Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1091 1073. Reputation
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Hurry up! Time waits for no one!"

Thorin was at the bow, holding his scabbarded Ocrest and pushing away the wreckage of ships or the floating corpses of orcs and humans that blocked the waterway, clearing a path for the ship.

Lan was walking along the trail beside the waterway.

He moved so fast that even when walking he could keep up with the speed of the dwarves rowing.

Occasionally, a few orcs would rush out from the alleys along the town's trails, but they would basically die in Lan's hands the moment they met them, just like pulling off a blade of grass while taking a walk.

The flannel ball shuttled lightly across the rooftops on the other side of the waterway, clearing out the orc archers who wanted to occupy the shooting angle on the rooftops.

"To the right."

Lan guided the dwarves to steer the boat into the correct waterway, and then he half-crouched and jumped up, directly passing over the dwarves' heads, and crossed the entire waterway horizontally, and continued to lead the way on the right side.

Lan chose the shortest route, and the dwarves' ships went all the way to the end of the waterway.

Further ahead is the stone brick wall of Changhu Town. There is only an iron fence like a water prison at the bottom edge of the wall, which serves as a sluice to block the floating ice.

This is definitely not something that can be passed by boat.

But the dwarves were not in a hurry. After several rounds of cooperation and communication, they always had the impression that Lan was reliable.

So at this moment, a group of bearded dwarves simply stopped paddling and turned their heads to look at the witcher eagerly.

The demon hunter did not disappoint the dwarves' expectations.

He put his fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly.

Immediately afterwards, a hissing sound was heard from outside the wall that blocked the waterway.

"Xilulu!"

There was a dull thud, mixed with the sound of bricks being hit by a battering ram.

The adhesive between the bricks of the wall, which was originally tightly bonded, has now broken, spewing out flying dust.

"Back! Back!"

Thorin was startled and quickly moved the two boats back.

Immediately afterwards, there was another blow from the outside of the wall, which directly broke through the wall.

Bricks, some intact and some broken, flew away, and the sluice gate on the wall was naturally blown away as well.

"Well done."

The dwarves cheered loudly and jumped off the boat at the same time to start clearing the debris from the stone wall to make it easier for the small boat to pass.

The Qilin curiously stuck its head in through the gap. The dwarves who were standing on the wreckage cleaning bricks wanted to jump up and touch its head happily, but the Qilin was too tall, and the dwarves could not reach it even if they jumped.

After noticing that the Kirin was stretching its head, lowering it like it was fishing and then quickly raising it up again, just because it thought it was fun to tease the dwarves, the dwarves all smiled and started working without paying any attention to it.

Although Thorin, Balin and Bilbo did not go down to clean up the wreckage because they were controlling a boat to prevent it from drifting, they also showed irrepressible joy that they were one step closer to the Lonely Mountain.

Because that is the end and goal of the journey.

During this time, Lan looked at the town behind him to prevent a sudden attack from orcs, while speaking to Thorin on the boat without turning his head.

"After leaving the town, you must go straight to Lonely Mountain. These orcs are bringing wolves with them, but there won't be too many of them. Qilin has already killed more than a dozen of them outside."

"But if they are still determined to hunt you down, it won't be easy to deal with them."

Thorin just stared at the lake behind the gap in the wall and the tall snow-capped mountains beyond the lake, and nodded.

Balin, who looked like a dwarf Santa Claus, looked at Lan who was standing on the trail.

"Just say what you want to say, Lan. This journey is getting closer and closer to the end. There is nothing we can't say."

The witcher nodded silently, then turned and looked at Thorin, Balin, and the bewildered Bilbo on the two boats.

"I want to make sure, Thorin, that you will act exactly as Gandalf told you in Rivendell, right?"

Thorin reluctantly turned his gaze from the gap in the wall in front of him.

"Don't wake up the dragon, don't covet the gold, just take the Arken Gem, then gather the army and defeat the dragon. Yes, I will do that. But I also want to reiterate my point, Lan En is a dragon after all."

"It is an evil war machine created by Morgoth in ancient times. We only have nine dwarves and a hobbit to face it. I dare not say that I have a complete plan and response."

Thorin staggered to his feet from the boat and looked at Lan seriously.

"But I still have to do it. The key to the Durin Dwarves' return to power lies in this prophesied adventure. I must not lose this opportunity!"

"Even if this means that Long Lake Town may be threatened by the evil dragon?"

"What is there in this world without threats and risks? Orcs are rampant, ogres have come down from the mountains to plunder the continent, and a village may be eaten by wargs overnight!"

