losses were inevitable due to unforeseen circumstances, they managed to capture most of the bison intact. Then it was the "Lagrange barbarians'" turn to display their brutality. What? Put nose rings on the bulls? Come on! Put them on raw! Get them drunk and put them on? His Majesty the King is such a pain! Wine is so expensive! That's all grain! It's better to just give the wine to the barbarians and let them hold down the bison!

In this respect, Roland's habitual thinking overlooked the fact that this was a mistake caused by the magical Middle-earth setting. Bulls are strong? Coincidentally! Are third-tier Grand Knights powerful enough? No! Fourth-tier Knight Commanders! Anyway, on this cold, idle day, instead of going out to chop people with swords, a few bull horns are a good alternative! So from Stream City to Lagrange City, you could see groups of Lagrange brutes in light leather armor holding down a fat, robust bison, then piercing its nose amidst the bison's painful roars—a veritable documentary of early humans quickly domesticating cattle!
When it comes to using brute force, the Kingdom of Lagrange has always been efficient, fast, and concise! The effects, if not immediately visible, are certainly immediate. In the end, Roland could only stare dumbfounded at this group of fierce and violent Lagrange barbarians. If he had known they were so full of martial spirit, why would he have used wine at all! What shocked Roland the most was that the taming target was supposed to be calves, but because Roland forgot to mention it, they ended up taming all the adult bison as well!
"No... why would I need cattle and horses if you guys are doing this? Aren't you yourselves ready-made cattle and horses?" Roland's lips twitched as he looked at the knight who had pinned down a bull. Raising cattle and horses requires feeding and care, but raising a group of knights to plow the fields would allow them to do the plowing themselves, and they wouldn't even need to be fed or watered... Hiss! He was tempted! The farmer's little whip was about to crack!
At this moment, the orcs should be grateful for their weak intelligence and subpar physique! If they had the brute strength of the greenskins, Roland would probably be picking cotton in the farmer version by now!
The matter was settled in no time. A thousand oxen, though not many, were definitely enough. You have to understand that in ancient China, a village only had one ox, and ordinary people shared their oxen among several families! Roland originally thought it would take some time to gather them all, but he never expected that these people would be so uncivilized, immediately sending dragon riders to set up a target and having knights and warriors surround and attack on horseback!

……

"Keep an eye on them! Don't let those two die!" Roland said to Adolf Heinrich and the others. After all, these two were people he couldn't afford to die. Aragorn was an important plot device, and Legolas was even more so—that guy was Thranduil's son! If they really died on Roland's doorstep, Roland would be in deep trouble, even if he wasn't already dead!

"How long have they been gone? Why haven't they arrived yet? Did they go to the Lagrange Plains to live like savages?" Roland asked疑惑地. Logically speaking, the two should have made a move by now. How could they disappear silently on the Swift Stream Avenue?

“Those two…” Darian Nightblade looked troubled and hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

……

At this very moment, Aragorn and Legolas, whom Roland was thinking about, were engrossed in their meal at the table, their faces glistening with oil, their mouths stuffed with Lagrange delicacies, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Hiss... Are these two strangers starving ghosts?" the innkeeper's child asked timidly, nestled in his relative's arms.

"Clatter!" Aragorn and Legolas exchanged a glance, then dropped their forks onto the plates, giving each other an awkward smile.

"Hehe, it smells so good! Boss, your cooking is amazing. You must be the best chef here. This skill is even more amazing than that of the Halflings!" Aragorn exclaimed.

"No, no, no, this is just an ordinary inn. This is food invented by our king. Please have as much as you like!" The innkeeper looked at the two strangers with some pity; people like this were commonplace in Swiftstream City...

(End of this chapter)