"System sign-in!" Roland began his daily sign-in routine.
"Give me something useful!" Roland was too tired to complain about the mess of stuff the system had given him, like magic enlightenment books, his own golden statue...
"Successful sign-in! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the 100th Lagran City Guard."
"Delivered?" Roland exclaimed in surprise, but he chose not to summon an army this time. The reason was that he was too embarrassed to say it... He didn't have enough food stored to feed a hundred mouths. He was living well in Streamwind thanks to fishing and hunting, but he didn't forget that Streamwind was a magnet for refugees. The population of Streamwind was growing little by little every day. Roland really didn't want to feed a hundred more mouths if it wasn't necessary...
Speaking of the Lagrang City Guards, as the name suggests, they are the guards of Lagrang City. This army is composed entirely of trainee soldiers eliminated from various elite units with no hope of promotion. They are mainly responsible for defense and security within Lagrang City. However, if you underestimate them because they are only second-tier troops, you will definitely regret it... If I had to give them one evaluation, it would be that you can always trust them. As a melee unit, their capabilities are formidable across the board. Their professionalism has endowed them with strong physiques and a strong load-bearing capacity. Paired with Lagrang's infantry fine steel plate armor, lined with leather armor, and covered with linen armor, they are enough to withstand all kinds of high-intensity attacks. The fine steel half-body broad shield can block large-scale attacks, and the three-meter steel spear is enough to make their attacks fierce and agile. The fine steel longsword complements their melee weaponry. The Lagrang crossbow slung across their waist allows them to strike enemies within a hundred meters. The five fine steel javelins in their backpacks can easily kill all kinds of lightly armored units within a range of 50 meters.
"Sir, the horses are ready." Caslo walked straight in, and there was no time to repair the damaged wooden door.
"Okay, let's go!" Roland glanced at the small pile of gems in the system space, wondering if he could exchange them for various supplies. If he had known earlier, he would have taken more. Roland was only focused on collecting gold coins and ignored the gems in the gold mountain. Thinking of this, Roland couldn't help but sigh, what a mistake!
"Gee!" Accompanied by ten knights, Roland and Kaslo set out on their journey north.
Roland had originally been reluctant to take the knights with him, after all, more men meant more strength, and Kaslo was more than enough to handle anything. However, everyone strongly opposed this. Roland was now the King of Lagrande, and a king without even a retinue would be a disgrace, a disgrace not only for King Roland but for the entire kingdom. Finally, after much persuasion, everyone agreed to his plan to bring only ten men. While Roland didn't want to show off, he envied the sight of a certain King of the Woodland Kingdom traveling with thousands of professionals. After all, everyone wanted to return home in glory, not just in splendor.
Passing by the frozen Changhu Lake, Roland rubbed his hands. The ruins of Changhu Town were still clearly visible in the distant lake. Roland clenched his fists and vowed to rebuild this place. However, Caslo was eager to try and seemed to want to go in and do some shopping. After all, the last time he came here, Caslo found a lot of easy-to-store dried food and various tools.
…
In the distance, the towering Lone Mountain stood tall. Roland and his party arrived at the River Valley City at the foot of the mountain. At this time, the weeds and dilapidated houses in the River Valley City had been initially cleared away. Bard was leading everyone in the reconstruction work in full swing. There were only a few guards on duty on the broken city walls.
"Stop!" The only soldier at the city gate raised his spear and stopped Roland.
"Huh? Are you King Roland?" Apparently the soldier recognized Roland's flag.
"Well, I came to see Bud." Roland smiled.
"Then please wait a moment. I have to go and make an announcement." Although the soldier was familiar with Roland, he still remembered his job.
"Well, thank you for your help!" Roland said he didn't care about the soldier's rudeness.
After a while, the soldier came out trotting, followed closely by a figure.
"Bard!" Roland greeted him with a smile.
"Hi! Roland! Nice to see you." Bud and Roland hugged each other.
"Why are you back again?" Bard asked curiously. Logically, Roland should be building the territory with his people now, so why did he suddenly come back to Lonely Mountain?
"I'm in big trouble..." Roland complained.
"What's going on? You encountered a large army of Orcs?" Bard's smile froze. He glanced at the knights behind Roland and saw only ten of them, including the dragon rider who had shown such prowess during the Battle of Lonely Mountain. His heart sank. What kind of Orcs could devour an army of over a hundred professional knights and archers? Even if their numbers weren't as great as the Orcs at the Battle of Lonely Mountain, they were pretty close. Didn't he see that even the dragon rider had fled in panic?
"What are you thinking? It's not an orc!" Roland looked at Bard, whose eyes were getting dimmer and dimmer, and immediately realized that the boy was scaring himself...
"Ah? Not orcs? Then what kind of trouble could you get into?" Bard was puzzled.
"Famine and cold..." Roland said word by word.
"..." Bard opened his mouth but was powerless. The residents of Lake-town, who were already being exploited by the mayor, had their lives made even worse after Smaug's destruction of Lake-town. If the woodland elves had not extended a helping hand, Bard would probably not be having a good time now.
"So I came to find the dwarves of Erebor, hoping to buy some tools and food." Roland slowly expressed his thoughts.
The two equally downtrodden kings stared at each other for a long time before finally sighing, "Life is too difficult..."
After bidding farewell to Bard, Roland rushed to Erebor without stopping. Soon, a tall stone statue of a dwarf appeared in front of Roland. A group of dwarves were busy and skillfully using tools to lift stones of various shapes. It seemed that they were repairing the city gate.
"Hi! Balin!" Roland laughed. Balin was indeed the most recognizable dwarf in the expedition team. His snow-white beard and hair made him highly recognizable.
"Oh! King Roland!" Balin bowed in greeting. The dwarves had high respect for the human lord who led his troops into battle at this critical moment and saved the entire dwarf kingdom.
"How is it here?" Roland asked cheerfully.
"Great! It feels like home... Oh! Hello, Knight Kaslo!" Balin recognized the dragon knight who was killing everyone that day.
"Hello, Mr. Balin." Kaslo still maintained his humility.
"How can I help you?" Balin looked at Roland.
"Of course, our people do have food and tools!" Roland anxiously explained that the people who came to him for refuge were short of food and clothing.
"Well! This is indeed a big trouble. I will take you to see the king right away." Balin also realized the seriousness of the matter. Roland came to ask for help. When he saw Roland and others leave, he knew that Roland did not have many supplies. He could also understand what Roland said about his people returning to Balin. After all, many dwarves wandering around had received the news that Thorin had recaptured the Lonely Mountain, and a large number of dwarves were migrating with their families and preparing to return to their homeland.