Translator's Note:
First, I would like to sincerely apologize for not uploading the chapters as scheduled, and second, for not informing you all beforehand about the delay.
I understand that many of you look forward to regular updates, and I take full responsibility for failing to meet those expectations. I promise this will not happen again.
Moving forward, even if I cannot upload for a day, I will make sure to inform you all about any delays in advance.
Thank you for your patience and continued support.
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Sunlight slanted across the broad lawn, golden rays dancing on the emerald grass tips like countless sparkling diamonds embedded in the earth.
A gentle breeze stirred, causing the grass tips to sway softly with a rustling sound, much like the lively bustle within Hobbiton itself.
A winding path paved with ancient bluestone led Rogier and D through this tranquil green space to the edge of a cultivated vegetable garden.
The garden was a riot of colors... red tomatoes, yellow pumpkins, purple eggplants... all appearing especially vibrant and full of life under the sunlight.
Bees shuttled between the flowers, industriously collecting pollen, while occasionally butterflies could be seen dancing gracefully through the air.
In one corner of the garden, a group of very small children were at play, their laughter clear and melodious, their shadows stretching across the grass and changing shape as they ran about.
These Hobbiton children were the first to notice Rogier and D. They initially hid, then peeked out, continuously observing the two strangers with curious yet fearful gazes.
"I think they might be afraid of your armor, Darian," Rogier observed this scene and said with a smile.
Unusually, D didn't voice any objection. Instead, he looked down at his Twin Armor, then touched his full-coverage metal face mask before saying: "Perhaps you're right."
Now it was Rogier's turn to be surprised. He looked at D with astonishment: "You're actually not angry this time?"
"Angry? About what? This is the homeland of Lord Tarnes' friend. If I frighten those little ones, it might displease him," D asked strangely.
Rogier showed an expression of understanding, and D said nothing more. Instead, he directly removed his helmet with both hands, revealing his handsome face that was somewhat pale from rarely seeing sunlight.
He tried to make his mouth form a smile, nodding toward the group of little hobbits hiding behind fences or vegetable stands.
The result was that the cute little hobbits shrank back even further, making D's expression freeze.
Rogier laughed aloud: "I think you need to practice how to smile without frightening children. Do you know what your expression just now looked like?"
D asked stiffly: "What did it look like?"
Rogier said: "Like a Those Who Live in Death who just crawled out of a coffin... pale complexion, stiff expression, desperately trying to learn how to smile like when they were alive."
D was about to sternly refute that he couldn't possibly resemble Those Who Live in Death, but seeing that group of little hobbits peek out again, his tone unconsciously softened: "Don't compare me to those disgusting creatures, Rogier."
Rogier raised his hand with a comforting smile: "My fault, my fault. I'll definitely be more careful next time."
Then he looked toward the group of little hobbits, removed his sorcerer's hood, his golden eyes looking at them gently. He crouched down and took out some dried fruit snacks, waving them: "Hello there, we're looking for Mr. Bilbo Baggins. Could you tell us where he lives? Of course, you'll get these snacks whether you answer or not."
The several little hobbits exchanged glances, then suddenly ran off, leaving Rogier frozen in place.
"Heh." D couldn't help but chuckle softly. "This is your so-called approachability? You seem even more frightening than me... at least I didn't scare those little friends away."
Rogier shook his head helplessly, stood up, and put his pointed hat back on: "Maybe they're just a bit shy with strangers. That's normal."
D simply tugged at the pack horse's reins, glanced at Rogier indifferently, and said nothing.
Rogier shrugged and continued walking forward.
Past the vegetable garden, what came into Rogier and D's view was a pond.
The sun's golden radiance danced on the gently rippling pond surface, like countless little sprites dancing on the water.
By the pond, several ducks swam leisurely, occasionally letting out cheerful calls that disturbed the water's tranquility, causing nearby fishing hobbits to wave their hands in annoyance, shooing away these ducks.
Across the pond was a bustling marketplace crowded with people.
