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

Chapter 313 Autumn Wind
“Darling, what are you looking at?” Nyx looked at Roland, who was standing on the castle terrace gazing into the distance, and gently walked over, putting her arm around his waist as she asked softly.

"Hmm... I was thinking, another autumn has arrived!" Roland turned around and hugged Nyx, nuzzling her head affectionately with his chin. He realized he'd been in Middle-earth for almost a year already...

"Time flies!" Roland sighed softly.

In less than a year, Roland has gone from being all alone to being the king of a country, with his own kingdom, and more importantly, his lover and his loved ones!
"Thank you, system!" Roland, holding Nyx, silently expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the system that had brought him to Middle-earth.

"But when you think about it, it seems like I'm not as dependent on the system as I used to be?" Roland frowned slightly. Now, Roland's routine is simply to sign in every day and then collect a bunch of odds and ends. Although most of them aren't particularly useful, they do bring a little fun to the city's dull life.

Getting back to the main point, the Kingdom of Lagrange has already begun to establish its own ecological cycle, although it is still very fragile. However, if we look at Swiftstream City as a free territory, its development is actually quite good. Even if Roland loses the system now, Swiftstream City can still become a well-developed city-state in the future. As for the kingdom... let's not even think about it.

"Hmm... what should we eat tonight?" Nyx suddenly smiled and asked Roland in a coquettish tone.

"What do you want to eat, you silly girl?" Roland affectionately pinched her nose, his eyes full of doting.

Nyx immediately leaned in for a passionate kiss with Roland.

“Your Highness…” Omsk rushed in, only to find this awkward scene.

"Um... I didn't see anything, I'm leaving now!" Omske awkwardly covered his face and fled.

"Hehe~" Nyx laughed so hard she almost fell over, showing Roland what it meant to be not embarrassed, but embarrassed!
"Alright, what do you want to eat? I'll go tell the kitchen to prepare it!" Roland ruffled Nyx's hair, the smooth, long hair was incredibly silky and slippery, it felt so good it made him feel like he was floating on air.

"Let's eat roasted chicken!" Nyx thought for a moment and finally hesitated. As a high-ranking duke, she certainly couldn't eat ordinary chicken. The Snowwing Chicken, a low-level magical beast from the chicken farm, was just right. However, because the quantity was limited, even Nyx couldn't eat it often.

"Huh? Eh!" A different look appeared in Roland's eyes. Why did this girl's words sound so strange?

"Ahem! Um, girl, let's not talk about chickens, let's be civilized!" Roland coughed as he spoke to Nyx.

"Hmm?" Nyx nodded, seemingly understanding.

"By the way, I'll go check on Omske! He doesn't usually barge in like that! Something urgent must have happened!" Roland patted Nyx's shapely buttocks, making the girl blush. He couldn't help but pinch her soft waist before stopping.

"Hmph! You're always bullying me!" Nyx pouted, dissatisfied.

……

"Omske! What's going on?" Roland came out.

“The autumn harvest is almost here!” Omske’s words immediately jolted Roland awake.

"Is everything arranged?" Roland asked hurriedly.

“We’re under a lot of pressure. The frequency of roaming orcs has increased dramatically recently!” Omsk said, frowning.

"Have all the knights and cavalry been sent out?" Roland's expression was also grim.

"We're still short-handed! Our mobile forces can't cover our territory!" Omske said helplessly. "Recall all the cavalry and knights from Lulong Fortress!" Roland had no choice but to say.

“I’ve already made these arrangements, but we’re short-handed! Don’t forget we have a hundred heavy cavalrymen!” Omske was at his wits’ end. These heavy cavalrymen were only slightly more mobile than infantrymen, and their stamina wasn’t enough for long-distance raids.

"Damn it! Where am I supposed to find so many cavalry to maintain patrols?" Roland was also instantly furious. Besides, neither cavalry nor knights were people Roland could afford to support at will.

"By the Dragon God! What does it mean that the kingdom's borders are riddled with holes? Can you tell me what happened?" Yun Feng walked over with a stack of parchment.

“We’re discussing this right now!” Roland rubbed his head. Everyone now knew what Yun Feng meant by the border being riddled with holes. Although there hadn’t been any incidents of orcs attacking civilians, the large number of orcs crossing the border had already terrified all the kingdom’s high-ranking officials.

"Could we send out the infantry... and have them set up outposts along the border?" Roland said after a moment of silence, offering this flimsy but ultimately ineffective solution.

“In fact, we don’t have any extra infantry!” Yun Feng frowned. Although there were more soldiers than civilians in Lagrang, the kingdom still had two cities that needed to be garrisoned!
"Dragon God! I have thousands of soldiers and I can't even spare enough soldiers?" Roland almost fainted.

“Besides the cavalry and knights, you only have four hundred Battanian archers and those tin cans at your disposal! If you don’t want the defenses of Swiftstream City… never mind!” Omske sighed.

“Autumn has arrived…and these orcs have come to plunder too!” Roland lamented.

"If all else fails, let the cavalry and knights hold the line for now... The kingdom simply can't spare any more manpower!" Roland said, forcing himself to be firm. After all, this order meant that the cavalry and knights would soon be on high-intensity patrols, and working non-stop would undoubtedly put enormous pressure on these soldiers.

“That Your Highness…” Nyx quietly leaned against the wall, watching the group.

"Hmm? Girl? Why did you come out? Go back, you don't need to worry about things here!" Roland smiled.

“Have you considered… the soldiers under Baron Badr?” Nyx asked, tilting his head.

"..." Roland.

“…” Omsk.

"..." Yun Feng.

"If we include men and horses, we can still muster at least two hundred combatants who are no less capable than knights!" Yun Feng immediately began to calculate.

"Issue a conscription order! Command Baron Badr to lead his troops to defend the king!" Roland immediately ordered.

"I'll send cavalry to inform them!" Omske hurriedly went out.

"Thank you, girl!" Roland rubbed Nyx's little face. This girl is really a good helpmate. As expected of an imperial noble, she thinks about problems much more comprehensively than he, a half-baked lord.

"I'm glad I could help you..." Nyx said gently, lowering her head.

"Your Highness, please continue with your work. I'll go and rearrange the patrol team first!" Yun Feng could only grin as he watched the two of them showering each other with affection. After all, he didn't want to be a third wheel, and with the addition of the centaur forces, he also had to help this lazy king with his affairs.

(End of this chapter)