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

Chapter 71: Ogre

The farmer's house was not very big, so after Tanes and Thorin and his group entered, it seemed a little crowded.

Fortunately, most of the people entering the house were short dwarves, otherwise it might not be possible to fit everyone in.

Tanes's eyes slowly swept across David's home. The interior furnishings were simple and slightly rough.

Several wooden tables and chairs are neatly arranged, the wood grain on them is clearly visible, and time has left faint traces on them.

There were some farm tools piled up in the corner of the house. They looked like they were frequently used, but they were all kept in good order.

The fireplace occupies the center of one wall and its presence is the warm core of the room.

The fire crackled and burned, casting a soft light that brought the pencil portraits of David's family to life.

These portraits use simple lines to outline the wife's tenderness and the son's liveliness. Their eyes seem to be looking through the paper at Tanes from afar.

David's hands held two pots of boiling hot tea steadily, and the steaming heat filled the room.

The farmer's brow was filled with apology: "I'm sorry, I never thought that my family would entertain so many people, and the tea sets are not enough."

Thorin raised his head, took the teapot from the other's hand, and politely replied, "That's fine. You can provide such a safe haven on such a cold and damp night. It is a great help to us."

Tanes's gaze lingered on the portraits for a moment, and he asked, "Are these your wife and children? Aren't they here?"

David's body stiffened slightly, then he shook his head gently, a trace of loneliness flashing in his eyes. "They've returned to their hometown, in the village not far outside the valley. The farmhouse needs someone to watch over it in the winter, so at this time of year, I'm the only one left here, accompanied by the crowing of chickens, the bleating of sheep, and the neighing of horses."

Then he showed a thankful expression: "Fortunately, my wife and children are not here, otherwise I really don't know what I would do if I encountered that monster."

Gandalf took his pipe out of his mouth, exhaled a puff of smoke, and asked with a smile: "David, tell us in detail what the monster looks like."

Then he looked at Tanes and the others and added to David: "These men are among the best warriors. You can trust them completely."

David recalled what happened in the past few nights and nodded with lingering fear: "Okay, Gandalf, I believe you."

Then he swallowed, looked at Tanes and others in the house, and said in a trembling voice: "I didn't actually see the monster head-on. Of course, if I did, you wouldn't have met me tonight."

As if to lessen his fear, David cracked a joke.

But Tanes didn't laugh. Instead, he asked, "And then?"

"Well, then, I was actually awakened the night before yesterday by the bleating of sheep and the shaking of the ground. A terrifying, enormous figure passed by my bedroom window. I peeked over, but in the darkness, I couldn't see clearly. I only knew it could stand like a human, holding the sheep under its armpits as easily as a person holding a hen. And then the day before yesterday, and last night, it came again, and each time it took away two sheep."

Aegon asked loudly in an old voice, "What about skin color? Are there scales, claws, hair, or anything like that?"

David lost himself in memories, carefully recalling the monster's back, and shook his head. "I couldn't see its skin color clearly at night, but it had no hair, scales, or claws."

At this point, even the farmer himself showed an uncertain expression. "But it even wears shabby and loose clothes, and there's a knife hanging from its waist that's almost as long as me. It's like the giant the bards talked about. I wonder if it can speak."

Egon sighed: "This information may not be enough."

Bilbo, who had been listening to their conversation intently, nodded thoughtfully. "Well, Mr. Egon is right. I've read a lot of books, but I've never heard of such a monster. It would be nice if you could describe it in more detail."

David immediately looked apologetic and said, "I'm sorry, I'm so scared that I've been hiding at home these past few nights. I don't even dare to go out during the day, for fear that the monster is wandering in the valley. Although the monster has never appeared during the day, it only appears at night."

Then he said sincerely and eagerly, "If you can kill that monster, I am willing to give you a generous reward."

David looked around and finally his eyes stopped on Thorin, because when he invited these people in just now, the dwarves all looked up to Thorin.

He said, "Judging from your attire, you're planning a long journey, aren't you? You'll definitely need money and other necessities. While I'm not a wealthy man, I've saved a small fortune through animal husbandry over the years. I can offer you a reasonable reward for hunting monsters, along with a letter. If you continue east, you'll undoubtedly pass by the village where my wife and children are within three days. Give them my letter, and you'll be able to replenish your food and water supplies in the village, as well as find a place to rest."

Thorin said, "Well, it's a fair price."

Then he turned to Tanes and asked, "Will you join the hunt, Tanes?"

Tanes nodded in anticipation, "Why not, Thorin? This is a monster I've never seen before. It makes my heart itch."

Bernard then spoke up, smiling, "Count me in. Tanes, how about we have a race to see who can put an end to that monster first?"

Tanes glanced sideways, raised his brows, and asked, "What's the point of this?"

Bernard shrugged nonchalantly, his voice full of ease: "It's just a small game. After all, I've lost to you so many times, I have to find a chance to win back a game."

Qili heard the conversation and said, "If Teacher Tanes and Teacher Bernal both join in, then we won't have a chance. I don't think there's any monster that can withstand a blow from you two."

The other dwarves all made noises of agreement, and the farmer's house was gradually filled with the dwarves' laughter, leaving David puzzled.

It was as if the terrible monster that had kept him awake for days was a weak stray dog ​​on the roadside, left to be slaughtered.

Thorin couldn't help but smile. He turned to Balin, who had closed his eyes and was resting, and shouted, "Balin, please help Tanes, Bernal, and this Mr. David draft a contract for hunting the monsters in the deep valley."

