Gandalf and I set up a tent in the ruined housing area of Dale. Of course, it was a modern tent I had brought specifically for situations like this. I even set up a camping bed and a wood-burning stove inside. Seeing me continuously pulling out and setting up items, Gandalf asked,
"That is an intriguing magic. How do you perform it?"
I pondered for a moment before replying.
"Hmm... to put it simply, I expand space to store items. It's surprisingly difficult to do."
I pulled a low-capacity spatial pocket bag that I had purchased in the world of Konosuba from my inventory and showed it to Gandalf. Even for a low-capacity one, it was quite a pricy item.
"This is a bag enchanted with the magic I use. Try putting something in it."
Doubtful, Gandalf took his staff and slid it in. The long staff disappeared effortlessly into the bag.
"Oh~ truly marvelous. The bag is clearly small, yet an object much larger than it fits inside."
Gandalf seemed delighted by the novelty, repeatedly putting things in and taking them out of the bag.
"Stop playing around and let's eat."
I cooked a simple meal on the wood-burning stove and shared it with Gandalf. While eating, Gandalf made a request.
"Would you consider giving this bag to me? Since you have the magic itself, surely you can do without it?"
It seemed Gandalf had taken quite a liking to the bag. It made sense. For someone constantly on the move, such a bag would be highly desirable.
"What are you talking about? It took fifty years just to craft that bag."
Of course, that was a lie.
Just then, a commotion could be heard from in front of the tent. When Gandalf and I went outside, we found a group of hungry children who had been drawn in by the delicious scent.
"This is quite a predicament. Do you have anything they can eat?"
"Geez, just wait a second."
I pulled out a massive cauldron and made a huge batch of soup, distributing it along with bread. Soon, adults came over to receive food as well. When we ran short-handed, Bard even came over to assist us.
"There goes an entire year's worth of food from the Tower."
"Now, now, don't be like that. Does it not warm your heart to see them satisfy their hunger and smile?"
As Gandalf said, it did feel good to see the children playing around after filling their stomachs. Once the distribution was over, Bard offered me his thanks.
A day passed, and by the second day, the children swarmed again. I handed out soup and bread just like the day before.
"This is the last time. I'm all out after this."
I said to Gandalf while making the soup.
"I see. I am grateful you shared your supplies."
In truth, I didn't lack ingredients, but if I kept giving handouts, these people might grow complacent here.
Gandalf called over Bard, who was helping nearby, to inform him of the news.
"I understand. I see. Hopefully, the Elves' support arrives quickly. Regardless, thank you for everything. We will try to manage on our own from now on."
After the final meal was served, Bard announced to the people that the food had run out. He then gathered volunteers to go hunting in the mountains and fishing in the lake to secure more food. Bard was certainly a fine leader.
"Hmm... Bard, was it? I like him."
"Indeed. These people have gained a good lord."
They managed to bring back enough food to barely stave off hunger. With the weather growing colder, finding food seemed to be getting more difficult. I made a stew out of the ingredients they brought, maximizing the quantity as much as possible. Then Gandalf and Bard distributed it among the people.
When the distribution finished, Bard was about to head out hunting again with his bow and arrows. That's when Gandalf stopped him.
"Wait a moment. The Elven army is arriving."
Just as Gandalf said, Elves in full armor were seen marching into Dale with disciplined precision.
"They're finally here."
As the Elven army entered Dale, Thranduil appeared behind them, riding a majestic, giant elk. Thranduil recognized Gandalf and offered a greeting.
"Mage Gandalf, to think I would run into you here."
"King Thranduil of Mirkwood, it has been a long time."
"Who is the youth beside you?"
Thranduil looked at me and asked my identity.
"Well... let's see, he is my disciple."
Gandalf concealed my identity. I hadn't particularly intended to hide it, so I glanced at him, but Gandalf just smiled and patted my shoulder. It was a silent gesture asking me to play along. Thranduil looked somewhat suspicious, but since it wasn't the most important matter at hand, he let it slide.
"Very well. I have brought some supplies. Who is the representative of this town?"
Bard stepped forward and spoke.
"I am. I am their lord."
