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

Chapter 229 Out of the Forest
The sun finally lazily climbed to the treetops, and the bright sunlight filtered through the canopy, scattering dappled light onto the ground. The soldiers, whose nerves had been on edge all night, could finally relax and catch their breath.

"Is it over?" a dwarf asked, gazing at the rising sun.

"Hahaha! Those damned dark-skinned people will have nowhere to hide in broad daylight!"

"Huh? Where are our ally's rangers? Should we send them to check if those dark-skinned guys have left?"

"Beard above! I'm craving cheese, jerky, and strong liquor!"

……

"The sun is out!" Roland lifted the curtain, and the soft sunlight instantly streamed in, warming him comfortably.

"Looks like this farce is over." Caslow stretched and walked out.

"I'll go and tally up the results, and while I'm at it, I'll send the rangers out to search. Oh, and I'll also tell the soldiers to come back, have something to eat, and get some sleep." Caslo hurried off.

"King Roland, thank you for your hospitality. I should go back and catch up on my sleep. My hand is sore from swinging the axe all night, hahaha! I'm getting old!" Balin laughed as he bid farewell to Roland.

"Goodbye, Your Excellency Balin. Remember to eat breakfast later! And don't oversleep! We need to travel this afternoon." Roland waved goodbye to Balin and gave him a few reminders.

"Hmm? Lord Omske, is there anything else?" Roland, who was about to go to sleep after lowering the curtain, turned his head and saw his first "general" Omske sitting in his seat as if he were at home, enjoying his dessert. He was both annoyed and amused.

“Sure enough! Those cooks are biased...they put way more honey in the cakes they made for the king than they did in ours.” Omske showed an expression of enjoyment, completely ignoring Roland’s displeasure.

"Um... those were my snacks, and I think we all need to take a break." Roland's face fell. Where did my mature and composed hero go? Did Caslo corrupt him?

“It’s alright, Your Highness. A good king always learns to share with his loyal knights.” Omsk nodded and savored Roland’s exquisite pastries.

"Take it! Get out! I'm going to sleep!" Roland roared, shoving the plate of snacks into Omske's hands with red eyes. Having spent the entire night in fear and without rest, Roland was now ready to devour anyone who tried to stop him from sleeping! That's right! He said it! Not even God could stop him!
With a combination of pushing and pulling, Roland kicked Omske out of the tent and immediately pounced onto the hammock, lying flat like a dried-out salted fish.

"Omske actually likes desserts? How come such a tall and mighty hero has a foodie hobby like a girl? The trolls shouldn't attack easily anymore; we must have hurt them badly last night! If we continue westward, we should reach the Karl Rock Ferry that Lance mentioned. He said it's occupied by the druid skin-changing Bion, just as I know; it's the only human haven in the entire valley." Although his body was resting, Roland's mind was racing. He knew that all his decisions concerned the lives of over 500 men under his command!
"Go to sleep, get some sleep first. Who cares if the world is flooded, or even if the King of Heaven himself comes, he can't stop me from sleeping. We'll just have to take it one step at a time!" Roland finally couldn't resist the gentle touch of the bed and quickly drifted off to sleep. As for the plans ahead? To hell with them!

……

“Your Highness, this is a large tribe!” As soon as Roland came out of the tent, Caslo, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately surrounded him.

"What do you mean?" Roland asked, wiping his face with a towel handed to him by a guard.

“We killed nearly four hundred trolls last night! And they were all adult trolls! Not the old, weak, sick, or disabled ones! You know, there aren’t many troll tribes in Middle-earth that can muster an army of four hundred trolls!” Caslo exclaimed excitedly, gesturing wildly.

"What are our casualties?" Roland didn't care about the enemy's casualties; he only wanted to know if his own men were safe and healthy.

"The Lordaeron Rangers suffered heavy casualties, almost all of them were wounded... Fortunately, none of them were fatally wounded. The Dovenian heavy swordsmen... those guys were a bit exhausted. The city guards are in good condition. As for the Royal Guards... their only casualty was an unlucky guy who twisted his ankle because of his heavy armor while cleaning up the battlefield..." Caslo said with a strange expression.

