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

Chapter 279 Restoration
after one day……

"Cough cough! Thank you so much, King Roland!" Balin said to Roland gratefully, rubbing his bruised chest.

"No need to be so polite... I'm just fulfilling my duty under our contract!" Roland smiled and shook his head, after all, the blood and sweat the dwarves had shed were not to be underestimated! While Roland's forces had not lost a single man, the dwarves had already lost 61 warriors!

“Four hundred and thirty-nine! Sigh... I never imagined so many children would leave us…” Balin sat down, rubbing his still aching chest and sighing helplessly.

“This is not your fault! You have done your best! Take a good rest these few days! May 21st is a good day, you should ascend the throne on that day!” Roland encouraged Balin with a smile.

"This..." Balin was too excited to contain himself, but at the same time he was worried about what the dwarf king Thorin and the other great lords thought.

“What’s there to worry about? This is what you deserve! When Thorin gave all of this to you, he already tacitly approved it. The opinions of other lords are not important. What matters is that you rightfully reclaimed the Moria Mines, and no one can object!” Roland explained to Balin.

Roland believed that Thorin was unlikely to be wary of Balin becoming the Dwarf King. He knew Balin's goal was to reclaim Moria! Thorin himself knew the immense influence and appeal of a dwarf who had reclaimed their homeland. He knew the outcome of Balin's successful reconquest of Moria, yet he still unhesitatingly gave Balin a full 500 dwarf warriors! This was a complete dwarf army! The significance of this act was self-evident! As for the remaining dwarf lords? They had even less right to interfere. After all, Balin himself was a descendant of Turin, and he had the right to inherit the throne of Turin. Besides, he had conquered his own kingdom; why should others interfere?
"Thank you for your guidance, King Roland!" Balin suddenly understood. All the confusion he had felt before became clear. He immediately realized how perfect his current situation was. Any descendant of Turin who successfully conquered Moria could become its master!
"By the way! How's your injury? Let me heal you again! We can't let our King of Moria fall before he's even crowned, can we?" Roland teased with a smile.

"It's nothing serious, just some pain and no other effects." Balin shook his head. Why would a tough-skinned dwarf care about such things? Resilience is a characteristic of dwarves!

"What's the situation with the troops now? Can you tell me?" Roland looked at Balin. A day ago, after they successfully recaptured the Royal Palace, in order to eliminate the remaining enemies more quickly, the two of them decided to unite and distribute the soldiers. In this way, under the leadership of the dwarves, Lagrang's elite troops could eliminate these orcs and trolls more quickly.

"Progress is going smoothly, with no casualties reported. After all, those giant trolls all died yesterday! The rest are either bloated orcs or emaciated goblins, which are easy to deal with!" Balin said confidently, waving his hand.

"Then I'll be waiting for your good news! By the way, your coronation is in four days, and you will soon successfully ascend to the rank of king! I hope you can eliminate the remaining enemies before then, after all, you wouldn't want any accidents to happen during the coronation ceremony, would you?" Roland used a respectful title, since Balin would also be a prince in a few days. As for whether he could become emperor... currently, only two people in Middle-earth have the potential to take this step: Aragorn and Roland! Roland, needless to say, is incredibly powerful! Aragorn, on the other hand, is a true human emperor!
"Huh? That's right! Legolas should have encountered the wandering Emperor by now, right?" Roland thought with a touch of wicked humor.

"Of course! I will wipe out the remaining enemies in this city. There will be no surprises at the ceremony four days from now," Balin said decisively. After all, he was getting old and it wasn't easy for him to be crowned. If the orcs ruined his mood, Balin would probably regret it for the rest of his life! So, to avoid any regrets, Balin decided to ask the remaining orc enemies of Moria to die!
……

"Sigh! What kind of dragon rider will he give me?" Roland swayed in his hammock, his thoughts already wandering far away. He was still looking forward to this dragon rider he had never met before! After all, unlike Caslo, a dragon rider who had only recently become a dragon rider, this dragon rider certainly wouldn't be a flying dragon that had evolved into a giant dragon! How powerful are pure-blooded giant dragons? Just look at Peter Gro's Star Dragon Stig!
"I want fire or wood type! Fire is for combat! Wood is for support! These are the two I desperately need!" Roland fantasized in his mind, his lips almost curving into a wide smile! "Your Highness! Dinner is ready!" Caslo swaggered over, a large wooden platter overflowing with a sumptuous feast: roasted pork chops, honey-glazed roasted meat, vegetable and meat soup, and crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside bread! There were even a few bright red wild berries!
"Huh? Where did this berry come from?" Roland curiously picked up a bright red berry and examined it closely. It looked a bit like a cherry, but was about the size of a strawberry!
“We’ve arrived at the East Gate! We can pick whatever we want as soon as we step outside! There’s a valley right next to us!” Caslo said casually.

"Thank you!" Roland didn't stand on ceremony and grabbed the food, swallowing it in large gulps.

“Your Highness!” Caslo called softly.

"Hmm? I'm listening!" Roland mumbled, his mouth full of roast meat and bread.

"Well, we've been out here for so long, when are we going back? Everyone's getting homesick..." Caslo said, forcing a smile. After being on the move for so long, many soldiers were getting tired of fighting, having already killed so many orcs and goblins that their hands were sore! Caslo spoke up at this moment only to remind Roland, because now that the company was large and powerful, they couldn't afford to have internal problems.

"Huh? Didn't I tell you?" Roland asked, puzzled.

"Huh?" Caslo looked completely bewildered. What exactly did you tell me? After carefully recalling their conversations over the past few days, Caslo realized there was nothing wrong!
“Here’s the thing, I’ll be witnessing Bahrain’s coronation in four days. After the coronation, we’ll rest for a day and then leave!” Roland slapped his forehead and said to Caslow. Maybe he’d been sleeping too comfortably these past two days and forgotten? Roland turned his face away somewhat awkwardly.

"Should we inform everyone? After all, telling everyone would help to reassure the troops a little!" Caslo said.

"Of course, let everyone know! Let them know we're going home soon!" Roland said nonchalantly.

“That’s alright! Please enjoy your meal! I’ll go and inform everyone first!” Caslo said immediately.

Watching Caslo's hurried departure, Roland couldn't help but rub his hands together, taking a deep breath. Ah! It smelled of money. Roland was curious; how much was one-fifth of Moria's wealth? Roland didn't know, but when Balin made the promise and signed the employment contract, even someone as thick-skinned as Roland was astonished by the contents! What did one-fifth of the wealth accumulated by countless generations mean?
"Slurp!" Roland, who was fantasizing about dragon knights flying all over the sky and mountains of gold and silver, couldn't help but drool.

(End of this chapter)