Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1118 1100. Thorin Changes
"Look."

Thorin said this with his hands spread out like a master.

"This is the great treasure accumulated by Thror!"

Thorin casually grabbed a piece of gold coins and found a ruby ​​as big as a dwarf's fist.

He threw it towards the people on the stairs without a care in the world.

Philip nimbly reached out to catch it, but the young dwarf's eyes no longer contained the joy and shock of returning to his hometown and seeing mountains of gold and silver.

Instead, he looked at Thorin at this moment and became worried for unknown reasons.

Seeing Fili catch the gem, Thorin smiled and continued loudly.

"Welcome, my nephews, my brothers. Welcome back to Elbor!"

Then, Thorin's voice, louder than before, echoed in the treasure hall.

To celebrate the fact that their four guys did not encounter any accidents and successfully returned home, everyone can take a break.

But then, all of them had to come back to the hall and look for the Arken gem. They could only rest after they found it.

"And the gate of our kingdom also needs to be urgently repaired and strengthened!"

Thorin stood on the steps with his hands on his hips, his thumbs clasped on his grandfather's exquisite gold belt.

"There are already hundreds of refugees gathering in River Valley City. We must defend our recaptured homeland and never let it fall again!"

Seeing Thorin standing on the steps and giving orders to everyone, the dwarves felt something was wrong and uncomfortable, but they still did it.

"Thorin wasn't like this before." Bombo, who looked like a meatball, muttered, "He ate and lived with us, worked and fought with us, why is he like this now..."

"Be patient." Ori, who was next to Bombo, was going to repair the gate. He picked up a hoe and said, "He is the king under the mountain now. It is certainly different from before."

Bombo took a shovel and prepared to continue digging for Arken gems in the sea of ​​gold and silver, muttering, "It's different when I become a king. This is really strange."
-
The dwarves were busy in Lonely Mountain, and the humans in Dale were also struggling to make a living.

When the dwarves lit braziers for lighting at the gate of Lonely Mountain to facilitate construction, Lan's guess, which he had been 70% to 80% sure of, was completely confirmed.

That is, Smaug was driven out of the Lonely Mountain by the dwarves who were familiar with the terrain and equipment, rather than eating and burning the dwarf group that entered the Lonely Mountain and then coming out to vent his anger.

Thorin and the others are still alive, and judging from the way they are doing things, there hasn't been any loss in their numbers.

"Well, it seems that God has stopped the evil dragon from harming people. He even didn't let it kill even one more person on the night it died."

Bard's face was covered with a mixture of sweat and dust after a busy day. He and Lan were standing on a stone bridge corridor facing the gate of Lonely Mountain and talking.

There was relief in his voice, glad that the dwarves who had spent time in his home had not perished at the hands of the dragon.

Although Lan En said this before, it was just a guess. This is the actual evidence.

Strangely enough, Smaug, who had abused the entire Lonely Mountain area for a long time, flew out of the Lonely Mountain in anger, but lost his life without killing anyone.

But the night before, a raid and arson by just a few dozen orcs resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people in Changhu Town.

If these dozens of orcs were in front of Smaug, they probably wouldn't even need to breathe fire, they could just swing their tails and that would be the end of it.

All we can say is that the differences in combat tactics and the compatibility of the opponents led to such bizarre results.

Simply comparing power is neither wise nor accurate.

Smaug's terrifying lethality and deterrence when facing a large army made all the surrounding forces dare not provoke him without making a great determination.

But Smaug could be held back by the elite squad, and if Bard had shot an accurate arrow at that time, he could have killed him directly.

However, the elite squad is not as intimidating in front of the large army.

This is also why Gandalf begged Lann to tell Thorin about the complicated situation in the Lonely Mountain area.

The difference between a dwarf restoration team facing a dragon and facing an orc army is incomparable.

It's not even a situation at all.

"Okay, let's get everyone settled first."

After saying that, Bud went downstairs to continue working.

Lan En looked at the lit brazier on the gate of Lonely Mountain across from him.

"Are you not anxious to get the gold?"

The witcher asked Bard, who was already walking back.

"Gold can't run away. There's nothing to worry about. There's plenty of gold in those mountains."

Bud went down the stairs without looking back.

"But if we don't work now, we'll be dead if we freeze for another night. It won't be too late to ask for it after we settle down. We will only ask for what we deserve."

Bud's sober and rational words made Lan nod.

The witcher followed him, dusting off his hands as he went.

He also helped a lot in the city during the day, and so did Qilin.

Although it no longer has its horns, Qilin's body seems to have become more adaptable to this. It can carve a path through the rubble with just a single step of its hooves, and there is no sign of it losing control of its body.

However, the control of lightning was still unstable without the Ashen Horns. However, the large and expensive silk rune cloth from Aretuza's magic harness had the effect of suppressing electric current, so no trouble was caused.