Some were selling freshly dug fruits and vegetables from their own gardens, others were promoting newly dyed fabrics, while some were simply there for the excitement and conversation, or gathering in groups of three to five around tables and chairs they'd brought to enjoy pre-lunch delicacies.
Every face was wreathed in smiles.
The hobbits were all quite short, even a few centimeters shorter than the Dwarves Rogier and D had encountered. The difference was that these people didn't have the distinctive beards and carelessly unkempt clothing typical of Dwarves.
They dressed very elegantly and luxuriously, clearly taking great care with their appearance and presentation.
However, none of them wore shoes on their feet. Their feet were several sizes larger than normal humans', appearing quite rough, with thick hair growing on the soles.
So humans of normal height, like Rogier and D instantly became "little giants" among these hobbits, drawing their attention.
The hobbits of Hobbiton began chattering among themselves after discovering Rogier and D, especially since D was leading a pack horse loaded with various goods, causing some business-minded hobbits to mentally calculate what price they could buy all the goods Hobbiton lacked, then resell them at slightly higher prices to others.
D felt somewhat uncomfortable being stared at by these hobbits and put his helmet back on, presenting his golden mask to them.
Rogier recalled Tarnes' words: "Bilbo Baggins' home is in a cave beside a small hill, with a row of benches at the door, an old mailbox, green grass covering the entire roof, flowers of different colors filling both sides of the door, and the door itself is a standard round brown wooden door."
Rogier had an excellent memory... he recalled every word Tarnes had said with perfect accuracy, not forgetting a single character.
But when he looked out from under his pointed hat at all of Hobbiton, his gaze became confused.
Because there were far too many houses matching these conditions... every house seemed to be exactly as Tarnes had described, making it impossible for Rogier to identify which one was Bilbo Baggins' home.
D glanced at Rogier and said: "So you still don't know which house belongs to Lord Tarnes' friend? More and more people are watching us. I feel like I'm being treated as some kind of rare animal."
Rogier could only say helplessly: "I really don't know. Maybe Tarnes didn't expect that hobbit houses would all look pretty much the same."
D stopped and said: "Then why not ask these people standing behind the fences? Perhaps they should tell us where the person we're looking for lives, instead of pointing at us and gossiping."
Rogier agreed with D's suggestion, but just as he was about to speak up and ask, a bewildered voice along with several children's chattering sounds came through.
"I don't mind playing some house games with you after eating my fill, but you should tell me where you're taking me! Otherwise, I'll tell your parents and have them give me more delicious blueberry cheese and strawberry cookies!"
However, the children just chattered away, pushing that person forward.
Without doubt, this person was Bilbo Baggins. He wore a yellow checkered shirt with white baggy breeches and a red vest, holding an unlit pipe in his hand, looking helpless as several hobbit children pushed him along.
Soon he noticed Rogier and D on the same path as him, his expression instantly changing from helpless resignation at being pushed by children to suspicion and surprise.
"Wait, wait, you're not planning to bring me to those two tall fellows, are you, you mischievous little rascals? I don't know those two," Bilbo Baggins waved his pipe, making shooing motions.
The children immediately scattered with laughter, running up to Rogier with eager expressions, extending their hands and looking at him expectantly.
Rogier immediately understood, smiled, and handed out the dried fruit he had originally promised to give the hobbit children.
Then the children ran off, leaving only Rogier and D, along with Bilbo Baggins, who instinctively wanted to flee but was held back by his curiosity to observe these two strangers.
Rogier again removed his pointed hat and bowed to Bilbo with a chest salute: "Excuse me, are you Mr. Bilbo Baggins?"
Seeing Rogier bow, Bilbo also straightened his clothes that had been disheveled by the children's pushing, cleared his throat, and said: "If you're looking for a hobbit, that would be me. What do you two want with me? I should mention upfront that I don't need to buy whatever you have behind you."
He quickly pointed at the pack horse behind D, then lowered his hand as if nothing had happened.
Rogier was about to answer that these things were gifts for him when he heard a very sudden "thud" from beside him.
