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

Chapter 232 Those Northern Humans Struggling to Survive

“We mean no harm, we just hope you can allow us to charter the boat, and we are willing to pay the corresponding fee,” Bahrain said sincerely, patting his chest.

“Dwarves? I hate dwarves… This is the pure land of the North, dwarves are not welcome here! You only bring war and death!” Bion said in a gruff voice.

“Hey! I think we can talk! I remember you, we fought side by side during the Battle of Lonely Mountain, didn’t we? We’re friends!” Bahrain said quickly.

"No! The Bear-Skin Clan is not fighting because of you! It's because we love nature! We need to maintain stability here! If we let the orcs run rampant, those poor people will really have no way to survive!" Bion interrupted.

“We are only acting for ourselves; we have never made any kind of alliance with the dwarves!” Bion declared loudly.

“We need your help, just as you helped us on our expedition. Dwarves never forget their friends,” Balin said, appealing to emotions.

"Back then you were only a dozen or so people, look at you now! You've come with an army! We don't want to get involved in your grudges, leave this place. Although this newly born city is still very weak, the people in the city are willing to shed their last drop of blood for her. No one can force us! Even if you come to our gates! The Northern People are fearless!" Bion pounded his chest and let out a war howl. His body rapidly swelled, his bulging muscles tore through his clothes, and fine brown fur grew rapidly from under his skin. Soon, a giant bear nearly five meters tall stood on the city wall.

Seeing that the two were about to break up and fight, Roland, who was originally embarrassed, couldn't sit still anymore. Given the dwarf's dim-wittedness, who should he help if a fight really broke out?

"Wait!" Roland raised his hand to stop the heated exchange.

"Hello, Karok... is that how you address me? Lord Karok, I am King Roland of the Kingdom of Lagrange. I apologize for the dwarves' recklessness. They may not know that the nature-loving druids do not like them, but I feel there is no need to be so tense. Starting a war will not benefit anyone. I must admit the power of the Bearskin Clan. Even a dwarf army needs to temporarily avoid their sharp edge..." Roland said sincerely.

“Hu…” Balin grabbed Ou Yin, who was about to go up and argue with him.

“We are all from the North, and you should understand the meaning of ‘if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.’ They have no other intentions; reclaiming Moria is their dream. So you don’t need to worry about them causing trouble. We just need to cross the river and then leave. We guarantee we won’t cause any trouble for you or the people here,” Roland said sincerely.

"The king of humans? Why are you with dwarves?" Bion gradually calmed down as he listened to Roland's reasoned analysis, but he was still puzzled as to why dwarves would be with humans.

"Probably... because they gave me an offer I couldn't refuse..." Roland shrugged. After all, soldiers need to eat, and trade requires money, and Roland just happened to be penniless.

“I need to think about it…” Bion said after a moment of contemplation.

"Don't worry, although dwarves can be stubborn and even annoying at times, you'll find they're actually quite easy to get along with once you spend time with them," Roland smiled.

“There are too many of you… For safety reasons, this place cannot accommodate all of you soldiers,” Bion said after a moment of thought.

“We won’t stay long. Let them camp outside tonight. There’s no need to enter the city.” Roland nodded in agreement. After all, Roland himself wouldn’t have agreed to let so many unfamiliar troops enter the city.

“Balin, take a few men and let’s go in and have a chat with Bion. After all, his men control the Old Pass, which is the only way to the Lonely Mountain from the west. You dwarves will have to deal with him a lot in the future, so it’s good for everyone to build a good relationship beforehand. What do you think, Balin?” Roland lowered his head and suggested to Balin.

“You are right. Your wisdom is as powerful as your army. It is always better to have more friends than more enemies,” Bahrain readily agreed.

“Caslo, you lead them to set up camp. We’ll rest here for the night and figure out a way to cross the river tomorrow. We’ll go in and talk to Bion; as neighbors, we should at least pay him a visit,” Roland instructed.

“This isn’t right, is it? I’m not here… Your safety…” Caslo hesitated, then stopped.

