The Tarnished in LOTR with Elden Ring

"Orcs."

Rogier spoke in a low voice.

Orcs?

D frowned deeply. "Are those the evil creatures you mentioned that attacked the Golden Tree before?"

Rogier nodded, then immediately reached out and grabbed D, who was about to get up. "Wait, don't be impulsive."

D said, somewhat dissatisfied, "These evil creatures who dared to attack the Golden Tree are right before my eyes; how can I just stand here and watch?"

Rogier replied helplessly, "I'm not telling you to just stand here and wait. I said, Wait—don't be so impulsive. While these Orcs aren't very strong, there are many of them, and some are cunning and insidious. I don't feel comfortable with you going alone, and how would you cross this Greywater River? What if the Orcs on the other side have set up sentries at all the nearby crossing points?"

After hearing Rogier's words, D no longer had any intention of getting up.

But he looked at the Orcs on the other side of the river with some indignation and asked, "Then what do you suggest we do? Just watch the Orcs do whatever they want at our destination?"

Rogier, uncharacteristically, glared at D and said, "Stop arguing for a moment and let me see what the Orcs on the other side of the river are doing."

Seeing his friend's tone harden, D realized he was indeed too impatient and quieted down.

Rogier took off his wizard's pointed hat, squinted his eyes, and carefully observed the firelight on the other side of the river, counting the number of Orcs while watching what they were doing.

The Orcs didn't look like they had just arrived at Lond Daer, this abandoned large port. The long-abandoned walls had freshly installed iron baskets for torches, and the Orcs were placing burning torches into them one by one, illuminating area after area.

And under these flickering lights, Rogier discovered that the Orcs had actually brought polished rocks and tree trunks, using them to repair the port while clearing the debris from the port streets.

Have the Orcs changed their nature?

Rogier suppressed the questions in his heart and continued to observe.

Soon, he noticed something was wrong.

Some of the Orcs who had brought the stone and wood left their original positions, urged on by an Orc Captain.

Soon, these departing Orcs returned, but this time they brought not stone or wood, but ragged, filthy humans.

There were men, women, and children, all with sallow faces, looking as if they hadn't eaten a decent meal in a long time. Their hands and feet were locked in crude shackles, and they stumbled towards the piles of stone and wood at the urging of the Orcs.

The Orc Captain pulled a whip from his waist and struck an elderly male human, who immediately fell to the ground.

Although Rogier couldn't clearly hear what the Orc Captain was saying, he could make out that the other party opened his mouth in a hearty laugh, then waved his hand, and the surrounding Orcs swarmed forward and carried the old man who had fallen to the ground away.

Evidently, these Orcs were not going to treat this poor old man.

Because Rogier had already seen that when the old man was lifted, an Orc's iron knife had already pierced his chest.

The remaining humans were clearly numb to this scene, showing no signs of fear, only mechanically moving towards the stone and wood piles, laboriously lifting those things, and, amidst the roars of the Orcs, repairing the damaged streets and houses of the great port.

A small portion of people bypassed their compatriots who had begun repairs and went to the port area near the Greywater River to begin repairing the long-neglected shipyards.

"Those Orcs are enslaving humans to repair Lond Daer," Rogier told D, sharing what he had seen.

D replied coolly, "My eyes are still fine; I can see what you're talking about. The question is, why are the Orcs repairing this port?"

Rogier shook his head. "I don't know either, but it's certainly not for anything good."

D looked up at the other side of the river again and said, "In that case, we'll find a way to cross the Greywater River at night, break in, and save the enslaved people."

Rogier said helplessly, "My dear Darian, is there no word 'calm' in your brain? We still don't know how many Orcs there are, and we haven't arrived early enough to familiarize ourselves with the terrain. And even if we really kill all these Orcs, what about the people we save? We don't have enough food to feed them."

Then he looked at D's hesitant expression and immediately asked, "You might say to feed them what the Orcs eat, but what after they're fed? Just leave them here?"

D was speechless at Rogier's words, and after a long while, he blurted out, "We can take them back to the Golden Tree."

Rogier pursed his lips and just looked at D without saying a word.

D, being watched by Rogier, shook his head helplessly. "Alright, stop looking at me. I know it's not realistic to take so many people across the wilderness back to the Golden Tree, but you don't expect me to just watch those evil creatures enslave humans right in front of me—I can't do that either."