Balin opened his eyes, smiled kindly, nodded, took out a pen and a thick stack of paper, and began to write.

David was confused and looked at Gandalf in bewilderment: "Why, why are we writing a contract all of a sudden?"

Gandalf smiled and said, "I believe that the contract written by the dwarves can be used as an official document in any country."

The farmer nodded blankly. Although he didn't understand, it seemed very formal.

But he quickly became nervous again: "No, now is not the time to write a contract. That monster might be coming soon. I have to turn off the lights quickly."

Balin's voice sounded politely at this time: "Okay, Mr. David, Mr. Tanes, and Mr. Bernal, after you have read the contract once, you can sign and seal it. The contract will take effect immediately."

The contract drawn up by Balin was not as long as the one signed by Bilbo, but it also filled two pages.

When Tanes and Bernal took the contract, they glanced at it briefly before signing their names and handing it to David. The farmer, holding the contract, which still smelled of ink, read the words and suddenly felt a sense of absurdity.

Seeing that David was still hesitant to sign, Balin said considerately, "If you can't write, I can do it for you."

David shook his head. Although he could not write many words, he could still write his own name.

He sighed heavily, and David could tell that these people and the dwarf were serious, so he had to sign his name.

Just as he signed his name, there was a sudden sound of heavy footsteps outside the house, and the rustling sound of paper scratching stopped abruptly.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the quiet air like drums, accompanied by a rough breathing.

The dwarves' boisterous laughter came to an abrupt halt, and their faces, once brimming with joy, were now filled with tension and vigilance.

Their ears were pressed against the walls and the ground, trying to capture more information.

"What—"

Although the heavy footsteps stopped, the sheep in the sheepfold began to cry out in panic.

The sheep's screams immediately woke up the sleeping chickens in the chicken coop. They flapped their wings, struggling to get up from their half-asleep state, and let out a series of rapid clucking sounds.

The sudden commotion also affected the horses further back in the stable. Thorin's horses had been quietly munching on wild grass when they were disturbed by the sudden commotion.

They raised their heads, their big eyes flashing with anxiety and vigilance in the dim light, and the white breath from their nostrils intertwined in the air.

The horses' hooves tapped the ground lightly, accompanied by snorts, and their neighing was particularly prominent.

Ori, the dwarf closest to the window, cautiously stretched out a finger and slowly opened the window a crack under the nervous gaze of the other dwarves, and his eyes slipped out through the crack.

Dori whispered beside Ori, "Did you see the monster clearly?"

The vision of dwarves is naturally different from that of humans. Although they cannot see very far away like elves, it is still enough for them to see the outside scene clearly in the hazy moonlight at night.

Therefore, Ori naturally saw the monster's appearance clearly, and as the most knowledgeable dwarf in the Lonely Mountain expedition, he also recognized what the monster was.

Ori withdrew his gaze from the window slit, then looked at his companions who were staring at him eagerly in the house, and whispered, "That's a man-troll."

Ogre?
Although the dwarves were nervous, they were obviously not as panicked as before.

Indeed, sometimes the unknown is the greatest source of fear.

But Gandalf stopped what he was doing and looked up in surprise.

Qili breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No wonder they dare not appear during the day. It's because they are afraid of the sun."

Bilbo blinked and said, "Troll? Wait, is that the one I know from books?"

Bofur nodded and replied, "Yes, so don't worry. Perhaps we can handle it without Mr. Tanes and Mr. Bernard. It's just a troll. We can handle it alone."

Bilbo hummed and said, "Perhaps you are right, Bofur, but where are Tanes and Benar?"

Bofur was stunned, then suddenly looked in the direction where Tanes and Bernal were just now, only to find that the two people who should have been there had disappeared.

Millicent, who had still not moved, noticed the looks from Bofur and the other dwarves and said gently, "As for the two of them, they were already out with their weapons when Ori secretly opened the window."

As Millicent finished her words, there came from the window the ogre's howl of pain, and the slight tremor of his heavy body collapsing on the earth.

The conversation between Bernal and Tanes also came in through the gap in the window that Ori opened.

"Tanis. I won this time after all, right?"

"Okay, Bernard, I admit you won. But you wouldn't cut a huge hole in the farmer's field just to win, would you?"

"Heh, if I had been slower, your spell would have hit this big guy on the head."

"So what do we do now? You've cut this monster in half, what do you do with the body? What kind of creature is this? The blood and the organs that have fallen out are really stinking."

"You can't blame me. Who would have thought this big guy had the same body as a normal person? I thought it wasn't wearing armor because it was confident in its physical strength, so I didn't intend to hold back from the beginning."

The two men's voices grew closer and closer until one of them knocked on the window.

"Da da da."

The window was opened by Bernal from the outside, revealing his somewhat embarrassed expression.

He looked at David and said, "Maybe your sheep pen needs a good cleaning."

David looked at Bernard in confusion but shock. No matter how dumb he was, he knew that the monster that had frightened him for several nights was solved so easily.

From the noise just now and the conversation between the two men, David knew that the monster didn't even have time to resist and died very peacefully.

It was as simple as slaughtering a chicken.

Gandalf stood up and said, "Don't bother. If it's a troll, its body will turn to stone at dawn. David, you just need to get a good night's sleep and clean up some strange-shaped stones when you wake up the next day."

Tanis looked at Gandalf as if he was about to leave and asked, "Where are you going?"

Gandalf sighed and said, "My good boy, I must go explore the direction he just came from. The trolls will not come down from the mountain easily. There must be something wrong that made this stupid troll run to the human territory to steal livestock."

(End of this chapter)