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

Chapter 854 Apprentice Dragon Knight

Politics is undoubtedly dirty, and even the once naive Roland couldn't avoid being drawn into this cesspool! The saying that politics makes one grow is absolutely true, and Roland wholeheartedly agrees. After all, in just a few years, he's transformed from a hot-blooded rabbit into a cunning one. Now, when other powers and countries are mentioned, the first thing that flashes through Roland's mind is scheming…

"Tsk! I'm filthy!" Roland shivered and said with lingering fear. The thought of becoming an old silver coin politician obsessed with power struggles sent a chill down Roland's spine. Roland lamented that he was once a passionate knight charging into battle, but now... not only would the nobles not allow Roland to go to the front lines, but Roland himself also had concerns and worries.

“Power and money are indeed the best poisons! Thorin… I finally understand why you became like that after you took the Arkenstone!” Roland murmured softly, gazing at the wasteland that was beginning to turn yellow. No one answered Roland in the empty room; only the cawing of ravens flying in the distance could be heard.

……

"Roar!" A powerful dragon's roar echoed through Lagrange, startling the newly assembled Gondor soldiers... no! They weren't even worthy of being called soldiers, more like militia! After all, you can't really use a bunch of old farmers who only know how to wield pitchforks as soldiers; the last lord who did that was utterly destroyed by orcs!
"Arthur! Maintain order among your soldiers! If this were a battlefield, the supervising officers would already be brandishing their swords!" Maple Forest Orchid's face was grim, after all, he had personally witnessed how this rabble had completely scattered like birds and beasts in just 5 seconds! The efficiency was so high that even the kingdom's soldiers could not achieve such a level!

"Yes, General!" Assef, a confidant of Denesol II and the commander of this force, immediately brandished his whip and began shouting orders to his soldiers. He led the few professional soldiers who hadn't moved to drag the trembling militiamen out from under the carriages and pull them out of the wells... The various methods of hiding made Maple Forest Orchid laugh. Indeed, people can laugh when they're speechless...

"Go see what's going on! What's with that dragon's roaring and howling? This is the capital!" Maple Forest Orchid's face was grim. It was the same reason why horns were forbidden in the Forbidden City; how could a dragon roar randomly in the capital! It was obvious that Caslo and that girl Xilan hadn't disciplined him properly! Oh, and that brat Weiss too!
"Gather! Do you expect me to invite you one by one?" Maple Forest Orchid felt even more distressed after turning her head and seeing the crooked and disorganized line.

"Tsk tsk tsk! It's really tough on him!" The old charlatan Charlie Prouss, unusually, didn't go to those Gondorians to proclaim the glory of the Dragon God, but instead lay on the battlements with great interest watching Maple Forest Orchid instruct people.

"What? Aren't you going to show off the glory of the Dragon God today?" Darian Nightblade raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

"Them? Do they deserve it?" Charlie Pros sneered, his face full of disdain. Those who are not subjects of Lagrange are not qualified to bask in the glory of the Dragon God!

"Fine! So you're just going to ruin us?" Darian Nightblade's eyelids twitched a few times before he turned and left.

"Ah! Wait a minute, Lord Darian, how about we discuss the greatness and benevolence of the Dragon God? Let's talk about the glory of the Empire!" Charlie Prous quickly reached out to stop him.

Startled, Darian Nightblade immediately vanished into the light and fled, leaving behind only a regretful Charlie Pros.

“Alas, a bunch of ungodly believers! How can they expect to receive the protection of the Dragon God! They keep talking about the Dragon God but refuse to listen to his teachings…” Charlie Pros shook his head with regret.

……

"What happened?" Maple Forest Orchid asked the approaching knight about the investigation results. That dragon roar shouldn't be from a normal dragon. Dragons are usually very careful not to disturb others; there's no reason for them to suddenly howl. "Congratulations, Your Excellency Marshal!" the knight said reverently, patting his chest.

"?" Maple Forest Orchid was taken aback. What did she have to congratulate her on? Could it be that Lilith was pregnant? That couldn't be! It was way too early.

"Your sister has successfully ridden a dragon!" The knight's next words left Maple Forest Orchid speechless. After all, it was everyone's prediction that his sister might become a dragon rider, but wild dragons were unruly, and no one could be sure until she succeeded. But unexpectedly, she actually did it!
"What's going on? She successfully formed a contract?" Maple Forest Orchid was stunned. It was still unknown whether the kingdom was capable of completing dragon rider contracts!

"I'm not sure, but I did successfully ride the dragon! Why don't you go and see for yourself?" the knight suggested, shaking his head.

"Okay, you help maintain order, I'll go check it out!"

……

Congratulations, Shulan!

"May the McDougal family prosper! This newborn dragon rider is the will of the Dragon God!" It was obvious from the voice that Charlie Prosper had said this.

"His Majesty has arrived!" Maple Forest Orchid rushed over and bumped right into Roland.

"Congratulations, Youlan! The revival of the McDougal family is one step closer!" Roland patted his shoulder and said with emotion. After all, Shulan was only eleven or twelve years old, and no one knew whether she could succeed. Everyone was just trying their luck, thinking that having another dragon rider would be a huge gain, and getting a dragon wouldn't be a loss. They let the McDougal family, the only possible candidate, try! Unexpectedly, they actually succeeded.

"We've taken half the battle! All that's left is the Dragon Rider Contract!" Caslo gazed at the purple chains flying through the clouds in the sky, with the Twilight Dragon Chaser behind him protecting them and preventing his escape!

"Can the kingdom still use the Dragon Rider Contract? Has it been lost?" Maple Forest Orchid asked with some concern.

"Don't worry! Even if the McDougal family loses the Dragon Rider Contract, the Anthony family still has it!" Caslow patted his shoulder reassuringly. After all, it was impossible for both Dragon Rider families to lose their heritage, right? As for the royal family, the two of them hadn't even considered it. After all, apart from the royal family, other royal families didn't have a complete Dragon Rider heritage. The main reason was that the Lagrange royal family wasn't large enough, and the royal family itself often went through a break in line, so there was simply no way to pass it on...

"Another dragon armor!" Unlike the others' jubilation, Adolf Heinrich frowned deeply, caught between happiness and pain! After all, the kingdom's next development focus was on arming the current dragon knights. Apart from Vess's Vili, Maple Forest Orchid's Long Xi, and Maple Forest Orchid's Zhui Guang, the other dragons were unarmored! And what was most troublesome was that Long Xi's armor was damaged! Zhui Guang's dragon armor was also damaged! The cost of this dragon armor alone was enough to make Adolf Heinrich scratch his head for those two in Swiftstream City.

"Let's stabilize them a bit more. Once the dragons' mental energy frequencies resonate, we can consider signing contracts with them!" Roland and Caslo reached the following conclusion after discussing it: Maple Forest Shulan is currently an apprentice dragon knight with battle energy flowing through her body (she is no longer a reserve dragon knight, but has already stepped into the threshold of becoming a dragon knight). Once the contracts are signed, she will be a true dragon knight whose battle energy will be assimilated into dragon power!
“Yes!” Maple Forest Orchid nodded, as he was familiar with the process.