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After a round of chopping and hacking, the remaining orcs scrambled back into the trees, rolling and crawling for their lives. Seeing that, Roland immediately called off the chase, regrouped his knights, and prepared to move on.
Encounter: Completed. Reward – Lagrang Royal Guard Paladin ×1. Can be summoned at any time.
"Holy—!" Roland nearly shouted out a very suspicious plant name in excitement.
The Lagrang Royal Guard Paladin was one of the most, most, most broken units in the Lord of the Rings game. But here in the Third Age? They weren't even supposed to exist yet! In the game, they only appeared in the Fifth Age, and even then they were rarer than dragon riders. They barely scraped together enough to form a "knight regiment," but even their peak roster only had 87 members—never even reaching the minimum 100 for a proper regiment. After the Battle of Swiftflow River, they were down to under 50, the unit nearly disbanded entirely.
What made them legendary wasn't just their rarity, but their defining trait—Holy. The entire regiment was made up of real paladins, not like those so-called "church knights" who were just Light Knights pretending. And these weren't your run-of-the-mill paladins either—most were full-fledged Great Knights, and nearly half were Paladin Captains. Their commander, Larus, was a bona fide Divine Hero.
Then there was their gear—obscenely luxurious. Full suits of dragonsblood holy steel armor (steel quenched with the blood of a sacred dragon), dragon-patterned swords, dragon lances, dragon shields, and bows made from wyvern sinew and arm-bones. The only other class to wield gear like this were dragon riders. Hence the saying: "Dragon Riders rule the skies, Paladins rule the land."
And now Roland… actually had one. A real Lagrang Royal Guard Paladin. He was so touched he almost cried. At this point, he half-suspected the Lord of the Rings system had shaved years off his lifespan just to give him this prize. Strictly speaking, there were probably fewer Royal Guard Paladins than wyvern riders. Back when Roland played, plenty of high lords had wyvern riders, and some even had full dragon rider regiments (though "regiment" here meant only 50 members, since dragons were that rare). Many players had tried to recruit—ahem, kidnap—members of the Royal Guard Paladin unit, but only a handful ever succeeded…
Still, Roland fought back the urge to summon his paladin right now just to admire the guy's glorious stats. Patience. First, keep marching.
"We're almost to Bree. Let's rest there," Roland said after checking the map, speaking to Gandalf and Thorin.
"Agreed. We can stock up while we still can—there won't be many places to resupply later," Thorin replied.
"Master Baggins! Tonight, we'll get to sleep in an inn. A soft bed, no more hard ground," Roland teased, riding up alongside Bilbo's pony.
"Oh? That sounds wonderful! You have no idea how hard it is to sleep on the cold, lumpy ground inside a tent," Bilbo grumbled.
"Hahaha, you should thank old Gandalf here for dragging you out of your cozy hobbit hole," Roland chuckled.
"By the gods! I must have lost my mind to agree to come adventuring with you lot…" Bilbo muttered.
"That's because you've got a restless heart," Gandalf said suddenly.
"Hahaha, the wizard's right!" Roland laughed.
Roland's excitement grew as they approached Bree, knowing his Royal Guard Paladin would be waiting for him there. He had just chosen to summon the paladin, and the system had oh-so-considerately set the meeting point in Bree. Wait. Meeting him in Bree?
"Aw crap! Please don't let it be Aragorn… that's the main character of The Lord of the Rings!" Roland felt a chill.
…
Lost in thought, he soon spotted the outline of Bree in the distance.
"All right, folks, time to enjoy ourselves for once!"
…
"My lord, Lagrang Royal Guard Paladin Reno reporting for duty!" A tall, silver-haired, thirty-something man strode up to Roland and spoke in a clear, ringing voice.
Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Roland's brain was just one big question mark right now. A Royal Guard Paladin was great and all—but Reno? Seriously? This guy was trouble with a capital "T."
In the game, Reno was the Reno—the infamous "Lord Reno" of the Lagrang Empire. His name was tied directly to the empire's downfall and the near-annihilation of the Royal Guard Paladins. He single-handedly drove the storyline and quests of the entire northern map, leading the battles in the north and triggering the orc invasion southwards, which eventually shattered the empire. And yet, his battlefield brilliance earned him the title: Dawn of the North.
"How the hell did this walking disaster end up under my command? Hey, system, can we… maybe trade him for someone else?" Roland wailed internally.
Still, he forced a smile. "Welcome, brave paladin! Welcome to our company."
"May my service honor you, my lord," Reno said humbly.
"Let's just hope his troublemaking skills didn't come along for the ride… Otherwise, he might 'accidentally' add a few extra enemy armies to the Battle of the Five Armies, and that'd be way too cinematic," Roland thought, recalling Reno's notorious "enemy reinforcements" buff.
"Reno, can you still use your Holy Dominion Aura?" Roland suddenly asked, remembering the most important thing.
"Of course, my lord. If you wish, I can activate it now," Reno replied respectfully.
"Good." Roland let out a breath. If the system had scammed him out of the Holy Aura, he'd be asking for the refund button right now. That aura was insanely good—it boosted resistances, stamina, morale, vitality, and even added holy damage to attacks for all allies in range. Reno's aura was especially ridiculous, covering a 500-meter radius. In a world like Middle-earth, where mass buffs were rare, this was basically a force multiplier.
"Re… no!" Roland almost called him "Lord Reno" out of habit.
"My lord!" Reno stepped forward instantly.
"Kaslow and the Badania archers will guard me. You'll take command of the knights," Roland said, waving dismissively. Giving Reno command was a no-brainer—this was a guy who'd commanded millions of player troops in the game. Handling a hundred knights? Child's play. Roland didn't have a command buff, Kaslow was a dragon rider with no ground command experience, and Reno had that sweet aura. In other words—perfect fit.
"As you command, my lord. May the light of Lagrang shine upon us," Reno said with a bow.
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)