From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 277 The Journey of the Homeless

"I warned you!"

The mayor's distressed voice was heard from the town hall.

"Dealing with dwarves will never end well! Look! Orcs have invaded our town. It's all the dwarves' fault! And that wizard! He's no good either! I think he brought these orcs here to steal all my gold!"

"But...shouldn't we stay to protect the town?" asked the young guard who was following the mayor. His original duty was to guard the door of the town hall and prevent anyone from entering. As soon as the battle in Changhu Town started, he was called into the town hall by the mayor.

"The town is finished! Don't you understand? What we have to do is to protect the town's property. With this gold, we still have hope!" The mayor turned a candlestick, and a bookshelf in the basement fell back, revealing the river below the town hall and a boat that had been prepared long ago. The bookshelf turned into a staircase, connecting the basement where the mayor hid his money with the boathouse where the boat docked.

"Hurry, hurry! Get moving! We have to leave immediately. Put the most valuable things in the cabin, the heavy ones in the middle and the light ones on the sides. We can't let the boat capsize!" The mayor waved to the two guards guarding the town hall, and he also picked up a swan made of gold.

Considering the population of Changhu Town, the mayor's ability to make money is first-rate. The basement is filled with a large amount of gold. In addition to the mountains of gold coins, there are also various artworks and containers made of gold, huge gold plates carved with intricate patterns, gold ingots in treasure chests, and various gems shining with light.

The mayor's escape boat was several times wider than the wooden boats that the townspeople used to travel on the river. This was probably because the mayor did not think that anyone in the town would dare to compete with his boat on the river, and he did not expect to allow other vehicles to pass by him. Therefore, this wooden boat was built entirely according to the width of the main river channel in Changhu Town.

But even so, it was not enough to take all the gold in the basement. The mayor's fur coat was filled with gold, which made him more bloated than usual and looked like a big belly bottle filled with water.

"Have you brought all the gold coins? Let's set off now!"

The ship loaded with gold sailed out of the hidden waterway under the town hall and came to the main waterway that runs through Changhu Town.

The residents nearby were already in chaos. Many people stayed at home, while others, led by others, rushed to the armory, looking for ways to arm themselves.

The mayor stood at the bow and made a hypocritical comment: "Look at these rioters. I wanted to take some of them with us to escape, but they simply..."

A wet hand landed on the heavy treasure ship. It was Alfred, the flatterer who was thrown into the river by the residents again. The cold river water made him shiver. "It's not worth saving! I understand! I understand everything!"

The flatterer's teeth chattered: "...Quickly save your most loyal servant!" He also grabbed the side of the ship with his other hand, but the mountain of gold on the treasure ship was in a fragile balance and could not withstand the influence of any external force. Several gold coins rolled down from the mountain of gold because of the flatterer's actions.

"You lowly person! My gold!" The mayor stepped on the flatterer's hand that was resting on the side of the boat.

The latter uttered a long scream: "My Alfred! Your most loyal Alfred!"

The mayor picked up a small golden statue from the treasure pile and hit the flatterer on the head with it: "Your loyalty is worthless, idiot! My gold is the most important!"

The flatterer Alfred slid back into the waterway without saying a word and floated quietly on the water without moving.

The two guards who boarded the ship with the mayor looked at each other and jumped back onto the nearby wooden bridge. The mayor's treasure ship almost filled the entire river, and they did this easily.

"Drown in the lake with your gold in your arms! You shameless, greedy bastard!"

The two guards cursed and left without looking back.

"Hand on! You two damn bastards! You knocked my gold off!" The mayor didn't care about the two men's scolding, but he felt sorry for the gold coins they kicked into the river. Even though the two guards had completely disappeared, the mayor had no intention of taking a breath.

It was not until the unmanned treasure ship scraped against the wooden bridge on the shore, causing the mayor to stagger, that he exclaimed and ran to the stern to take the helm himself.

----

"Prince Legolas is still in town... I can't leave him alone and return to the kingdom..." Guard Captain Tauriel replied to Ivy's request at the dock of Long Lake Town.

"Of course. I met him in the town. You can take a rest before setting off. I believe the prince of the Woodland Kingdom will not stand by and watch these poor people die." Ivy said, "The residents of Long Lake Town must abandon their original town. The orcs' invasion today has proved that this building built on the Long Lake is a natural prison. All it takes is a fire and the whole town will be burned down."

“But they have you, wizard,” Tauriel said. “I saw the great wave you raised that extinguished the flames.”

"I can't stay here forever. The only possible way to win is to build fortifications in River Valley and stop the orcs who come to seize the city at the foot of Lonely Mountain." Ivy was about to continue speaking when he heard a strange noise coming from behind him.

