The banquet ended with the dwarves' snores echoing through the hall, including Thráin and Dain, who lay sprawled on the floor, completely drunk.
However, this time the floor was not cold, but warmed by the Dwarven forges that had been rekindled inside the Lonely Mountain.
Radahn and the Red Lion Legion, who were invited to the banquet, were stunned by the dwarves sleeping on the floor until Arthur explained that it was a Dwarven custom. Only then did they stop debating whether to move so many dwarves back to their respective rooms to rest.
But since the masters of the Lonely Mountain were so drunk, even though the attendants continued to provide food and drink to the soldiers of the Red Lion Legion, Radahn and his men felt it was inappropriate to stay in the palace. Instead, they bid farewell to Arthur and returned to Dale to rest.
Radahn seemed to have some matters to discuss with Bard regarding Dale and Lake-town.
As for Millison, she disliked being in such crowded settings, so she had greeted Arthur even earlier than Radahn and returned to Dale.
Thorin, unlike his father, was not completely unconscious. He swayed over to Arthur and his group, let out a burp, and said, "Come, follow me. It's time to fulfill the contract. I, I will give you your due, due reward."
With that, he grabbed Arthur's wrist with one hand and put his arm around Bilbo with the other, leading both of them further into the palace.
"Oh, uh?"
Bilbo looked at Gandalf, somewhat at a loss, while Gandalf smiled and followed behind the three of them.
Although Thorin was drunk, it didn't affect his sense of direction. He soon led Arthur and Bilbo to a newly cleared room in the palace.
This small room was filled with various gems of different sizes, shapes, and colors, as well as finely forged weapons and sturdy armor. Gold coins, in contrast, were the least valuable items there.
Thorin released Arthur and Bilbo, then slapped his cheeks hard with both hands, briefly clearing his mind from the alcohol's numbness. But he quickly stumbled and fell into a pile of shimmering diamonds and jewels.
Arthur quickly helped Thorin back up: "Careful!"
Thorin waved his hand to indicate he was fine, while his other hand pulled out a shirt made of silver thin mesh, resembling chainmail, from among the jewels.
Arthur immediately recognized the extraordinary quality of the chainmail and instinctively asked, "What is this?"
Thorin smiled proudly: "This is the dwarves' most prized craft. Here, Bilbo, this is yours."
Bilbo blinked, looked at Gandalf, then at Arthur, before walking over hesitantly: "To be honest, Thorin, I feel I don't quite deserve a reward. After all, the contract stated that I was to help you steal that 'arkenstone,' but I didn't complete that task."
Thorin, however, said: "But you helped me throw a stone hard at Azog's head. Take it. This shirt is made entirely of Mithril. It's as light as a feather, as hard as dragon scales, and will never lose its luster. Didn't you say at the banquet just now how you would prove to your descendants that you personally participated in everything in the Battle of the Lonely Mountain? This Mithril shirt is the best proof."
Then he turned and showed Bilbo everything in the room: "Of course, besides this shirt, you can also take one item you like. Whether it's a weapon or a jewel, you can choose whatever you like."
Bilbo paused, looked at the items in the room, and decisively shook his head: "I think what you've given me is precious enough. I don't need anything else."
Gandalf watched Bilbo with a chuckle and added, "Naturally, this one shirt forged from Mithril alone could buy the entire Shire."
Bilbo gasped, his hand trembling, nearly dropping the Mithril shirt he held.
However, even if the shirt fell to the ground, what needed to be watched out for was whether it left any marks on the floor.
Thorin, seeing Bilbo's response, nodded decisively, not dwelling on it.
Then he looked at Arthur: "As for you, Arthur... honestly, I don't know how to repay you. The help you've given me has long exceeded the agreed-upon compensation in the contract, and even surpassed the responsibility a friend should fulfill."
Then Thorin made a dry joke: "After all, not every friend has the ability to help win a war involving a dragon, but your wealth also baffles me. You casually give away magical weapons like the frozen shell axe. I don't know what kind of treasure I should offer to repay you."
Arthur, uncharacteristically, scratched the back of his head and said, "I actually didn't expect to gain anything from helping you. You don't need to worry about these things, Thorin."
Before Thorin could speak, Gandalf interjected: "But I still suggest you ask Thorin for something. Although everyone present knows the friendship between you and Thorin, it doesn't mean everyone knows. If you leave without receiving anything from Thorin, and this news spreads, it will affect Thorin's reputation among those who are unaware. Especially now, with the Lonely Mountain in ruins and needing to be rebuilt, what Thorin needs most is a good reputation."
Thorin burped again, raised a hand to point at Gandalf, and looked intently at Arthur: "Right, right. Although this old wizard can be very stubborn sometimes, he occasionally gives very sound advice."
Gandalf, angered by Thorin's words, bristled, thinking to himself who was truly stubborn.
Arthur could only nod: "Alright, then let me see what interesting things are in this room."
Bilbo looked at Gandalf, who had been standing still, and asked Thorin, "Doesn't Gandalf get any reward?"
Thorin, in high spirits, waved his hand upon hearing Bilbo's words: "Yes, wizard, you get a share too!"
Gandalf was about to shake his head and refuse, but a glimpse of a pile of jewels out of the corner of his eye made him change his mind: "Then it would be disrespectful to refuse."
Then, under Bilbo's gaze, Gandalf went to a table filled with diamond necklaces and bracelets, selected a necklace clearly suitable for a woman, examined it carefully, and then put it into his pocket with satisfaction.
Thorin saw Gandalf's action and teased, "Are you going to give that to some beautiful lady?"
Gandalf cleared his throat and replied vaguely, "Perhaps."
Meanwhile, Arthur selected a strangely shaped but jewel-encrusted decorative sword from the pile of weapons and said with satisfaction, "I've made my choice. This is it."
