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

Chapter 68 The Dwarves Being Targeted
The stars dotted the night sky, and the tavern called "The Prancing Pony" flickered on the street.

The young inn servant who was in charge of receiving them at the door diligently directed Thorin and the others to the stable where the horses were stored, except that Tanes took advantage of the servant's inattention to put Torret back into the spirit horse whistle.

Of course, the inn servant's attentiveness might also be due to the silver coin Thorin gave him.

But even so, Thorin still let Fili and Kili stay in the stable first, to prevent the servants from doing anything strange to their very important mounts on the expedition.

Thorin and the others were the first to enter the Prancing Pony Inn.

Thorin pushed open the heavy oak door, and a bustling atmosphere with the aroma of wine and food hit him.

Inside the tavern, candlelight flickered, creating a play of light and shadow. Rough copper lamps hung from the wooden beams, casting a warm glow in every corner.

Drinkers sat around the carved wooden table, laughing and talking loudly. Some talked loudly, some whispered, and the occasional clink of silver cutlery could be heard.

At the bar, the bartender bustled around, his hands deftly dancing in the air as he mixed a variety of drinks. Whenever he finished a glass, he would gently place it on the bar, leaving behind a long, thin trail of foam.

Not far away, by the fireplace, several people who looked like farmers were sitting together. Their faces were covered with dirt, and their noses and cheeks were red from alcohol, but they could not hide their simple smiles.

They drank together, the firelight reflected on their faces, and they waved their arms and told exaggerated stories.

The waitress who was in charge of serving the food, who was also the daughter of the owner of the Prancing Horse Inn, was dressed in a neat black dress, with her light blond hair tied into a short ponytail, and she was walking back and forth between each table in the hall.

The entry of Thorin and the others did not quiet down the noise in the inn, but made it even louder, and the topic gradually turned to "Why did a large group of dwarves suddenly appear here?"

Although Thorin and his group were large in number, fortunately, the lobby on the first floor of the Prancing Pony Inn was large enough and there were several empty tables in the corner.

After Suo Li and the others occupied the place, the waitress came over with a smile and asked in a friendly tone, "What would you like to eat? Are you staying overnight tonight?"

Then she quickly took in the composition of Thorin's group and added with a smile, "While we don't have any special rooms for dwarves, we do have several excellent hobbit rooms. Of course, we also have normal-sized rooms for you to stay in."

Thorin took out a heavy purse from his waist and threw enough silver coins on the waitress's plate. The crisp sound of the silver coins colliding with each other made her smile and her eyes shine.

Thorin said, "Give us each two loaves of whole wheat bread, a bowl of vegetable soup, a sausage, half a piece of cheese, and a piece of fruit. Also, prepare enough rooms for us to stay in. We don't need hobbit rooms, just ordinary human rooms."

The waitress replied readily, "No problem, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

After she finished speaking, she turned and left.

But Thorin suddenly stopped her and said, "Wait."

The waitress turned around and asked, still smiling, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Thorin pointed at Bilbo, who was rubbing his sore thigh, and said, "Give him a separate, fine hobbit room."

The waitress held the tray and saluted gracefully: "As you wish."

Bilbo looked at Thorin in surprise, opened his mouth, and pointed at himself: "Me?"

Thorin glanced at Bilbo calmly and said, "Cherish this last night of sound sleep in a warm bed, Mr. Burglar. After we leave Bree, your pillows and blankets filled with down will be gone forever."

Bilbo kept his mouth shut, but put on an expression that said, "I'm prepared for this."

Because there were so many people with Tanes and Thorin, the waitress had to go back and forth five times before delivering all the food Thorin ordered.

Tanes sat at a table with Benar, Millicent, and Aegon, while Thorin sat at a table with five dwarves, Fili, Kili, Dwalin, and Balin, while Dori, Orei, and Nori sat on the high seats with Oin and Gloin.

Because Bombur was the biggest and fattest, he could only sit at the same table with his brothers Biff and Bofur.

He ate the half piece of cheese that had just been served on his plate in one gulp, chewed it happily for a few times, and reached towards the table, but did not touch the pint of ale he had imagined.

"Oh, if only I could drink. I'd love to have a drink." He complained to Bofur in a low voice.

Bofur, who had been eating his own fried pork sausage, glanced at Thorin when he heard Bombur's words and whispered, "I don't think Thorin will allow any drinking tonight, at least not with a hangover. I'm afraid we'll have to wait until we reach the Lonely Mountain."

