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

Chapter 28 The Wandering People

"Main Quest: If you want to wear the crown, you must bear the weight! You are required to build a complete city to fulfill your title of king. The requirements are: city walls with a height of more than 5 meters, at least 10 defensive buildings, blacksmith shops, mills, leather workshops, etc., at least 500 soldiers, and at least 5000 Lagrange civilians."

"Holy crap!" Roland was completely dumbfounded. What the hell was this? Were the requirements for becoming a king really that low now? A small town could be king? Well, it wasn't impossible, after all, Bard had already become king of Dale, so becoming king himself didn't seem like a big deal. It was just that these 5000 Lagrang commoners were a real problem. This was Middle-earth! Where was he supposed to find Lagrang commoners?
"System, what's the deal with this civilian?" Roland, adhering to the principle of always asking the system when in doubt, tentatively asked the system.

"Please check the territory page yourself, host!" The system's cold voice surprisingly revealed a hint of disdain.

"Territory page?" Roland was unaware that he had unlocked another feature.

Roland opened the territory page as instructed, and upon taking a closer look, he was immediately enraged. "Look at this! Is this even human language?"
Territory: Swiftstream City.

The lone city of Swiftflow appeared on the page, which was fine, considering that I had only just started out. But what followed was going too far.

Swiftstream City:
Area: One kilometer in radius.

Building units: 1 dilapidated lord's castle, 100 crumbling houses, a dilapidated stone wall that has been neglected for a long time, and a well that barely produces water.

Troop strength: 203
Population: 0
Evaluation: The lonely king leads her surviving people back to their homeland. This ruin, barely offering shelter from the wind and rain, brings them some solace. Darkness still threatens the newborn queen. Compared to the lifeless town, its formidable military strength is perhaps its only redeeming quality. Note: There are no civilians in the town!

Abilities: 1. As the only territory of the Kingdom of Lagrange in Middle-earth, she will attract the remnants of Lagrange. The system will guide a wave of wandering Lagrange civilians to her territory every day, hoping that the lord can properly settle them.

2. Allow the recruitment of local civilians to train swift infantry.

"Uh..." Roland's initial anger was replaced by surprise. Although the system's comments were scathing, Roland was moved by the ability to attract Lagrange civilians. When did a system that was even more ruthless than capitalists become so generous? You see, the civilians in Swiftstream Town can be converted into Swiftstream Infantry at any time, which means Roland has a continuous source of soldiers.

"Huh? These are our wandering tribesmen!" The Battanian archers on lookout immediately spotted a group of refugees carrying large and small bags. Although they were extremely destitute, they were still carrying a crudely made lagerlong flag, which allowed the Battanian archers to quickly identify them.

"Damn it! System, can I take back the emotion I felt earlier?" Roland grinned as he looked at the group of refugees who had been attracted to him.

Not to mention the pitifully small number of people, out of a mere 7 people, only 2 were adults, and the rest were teenagers. It seemed to be a family... Roland was frowning as he thought.

"Thump!" A row of people suddenly knelt down, startling Roland. Just as he was about to tell them to get up, the head of the household spoke up.

“By the Dragon God! So there are still imperial armies and lords in this world... We... we thought all the lords had perished! After wandering for so long, we have finally seen the dragon banner of Lagrang flying again…” the man choked out.

"..." Roland reached out to help them up, and for the first time felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders as king.

“You are safe! The Imperial army will protect you! You... will never have to leave your homes again.” All his words were condensed into a sigh, and Roland patted them on the shoulder.

Roland looked at the territory page again and found that the population had increased from 0 to 7.

"When the hell will we get 5000 civilians?!" Roland muttered helplessly. "On alert!" Renault suddenly shouted, and everyone quickly dropped the planks and stones they were carrying and rushed up the wall. The newly arrived civilian family instinctively huddled trembling beside a dilapidated wooden hut. Roland felt a pang of heartache watching them. How much suffering must they have endured to be so adept at hiding in a corner for refuge...

"What's wrong, Renault?" Roland leaped onto the stone wall and looked at Roland.

"The war mage is here! I can feel the magic of a fourth-tier mage!" Renault said solemnly. Although the war mage could not do anything to Renault, the paladin commander, and Caslo, the dragon knight, the other soldiers and Roland would definitely not be able to withstand the terrifying war magic.

"A war mage?" Roland suddenly thought of the griffin and earth mage he had purchased.

"Don't get too excited, maybe they're one of our people. After all, more and more Lagrange survivors are returning." After saying that, Roland pointed to the family of refugees who had arrived, to cover up the truth that he had bought the mage at a high price.

“Perhaps you are right, but we still need to be careful. After all, Stream City is still very vulnerable right now. A single high-level spell could wipe us out.” Renault remained vigilant.

"Your Majesty King Lagrange! Radil is at your service!" A loud voice rang out, and an old man in an earth-yellow robe rode a thin horse from afar. Although they were thousands of meters apart, his voice echoed clearly in everyone's ears.

"Oh! Your Highness, your glory will shine forever, the Lagrange Empire will be revived in your hands, and you will become His Majesty!" The old man solemnly came to the foot of the wall and bowed to Roland on the stone wall.

"Welcome, Mage Radil! May the glory of the Empire shine upon us forever!" Roland replied with a smile, while staring at him curiously.

"Haha, Your Highness, consider these griffin eggs a small gift from this old man." Radil chuckled as he pulled a cloth bag from the satchel he carried on his horse. Judging from the horse's reaction, the bag was quite heavy.

"Oh! By the Dragon God! There are actually 5 griffin eggs!" Caslo jumped down from the wall and excitedly opened the bag, looking at the griffin eggs right there.

“Come on, Mage Radil, let us arrange a place for you to stay. Oh, and you’re in charge of taking care of these eggs, Caslo.” Roland stepped down from the wall, pushed open the gate made of branches, and invited Radil in.

"Eh? A dragon knight? Your Highness, you have indeed been blessed by Lagrange!" Radil expressed his surprise at still being able to see a dragon knight from Lagrange, and at the same time offered his blessings to Roland.

"Haha, you're too kind. We still need your help with the construction here," Roland complimented. After all, every earth mage was a qualified builder; they could use magic to construct stone bricks engraved with magical runes to build the city.

"Alright, everyone disperse. Let's try to clear this place as soon as possible. Oh, and arrange a safe and clean house for the newly arrived civilians to stay in." Roland met the grateful gazes of the refugees.

"Thank you, sir..." The refugees choked with emotion.

"It's alright, tomorrow will definitely be better..." Roland chuckled and looked at the surging, rushing river.

I received a contract offer today! I'm so excited, thrilled, and happy! Thank you to all my readers for your support and for your votes! (ω)


(End of this chapter)