Thranduil gave a signal to the Elves, and several wagons laden with food began to roll in. The people cheered, and Bard expressed his gratitude to Thranduil.
"Thank you for the assistance."
"We must help one another in times of need."
I organized the ingredients the Elves brought and prepared meals for the people. Since the people already knew of my culinary skills, they entrusted all the Elven ingredients to me. Besides, since I was the only one with a massive cauldron, they had little choice.
While I was preparing the food, Gandalf, Bard, and Thranduil discussed future matters. Even without listening, it was obvious. Gandalf was likely trying to encourage negotiations with the Dwarves, Bard wanted compensation no matter what, and Thranduil was tagging along to reclaim the white gems of Lasgalen. It was an amusing situation where everyone's interests were perfectly aligned.
As I finished the cooking and prepared to serve, Gandalf and Bard came out to help, seemingly done with their discussion.
"I take it the talk went well."
"Yes. We've decided to go and attempt a negotiation for now."
Once the people finished their meal, Bard gathered everyone to organize a militia. With the Elven army present, the humans couldn't afford to sit idly by. However, compared to the Elven troops, the human militia looked quite pathetic.
The humans had barely made it here from Lake-town, so there was no way they had proper weaponry. Consequently, they fashioned crude spears out of pieces of scrap metal found lying around or used farming tools as substitutes. The personnel were the same. Whether they lacked men or simply wanted to pad the numbers, there were even town women mixed into the militia.
"Good grief... and they think they can fight like that?"
"What else can they do? Such is their circumstance."
"More importantly, why is that bag on your waist when I haven't even said you could have it yet?"
Gandalf was naturally wearing the spatial pocket bag on his hip.
"Ho ho ho, surely I cannot leave such a precious magical artifact just anywhere. Thus, I am keeping it safe for now."
"Ha... you're so shameless I'm at a loss for words. Fine... just keep it."
Gandalf looked extremely happy at those words. I had originally bought it at a high price to hide my inventory ability, but now I could create a spatial pocket bag using [Ability Bestowal]. I just needed to bestow the [Inventory] ability onto a bag. It was no longer a precious item to me.
"Oh~ is that so? Then I shall accept it without reservation. But does this magic bag have a name?"
"It doesn't have a specific name... Hmm... let's just call it 'Jin's Magic Bag'."
"I see."
The next day, the Elven army and the human militia moved toward Erebor, where Thorin's party was located, to negotiate. Gandalf went with them, but I remained in Dale to cook for the people and the children. There was nothing for me to do even if I followed them, and I figured Thorin would be horrified to see me, so I chose to stay.
Besides, even from Dale, Erebor was a Dwarven city built into a mountain, so I could clearly see everything if I climbed to a high building. I moved my tent to the tallest building in the center of Dale and watched Erebor.
For two days, nothing much happened as the Elves and Humans remained in a standoff with Thorin's party inside Erebor. It seemed Gandalf was stalling for time effectively. Then, a Dwarven army appeared from over the hill to the right of Erebor, coming from the Iron Hills. It seemed the show was finally beginning.
"About time."
The Elven and Dwarven armies faced off and began shouting things at each other. To summarize simply: "Get out of here." As it looked like they were about to fight, Gandalf stood in the middle and tried to stop them, shouting that this was madness, but it didn't seem to have much effect.
I sat in a chair in front of my tent, eating popcorn and watching the scene unfold. This was the reason I stayed behind.
'I can't miss out on a romantic fantasy war.'
Once the Elves and Dwarves finished talking, the Dwarves charged on giant goats as if they were cavalry. The battle began.
I was watching with great interest when Gandalf rode his horse toward me in a hurry and made an urgent request.
"Look here, help us stop this!"
"Huh? Why me? They're fighting for their own interests; why should I bother stopping them?"
"An Orc legion could arrive at any moment! This is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves!"
Gandalf was clearly frustrated, seeing me leisurely snacking on popcorn.
"Like I said before, this has nothing to do with me. Besides, they chose to fight. If they get ambushed by Orcs, it's their own fault."
At that, Gandalf pointed toward the children playing below and said,
"Then what about the innocent children? Please, at least protect them."
