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

Chapter 200 Traces of the Empire's Past

"The Lion of King's Landing, your name is..." Roland gazed gently at the energetic young man.

“Apophis Breo!” he said proudly, raising his head.

“Breo…Breo is a good surname! Don’t lose the glory attached to it!” Roland nodded encouragingly. Fortunately, although the years have changed, the bloodline of the King’s Landing family has not changed. He was grateful to the evil system for preserving that last bit of humanity.

“Apophis Breo? Good heavens! It’s unbelievable that the glory of King’s Landing has actually been passed down!” Omsk walked over and gently tapped the proud lion on Apophis Breo’s chest.

Apophis Breo smiled and tapped the emblem of light and shadow on Omske's chest: "It's an honor to know you, hero of light and shadow! May I ask your name?"

“Of course! You can call me Omske. I am now a royal hero. If you have any questions about combat techniques, feel free to ask me. I will answer them to the best of my knowledge.” Omske nodded in a friendly manner.

"Hello! A man of the King's Landing! I am Caslo, a third-tier Wind Dragon Knight. It's a pleasure to meet you." Caslo lightly pounded his chest to show respect, but it was clear that Caslo's respect was not for Apophis Breo, but for the honor of the King's Landing family that he bore.

“It is my honor to know you as well,” Apophis Breo replied.

“Would you mind telling me about the composition of your subjects?” Roland said succinctly.

“Sigh… there’s nothing to be ashamed of. There used to be a Swiftflow Legion here… by the time it reached my grandfather, there were less than 600 left,” Apophis Breo said somewhat sadly.

"..." Roland almost knelt down! He had never even seen a real, complete Swiftflow Legion, yet this young man's family used to have one. Although he knew it was a false memory constructed by the system... but why did it feel so strange? Was he doing better than the king?

“Then there should be the King’s Knights, which Your Highness is most concerned about… Unfortunately, we no longer have any King’s Knights of the fourth rank or above. We only have 16 King’s Knights now, and the highest rank is just a Grand Knight.” Apophis Breo saw Roland’s expectation.

"I..." Roland almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Although he didn't have much hope, it was still very painful to be truly desperate.

“You should know that Lagrange men are not good at drawing bows and arrows. We only have a few hundred Battanian archers, after all, there aren’t many people with shooting talent.” Apophis Breo shrugged.

“Well, those Battanian archers were indeed… extraordinary!” Roland’s liver ache instantly when he thought of those brave archers wielding mithril armor-piercing hammers during the Battle of Lonely Mountain.

“There are still some warriors, but many have died along the way. We should be able to gather some Lagrange City Guards,” Apophis Breo sighed, his grief and helplessness evident in his voice. “The rest are all civilians. There are no cavalry… except for the knights’ warhorses, everyone else has been killed and eaten.” Apophis Breo sat down heavily on the ground, watching the hopeful crowds pour into the city, his eyes filled with both joy and endless sorrow.

“I’m sorry, Apophis… Although I don’t want to say this, you should understand the current situation. The kingdom is not capable of bestowing a dukeship upon you… We currently only control this city of Swiftstream and the southern fortress of Lulong. I have no place to grant you a dukeship. I’m sorry…” Roland said apologetically.

“I understand, Your Highness. When the Wall fell… the title of Duke of King’s Landing was buried in history. I will use my abilities to reclaim the title of Duke of King’s Landing.” Apophis Breo nodded. After all, when the Wall was breached, the duchy adjacent to it was destroyed. According to noble law, when a nobleman is unable to protect his territory or reclaim land occupied by foreign tribes, his title will be automatically revoked. It can be said that the Breo family could no longer be called a ducal family a long time ago. However, because the world admires the glory of his family for countless generations, the patriarch still regards him with special regard.

"Alas... I still vaguely remember that steel wall that stretched for thousands of miles between the Iron Mountains and the Eastern Mountains! It protected the people of the Rune region behind the wall, allowing them to live and work in peace... Later, the Northern Wall was breached... and the empire collapsed..." Roland recalled with deep emotion the magnificence and grandeur of the Northern Wall that stretched for thousands of miles in the game, and its broken and tragic figure when it collapsed.

“It’s a pity the Wall in the North is no longer visible. Now, at most, we can only see the foundation.” Apophis Breo sighed softly.

"?" Roland's alarm bells suddenly went off. What was going on? Did the Wall really exist in this world?

"System? What's going on? Isn't the Lagrange Empire fictional?" Roland asked immediately, sounding anxious.

"Please explore on your own, host. The truth is often right before your eyes," the system said, still devoid of any emotion.

Roland paused, suddenly realizing something chilling: the Lagrange Empire might truly exist in this world! However, even the erudite elves were clueless about this empire, leaving only one possibility… the Lagrange Empire in this world perished before the First Age! It had fallen long before the elves and dwarves! This world has no gods, or rather, currently has no gods! The Vilamayas and such don't exist. Roland had always thought this world was a combination of movies, novels, and games, but now it seemed… it was a parallel plane among countless dimensions, just developing in a different direction. He wondered if this world had a Great Symphony of Creation; if it did, it would be a tragedy.

"That's it! It must be a parallel dimension. Other buildings couldn't withstand nearly ten thousand years of wind and rain, but the Wall of the North, built to fight against the barbarians of the North and the Dark Faction, inevitably left a trace due to its indestructible nature..." Roland murmured to himself. In that instant, his thoughts were in turmoil. He suddenly wanted to see the ruins of those foundations and see if he could find his way home... Perhaps he really couldn't go back to that blue planet.

"Oh well, let fate decide. At least being king isn't so bad." Roland chuckled self-deprecatingly. Managing over ten thousand people and ruling hundreds of square kilometers of land, yet their low productivity meant they lived worse off than the people in a small county town! A king of cattle and horses! What's the difference between these Western nobles and village chiefs? A king who governs fewer people than a county magistrate... Thinking of this, Roland couldn't help but want to laugh, but he couldn't...

"I'm tired... Let everyone go and rest. You all take a headcount and report back to me tomorrow morning!" Roland waved his hand and walked listlessly into the city...

As the sun set, the king's shadow grew longer and longer, appearing incredibly desolate and lonely...

Brothers, today is the seventh day after San'er's death! I ate two extra bowls of rice today, feeling both sad and happy. I hope there are no shotguns in heaven (but lots of bombs).
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(End of this chapter)