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

Chapter 657 Migration
"It's good that you have a plan. Do you need me to go with you to help?" Renault nodded politely. Now that the matter was resolved, he planned to return to Lulong Fortress to take charge.

"Oh? That's wonderful! Thank you for your help, General Renault!" Ismir immediately seized the opportunity, as if he hadn't realized that it was just Renault being polite.

"Okay, then I'll be going... Huh?" Renault's eyes widened. I was just being polite, and you actually came!
"Let's go! General Reno, we need to hurry back and pack our things. It's a good thing you came, otherwise we would have been really worried about not being able to protect those civilians along the way!" By the time Reno realized what was happening, Ismir had already run far away.

"..." Renault's lips twitched. Roland had never conscripted any of his men, but today he was being conscripted by a little lord... He who hunts geese all day long has been pecked in the eye by a goose.

……

“What rotten fish and shrimp…” Renault frowned, looking at this human group struggling to survive in the dark forest, and couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. The living conditions of these humans deeply pained him.

“It’s normal! This is the current situation for humans in the Dark Forest. There’s hardly any safe place left in the entire North. This place is a little better. There are still some villages in the Dark Forest living a precarious existence!” Ymir noticed the change in Reno’s expression and sighed as she explained.

"Ever since the northern armies marched south and established Rohan, and the Vale Kingdom was destroyed... the northern humans have become accustomed to their suffering. After all, how much worse can things get?" Ymir smiled sarcastically. Undeniably, the northern humans were great in the past, helping Gondor stabilize the country by marching south. However, as a member of the North, Ymir despised them! They abandoned the North that nurtured them, choosing the warm and prosperous South, leaving the other humans in the harsh North to face the brutal swords of the orcs! Forced to abandon their fertile plains, the northern humans had no choice but to retreat to the dense forests and mountains to eke out a living.

“With the Empire back, none of this will ever happen again!” Renault said calmly, patting his arm armor (his shoulder couldn’t reach it…). As the governor of the North, he naturally wouldn’t allow the North under his rule to be devastated.

……

"So why have we been sitting here all afternoon?" Renault asked with a dark expression, looking at the hunting party that had just returned from outside. There were only about ten people in total.

“Isn’t this just waiting for the hunting party to return?” Ismir shrugged.

“Why should we wait for these few people? We can take the women and children out and come back for them…” Renault gritted his teeth. He thought there would be many more people! But after sitting idly for an afternoon, he found out that the whole village only had about a hundred people… Renault was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

"Fine, another day wasted. Time to sleep!" Renault leaned against his horse, clutching his lance, and casually pulled his cloak over himself. It was impossible to lead a group of old people and children through the dense forest at night; the predators would be laughing their heads off!
"My lord, you should go to sleep first. I'll keep watch for the first half of the night!" Ymir said to Ismir, stroking his greatsword.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, before everyone was fully awake, Renault, with a dark face, kicked them all awake one by one.

"Get up quickly, we're leaving! Your disappearance is troublesome enough! I don't want Roland to think I'm missing too! Don't cause trouble for the King!" Renault pulled out the dazed Ismir and said. After all, he had told the dragon knights that he was looking for Ismir's whereabouts. It wouldn't be a problem to go back a day later, but if he stayed too long, the soldiers might mistake him for a missing person as well.

"...By the Dragon God! I see General Renault! Hmm? Lord Ismir's banner is in there too! Why are there so many people? Did Lord Ismir bring so many pioneers with him when he came out?" The dragon knight flying above the Old Forest Road spotted Renault and his group traveling along the Old Forest Road at a glance. After all, Renault's paladin golden armor was quite recognizable!
"General! You scared us to death!" The dragon knights immediately landed, and as soon as they touched the ground, the knights on top began to complain to Renault.

"We've found him!" Renault grabbed Ismir and threw him in front of him.

"Well, it's good that you've found them. You should hurry back to Lulong Fortress. Lord Lafit Anthony is already planning to treat you as a missing person!" the dragon knight chuckled.

"Okay, I'll head back and let them know I'm safe. Be careful! If anything happens, abandon the territory and cross the river!" Renault instructed. After all, pioneering doesn't involve abandoning your territory and running away. If things go wrong, you have to get out of there quickly. After all, you're going to open up new lands, and you can encounter all sorts of monsters and demons. It's human nature to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune.

"Yes, General Renault!" Ismir nodded gratefully. After all, it was a favor that Renault had said these things, and it was also his duty to disregard everything. This favor still needed to be reciprocated.

"Let's go! Keep an eye on them!" Renault's last words were a warning to the dragon riders.

……

"You're back? Did everything go smoothly?" Lafitte Anthony personally greeted Renault, brushing off the dust while observing Renault's expression.

"That brat won't die! He kidnapped a Senate guard soldier! And picked up over a hundred people in the Dark Forest! He's got pretty good luck!" Renault snorted.

"Then why are you back so late?" Lafitte Anthony asked, puzzled.

"Hey! Don't even mention it! That kid managed to catch the same conscript that even King Roland couldn't!" Renault still couldn't understand how he could have been so tactless as to say something like that! It just gave Ismir the perfect opportunity to exploit the situation...

"Pfft!" Lafitte Anthony burst out laughing. He knew that Renault was always wary of Roland. After all, everyone had seen and enjoyed Yunfeng's life of luxury. But it wouldn't be so funny if it happened to him!

To avoid being conscripted by Roland, Renault was extremely diligent and cautious, never mentioning anything from the City of Swiftflow except when reporting on his work! Even when reporting, he would specifically go to Nyx to report and then make a quick getaway. Roland tried to catch Renault several times but failed. Nyx also knew that Renault liked to avoid Roland when there was nothing important, so she let Renault report to her and then send him away. As a result, Roland was left staring at the mountain of official documents and Yunfeng in disbelief.

As a result, we were caught off guard today and Ismir took advantage of our weakness. It was a complete failure in our fight against cattle and horses!
“Alright, since there’s nothing else, I’ll go report the information to His Highness. Her Majesty the Queen has asked you several times, and I’ve always made excuses, saying you were out searching!” said Lafitte Anthony.

In fact, Roland stopped paying attention to Ismir after glancing at the system panel and finding him alive and well. But Nyx didn't have a system! She waited anxiously for news of Ismir. It wasn't that Nyx had any ulterior motives, but as the queen, she needed to consider Roland's situation. The commoner nobleman personally appointed by the king couldn't be lost without a clear explanation! This concerned Roland's reputation. He could be dead, but he needed to be found alive or dead! Otherwise, it wouldn't be convincing to the public. Who knew if someone would spread rumors that Roland had assassinated the newly appointed nobleman? After all, conspiracy theories were everywhere. As Roland's wife, Roland could be carefree and indifferent, but she had to clean up his mess!
Third update!