Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1127 1109. Dane of the Iron Foot Army
“But I really didn’t expect it.”

Gandalf looked at the long knife at Lan's waist with curiosity and surprise.

"Lady Galadriel actually shared the light in the crystal bottle with you. It is an inestimably precious thing."

"I didn't expect that either." Lann sighed, holding the hilt of the long sword at his waist, "If there is no Light of Earendil, I don't know how long it will take and how much effort it will take to kill Smaug."

' said Gandalf, puffing on his pipe.

"It will be a powerful weapon against evil."

"Bathe in the light of Earendil, and even Morgoth will feel the burning pain."

"The crystal bottle in Lady Galadriel's hand still has half the light, plus the starlight that connected to me that night." Lan En suddenly raised his eyebrows, as if he remembered something. "Didn't this light kill Soran directly?"

"It's not that easy."

Gandalf's old face has a pair of energetic eyes. These eyes are firm and gentle. They will not be shaken or discouraged by temporary failure, nor will they be confused or proud because of temporary victory.

The old wizard said calmly.

"Sauron's strategy is different from Morgoth's. He is better at preserving himself, corrupting people's hearts and colluding with darkness in secret. If the all-important ring is not destroyed, Sauron cannot be destroyed."

"We had the opportunity to do this during the War of the Last Alliance, but unfortunately, none of us understood the deeper nature of Sauron's power at the time and let the ring go. This is how things are today."

Although he was only a hair's breadth away from destroying the enemy, Gandalf was still able to say it with just a hint of regret.

Neither extreme nor stubborn.

If the spirit and will are not strong enough, this regret is enough to destroy a person. But Gandalf can quickly return to the normal state of doing things.

Lan En nodded and stopped dwelling on the issue.

"Sauron was driven away, and then what? What is the White Council targeting?"

"Sauron was driven to the east, and most likely he has lurked in Mordor." The old wizard pulled up the silver scarf that was about to fall to the ground and wrapped it around his neck again.

"Saruman has volunteered to track him down and will be stationed at Isengard."

"But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, so let's focus on the present."

By the time Lan En came out of the negotiations in Lonely Mountain, it was already afternoon.

It was agreed that the first batch of gold would be shipped out before sunset, so at this time the townspeople were rushing to prepare to receive the gold.

The already busy and messy ruins of River Valley City became even busier.

Everywhere there were the voices of men and women shouting, needing manpower here and wood, herbs, etc. over there.

Amid the vigorous and hopeful bustling crowd, even the ruins of this city that had been abandoned for a long time now became somewhat lively.

"But things are still hard to say." Lan brought Gandalf to a low watchtower on the River Valley, facing the Lonely Mountain.

The witcher pointed to the towering snow-capped mountains in the distance and the angular gate of the Lonely Mountain Kingdom that was dug out at the foot of the mountains.

"Thorin informed his cousin in the Iron Hills, which is why he hoped to delay time. Although I have stabilized the humans and elves here, if the dwarf army also comes, the complexity of the situation will soar."

"Dane Ironfoot. Oh my God." Gandalf felt a headache beyond words after hearing the news.

Even the smoke from the pipe came out of his nostrils and mouth at the same time.

"Is this dwarf difficult to deal with?"

"Difficult? Compared to him, I think Thorin is a reasonable and sensible man!"

Okay, now Lan En feels a bit annoyed.

Even more stubborn than Thorin, he must be the best among the dwarves.

"We must not let Dane come here without any reason!"

Gandalf, who had witnessed the approach of the orc army and had been reminding everyone to gather their strength, now did not dare to let the dwarfs' Ironfoot Army come here easily.

"He doesn't care about anything!"

Compared to the strength of the Ironfoot Army, Gandalf believed that their arrival would cause trouble.

"Then we need someone to coordinate." Lan En calmly laid out the situation and analyzed it. "We already knew about the Iron Foot Army, so we can go over there and try to persuade them."

"But Dane." Gandalf looked like he had a headache.

"At least Dain hasn't entered the Lonely Mountain yet, and he doesn't have dragon disease in his head. He may be more stubborn than Thorin before, but he is definitely rational compared to Thorin now."

Lan glanced sideways down at Gandalf.

"You have to go."

"What?!" the old wizard screamed as if he had swallowed a fly.

While shouting, he angrily poked Lan En's calf with his staff.

"You want me to do this? I can't do it! The person who contacts Dane must have clear thinking and be good at debate and thinking. He must also be good at controlling the situation and communicating. You have to go!"

"We are without help now, you know, Gandalf."

