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

Chapter 404 Recognition
Lafitte Antony astutely noticed the fear in his ordinary soldiers. Compared to his and his knights' battle-hardened experience, these ordinary infantrymen were nothing more than second-rate troops tasked with defense, guarding gates, and keeping watch. Although they could obey orders, they were far from being elite troops, having seen little bloodshed. And now, they were already intimidated by the bloodthirsty aura of those five knights…

"Damn it! Have some backbone! How could I have cowards like you under my command!" Lord Lafitte Anthony was nearly bursting with rage. Although this squad of swift infantry showed no signs of retreating, were those trembling legs and hands for real? Hey you over there! Your chevaux-de-frise is already starting to flank...

"Prove your identity, Lord!" The vanguard knights exchanged glances. Although they were separated by helmets and visors, they could feel each other's excitement. They had finally found His Highness's target, but they didn't know if it was true or not.

"Who are you? How dare you!" Lord Lafitt Anthony was taken aback. Holy crap! What a big mouth! You want me, a former vassal of the empire, to reveal my identity? Do you think the men of the Anthony family can't lift a sword anymore? Or do you think those cowardly Swift Stream Infantry are too afraid to charge back at galloping warhorses?
"Watch your attitude! You are facing a member of the Holy Radiance Knights, the direct knightly order of His Majesty the King of Lagrange! Everything you say and do will be reported to the King!" The vanguard knights didn't tolerate Lafit Anthony. What kind of lord was he? Didn't they see that even a descendant of a Grand Duke still guarded the city walls for our King?
“King? What pheasant kingdom? The Kingdom of Lagrang is a fart! Let your king come out, let me see his Lagrang… pheasant!” Lafit Anthony said, his words choked like a rooster.

“Um…is it really them? It doesn’t seem like it…how dare the imperial nobles be so disrespectful to the king?” Several vanguard knights’ faces darkened, and they all lowered their heads and began to exchange words.

"how could I know?"

"The equipment does look very similar, but it's too late... I can't see clearly!"

"Do you think it's possible that they intercepted the people His Highness is looking for?" a knight suddenly asked, raising a bold hypothesis.

The group exchanged glances, all seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes, and simultaneously raised their lances.

“If that’s the case… then we must fight for the Empire!” the knights whispered coldly. Although they were loyal to the current King Roland, it did not mean they could allow the Kingdom’s predecessor, the Empire, to be insulted at will.

"I am Lord Lafitte Antony of the Antony family of the Empire! This is my coat of arms! You can see for yourselves!" Lafitte Antony had his men bring over his large banner.

However, the wary group did not completely believe Lafitte Anthony's words.

"Why did you come?"

“We received news from the Empire, and we plan to come and see if the Empire has been rebuilt. After all, our branch has been wandering for a long time!” Lafitte Anthony did not hide anything.

"How did you receive the message?" the knights asked.

"The Imperial military uses alchemical magic equipment, the locating compass... Don't tell me you don't know that! That thing can locate the Imperial's teleportation arrays! The Imperial teleportation arrays are all in cities and fortresses! The Restorers will definitely activate them!" Lafit Anthony explained.

"Why have you stopped? And it seems you're going the wrong way!" Although they were mostly convinced, the knights were still puzzled as to how this team, which had exhausted them, had gotten lost.

"Do you think I wanted this? By the Dragon God! That broken teleportation array only worked for two days and then stopped working! And then our positioning compass broke! Dragon God! Remember that it's something passed down from the Imperial Age!" Lafitte Anthony seemed to have found a scapegoat and started complaining loudly.

The vanguard knights exchanged glances. Oh dear, how tragic!

“Alright! Now tell me about you! I want to know how you knights prove your identities? You won’t just let us leave with a bunch of empty words, will you?” Lafit Anthony asked.

"Sigh..." The leading vanguard knight remained silent, casually sending an invisible magical signal into the sky. "Just wait! You'll understand tomorrow morning!" The vanguard knights slowly disappeared from Lafitte Anthony's sight.

"No? What do you mean? They're leaving already?" Lafitte Anthony was taken aback. Why did these people run away? This doesn't seem fake. And what's with the "we'll know tomorrow morning" thing?

"Strange?" Lord Lafit Anthony was speechless. After instructing his men to keep watch, he went to sleep. He didn't take the knights seriously. With his strength as a third-tier Grand Knight, he could easily hold off two of them. He could leave the rest to his men.

……

Here, as the magical signal exploded, the other search teams were in an uproar. Their alchemy tools started vibrating wildly. When they took them out, a red dot was flashing intensely on a virtual star chart.

"Damn it! (A magical plant, a kind of artifact) These bastards! They found someone in the middle of the night! I'm so pissed off..."

"By the Dragon God! I just lay down!"

"I want to kill someone right now! Where are there any orcs I can chop up and vent my anger on!"

Everyone roared in anger. After all, who understands the feeling of being forcibly dragged out of bed just as you're about to fall asleep!

……

So the next day at noon, Lord Lafitte Antony saw knights and cavalrymen rushing in from all directions.

"Does this need further explanation?" The knight from last night stepped forward.

"Uh...no need!" Lord Lafitte Antony, looking at the fluttering red flag with a gold dragon, indicated that he had no desire to continue, especially since the knights surrounding them were now almost enough to form a hundred-man knightly order...

"Pack your things and get ready to leave! His Highness has been waiting for you for a long time!" the vanguard knight said to Lord Lafit Anthony.

“I need time!” said Lord Lafitte Antony.

“There’s plenty of time, but you’d better hurry! This land is not peaceful!” the vanguard knight said meaningfully.

Although the orcs of the northern wasteland were crying and licking their wounds, surely no one really thought they were just going to let it go?
Moreover, this place isn't far from Gambada Fortress; if this stubborn lord really went down, he'd be right there in Gambada! They're currently in the Withered Wasteland! And there's a griffin clan hiding somewhere in the nearby grey mountains! It's truly a miracle these people are safe from harm!
"Don't worry, I understand! I'll have them speed things up, but most of us here are commoners, and everyone is carrying a lot of stuff that can't be packed up in a few days!" Lafitte Anthony shook his head. This kind-hearted nobleman was unwilling to let the common people risk their lives to speed things up.

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(End of this chapter)