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

Chapter 1077 Joining Forces (The author returns after his eye injury has healed)

"Your Majesty!" A dark figure approached and performed a standard greeting, but the pungent smell made Roland's eyelids twitch.

“I am Aragorn!” Aragorn said with a wry smile.

"What? You've become the Savage King?" Roland had a rough idea of ​​the person in front of him, but he wasn't sure. Then Aragorn revealed it himself... This almost made Roland jump up.

"..." Marquis Al-Tegran Franz, whose hand was already raised in preparation to unleash his power, also widened his eyes, completely shocked and speechless, only able to helplessly raise his hand without knowing what to say.
"Alas, the heavy snow blocked the mountains and we even encountered a tribe of orcs from the wasteland. To avoid unnecessary battles, we had to take a detour, but because the detour was too long, we ran out of supplies. If it weren't for the view from Windcloud Peak, we would have really killed our horses..." Aragorn said with lingering fear.

"You've worked hard. Let your men rest in the camp!" Roland said, frowning. It wasn't that he had a problem with Aragorn, but rather that the smell was truly unpalatable...

……

After a short while, Aragorn, having finished washing and cleaning, walked into the large tent with his head still damp. A stove was lit inside the tent, and the fire slowly emitted a warm heat that quietly raised the temperature inside. Servants occasionally added charcoal to the stove and cleaned out the ash. The entire tent was filled with a comforting fragrance.

"He's alive?" Roland raised his eyelids to look at Aragorn, who had already shaved his beard, then lowered his head to study the map.

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty, for your trouble!" Aragorn said gratefully. In this weather, it would be time-consuming and laborious to find people to collect firewood and heat enough water for hundreds of people to wash. Other noble lords would not bother to do such a thing.

"No trouble at all. Compared to boiling some snow water, the destruction caused by the epidemic is the real trouble!" Roland waved his hand. Those Northern nomads were like walking pathogens. Roland, a 21st-century internet addict, didn't believe in viruses and bacteria from the magical world. If he really got a bunch of people to the ground, where would he find so many priests to purify and heal them?

"Are you looking at a map?" Aragorn leaned closer. He was eager to learn from Roland. As a lord, he knew all too well how astonishing Roland's skills and governing wisdom were, having built a vast kingdom in just a few years! So, given the chance, he wouldn't mind learning from him... If Roland knew what he was thinking, he'd probably laugh his head off. To learn from him, you'd need at least a system!
"Yes, the elves of Rivendell have separated from us!" Roland reminded Aragorn, who was looking around. Rivendell was only responsible for the area east of the Bridge of the End; the west was the job of the Dúnedan!
"Tell me, how many people did you bring?" Roland put down his charcoal pencil and looked at Aragorn. At the same time, the others stopped talking and looked over silently.

“800 people…” Aragorn pursed his lips.

“I know there aren’t many of these people, but it’s the result of the Dúnedan’s best efforts…” Aragorn was afraid that everyone would be unhappy, after all, given the elite status of the Allied Forces, it would be hard not to think that he was a complete scoundrel.

"Eight hundred it is!" Roland waved his hand. Anyway, it was only around 2950 in the Third Age, not yet the peak of the orc army's activity. The security situation of the entire Eastern Road was not too serious. As long as the Dúnedan people could take root and establish cities, they would definitely have reproduced for two generations by the time of the War of the Ring!

“Go see your people! They need comforting and rest. We’ll set off tomorrow!” Bard stepped forward and patted Aragorn on the back.

"Thank you all for your trouble!" Aragorn thanked them politely and then went out into the wind and snow.

"He's a young man with ambition; he has a place in this world in the future!" Thorin commented after a moment of silence. "Son of Arason! The sixteenth patriarch of Dúnedan! He already has a place in this world! His upbringer is Elrond!" Thranduil calmly shook his head. Aragorn is someone who's guaranteed a minimum standard but pushes the limit up; his starting point was far superior to others, at least compared to Roland, who had to rely on feigning nobility to get by after arriving in Middle-earth! This is a true born nobleman!

"Your Majesty, we've found out that the Dunedan have brought nearly 400 Dunedan Rangers this time!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz, who had gone out to investigate, whispered in Roland's ear.

“General Caslo personally inspected it!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz whispered. After all, Caslo’s dragon eyes could see these low-ranking soldiers as if they were completely unobstructed. Moreover, Caslo did not believe that the Dunedan people were capable of casting war magic that shielded their senses from their troops. Therefore, Caslo not only found out the number of professionals under Aragorn’s command, but he could even tell them their levels.

"How's the quality?" Roland nodded. The ratio of over 400 professionals was already quite high. Coupled with the paltry population of the Dúnedan, it was clear that Aragorn had basically sent out all his forces, except for those left to defend his base. It was evident that he valued this cooperation highly!

“They’re all first, second, or third tiers. General Caslo said there must be higher tiers among them. Their ranger heritage is very complete. I personally feel there should be sixth tiers among them!” Al-Tegran Franz reported, adding his own analysis.

"The Dunedan people still have the foundation! They can pull out such a band of rangers!" Roland nodded. No wonder the Shard was never threatened by orcs in the original story. With such a band of rangers scattered across the wasteland fighting orcs, which orc could possibly reach the Shard?
"Clap clap!" Roland clapped his hands, signaling everyone to look at him.

"The situation is much better. The Dunedan people can be relied upon. My men went to investigate the Dunedan people and the results were encouraging. Nearly half of their total forces are low- to mid-level rangers! Handing this over to them is no problem!" Roland announced to everyone.

“That makes sense! The bravery of the Dúnedan people is renowned in the north!” Thranduil nodded. Although this old fellow kept his country isolated all the time, it didn’t mean he was cut off from outside information. On the contrary, he paid close attention to intelligence from various places.

"It seems we won't be disappointed!" Thorin and Bard exchanged a glance, both seeing the joy in their eyes. After all, they had recently witnessed the situation on the East-West Road. Without protection and maintenance, it was practically a dream to expect merchants to move around, since orcs really would kill!

"400 people maintaining such a long road..." King Baiyi frowned.

"That's enough. As long as there are outposts along the way to provide shelter, plus some patrols, it's more than enough! This road isn't so busy that you want someone guarding every place!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz explained after a moment's thought.

"That's settled then! We'll head to Brie tomorrow!" Roland clapped his hands.

"Bring them along?" Thorin asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“Of course! We have to clean up that trash along the way! It’ll be safer for everyone if we take them with us! After we’re done cleaning up and come back from the Shire, they’ll stay here to build, while we… will return east!” Roland described.

"Understood! Increase the margin for error! You can never have too many people!" Thorin agreed.

My eyes are feeling better recently, so I can start writing again.