I reforged the glory of the magic ring in Middle-earth

Chapter 58: Guests Coming One After Another

Bag End, Bilbo's home.

Fresh and sweet fruits, fragrant cheese slices, bacon and ham with a greasy aroma, freshly baked cookies, and high-quality honey waiting to be spread on the side, all these delicious foods were placed on the dining table.

At the center of the table sat a steaming leg of lamb sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, and a plate of golden roasted chicken surrounded by red tomatoes and purple onion rings.

Bilbo entertained Tanes and his friends with the greatest hospitality.

The little hobbit couldn't help but smile, and after being busy for a long time, he finally sat down at the dining table.

Tanes was not idle either. While Bilbo was preparing dinner, he helped Bilbo with some simple steps, such as washing the vegetables and fruits.

After all, when it comes to cooking, Hobbits are better.

When Bernal and the others who came with Tanes saw that Tanes was helping, they naturally felt embarrassed to just wait at the dining table, so they took the initiative to help in the kitchen.

Although this made Bilbo both angry and amused.

He was angry because when four tall humans stood in his kitchen, there was almost no room left.

The one who laughed was Tanes and his friends who had indeed helped him a lot. The middle-aged man in silver armor and the crimson-haired girl used their knife skills that Bilbo found incredible to quickly cut the vegetables for later use and put them aside. They also accurately cut the bacon and ham into thin slices of the same size.

Although Bilbo didn't quite understand why the portions they cut out were more than four people could eat, it was still enough to fill everyone's stomach even if they were big eaters.

What surprised Bilbo even more was the robust old man who looked weathered but spoke in a very bold manner, because he took out the marinated lamb legs and turkey and roasted them by himself.

The other party had controlled the heat perfectly. When Bilbo was inside the house, he smelled the fragrance. His years of experience as a gourmet made Bilbo's mouth water. He knew that the lamb legs and turkey outside must be very fragrant. He started to drool just thinking about it.

So when Bilbo sat back at the table, he happily raised his wineglass and said to Tanis and the others, "Although I've already said what I'm going to say next, I still want to say, welcome to Bag End! This sumptuous dinner is made by us together, and it will surely be more delicious than any dinner I have ever tasted!"

Tanes also raised the wooden cup in front of him, but the liquid shaking in the cup was not red wine, but orange juice squeezed from citrus fruits that had just been picked that morning.

He doesn't like drinking much. He prefers the sweetness of fruit juice to the spiciness of wine.

So some sugar was added to the juice in Tanes' cup, because the pure squeezed fruit juice would be slightly bitter, and adding sugar would make it taste better.

This was suggested by Bilbo Baggins. It has to be said that Hobbits really know how to enjoy life.

Millicent, like Tanez, did not choose alcoholic beverages.

It wasn't that Millicent hated drinking, but she really felt that as the [Blade of Tanes], she should always stay sober.

Alcohol would paralyze her brain and limbs, so Millicent chose juice.

As for Bernard and Egon, these two elderly men did not have so many concerns, but instead of red wine, they chose golden ale which was more drinkable.

During Bilbo's enthusiastic opening remarks, a hobbit clinks glasses with four humans.

Because Bilbo couldn't wait to start dinner, he planned to put down his wine glass and cut a piece of the lamb leg that old Mr. Egon had roasted.

As a result, Tanes put down the cup and said, "Should we wait for the others?"

Bilbo stopped his knife from reaching for the leg of lamb and looked at Tanis in confusion: "Others? Did you bring other friends with you? Are they late?"

Tanis shook his head. "No, these are the only three people I brought with me. But Gandalf invited me to this dinner, but he is not here now. And as far as I know, there should be more..."

Tanis was interrupted by Bilbo's sudden realization: "Oh, yes, Gandalf! How could I have forgotten him! Yesterday I invited him to tea today, but he never showed up, and I was wondering if the old wizard had forgotten about it."

So he put down the dinner knife in his hand, blinked and looked at Tanes: "Then should we wait a little longer?"