Bilbo sat with Gandalf and Aegon, and he felt that the pain in his thigh was much better.

Tanes was sitting at the table next to the three of them. He just picked up the whole wheat bread from the plate and frowned, but he didn't stop what he was doing.

Bernard's voice came with a smile: "You noticed it too?"

Tanes chewed the food in his mouth, swallowed it, and took the opportunity to pick up the vegetable soup and said, "How many people are watching this place?"

Like Tanes, Bernard ate the food on his plate as usual, but he had already glanced around the bustling hall of the Prancing Horse Inn without leaving any trace.

He laughed softly after hearing Tanes' question. "There were four of them, more like three groups. Two bearded men were leaning against the window, a slant-eyed man was sitting at the bar, and a bald, one-eyed man was among those drunken farmers. They've been keeping their eyes on us since we entered the Prancing Pony Inn. At first, I thought they were just curious about the dwarves and us, after all, we were both wearing armor. But you also noticed the murderous intent in their eyes just now? But it wasn't directed at us, but at your group of dwarf friends."

Tanes ate while laughing, as if chatting with Bernard about something interesting. "Well, that's quite interesting. In fact, I rarely come to an environment with so many people. If they hadn't looked away from me, I might not have noticed that Thorin had been targeted. But the only thing I don't understand is, who was targeting Thorin and the others?"

Bernal said, "This is easy. We have more people now. These people will definitely not make any moves. But after they leave... you and I will each take two."

Tanes smiled and said, "No, to be safe, call for help. Four people are too many. Kill one and see what the remaining three say."

He said, looking at Millicent who had just heard the conversation between them but didn't say anything.

Millicent simply returned a confident smile.

While they were talking, the two humans with black beards sitting by the window seemed to have confirmed something. They looked at each other, threw a few copper coins on the table, stood up and walked outside.

Tanes's eyes met with Bernard and Millicent's. As soon as the two bearded men walked out of the Prancing Pony Inn, Tanes stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Tanis said with a smile to Thorin and Gandalf who were looking over, then he found the waitress and asked her very politely where the toilet was.

Gandalf was smoking a cigarette, his face obscured by the smoke and his eyes narrowed.

It was obvious that the wizard had also discovered some problems. Perhaps only the dwarves had not yet realized that they were being targeted.

The restroom of the Prancing Pony Inn was in the opposite direction of the main door, so when Tanes walked towards the restroom, the remaining two people who were watching Thorin and had not left yet did not feel anything was wrong.

Tanis went alone to the restroom of the Prancing Pony Inn. After confirming that no one was around, he squatted down. Suddenly, a layer of dark gauze covered his entire body, and then his figure disappeared. The [Invisibility Veil] he had shown Gandalf and Thorin before finally came in handy.

Tanes returned to the lobby of the Prancing Pony Inn smoothly and quickly. No one could see a man in armor walking in a squatting position until Tanes walked out of the Prancing Pony Inn.

The two bearded men had not gone far yet, and were walking hurriedly on the street less than fifty meters away from Tanes.

Walking on the deserted streets at night gives you so many opportunities.

Tanes stared at the two men with cold eyes and thought to himself.

"Are you sure, brother? Is that the Thorin we are looking for? Those dwarves are almost exactly the same, I can't tell them apart." One of them, a bearded man wearing dark brown cloth and a scimitar at his waist, asked his companion.

Another bearded man answered confidently, "Of course, I'm sure that the leading dwarf is Thorin. Unlike you, who just arrived here from Dunland, I've been to the Blue Mountains and met him in person. His features match the portrait, so it must be him."

His expectation froze in the air, and the praise from his companions did not reach his ears as he had hoped.

He felt inexplicably confused and slowly turned his head, but the scene before him made him freeze instantly - Tanes' fist was wrapped in the whistling wind, sweeping over like a hammer, and hitting his forehead mercilessly.

The bearded man's eyes went dark and he fell to the ground without making a sound.

"Hey, what a good sleep you have. If Bilbo had the same sleep quality as you, I wouldn't have heard your whispering every night." Tanes said as he dragged the two of them into the darkness beside the street.

And no one saw anything. After all, it was late, dark and cold outside, so everyone was in their warm homes.

At the same time, in the Leaping Horse Inn, the bald, one-eyed man who was mixed in with the drunk farmers was also preparing to leave.

The bald, one-eyed man stood up quietly, his large cloak covering his figure.

