The farmer's house wasn't very large, so after Tarnes and Thorin's group entered, it seemed somewhat crowded.
Fortunately, most of those entering were short-statured Dwarves, otherwise it really might not have accommodated everyone.
Tarnes' gaze slowly swept through Davy's home. The interior furnishings were simple yet somewhat rough. Several wooden tables and chairs were arranged neatly, their wood grain clearly visible, with faint traces carved by the years. Some farming tools were piled in the corner of the room. They appeared to be frequently used but were kept in good order.
The fireplace occupied the central position of one wall, serving as the warm heart of this room. The fire crackled as it burned, emitting soft light that brought the pencil portraits of Davy's family to life. These portraits used simple lines to outline his wife's gentleness and his son's liveliness, their eyes seeming to gaze across the paper at Tarnes from afar.
Davy's hands steadily carried two pots of steaming tea, the rising steam permeating the room. The farmer's brow carried a hint of apology: "Sorry, I never imagined my home would host so many people. There aren't enough tea sets."
Thorin looked up, accepting the teapot from him and replying politely: "No matter. Your providing such a haven on such a cold, wet night is already tremendous help for us."
Tarnes' gaze lingered briefly on those portraits as he asked: "Are these your wife and children? They're not here?"
Davy's body stiffened slightly, then he shook his head gently, a flash of melancholy in his eyes: "They've returned to their hometown, in a village not far outside the deep valley. The farmhouse needs someone to watch over it in winter. Every year at this time, only I remain here, keeping company with the cock's crow, sheep's bleating, and horses' neighing."
Then he showed a relieved expression: "Thank goodness my wife and child aren't here; otherwise, I really wouldn't know what to do if we encountered that monster."
Gandalf removed his pipe from his mouth, exhaled smoke, and asked with a chuckle: "Davy, tell us in detail about this monster's appearance."
He then looked at Tarnes and the others, adding to Davy: "These people are all first-class warriors. You can completely trust them."
Recalling his encounters over the past few nights, Davy nodded with lingering fear: "Alright, Gandalf, I trust you."
He swallowed and looked at Tarnes and the others in the room, saying in a trembling voice: "I didn't actually see the monster head-on. Of course, if I had, you couldn't have met me tonight."
Davy made a joke as if to keep himself from feeling afraid.
However, Tarnes didn't laugh but pressed: "And then?"
"Uh, then, I was actually awakened the night before last by sheep bleating and ground trembling. At that time, a terrifying, massive human silhouette passed by my bedroom window. I peeked out secretly, but in the night, I couldn't see clearly. I only knew it could stand upright like a human, with sheep tucked under its armpits as easily as a person carrying chickens. Then the day before yesterday and last night, it came both times, taking two sheep each time."
Igon asked loudly in his aged voice: "What about its skin color? Did it have scales, claws, fur, or anything like that?"
Davy fell into recollection, carefully remembering the monster's silhouette, then shook his head: "I couldn't see the skin color clearly at night, but it had no fur, scales, or claws."
At this point, even the farmer himself showed an uncertain expression: "But it even wore tattered, oversized clothes, with blade-like tools about as long as mine hanging from its waist. Just like the giants in bards' tales. I don't know if it can speak."
Igon sighed: "Such intelligence might not be quite enough."
Bilbo, who had been listening attentively to their conversation, also nodded thoughtfully: "Mm, Mr. Igon is right. I've read quite a few books, and I indeed haven't heard of this kind of monster. It would be good if we could have more detailed descriptions."
Davy immediately showed an apologetic expression: "Sorry, I was really too frightened, so these past few days I've only dared hide at home at night, not even daring to go out during the day, afraid that monster might be lurking in the deep valley. Though that monster has never appeared during the day, only at night."
Then he said earnestly and urgently: "If you all could kill that monster, I'm willing to offer generous compensation."
Davy looked around, his gaze finally settling on Thorin, because when he had invited these people in earlier, all the Dwarves clearly looked to Thorin for leadership.
He said: "From your dress, you're preparing for a long journey, right? Then you definitely need money and other necessities. Though I'm not wealthy, over the years I've accumulated some savings from raising animals. I can give you a reasonable bounty for hunting the monster, plus a letter. If you continue east, you'll definitely pass through the village where my wife and child are within three days. Give them my letter, and you'll be able to resupply with food and water in the village, plus have a good place to rest."
Thorin said: "Hmm, a fair price."
Then he turned to look at Tarnes and asked: "Will you also participate in this hunt, Tarnes?"
Tarnes nodded with anticipation: "Why not, Thorin? This is a monster I've never seen before. It makes my heart itch with curiosity."
Bernahl spoke up then, saying with a smile: "Count me in. Tarnes, shall we compete to see who can end that monster's fate first?"
Tarnes looked sideways, eyebrow slightly raised, asking back: "What's the point of that?"
Bernahl shrugged nonchalantly, his voice full of ease: "Just a small competition. After all, I've lost to you so many times. I should get a chance to win one back."
Kili, hearing their conversation, said: "If both Teacher Tarnes and Teacher Bernahl participate, then there's nothing for us to do. I don't think any monster could withstand a single blow from either of you."
The other Dwarves also voiced agreement, and the farmer's house gradually filled with the Dwarves' laughter, leaving Davy bewildered.
It was as if that terrifying monster that had kept him sleepless for days was just a weak stray dog by the roadside, to be slaughtered at will.
Thorin's face also involuntarily showed amusement, then he turned and called to Balin, who had closed his eyes to rest: "Balin, please help draft a contract regarding the hunting of the deep valley monster for Tarnes, Bernahl, and Mr. Davy here."