Facing Lan's expressionless questioning, Thorin was equally resolute. "And the townspeople of Long Lake Town, they had agreed to take this risk before. I confronted Bard in front of the crowd, and I promised them that I would share the treasure in Lonely Mountain, and they fully agreed!"

"You think they don't know the risks of consent? No one knows better than those living in this area, Lan."

"But they also know that as long as the treasure in Lonely Mountain reappears in the world, the gold I share with them will be enough to rebuild Long Lake Town more than ten times! Even rebuild Riverdale City!"

"The threat of Smaug has always been around the Lonely Mountain. Do you think it will just sleep for a few decades and then we can just pretend it doesn't exist? Can you believe this?"

"As long as the threat of the dragon remains, the Lonely Mountain region will never have a chance to return to prosperity! All other ideas are foolish and self-deceiving!"

There were two "bang" sounds. It was Balin, who was sitting at the bow of the boat at the back, who took his oar and knocked at the stern of the boat where Thorin was in front, asking him to stop talking.

Thorin respected Balin, so he pursed his lips and sat down. The old dwarf himself stood up on the rocking boat.

"People's minds change, Lan En."

The old dwarf's first sentence was brief and to the point.

"I am an old man, but I have seen the prosperity of the area around Lonely Mountain. Back then, relying on the funds of Lonely Mountain and the technology of the dwarves, the prosperity of this area was simply incomparable to today."

"Look at this town, Lan. It smells like rancid fish oil and the damp, lingering smell of musty sailcloth. This town wasn't like this before."

"The people who live here have had enough of huddling on a rock above the lake. There used to be a thriving civilization here!"

"Why is Bud supported by the townspeople? Because he represents progress and change! Now the townspeople want a change! Everyone is tired of living in a remote and muddled life!"

"You should have seen what happened when Bard confronted Thorin. Almost all the townspeople thought..."

Balin looked at Lan En seriously.

“The most difficult and unacceptable days are the days of poverty.”

"That's because they haven't seen true cruelty yet, or the days of cruelty are too far away from them."

Lan En spoke calmly as a house lost its load-bearing structure due to the burning flames and collapsed with a "clatter" behind him.

Stirring up a cloud of ashes still with sparks.

"They mistakenly think that those poor but peaceful days are not worth mentioning, so they want to escape at all costs. But I think after tonight, their thoughts may change."

Balin shook his head indifferently: "People's ideas may change at any time, and it is normal to change one's mind from day to night. But our determination to take back our homeland will not change, Lan En."

"At this point, we want to take back our hometown. Isn't this just right? We promised to compensate Changhu Town and those who might be affected in the process of taking back our hometown. A huge amount of compensation that they fully accept."

"If we wake Smaug, we will be the first to die. If they are still alive, the treasures in the Lonely Mountain will be available to anyone. We can make a promise."

"Thorin, say something."

Balin shouted to the front, and the dwarf prince stood up and nodded to Lan.

"In the name of the King Under the Mountain, if we die, the Lonely Mountain cannot be recaptured. Then the wealth of the Lonely Mountain will belong to the survivors. They will have enough money to build the most prosperous city in the world."

Lan En remained silent. The wooden buildings around him crackled in the flames and collapsed with creaking sounds.

The dwarves who had already cleared the waterway were now standing on both sides, staring at Thorin and Lan in silence.

What they both said made sense. The dwarves were not unreasonable people. They also felt guilty towards those affected by their actions.

But in terms of their stance, they were determined to recover their homeland even at the cost of their lives.

After all, they are all descendants of the Durin dwarves.

There was a moment of silence until another voice appeared.

"that."

Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit sitting behind Balin.

He poked his head in, raised his hand tentatively, and looked around carefully at everyone present.

Like a timid rabbit.

But if he was really timid, he would not have spoken at this time.

Still saying this
"I also vouch for it on my own behalf! Thorin Oakenshield's promises are never false, and he always keeps his word."

There were nine dwarves present, but perhaps because they were all dwarves, it was difficult for them to express their opinions to Lan and gain his trust.

The end result was that a Hobbit stood up and testified on his own honor for Thorin.

Thorin and the dwarves suddenly turned their heads, focusing their gaze on the short, weak hobbit, causing Bilbo to give an uncomfortably dry laugh and shift his body.

Thorin pursed his lips, looked at Bilbo deeply, and said nothing more. He just nodded heavily and sat down.

(End of this chapter)