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

Chapter 1097 Everyone in Action

"Hiss! You're a real beast!" Bard exclaimed in shock.

"My brother! Promise me you won't do anything to me after you've done something underhanded to others!" Thorin said with a smile as he leaned closer.

"What a wonderful... terrible idea!" Thranduil's eyelids twitched. What a fine person, what a pity he's just a sesame seed dumpling! Cut open his heart and see the black water flowing inside!

"Stop talking nonsense! Are you in or not? If not, we'll all watch him grow old alone! If we're in, let's all go for it!" Roland frowned and looked at the crowd.

“Is there a coward among us?” Roland looked around at everyone suspiciously.

"Your Majesty! I am loyal!" Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz exclaimed instantly upon seeing Roland's gaze sweep over him. "I am your loyal servant! How dare you question me?"

Roland shifted his gaze and fixed it on Thorin, looking him up and down.

"Don't look at me! I'll do it too!" Thorin rolled his eyes.

"..." Then his gaze swept over everyone in turn, as if to confirm something.

"There shouldn't be any traitors in our ranks, right?" Roland asked.

"Let me make this clear beforehand: proceed with caution. If this gets exposed, we'll all lose face! Anyone want to back out? Click!" Roland gently pushed out the One-Inch Dragon Slayer Sword.

"Hmph!" Thorin also distanced himself from Oakes.

"Mmm-hmm~" Everyone quickly shook their heads. You two look like you're trying to kill someone to cover it up. Who dares to say no? Don't you want your heads?

"Then it's decided!" Roland clapped his hands.

"Eat? Why aren't you doing anything? Doesn't the bread smell good?" Bilbo Bagginsto came out with a plate of roasted meat, looking at the untouched food on the table and the neatly stacked tableware next to it, as if wondering if he had cooked something bad.

"Ah! The cutlery is here! Damn it! I've been looking for it for ages! It's all your fault, Thorin! Why did you block the cutlery?" Roland shoved Thorin aside and took out various cutlery from the wooden tray next to him to distribute to everyone.

"???" Thorin's eyes widened as if asking, "Are you even speaking human language? You think I'm tall enough to block you? Are you serious?"
"Why are you staring like that? And blocking my way?" Bard didn't hold back and casually shoved Thorin aside again.

"???" Thorin.

"Your Majesty the Dwarf King, you're blocking my way!" Thranduil gracefully reached out and pulled Thorin, who was thrown further back by Thranduil before he could react.

"You guys have gone too far!" Thorin said with a dark face. "If you're going to use me as a cover-up, at least make it believable!"
"Oh! Friends, stop arguing! My storeroom is full! Everyone, eat slowly! There's more to come!" Only Bilbo Baggins, lost in his joy, ignored the unusual tone in everyone's words. Perhaps... the dwarves were as tall as hobbits, and he hadn't noticed?

……

"Hmm, you know what! Bilbo's honey-fried fish is actually pretty good!" Roland nodded suddenly as he ate, noting that it had a sweet and sour taste.

Knowing that The Lord of the Rings is based on medieval England, Roland was terrified that Bilbo might serve up a homemade dish—Stargazing Pie! Roland and the fish would probably die with their eyes wide open in disbelief. But so far, the Shire's feast seems to be going smoothly, without the culinary desert-like events that occurred in Great Britain.

"I think this roast meat is absolutely exquisite!" Bard praised. After all, Bilbo was very generous with spices, and it would be strange if the meat didn't taste good after being marinated with various spices!

"You used white salt?" Roland suddenly realized that the salt tasted purely salty without any bitterness or astringency, so it was obviously not coarse salt.

“Of course! You have to serve the best to your friends! It tastes good, doesn’t it?” Bilbo Baggins laughed heartily, feeling the excitement of his hard work finally being recognized and appreciated. “The Shire has white salt?” Roland frowned. White salt was a product of alchemists. Did the Shire, this rural place, have alchemists on a large scale? (Alchemists could directly extract elements and refine the salt, a much more precise process than filtering or boiling.)
“Very little production! This salt comes from the East? Are you curious about this?” Bilbo Baggins stood up and ran to the kitchen to bring out a salt shaker.

"It's supposedly fine salt from the East, quite expensive, cost me a lot of silver coins! And this is just a small jar!" Bilbo Baggins shrugged.

"Hmm? Isn't this your family's earthenware jar?" Bai Yi raised an eyebrow, realizing that this thing was a standard one-pound salt jar used in Roland's salt trade.

"Holy crap? Who has such long arms? I haven't even arrived yet, and he's already selling salt?" Roland's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. After all that, it turned out to be their own stuff!
“That means the East-West trade route was open! At least someone traded these salts here!” Thranduil analyzed.

"Wait! Wait! What are you talking about?" Bilbo Baggins was completely bewildered.

“We’ve brought the Northern Alliance with us this time, besides visiting you!” Thorin shook his head.

"You want to conquer the Shire?" Bilbo's face twisted instantly.

“No! We must open up trade routes between East and West! Conquering the Shire is his job!” Roland shook his head, then pulled Aragorn up to show Bilbo.

"Huh? Me?" Aragorn was completely bewildered, just like the catfish demon ordered by Hydra to capture Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

“Isn’t the Charr once part of the Kingdom of Arno? The restoration of our homeland depends on you!” Roland patted Aragorn on the shoulder and said earnestly.

“Well, I reckon the Shire might not want war!” Bilbo shook his head, based on his understanding.

“No one wants war, Mr. Baggins! But war is a means and a method to achieve a certain goal!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz smiled.

"Could it have been done by your duke?" Thorin slapped his forehead, trying to recall the full name of Duke Apophis Breo.

“Let’s remove that! The salt must have flowed out from there! But it couldn’t have been done by the merchants of King’s Landing; the King’s Landing doesn’t have the capacity to maintain trade routes!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz analyzed.

“I guess it’s a traveling merchant from the Shire region, because there must be quite a few people from here who go to Rivendell to try their luck, although they may not necessarily find it!” Al-Tegron Franz thought to himself.

“He’s a traveling merchant!” Bilbo gave Al-Tegran Franz a thumbs up. He could even guess that he was capable!

"Then let it go! He should make money from small-scale risky trade! Anyway, he won't make much in a year!" Roland shook his head. Being a middleman on a large scale was stealing money from Lord Roland, but Roland was still very generous when it came to earning a hard-earned living on a small scale through luck.

"Let's drink!" Seeing the atmosphere warm up again, Thorin immediately raised his glass and winked at Roland.

"Cheers!" Roland raised his glass and toasted with Bilbo without saying a word.

"Cheers!" Bard reacted after Thorin stepped on his foot, and after Roland finished toasting, he raised his glass to Bilbo.

"May our friendship last forever!" Thranduil elegantly raised his cup to Bilbo, who had just finished drinking and hadn't even realized what was happening before Roland filled his cup to the brim.

“Come with us for afternoon tea and go for a stroll later, Mr. Baggins!” Thorin called out.

“Yes! Mr. Baggins will show us around the scenery!” Roland nodded repeatedly.

"Of course, it's my honor!" After a few drinks, Bilbo also became more spirited.