Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1121 1103. Do you think it's difficult?
"Do you know what you are doing, Thorin? You can't go on like this. This is tantamount to declaring war!"

On the city wall, Bilbo, with disheveled hair and dusty and dirty clothes, looked at the abnormal Thorin with an expression that said "I just don't know what to say".

These days, since they had driven Smaug away, they had spent most of their time in the treasure room of the Lonely Mountain Kingdom, rummaging and searching through mountains of gold and silver, hoping to find the King's Gem.

Not to mention the strong dragon stench left by Smaug, even the ashes accumulated on the mountains of gold and seas over the years are enough to make people feel uncomfortable.

At first the hobbits were astonished and fascinated by this magnificent wealth, but within a few hours Bilbo was already wondering if he could trade the bowl-sized gem for a mouthful of pure Shire tobacco.

Besides, Elbor was too big, and they only had a dozen people in total, and most of their manpower was spent on searching for gems.

After a few days, there was not even a place to rest. The living conditions in the entire isolated mountain were as cold and gloomy as those in a primitive cave.

Just like Thorin's increasingly dark circles under his eyes.

"This is none of your business, Baggins."

Thorin looked coldly at the Valley City in the distance, but the dwarves who would have united around him at this time in the past just lowered their heads and said nothing.

"Oh, I think you might need a little reminder!"

Bilbo said this in a sarcastic tone, with a smile on his face.

"There is an army of elves outside, as well as hundreds of homeless fishermen who are full of anger and the desire to survive! We only have a dozen dwarves. We...we can be said to be outnumbered!"

But when the Hobbit said this, Thorin chuckled and shook his head.

“That could change very quickly.”

"What?" Bilbo looked at a loss, thinking he had misheard. "What do you mean?"

"It means: Master Baggins," Thorin walked up to the hobbit and patted him on the shoulder, "never underestimate a dwarf."

"I don't mean to look down on the dwarves, but your temporary city walls are really not built high enough."

As soon as Thorin finished speaking, a sound came from the top of their temporary city wall, and the dwarves suddenly became a little commotion.

They subconsciously raised their weapons and stood guard in the direction of the sound, but when they really turned around, they unconsciously lowered the weapons in their hands slightly.

Lan En jumped down lightly from the top of the city wall.

The scattered armor was all put together, leaving only the armor on his left arm, and his [Light Body Technique] was put to better use.

"You all know that elves are as light as falling leaves, right? With this kind of wall, even if you destroy the bridge over the moat, what can it do? Can't they just jump up?"

Lan said in a relaxed tone.

Most of the dwarves did not dare to look up at him.

This is not out of fear.

In order to return home, the dwarves dared to face the dragon.

Although Lan killed the dragon, whether it was Lan or Smaug, would their strength make any difference to these dwarves?
They formed the expedition to restore their country with the mentality of facing death.

What makes them afraid to face Lan now is the guilt they feel as friends.

The witcher helped them a lot along the way, and he meant it sincerely.

He spoke for the dwarves in Rivendell, and Balin and Thorin told all the dwarves at the time.

Later, he went to Changhu Town to help them solve many problems and provided reminders and assistance.

When Kili and his companions came back, they told everyone that Lann was invited to be the guest of the King's Hall in Lonely Mountain. All the dwarves were really happy and even wanted to clean up the King's Hall immediately.

But now we meet again,
"Anything you want to say, Kili? Fili?"

Lan En tilted his head and looked at the two dwarf brothers. Both of them had red faces and lowered their heads.

The witcher turned to the other side.

"Or what do you have to say, Bofur? Oin?"

The dwarves who needed loudspeaker hearing aids simply didn't dare to plug them into their ears, and Bofur even cursed "Damn it" under his breath.

The dwarves were stubborn, but also sincere and kind, and the current situation made it seem like several of them would rather fight the trolls with their bare hands.

"They have nothing to say, they are being loyal to their king."

Thorin came up from behind the crowd. He said nothing more, and watched as Kili and Fili were about to drop their weapons in shame.

Thorin looked up at the witcher.

"I don't have anything to say, Lan."

The calico kitten squeezed out of the crowd, ran on all fours towards its boss, and stood beside Lan's legs.

Lan rubbed the fluffy ball's head, and the cat put its hands on its hips and looked at Thorin with a more serious and confident expression.

It originally had a good impression of the dwarves. The dwarves' casual and generous character made it feel like it was facing hunters from the New World.

But there is no doubt that Thorin's performance has completely changed in the past few days.