He turned his head and saw the terribly bloated mayor standing on a golden boat, slowly heading towards the dock and waving his arms at him: "No matter who you are! Open the river gate for me, this is the mayor's order!"

Ivy remained indifferent. He was not a resident of Changhu Town and had no reason to obey the mayor's orders.

Driving on the water near the dock was very dangerous because Ivy had not yet removed the whirlpool formed by manipulating the water. The duration of this spell was a full 10 minutes, and he was well aware of the whirlpool under the water, which still trapped a lot of orcs. Because he didn't know how long these guys could survive without oxygen, Ivy decided to maintain this spell until it naturally dissipated.

Because Ivy cancelled his spell focus on manipulating the wind and instead released the spell to manipulate the water, the fog that filled the long lake gradually enveloped the town again. The mayor, who was moving forward in the waterway, only heard the sound of rapids coming from the front, but had no idea what was happening on the lake.

He found that the treasure ship was moving faster and faster, no longer moving at the snail's pace it had previously in the waterway, and he thought he was blessed by God.

But when he was far enough from the pier to see Ivy standing on it, the mayor's joy immediately turned into panic. He thought Ivy was waiting for him here specifically for the pile of gold on the treasure ship.

So the mayor let go of the rudder, went around the Golden Mountain, and bravely stood at the bow, using his bloated body to block Ivy's sight as much as possible.

"Don't even think about it! Wizard! All this gold is mine!" the mayor roared. He was very imposing. Even if Ivy summoned a giant fireball in front of him, it would not stop his determination to defend his property.

Ivy said nothing, watching coldly as the mayor's treasure ship gradually tilted and began to spin faster due to the powerful vortex.

"Bang!" The treasure ship stopped. Something in the waterway had stuck it. Such a wide ship could move along the river, but it was absolutely impossible for it to spin in it. Although the treasure ship stopped, the mayor on the treasure ship did not. The hill of gold piled up some gold coins due to inertia, and the mayor also fell off the treasure ship due to inertia.

Even the freezing cold water couldn't stop the mayor from clutching the pockets of his fur coat tightly, trying his best to prevent the gold coins from falling out of his clothes.

But the tighter he held his pockets, the tighter the noose tightened around his neck. Those gold coins were all pure gold, but now they had become the mayor's death throes. The spell to manipulate the water had been lifted, and the vortex was no longer generated, but the mayor still couldn't float on the fat of the people he had plundered from the residents of Long Lake Town.

"It seems that the guy who claimed to be the owner of this gold is dead." Ivy shrugged and unceremoniously loaded the entire ship into the Grimoire of Destruction. "The people who lost their homes may not have the time to take care of this treasure ship, so I will keep it for them first. When the time comes, I will compensate them with the gold I got from Lonely Mountain."

The cold wind blew for half the night, and the sound of fighting in the town of Long Lake gradually subsided, replaced by the sound of people crying. Many innocent residents were killed by the invasion of the orcs. Legolas and Tauriel had already set out to return to the Kingdom of the Woodland. They found a surviving horse by the lake. Perhaps the orcs scared away the horses when they slaughtered the bridge guards, and only this horse was lucky enough to survive.

The dwarves began to count the supplies and obtained a wooden boat from the townspeople to go upstream to the foot of the Lonely Mountain.

Bard found Ivy, who had a black metal arrow that looked like a spear in his hand. He was a person that the townspeople trusted, and now that the mayor and the captain of the guard were missing, everyone thought he should become the leader of Long Lake Town.

"Wizard, did the orcs really send out an army?" he asked, his throat dry from the battle that lasted half the night.

"It's hard to say. There could be two, but there will be at least one." Ivy recalled his distant memory. He remembered that the last movie of The Hobbit was called The Battle of Five Armies. If the elves, dwarves and humans were each considered an army, then there should be two dark forces. The Mordor orcs from Dol Guldur were one, so where would the other one come from? Mount Gundabad?
The wizard's news was worse than he had imagined. Bard was silent for a moment and then asked, "Will the elves of the Woodland Kingdom really help us?"

"Two elves have returned to the forest. They will bring food and fuel. What you lack now is a shelter that can help you survive the war. The wooden house in Changhu Town is obviously not up to standard. A fire will completely burn it down." Ivy has repeated this rhetoric several times. He feels that he will never be a good lobbyist because he hates repetition without any new ideas.

"Yes, Riverdale." Bard sighed and handed over the black arrow in his hand. "It is meaningless to stop the dwarves from awakening the dragon in the Lonely Mountain. Whether it is dragon flames or the long swords of the orcs, the residents here can't resist, so I will provide you with help. Take it, wizard. This is the black arrow, and it is the only one."

Ivy weighed the black arrow. Contrary to its heavy appearance, the black arrow was no heavier than a feather. It was unclear whether the dwarf had used special forging materials, special forging techniques, or both.