Then he saw Bilbo's eyes widen as he looked around somewhat bewildered.
"To thank you for your assistance to our king, His Majesty Tarnes specifically ordered me to travel to Hobbiton in the Shire to visit Mr. Bilbo Baggins! All these things behind us are thank-you gifts that His Majesty Tarnes is presenting to his good friend Bilbo Baggins!" D declared loudly.
He was now kneeling on one knee toward Bilbo Baggins, causing the already watching hobbits around them to exclaim in amazement.
"What did he say? When did that fellow Bilbo save a king?"
"Oh, look at your memory... wasn't it about half a year ago that someone fell onto Bilbo's roof?"
"I remember that, but he was actually a king?"
Bilbo's shock was no less than that of the surrounding watching hobbits. He exclaimed in a low voice: "Tarnes is a king? Isn't he a wizard?"
Rogier, faced with D's sudden action, first rubbed his forehead, then shook his head helplessly and said to Bilbo: "I can explain that to you, but I'm afraid we'll need to go to your house first. Otherwise, in a little while, none of us will be able to leave."
Bilbo looked at the increasing number of fellow villagers coming to watch the excitement and quickly nodded: "You're absolutely right, Mr. Pointed Hat. Have your, uh, Mr. Armor stand up... my house is just back there, not far."
By the time Bilbo brought Rogier and D back to his home, the story of him saving a king and having a noble human knight kneel before him had already spread throughout Hobbiton.
It was even becoming more fantastical with each telling, nearly evolving into a tale where Bilbo was going to marry a human princess, the two visitors were witnesses to the wedding, and the pack horse carried the princess's dowry.
Bilbo carefully bolted and locked his door, then looked at Rogier and D, who were bent over carrying various packages, thought for a moment, and pointed to a room on the right side of the entrance: "Just put the things in there, thank you."
A few minutes later, Bilbo enthusiastically brought out a pot of boiled milk tea and a plate of cookies with several cheese slices, came to the dining table, tied on a napkin, and smiled at Rogier and D: "Now we can have a proper chat about Tarnes and about you two."
Then he quickly looked at D: "Oh, you don't need to use formal language with me. Oh, not that you can't use it at all, just... you know, normal polite address... just call me Bilbo."
D, who had removed his helmet again, nodded vigorously at Bilbo: "Very well, Mr. Bilbo."
"Actually, you don't need to add 'Mr.' either... well, whatever makes you happy," Bilbo didn't insist further.
Then he took a cookie that smelled of milk, put it in his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed: "You should eat too. Tarnes wasn't nearly as restrained as you two when he was here."
Well, that's just like him, Rogier thought to himself while smiling and picking up a cookie.
What was normal-sized for a hobbit seemed rather miniature to Rogier.
D, meanwhile, treated Bilbo's words as some kind of command and very seriously tasted the food Bilbo had brought out.
Bilbo even felt that if he asked, this strange armored man would seriously provide him with a detailed food tasting report.
"Let me introduce ourselves first. My name is Rogier, and his name is Darian, though you can call him D," Rogier said first.
Bilbo smiled kindly: "Yes, I understand. By the way, how is Tarnes doing lately? I remember he told me before leaving that he was going to rebuild his homeland. From the looks of you two, he must have succeeded?"
Rogier smiled and nodded: "He's succeeded quite a bit, at least now we don't worry about having shelter from wind and rain."
Bilbo shrugged: "That's good. Honestly, I'm quite looking forward to his next visit, because the stories he told were all very interesting. I've already written some of them down. But there are some parts I remember rather vaguely, and I was planning to ask him about them when he comes again."
D replied: "His Majesty Tarnes has been quite busy with affairs recently, but he had me write a letter to bring to you."
As he spoke, he produced a well-preserved envelope from inside his armor.
As Bilbo took the letter, Rogier also said: "Could I take a look at the stories you've written about Tarnes? I once traveled with him, though for a very short time, but perhaps I could help fill in some details."
Bilbo's eyes lit up as he grinned: "Aha, that would be perfect!"
[Chapter Complete]
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