Just when Tanis was about to ask Bilbo if he knew that a group of dwarves would also be coming, the bell hanging on the gate suddenly rang, making a tinkling sound.

Bilbo smiled, looked at Tanis and said, "Look, Gandalf is here! You guys sit here, I'll go open the door! Of course, it would be even better if you could help me get a set of tableware for Gandalf from the kitchen."

Then the hobbit jumped down from his seat and ran towards the door of his house with his bare furry feet making a "clacking" sound.

As Bilbo ran, he cried out, "I'm sorry, Gandalf! I almost forgot about you and kept you waiting!"

The green round door opened inward, and just as Bilbo smiled and welcomed Gandalf, he suddenly realized that the person coming was not the wizard at all, but a bald dwarf who was only a few centimeters taller than him.

The man tucked his beard into his brown collar, and his eyes were very bright under the dark green toy cat.

As soon as Bilbo's door opened, the bald dwarf rushed in as if it was natural that Bilbo had been waiting for a long time.

The bald dwarf hung his hooded cloak on the nearest coat hook near the door and bowed deeply. "Dwalin, at your service."

"Uh oh, Bilbo Baggins, at your service!"

Bilbo was stunned for a moment and subconsciously straightened his clothes and replied politely.

Because he was so surprised, he didn't know what to ask for a moment.

To ease the awkward silence that followed, Bilbo said, "I'm having dinner with my friends... I don't know why you came in so casually, but I welcome you to join me."

Dwalin felt even more certain after hearing this. He nodded, the white light in the room reflecting off his scalp. "I came here for this banquet. Are they all here? Am I late?"

Now it was Bilbo's turn to be confused: "Wait, do we know each other? Who else is coming?"

Dwalin walked into Bag End and smelled the aroma of food. He followed the smell and found Tanis's location. Bilbo was following Dwalin at a loss.

When Tanis saw it was Dwalin, he stood up and walked towards him, giving the dwarf a big hug. "Oh, Dwalin, it's been a long time. I heard about you from Thorin. I wanted to ask you if there were any omissions in the footwork that Nefeli Ruto taught you."

Dwalin had obviously not expected Tanis to arrive. His initially cold attitude towards Bilbo immediately became respectful. He stood where he was and said calmly, "Lord Tanis, I didn't expect you to be here. I've become very proficient in the steps Lady Neferi Lu taught me, and I'm very grateful for her guidance."

Tanis patted Dwalin on the shoulder and motioned for him to find a place to sit.

Duvalin looked at the delicious food and drinks on the table, smiled happily, and his beard trembled.

Bilbo then moved closer, raised his finger slightly and asked Dwalin, "Is he also your friend?"

Tanes thought for a moment and said, "Yes, but he didn't come with me."

Bilbo scratched the back of his head and asked, "I don't understand, but since he's your friend, I'd be more than happy to welcome him to the dinner party. There's barely enough room for six of us."

Tanis blinked. "Didn't Gandalf tell you?" Bilbo was stunned. "What?"

At this time, the bell at the door rang again, but compared to when Dwalin came, this time the bell sounded like a very polite person shaking it.

Tanis pointed to the door and said, "Besides my friends and I, there will be a large group of dwarves coming to your banquet tonight. So when we were making dinner, we specially prepared some extra food. Didn't Gandalf tell you?"

Bilbo cried as he walked towards the door: "Me? Of course not! He just invited me on an adventure out of nowhere, and I already refused him! And I was so kind as to invite him to tea! And he lets a bunch of dwarves into my house uninvited? Oh, my God!"

He opened the door just at this moment, and a kind and gentle voice came from outside: "What do you mean by 'Oh my God'? Are you in trouble?"

Bilbo immediately replied: "Difficulties? Of course not!"

Then he saw who was coming, and it turned out to be a dwarf.

The dwarf looked very old, with a snow-white beard and wearing a loose maroon robe. He smiled and opened his arms and said, "Balin, at your service."

Bilbo opened his mouth, moved it, and finally said with a twitch of his Adam's apple, "Good evening, er, and thank you."