The uninspired repetition was not without effect, at least Ivy got a dragon-killing arrow.

"You should come with us. We can discuss the battle plan to slay the dragon while we go up the river." Ivy invited. One more person always means more strength. "The dwarves will not reject an accurate archer. Your family was disgraced for not being able to shoot Smaug. Perhaps it's time to end this shameful past."

"But the residents of Long Lake Town..." Bud's face was filled with excitement, "I can't just leave them like this."

"I didn't ask you to leave them." Ivy threw the black arrow to Bard again. "The residents of Long Lake Town will go with us. There are many boats here. Let them take the necessary supplies and tools and set off with us. The residents will stay in River Valley to repair the city walls and prepare for the war against the orcs, and you will go with us to challenge the dragon. By the way, bring the wind crossbow as well. We need to set up the position, and I happen to have some magic that can help."

"Can we set off now, wizard?" Thorin appeared in armor. The armor he was wearing came from the armory of Lake Town. Except for the fact that he could not wear leg armor, the size of the dwarf's armor was not smaller than that of humans, and it was even wider and thicker.

"Are you going to give us the Black Arrow, archer?" Thorin also saw the Black Arrow in Bard's hand. The gloomy dwarf prince finally smiled. Since Ivy reappeared, everything seemed to be moving in a good direction. He is now more and more confident in taking back Lonely Mountain.

"No, Thorin," Ivy answered for Bard. "Bard will come with us, and the people of Lake-town too."

"What? How can a group of civilians help in slaying a dragon?" Thorin's reaction was fierce. "The Lonely Mountain is our city. I will never allow humans to enter."

"In addition to Bard and Black Arrow, the Dwarf Wind Crossbow will also go with us. The residents of Long Lake Town can help us set up some traps for slaying dragons. And don't forget, I'm also a human." Ivy explained briefly.

"You are different. You are a wizard." Thorin stared at Bard. "Besides the Black Arrow, what help can he provide?"

"It's a wind crossbow, and that weapon is not made for the dwarf's body." Bard answered bluntly, "Besides, the Black Arrow is my family heirloom, and I am the only one who is most familiar with it. Although you promised to distribute the gold to the residents of Long Lake Town so that we can rebuild River Valley, we are determined to fight for our share instead of hiding and leaving it to fate."

"There is also the Orc army of Dol Guldur. Dain's exhausted Ironfoot Army is not enough to defeat them. We must unite. I have said this many times. I hope you have listened to it, Thorin." Ivy noticed the dark shadow under Thorin's eyes. Lack of rest and excessive thinking made the dwarf prince look a little tired, but the dwarf's innate tenacity still supported him. Ivy doubted how long this tenacity could last. If the joy of slaying the dragon and regaining the lonely mountain overwhelmed Thorin, it would not surprise Ivy.

Thorin gritted his teeth, turned and left, his words carried by the night wind: "If the threat from the orcs is real, then we must speed up. Only by retaking the Lonely Mountain as soon as possible will we have time and space to prepare for the next battle."

Bard looked at Thorin's back, then turned to Ivy and said, "Are all these dwarves like this? I really wonder how Girion could have tolerated their bad tempers."

"Although I only know these thirteen dwarves, I can tell you clearly that dwarves are almost born with stubbornness, and this trait is even more prominent in Thorin." Ivy sighed and patted Bard on the shoulder. "But don't worry, there are also humorous and enthusiastic dwarves. Not all of them are cut from the same cloth."

Bud nodded silently, then said, "My two daughters said you saved them. I must thank you again on their behalf. Of course, I will also thank you for myself."

"Your daughter?" Ivy thought of the two sisters he saw near the dock. "Don't worry about it. It's just a small favor."

"Your little effort saved my family. Since my wife died, I only have these children left." Bud smiled when he talked about his children. Family may be the only harbor for this man.

"I'm going to organize the residents to pack up their things. We'll set off at daybreak, okay?" Bud asked.

"Of course, I also need to find a place to rest and recover my magical power." Ivy nodded.

"I thought wizards' power was infinite." Bard joked and then left.

Ivy pushed the residents of Long Lake Town to join the expedition team for another reason, which was the requirement of the advanced ancient ritual of the Hufflepuff Gold Cup: to create a home for a group of homeless people.

Thank goodness Hufflepuff isn't a riddle maker. Ivy still hasn't figured out what "retracing the path of Ravenclaw" means, but it can't be about crossing the Black Lake by boat.

Bringing the residents of Long Lake Town to River Valley was obviously a good idea. Ivy wasn't sure if it would work, but there was no harm in trying. Instead of letting these people starve by the lake waiting for the elves to rescue them, it would be better to let them take the initiative to repair the walls of River Valley.

(End of this chapter)