"Therefore, we need to return as soon as possible and report the situation in Lond Daer to Tarnes, Your Majesty," Rogier said, word by word. "Don't think about being a reckless hero, Darian. Only by telling Tarnes, Your Majesty, about the situation here will he send people over to save those enslaved humans. You weren't a fool who rushed in head-first when facing the Deathblight, were you?"

Then, he squinted his eyes again and looked at the other side of the river. "Moreover, from what I know of Orcs, once these unscrupulous creatures discover that you are intentionally trying to rescue the humans they enslaved, they will definitely use these humans as a means to threaten you."

D also glanced at Lond Daer Great Port on the other side of the river. The thin and weak bodies of the enslaved humans cast distorted shadows under the torchlight. Finally, he sighed, "You're right, I'll listen to you this time. We'll go back as soon as possible and report the situation here to Tarnes, Your Majesty."

Ten days later.

At this time, the Golden Tree had grown into a large tree over fifty meters tall. Its trunk pierced the sky, resembling the spine of an ancient giant beast. The light it emitted, like a beacon guiding people home at night, could be seen even from a great distance.

Within nearly a month, the residents of the Golden Tree, guided and assisted by the Elves and Dwarves, had cultivated several fertile fields in this desolate land and established a fishing dock beside the river of the former city ruins.

Perhaps because the crops grown under the effect of Golden Grace were highly nutritious, the fish feed made from these crops, when fed to the fish in the river, caused these river fish to grow larger and have more tender, juicy, and plump flesh.

Though their scales didn't turn golden, however.

However, the Dwarves living here who consumed ingredients rich in Golden Grace gradually had their pupils turn golden. And for those few Elves, golden light occasionally flickered deep within their eyes.

But this did not mean they became citizens of the Golden Tree; it was purely a physical change.

According to the Dwarves, they felt their spirits had become very good, and their strength while working had become great. The Elves said they felt more and more inspiration to create new poems and songs.

Meanwhile, Tarnes, Your Majesty, was currently at Haight Fort, listening to recent reports from Kenneth Haight and his two scribes, Roderika and Irena.

The reason for listening to the reports not being inside Moen City's castle was, firstly, that Tarnes, Your Majesty, felt there was no need for the three of them to travel so far, and secondly, he himself couldn't sit still in the castle and often went out on patrol.

Today, he had just led a squad of Godrick soldiers who voluntarily followed him on patrol back to Haight Fort when he was stopped by Kenneth Haight.

"Regarding this week's patrol intelligence, according to the Lion Hybrid, under his leadership, the Scale-skinned Hybrids completely annihilated a ten-man Orc team that had crashed into their territory.

After eliminating them, he also ordered the Winged Hybrids patrol team to scout the area about two kilometers outside the Golden Tree Territory to ensure no traces of Orcs were found," Roderika's capable voice rang out.

She wore a sweet smile, her restored golden eyes looking at Tarnes.

Tarnes nodded. "What about the casualties among the Misbegotten?"

"Only one Scale-skinned Hybrid was injured by a Warg; the injury was minor and has already been healed, with him returning to the team," Roderika replied skillfully.

Tarnes then looked at Irena, who was half a step behind Roderika, and asked, "Irena, do you have anything to report?"

Irena shook her head a bit shyly. "Everything is normal in Moen City, only one thing: Fa—cough, Deputy Commander Edgar said that the Golden Tree is growing quite rapidly, and it might not fit in Moen City in a few months.

Therefore, Deputy Commander Edgar is asking for your help; please find a solution as soon as possible."

"I understand. I will resolve this issue as soon as possible," Tarnes said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

After ending its initial seedling phase, the Golden Tree's growth rate during its growth period far exceeded Tarnes's expectations.

He had thought that the size of the grounds within Moen City's castle would be sufficient to house the Golden Tree for some time, but he hadn't expected it to become too large so quickly.

Finally, Tarnes looked at Kenneth Haight, his eyes questioning if he had anything to report.

Hopefully not, so he wouldn't have to keep sitting here foolishly, Tarnes thought to himself.

He would rather face an attack from dozens of Orcs than sit here idly, listening to the clerks' reports.

However, unfortunately, Kenneth Haight smiled slightly, bowed elegantly to Tarnes, and said, "Tarnes, Your Majesty, the new farmlands have been cultivated.

You can now summon more residents of the Lands Between; our current food reserves are sufficient to support an additional fifty people.

This is the optimal result I calculated, taking into account emergency food reserves."

Tarnes nodded feebly. "I understand."

When he heard Kenneth Haight mention "calculation," he thought of how he had previously intended to summon Mister Goldmask, but unexpectedly discovered that the grace required to summon him was terrifyingly large.