On the contrary, the appearance of the Qilin, which looked noble and elegant in the eyes of those who did not know the truth, and had an indescribable aura of power, really made the townspeople, who had just experienced two nights of fright, feel a little relieved.

They secretly sang some ballads about Qilin. The tunes were simple, the words were simple, and they were similar to the songs they sang while working.

But it made the displaced townspeople feel safe and hopeful. Qilin also found it very interesting.

Lan En always felt that the people here seemed to be singing poetry all the time, and he didn't know if this was a melody passed down from the time of the Great Movement of Creation.

Everyone can sing a few lines.

I heard Bofur say in casual conversation before that even in the underground Goblin Kingdom in the Misty Mountains - the name of a species of thin orcs - those goblins would sing songs that they composed and wrote themselves.

Terrible, weird, ridiculous. But it's a ballad.

"Is there anything else you need to sort out over there? I can come over and help you when I'm done."

Lan said as he twisted his wrist.

"Really? That's great!" Bud was overjoyed, but he didn't stop.

The sun was about to set and the temperature would drop sharply, so they had to race against time.

"It's still that hall. Not only was the stone door outside destroyed by the dragon flame, but the inside also collapsed. We have to repair it."

The demon hunter nodded disapprovingly: "I understand. Leave it to me."

Last night, after burning the outer skin and muscles, I used the [Tendon Coil] to directly touch Smaug's wound and flesh.

The Valyrian steel cables inside Lann's body seemed to have eaten something good and became even tougher.

Now in River Valley City, apart from Qilin who relies on the body of the ancient dragon of the New World, Lan En is probably a crane-level existence in terms of strength alone.

When they arrived at the collapsed hall, the large stones at the door had been cleared out half a day, and only rubble remained inside.

Lan En rolled up his sleeves and walked in. After a moment he came out with a stone that was half the size of his body.

The surrounding townspeople stared in amazement.

"By the way, what's so special about this hall? I see you've spent half of your day here today."

Lan En said this and went back in as if nothing had happened. There was a loud bang from inside, and then the smaller piles of rubble that were originally piled up and stuck together rolled away in a mess.

[Alder Seal] is quite useful for clearing this kind of rubble.

Bud answered Lan while calling on the townspeople nearby to help put the cleared rubble onto the cart.

"This hall extends underground and has good thermal insulation. There is also a city warehouse next to it."

Bard's ancestor was the city lord Girion, and no one here knew Riverdale better than he did.

"This place is big enough to accommodate more than a hundred people at once. We can place the vulnerable elderly and children here first and take care of them together."

"Although there is no ventilation here all year round and the smell is not good, I now think this is the most efficient way."

As Lan used the [Alder Seal] to break up the last pile of rubble that were stuck together, there were no obstacles blocking the way in the entire hall.

So the townspeople who were waiting outside filed in and began to clean up the small pieces of rubble.

Lan heard the unfinished meaning in Bard's words. The witcher didn't need to bend down or lower his head in this hall because of his tall body. He winked at Bard.

And Bud did just as he thought. He came over without saying anything, and the two of them walked aside calmly.

"The 'warehouse' you mentioned just now is the key, right? What's in it?"

Lan En asked in a low voice while fixing his clothes and hair which were a little dirty from moving stones.

"What else could have been left in this deserted town for so long?" Bud shook his head. "It was an ordnance storage depot."

"You want to arm these townspeople?"

"Of course." Bard said bluntly. "The mighty Smaug is indeed dead. But I have not forgotten that it was the orcs who caused many deaths in Lake Town."

"The orcs disappeared from this area even longer than the dwarves, but now they are riding on wolves and destroying Long Lake Town. Not to mention that the dragon's deterrent power in this area has disappeared with its death. Who can be at ease in this situation?"

Lan nodded in agreement.

“It’s good to be vigilant.”

Lan had not told Bard the true impact of Thorin's retaking of the Lonely Mountain. But as someone who had lived in the Lonely Mountain area for generations, Bard had already instinctively sensed the unrest in the current situation.

The death of the dragon was like the loss of control over a lake that had been barely keeping calm. Without Smaug's deterrent power over large armies and powerful forces, undercurrents everywhere were becoming increasingly turbulent.

And there is a tendency for the 'undercurrent' to turn into a 'wave'.

“That’s all I can do.”

Bud covered his forehead with his hands as if he had a headache, and smiled bitterly.

"Thanks to your kindness, the supplies that His Majesty Thranduil will provide us should arrive tomorrow. Otherwise, I don't know how these poor people can survive in the ruins of Riverdale in the winter."

"Don't think too much." Lan comforted Bard. "After everyone is settled, the gold that Thorin gave will make this place come back to life."

Bud wiped his face, cheered himself up, and nodded.

"I hope so."

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(End of this chapter)