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

Chapter 982 The Vanishing Verve
“But I feel that the number of soldiers may not be enough. Our expedition will definitely require an elite professional legion, and there will definitely be gaps in other areas of the kingdom. Why not take advantage of the time to train a batch of Swift Infantry…” Roland said thoughtfully, resting his chin on his hand.

"The Sky Knights will take control of the situation. A small garrison paired with Sky Knights should be able to conduct seamless patrols... What kind of look is that? Are you planning to send Swift Infantry to fill the gaps? That would take up so many manpower! Farming will definitely be affected! Why are you looking at me like that? Don't believe me?" Maple Forest Orchid grinned speechlessly.

"Dragon knights doing this? Do I have that many dragon knights?" Roland was speechless. He was using dragon knights as security captains? How abstract! Even the most abstract nobles of the Lagrange Empire would find that abstract enough!

"Are you confused? Besides dragon knights, the kingdom also has wyvern knights and griffin knights... Sky knights don't just refer to dragon knights!" Maple Forest Orchid frowned.

"Sky Knights are few in number, isn't it a bit extravagant to throw them into the line?" Roland tentatively asked.

"Their role is reconnaissance! Discovery! Not fighting! Of course, they can slaughter any stragglers they encounter!" Maple Forest Orchid grinned wickedly. How could a noble Sky Knight possibly engage in meat-grinding? Even if they were to grind meat, it would be worthwhile to fight someone of the Ringwraith level!
"Oh! You scared me! I thought you were going to send them to trade with the orcs!" Roland breathed a sigh of relief. After all, in Roland's mind, Sky Knights and Dragon Knights were equally valuable. Compared to Sky Knights, Dragon Knights were even rarer, but they had much higher health, making them practically invincible! However, while Sky Knights were also valuable, they were much more fragile than Dragon Knights! Even wyverns would give a wide berth to heavy crossbow bolts, let alone griffins and pegasus! Although Roland didn't quite believe that the roaming orcs possessed such powerful weapons, he had to be wary! Those damned dwarves! Nobody even knows how many black arrows have been fired!

"Has the kingdom become this wealthy?" Maple Forest Orchid shrugged and retorted. You can call Maple Forest Orchid bad, but you can't call her incompetent! How could the leader of the McDougal family, the Dragon Commander family, be a military novice? A true novice wouldn't reach this position. In other words, even a novice at the Dragon Rider Commander level would have enough resources to hone their skills to a competent level! Lagrang's warriors only fail politically; there aren't many who are truly incompetent militarily!

"Alright, stop bragging. Don't you know what kind of country you are and how much money you have? By the way, where's Verway?" Roland suddenly realized that he hadn't heard from this sixth-tier subordinate of his for a long time.

"Oh, they've set off this way with three Ancient War Trees!" Maple Forest Orchid casually picked at her ear. It wasn't that Roland had forgotten about this herd of grassland elves; they were simply moving far too slowly across the Lagrange Plains! The Ancient War Trees were already slow enough, but dragging along a bunch of people with travel permits, constantly making fires, cooking, and stopping along the way—how fast could they possibly go? It would be a miracle if they could even crawl…

"...Don't die on the way." After a long while, Roland finally managed to utter a sentence. After all, although the Knights cleared the Lagrange Plains every quarter, because there were no people and the farmland and houses were not actually occupied, the plains were still full of wildness! Perhaps it was rare to see groups of orcs, but the probability of encountering high-level magical beasts was definitely not zero!

"..." Maple Forest Orchid rolled her eyes at Roland, giving him a look that said, "You'll see for yourself." After all, as the King of Lagrange, didn't you know how disgusting an overpowered thing like the Ancient of War was? In positional warfare, who could stand against this living father? Its ability to stand still and deal damage was off the charts; once it landed, it would be rooted to the spot and wouldn't budge!
……

"Where did all these things come from? Why are all these random cats and dogs trying to scam me?" Standing on the trunk of the War Ancient Tree, Verway was strutting around with his hands on his hips, feeling incredibly proud of himself. At his feet, the War Ancient Tree was pulling roots and branches from the carcass of a giant bear. The carcass was clearly a high-level magical beast, the Earth Bear!
"Chieftain...did you kill him?" The tribesman next to him covered his head speechlessly. What does the powerful War Tree have to do with you, "Grassroots King"?

"Wasn't it under my command that he was killed? Wasn't it under my command?" Verway raised his head, his eyes full of contempt.

"Yes, yes, yes..." None of the tribesmen present dampened his spirits, even though the so-called command was merely using mental power to link with the ancient war trees and instruct them to attack targets...

"Chieftain, the number of these magical beasts is strange! How come there are so many high-level magical beasts? What the hell? There's something wrong with the numbers! I feel like we're attracting these magical beasts with something we've done." The adjutant beside him frowned as he looked at Vanville, after all, they had encountered too many high-level magical beasts, and in too many numbers!
"..." Verway glanced at his adjutant, then looked down at his feet, his speechless expression unmistakable.

"Can't you tell? The difference between the War Tree and the Life Tree is very small; you can't tell them apart unless you get close. These high-level magical beasts all possess powerful senses. A huge mass of unclaimed life force is wandering across the wasteland; it's hard not to notice! The life essence contained in the War Tree is no weaker than that of the Life Tree!" Verway said matter-of-factly. As fellow elven treasures, they both possessed enormous life force that could amplify the power of elves!

"That's pitiful..." The adjutant looked at the monster's corpse at his feet. The huge carcass was not wasted. At this moment, a group of grassland elves jumped down happily and began to butcher the carcass, peeling off the fur, removing the flesh and bones, and preserving the fresh blood. Soon, the huge bear carcass disappeared, leaving only a pool of blood... "Chief, this is a magic crystal!" The tribesmen below offered up the magic crystal they had taken out.

Verway took the magic crystal, played with it for a few moments, and then casually tossed it into a bag beside him. "Only King Roland and his ilk would find this useful! Elves are the darlings of nature, and their vast magical reserves don't need the support of magic crystals!" Verway said proudly.

"Actually, it's probably because we didn't utilize the magic crystals..." The adjutant muttered under his breath, only to be met with a glare from Verway. He'd been too blunt! Shut your mouth!
……

"Caslo!" Roland roared suddenly, drawing his breath from his dantian.

"Yes! Your Majesty! I'm here! What do you want!" Caslo, holding a bowl of rice, hurriedly pushed open the door and ran in.

"Hey! Eating? You didn't call us when it was time to eat?" Maple Forest Orchid pointed her hand with a "Good job, Caslo" expression.

"The Queen said not to disturb you, so I waited at the door..." Caslo said speechlessly with a dark face, realizing that he was caught in the middle.

"Oh... then it's alright!" Maple Forest Orchid and Roland nodded knowingly.

"..." Caslo smirked. "You guys change your faces without getting a bet?"

"Alright, let's get down to business! I need you to make a trip!" Roland said seriously, his smile fading.

"Where are you going? To get Sauron killed in Mordor?" Caslo joked.

"No, no, no, go find Verway! That guy's lost on the Lagrange Plains! Don't let him get carried off by the dire wolves! Go see where they've taken the War Tree!" Roland said helplessly.

"Aren't they going along the river?" Caslo asked, puzzled.

"For convenience and speed, they ultimately chose to cross the wasteland!" Roland shrugged.