"Burp!"
At the castle dining table, Bombur belched with thunderous satisfaction, rolled his eyes, and immediately fell asleep in his chair, snoring like a contented bear.
"Oh..."
Gandalf shook his head with weary amusement: "Someone carry him inside. I told him not to eat so much."
Old Balin patted his round belly while saying with genuine appreciation:
"Forgive me, Gandalf. I've never eaten such delicious food. Everything here is too wonderful: beautiful scenery, delicious food. It's just a pity there's no ale."
"If I'd known there would be such a feast, I would have gladly spent all my silver coins to buy several barrels of good ale in the towns we passed through."
At this moment, all the dwarves at the dining table were stuffed and round, with burps rising and falling in succession like a symphony of satisfaction.
Only Thorin was relatively restrained, chewing slowly and savoring the food from beginning to end with the dignity befitting a king.
But his fork hadn't stopped moving either.
Seeing Gandalf seemingly glancing at him intentionally or unintentionally, Thorin temporarily stopped his actions, coughed twice and said: "I must say, these dishes are indeed praiseworthy, and many of the cooking methods are unprecedented. Quite novel."
After his commentary, Thorin also expressed his gratitude to Levi with royal grace: "Thank you very much for your hospitality."
Having seen this fortress city, Levi's image in everyone's minds had become quite different from before. He was not only a wandering knight but also a lord who had gone to war.
Although this territory seemed to have rather few people—or rather, they hadn't seen any human activity at all—with this lord's capabilities, if he were to issue a call and intentionally gather subjects, surely many people would gradually come to serve him.
Besides this, judging from the situation within the territory, this lord also seemed to be a powerful being who could use some magic. But for someone who could associate with Gandalf, knowing some magic wasn't surprising. Some dwarves curiously asked a few questions, and Levi didn't deny it. After all, strictly speaking, these miraculous things could indeed be summarized with the word "magic."
All of this visibly changed the dwarves' attitudes considerably. They were rash, but not stupid.
"Eat as much as you can; don't save anything for me." Levi waved his hand grandly, greeting the expedition members with generous hospitality.
The dwarves' appetites were indeed large, second only to hobbits.
But no matter how much they could eat, even if each person finished eating and then carried away a large sack of food, compared to the reserves Levi had accumulated during this time, it was just a drop in the bucket. He couldn't even feel his food reserves decreasing.
"These are the trail rations I prepared."
The dwarves looked at Levi's mountain of dried meat, fruits and vegetables, and bread, slowly saying with disbelief: "You call this trail rations?"
Previously, everyone had been eating cram on the road: a travel bread that both dwarves and the men of Dale liked to bring. It could be made tasty, but if you wanted both flavor and shelf life, that wasn't very realistic.
"I could eat this kind of trail rations for a lifetime."
A dwarf muttered after tasting a piece of dried meat with wonder.
Well-fed and satisfied, the group of dwarves wandered around the territory, touring and observing with the appreciation of master craftsmen.
Levi's castle was large with many rooms. When they got tired of touring, they just found a room and went straight to sleep.
This night passed very peacefully.
For some reason, there wasn't a trace of orcs in the vicinity. The terrible howling sounds they could hear almost every day in the wilderness had also disappeared. When sleeping, they no longer needed to remain vigilant.
The dwarves went to rest one after another.
At the top of the castle, Gandalf leaned against the window, lit his pipe with Narya, and smoked silently, his eyes unblinking, as if contemplating something profound.
"The pattern of Middle-earth may undergo some changes..."
Wizards, or some particularly special powerful elves, all had a kind of prophetic ability. They could vaguely perceive possible future developments.
"Aren't you going to rest, Gandalf?"
Levi came up, sat in a chair behind him, took a bite of an apple with casual ease, and tossed one to Gandalf.
Gandalf caught the apple, wiped it with his robe, also took a bite, and nodded with satisfaction.
Sweet, crisp, and juicy.
"I will. Hmm... I suppose I should get some sleep."
"Your beds here have a kind of magic; once you lie down, you unconsciously want to sleep until dawn."
"What do you think of this operation?"
Gandalf suddenly asked with the weight of ages in his voice.
"I believe it will succeed."
Gandalf nodded with cautious hope.
"I hope so."
The night passed quickly.
Early the next morning, the well-digested dwarves got up one after another, packed their luggage and the trail rations Levi had prepared, and set off eastward again with renewed energy.
This meal had also allowed everyone to become familiar with Levi, and several dwarves came over to chat on the road.
"When you reach our homeland again, you'll know that dwarven hospitality is no lie: strong ale, large chunks of roasted meat with bones, banquets, songs, warm hearths. Haha, you definitely won't come for nothing."
"I'm looking forward to it. I'll definitely visit if I have the chance."
Walking along, everyone soon arrived at a place very familiar to Levi: the Last Bridge.
This bridge had a long history, dating back to the First Age. The countries that originally built and maintained the bridge no longer existed. Currently, Rivendell had voluntarily taken on the responsibility of maintaining the bridge.
It was precisely because of Rivendell's care that this bridge could remain passable to this day.
"There should have been some farmers living here before."
Crossing the bridge, everyone soon discovered ruins: a few scattered destroyed houses with their inhabitants nowhere to be found.
"We'll rest here tonight." Thorin issued the command with kingly authority.
Levi opened his map and slapped his forehead.
Well, so it was here. No wonder he hadn't found it before.
When he had previously come to the Trollshaws to search for treasure, he had entered the forest from the west and cut his way eastward.
The location where the expedition had decided to rest this time was at the southern border of the forest.
"I think we should continue forward."
Gandalf looked at the house ruins with a bad feeling. Something wasn't right here.
Why were the houses destroyed? Where were the farmers? Where had they gone?
"We could go to Rivendell."
"I said I wouldn't go near that place." Thorin slowly walked over and rejected Gandalf's suggestion with stubborn pride.
"Why not? The elves can help us, provide us with food, shelter, and advice—just like Levi."
Thorin glanced at Levi, then looked at Gandalf with eyes burning with old grievances: "Perhaps that's true, but I don't need advice from elves who refuse to help when people are dying."
The two quickly got into an argument, with Levi watching helplessly from the side as tensions escalated.
"I gave you the map and key, not for you to cling to the past."
"I don't think that's something you should be keeping."
Meaning this was mine to begin with.
Thorin's one sentence directly gave Gandalf a heart attack.
Kindly bringing you the key and map, and you're actually blaming me for it. Old Gandalf shook his head repeatedly and turned to leave directly.
"Gandalf, where are you going?" Bilbo asked with growing alarm.
"To be with the only person within ten miles who has any sense!"
"Who?"
"Myself!"
"I've had enough of dwarves for today..."
He really wanted Levi to knock them all unconscious and tie them up to take to Rivendell.
Gandalf suddenly stopped.
"Levi, come with me."
"Huh? Alright."
Levi glanced at Bilbo, indicating not to worry, then got up and followed the furious old man away.
Bilbo looked left and right, wanting to speak but stopping himself.
The departure of their mutual friends left Bilbo, who remained here, feeling somewhat awkward.
"Bombur, light a fire and cook."
However, Thorin paid no attention to the departing Gandalf, just methodically commanding everyone to prepare for rest on the spot.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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