Chapter 182: Alertness
"Gandalf, long time no see!"
At night, a group of dwarves climbed up to the heights of River Valley City and walked into the reception hall one by one to attend this rare gathering.
"Oh - how nice to see you at this hour."
Balin, with a gray beard, gave Gandalf a hug as he spoke.
"You don't know, I've been feeling really depressed these past few days. I've always wanted to go out for a walk. When I heard that Levi was going to attack the Orc town a few days ago, I even put on my armor. But unfortunately, my luck was really bad. When I drew lots, I was the only one who got the option to stay."
"That's a shame, Balin."
Gandalf thought for a moment and said:
"But, when I'm done with what I've been doing for a while, you can come with me on the next trip."
"marvelous."
Balin felt much better after hearing Gandalf's words.
"Come on, the food is ready, and there's some good wine that Levi brought!"
Bofur came over and greeted them, and the two of them went over immediately.
Not long after the dwarves took their seats, the hall became noisy with singing and laughter, as well as the occasional clanking sound.
Buzz——
The remaining wine foam danced in the air. It was a special 'wine horn' of the dwarves. It could be used to hold wine and blow after drinking. It was quite interesting.
"Let me toast to your victory."
In the meeting place, Gandalf found Levi and had a brief conversation with him.
Levi also picked up the wine glass and took a sip.
"What are your plans lately?"
He asked.
"Me..."
At this moment, Gandalf had not yet recovered from what happened in the east, especially what happened to Blue Robe. The magic sound he used and the experience of almost falling sounded the alarm for Gandalf.
Thinking of this, Gandalf whispered, "I always feel that this matter is a little weird. Maybe... maybe Saruman will have some clues."
"My hunch tells me that some things are definitely not over yet."
"This is not a good thing, and I don't really want to do this, but I think I shouldn't ignore some of Saruman's movements anymore."
"I see." Levi nodded.
As a supporting role among the wizards sent to Middle-earth to fight Sauron (or so he thought), Gandalf's attitude was always calm and gentle.
Therefore, when Lady Galadriel proposed that he be the leader of the White Council, he chose to step down because he was worried that he was not wise enough to take on such a heavy responsibility.
Perhaps out of jealousy, or perhaps a competitive spirit, Saruman finally took the initiative to take up the position of leader of the White Council.
He was eager to prove that he was stronger and wiser than Gandalf, even though the latter didn't care about these things at all.
The more a person lacks something, the more he tends to emphasize it.
But facts and events always prove that some things cannot be obtained by emphasizing or shouting.
When the wizards came to Middle-earth, Cirdan, who possessed the Ring of Fire, chose to entrust the ring to Gandalf. When the White Council was formed, Lady Galadriel, who possessed the Ring of Water, chose to recommend Gandalf as the leader.
Even another Valar of the same level as the Valar served by Saruman before coming to Middle-earth said: Although Gandalf was chosen later, it does not mean that Gandalf's importance ranks behind.
From all these things, we can imagine Saruman's mentality. His desire for strength and power grows year by year, and his jealousy and desire for control become stronger and stronger.
Gandalf has always chosen to ignore and retreat from Saruman's overt and covert targeting, and he doesn't care what Saruman does as long as he can get things done.
The main theme is to accept everything that comes your way.
But now...
"Now that I know something, I can't just turn a blind eye and pretend it doesn't exist."
Gandalf said, "I cannot help but take Saruman's actions seriously, even though I have no influence over them."
"It's lively... oh I mean, you can come to me if you need anything." Levi agreed with Gandalf's importance.
Gandalf narrowed his eyes and was about to say something when a clang was heard from the table not far away.
Bud rolled his eyes and fell down, with some beer foam still on his mouth.
"oh--!"
The dwarves cheered.
"Winner: Bombur!"
Apparently, when it came to drinking, the dwarves had a new target after discovering that Levi couldn't be knocked down.
So someone suffered.
"No, I have to get my revenge!"
Li Wei walked over carrying a barrel of wine: "You guys got my deputy drunk, what about tomorrow's work?"
Shouldn't I do it? Gandalf shook his head as he looked at the table, which was becoming increasingly chaotic due to Levi's joining.
but…
“That’s good.”
“It would be nice if this peace could last forever.”
Will it continue to exist?
Nobody knows.
The next morning, Bud got up with his head in his hands, forced himself to pack up and walked to the palace meeting hall.
"I shouldn't have drunk so much..."
Compared to other areas, there are not many things happening in the towns in the river valley. After all, the lower limit is there. Even if there is a lack of management or even if they completely abandon their management, they can still prosper day by day.
But precisely because of this, this unprecedented prosperity has brought many new challenges to those who want to take it further.
Maintaining the bottom line is not difficult, what is difficult is progress and stability.
When Bud walked to the place where he usually handled affairs, he suddenly found that someone had arrived before him.
It was Levi. He had been waiting here for a long time and had also taken over some matters.
"Have a glass of milk."
While looking at the map of River Valley City, Levi pointed to a glass of milk on the other side of the table.
Bud drank the milk in one gulp without hesitation.
Then the headache and dizziness disappeared, and he regained his energy.
"Much better."
Bud felt his whole body lighten, and the soreness and fatigue after drinking too much disappeared completely.
“I see there are plans for expansion of farmland.”
Levi also said without hesitation: "But I think we have enough wheat and potatoes. We can grow something else."
"What to plant?"
"Sugar cane, grapes."
Levi stood up and walked with Bard across the banquet hall where the dwarves were still sleeping, and went to the golden wheat fields outside the city. They planted the first grape seeds in the newly opened moist land and built a grape trellis on it.
The valley welcomed two new things this year: grapes and sugar cane.
It wasn't long before sugar entered the market and then every household, becoming a common seasoning, and pastry chefs and hotel cooks began to try new recipes with a lot of sweetness.
At the same time, paper production also increased significantly.
Perhaps many foreign merchants or travelers will be surprised by the new things here.
But their surprise must have been less than that of the Dorwinians.
“Aren’t these the grapes we have over there?”
“When did they plant so many!?”
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
No comments yet.