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

Chapter 987 Let's turn the tide! Open!

“Your Majesty…” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz stood humbly at the foot of the steps and bowed to Roland.

"Oh? Are you pretending to be a scholar now? What books are you reading?" Roland teased, pointing to the stack of books that Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz was holding.

"Hehe, it's just some magic books. As you know, I'm an earth mage, but I've been busy with government affairs for years, so I'm actually quite rusty when it comes to using magic..." Marquis Al-Tegran Franz laughed awkwardly. After all, he had the magical power of a fourth-tier mage but lacked the corresponding spellcasting techniques and combat experience, so he was now planning to learn some magic to prevent himself from holding Roland back.

"Well, it's good to see. Although the kingdom doesn't expect you to fight on the front lines, it's still good to have the ability to protect yourself!" Roland nodded. He wouldn't ask Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz to go into battle, but he still needed to have basic self-defense skills, so that he wouldn't have trouble protecting himself when the enemy attacked!

"How is the military integration preparation going?" Roland asked calmly, because they were handling these matters, and Roland only needed to oversee the final stages!
"The Knights have been divided up, and the other soldiers are still being rotated and transferred!" Al-Tegran Franz told Roland about the current progress, because the integration of the Knights was still very slow, since two of the Knights had not yet formed any tacit understanding or combat power... (the two newly formed, mixed-up Knights).

"Hurry up! It's already summer!" Roland nodded and ordered. Summer is here, and the autumn harvest is not far off! The army still needs rest before setting off; the troops need time to adjust their condition...

"Yes, I will inform you gentlemen!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz nodded. Duke Yunfeng and Duke Joelster were also extremely busy with this matter.

“Go, speed things up, ask if anything’s missing…” Roland paused, noticing embarrassment in the Marquis of Arleigh Franz’s eyes. The Marquis bowed humbly, placing his hand on his chest in respect, which made Roland blush. He’d almost forgotten! That damned guy was actually the Finance Minister he’d personally appointed! His outrageous remarks were like a battle between his left and right brains…

"I will do my best to ensure the supply of materials, Your Majesty!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said humbly, without any anger or emotion.

"Thank you for your hard work. If you need anything, feel free to contact Darian Nightblade. If it's in my private treasury, I'll definitely support you!" Roland nodded.

"Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz nodded. King Roland had given his promise, which reassured Marquis Al-Tegran Franz. After all, the kingdom's finances weren't exactly a mess, but rather utterly devastated. The two sets of account books left behind by Duke Yunfeng and Duke Joelster had nearly made Marquis Al-Tegran Franz want to kill someone! He was practically being tormented by the Minister of Finance!

It's understandable, though, given that before the Swiftflow Avenue was open, the kingdom essentially had two separate political systems! The accounts in the newly emerging, impoverished areas of Lagrange City were relatively easy to manage, but in the nascent commercial areas of Swiftflow City, the accounts were a mess… Taxes were levied arbitrarily, with no standards… Furthermore, Lagrange never condoned profiting from others' misfortunes, and the numerous occasional tax exemptions and government subsidies were completely unregulated, resulting in a deeply rotten tax system! Marquis Al-Tegrange Franz was practically begging on his knees to use the Great Fire as a savior to settle the accounts! …

Turning our attention back to Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso, as dusk approached, the two had no choice but to head north to see if there was a way to cross the river!
"Your Highness, I'm much better!" Ocrean Ryukin's battle aura had recovered somewhat. After all, the recovery ability of a sixth-tier warrior was not bad. Ocrean Ryukin's battle aura was only forcibly dissipated after being corrupted by Sauron; its essence was not damaged. Fortunately, Grand Duke Ocrean Yaso discovered it in time, otherwise, Ocrean Ryukin, with his essence corrupted, would have been halfway into the Ringwraith reserve! Although the Ringwraiths were all fallen paladins, other sixth-tier fallen professionals could be used as a makeshift solution when there were no paladins available!

"It's good that you're alright! Let's continue north and see if we can find any scattered human dwellings!" Grand Duke Okrian Yaso nodded. According to King Roland's intelligence, there were scattered humans surviving along the Anduin River. Those humans were struggling tenaciously in the northern lands. The Scourge and the orcs had not extinguished their will to survive!
"Above are the Southern and Northern River Bends! Once the rich lands of Gondor! Now they are barren, but there should be tenacious humans who have survived!" Archduke Oakrian Yasor said, spreading out the map.

“I should have listened to me! We went east and nothing happened! But you’re heading south…” Oakrian Ryukin complained, since Grand Duke Oakrian Yaso was planning to go straight to Gondor instead of going through Rohan.
"How do you think I'd know you'd just sit up there and go see Mordor? Don't you have any idea how far this is from Mordor?" Archduke Oakrian Yaso complained as he rode through the mountains.

"Roar!" A wolf howl rang out, and a gray-black shadow pounced from the bushes!

"Pfft!" The sword of the Eastern Grand Duke's family was not so weak as to be bullied by the orc wolf riders!

"What trash!" Okrian Ryukin scoffed. He'd been tricked by a god, not by an orc! What kind of nobodies were provoking him? Did they think he was an easy target?

"Heh heh! You know what! Right now, your aura really does resemble that of a pathetic second or third-tier swordsman!" Archduke Oakrian Yasuo mercilessly added insult to injury with a mocking remark.

"Really? They've had a tough time!" Okrian Ryukin grinned, but his sword was swift, killing any orc who tried to sneak up on him with a single strike!
"The road is too difficult, Your Highness! Think of a way!" Okrian Ryukin said angrily, looking at the orc wolf riders who kept attacking from the mountains. The not-so-dense forest and the undulating mountains became their best cover! The arrows flying from time to time annoyed Okrian Ryukin.

"Protect your horses! These beasts are shooting at the horses!" Grand Duke Okrian Yaso exclaimed. Perhaps the orcs had finally learned their lesson – they were too difficult to open and too fast – and now they knew to shoot the horse first! The clanging of arrows hitting their armor sent a chill down Grand Duke Okrian Yaso's spine. After all, the warhorses' armor was definitely not as thick as the plate armor they wore! The two of them could stand there and let the orcs shoot at them for ages without even breaking through their armor, but their horse armor was a different story!

"A fierce wind sweeps away the dust! To cleanse all impurities! Reverse the tide! Open!" The shadows of twin dragons faintly appeared on the Gale Blade in the hands of Grand Duke Oakrian Yasuo. The next second, a rousing dragon roar accompanied the blue giant blade as it slashed out fiercely!
"Whoosh!" The rocks and trees instantly shattered! Vast clouds of dust filled the sky, demonstrating the destructive properties of wind elements to their fullest extent! A sword mark tens of miles long appeared prominently in the Ashomeng Mountains!