Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1087 1069. Debate

Bilbo followed Thorin and the others and walked out of Bard's house openly. According to Lan En's instructions, he went to the square in front of the mayor's mansion to receive equipment.

This was the second time Bilbo walked on the streets of Lake Town. The first time was when they got off Bard's smuggling boat and quietly rushed to his house.

 But this town still didn't feel good to Bilbo.

 Bilbo had never been to a human town in his life before today, and Lake Town was very different from the imagination in his mind.

 Very disgraceful.

 The streets are filled with the smell of canvas stained with fish oil. The fish oil has been hung on fishing boats for many years and has long since rotted into an unhealthy smell.

And every human being here is not decent, wearing tattered clothes, with sad faces and hidden anger.

 Garbage is littered on the ground, and even the pigs raised by humans are not as cute as the pigs in Hobbiton where Bilbo lives.

 But no matter what, their journey will be able to continue.

Because the mayor was too concerned about the safety of his treasure, small things like "a group of dwarf traders sneaking into the town" were completely ignored under the mayor's orders.

The passing guards saw a group of dwarves who were very conspicuous in Changhu Town, but they had no idea of ​​coming to take care of them.

They all know that the mayor still wants to let this group of dwarves, who seem to be good at fighting, help guard the town.

And more than that, the mayor also wants to allocate more equipment from the armory and hand it over to the brave townspeople in limited quantities, so that they can temporarily join the defense.

As for the weapons that fall into the hands of the townspeople, it is very convenient to collect them when they are used up.

 So the mayor rang the assembly bell.

The dwarves followed the crowd towards the square, and everything was as Lan En had promised.

The mayor did not pursue their intention to smuggle in at all, but instead distributed weapons to them naturally.

Although the weapons and armor are incomparable to the craftsmanship of the dwarves, they are still serious guys who can fight.

So much better than the pile of homemade stuff at Bud's house.

The dwarves didn't know how Lan En negotiated the deal, so they looked a little cautious, timid, and smiled awkwardly, but they still took small steps to the square and took over the equipment of themselves and others.

The mayor was standing on the steps at the door of his official residence, with a crowd of townspeople below him.

The dwarves were right in front of the townspeople. They looked at them with curious eyes and began to put on their equipment and pick up their weapons.

"Hey, Lan En is right!" Dwalin, who was not very fond of wizards at first, now regained the sense of security as a warrior after regaining possession of armor and weapons, and praised in a low voice.

 “I think he is more useful than Gandalf!”

“Don’t be too happy too early.” Thorin also whispered as he grabbed a two-handed ax that was as long as his hands and shook his shoulders to familiarize himself with the feel of the weapon.

"Now that we have weapons and equipment, we still have to find a way to get supplies. Even if we cross Changhu, it will take a day to walk to Gushan. We must reach the gate of Gushan before the day after tomorrow. This is the last chance!"

 Next, the mayor held out his big belly, and his assistant Alfred stood beside him, ready to speak to the townspeople below.

“My dear people, you may be wondering why I opened the armory today and handed over this cruel thing to you who are kind and pure. And armed these dozen dwarves.”

"This is all because there is an evil force wandering near our Changhu Town! That is - the orcs!"

With the sound of "boom", the townspeople who came to join in the fun, who originally wanted to watch the excitement, suddenly went into an uproar and exploded.

Orcs, although they have not been seen in this area for a long time, as a race that was a servant of darkness before the world had the sun and moon, no one has heard of it.

Afterwards, taking advantage of the panic of the townspeople, the mayor was preparing to give a speech to boost morale.

 But behind the townspeople in Wuyangyang, a voice interrupted the mayor who was about to speak.

"etc!"

That was Bud's voice. He was very prestigious among the townspeople, so the townspeople spontaneously made way for him to come in.

 His eyes were not looking at the mayor on the stage, but at Thorin among the dwarves.

“Before talking about the orcs, I think we need to know the identity of these dwarves, everyone!”

Bard looked around, making eye contact with everyone.

"This is not a dwarf caravan that happened to pass by Changhu Town by chance, and everyone happens to be good at it! How can there be a caravan business in this area now?"

"You think so?" Bard returned his gaze to Thorin, "Thorin Oakenshield. Son of Thrain."

　　Suddenly, a burst of discussion arose that was comparable to the one that had just been heard about the orcs' attack.

"It's him?"

“King under the mountain? Lord of the silver spring?”

 “Is the legend true?”

Bard opened his hand and motioned to the surrounding townspeople to be quiet for a while and listen to what he said.

Bahrain and the others, who were brought over by Bard, walked toward Thorin with their lips pursed and winked at him: There was nothing to hide. If they wanted to get supplies and ships, they had to convince them.

 Thorin nodded solemnly to Balin, expressing his understanding.

