Chapter 50 added
"Okay, okay, put down your weapons, this is our companion, Bombur, Dwalin, forks and spoons can't be used as swords and shields, Bofur, you'd better put down the recorder, that thing is no threat to his armor..."
Gandalf comforted the dwarves one by one, and let them put down their guard like coaxing children.
"Is he the powerful companion you spoke of, Gandalf?"
The calmest person present had to be Thorin. This dwarf with a kingly demeanor did not make any big movements from beginning to end. He just stared at Levi with his eyes, not moving away for even a second.
He knew the smell, it was Oak's blood.
"Oh yes, he will certainly be of great help to us on our journey, I promise on my own behalf."
On this side, after greeting Bilbo, Levi said to Thorin who had been staring at him: "Hello to you."
"We seem to have met before somewhere." Thorin flipped through his memories, searching for this face.
"Yes, I travelled to visit the Blue Mountains, and we met in the workshop in the Hall."
"Hey, are you the human who stayed in the hotel next door a few months ago?" asked a dwarf.
Levi nodded and greeted the many dwarves with a smile.
Suddenly, another dwarf spoke up: "I seem to have heard that a few months ago a human traveler got drunk with the guy who had the best drinking capacity in that area."
“Is this true or false?”
The dwarves couldn't believe it.
"He, a human, can drink a dwarf down? Stop kidding!"
“Oh—”
"But it seemed to be real, and there were many people there at the time."
Someone said something that silenced the dwarves.
"I don't believe it unless he drinks with me once!"
The dwarves began to make a noise.
"Okay, okay, now is not the time to talk about this—"
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control in another direction, Gandalf hurried out to smooth things over.
"You smell strongly of blood, Levi. Did you encounter any danger on the road?"
Levi nodded. "It's not dangerous, but we did encounter some blind wolves and orcs."
"Strange, they would actually attack you?" Gandalf raised his eyebrows.
"Why wouldn't we dare to attack those beasts?" said a dwarf who didn't understand the situation.
The Vale of Anduin is too far from the Blue Mountains, and the news has not yet spread completely.
But what Levi did will eventually spread to the entire Middle-earth and become some kind of rumor.
"I also find it strange. This team is different from the ones I encountered before. They are fully equipped with everything they need. There seems to be a strong leader behind them, which makes them a lot braver."
"But I still wiped them out."
"Although their wargs run very fast and can scatter in different directions, it is obvious that my horse runs faster."
Gandalf nodded, not surprised by Levi's matter-of-fact remarks.
The dwarves looked at each other and whispered. Some thought that although this warrior looked strong, he was actually quite boastful.
Bilbo was completely confused and had no idea what Levi was talking about.
Orcs, wargs? All unfamiliar words, but from the conversation, Bilbo could be sure of one thing:
"Oh, so you know each other, Gandalf - Levi, okay, good, that's to be expected, huh."
Bilbo blinked and took a deep breath.
He decided to find an opportunity to quietly remind Levi to be cautious when making friends.
After this little episode, Bilbo brought a stool for Levi so that he could sit on the other side of the table and join the meeting.
Now the table was completely full, with no space at all.
Levi at least had a seat to sit here, but Bilbo could only stand on tiptoe behind Thorin and look at the table.
"We must seize the opportunity to retake Erebor." After analyzing the pros and cons, Thorin declared.
“But there is no way into the mountains.”
Balin was always the most sensible of the dwarves.
"My dear Balin, that is not true."
Gandalf bent down, took out a key and a map from his robe, and said to Thorin:
"This was given to me by your father, Thrain. Of course, I am only keeping it for you."
"Now, it's yours."
Thorin took the key and held it tightly in his hand.
"If you have a key, you have a door..."
"There's another way in!"
The dwarves saw hope.
"Even if we can get into the mountain, it will still be dangerous to find the gems," Gandalf said slowly. "But if we are careful and clever, it is still possible."
"So we need a Snitch."
A dwarf said.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Bilbo.
However, Bilbo had never stolen anything since he was a child, so of course he could not accept this. Soon the dwarves began to question him, and then there was a lot of noise and quarreling.
"That's enough. I said Bilbo Baggins was a burglar, and he was a burglar!"
Gandalf stood up and released his tremendous pressure. The dwarves felt as if their throats were strangled and no one dared to question them anymore.
The only people who were not affected by this momentum were Levi and Thorin.
Thorin is the king among the dwarves, so he won't be easily affected by things like momentum.
As for Levi, he thought the special effects were pretty good.
"Give him the contract."
Bilbo began to read the long contract carefully.
"One fifteenth, well, that's fair..."
Puff.
However, after reading the contract and being deliberately frightened by several dwarves, this hobbit, who was accustomed to a comfortable life, fainted to the ground.
This is so exciting.
After a moment.
"Bilbo, I can't promise you'll come back."
“But if I come back, everything will be different.”
Gandalf was giving Bilbo psychological counseling in the living room.
Bilbo thought about Gandalf's words, and then remembered the wonderful stories Levi would tell him every time he came, and he hesitated.
"No, I still can't sign."
Bilbo refused outright.
On the other side, the dwarves were discussing something at the door.
"That guy named Levi seems reliable to me, but that thief..."
Someone shook his head.
"Everything goes wrong."
"After all, we are not strong warriors either. We are just a bunch of toy makers and pot tinkerers..."
Thorin listened to this, but he didn't quite agree.
He began his speech to cheer up the crowd.
"To me, any one of these dwarves is more powerful than the host of the Iron Hills, for they answered my call, and their loyalty and courage are enough."
Gandalf listened to the dwarves' discussion and looked at Levi.
"You can fight that dragon, right?" he asked quietly.
Levi glanced at him and replied quietly, "I don't know. In fact, I haven't seen the dragon either, but I can try if necessary."
Gandalf said nothing for a moment, but turned around and said to Balin:
"Leave a copy of the contract at Bag End."
Early the next morning.
There was a running figure in Hobbiton.
In the woods, Levi controlled his horse to walk as slowly as possible so as not to accidentally run away and leave the main group behind.
There was no way. The speed of the ponies ridden by these dwarves was only average and could not be compared with Levi's full-speed horse.
"Hey, is that a diamond on your horse?"
After walking for a long time, someone finally couldn't help asking. In fact, the dwarves had been staring at Levi's horse armor without blinking all the way.
"Well, yes, it's strong and very useful in combat."
"Can I touch it?"
"Of course, please feel free."
"Oh my god, this is too extravagant. How long does it take to mine for such a large piece of armor..."
Just as the dwarf was sighing, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Wait, wait for me!"
It was Bilbo, arriving with the signed contract.
Seeing this, most of the people in the team wailed, and a few whistled.
"Welcome to Thorin Oakenshield's expedition, Mr. Baggins."
Soon Bilbo was on his pony, walking beside Levi and Gandalf, and they began to talk.
"They made a bet on whether you would join. Most people bet that you wouldn't, but a few bet that you would."
"What about you?"
Pop.
Gandalf raised his hand, caught the small bag of silver coins, and put it away with a smile.
"I never doubted you."
Bilbo turned his head again and looked the other way.
Another small bag of silver coins was thrown over and caught by Levi.
"I shall be glad to include the name of Bilbo in my next adventure story."
“Being inside a story—it’s an amazing feeling, isn’t it?”
(End of this chapter)
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