"Again, I'm very grateful that you spoke up for me and helped us."

Thorin, now dressed elegantly and different from before, looked at the witcher. His eyes were very different from when he spoke to Bard just now, and they were full of sincerity. Lan noticed Thorin's dark circles and the more white hair on his forehead.

"I will share the treasures of Lonely Mountain with you, because you helped us without asking for anything in return, and you were sincere. So I will return your sincerity to you."

"But I will never give it to others! The people of Long Lake Town want the gold. They said I promised it to them."

"But what else could I do besides saying this? We are isolated and helpless, and it is difficult to move forward! We can only exchange our future for the hope of the present! The dwarves of Lonely Mountain have been in this situation for so long!"

"We can only use the gold that originally belonged to us in exchange for help! They saw that I was on the verge of despair, so they took the opportunity to offer a price. How can this be considered a fair trade? Why should I abide by such a promise?"

The dwarves pursed their lips; Thorin's words did indeed remind them of their difficult past lives.

The dwarves of Lonely Mountain were once rich and powerful, but once they lost their homes, the contrast in their rapidly deteriorating lives made them even more uncomfortable.

But Lan's expression remained calm.

"But Thorin, is this why you don't want to pay gold to the townspeople of Lake Town? That makes sense. Taking advantage of others' misfortune and forcing them to buy or sell is indeed shameful."

However, the witcher still found the loophole in Thorin's words with his excellent thinking ability.

"So Thorin, were the townspeople forcing you to go to the Lonely Mountain?"

The King Under the Mountain's face, originally as cold and hard as a rock, suddenly froze.

But Lan En kept talking.

"It is you who want to restore your country, and it is you who want the Lonely Mountain dwarves to rise again. So you must enter the Lonely Mountain before the Day of Durin. This crisis and this urgent time limit are all set by you for yourself because of your own decision."

"You chose a dangerous but rewarding road and walked on it. The people of Changhu Town helped you along the way and asked for compensation. Is that unreasonable? It's not that they created the crisis and forced you to walk on it and pay."

"Or is it that the compensation they are asking for is unreasonable?"

"Because your adventure attracted orcs and dragons, the whole town was destroyed. The gold they want now is only enough to rebuild their homes. It's an exaggeration to call it a 'reward'. It's just 'compensation'."

As Lann spoke calmly, Thorin's eyes flickered and he pursed his lips tightly.

His expression finally became similar to that of the other dwarves, but he still had a bit of stubbornness and obstinacy.

"After all, it's all about the gold! It's all about the generous reward! Isn't it?!"

Lan stopped talking, looked deeply at the current Thorin Oakenshield, and sighed after a long time.

"If you insist on looking at the problem from this perspective, fine, Thorin. In that case, give the share you promised me to the people of Long Lake Town."

The dwarves, including the hobbits, looked at Lan in surprise.

Among them, Thorin's look was even more incredulous. He couldn't believe that there was someone in the world who would refuse a mountain of gold.

But Lan En still said so.

"Those townspeople are homeless. If they don't have money, many people will die this winter."

Thorin's originally cold and hard expression now showed a visibly wavering look.

Pity, guilt, helplessness. All kinds of complex expressions appeared on his face.

But at the same time, there is also a painful self-struggle.

It was as if these emotions were about to tear him apart from the inside.

Part of him did share those feelings, while another part of him objected.

"No no. No!"

Thorin shook his head drowsily, walked up to Lan, grabbed his arm and shouted.

"We can't give it to them! This is our gold! We worked hard together and took risks together to find it! It's ours and belongs only to us!"

"There is no 'we', Thorin Oakenshield."

Lann pulled his hand away, and Thorin's already unsteady steps suddenly staggered to the side. Fortunately, he was supported by Groin beside him and did not fall down.

"You don't give me the gold, and I can't transfer it. I am obviously disposing of my own property, am I not?"

Lan En had no expression on his face at this time, but everyone could see that he was angry.

His tone was no longer as calm as before, but angry instead.

"Do you have to fight? Do you have to let people die?"

"Just for gold? This gold is even more important than the family honor of your Durin clan? Are you kidding me, Thorin Oakenshield!"

"I promised you in Rivendell, because when I first met you, you were ready to come back to help me after you got away because I was here to help! At that time, I thought you were a responsible dwarf hero!"

"What now?!"

"You are holding back the gold you promised to give to a group of people who became refugees because of you!"

"Do you really think it would be difficult for me to come in and get that gold?!"

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(End of this chapter)