“The orcs are indeed dangerous and imminent, but the movements of these dwarves cannot be ignored! After all, we all know that the king under the mountain may only come here for one goal. And that goal.”

When Bard said this, his tone was low and dangerous. “There is a sleeping dragon!”

At this time, the evil that was even more despairing than the orcs made the townspeople completely silent.

Bard turned and looked at the dwarves.

“We must now be on guard against the orcs who may come at any time, but we must also ensure that you do not enter the Lonely Mountain.”

“Don’t let us enter Lonely Mountain? What right do you have to say that?”

Thorin stood up. At this time, the Lonely Mountain was just a day's journey away. He didn't want to, and couldn't hide his identity at all.

 “Elbor is our country, and it is only natural that we take it back!”

Thorin's unflappable reply left Bard speechless for a moment.

 And Thorin hasn't finished speaking yet.

Although he has not been the crown prince for many years and has been driven out of Elbor for many years, the education and cultivation he received as the dwarf crown prince have not failed him.

He knew that what he needed at this time was not to convince Bard, but the townspeople and spectators present.

 You cannot win a debate, and the purpose of a debate is not to win, but to gain broad support beyond the opponents of the debate.

 So Thorin opened his arms and turned around, as if embracing the entire Lake Town.

 At the same time, he spoke in a tone full of memories.

“In my memory, Changhu Town is not a shabby little village that smells of rotten fish oil!”

“When Elbor was prosperous, this town and the valley city on the edge of the Lonely Mountain formed the most prosperous trading area in the north of Middle-earth!”

“Everyone here was wearing silk clothes and exquisitely crafted jewelry. Every meal was rich and satisfying! The food dumped every day could feed the fish in this lake!”

“I still remember the prosperity of trade in Changhu Town at that time. There were merchant ships filled with gems and gold on the pier, and they were constantly passing by, but it was not like it is now!”

The emotions of the townspeople were aroused by Thorin. The current hard life is compared with the prosperous scene in the past. Who wouldn't want to go back to the glorious and luxurious era?

Thorin continued: "I want this area to return to what it once was! Prosperous! I want to return to the Lonely Mountain and rekindle the dwarves' alchemy furnace! Let the gold flow!"

Seeing that the townspeople were becoming more and more fascinated and happy to listen, Bard stood up. He turned sideways, stretched out his hand and bent down to nod Thorin.

He said loudly: "Gold! After talking about it for a long time, it is still gold! And you avoid talking about it. Death! And destruction!"

"There is a dragon in the mountain! You will wake it up! Then we will die without a burial place! All of us!"

"Don't ask if there is gold? Even if there is gold, what's the use of the life flower!"

“I accept different opinions, but in the final analysis, everyone has the final say.” Thorin opened his hands and faced the townspeople.

“I promise, if I retake the Lonely Mountain with the help and investment of everyone in Long Lake Town, then I! Thorin Oakenshield, the King under the Mountain! I swear that I will share the wealth of the mountain with you!”

“The gold flowing out by then will be enough to cover the bottom of the lake! Enough to rebuild Changhu Town more than ten times!”

 One side is the legendary gold, and the other side is the legendary dragon.

 But human beings always tend to believe what they want to believe, and that thing often has a beautiful appearance.

 So compared to the unpleasant dragon, most of the townspeople are now focused on the life after getting gold.

But Bard will not forget the dragon.

"Everyone, wake up! Have you forgotten the tragedy of River Valley City? The people in this city! How many of them died? In the end, they could only come to live in Changhu Town as refugees! Aren't those who have experienced the tragedy personally? Are we around?"

Bard's reminder had some effect, and the townspeople began to clearly divide into two groups and talk to each other.

  But at this time

“Silence! Silence! Everyone, please listen to me!”

The mayor standing on the steps spoke. As the person with the most actual control over the scene, his words were very effective.

“We have a very important matter now, and no one can decide casually. After all, we have to pursue democracy, right?”

 “But don’t forget it.”

Bard looked at the mayor's eyes turned to him, and his uneasiness suddenly amplified.

　　Yes, Lan En used [Yaxi Sigil] to slightly twist the mayor's greed for gold into a sense of crisis, making him nervous and strengthening the town's defense.

 But the mayor is actually still the mayor, and his character has not changed.

 He sees Bard as a threat, and now is a good time to attack his prestige.

“It was the Lord of River Valley City, Jirion, your ancestor, who failed to shoot the evil dragon, which led to the hardship we are in today!”

Thorin and all the dwarves and hobbits looked at Bard in surprise, this fisherman and archer wearing a tattered old windbreaker.

They all just knew that Bard was a descendant of the Lord of River Valley City.

And Bud also bit his back molars bitterly.

He knew that everything was doomed when the mayor ignored the status quo and shifted his firepower to the mistakes of his ancestors.