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

Chapter 717 Attending the Banquet
"Let's go!" Caslo patted the drowsy Weiss.

"Huh? Where to?" Weiss looked up at Caslo with a bewildered expression, his sleepy eyes wide open.

"Of course we're going to a place to rest. We'll have a good rest. His Highness Turgon has prepared a banquet for us tonight!" Caslo grabbed Ves by the ear and dragged the still bewildered Ves away.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Weiss nodded hurriedly, following Caslo like a chick pecking at rice.

……

"Lord Hulin, are you familiar with the Second Son Mercenary Group?" Caslo asked as he and Hulin walked side by side, stopping abruptly.

"The Second Son Mercenary Group? What? They've gotten into a conflict with your country?" Hu Lin asked, frowning in surprise.

"No, we just happened to run into their group on the road out of curiosity." Caslo shook his head.

"Oh, that's good. I thought they had offended your country!" Hulin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. After all, mercenaries, to put it bluntly, are nothing more than war hyenas. They are a group of guys full of adventurous genes, and acting recklessly is the norm for mercenaries. Therefore, the quality of mercenaries depends entirely on the individual, and there are good and bad among them. Hulin was really afraid that the Second Son Mercenary Group had offended the Kingdom of Lagrange, since many members of the Second Son Mercenary Group had deep ties with the Gondor nobles...

"They were originally a group of second sons from families in the Kingdom of Gondor who had no right to inherit the family business. They were unwilling to accept their families' arrangements and wanted to achieve something to gain the favor of the lords and obtain their own fiefdom. So they spontaneously organized this mercenary group. As they traveled all over the country, their reputation grew, which attracted a large number of second sons of nobles and impoverished nobles from places like the Shire and Rohan to join them. Over the years, they have made quite a few contributions to fighting against orcs and barbarians!" Hu Lin said casually.

"Then how come they're on the Graton Plains? Could it be that they're going to attack Dolgodo?" Caslo's gaze faltered, revealing an expression of admiration. What a brave warrior! They even dare to mess with Dolgodo!
"Probably... ah?" Hu Lin nodded first, then immediately stopped and stared at Caslo in shock.

"What's wrong? Graton Plain? It's in the dark forest to the east, right next to the old fortress of Dolgodo!" Caslo asked, looking puzzled.

"Probably not, they wouldn't be so desperate as to seek death..." Hu Lin looked around uncertainly. Caslo was now making him insecure. Logically speaking, although the Second Son Mercenary Group was quite strong and had a lot of courage, there was no reason for them to go and mess with that old, thankless place, the Dolgodo Old Fortress.

"Who knows!" Caslo shook his head seriously.

"Huh?" Hu Lin stopped Caslo.

"What? Is Lord Hulin very concerned about them?" Caslo asked, looking at the somewhat anxious Hulin with curiosity.

"To be honest, there are several second sons in the Hu Lin family who have no right to inherit! Could you tell me more?" Hu Lin said with a dark face.

“That’s not a problem. After all, the Orcs of Dolgodor have suffered heavy casualties after several wars in the North. Many Orc clans have retreated to the area south of the Dead Swamp. Dolgodor should be quite weak now! Apart from the three troublesome Ringwraiths inside… taking this place shouldn’t be too difficult!” Caslo analyzed.

"Isn't that just courting death? A Ringwraith!" Hu Lin was at his wit's end. As a sixth-tier overlord, he naturally knew the value of a Ringwraith. You have to know that among the sixth-tier beings, Ringwraiths are among the very best. As an overlord, Hu Lin certainly knew that the difference between six-tier beings was sometimes not much greater than the difference between a first-tier being and a sixth-tier being.

"No sixth-rank mercenary in the Second Son Mercenary Group?" Caslo tilted his head and looked at Hu Lin with a suspicious expression, as if he couldn't believe it. Such a powerful mercenary group doesn't even have a sixth-rank mercenary.

"Sixth rank? Are you dreaming? If they were sixth rank, why would they need to be in the Second Son Mercenary Group? Wouldn't it be better to just serve any lord and become a vassal? With that kind of strength, wouldn't they be aiming to become powerful nobles?" Hu Lin stared at Caslo in shock, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. The reason these people went out to make their way in the world was to become powerful nobles. Sixth rank was a coveted prize in the Middle-earth! If they were already sixth rank, they would have been lords themselves long ago!
“That makes sense!” Caslo nodded in agreement with Hulin’s statement.

"That's it, let's hope they don't provoke Dolgodo! Otherwise, I'll be left collecting their corpses when I pass by!" Caslo patted Hulin on the shoulder.

"No! Dolgodo has black arrows, we can't take them in yet!" Before Hulin could speak, Caslo immediately changed his mind. He wasn't about to face black arrows head-on!

"They shouldn't be that bad..." Hu Lin comforted himself.

"Who knows, what level is the current leader of the Second Son Mercenary Group? What rank? What if he wants to conquer Dolgodo and become a lord himself?" Caslo shrugged and made a hypothetical statement. "Are fourth-rank knights all this crazy these days?" Hu Lin actually pondered Caslo's words and then blurted out this comment.

“Hey, hey, hey! I’m sorry for being so forward! I was once a fourth-tier knight too!” Caslo said, extending his hand.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry for offending you. No! It shouldn't be like that. They're not that crazy. The Second Son Mercenary Group has been quite prudent in its actions over the years. It's unlikely! So many nobles there wouldn't agree to this!" Hu Lin muttered to himself, then nodded as if he had convinced himself.

"I hope so!" Caslo shook his head. He felt that it was strange that the Second Son Mercenary Group had appeared on the Graton Plain. After all, there was no target there that would warrant a mission from a mercenary group. Could it be that these people had really gone mad to attack Dolgodo?

……

"Are you full? Never mind... it's unnecessary to ask." Caslo turned to look at Weiss beside him, only to find that the child had already started walking while holding onto the wall.

"It smells so good! It's a pity Grandpa can't have a taste! That roast chicken! That fish! That venison!" Weiss described to Caslo as he moved around, supporting his belly.

"Mmm-hmm!" Caslo nodded perfunctorily. Although the banquet arranged by His Highness Turgon was luxurious, the taste was really not as good as the terrible dishes of the chefs in Swiftstream City. After all, Swiftstream City was not short of spices. The chefs in the castle would add as many spices as they wanted to the food!

"Delicious! Is this what a banquet is like? You could swallow your tongue!" Weiss exclaimed wistfully.

"Don't worry, the food in Swiftstream City isn't as good as this every day. Although there aren't as many different dishes, the taste is better and it's more filling!" Caslo shook his head. He didn't eat much, but he drank quite a lot of wine. After all, the wine was the only thing here that caught his eye.

"Let's go! Go back and get some rest! Tomorrow you'll officially become a trainee knight!" Caslo patted Weiss on the shoulder and strode off first.

"What? Apprentice Knight? Teacher! Wait for me! Ouch! I can't run!" Weiss was stunned at first, then chased after him with a face full of surprise and anticipation. However, after running only a few steps, his stomach began to protest, and he could only move step by step, his face full of pain, as he chased after Caslo.

……

"Captain! Everyone's here!"

"Captain, the brothers are all here!"

"Captain, everyone's here!"

……

"Commander, the first squad is ready!"

"Second team, in position!"

"Team Three is ready!"

……

"Action! We need to act quickly! We can't afford to drag this out! Use the magic scrolls you have as soon as possible! Don't be stingy!"

Catching up on yesterday's chapter. Revising my thesis yesterday was killing me, and there are still problems... Ughhhhhh! I'm numb.