It was even more than the grace needed to summon two Royal Capitals of Leyndell; Tarnes had originally thought that Mister Goldmask, who didn't have much combat power, wouldn't require too much grace.

But from the Elden Ring's reminder, the reason Mister Goldmask needed to consume so much grace was because he could, through mere calculation, single-handedly create the perfect law runes to repair the Elden Ring.

Kenneth Haight continued, "There's one more thing; the demi-human collective has made a request to me: they ask that you summon some of their kin and their Queen, and grant them a forest outside Haight Fort as their habitat."

Tarnes looked over, asking curiously, "Why would they suddenly make this request?"

Kenneth Haight's face showed an awkward expression. "Because there are too many humans in Haight Fort now, and the demi-humans are not accustomed to living with humans.

They prefer to live in the wild forests and caves rather than being confined within walls.

To be honest, I can't really understand their thinking; it's like actively abandoning civilization to return to a savage society."

Tarnes said, "Although I don't understand, we should respect the demi-humans' wishes.

Perhaps in their eyes, those forests and caves are their blessed lands."

Kenneth Haight breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then we have nothing more to report."

However, just as the honest nobleman finished speaking, Rogier's breathless, weary voice came in. "Wait, I have something to say."

"Rogier?! When did you get back? Where's D?" Tarnes asked, somewhat surprised to see Rogier.

Rogier, uncharacteristically losing his usual elegant demeanor, rushed into the room, one hand on the table in front of Kenneth Haight, the other grabbing the wooden cup on the table and chugging its contents.

Kenneth Haight blinked, and after Rogier drank all the water in his cup, he thoughtfully asked, "Would you like me to refill your cup, Mister Rogier?"

Rogier, having caught his breath, heard Kenneth Haight's words and showed an apologetic expression, then immediately a look of urgency appeared as he said to Tarnes, "Tarnes, there's an unexpected situation in Lond Daer: a group of Orcs has, at some unknown time, occupied that abandoned great bridge and enslaved many humans, forcing them to build a port."

Tarnes's expression instantly became serious; he stood up and asked, "What's the number of Orcs? And why didn't D come back with you?"

Rogier replied, "Darian is resting outside; after all, traveling in his armor consumes more energy than it does for me.

As for the number of Orcs, we can only roughly tell that there are more of them than the group of Orcs that attacked us last time, and I'm not sure if there are any Orcs resting inside the great bridge's buildings.

Therefore, I advised Darian to come back first; this matter must be told to you."

Tarnes carried the map Bilbo had given him; after hearing Rogier's words, he immediately took it out and spread it on the table to examine it.

He asked, "Rogier, how many days did it take you and D to reach Lond Daer?"

Rogier, while thanking Kenneth Haight for refilling his water, replied, "Based on our return journey, we took ten days to get back here without a moment's delay."

Tarnes's expression grew even more grim.

"If the Orcs truly repair Lond Daer, their activities in Minhiriath will have a supply base, which is equivalent to driving a nail into our face.

Lond Daer cannot be given to the Orcs; we must send an army to eradicate them," Tarnes said, pointing his finger at the distance between the Golden Tree and Lond Daer.

It should be noted that Rogier and D only took ten days to return on foot; if it were those more mobile Wargs, that time would likely be cut by more than half.

An enemy force that could send an army to harass them in just a few days would be no different from having a toilet right outside their bedroom.

But Kenneth Haight spoke at this moment. "Tarnes, Your Majesty, I understand your feelings, but where do we have an army capable of going to Lond Daer?

Just guarding Haight Fort and Moen City, the King's army is already short-handed.

Moreover, our food reserves are not sufficient to support a war."

Just as Tarnes was about to say something, he saw a fiery red figure appear at the doorway.

The Lion Hybrid, with his Misbegotten Greatsword strapped to his back, walked in with heavy steps and said to Kenneth Haight, "Yes, my kin and I can go to Lond Daer.

I know this sounds like I'm mocking you, but we Misbegotten indeed don't need to eat too much or too good food to possess considerable combat power.

Also, my winged kin can fly; their marching speed will only be faster."

The Lion Hybrid looked at Tarnes and said, "More importantly, Tarnes, Your Majesty, you said that Lond Daer is the new home you bestowed upon us Misbegotten.

Since that is the case, our own home must be acquired by us Misbegotten personally through blood and fire."

Tarnes nodded heavily. "Good."

The Misbegotten are about to fight the Orcs.

(End of Chapter)

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