bookbashuk Chapter 137 The Arrival of the Dwarf Craftsmen
Chapter 137 The Arrival of the Dwarf Craftsmen
Chapter 137 The Arrival of the Dwarf Craftsmen
Bad smiled upon hearing Dui's praise.
After exchanging pleasantries, the two got down to business.
Bard said, "The dwarves want to contact you, but they don't have a direct way to do so, so they handed the letter to me. They are in the city now, and I will send someone to inform them if you want to see them."
Dui nodded: "Then I'll leave it to you!"
Soon, the dwarf was taken to the lord's manor by Bard's servants.
"Lord Bard."
"The Wizard of Duir"
The dwarf Balin, who had just entered, nodded to the two men.
"Long time no see, Bahrain, how are you?" Dui greeted him with a gentle gaze.
As the eldest dwarf, Balin was wiser and more composed than the other dwarves, and Dui had always had a good impression of him.
Upon hearing this, Bahrain nodded cheerfully: "I'm doing well. Lonely Mountain has been recaptured, and the Dulin tribe is gradually returning. I no longer need to worry about being buried in a foreign land after I die!"
"By the way, Duir, we have prepared the craftsmen you need. However, it is too far and unsafe to travel from Lonely Mountain to Wind and Cloud Peak, so we have to contact you to come here."
"Also, Lord Dain Ironfoot has already forged the dragon armor and entrusted us to bring it to you."
Dui's eyes lit up when he heard Bahrain's words.
"Is everything ready? Where is it?"
"They're all inside Lonely Mountain. Duir, you can take them with you immediately if you need them," Balin said.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go now."
Dui was somewhat impatient. After saying goodbye to Bad, he used his flying broom to take Bahrain to Lonely Mountain.
Balin was thrilled to experience flying on a broomstick again. He asked Dui about Bilbo and was happy to learn that he had returned home.
The two soon arrived at the gate of Lonely Mountain.
The gates of Lonely Mountain have been restored to their former grandeur, with armored dwarves guarding the gates and dwarven warriors patrolling the walls.
Now that we're here, we should naturally see Thorin.
With the dwarf elder Balin leading the way, Dui made his way smoothly into Lonely Mountain and finally arrived at the hall.
Unlike before, when there were only Thorin and a dozen or so dwarves, the dwarves of the Blue Mountains, as well as the Durin dwarves scattered in other places, have returned.
At this time, dwarves could be seen everywhere in Lonely Mountain, finally giving it the appearance of a dwarf kingdom.
Thorin sat high on the throne, with his nephew Fili, the heir apparent, standing beside him.
"It's been a long time, King of the Mountain—Thorin Oakenshield," Dui said, nodding as he leaned on his staff.
Thorin, seated on the throne, nodded in greeting and said politely, "It's been a long time since I've seen Wizard Duir; you are even more radiant than before."
He then waved for someone to summon the dwarf craftsmen.
"I made a promise with you, Wizard Duir, that I would help you build a castle. Now I will begin to fulfill my promise. I will send a thousand dwarf craftsmen to follow you back until the castle is completed."
"My cousin Dain Ironfoot also sent over the dragon armor he had forged, and asked me to deliver it to you. I'll have Balin take you there in a bit."
Dui was overjoyed to hear that Thorin had so readily arranged for a thousand dwarf craftsmen to work for him.
"Thank you, Your Majesty Sorin!" Dui's address of "Your Majesty" was truly heartfelt.
With so many dwarf craftsmen, his Hogwarts Castle will surely be completed soon.
Then Dui went with Bahrain to retrieve the Dragon Armor.
The dragon armor was placed separately in a spacious hall.
Upon seeing it, Dui's eyes flashed with amazement.
It was an enormous set of silver armor, fully armed from the dragon's head to its tail, completely covering it.
The armor was pieced together from several sections. Thanks to the dwarves' exquisite craftsmanship, the armor moved nimbly and freely. It was covered with patterns and reflected a dazzling silver light under the firelight.
It is magnificent and majestic, exuding a huge aura. If the dragon Smaug were to wear it, it would be hard to imagine how domineering he would be!
Dui stared at the enormous armor, secretly marveling.
The dwarves had no idea how this armor, which could be worn on a dragon, was made, or how many tons of metal it used.
No wonder it was placed in a spacious hall; after all, even a small room couldn't fit such a massive suit of armor.
Fortunately, the armor could be divided into several parts, which allowed Dui's space bag to barely hold the dragon armor.
After collecting the dragon armor, Dui returned to the hall.
Thorin's thousand dwarven craftsmen have been assembled, along with tools and equipment that the dwarves will bring.
It's unrealistic to bring so many people and things on a long and arduous journey to Fengyunding.
Looking at the densely packed dwarven craftsmen, Dui said to Balin, "Could you give me a sturdy box? It doesn't need to be too big."
The kind that one person can lift.
Bahrain naturally wouldn't refuse and had someone bring over a metal box.
Under the watchful eyes of the dwarves, Dui used the Seamless Stretch Charm to expand the interior space of the iron sheet countless times until it could accommodate all the dwarven craftsmen.
Then, with a wave of his wand, he conjured a ladder and placed it in the box.
Dui turned to the group of dwarven craftsmen and invited them with a smile, "The journey to Windcloud Peak is too far, and it's not practical to walk there. So please go inside the boxes for a while and come out when we reach our destination."
