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

Chapter 105 Wind Dragon Essence Blood
"Hmm..." Roland opened his eyes in a daze, his sleepy eyes as if they were covered by something. It took him a while to finally open them.

"Where...where am I?" Roland looked at the animal skins covering his body and the low, wide wooden bed beneath him, feeling completely bewildered.

Well! That silly kid Roland drank himself into oblivion. After sitting on the bed in deep thought for a while, he suddenly realized what was happening...

"I think I drank with them all night yesterday..." Roland's lips twitched. Drinking really leads to trouble!

"Oh right! System check-in!" Roland exclaimed, slapping his forehead.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Roland grimaced as the aftereffects of drinking slowly began to show. Roland, who was originally a model young man and never drank a drop of alcohol, was suddenly forced to drink so much last night that he passed out. Today, Roland was experiencing the pain of a hangover.

"Check-in successful! Congratulations, host, for obtaining the Wind Dragon Bloodline Dragon Crystal!"

"Huh? Dragon Crystal!" Roland scratched his head, a little confused. He vaguely remembered that Dragon Crystal seemed to have some special use, but because of his headache, he couldn't remember it for the time being.

"Creak!" Roland reached out and pushed open the door.

"Hmm? Is there any water?" Roland looked weakly at the squad of knights standing guard outside the door.

"Your Highness, you're awake?" the leading knight exclaimed with delight upon seeing Roland emerge.

"Of course! Your Highness, this is water infused with moon honey produced by the elves. It's excellent for sobering up!" The knight quickly took out a golden water jug ​​from his robes, unscrewed it, and respectfully handed it over with both hands.

"Glug glug~" Roland tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

"Not bad! Quite sweet!" Roland said with satisfaction, casually handing the water jug ​​back to the knight in front of him.

"By the way, where are Caslo and the others?" Roland looked around and noticed that several familiar figures were missing.

“Your Highness, please come with us,” a centaur waiting nearby said softly.

“Okay!” Roland lifted his leg and followed him.

……

"Your Highness, how did you sleep last night?" Badr asked Roland with a smile.

"What a rip-off! Damn it! Who among you forced me to drink?" Roland glared at the people sitting at the table, annoyed. If he hadn't actually blacked out last night and didn't remember what happened, he would have slapped the person who was urging him to drink.

In an instant, the group turned their heads at the same time. It seemed that they had all been involved in last night's tragedy. They tacitly avoided looking at Roland.

"Your Highness, your alcohol tolerance is really not good! You got drunk last night and threw up all over me." Caslo leaned in and brought up the very thing he didn't want to talk about.

"...Are you serious?" Roland's eyes widened. Could it be that he really embarrassed himself in front of the centaur race last night? He vomited right in front of his own underlings?

"Uh... it's nothing, just pretend I didn't say anything!" Caslo immediately changed his tune.

"..." Roland rubbed his forehead with one hand. Good heavens! His lifelong reputation is gone!
"Thank you for your hospitality, Baron Baldr. I hope you will fulfill your duties as a lord and not betray my trust! May you follow me to expand our territory and secure more resources for you and your people!" Roland smiled as he looked at the centaur lord in front of him. This was his first vassal not summoned by the system. Although the process was rather tortuous, he had managed to win him over in the end through a combination of bluffing and deception.

“Your Highness…” Badr suddenly said somewhat awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" Roland asked curiously, looking at Bader who was sitting like a young woman getting into a sedan chair.

“My people and I need some iron tools and armor… after all, our current equipment is too…” Badr said embarrassedly.

"Oh... of course, no problem! Send someone to my Swiftstream City in a few days. We can order or purchase standard weapons and equipment." Roland agreed after a moment's thought. Even if these centaurs were fully armed, they wouldn't pose much of a threat to Roland. After all, Roland's army of over a thousand men wasn't afraid of a mere 300 centaurs. There might be some losses in open field battles, but if they were defended from the city, 50 Elnino Rangers could easily slaughter these centaurs. Ordinary iron armor was like paper in front of them. Their Fate Bond skill was useless in the eyes of the Elnino Rangers. After all, a volley of accurate shots could easily break through their individual damage limits. Killing a centaur in one volley was no problem at all. After all, there was still a difference between the centaur's Fate Bond and the Knight's Glory.

"I'm leaving! No need to see me off! Take control of your territory soon! The defenses here are in your hands! I hope this place won't become a loophole in the Swiftstream City defenses!" Roland said solemnly. It was as if Baldr and his group had taken over part of the eastern defenses, and Roland would be reducing the defensive strength here. If the centaurs became as unreliable as the woodland elves... the scene would be too beautiful to bear!
"Rest assured, Your Highness! As long as our men are alive, no enemy can cross our territory!" Badr said in a deep voice.

"I believe you!" Roland had no doubt about Baldr's words. Centaurs have a very strong sense of territory, as can be seen from this conflict.

"By the way, I found a Wind Dragon Bloodline Dragon Crystal. I wonder if it's of any use?" Roland played with the fist-sized cyan dragon crystal in his hand. The dragon crystal looked exceptionally beautiful in the sunlight, and mysterious dragon runes were wrapped around the void around the dragon crystal.

"What? Wind Dragon Bloodline Dragon Crystal? Are you sure it's a Bloodline Dragon Crystal?" Caslo was stunned, then exclaimed with joy.

"Yes, what's wrong?" Roland said casually, unaware that Caslo was already trembling with excitement.

"My lord, may I take a look?" Caslo asked in a trembling voice.

"Here you go!" Roland casually tossed it behind him.

Caslo rushed forward to catch it, afraid that it would fall to the ground. Although the dragon crystal was indestructible, Caslo still felt that letting it fall to the ground was a desecration!
"My lord, do you know what this dragon crystal means?" Caslo asked with a complicated expression, gently wiping the dragon crystal with a handkerchief.

"What?" Roland, not quite understanding, replied nonchalantly.

"Hoo!" Caslo took a deep breath and slowly said, "This dragon crystal can make a level 5 wind attribute professional become a level 6 titled warrior! More importantly, this dragon crystal can make a wind elemental dragon revert to its ancestral form and evolve into a wind attribute giant dragon!" Caslo swallowed.

"Is it that powerful? Then this is a priceless treasure!" Roland exclaimed in shock. He never expected that this dragon crystal would be so amazing.

“Yes, sir, although this evolutionary process may take several years to several decades, it will definitely evolve the flying dragon into a giant dragon. I never expected that you would obtain such a treasure. There were only a few in the treasury at the height of the empire’s power (and once they were obtained, they were almost all used up). You should know that this kind of bloodline dragon crystal is only produced after the natural death of a dragon clan leader.” Caslo said with emotion, while reluctantly returning the dragon crystal in his hand.

"Take it," Roland said calmly. He didn't turn around to take it. After all, he only had one wind-attribute dragon knight under his command. If he didn't give it to him, there would be no one else who could use it. Rather than keeping it as a backup plan, he might as well convert it into combat power.

“My lord…” Caslo said, his voice choked with emotion.

"It's nothing, just dragon crystals, don't worry about it," Roland said casually, unaware that if Caslo behind him had any loyalty indicators, the number would definitely soar to over 200%.

Caslo gripped the precious dragon crystal in his hand with a complex expression, silently making up his mind...

(End of this chapter)