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

Chapter 1085 The Invisible Deterrence!
"Tsk tsk tsk!" Roland smacked his lips, suddenly feeling that what Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said made a lot of sense. At this point in time, Aragorn showing up in Gondor would be no different from suicide. Do you think those corrupt nobles of Gondor would want to have another father on their heads right now?

This is not the era of Denezor II's diligent governance. The extent of the corruption of the nobles of Rohan and Gondor can be seen from the battle lines. After all, battle reports can be deceiving, but battle lines do not lie. Just look at the battle lines that have been pushed into jagged pieces by the orcs, and you can see that the battlefields that those noble lords waved their flags and shouted as if they were moving unimpeded are actually constantly shifting inwards towards the kingdom...

"Let's leave that aside for now. We'll find a chance to trick him later! That kid's cunning; he definitely won't go to Gondor using his real name!" Roland said confidently. After all, Aragorn didn't forget to change his name when he went south for training, and he worked in both Rohan and Gondor. Because he didn't use his real name, the Gondor nobles didn't hold it against him (although Gondor was in terrible shape at this time, its intelligence capabilities were still at the level of a great power; at least the high-ranking nobles of Gondor knew about Aragorn's background), allowing him to serve the Regent (which is even more abstract; the prophesied king who restores the United Kingdom works for his own subordinate...).

Finally, Aragorn, having reached the maximum level, emerged from the shadows. He had become well-known among the southern nobles by suppressing pirates in the south, and during the War of the Ring, he successfully lured a coalition of southern forces out to surprise the orcs, causing Sauron's pirates to collapse midway through their campaign. He had thus made half the contribution...

"I wonder what's in this forest?" After resolving Aragorn's question, Roland pulled Marquis Al-Tegran Franz aside and pointed to the old forest on the map that bordered Brie and the Charles.

"What's wrong? What have you figured out?" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz remained outwardly calm but inwardly was incredibly excited. King Roland had consulted with me on something; he considered me a confidant! Who were the people he consulted with before? It was elders like Yun Feng, Joelsteria, and Caslo, as well as top nobles of the empire. Now, I, Marquis Al-Tegran Franz, have successfully joined His Majesty's inner circle!
“I’ve been thinking about some rumors!” Roland didn’t pay attention to Marquis Al-Tegran Franz, who was having a brainstorming session and was thinking wildly about things. Instead, he frowned slightly as he looked at the map.

"What is it?" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz quickly straightened his position and composed himself, speaking to Roland with a serious expression as if nothing had happened.

“Something is protecting the Charr! It’s definitely not just the Dunedan people!” Roland said with a furrowed brow.

This isn't hard to guess; just look at the map. The Shire isn't exactly a dangerous place, but there wasn't a large-scale orc invasion from beginning to end. This is seriously illogical for a race like Middle-earth, where even a dog would be kicked if it came near! The three northern kingdoms were all wiped out! The Shire, a paradise, just sits there all alone on the map, practically inviting the enemy to attack! And it turns out the orcs really didn't invade! It wasn't that they were kind; it was that the longbows and greatswords of the Dúnedan terrified them!
However, this raises another problem: the Dúnedan could only hold off the roaming orcs like bandits, and they were no match for the Nazgûl's regular orc army. First of all, their numbers could overwhelm the Dúnedan's pitiful population. The strangest thing was that the Lich King, who had swept through the North, let go of this easy prey. In addition, there was a mysterious figure in the old forest in the original book and Middle-earth legends who came to see...

“I suspect he is a pro-human demigod!” Roland said.

"Hmm?" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz leaned back, his expression as if asking, "Do you want to see what you're saying?" Are demigods as common as cabbages?

“It’s not without reason, come and see!” Roland waved his hand, not angered by Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz’s disrespectful manner, and instead pointed to the map.

"The Valley! The Golden Forest! Both of these places have elven demigods or demigod-level combatants!" Roland pointed out the locations of the Valley and the Golden Forest.

"These places are a thorn in the side of that Demon Lord, but thanks to the suppression of the demigods, they remain as stable as Mount Tai! No foolish dark forces have dared to invade!" Roland explained in detail.

"Look at Gondor and Rohan, look at the state of their battle lines because of their weakened national strength!" Roland clapped his hands. Although he didn't know what those two sixth-tier members of the Ocrean family in the south had seen, the system showed that they were doing very well. Moreover, Roland knew how rotten Gondor and Rohan were without them even having to tell him.

“No problem!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz nodded. What Roland said was true. The elves were indeed doing well guarding their homeland, while Rohan and Gondor were truly rotten. They used to be able to cross the Anduin River, even though they were constantly on expeditions to kill their kings. But at least they could fight their way out. Now… they had already been crossed the Anduin River by the orcs! “And then look at our Shire!” Roland sneered and pushed the map forward.

“Apart from the invisible protection of the Dunedan people, the orcs have not launched a large-scale invasion. The North Ridge was wiped out by the orcs! The nearby Bri and Shire were not destroyed... The North-South Highway is unobstructed!” Roland shook his head.

"So you believe there are demigods protecting this place?" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz scratched his head.

“Yes! But this demigod probably doesn’t care much about things and will most likely just live his life in his own little corner of the world!” Roland nodded.

“But whatever it is, something is keeping the Ringwraiths in check, preventing their forces from descending upon this place with impunity!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz nodded.

"Wait a moment, I'll go find out some information and verify some things!" Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz's eyes suddenly lit up, and he bowed to Roland before slipping out.

……

“Your Majesty, it seems you guessed right!” Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz quickly entered, his figure emerging from the twilight mist.

"Where did you go to get the information? Is it reliable?" Roland's eyelids twitched as he thought of Bree's famous Prancing Horse Inn, after all, the starting point of two major events in Middle-earth was there.

“Go find Aragon!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz nodded.

“I inquired about the situation of the Dunedan people and confirmed one thing!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said, taking a deep breath.

“Indeed, there has never been a large-scale elite orc legion that has marched south. They have only intercepted wandering orc tribes in the wastelands!” said Marquis Al-Tegran Franz. It is common knowledge that the status of wasteland orcs in Middle-earth is not much different from that of wild dogs. They will “respawn” in any uninhabited wasteland, so it is not surprising that wasteland orcs “grow” in the wild.

“Something has intimidated them!” Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz affirmed.

Roland nodded. This only confirmed his guess, which was pretty close to the truth. After all, in the original story, there was a mysterious person in the Old Forest whose birth and death dates were unknown. His lifespan was comparable to that of an elf, and countless generations had seen his existence. This thing even appeared before Morgoth, can you believe it!