"My God! A sprained ankle? What a serious injury! What a tragic loss! So you've been spouting a bunch of nonsense just to tell me they're okay, right?" Roland said, feigning exaggeration.

"Next time, be concise! Don't speak in such a drawn-out way! It makes me think I've lost half my men the moment I stepped out the door!" Roland glanced at Caslow.

“Uh…” Caslo grinned noncommittally. “By the way! How are things going with our dwarf friends?” Roland asked.

"Hmm...it seems they're alright!" Roland had barely taken a few steps when he smelled the aroma of dwarven liquor and saw them singing and dancing.

“Actually, I don’t think the dwarves had enough to kill last night. Their heavy armor alone would have kept the trolls busy for a long time.” Caslo shrugged. The dwarves’ superior ironwork was well-known in Middle-earth.

"Tell our men to eat and rest! Tell Balin to keep his men in check! We'll leave after lunch! I don't want to see a bunch of drunkards!" Roland frowned as he looked at the group of dwarves drinking and singing. He was in a hurry to complete the mission and get the Dragon Knight title, and besides, Nyx was waiting for him to come back so he could make a run into the goal. He didn't have time to waste with them.

“Yes, Your Highness!” Caslo nodded and left.

"Omske! Are you a pig? Don't you eat? Where's my dessert? Where's the sweet treat my dear Nyx made especially for me? Where's my huge plate? All my dessert is gone!" Soon after, Roland's wailing voice echoed from afar.

"Cough cough cough, Your Highness, that was a gift from you, a whole plate, yes! Just this morning!" Omske gestured with his hands, his face full of grievance.

"Such a huge plate! You ate it all this morning? Are you a Behemoth?!" Roland was still regretting losing Nyx's heartfelt dessert. Looking at Omsk's aggrieved face, Roland felt like chopping off his own hand... What kind of stupidity did he have! Come to think of it, why didn't he notice before that Omsk had a special fondness for desserts? Roland thought bitterly.

"Very good, knight! Thanks to your efforts, we will miss the time to enjoy delicious desserts on the rest of the journey, because... you ate them all!" Roland said in a sarcastic tone.

"Pfft pfft pfft~" Omsk Kaslow, who was watching Roland scolding him like a grandson, burst into laughter like a pig.

……

A few days later.

"Good heavens! We're finally out!" Roland exclaimed, gazing at the plain before him.

“Damn it! I hate the forest!” Balin sighed as well.

"Caslo! Look at the map, find out where we are now?"

"Carl Rock Ferry?" Caslo's lips twitched as he stared at the hand-drawn graffiti-style map. It was truly remarkable that Lord Lance could navigate so far with such a poorly drawn map! And the most miraculous thing was that he even made it back! He truly deserved to be called the Empire's most outstanding nobleman; he could find his way even with such an abstractly drawn map.

“Hey! We’ve been here before! It’s the territory of the Skinflint!” Balin looked at the familiar surroundings. They had been treated here during the Lonely Mountain Expedition, and Balin remembered it.

“That’s good. Looks like we’re in the right place. Caslow! Send the rangers to scout ahead! The rest of you stay put!” Roland said.

“Karl Rock Ferry? Ferry? So where’s the river? Where did the mighty Anduin River go?” Omsk was stunned for a moment before suddenly asking the soul-searching question.

“Yes, there is a river! I remember the scenery here. Even though it’s late autumn, I still remember the magnificent Anduin River! Wait… Anduin River? Where is the river…” Bahrain was stunned.

"Holy crap! Lost?" Roland was completely stunned and stood there speechless.

“So we’ve strayed from Old Forest Road, right… I remember Druid Bion’s hut should be at the entrance to Old Forest Road… which is our current exit…” Roland fell silent, pointing to the empty wasteland.

"Dragon God! Well done! You've led the way well!" Omske patted Caslo on the shoulder, expressing his approval.

(End of this chapter)