Because Rogier and D had different purposes, Rogier was traveling for tourism and therefore requested to stay with Bilbo for an additional week, which the enthusiastic hobbit readily agreed to.
D, on the other hand, left immediately the next morning after delivering Tarnes' gifts and letter to Bilbo, staying only one night.
Before leaving, D very politely asked Bilbo if he wanted to accompany him to Tarnes' territory to experience the greatness of the Golden Tree and join the Golden Order.
"No, I still think my Bag End life suits me better. Uh, please also convey my thanks to Tarnes—he gave me far too much. Besides those delicious-looking dried goods and books I haven't read, there are even some luxury items that only human nobles would use."
Though Bilbo didn't understand what the Golden Order was, seeing D's fanatical tone and devout appearance, he instinctively declined politely.
As for those luxury items, they were actually prepared by D himself privately for Bilbo.
Because Tarnes knew that compared to these expensive luxuries, Bilbo was more interested in books and food.
This time D didn't get angry at the refusal, but nodded: "That's quite regrettable. I'll also convey your words to His Majesty Tarnes."
Rogier smiled and said: "Be careful on the road, Darian."
D glanced at Rogier, put his helmet back on, and then said: "You're the one who needs to be careful, Rogier. I don't want to hear news of you getting into trouble somewhere again. Ha, don't get deceived by Those Who Live in Death-like fellows this time."
Rogier simply responded with a chest salute, and D rode away from Hobbiton on the pack horse that had been unloaded of all gifts.
Only after D had gone far did Bilbo look up at Rogier: "Is your friend always so formal in his speech? Honestly, I'm a bit embarrassed by his compliments."
Rogier's eyes sparkled with amusement: "Darian only acts that way toward people he respects. You can see he's not like that with me—maybe because we're friends?"
Bilbo asked curiously: "Then what's his attitude toward people he doesn't like?"
Rogier thought carefully and said: "Either he endures and ignores them, or he directly draws his sword and strikes."
Bilbo widened his eyes slightly, pretending to be shocked: "Oh, then I'd better be careful not to become someone he dislikes."
Rogier smiled: "It's hard for you to become someone he dislikes. After all, you're a lively, living person."
Bilbo showed a surprised expression and tilted his head: "What does that mean? Does he dislike lively dead people?"
Rogier said mysteriously: "Or maybe they're not people at all."
Bilbo indicated he couldn't understand, but he didn't dwell too much on this matter. Instead, he turned around with a smile: "Then let's go home first and chat while eating. Yesterday, your help in supplementing Tarnes' experiences was very interesting."
Rogier had been following behind Bilbo's small figure when he heard this and was stunned: "Wait, didn't we just have breakfast?"
Bilbo took out his pipe and nodded matter-of-factly: "Yes, we just finished breakfast, but we still have three meals left: morning tea, chat pastries, and pre-lunch snacks."
Rogier unconsciously touched his stomach—he felt he should increase his exercise during his days in Hobbiton.
But how do these hobbits eat so much without becoming fat?
Rogier's curiosity was piqued, and he planned to use this week to carefully observe hobbit lifestyle habits.
Meanwhile, in the Golden Tree territory.
After visiting Fili and Kili, Thorin left again and returned to the Blue Mountains.
The tuition fee he brought was somewhat beyond Tarnes' expectations—it was a silver-white battle axe full of Dwarf style, but forged from a rare metal Tarnes had never seen before.
Thorin called this metal "mithril," and mithril of the same volume was worth ten times its weight in gold.
When Thorin took out this axe, even Fili and Kili widened their eyes, unable to believe their uncle would produce such a precious item.
Only then did Tarnes and Bernahl learn from the Dwarf brothers that mithril was no longer being mined because the source was occupied by a Balrog called "Durin's Bane."
All the mithril that could be seen now was passed down from ancient times—each piece was a treasure.
However, Thorin believed his friendship with Tarnes was far more valuable than a mithril battle axe, especially after witnessing the skills Fili and Kili had learned, which strengthened this belief even more.