Balin opened his eyes, showed a kindly smile, nodded, and took out a pen and thick stack of papers from his belongings, beginning to write briskly.
Davy looked bewildered and confused at Gandalf: "How... how did we suddenly start writing contracts?"
Gandalf smiled: "Trust the contracts written by Dwarves. They can serve as official documents in any country."
The farmer nodded blankly. Though he didn't understand, it seemed very formal.
But he quickly became nervous again: "No, this isn't the time to write contracts. That monster might come at any moment. I need to extinguish the lights quickly."
At this moment, Balin's cultured voice rang out: "Alright, Mr. Davy, Mr. Tarnes, Mr. Bernahl, please review the contract once, then sign and seal it. The contract will take effect immediately."
The contract Balin drafted wasn't as long as the one Bilbo had signed, but it still filled two full pages.
When Tarnes and Bernahl received the contract, they only glanced through it briefly before signing their names and handing it to Davy.
The farmer held this contract that still smelled of ink, looking at the text on it, suddenly feeling somewhat absurd in his heart.
Seeing that Davy hadn't signed for a while, Balin considerately said: "If you can't write, I can do it for you."
Davy shook his head. Though he couldn't write many words, he could still write his own name.
He sighed heavily. Seeing that these people and Dwarves were serious, Davy had no choice but to sign his name.
Just as he wielded the pen to sign his name, the moment the brush touched paper, heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside, and the scratching sound of the pen on paper stopped abruptly.
Heavy footsteps echoed like drums in the quiet air, accompanied by rough breathing.
The Dwarves' originally noisy laughter stopped abruptly. Their faces, which had been filled with joy, now showed tension and alertness. They pressed their ears to walls and floors, trying to gather more information.
"Baa!"
Though the heavy footsteps had stopped, the sheep in the pen began bleating in panic.
The sheep's cries directly awakened the sleeping domestic chickens in the coop. They flapped their wings, struggling to rise from their half-awake state, making a series of urgent clucking sounds.
This sudden commotion also affected the horses deep in the stable. Thorin's horses had been quietly chewing wild grass but were disturbed by this sudden chaos. They raised their heads, their large eyes flickering with unease and vigilance in the dim light, white breath from their nostrils weaving in the air. Horse hooves gently struck the ground, accompanied by snorting sounds, their neighing particularly prominent.
Ori, the Dwarf closest to the window, carefully extended one finger and, under the tense gazes of the other Dwarves, slowly opened a crack in the window, his eyes slipping out through this gap.
Dori, beside Ori, asked quietly: "Can you see the monster's appearance clearly?"
Dwarves' vision was naturally different from humans'. Though they couldn't see distant places like Elves, they could still manage to see outside clearly at night by the dim moonlight.
Therefore, Ori naturally saw the monster's appearance clearly, and as the most learned Dwarf in the Lonely Mountain expedition, he also recognized what that monster was.
Ori withdrew his gaze from the window crack, then looked at his companions, who were watching him expectantly, saying quietly: "That's a troll."
A troll?
Though the Dwarves' hearts were tense, they were obviously not as panicked as before. Indeed, sometimes the unknown was the greatest source of fear.
But Gandalf stopped what he was doing and looked up in surprise.
Kili breathed a sigh of relief: "No wonder it doesn't dare appear during the day. It's because they fear sunlight."
Bilbo blinked and said: "A troll? Wait, is it the one I know from books?"
Bofur nodded in reply: "Right, so don't worry. Maybe we don't even need Mr. Tarnes and Mr. Bernahl. It's just a troll. We could handle it ourselves."
Bilbo made an "mm" sound: "You might be right, Bofur, but where are Tarnes and Bernahl?"
Bofur was startled, then suddenly looked toward where Tarnes and Bernahl had been, only to find the two who should have been there had disappeared.
Millicent, who remained in place, noticed Bofur and the other Dwarves' gazes and said gently: "Those two left with their weapons when Ori secretly opened the window."
Just as Millicent finished speaking, the troll's painful howl came from outside the window, along with the slight tremor of its heavy body collapsing onto the dirt.
The conversation between Bernahl and Tarnes also came through the crack Ori had opened.
"Tarnes, I won this time, right?"
"Alright, Bernahl, I admit you won. But you didn't need to cut such a big gash in the farmer's land just to win, did you?"
"Heh, if I'd been any slower, your spell would have hit this big fellow's head."
"So what now? This monster is cut in half by you. How do we deal with the corpse? What species is this monster anyway? Its blood and spilled organs really stink."
"You can't blame me for that. Who would have thought this big guy's body was just like a normal person's? I thought it didn't wear armor because it was confident in its physical toughness, so I didn't plan to hold back from the start."
Their voices grew closer until one of them knocked on the window.
"Tap, tap, tap."
The window was pulled open by Bernahl from outside, revealing his somewhat embarrassed expression.
He looked at Davy and said: "Your sheep pen might need a thorough deep cleaning."
Davy looked at Bernahl with incomprehension and shock. No matter how slow he was, he knew that the monster that had terrified him for several nights had been so casually dealt with.
From the earlier commotion and these two men's conversation, Davy knew the monster hadn't even been able to resist before dying quite plainly. Just as simply as when he usually slaughtered a chicken.
At this time, Gandalf stood up and said: "No need for such trouble. If it's a troll, its corpse will turn to stone at dawn. Davy, you just need a good night's sleep, then wake up and clean away some oddly shaped stones."
Seeing that Gandalf seemed about to go out, Tarnes asked: "Where are you planning to go?"
Gandalf sighed: "My good lad, I need to explore in the direction it just came from. Trolls don't easily come down from the mountains. There must be some change that made this stupid troll run to human territory to steal livestock."
[Chapter Complete]
***
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