Bard naturally also knew that the fat mayor who liked exploiting Lake-town's residents had actually been soul-enslaved by Smaug, becoming the dragon's puppet.
But he only knew that the fat mayor's dealings with Orcs had been stopped by Tarnes and the others. He hadn't had time to ask about the specific details.
Therefore, when Bard learned from Tarnes and Gandalf that there had originally been a group of heavily disguised Orcs infiltrating Lake-town, he was also startled.
However, Bard didn't complain quietly but said loudly: "Those Orcs you eliminated, is their equipment still there?"
Tarnes indicated he wasn't clear and looked toward Bernahl, remembering this matter was Bernahl's responsibility.
Bernahl shrugged and said: "Originally I wanted to throw it all into the lake water, but those Dwarves from Thorin's group, what were their names... oh right, Dori, Ori, and Nori. Those three said that scrap metal could be remelted into iron ingots and sold for good money, so they asked me to remove the armor. I found it troublesome, so I let the three of them strip it themselves, then threw the corpses into the lake. As for the armor, you'd have to ask if Thorin knows."
Thorin's expression was also stunned: "The three brothers did this?"
Then he frowned at Bard: "But why are you asking about those Orcs' equipment? Though Lake-town guards' equipment isn't as good as our Dwarf soldiers', it's still much better compared to Orc junk."
Bard explained helplessly: "I don't want to have Lake-town guards wear the armor. I want them to disguise themselves as Orcs led by Bolg."
Tarnes' eyes lit up: "That's a good idea. Azog still doesn't know his son has been killed by me and still thinks Lake-town is under their control. Following Bard's suggestion, we could clear out an area in Lake-town in advance, lure those Orcs in, then surround and kill them."
Bard nodded: "Exactly as Tarnes said. That's indeed what I'm thinking. However, this plan has three problems we need to address. First, how do we confirm this isn't a scheme set by Azog? Second, is the Orc armor brought into Lake-town by the fat mayor still available? Third, after solving the first two problems, if the Orcs pursuing Dain's remnants are too numerous for Lake-town guards and Dain's forces to completely annihilate, what then?"
Gandalf pondered for a moment and said: "I don't think this is Azog's scheme, because the intelligence he gave in Bolg's letter isn't fabricated. Moreover, with Smaug's arrogant nature, he probably can't even distinguish between different Orcs' appearances."
Thorin said dissatisfiedly: "You humans just like overthinking and worrying, thus missing many opportunities. Regardless of whether Azog knows Lake-town's situation, we have to intercept Dain, don't we? As for those Orcs' armor, I'll go back and ask Dori and the others now. It would be better to eliminate the Orcs pursuing Dain, but don't forget our purpose is intercepting Dain's remnants, not destroying those Orcs. As for Orc numbers, you needn't worry. If Dain hadn't been ambushed by Azog's scheme, those Orcs wouldn't be a match for Iron Hills Dwarves at all. I'll also lead my kinsmen..."
Bard restrained his urge to roll his eyes at this Dwarf, complaining inwardly: You speak so casually, but it's still our Lake-town guards who have to mobilize. If it really is a trap, it's Lake-town guards who'll suffer losses.
At this moment, Tarnes looked up at Gandalf: "How about this. I'll make a trip to the Golden Tree now. Though I can't bring out an entire army, if it's just intercepting Dain, I can still bring over that many."
Now it was Thorin's turn for his eyes to light up: "Golden Tree soldiers! That would be wonderful!"
Tarnes waved his hand: "Really don't expect me to bring many soldiers. My side is extremely short-handed right now. Being able to promise you a regular army before was already the absolute limit."
This was true. Tarnes had consumed most of the souls he'd collected and the golden grace accumulated by the Erdtree during his last return.
No helping it. There really wasn't enough to go around, everywhere needed manpower.
When Tarnes summoned Redmane soldiers for Radahn, Kenneth Haight had privately come to complain tearfully that Fort Haight needed more Royal Army soldiers. Otherwise, with the Golden Tree territory expanding so much now, he wished he could split each of his fortress soldiers into three.
After Tarnes finally managed to console Kenneth Haight and send him away, Edgar privately ran over. Upon seeing him, Edgar immediately knelt down with three loud kowtows.
This frightened Tarnes into thinking his daughter Irina had succumbed to the Frenzied Flame and had come to commit suicide in apology.
Tarnes braced himself for the worst about the frenzied flame, only to discover upon questioning that Edgar had also come asking for manpower.
Because Morne Castle was even larger than Fort Haight, there were more responsibilities.
Edgar wanted not just soldiers but normal residents too.
He said many places in the Golden Tree territory were currently empty with no inhabitants, but they still couldn't avoid sending soldiers to patrol, creating great pressure.
Moreover, Edgar mentioned that his daughter Irina and the Spirit-Tuner Miss Roderika that Tarnes had summoned were getting only four hours of rest daily, including meals and sleep, practically working non-stop.
Because they were mainly responsible for mediating small frictions and conflicts caused by different customs between local Lands Between people and foreign humans, Elves, Dwarves, etc., this required them not only to learn many Middle-earth racial customs to inform their compatriots but also to explain Lands Between customs and culture to Middle-earth people.
They were already quite busy, but occasionally there were Misbegotten returning periodically from Lond Daer to transport supplies. These Misbegotten didn't get along with the original Lands Between nobles. Though they wouldn't fight under Tarnes' orders, mutual cursing was inevitable.
This required Roderika and Irina to mediate again, practically making them designated Golden Tree mediation ambassadors.
Edgar felt sorry for his daughter and also cared about Roderika, this sensible girl the same age as his daughter, so he also begged Tarnes to summon more help.
Tarnes sighed and said he understood. After Edgar finally left, he thought he could finally summon all the Redmane soldiers first, then turned to see Nepheli Loux walking over wordlessly.
Nepheli Loux didn't cry complaints like Kenneth Haight or kneel and kowtow like Edgar.
She just said, "Stormveil Castle is short-handed everywhere. Get me more people," then left Tarnes alone in the courtyard, bewildered by the wind.
This was why Tarnes, after summoning Ogha, immediately summoned Oleg and Engvall to send to Nepheli Loux.
So after bidding farewell to Gandalf and the others, Tarnes returned through the portal to Stormveil Castle. Before he could speak, Nepheli Loux directly said helplessly: "Radahn has already departed with the Redmane army. I can give you at most 5 Storm Knights and 100 Storm Soldiers. No more, or Stormveil Castle and surrounding defense forces will have problems. However, those ballistae, flamethrowers, and such are all in the warehouse. You can take whatever you want, if Radahn hasn't emptied them out yet."
"That's enough, that's enough." Tarnes nodded repeatedly, then returned to Lake-town with this manpower.
He had originally thought Nepheli Loux could only give him a few Storm Knights. This was an unexpected pleasant surprise.