News Brought by the Grey Wizard

A rope was thrown down from Erebor’s city wall, and Aaron and Bilbo climbed down it one after the other.

The two followed the road all the way to River Valley City. Neither the humans nor the elves stopped them; everyone was busy either organizing weapons or practicing combat. Nearly the entire city had become soldiers.

Alfred emerged from a dilapidated house. When he saw them, he strode over impatiently. "You still have the nerve to come here."

"We’re here to negotiate with Bard," Bilbo explained.

Alfred immediately sneered. "Do you think you’re still qualified to negotiate?

"You only have a dozen or so men. You can’t possibly hold on to that gold. You’d better surrender early and hand Erebor over."

"I hate lackeys." Aaron rolled his eyes, then drew his Wand and pointed it at Alfred. "I’ll only ask once. Where’s Bard?"

Alfred looked at the Wand and took several guilty steps back. "I-I’ll take you to him."

"Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d done that from the start?" Aaron said disdainfully.

Alfred cursed inwardly, but still led them into a large tent. "Sir, they wish to see you."

"Sir?" Aaron raised an eyebrow at Bard. "Got promoted?"

"The people elected me. I suppose I was entrusted with the role in a time of crisis."

"Got it. But if you can avoid using this guy, you should." Aaron pointed at Alfred. "Other than throwing his weight around and ruining your image, he serves no purpose."

Alfred: …

Bard gave an awkward smile and dismissed Alfred before solemnly looking at the two of them. "Has Thorin Oakenshield changed his mind?"

"He won’t." Thranduil entered the tent. "Oakenshield can’t bear to part with that gold."

"That was true at first." Bilbo nodded. "But we successfully persuaded him. Aaron is offering up his reward from this expedition to fulfill the King’s promise. One-fifteenth of the treasure is enough to rebuild Long Lake Town, even River Valley City."

"Is that true?" Bard was beside himself with excitement. If not absolutely necessary, he had no intention of going to war. After all, the fighting force the people of Long Lake Town could scrape together amounted to only a few hundred people, and they could not withstand any losses at all.

"That truly comes as a surprise." Thranduil sat down in a chair and asked curiously, "How did you persuade such a stubborn dwarf?"

"With feeling and reason." Aaron spoke with a straight face, but under Thranduil’s teasing gaze, he could not help adding, "Most importantly… sincerity."

At that, several dark lines appeared on Thranduil’s eternally cold face.

At least look at who you were trying to fool. Did he really think Thranduil did not know what kind of person Thorin was?

Still, the King’s composure kept him calm. He did not curse outright, merely sneering. "Truly unbelievable."

"Dwarves may be stubborn, foolish, difficult, suspicious, and secretive." Bilbo shook his head with a helpless smile. "They have many bad habits that ordinary people would find unimaginable, but they are also brave, kind, and loyal.

"Gandalf was right. Once you get used to them, you’ll come to like them."

"Can you tell me why you did this?" Bard looked at Aaron in confusion. "If not for you, I could never have killed Smaug alone. You have shown the people of Long Lake such immense kindness. You owe us nothing."

"Actually, I owe you a promise." Aaron spread his hands. "Thorin made that promise under my guidance, so I bear some responsibility for seeing that he fulfills it."

"Thank you. Truly, thank you so much."

"It’s too early for thanks." Thranduil interjected. "How does Thorin intend to send out the gold? By opening the city gate?"

"He won’t open the gate.

"But I’ll use magic to bring the gold out. Bard, you only need to bring wagons and haul it away."

"Very well." Bard nodded with a smile, then looked somewhat awkwardly at Thranduil. "King Thranduil, I may have to apologize.

"If the King of the Lonely Mountain is willing to keep his promise, then I have no reason to lead the people of Long Lake in attacking the city."

"No need to say more. I understand." Thranduil waved a hand. "The elves will not give up simply because the humans have. You need only remain neutral."

Bard sighed faintly, inexplicably feeling that he was being somewhat ungrateful.

When the people of Long Lake had lacked food and clothing most desperately, it was the elves who had aided them and brought enough supplies to sustain them. Yet now, they were withdrawing from the alliance.

Though they had a valid reason, it still felt difficult to justify emotionally.

"Aaron, Bilbo." Bard looked at them solemnly. "What price must we pay to obtain the White Gem?

"As long as the King of the Lonely Mountain agrees, we can ask for half as much gold."

Thranduil’s pupils widened slightly, and he felt a measure of relief.

Humans did know how to repay kindness. Regardless of the outcome, Bard’s conduct had not disappointed the elves.

Aaron and Bilbo exchanged glances. Given Thorin’s prejudice against elves, forget asking for less gold—even if they offered him another mountain of gold, he would not care.

