Bard naturally knew that the Mayor, who liked to exploit the residents of Lake-town, had actually had his soul enslaved by Smaug, becoming the Dragon's puppet.
However, he only knew that the Mayor's dealings with the orcs had been stopped by Arthur and his group, but he hadn't had time to ask for the specifics of those dealings.
Therefore, when Bard learned from Arthur and Gandalf that a group of orcs, heavily cloaked, had been ambushed into Lake-town, he was also startled.
But Bard did not complain in a low voice; instead, he loudly said, "The orcs you annihilated, are their equipment still intact?"
Arthur indicated he was unsure, then looked at Bernal, remembering that Bernal was in charge of this matter.
Bernal shrugged and said, "Originally, I wanted to throw them all into the lake, but those few Dwarves from Thorin's company, what were their names… Oh right, Dori, Ori, and Nori, they said that those broken pieces of metal could be melted down into iron ingots and sold for a lot of money, so they asked me to take off the armor. I found it troublesome, so I let the three of them take it off themselves, and then threw the bodies into the lake. As for the armor, you'll have to ask Thorin if he knows."
Thorin's expression also froze: "Dori and his two brothers did this?"
Then he frowned and looked at Bard: "But why are you asking about the Orcs' equipment? Although the equipment of the Long Lake Town Guards is not as good as our dwarf soldiers', it's still much better compared to the Orcs' junk."
Bard explained helplessly: "I don't want to put the armor on the Long Lake Town Guards; instead, I want them to disguise themselves as the orcs led by Bolg."
Arthur's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea. Azog doesn't know yet that his son has been killed by me, and he still believes that Lake-town is under their control. According to Bard's suggestion, we can clear out an area in Lake-town beforehand, trick those orcs into entering, and then surround and kill them."
Bard nodded: "As Arthur said, that's exactly what I'm thinking. However, this plan has three problems that we need to perfect. First, how do we confirm that this is not a conspiracy set by Azog. Second, is the orc armor that the Mayor brought into Lake-town still there. Third, after the first two problems are solved, what if the number of orcs chasing Dain's remnants is too large, and the Long Lake Town Guards and Dain's group alone cannot eliminate them all? What then?"
Gandalf pondered for a moment and said, "I don't think this is a conspiracy set by Azog, because the intelligence he gave in the letter to Bolg was not a disguise. Moreover, with Smaug's arrogant personality, he probably can't even distinguish the appearance of an orc."
Thorin said discontentedly: "You humans just like to overthink and over-worry, thereby missing many opportunities. Whether Azog knows the situation in Lake-town or not, we still have to go and meet Dain, don't we? As for those orc armors, I'll go back and ask Dori and them now. It would be even better if we can eliminate the orcs pursuing Dain, but don't forget our purpose is to meet Dain's remnants, not to eliminate those orcs. As for the number of orcs, you don't need to worry. If Dain hadn't been ambushed by Azog's design, those orcs would not be a match for the Iron Hills Dwarves at all. I will also lead my clansmen…"
Bard resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this dwarf, complaining in his heart: You say it so easily, but in the end, it's still our Long Lake Town Guards who have to be dispatched. If it's really a trap, then it's the Long Lake Town Guards who will suffer losses.
Arthur then looked up and said to Gandalf: "How about this, I'll go to the Erdtree now. Although I can't pull out an army, if it's just to meet Dain, this number can still be brought over."
Now it was Thorin's turn for his eyes to light up: "Soldiers of the Erdtree! That would be great!"
Arthur waved his hand: "Don't really expect me to bring many soldiers. My side is very short-staffed right now. Agreeing to send a regular army last time was already the absolute limit."
This was true. Arthur had almost exhausted the souls he had collected and the Grace accumulated by the Erdtree during his last return.
There was no other way; it really wasn't enough. Manpower was short everywhere.
When Arthur was summoning Red Lion soldiers for Radahn, Kenneth Haight privately came to complain that Haight's Fort needed more Royal Army soldiers, otherwise, with the Erdtree's territory expanding so much now, he wished he could split his fort's soldiers into three.
After Arthur finally managed to appease Kenneth Haight and he left, Edgar secretly came over, and upon seeing him, immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times with loud thuds.
Arthur was so frightened he thought his daughter Irena had gone mad with mad flame and was here to commit suicide to atone for her sins.
But when Arthur, with the resolve to face mad flame, asked, he learned that Edgar was also here to ask for manpower.
Because Morne Castle was even larger than Haight's Fort, there were more things to be responsible for.
Edgar even asked for not just soldiers, but also normal residents.
He said that many places within the Erdtree's territory were currently empty, with no one living there, but soldiers still had to be sent to patrol, so the pressure was immense.
Moreover, Edgar also said that his daughter Irena and Miss Roderika, the Spirit Tuner summoned by Arthur, only had four hours of rest time per day, including meals and sleep, almost constantly busy.
Because they were mainly responsible for mediating minor disputes and conflicts caused by differing customs between the local people of The Lands Between and outsiders like humans, elves, and dwarves, this not only required them to learn many customs of Middle-earth races to tell their compatriots, but also to tell the people of Middle-earth about the customs and culture of The Lands Between.
They were already quite busy, but occasionally there were Misbegotten returning regularly from Thorndale to transport supplies within the territory. Those Misbegotten and the original nobles of The Lands Between didn't get along. Although under Arthur's command, the two sides wouldn't come to blows, there were certainly some insults exchanged.
This again required Roderika and Irena to mediate, almost turning them into the Erdtree's designated mediation ambassadors.
And Edgar, distressed for his daughter, also cared for Roderika, this sensible young girl of his daughter's age, so he also pleaded with Arthur to summon more people to help.
Arthur sighed and said he understood. After Edgar finally left, he thought he could finally summon all the Red Lion soldiers first, then turned around and saw Nepheli Loux walking over without a word.
Nepheli Loux didn't cry and complain like Kenneth Haight, or kneel and kowtow like Edgar.
She just said, "Stormveil Castle is short-staffed everywhere. Get me more.", and then left Arthur alone in the courtyard, feeling bewildered in the wind, and departed.
This was also why Arthur, after summoning Ogha, immediately summoned Oleg and Ingwell and sent them to Nepheli Loux.
So, after Arthur bid farewell to Gandalf and the others, he returned to Stormveil Castle through a portal. Nepheli Loux, without waiting for him to speak, directly said helplessly: "Radahn has already departed with the Red Lion army. I can give you at most 5 Storm Knights and 100 Storm Soldiers here; any more is truly impossible, as the defensive strength of Stormveil Castle and its vicinity would be problematic. However, the ballistas, flamethrowers, and such are all in the warehouse; you can take whatever you want, if Radahn hasn't already emptied those things."
"Enough, enough." Arthur nodded repeatedly, then returned to Lake-town with these people.
He originally thought Nepheli Loux could only give him a few Storm Knights, so this was an unexpected pleasant surprise.