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

“Your Highness…” Apophis Breo was stunned for a moment. Perhaps other nouveau riche nobles did not understand, but as the heir of the King’s Landing family, how could he not understand the value of this blockade right!
In fact, starting with the title of baron, nobles had the right to bestow titles, but their power was extremely limited. They could only grant knighthoods, which were equivalent in prestige to medieval knighthoods. These were essentially quasi-nobles, without fiefdoms, only a farm or village as their estate. In times of war, they were required to provide their own equipment and assemble to fight for their lord. If their descendants lacked military talent, their family would revert to commoner status, as knighthoods were not hereditary.

But it's different for nobles. Among nobles, there are hereditary noble titles. That is to say, as long as Apophis Breo can afford to bestow three hundred noble titles on himself, no one can object. It is as if he has already partially restored the glory of his family. After all, nobles who can arbitrarily bestow titles on their vassals are undoubtedly nobles with real power. What he needs now is to take over a territory to open up a space for survival for himself and his men. Roland can only provide an imperial outpost for this. As for the rest... it depends on Apophis Breo's own fate.

"Alright, save your gratitude for later. You've already proven your abilities and you are indeed qualified to restore the glory of your ancestors and the honor of your family!" Roland nodded.

Apophis Breo opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. Roland's actions had completely shut him up.

Seeing Apophis Breo's hesitant expression, Roland shook his head with amusement, while Olaf and his group's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Their lord... their lord could now be granted a noble title! If it weren't for King Roland being there, they probably would have swarmed and surrounded Apophis Breo.

……

"My lord!" As expected, Apophis Breo was surrounded after Roland turned to leave.

"My lord, I have shed blood for my family!" A soldier stretched out his arm, which had been scratched by bushes while chasing orcs. Hmm... not bad, the scabs will almost dry by now.

"My lord! I have served my country faithfully!" Another warrior pointed to the "scarred" chainmail—covered with the remains of orcs and fragments of their internal organs.

Apophis Breo glanced sideways, just about to feel a surge of emotion, when he looked up and saw the body's owner—Olaf! Snap! His emotion vanished!

“Isn’t this our strategist? Come, come, now that His Highness isn’t here, tell me properly how you stole my military strategies?” Apophis Breo’s opening question was a death trap.

"Four people attacking from three directions? This kid's got some wild moves. What? Why not attack from four directions? That would be more impressive!" Apophis Breo crossed his arms and looked at the "treasure" boy in front of him.

"Hehehe, sir, you know I'm not very skilled..." Olaf laughed awkwardly, drawing circles on the ground with his foot, seemingly able to draw a picture of tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival.

……

"Your Highness, are you planning to release Apophis Breo now?" Omske asked.

"What? Does the great hero of light and shadow, His Majesty Omske, also want to go out and become a pioneering noble?" Roland laughed.

"Forget it, I don't have that talent!" Omske shook his head and smiled bitterly. Expanding a noble territory still requires some talent, after all, there are a lot of things to do, and if they are not handled well, the territory will come to a standstill.

“However, you’re bringing the pioneering era to a premature start…” Omsk hesitated.

"Early? Who told me it had to be early? Nyx and I are getting married soon, and after the wedding, according to the agreement, he should be allowed to restore the family's glory." Roland shook his head. He hadn't suppressed Apophis Breo, nor had he provided much assistance; he was simply following the agreement.

“Yes, I was overthinking it!” Omske nodded.

“Actually, even if he leaves now, it’s fine. Will such a large kingdom come to a standstill without him? Or will having him allow it to defend the long border?” Roland smiled and winked. After all, a few hundred more or less wouldn’t make a difference. “…” Omske was stunned. Goodness! That makes a lot of sense. I can’t even refute it. In the end, although the kingdom has a large population shortage, it doesn’t lack these two hundred or so ordinary soldiers.

"The era of expansion is far from over, and we are not yet capable of large-scale territorial expansion! Do you think I don't want to reclaim the old site of Lagrange City?" Roland chuckled.

“Sigh…” Omsk sighed. He was overthinking it. After all, the only noble in the kingdom who was truly capable of going out to expand was Apophis Breo. What was worse was that this only noble who could go out to expand was also in a precarious situation. Omsk was worried about whether Apophis Breo could hold the old pass.

"Think about how to deal with the Eastern Yi people who have come from afar! I'm more worried about the chariot people than the orcs!" Roland said, looking at the pile of orc corpses in the distance.

"Excuse my bluntness, but we still need knights and cavalry to deal with those chariot warriors! After all, infantry is too passive!" Omske shrugged.

"No money! No manpower! Can't afford to support them!" Roland immediately followed up with a triple punchline, giving Omsk no chance to respond.

“Of course…that’s what I was thinking too. Why don’t we think about how to build high walls, store up grain, and delay declaring ourselves kings?” Omsk said slowly.

“My next plan is to expand eastward. I’ll leave the west to Apophis. If he gets driven back by the orcs of Gombada Fortress, there’s nothing I can do.” Roland picked up a twig and started scratching at the ground.

“The swift river flows downstream… to the place where the Red River meets the Yellow River—that’s our homeland, our capital, our home!” Omsk looked down slowly following Roland’s hand, his eyes already clouded with a thin mist.

"Don't worry! We will go home! When the Dragon Bell of Lagrange rings out again in Middle-earth, I will stand in Lagrange and look down on my empire!" Roland gently patted Omske on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, that day will come, it won't be far off!" Roland added.

"Yes!" Omske wiped his eyes and nodded quickly.

“Alright, now that we’ve rested, let’s get ready to go back. It seems they can handle things here themselves, so we don’t need to stay and help.” Roland said to Omsk and the others, watching the Valiant Warriors who were arriving one after another carrying the orc corpses to be burned.

“Let’s wait a bit. Let’s stay here and protect them for a while. It won’t make a difference if we don’t spend a little more time. After all, this place is outside our control and it’s no longer safe.” Omsk looked around.

“Okay, then let’s wait for them!” Roland nodded.

"Luckily, this isn't the Dark Forest, otherwise we'd have to be wary of monster attacks," Omske chuckled.

"Warcraft? How did they know I needed magic crystals?" Roland joked.

"Why don't you go and deal with those griffins in the Grey Mountains, Great King Roland?" Omske winked and teased.

"..." Roland's eye twitched, but he didn't say anything.