The dwarven craftsmen looked at the small box in front of them, exchanging glances, unsure whether to listen to him or not, and could only turn their gaze to Thorin on the throne.
Thorin naturally knew that Dui possessed a magical ability to expand space, and immediately nodded to the dwarven craftsmen.
With the king's permission, the dwarf craftsmen lined up and entered the chest one by one.
The thinner dwarfs were fine, but some with big bellies got stuck at the opening of the box, and then their companions in line behind them sat down on them, which immediately caused a burst of laughter and curses coming from inside the box.
The chest was spacious enough that even a thousand dwarf craftsmen could move around freely inside.
"Bahrain, you're going too?" Dui was surprised to see that Bahrain was also going into the box space.
Thorin, sitting on his throne, explained: "Bahrain is the leader of this expedition; he is in charge of the entire construction task."
Balin smiled and said, "During our time together, Duir, if you have any requirements for the castle design, feel free to tell me. I consider myself quite skilled in architecture!"
"Then I'll have to trouble you from now on, Bahrain!"
Dui nodded, feeling more at ease with the dwarf artisans being managed by the familiar dwarf elder, Balin.
Afterwards, Dui, carrying a chest containing a thousand dwarven craftsmen and Balin, bid farewell to Thorin and returned directly to Vale.
Then, teleport directly to the top of the Windrise via the fireplace.
Edward immediately came to greet him as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace.
"My lord, you're back!"
Dui nodded, then instructed, "I brought some guests back; there are quite a few of them. Please arrange their accommodations later."
"Understood, Lord Duir!"
Edward nodded immediately, but glanced into the fireplace and didn't see any sign of anyone coming out.
Seeing the other person's confusion, Dui smiled and pointed to the box in his hand, "Don't look, it's right here."
He then laid the box flat on the ground, opened it, and shouted inside, "You can come out now!"
After a while, Bahrain was the first to climb out of the ladder, looked around in surprise, and exclaimed, "We're here so quickly?"
Then, to Edward's astonishment, noisy dwarves crawled out of the box. When they encountered a fat dwarf stuck at the entrance, his companions, who had come out earlier, shouted commands and pulled him out forcefully, like pulling out a radish.
Soon, the lobby on the first floor became crowded and very noisy.
Dwarves always speak loudly, and now that a thousand dwarves have gathered together, they are a huge source of noise.
Poor Edward had never seen anything like this before, and he was so shocked that he stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.
"Alright, everyone!" Dui's loud voice silenced everyone else.
Once everyone was looking at him, he continued, "Now that everyone has arrived at Fengyun Peak, let's settle in first, and then we'll hold a welcome banquet for you all tonight!"
Upon hearing that there was a banquet, all the dwarves' eyes lit up; they loved banquets the most.
Dui originally intended for the dwarves to live on different floors of the tower, since the tower had sixty floors and each floor had many rooms.
It would be more than enough to accommodate a thousand dwarves.
Moreover, even if the room is not enough, he can expand it using the Seamless Stretch Spell.
Bahrain refused, saying they would prefer to live outdoors if they had tents available.
Seeing this, Dui had no choice but to conjure several tents outside the tower and use the Unseen Stretch Charm to expand the space inside so that all the dwarves could live there.
At night, the Amonsur Tower is brightly lit.
In the lobby on the first floor,
The hall, which had been expanded to an infinite extent, housed thousands of dwarves and hundreds of Hogsmeade villagers.
They attended the banquet together.
Dui was going to hold a banquet, and the villagers, as his subjects, spontaneously came to help.
Under the organization of village chief Luke, everyone was assigned a task, such as housekeeper, cook, servant, baker, butcher, etc.
Edward even traveled to Brie via the fireplace and bought all the ingredients and wine needed for the banquet.
In order not to embarrass their adults in front of guests, the villagers all tried their best to behave properly.
The banquet atmosphere was perfect, filled with laughter and joy.
Dui sat in the head seat, with the dwarf elders Balin and Bilbo on his left, and village chief Luke and Edward on his right.
On the long tables on either side sat dwarven craftsmen and villagers of Hogsmeade.
Yes, Bilbo also attended the banquet.
Upon receiving Dui's message, he immediately went to Windrise Peak via the fireplace and chose to sit with his old friend Balin.
The two reminisced about their adventures on the expedition, while Dui listened quietly with a smile, or exchanged a few words with Luke and Edward on the other side.
The dwarves below were drinking and singing happily.
He smiled and waved his wand, conjuring countless musical instruments that automatically accompanied the dwarf's song.
The atmosphere at the banquet was instantly lively, with the dwarves clapping and cheering.
The villagers, not to be outdone, also joined in with lively rural dances.
Everyone was happy, except for the dragon in the cellar, who was saddened by the loss of even more treasure.
Even if you had an extra set of gorgeous armor, it wouldn't make a difference.
The banquet lasted until late at night.
Bilbo had already returned to his Bag End.
Under the moonlight, the villagers descended the mountain path, still basking in the festive atmosphere, and returned to their village with excitement and joy.
The drunken dwarves, even after returning to their tents, continued to sing together, showing no signs of sleepiness.
Dui stood at the tower window, looking out at the scene below and the mountain below, his eyes shining.
He thought that becoming a lord was actually quite good.