Balin lowered his arms in surprise. He subconsciously glanced at the night sky, where the bright moon shone with its own brilliance. He nodded and said, "Yes, yes, the weather tonight is indeed nice."

Then he came in with all his familiarity, without asking whether Bilbo had invited him into the house or not.

Then Balin saw Dwalin's cloak on the coat hook at the door and said with a smile, "It seems someone has arrived first."

Bilbo sighed. The Hobbit's naturally hospitable nature prevented him from refusing the kind old dwarf from coming in. After closing the door, he took the initiative to take Balin to the kitchen.

"If you mean these people, they are here," said Bilbo.

To be honest, Bilbo already felt something was wrong at this moment.

He was happy to have guests, but he would rather know in advance that guests were coming, and it would be best if the guests were invited by him personally or were someone he knew well.

Oh, maybe I won't have enough cake tonight.

Bilbo thought.

"You must be the Lord Tanes that Thorin mentioned? Nice to meet you. I'm Balin, and I'm happy to be of service."

Then he watched Balin first bow respectfully to Tanes, then greet Dwalin with a smile and squeeze next to him, but found that there were no extra chairs.

So Balin asked, "Are there any extra chairs?"

Bilbo came back to his senses and said, "Chair? Oh, of course. Wait a minute."

But before he could finish his words, the doorbell rang again hurriedly.

Bilbo looked sharply at Tanis, who also showed a very innocent expression and said, "I can help you get some more chairs from the warehouse. You can go open the door."

Dwalin also stood up and said, "Perhaps I can bring some more beer."

The bell rang again, and it was obvious that the person at the door was anxious, so Bilbo nodded and walked quickly to the door.

"It must be Gandalf now, isn't it?" thought Bilbo, opening the door.

Standing outside the door this time were two dwarves, one with a yellow beard and his body bulging with weapons, the other with a short black beard and a bow slung over his back.

"Fili, Kili, at your service!"

They shouted in unison.

Then they walked in as familiarly as Duvalin and Balin.

It seemed as if the dwarves were all very familiar with each other.

Qili looked around the door and praised, "This is a really nice place."

Fili nodded, took off the sword from his waist and handed it to Bilbo, who took it subconsciously.

Tanes happened to be passing by carrying a chair. He heard the noise and leaned over. "Hey, Fili, Kili, you guys are here?"

Fili and Qili were a bit careless at first, but they immediately became well-behaved after seeing Tanes. Qili even quietly retracted his foot that was about to step on a wooden box at the door to rub the mud on the sole of his shoe.

"Good evening, Teacher Tanes." The dwarf brothers greeted respectfully.

Tanes said, "Come in and help first. I'm afraid the original space is not enough. Your teacher Bernard is also in there. You can say hello to him first."

After the dwarf brothers went in, Bilbo complained to Tanis, "How many dwarves has Gandalf found? I can't believe that more than half of the guests in my house are dwarves now!"

Tanis patted the other man's shoulder and said, "I don't know about this either, but what Gandalf did was indeed dishonest. He should have told you the number of people in advance. When he comes, I will definitely help you talk to him."

Bilbo said immediately, "Oh no, I don't mean to refuse these dwarves from coming to my house. I just think we should get to know each other first before coming to visit, don't you think?"

Tanes nodded: "Of course."

And at this time, the damn bell sounded again "Ding Dong Ling Dong".

Tanis actually saw a look of despair on Bilbo's face, and then the hobbit went to open the door while muttering about dwarves again.

"Oh--"

After Bilbo opened the door, the screams of many dwarves were heard, and they rolled into the house one after another, leaving Bilbo dumbfounded.

He looked at Tanis and shouted, "Is Gandalf planning to bring the entire dwarf family into my home?"

"Oh, of course not, Bilbo Baggins. These are the last dwarf guests." Gandalf said with a smile as he bent over and squeezed into Bag End past the dwarves who were so crowded that they fell into the door.

Behind him followed a handsome dwarf, Thorin Oakenshield.

Thorin also squeezed in, looked at Bilbo, whose eyes were wide, and nodded to him slightly.

(End of this chapter)