"This… isn’t merely difficult. It’s extremely difficult." Bilbo said. "The elves’ decision to stand by and watch back then left a deep thorn in Thorin’s heart."

"It was the dwarves who acted without honor first." Thranduil was unconcerned. "They took my kingdom’s national treasure and have no intention of returning it.

"Now I only want to reclaim what is mine. Am I wrong?"

"You’re not. It is only right." Aaron said, then changed the subject. "But the timing is wrong."

"Is it? I believe there could be no better time than now.

"The dwarves have no way out, while the elves can reclaim their national treasure at the smallest cost." Thranduil spoke with righteous conviction, then looked at Aaron and Bilbo. "I do not wish to wage war either. It may give others an opportunity to take advantage, but I cannot let this chance pass.

"You may try to persuade Thorin. So long as he returns the White Gem to us, I will withdraw my troops immediately, and the elves can ally with the dwarves once more."

"King Thranduil." Aaron pursed his lips. "I must admit that you are very rational, but you may have misunderstood what I meant."

"What did you say?"

"This is the main reason we came here…" Aaron had just begun to explain when a voice outside interrupted him.

"Pointy hat, I’m talking to you!

"No idlers, beggars, or vagrants are allowed to wander around here. We have enough trouble already without you people.

"Get going! Get on your horse!"

"Who’s in charge here?"

Aaron and Bilbo looked at each other. They could tell that the first voice belonged to Alfred, its tone incomparably arrogant, while the second belonged to an old acquaintance.

"Gandalf?" Bilbo muttered. "He’s back."

"Heh. He really picked a convenient time to return." Aaron said speechlessly.

When the dozen or so of them had risked their lives fighting Smaug, Gandalf had not appeared and had been of no help whatsoever.

Now that the dragon had been slain and everything had settled, he knew to come back and make his presence known.

If Aaron had not known that Gandalf’s departure midway through the journey might have concerned the peace of Middle-earth, he would have had every reason to suspect that the old bastard had been too afraid to fight and had shamelessly come back to share in the fruits of victory.

Bilbo gave a bitter smile, opened the tent, and waved to Gandalf. "Gandalf, we’re here."

At the sight of Bilbo, Gandalf’s expression relaxed somewhat. He shook off Alfred in disgust and entered the tent.

Aaron had intended to give Gandalf a thorough scolding, but when he saw the blood and grime covering his face, he swallowed his words. "What happened to your injuries?"

"It’s a long story."

"Then make it short."

"I went to the Witch-king of Angmar’s tomb. It had been excavated and emptied, and the real trail led to Dol Guldur…"

"You mean Dol Guldur?" Aaron interrupted, his tone playful. "Let me guess. Did you encounter the Necromancer there?"

"Yes." Gandalf nodded, then asked in confusion, "How did you know?"

"Smaug told me. The Necromancer has been regaining his strength in Dol Guldur." Aaron chuckled. "Don’t tell me you went alone?"

Gandalf froze for a moment, opening his mouth as if to speak but stopping himself.

"Heh! Looks like I guessed right.

"Gandalf, are you an idiot? Or has the peace of Middle-earth lowered your intelligence?

"The fact that Radagast managed to bring the Morgul Blade out of there was enough to prove it was a trap, yet you foolishly walked right into it."

"It wasn’t that I hadn’t suspected anything, but some matters can only be understood by taking risks myself."

Aaron: …

"Are you sure you didn’t walk right into the wolf’s jaws?"

"I simply did not expect things to be far more serious than I had imagined." Gandalf said with lingering fear. "If Saruman, King Elrond, and Queen Galadriel had not arrived in time, I might have lost my life there."

"That’s because you’re stupid." Aaron said contemptuously. "Do you know what it means not to stand beneath a crumbling wall?

"If I were you, I would have brought Saruman, King Elrond, Queen Galadriel, and Radagast along. No matter how powerful the Necromancer was, faced with a righteous beating from all of them, he would have had no choice but to flee for his life."

Gandalf was rendered speechless. He was also filled with regret.

He had thought that going alone would be dangerous, but that he could still escape unharmed. After all, Radagast had escaped successfully. Gandalf was stronger than Radagast, so there was no reason he could not escape.

Yet he had never imagined that he would face hell mode. Sauron, the true final boss behind the scenes, had personally acted against him and even used him as bait to ambush the others who came to rescue him.

If Queen Galadriel had not expended immense magical power to use the Ring of Water and drive Sauron back, they might all have been wiped out.

Still, though he had suffered greatly, it was not without gain. At the very least, he now knew Sauron’s objective and his plans for what came next.

Thinking of that, Gandalf looked gravely at Thranduil. "King Thranduil, your grudge with the dwarves must be set aside for now. War is about to begin.

"The orcs of Dol Guldur have already mobilized in full force. You are facing utter destruction."