“Tune in your tempers, you’re no match for me,” Dura said, shaking his head. With a flick of his hand, several stone pillars rose from the ground, restricting Kili’s movements and those of the other dwarves. He continued, “It’s not that we have ill intentions; Thorin was plotting against us from the beginning. He paid us to use us to enter the Lonely Mountain and kill Smaug. I’m sure you all know that.”
Upon hearing this, the dwarves fell silent. It was indeed true; Thorin had discussed this plan with them, and they had agreed. After all, they were indeed short of money before reclaiming Lonely Mountain, and they genuinely wanted to rely on the strength of a mercenary group to defeat Smaug.
“Actually, killing Smaug would be very easy for the captain; he just needs to offer a deal,” Dura continued. “However, Thorin doesn’t intend to do that. He doesn’t even want to pay us for our previous missions. He wants us to kill Smaug. If we fail, you can take the opportunity to get the Arkenstone. If we succeed, he thinks we will suffer heavy casualties, and then the Ironfoot will kill us.”
"He never intended to keep his promise from the beginning. It was Thorin who couldn't control his greedy desires. If he had kept his promise from the start, the captain would have followed the rules of mercenaries. Unfortunately, his scheme had already been seen through by the captain."
After hearing Dura's words, everyone couldn't help but turn their attention to Bahrain.
Balin remained silent, offering no rebuttal. Thorin had indeed told him about the plan. The messenger raven he carried was initially just a precaution, but after encountering the mercenary group, Thorin conceived of this plan.
“What are you planning to do? Why are you detaining Baggins?” Bahrain asked.
“I can’t tell you why I’m detaining Baggins, but we’ll release him soon.” Dura shook his head and said, “The Ironfoot Army is on its way, the Orc army is also on its way, and so is the Elven army. You can decide what to do yourselves. The captain didn’t kill Thorin, but Thorin’s greed will kill him sooner or later. We can’t take much of the treasure from Lonely Mountain.”
After saying that, Dura came to Baggins, put one hand on Baggins' shoulder, and pulled Baggins down into the ground.
"Crack...!" As Dura led Baggins away, the stone pillar that had restrained the dwarves broke into pieces on the ground.
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