Through Bernahl's almost fanatical and obsessive teaching, along with Fili and Kili's gritted-teeth persistence, this pair of Dwarf prince brothers had learned many basic combat arts and could perfectly coordinate them with the beast prayers they had learned from Tarnes.
It could only be said that finding Bernahl to teach them was indeed the right choice, because not every warrior proficient in combat arts could skillfully use prayers in battle.
If Thorin himself didn't have so many things to be busy with, he would have shamelessly asked Tarnes to have Bernahl teach him too.
Finally, the mithril battle axe that Thorin had brought as tuition was given to Bernahl by Tarnes, since Bernahl was indeed seriously and responsibly teaching these two Dwarves.
When Bernahl received the mithril battle-axe, his face showed a trace of surprise the moment he held it.
"I'm indeed somewhat surprised—I can clearly feel it's harder than steel, yet it has so little weight," Bernahl commented after trying to swing the mithril battle axe a few times.
Thorin felt secretly relieved when he saw Bernahl show satisfaction with the mithril battle-axe.
Because in his heart, the hidden value of those magical combat arts and prayers that Fili and Kili had learned absolutely far exceeded a mithril battle axe.
If Fili and Kili returned to the Blue Mountains after completing their training and taught these techniques to other loyal Dwarf warriors, Thorin felt they could defeat not only the evil dragon in the Lonely Mountain but even Durin's Bane in the depths of Moria. Then mithril could be mined again.
Of course, what Thorin didn't know was that in Tarnes and Bernahl's view, the mithril battle axe was just a weapon forged from a relatively rare metal. Even knowing its value was ten times its volume in gold, they didn't consider it particularly special.
This couldn't be blamed on Tarnes and Bernahl—it was because even in the Lands Between, they were Tarnished who had seen many divine weapons and treasures.
However, Tarnes and Bernahl didn't deny the value of the mithril battle axe because of this. Both knew they felt this way because of their extensive experience.
If this mithril battle axe were given to Kenneth Haight of Haight Fortress, this old-school Golden noble would certainly make it one of his finest collections, waiting to bestow it when one of his brave soldiers achieved great merit.
Time flowed by like water, the hot summer gradually giving way to cool autumn, and several long months had passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Rogier had traveled from Hobbiton to Bree to Rivendell, earning the title "Mysterious Magic Swordsman" along the way, and returned to the Golden Tree territory with satisfaction.
During this period, no unexpected events occurred. The Golden Tree grew normally, its protective influence expanded once again, and the people in the territory lived their lives step by step.
Except that Tarnes occasionally summoned some Lands Between residents, Misbegotten, Godrick's Royal Army, and the Storm Lord's Exile Soldiers and Banished Knights from the Elden Ring, further solving the problem of having much territory but too few people.
Oh, there's a correction to make here.
Because Exile Soldiers and Banished Knights were names given after losing their Storm Lord, at the initiative of the young Storm Lord Nepheli Loux, Tarnes allowed them to reclaim their original names: Storm Soldiers and Storm Knights.
Their legion name naturally became the Storm Legion, and people in the Golden Tree territory would no longer call them Exile Soldiers and Banished Knights.
The summoned Misbegotten were still sent to the current Misbegotten residential base—Lond Daer.
After months of reconstruction by the Misbegotten, the Lion Misbegotten wrote back saying the great port could be put into use.
However, the only problem now was that the Misbegotten at Lond Daer didn't have intact ships to activate the great port, and their appearance, different from ordinary Middle-earth people, would cause them to be mistaken for Orcs.
Therefore, the Misbegotten continued to repair the remaining parts of Lond Daer Great Port.
Tarnes also felt this was no problem. Without Tharbad being rebuilt, the shipping route from Lond Daer—Tharbad—Rivendell couldn't be used.
