"E-Everyone's here?" Roland gave an awkward laugh, signaling Yun Feng with his eyes to save him. After all, being suddenly tasked with hosting this group of kings had caught Roland completely unprepared!
"Greetings, Your Majesty. It is my honor to serve you!" Thorin rose to his feet and said jokingly.
"Enough, we're all friends. No need for such formalities! There's no need for that empty ceremony between us!" Roland said, torn between laughter and tears.
"Hey, I'm just giving you enough face! Things have been pretty lively with your fighting in the east!" Thorin smiled.
"Don't mention it! We've practically fought our entire fortune away!" Roland hurriedly complained.
"Fought it away? Didn't they say you wiped out the Chariot People?" Thranduil asked curiously.
"???" Roland turned his head in alarm, wondering who the hell had set him up. Wipe out the Chariot People? With what?
"Listen, King Thranduil, that's a rumor! If I had the strength to steamroll the Chariot People, I wouldn't have needed to gather everyone here to come up with a solution! My kingdom alone could have opened up Great East Road!" Roland said awkwardly. Anyone could guess that the tale had been distorted as it spread, and by the time it reached the Woodland Realm, it had become King Roland slaughtering the entire Chariot People army...
"Oh! So that was it!" Thranduil nodded in understanding. Compared to the intelligence claiming that the Lagrange Kingdom had annihilated the Chariot People's entire army, Roland's explanation was far more plausible. The Chariot People were no stray cats or dogs; as one of Middle-earth's great peoples, they were far from weak! They certainly lacked no sixth-tier warriors. With their population, they could pile up a whole group of them!
"That is correct, Prince Roland. We answered your summons, so I