"Hmm... fair point. I have grown somewhat attached to them while serving meals. Fine, I will protect Dale until this is over."
Once I agreed to protect Dale, Gandalf's expression softened slightly in relief.
"That is a relief. I must summon the Eagles nearby before it is too late."
Leaving those words, Gandalf rode off. Suddenly, the ground vibrated, and colossal earth-eaters burst through the hillside between Erebor and Dale, creating tunnels. Soon after, a massive Orc army poured out of those tunnels.
Seeing this, the Elves and Dwarves stopped their squabble and united to block the Orcs. Interests aside, the common enemy—the Orcs—had to be dealt with first.
Thus, the war between the coalition of Elves, Humans, and Dwarves against the Orcs and Trolls began. The coalition was already exhausted from their brief clash and their forces were diminished, making it an incredibly disadvantageous fight.
A question suddenly popped into my head.
'I feel this way every time I watch the original work, but where the hell are all these Orcs being made?'
The author of The Lord of the Rings once mentioned that female Orcs exist. Based on that, I suspected the females were likely used to produce food or for breeding more Orcs. Naturally, there would be no human rights for them. They were probably being born in some sort of factory format.
'Yikes... shouldn't have thought about that.'
I cleared the dark thoughts from my head and checked the battlefield again.
While the Elves and Dwarves were fighting hard despite being outnumbered, the problem was the Trolls. Though few in number, their massive size and the blades or maces attached to their arms made them difficult to stop. They reminded me of Ultralisks from Starcraft. Moreover, the Orc vanguard wasn't even the full extent of the force; many more divisions were waiting in reserve.
Suddenly, a horn blared, and the reserve Orc units began their advance toward Dale. Seeing this, I stretched and stood up.
"Phew~ show's over."
I moved slowly and arrived in front of the Dale city walls where the Orcs were advancing. Then, I summoned ten 'Teostra' and ten 'Lunastra'—lion-like elder dragons I had made into shadow soldiers back in the world of Monster Hunter.
As the massive monsters suddenly appeared, the Orcs halted their advance and began to mutter amongst themselves in panic.
"Sweep them away."
ROAARRRR!!!
At my command, the Teostras and Lunastras began breathing fire and swinging their paws, massacring the Orcs. The Trolls tried to block them with their arm-blades, but it was useless. They were either sent flying or only managed to inflict shallow scratches. Even those wounds healed instantly. As long as I didn't run out of mana or die, they would recover infinitely.
Meanwhile, I could see Bard and the townspeople running from the back of Dale, weapons in hand, to defend their city.
"What on earth..."
Bard and the people stopped in their tracks, staring blankly as they failed to comprehend the sight of Teostras and Lunastras slaughtering the Orcs.
While they were dazed, I transformed into my dragon form and took to the sky. Since the front seemed largely handled, I decided to clear the back in one fell swoop.
"Gasps!!! Arcane-Jin!!!"
The sight of my transformation froze the townspeople in place. Some collapsed, unable to move, and a few even wet themselves. Ignoring them, I unleashed my breath toward the Orc divisions waiting in the rear.
KRAAA-BOOOOOM!!!
I felt it once again, but the breath of the Black Dragon Fatalis was exceptionally wide, lasted a long time, and was incredibly hot. It was hot enough to turn stones glowing red and melt them; biological Orcs didn't stand a chance.
Judging that the breath had completely scorched the area ahead, I stopped. Nothing remained on the glowing, red-hot ground save for smoke rising from various spots. Not even ashes of the Orcs and Trolls remained.
I descended to the ground, reverted to my human form, and recalled the Teostras and Lunastras. They disappeared back into the shadows. I had probably gone a bit overboard. Despite it being a cold season, the area was sweltering thanks to my breath.
Figuring they could handle the rest themselves, I walked back to my tent. Everyone stepped aside to make a path, none of them daring to even speak to me. Returning to the tent and looking around, I saw that the Elves and Dwarves were standing dazed as well, and the surviving Orcs were busy fleeing.
"Maybe I should have let them fight longer? A war like this isn't easy to witness."