"Swift River..." The crowd burst out of the forest, murmuring as they stared at the wide river before them.
Splash! Suddenly, a knight flipped off his horse and dropped to his knees.
Roland was shocked to see everyone else kneeling too. Reno's eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed a handful of riverbank dirt, clutching it to his chest and howling.
"Swift River! The people of Lagrand have come home!" Reno cried, tears streaming down his face.
The crowd broke down, choking on their sobs. In their memories, the empire had shattered, their homes lay in ruins, and the scattered remnants of the Lagrand Empire were like kids without a home. But today... they were finally back on imperial soil.
"For the empire's revival!" A Swift River infantryman suddenly stood, roaring.
"For the empire!"
"Long live Lagrand!"
"For the Swift River that gave us life..."
Watching all this, Roland fell silent. Though these were living, breathing people, he'd always felt a certain distance—as if they were NPCs. But now, he suddenly felt fully part of this world. Each of them had blood and flesh, they could get hurt, cry, die. Every single one was alive, his own people, his family. And he... was Lagrand's last... lord.
"Everyone, stand up... Let's reclaim the northern jewel of the empire—Long Lake Town!" Roland's eyes sharpened.
Note: Historically, Long Lake Town was the northernmost city of the Lagrand Empire. In the Third Era, it was destroyed by Smaug. The residents rebuilt the Valley Realm under King Bard's leadership, and Long Lake Town was abandoned. In the mid-Fourth Era, the vanguard of the Lagrand Kingdom retook and rebuilt it... Until the empire fell, it remained a stronghold and refuge for northern humans.
Roland was playing a little fast and loose with the facts here. Long Lake Town wasn't technically Lagrand territory yet, but hey, Roland's got muscle, so he shamelessly decided to just claim it. What kind of lord doesn't have land, right? Plus, there were over a thousand humans there, the foundation for his growth.
"Wait! Smaug's death should be coming soon..." A cold sweat broke out on Roland's forehead. Now that Long Lake Town was basically his, he couldn't just let Smaug go torch it.
"All units, listen up! Forced march!" Roland barked.
…
Meanwhile, Thorin had already arrived at Long Lake Town, settled in Bard's house, and paid Bard in Bardan gold coins to get weapons for the group.
"This is it? We paid in gold, and this is what we get? We wanted iron swords and axes!" The dwarves grumbled at the assortment of iron hammers and modified fish spears.
Their grumpy attitude scared Bard's son, Barn, and his two daughters.
"Thorin, why don't we just take these and get moving? We've fought with worse before..." Barin tried to reassure them.
…
"Swift Infantry! Like a swift river!" The infantry, arranged in tight ranks, scattered a pack of orcs, made a quick kill, then hurriedly resumed moving along the Swift River.
"Die!" A Bardanian archer pierced an orc's eye with an arrow.
"Keep moving fast!" Roland commanded the infantry.
"Knights, don't get separated! Scatter the orcs! Break their formation! Leave the rest to the infantry!" Reno charged ahead, shouting orders.
"Bardanian archers, watch for orcs crossing our line! Send 'em to meet the Dragon God! No delays—we're running out of time!" Kaslo was still the rear guard king.
Shing! Roland galloped forward, casually slicing off an orc's head.
"Sir! The Mirkwood is corrupted! Orcs roam everywhere!" Reno looked helpless.
"Then we kill our way through! No one can stop the knights' advance. No one can stop Lagrand's rebirth!" Roland went a bit mad, covered in black orc blood that smeared his mithril armor. What had once been shiny golden-red was now a dark purple-black mess...
Exhausted, the Swift Infantry formed a square, placing caltrops and spears against their shields to face front and left. Their plan was simple—plow through.
"These orcs are like cockroaches. Must've been hundreds already," Kaslo gasped.
With their current strength, Roland's group could wipe out hundreds of orcs with a flick of a wrist, but the infantry was pushed to the limit by their relentless forced marches over several days. Just holding a weapon was a miracle. Keeping pace with cavalry was even tougher. Thankfully, Roland and Reno kept cycling their aura skills—Divine Inspiration—to keep the infantry moving.
Divine Inspiration: A Paladin or Priest class skill that releases an aura within 100 meters, continuously restoring stamina and health, boosting magic resistance and endurance for allies. Lasts 30 minutes.
"Divine Inspiration!" Roland rode up, casting the group aura again, squeezing every last drop of energy.
Thump thump thump! The previously scattered foot soldiers fell into rhythm, even their heavy breaths slowed.
"Come on, brothers! Long Lake's just ahead!" Roland cheered.
Soon, a silver light flashed over everyone—it was the shimmering Long Lake reflecting sunlight!
"Whoa! Long Lake!" someone exclaimed.
"Long Lake! The northern jewel of the empire!"
"The busiest trade hub in the North!"
"We made it!"
Voices buzzed excitedly as they admired the sparkling lake. Happiness spread like wildfire.
"But how do we get across?" a sudden voice cut through the chatter.
Silence fell immediately...
"Sir, I hope you have a plan... To reach Long Lake Town's land entrance, we have to cross the entire lake... We're out of time and stamina. Everyone's completely drained," Reno said gravely, looking at Roland.
Phew! Luckily, yesterday's sign-in reward gave him transport. Roland felt a wave of relief as he waved his hand and summoned 10 Galen boats from the Lord of the Rings. The crew cheered instantly.
Note: The reason Roland's followers weren't shocked by him suddenly pulling out 10 huge Galen boats is because the system implanted memories of Roland carrying a magic storage item with vast space—they assumed he'd planned ahead.
"All aboard!" Roland commanded.
"Oh!" The crowd cheered, jumping into the water to wash off blood while swimming to the boats. Without a dock, only some could swim over to start the boats.
"Chop some wood, build a simple dock, and don't forget the warhorses!" Roland stopped the partying.
…
"All aboard?" Roland looked back at the shore.
"Don't worry, sir, no one left behind!" Kaslo patted his chest.
"Sail out!"
Under the sun, a water city appeared before their eyes.
"Long Lake Town, here I come!" Roland whispered, staring ahead.
---
If you want to read advanced chapters
and support me you can join my pat-reo-n
patr eon.com/Aspiring_Immortal (remove the blank space