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

Chapter 1026: A Small Town Transformed into a Fortress?

"Ah?" Count Lemon stared in horror at the disheveled Archduke Oakrian Yaso and Oakrian Ryukin.

"Evil begone!" Count Lemon raised the sacred object in his hand, attempting to expel the unclean.

"Slap!" Archduke Oakrian Yaso slapped the cross out of Count Lemon's hand.

"Stop looking! Find someone to arrange accommodations for us! And while you're at it, get us some hot water for a bath!" Okrian Ryukin picked up the cross from the ground and shoved it back into Count Lemon's hands.

"Thump!" Count Lemon staggered backward, raising his hand in disbelief with a look of horror.

"Are you two... human or ghost?" Count Lemon swallowed hard.

"Don't force me to slap you when I'm happiest!" Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso rubbed his forehead. He was happy to find the dragon "launch player," but he was also angry that he had been tricked by Earl Lemon into fighting Ghidorah to the death.

“Yes! Remember to explain to us how the Chimera turned into King Ghidorah!” Oakrian Ryukin said, arms crossed.

"???" Count Lemon was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hands and shouted that he was wronged.

"I don't know what it is either! Isn't it all just what Your Excellencies said about Ghidorah and Chimera?" Count Lemon was incredibly frustrated. He'd only heard it was a dragon, while the two of them were the ones who said it was a chimera…

"...Is that so?" Grand Duke Oakrian Yasso glanced at Oakrian Ryukin, a hint of embarrassment on his face.

“No…I don’t know!” Oakrian Ryukin shook his head repeatedly, saying he didn’t know.

"..." Count Lemon was instantly silenced by the two of them. They were trying to pin all the blame on him.

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Get us some hot water so we can get some rest!" Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso chuckled and brushed it off.

"Yes, yes, right away! Right away! Someone come here!" Count Lemon was also relieved and hurriedly called for people to set up a tent for the two of them.

……

"Awesome!" Archduke Oakrian Yaso shook his wet blond hair with renewed vigor, feeling instantly refreshed.

"Are you two Your Excellencies alright?" Earl Lemon stared at the two men for a long time before finally asking with difficulty. The commotion over there had been so great that it had made the fleeing crowd turn their heads in surprise... That was clearly a greater forbidden spell, even more terrifying than a forbidden spell! So when the two men, covered in dust and dirt, crawled out, Earl Lemon and his entourage looked as if they had seen a ghost!

“The town of Lemon is gone!” Earl Lemon said dejectedly.

"As long as people are alive, that's enough! Your village is gone, so be it! What's there to regret?" Oakrian Ryukin asked, puzzled.

"Huh?" Count Lemon was taken aback. What do you mean, "gone and gone"? So it wasn't your fiefdom that was bombed? And explain what a village is!
“Although it was bombed, isn’t that crater perfect for filling with water and turning into a lake?” Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso said, pointing to the ruins of the former town.

“You should know that this place will fall sooner or later! You don’t have a permanent fortress, and a mere wooden town can’t stop the ever-increasing power of the orcs! It would be better to tear it down and rebuild it!” Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso commented.

“But the residents here have already been displaced, and I have nowhere to gather manpower for corvée labor!” Earl Lemon said in distress.

"..." Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso and Oakrian Ryukin exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly. No wonder Rohan was in such a sorry state; the people were emaciated and pale. The political wisdom and tactics of these lords were utterly useless! They couldn't even manage the simplest work-for-relief program... so they couldn't blame the population loss! Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso had spoken with Earl Lemon; the population loss in northern Rohan was severe. Large numbers of people either fled north to become wildlings or were abducted by orcs. The flat plains, coupled with the fact that the Anduin River hadn't been secured, made this plain no longer safe!
"Don't you have any other granaries or anything? Even if you don't, you can ask the kingdom for food for disaster relief!" Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso covered his head.

“But if we use the disaster relief food, there won’t be enough to recruit people to build the town…” Count Lemon said.

"Damn it! From this moment on, throw away your damned, crappy town idea! Let's build a fortress that orcs can bleed from their hooves!" Archduke Oakrian Yasor shouted, waving his fist in encouragement.

"Are our conditions sufficient? Whether it's dredging a river or building a fortress, these are massive projects! We might not even have enough manpower to fill the entire earldom! Are we supposed to go and capture hidden households?" Earl Lemon expressed his doubts, after all, he only had about ten thousand able-bodied men under his command, which was far from enough for the project!

"..." Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso looked at Oakrian Ryukin and didn't know what to say for a moment. He suddenly felt that the Rohan people's pregnancy preservation technology was too advanced!
“This is a world with magic!” Archduke Oakrian Yaso stared at Earl Lemon and then fell into a long silence, the air thick with awkwardness.

"Help me, Your Majesty!" Earl Lemon pleaded, bowing his head.

“…Alright!” Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso finally agreed reluctantly. He could see it now; this guy was basically a bankrupt version of the Lagrange Emperor in his youth! A soldier whose mind was only filled with cavalry charges and knight assaults! He knew absolutely nothing about territory development! Right! If he knew even a little bit, the entire earldom wouldn't have to use a village as its capital!

……

"Your Majesty Chewu! I need your help!" In the night's camp, Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso whispered his request to Chewu, the Dragon King of the Storms.

"Oh? You're really planning to build them a fortress?" King Chewu of the Tidal Dragon narrowed his eyes. Dragons are cunning, and given the Lagranges' past record, Chewu didn't believe they were being so kind.

“Of course!” Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso nodded.

"Reason? What are you after? Are you really planning to bet on both sides? If Lagrange fails, you'll switch sides?" King Chewu of the Tidal Dragon asked after thinking about the usual practices of human nobles.

"His Majesty sent me here to ascertain the situation in preparation for the great battle to come, so I want to strengthen Rohan's northern army to a limited extent, at least to prevent them from becoming too corrupt, and ideally to help us hold back some of the orcs and bleed them dry! This requires a fortress!" Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso explained.

"Good reason! You're all heartless! You've convinced me, fine, what do you want me to do?" King Chewu of the Surging Waves said arrogantly.

“It’s a small matter for you!” Archduke Oakrian Yaso flattered.

"I'll definitely grant your request!" King Chewu of the Turbulent Waves happily wagged his tail. It was rare for a junior to ask him for help after so many years. He was in a good mood and agreed without thinking.

"Tell me about it!" asked King Chewu, the Giant Dragon King of the Surging Waves.

“Simple! You can just bring a river from the Tree-Mounted River!” Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso smiled.

"...Are you serious, kid?" King Chewu's lips twitched noticeably a few times.

“Of course! It doesn’t need to be too deep or wide, just big enough to ferry small cargo boats!” Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso said, stating his request.

"How about I suddenly regret it?" Che Wu felt like he had been tricked.

(End of this chapter)