Thorin looked closely at the decorative sword in Arthur's hand and was slightly taken aback: "This sword is only for decoration; it cannot be used in combat. Are you sure you want to choose it?"
Arthur put it away and said to Thorin seriously, "It is precisely because it is an ornament that I chose it. This sword will be placed in the Golden Tree Territory, so that everyone who enters the Golden Tree Territory will know the friendship between you and me."
Thorin's eyes softened when he heard Arthur's words: "That's true, although you have many magical weapons, you don't have many ornaments with such symbolic meaning."
Then he yawned and said, "It seems I'm about to go to dreamland with my father too. Let's end the entertainment for today here."
Arthur also agreed, "Indeed, it's very late. Tomorrow morning, Radahn seems to have something to discuss with Bard that requires my presence, and Bilbo also plans to go home tomorrow during the day… So tomorrow will be our temporary farewell, Thorin."
Thorin sobered up a bit when he heard this and quickly said, "Then tomorrow morning, I will definitely bring Fili and Kili, as well as the rest of the expedition team, to see you and Bilbo off."
Arthur nodded: "No problem, just come find us in Dale."
After Arthur and the other two left Thorin, Bilbo curiously asked Gandalf, "Gandalf, do you really have a woman you like? Are you going to give her the jewels you got from Thorin?"
Gandalf looked left and right, confirming that no one else was present besides Arthur and Bilbo, then glared at Bilbo in annoyance: "Take back your chattering words. To be more precise, the jewel I took is to be returned to a certain Elf."
Arthur immediately reacted: "Is it that necklace that caused Thranduil and the Lonely Mountain dwarves to fall out?"
Gandalf motioned for Arthur to keep his voice down and whispered, "Yes, that's it. I didn't expect this necklace to be so casually placed in that room. While Thorin is drunk tonight, I'll catch up with Thranduil overnight, hoping he hasn't gone far with his army."
Arthur shrugged: "I actually feel that the dwarves might have forgotten about this necklace... But since you want to do this, let me take Bilbo back to Dale tonight."
Gandalf nodded.
As for the option of giving the necklace to Legolas to take to Thranduil, neither Arthur nor Gandalf tacitly mentioned it.
This father and son are still in a state of disagreement, so it's better to let them meet less.
Gandalf was about to bid farewell to Arthur when he thought of something and immediately leaned in to whisper, "Also, I'll remind you one more time about those two rings. Never let anyone else know that your friend obtained them from the Ringwraiths. I cannot imagine what some greedy humans would do to you and your territory after knowing this news, especially since you said you have a way to purify the curse within the rings."
Arthur's expression also became serious, and he solemnly said to Gandalf, "I've heard you. Tomorrow morning, after Bernal and Igon wake up, I will inform them not to tell anyone about the rings either."
Gandalf saw Arthur's expression and breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly bid farewell to the two.
Bilbo looked at the two whispering curiously, and only after Gandalf left did he ask Arthur, "What were you and Gandalf just talking about?"
Arthur smiled: "Of course, it's something that the fewer people know, the better."
Then Arthur reacted and asked, "By the way, Bilbo, I remember you found a magic ring, didn't you? You said before that you wanted to show it to Gandalf, but it was delayed because of the war. Gandalf hasn't gone too far, why don't you show it to him now?"
Bilbo sighed, complaining uncharacteristically, "I wish I could, but when I thought of that ring, I didn't know where it had fallen. Maybe it rolled out of my pocket while I was hiding from those orcs looking for Azog in the Lonely Mountain."
Arthur comforted him, "It's okay, it's just a magic ring. When the time comes, I'll have my teacher Sellen make you a ring that can also temporarily conceal your figure."
Bilbo's eyes lit up: "Then I'll leave it to you."
Arthur smiled and nodded, blowing his whistle, and Torrent appeared out of thin air, snorting.
It affectionately nudged Arthur, then whinnied softly at Bilbo, greeting the hobbit who liked to feed it fruit.
Bilbo also skillfully pulled out a banana he had hidden from the banquet table from his pocket, peeled it, and fed it to Torrent.
After Arthur mounted Torrent, he helped Bilbo get on and joked, "I even suspect that if Torrent weren't a spirit horse, it would probably be fed fat by you."
Bilbo stroked Torrent's mane and said, "It's just some small fruits, it definitely won't get fat."
Then he reached into his pocket, intending to take out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, but unexpectedly touched a cold ring.
Bilbo continued his movements as usual and asked Arthur, "By the way, I've never asked, what does Torrent usually eat?"
Arthur's expression froze, and he said awkwardly, "Well... I don't seem to have specifically fed it anything. But there's a plant in my hometown called 'Loa Fruit,' and Torrent prefers to eat it."
Bilbo blinked: "A plant I've never heard of. Do you have its seeds? I think I can plant some Loa Fruit in front of Bag End, so that when you ride Torrent to visit me in the future, it can also have a full meal."
Arthur said, "As for seeds, I should have some. I'll look."
As he spoke, several pale red, round fruits similar to hawthorns suddenly appeared in his hand, which he handed to Bilbo, who then put them into his other pocket.
Early the next morning, Bernal and Igon, who had stayed overnight in the Lonely Mountain Palace, returned, bringing with them someone who slightly surprised Arthur.
He looked at the Elf Prince following Bernal and called out his name: "Legolas, why did you come along? Where's Tauriel?"
Legolas politely replied, "Tauriel has already returned to the Woodland Realm, as for me... I am very interested in the Erdtree that Sir Bernal mentioned, and I hope that as the lord of the Erdtree, you can allow me to visit your territory."
Arthur nodded happily: "You are always welcome to come whenever you want. There's no need to say it so formally, my territory isn't some strange forbidden land."