Although Kenneth Haight proposed that once the Misbegotten repaired the abandoned ships in the great port, they could sail south, pass Andrast, and then turn into Dol Amroth in Gondor territory, thus opening a sea route for communication with the Kingdom of Gondor.
But this proposal was directly rejected by Tarnes, and both Nepheli Loux of Stormveil Castle and Edgar of Moen City disagreed with this proposal.
The three gave very consistent reasons: the Misbegotten simply had no experience with such long-distance sea voyages.
Especially Edgar—since Moen City was originally a castle near the sea, Edgar had some basic knowledge of navigation.
The opening of every sea route was accompanied by countless risks. With good luck, they might only dock at strange places that weren't their destination; with bad luck, they could only get lost at sea and wait to die.
Edgar especially emphasized that although those Misbegotten had sailed on ships and drifted on the sea, at that time they were goods, slaves locked in the ship's hold. They didn't even know what the sea looked like and had no sailing experience at all.
Although Edgar's reason sounded like dark humor when heard now, making everyone present look strange, Kenneth Haight had to admit he was right.
Tarnes finally said: "In that case, let's wait until Tharbad is rebuilt. I'll personally go to Rivendell to request Elrond's help. Perhaps among those long-lived Elves, there are captains skilled in sea navigation. I'll share all this with him—I'm sure Elrond would be happy to see a new sea route discovered."
Nepheli Loux, Kenneth Haight, and Edgar had no objections, so Tarnes wrote a letter and sent a Winged Misbegotten stationed in the Golden Tree territory to deliver it to the Lion Misbegotten.
Soon, the Lion Misbegotten wrote back, also strongly agreeing with Tarnes' decision.
Actually, this relieved the Lion Misbegotten, as Lond Daer still had many places that needed repair.
Although the most basic residential facilities had been rebuilt, the reconstruction of Lond Daer's walls hadn't finished.
The Lion Misbegotten had only refilled the collapsed areas with rubble and wooden stakes. If they encountered another large-scale Orc attack, this could only delay the enemy's advance.
The Lion Misbegotten also mentioned in his reply that Orcs had recently appeared around Lond Daer again, but only in small squad sizes of thirty to forty.
Before they approached Lond Daer, the Winged Misbegotten patrolling in the sky discovered these Orcs and, coordinating with the Scale-skinned Misbegotten on the ground, severely wounded and drove them away.
But approximately every half month, new Orcs would appear nearby, and recently the frequency of Orc appearances had begun to increase.
The Lion Misbegotten suspected that somewhere unknown in Middle-earth, perhaps the Orcs were planning something big.
After reading the Lion Misbegotten's reply, Tarnes immediately thought of what Gandalf had previously mentioned about those lurking things stirring restlessly.
Sigh, I wonder if Gandalf found any clues about Thorin's father.
The old man had been gone for several months without news—Tarnes was really afraid Gandalf had suddenly disappeared too.
Compared to Gandalf, who hadn't sent back any news, Thorin was very active in maintaining contact with Tarnes, sending letters every half month to inquire about Fili and Kili's situation while also telling Tarnes about his preparations for the Lonely Mountain expedition.
"I announced my plan to the Dwarves I trust. Dwalin was the first to respond, then Gloin, and then Dwalin's brother Balin also agreed to join. That's all for now. Honestly, I feel somewhat disappointed because it seems not all Dwarves want to return to the Lonely Mountain, which fills my heart with confusion again. Even if we don't reclaim the Lonely Mountain now, my people are already very prosperous in the Blue Mountains—this has become their new homeland. Do I really have the right to risk Dwalin and the others' lives, having them join me in an expedition where we could die at any moment? My dear friend, Guardian of the Golden Tree, powerful wizard, please tell me the answer."
Just as Tarnes was reading Thorin's confusion expressed in the letter and thinking about how to reply, Nepheli Loux came in and said: "Many human caravans have arrived outside the territory, Tarnes."
"Huh?" Tarnes looked up in confusion.
What's this situation now?
[Chapter Complete]
***
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