The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 1096 A Terrible Idea

“We can take him out for a walk and see who he likes… and then cough cough!” Thranduil leaned closer and whispered.

"Huh? So that's what the Elf King is like!" everyone exclaimed in unison.

"???" Thranduil looked at everyone with a blank expression, as if they all had some kind of serious illness!
“I think this is a good idea! That’s it!” For the first time, Thorin found Thranduil agreeable. He was too lazy to think about it anymore, so he rushed to the kitchen, grabbed Bilbo Baggins’ arm, and pulled him outside.

"Oh my God! Thorin! What are you doing? I'm preparing lunch! The fish in Dvalin is going to burn!" Bilbo Baggins cried out.

"Fish? Where's the fish?" Dvalin walked past the two of them, picked up a plate from the kitchen, and rushed towards the long table.

"Oh! Wait! What's wrong, Thorin?!" Bilbo Baggins looked completely bewildered as Thorin pulled him toward the door.

"Huh? Come with me to see the scenery!" Thorin casually said.

"??? Is there anyone who skips lunch to go sightseeing?" Bilbo Baggins cried out to the crowd for help.

"By the Dragon God! Release him, Thorin! Everyone's eating right now!" Roland winked at Thorin, meaning everyone's eating, and no one's going to pick a bite for him!
“My friend! You must take me to see the local customs and atmosphere of Hobbiton during afternoon tea!” Thorin patted his hand and said earnestly.

"Huh? Am I seeing things? Why does he look like he's doing this for my own good?" Bilbo Baggins turned to Bard and asked suspiciously.

“Of course! You’re being too sensitive! Thorin just misses you so much!” Bard said seriously, his hands on Thorin’s shoulders, while Roland’s hand was twisting around Thorin’s waist from behind.

“Oh! My friends! I miss you all too. Please wait! I’ll go prepare lunch!” Bilbo Baggins wiped his eyes.

"Hmm! Don't you dare sneak into the kitchen to eat!" He suddenly turned back and said to Devalin, who was gnawing on a fish head.

“Yes, sir Baggins!” Dvalin didn’t even look up, but simply raised his mead glass.

"What's this?" Bard looked at the cloth bag that Roland had tossed to everyone, completely bewildered.

"..." Only Thranduil seemed to have guessed what this thing was. His lips twitched a few times, and his level of vigilance towards Roland rose two levels. This guy was even more prepared than he was!
"A hood...cloak?" Thorin opened it and was speechless.

"Idiot! You really intend to show your face and steal it?" Roland said, exasperated.

"???"

"Would you guys steal it?" Roland rolled his eyes at everyone.

“You should do it this way!” Roland coughed and lowered his voice.

“Let’s go out for a walk with Bilbo first, see if Bilbo has any girls he likes, and then we’ll… cough cough! Why are you looking at me like that?” Roland stopped and noticed that everyone looked shocked.

"You...you continue!" Aragorn looked at Roland with admiration. This was truly bold and meticulous! He was already considering whether to go to the Valley to give Alvin...cough cough.

"We'll put on a cloak and cover our faces in the middle of the night to snatch it back for her!" Thorin's eyes lit up.

"Foolish!" Roland said, exasperated.

“That will ruin Mr. Bilbo’s reputation!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz explained to Thorin in a low voice.

"Chicken soup is here!" Bilbo Baggins' cheerful voice came from the kitchen. The next second, he rushed out carrying a pot of chicken soup as if his feet were on fire.

"Whoosh!" The crowd dispersed instantly.

"What are you doing? What are you all chatting about? You seem so happy?" Bilbo Baggins asked with a smile, placing a bowl of chicken soup on the table.

"It's nothing, I just thought of something happy!" Thorin smiled awkwardly.

“Yes! I just remembered the Bard family had a baby!” Roland blurted out. “Hmm?” Bard’s grin instantly vanished.

"Huh?" Bai Yi's eyes widened. There's such an exciting program?

"So...so happy?" Thranduil looked at Bard, then at Roland, and asked awkwardly.

"Heh heh!" Aragorn and Legolas chuckled awkwardly from the side.

"Ha! It's Bard's mare that gave birth! A magnificent horse! The best breed from the North! I'm planning to import some more horses from Bard in the future!" Roland quickly added.

"Ah! It's...it's a mare! I thought it was a mare!" White Wing laughed and patted Roland's arm.

"What a fine horse! A real fine horse! Give me a few too!" Thorin quickly chimed in.

“Yes, yes, yes! The Bard family’s horses are wonderful! Um, we’re a little hungry, Mr. Baggins, you see…” Thranduil said shyly.

"Oh dear! How rude of me! Don't worry, the bread's in the oven!" Bilbo slapped his forehead and rushed back to the kitchen.

"Phew..." Thranduil let out a long breath. They almost gave themselves away, mainly because Roland said the Bard family had too much grass growing on them! Just now, everyone saw Bard's head covered in a bit of green grass...

"Whoosh!" Everyone's heads quickly huddled together again.

"How can we do this without damaging his reputation?" Thorin asked, troubled. He came to repay a debt of gratitude, not to seek revenge. Thorin could already foresee Bilbo's future reputation if they did this. If they did it this way, even Sauron would probably be relieved when he saw it!
"We, cough cough, I mean we!" Roland first drew a line to indicate that everyone was a comrade-in-arms in the same trench, and that everyone had a part in this matter and no one could run away!

“Yes, yes, it’s us!” Thorin nodded.

"Tell me quickly! What should we do?" Bard was also anxious.

"Roland, stop keeping us in suspense! Let's all brainstorm your bad ideas!" Thranduil was already on the wrong side of the game, so he had no choice but to listen to Roland's terrible suggestion. Based on Thranduil's understanding of Roland, anything that made Roland so cautiously set up a bunch of prefixes for everyone to include couldn't be a good thing. The last few times Roland did this, everyone suffered bloodshed and tears; when fighting the orcs, everyone cried...

“Then I’ll say it!” Roland glanced in the direction of the kitchen, and everyone else looked up and saw that Bilbo was still busy inside.

"Your Majesty Roland, please tell me your plan!" Aragorn said urgently. He was eager to see if this method could be applied to his father-in-law's house in the Valley, after all, he was absolutely in love with Alvin!
“We pretended to be robbers! And then…” Roland began.

"The bread's here!" Bilbo Bagginsto rushed out with a tall basket of bread, his bare feet making a slapping sound on the wooden floor.

"Whoosh!" The crowd dispersed again in a second.

"Hmm? What's wrong? Is there something I can't know?" Bilbo asked curiously, looking at the mysterious group.

“We’re discussing preparing a gift for you!” Thranduil spoke first this time, decisively initiating the discussion to prevent Roland from making another shocking statement.

“Ah! Yes, yes, yes! Yes, yes, yes!” Bard nodded.

“That’s right! We’re thinking about what gift to prepare for you! We came in such a hurry that we forgot the gift at the camp!” Roland said.

"Yes! It's all my fault for rushing here; I forgot all the gifts!" Thorin said regretfully.

"Hahaha! I'm so glad you could come. The gifts aren't important!" Bilbo smiled warmly, bowed to everyone with his hand on his chest, and then went back into the kitchen.

"Continue!" The crowd gathered back.

“We’ll put a sack over that girl’s head, and the rest of you will take Bilbo and play the hero to save her, pretending to fight us off… Make sure that the first thing the girl sees when Bilbo untied the sack is him!” Roland coughed and began.

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