Lan En felt the old man's staff poking his leg and said it indifferently.

"Thorin has contracted dragon disease. If no one is watching him, who knows what he will do? We won't give him the gold we promised. Do you think the residents of Lake Town can be persuaded? We must go to the Lonely Mountain and tear him apart!"

"Or do you think you can persuade Thorin who has dragon disease? If you can, why don't you persuade his grandfather Thror? Why let Smaug come here?" The old wizard stopped talking, just put his pointed hat on his head and smoked his pipe.

This is an unspoken agreement.

Lan En won a small victory and was in a good mood.

"Dane must know you, the famous grey-robed wizard. When the dwarves transport the gold down, you can find someone who can talk to Dane to go with you, and it will basically work."

Out of concern for the elderly, Lan En finally gave some advice.

But just as he was about to go down, Gandalf's deep and serious voice came from behind him.

"You have to be careful, Lan."

The old wizard's voice was no longer as light-hearted and humorous as the jokes he had just heard among his friends, and the smoke he exhaled from his mouth no longer changed into various beautiful and lively shapes under the control of the magic trick, but was just plain smoke.

The witcher's easy movement down the stairs paused slightly.

"You were supposed to be fighting Smaug while I was imprisoned in Dol Guldur."

"That dragon had made a covenant with the orc master, so when it died, Sauron sensed something and responded."

Gandalf let out a long puff of white smoke.

"Although he was exiled to somewhere in the east by Lady Galadriel, it is not difficult for a being like him to transmit his power."

"I said before 'the orcs will bring destruction to all of us'. 'All of us'. Do you understand?"

The demon hunter nodded calmly, but his pace returned to its previous rhythm.

"I understand, but if I didn't do anything because of the risk I would have stopped somewhere in the middle of nowhere a long time ago, Gandalf."

Lan turned his upper body back and waved at the old wizard with a smile.

"You have to do something, right?"

At this moment, the light of dusk shone through the broken walls of the small tower, and as if it had been agreed long ago, it sprinkled on Lan En's profile.

The smile of relief and fearlessness on that face almost shone in the light.

Gandalf's lips moved silently for a while, and finally he tightened his pipe again and smiled.

By dusk, Bard was already waiting with a group of people in front of the gate of the Kingdom of Lonely Mountain.

The temporary city gates built by the dwarves were made of polished broken stones and had no opening or closing function at all.

So the gold can only be sent out through the hanging basket.

The dwarves carried gold out of the treasure room of Lonely Mountain in baskets, moved it to the city gate breathlessly, and then put it down.

It was supposed to be tiring work to distribute money, but every dwarf was much happier than when they were at the city gate in the morning.

Just like they said before: at least the heart is clean.

And this money is really not much compared to the gold in Gushan.

Although Thorin gave the order to divide the promised wealth, this decision forced by Lann was not pleasant for him, no matter how psychologically and mentally he was eroded by the dragon disease.

He was now sitting alone on top of the golden mountain in the treasure room of Lonely Mountain, without speaking a word or issuing any additional orders.

So the dwarves just started working as agreed.

Receiving gold sounds simple, but there are many details involved in its execution.

For example, the dwarves have to accurately count how much is transported out, and the townspeople of Long Lake Town have to record how much is collected, so that they can match each other.

This is to avoid a decision that everyone is satisfied with after the negotiation, but in the end it cannot be explained, thus leaving the seeds of conflict for the future.

So not only the gold has to come down, but a few of their people have to come down as well, to be responsible for the handover.

The townspeople of Long Lake Town were already excited about getting funds to start a new life, and inexplicably they were also happy to see the dwarves.

Happy emotions seem to be contagious and cumulative.

They cheered as they loaded the gold onto the carts and sang songs as they walked towards the Valley City.

The townspeople of Long Lake Town wanted to hold a celebration, and the dwarves naturally joined in.

Dwarves are indeed stubborn, suspicious, and rude, but they are also warm, sincere, and open-minded.

Being able to get out of the embarrassing situation and feel at a clear conscience, the dwarves began to have fun.

Everything went as planned except that Bombo was thrown out because he ate too much.

The elves did not join in the celebration, for the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain had not yet returned to them what they had asked for.

In addition, Thranduil did not want anyone to remain vigilant in the ruins of Dale City.

He did not quite believe what Gandalf said, but rather felt that the wizard was exaggerating.

The matter should exist, but if we talk about it more seriously, we can save those dwarf friends from him, so why not do it?

　Please recommend! Asking for a monthly ticket! Please subscribe!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)