He paused deliberately and looked around, as if waiting for something.

However, the people in the inn were busy with their own things and no one noticed his actions.

Finally, he made sure that no one noticed him before he slowly walked out of the inn.

Millicent also waited until the bald one-eyed man walked out of the inn, said she was tired and wanted to rest, and shouted to the waitress.

The waitress immediately understood and, smiling, led Millicent through the bustling lobby of the inn, down the quaint wooden stairs, and gently led her to a guest room on the second floor.

After Millicent entered the guest room and closed the door, her expression, which had just been smiling at the waitress, suddenly became cold, as if she had become a different person.

She pushed open the window of the guest room on the second floor, and the cold wind rushed into the house like a wolf or a tiger, blowing up her long, fiery red hair.

Millicent's golden eyes were fixed on the bald, one-eyed man walking alone outside. Her slender body flexibly flipped out of the window, like a cheetah in the jungle, swiftly and silently flipping out of the window and leaping onto the moss-covered roof.

Her light body left almost no trace in the night, leaving only a series of slight sounds on the tiles.

Inside the Prancing Pony Inn, the charcoal fire crackled, and Bernard's smile looked particularly bright in the firelight.

He gently put down the empty ceramic bowl in his hand. It was still warm, and the wooden spoon made a crisp sound when tapping on the edge of the bowl.

Bernard stood up, like a hunting leopard, his eyes sharp and direct at the last squinting man in the corner.

The squinting man noticed the gaze and his body stiffened slightly.

He wanted to stand up and leave here immediately, leave the Prancing Horse Inn, but he felt as if he was being stared at by an extremely terrifying monster.

If he dared to move even a little, his body would be cut in two by the sharp blade in the next second.

At this time, Bilbo asked cautiously at the table next to him: "What's wrong with you? Why are Tanis, Millicent and you all standing up one after another? Are you hiding something from me?"

Thorin also looked over with an inquiring look. Even if he was slow-witted, he noticed that Tanes and the others were behaving a little abnormally.

Gandalf signaled Bernard not to worry about Bilbo, and took over the conversation with a smile, saying to him and the dwarves: "It seems that after eating and drinking tonight, there will be a good show waiting for us, Thorin, Bilbo."

Bernard paced forward, each step making a dull, rhythmic sound on the wooden floor. His smile gradually faded, and the corner of the slanted-eyed man's mouth twitched. He sat down by the window, his face pale.

The other people in the Yuema Inn also felt this invisible pressure and their voices became quieter.

The squinting man moved his lips and was about to scream and slander Bernard as a robber, trying to cause a brief panic in the inn, but he was interrupted by a sudden sound of footsteps.

The innkeeper's daughter was coming down from the second floor. She had led Millicent to the guest room not long ago and happened to come down at this moment.

Her arrival seemed to inject a breath of relaxation into the tense atmosphere.

Bernard smiled faintly, opened his arms warmly, and walked quickly to the squinting man. He laughed loudly at him and said, "What a coincidence, Lacard! I didn't expect to see you here. It's been seven years since we last met! How have you been recently? Hey, can you give him and me two more pints of fine red wine? Let's celebrate my reunion with my friend!"

The waitress clearly had no idea what was going on. After hearing Bernard's words, she smiled happily and nodded, "Of course. Please wait a moment. I'll get it for you."

Then, Bernard really did meet a long-lost friend and put his arm around the slant-eyed man's shoulders. However, where no one else could see, a sharp knife was pressed against the man's waist.

"I don't expect to pry any information out of you. Do you understand what I mean?" Bernard grinned and laughed, then spoke in a low voice into the ear of the squinting man without changing his expression.

The man with the squinting eyes felt a tightness in his heart, but he also pretended to be happy to meet his friend after a long separation, and started chatting and laughing with Bernard.

Although it was only Bernal who was speaking, he just nodded and said "um", "yes", "okay" and so on.

Seeing that there was nothing unusual about this, the others ignored it and continued with their previous actions.

If Tanes heard Bernal calling the man with squinting eyes again at this moment, he would probably laugh out loud.

"Puff, uh, cough, cough..."

Well, it is obvious that even Egon, who has been away from the border area for a long time, knows clearly what the three words "Rakad" mean.

The vegetable soup he had just poured into his mouth sprayed out and choked himself.

Bald One-Eyed Man:
Slant-eyed man:
Two bearded men:
　The two bearded men are actually passersby in the movie)
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(End of this chapter)