"Don't worry, Omske will be with me. Don't you trust him? He's the strongest fighter among us. With him protecting me, I'll be fine." Roland laughed heartily. Not only would Bion not harm him, but even if someone wanted to attack, they would have to consider the intimidating power of a sixth-tier hero! It could be said that he was invincible below the sixth tier, and above the sixth tier, he was one-for-one!

“Alright, if anything changes, just crush this scale and I’ll immediately lead my troops in to rescue you!” Caslo handed Roland a small, greenish-blue dragon scale about the size of a fingernail.

"Hey! Isn't this a product of the special skill 'Scale of Perception' after a Dragon Knight advances to Dragon Knight General?" Roland exclaimed in surprise. The function of this thing in the game is simple—to summon reinforcements! As long as the scale is broken, the owner of the scale can sense it no matter how far away they are, so this thing can be considered a "nuclear weapon" for advanced players! After all, an item that can summon a Dragon Knight General anytime, anywhere is extremely precious! "Your Highness has great insight!" Caslo, who was originally going to explain the detailed function, immediately smiled and gave a thumbs up, without needing to say anything more.

“Let’s go, Balin, let’s go see him!” Roland said with a smile to the future dwarf king.

“Of course, I would also like to meet him. It would be even better if we could clear up any misunderstandings between us,” Bahrain readily agreed.

To be honest, Balin should be considered one of the few wise men among the dwarves. This battle-hardened veteran has gained wisdom that most dwarves lack, thanks to his rich experience. Although it is not written in the original work, he was able to recapture Moria with an expeditionary force of only a few dozen people, which suggests that he is not a reckless or stubborn person.

"That's good. To be honest, you dwarves have such a temper..." Roland shrugged and gave Balin a knowing look.

“But we’re also very honest, aren’t we? At least dwarves don’t betray those they consider friends.” Balin sighed.

"Let's go..."

……

"Welcome, Your Highness Roland, at your service..." Bion greeted Roland and his party at the open gate of the town.

"This is the hero of light and shadow, Omsk!" Roland deliberately introduced Omsk first, and sure enough, Bion and his people were instantly stunned. As a third-tier nature druid, Bion understood how deep the gap was between his strength and that of the man in front of him!
"Hello, Your Excellency Omske," Bion said with a quick smile.

“This is Bahrain! The commander and leader of this expeditionary force!” Roland pointed to Bahrain again.

“Greetings, Master of Karok. I am Balin, a dwarf of the Longbeard Clan!” Balin greeted.

"At your service, Your Excellency Bahrain."

……

“Would you mind telling me about the origins of this town? My people didn’t tell me there was a town here!” Roland asked while sipping his honey water.

“Oh, I have to thank Lord Lance under your command for that.” Bion smiled.

“Baron Lance? What does he have to do with you?” Roland was a little confused.

“If he hadn’t paid a large sum of gold coins for our ships, we probably wouldn’t have had the financial resources to support the construction of this town…” Bion explained.

“I see. But where did these residents come from? Your clan doesn’t seem to have that many people!” Roland asked curiously, knowing that the bear-skinned clan wasn’t exactly large.

"Sigh...they're all unfortunate people from the North." Bion rubbed his face and sighed.

"Humans from the North?" Roland asked in surprise.

“Yes, ever since the northern humans answered the call of the southern human kingdoms and established the Kingdom of Rohan, life has been difficult for the humans who remained in the north. Natural disasters! Monsters! Orcs! Dongyi tribes! They are all ruthlessly taking away their living space. Those who managed to escape here are considered lucky. Most of them have fallen on the northern wastelands. The population… is increasing, and we can't provide enough relief… They lack food and clothing… and have no fixed abode… We finally decided to build a city here, to give them a home, and to leave the northern humans with a last stronghold… But it seems that it is no longer necessary. Your Highness, your kingdom stands tall in the north. I believe that those who are struggling to survive will have a better time in the future. I hope that you can provide shelter to those poor people!” Bion said sincerely.

Hearing Bion's words, Roland fell silent. It turned out that in the north, which he couldn't see, there were still humans struggling to survive in the cracks...

(End of this chapter)