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

Chapter 655 Encounter
"Whoosh!" As the door of the straw house was pushed open, a group of pale-faced humans dressed in patched linen clothes ran out from all directions.

"Lord!" A group of people greeted him with a chorus of voices, patting their chests in salute.

Ismir looked closely and found that all the visitors were women and the elderly, with no able-bodied men. This made Ismir frown. It wasn't that he disliked these people, but if there were only these people, the burden on his territory would be very heavy. Although women meant new hope for life, that would be many years later. Ismir secretly pondered whether the soldiers under his command could protect these people.

"Old man Ad, may I ask how many people are here?" Ismir decided to ask old man Ad directly.

"Of course, sir, this old man will tell you everything he knows! There are 97 people here!" Ade said, rubbing his hands together.

"What about the men?" Ismir frowned. He had already prepared for the worst. Although it would be tiring and tough at first, if all else failed, he would send these people to live in Lulong Fortress. As for living expenses... Ismir looked at the obedient armored earth dragon. An earth dragon was worth a fortune.

"Men? You mean the hunting team?" Ade slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Ismir breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that it wasn't that there was a lack of able-bodied men, but that they had all gone hunting! Indeed, apart from a few small, flat plots of land where some crops were grown, the rest of the area was shaded by tree canopies. Without sunlight, it was impossible to grow crops. Clearly, the people here relied on the abundant animal resources of the dark forest for their livelihood.

“My lord, the hunting party won’t be back until tonight. We need to wait for them,” Ymir said to Ismir, putting down his greatsword.

A group of children thoughtfully found some linen and helped Ymir wipe his greatsword, showing that they respected Ymir.

“I live here all by myself, and also to protect them from monster attacks, since the men of the hunting party won’t be back until night,” Ymir explained to Ismir as if she could see his confusion.

"Oh!" Ismir nodded knowingly. Ymir was like a professional soldier here, no wonder the people here respected Ymir so much.

"My lord, what are your plans for the next step?" Ymir asked Ismir after watching the old man Ad, who had set down a cup of tea and retreated with a restrained air. Clearly, everyone here was looking expectantly at Ismir, the new lord, but no one dared to ask. So Ymir simply asked directly.

"Next step? Of course, it's to take everyone away from this godforsaken place..." Ismir's lips twitched. This wretched place had no development potential, it was in the middle of nowhere, was he out of his mind to leave that sparse plain at the end of the old forest road and go into the dense forest to eat shit?

"Do you have a suitable place?" Ymir raised an eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied with the place as well. Unfortunately, there was nowhere else for everyone to relocate, and the dense forests and lush vegetation here would provide refuge from many troubles.

"Of course! I have already chosen the territory to expand, but..." Ismir blushed. He couldn't very well say that he had been chased by an armored earth dragon for two miles, could he?

"That's good!" Ymir nodded. A lord who has the right to expand his territory will definitely receive preferential treatment in terms of resources from his lord. After all, no lord would let his vassal die out there for no reason, right?
“Not good…” Ismir suddenly raised an eyebrow, as if he had realized something.

"What is it, my lord?" Ymir asked, looking at Ismir, who was deep in thought.

“I’ve been out of the sight of the kingdom’s dragon knights for too long!” Ismir frowned. He had actually noticed the dragon knight hanging behind him a long time ago. Although the king said he wouldn’t interfere, he certainly wouldn’t let him run wild anymore. At least he would know who to seek revenge on after he died.

"Then what should we do?" Ymir asked.

"Take me back to the end of Old Forest Road first, the rest of you stay here! We'll cross the river back to Lulong Fortress and explain the situation!" Ismir said after a moment's thought. He knew without a doubt that Lulong Fortress was in complete chaos. He didn't know if King Roland knew, but Renault definitely knew about his disappearance, and was probably furious somewhere right now…

At this moment, Renault, who was being talked about by Ismir, was galloping through the dense forest. He killed dozens of wandering orcs along the way and headed north, trying to find traces of Ismir and his group in the dark forest. Although it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, Renault only wanted to have a clear conscience.

"What did they encounter?" Renault asked, somewhat bewildered. Aside from their campsite, there were no signs of any other living beings. What had forced Ismir and his group to hastily retreat south? Could it be ghosts?

While lost in thought, Renault released his mental energy to scan his surroundings. Knights' mental energy was not particularly strong to begin with, and with the dense forest blocking the way, Renault could only sense movements within a radius of a few hundred meters at most.

……

"The sound of horses' hooves?" Ymir's ears twitched, and he grabbed Ismir and whispered.

"Hmm?" Ismir was taken aback, then the power of nature spread out, and a huge amount of spiritual power was released and surged in all directions.

"That shouldn't be happening! How could there be the sound of horses' hooves here!" Ymir exclaimed in confusion.

Meanwhile, Ismir relaxed completely. His mental energy sensed a warm fluctuation of battle aura, like a blinding ray of sunlight! It was Renault, who had been searching for him!
“It’s the Northern Governor of the Kingdom! Let’s go see him!” Ismir said to Ymir.

……

"What the hell! Holy Lance!" A blinding spear light suddenly burst forth, and a golden spear shadow whistled past, heading straight for the figure that had suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Boom!" The large purple shield was quickly placed in front of him, directly blocking Renault's spear attack.

Ymir and Ismir's sudden appearance from the side startled Reno, who was in a hurry to get there. Anyone who sensed two creatures rushing out of the dense forest would instinctively attack first, but Reno didn't bother to distinguish them carefully, since one of the figures already made him feel threatened.

"General Reno! We're on the same side! Stop fighting!" Ismir cried out from behind Ymir. If he were to be suffocated by Reno, the fifth-tier paladin commander, with a Holy Sword Judgment, there would be no one to complain to.

Upon hearing Ismir's voice, Renault's movements abruptly halted. His powerful attack, the Holy Sword Judgment, which was already poised to strike, was instantly halted. This highlighted the importance of having connections; if Ismir hadn't met Renault before, Renault wouldn't have recognized his voice and wouldn't have stopped.

"Ismir? What are you up to?" Renault stared at the "Iron Tower" in front of him, completely bewildered. He'd grown even more muscular in just one day! Had he grown up on hormones?

“I’m here…” Ismir emerged from behind Ymir with a dark expression.

"Hmm, I'm glad you're alright... Hmm? The Senate Guard! Half-giant!" Renault glanced at Ismir. Hmm, not bad! Still alive, no missing limbs. Another look, and holy crap! The Senate Guard! Unlike Ismir, a Muggle, Renault's knowledge was naturally vast. He could easily recognize the standard equipment of the Imperial Senate Guard; after all, their flamboyant full-body armor and serpentine swords were practically their trademarks!

First update