-Gandalf-
As I watched Thorin welcome Aldril to the expedition, I let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, I had given him good advice on how to deal with dwarves: gamble or compete with them, and if you win, you can easily forge a good relationship. Aldril had indeed defeated Kili in the archery competition, and I was genuinely surprised to witness such skill with a bow. I know many elves, and I can say that none possess such mastery. The closest to Aldril's talent would be Legolas, the Sylvan Elf and son of King Thranduil.
Now, my concern turned to Thorin accepting Bilbo. Although I know he'll consider my recommendation, ultimately it's Thorin's decision whether Bilbo joins the expedition. I watched little Bilbo, whose face began to sag as he saw all the dwarves return home, yet despite his anger, he remained hospitable to us.
No doubt he is the right person; the adventurous Took blood inside him will be what drives him to follow us, I thought, watching the little hobbit take quick steps to get to his home first.
But first, "Here's your share of the bet, Gandalf," Kili said to me, tossing me a bag of money. "Heh, it's good to gamble with dwarves."
...
Some dwarves were still reeling from their gambling losses, while others entered in high spirits and headed straight for Bilbo's food stores. Seeing this, poor Bilbo just ducked his head and sighed. "Ah, never mind now. At least I'll be cordial to them. By the way, Gandalf won money on his wager, didn't he? I'll charge the meal to him."
"Hey, wait, that's my mother's cutlery! Be careful!"
After all the preparations, the feast continued. Bilbo's long table was now laden with all kinds of food: smoked fish, bacon, smoked sausages, smoked ham, cheese, white bread, dried tomatoes, apples, mushrooms, and more than a dozen other dishes. In addition, various types of red wine and fruit wine flowed freely. Seeing the sheer quantity of fancy food and silverware, Aldril had some insight into Bilbo's background. This was not a stockpile of food that ordinary families might possess. "I didn't remember Bilbo's family being rich," Aldril thought as he took a seat next to Gandalf.
Once everything was prepared, the group of dwarves sat down and began to eat—or rather, to devour the food. Aldril knew from the movie's plot that this would be their last hearty meal for a while, as many hardships awaited them after leaving Hobbiton. So, he made sure to make the most of the feast, savoring the smoked fish, bacon, country ham, smoked sausages, and cheese. Unlike the dwarves, however, he ate with decency, not like a savage.
While Aldril was enjoying his meal, the dwarves began to sing loudly. As they sang, a dwarf resembling Kili, with blond hair and several braids in his beard and hair, climbed onto the table and began to shake his backside. The dwarves, upon seeing Fíli dance, began waving knives and forks, banging on the table, and creating a rhythm to keep Fíli dancing.
Fortunately, Aldril had just finished eating, as such a display made him uncomfortable. Sipping a large glass of fruit wine, Aldril turned to look at Gandalf, who was laughing and cheering Fíli on.
"You dwarves certainly know how to have fun," Aldril said, catching Gandalf's eye.
"When you get acquainted with them, you'll have fun," Gandalf replied, raising his glass and taking a big gulp.
"They are very noisy, but actually not bad. I think as long as I'm with them, I'll never get bored."
As they watched the dwarves dance and enjoy themselves, Aldril asked Gandalf, "By the way, Gandalf, haven't you told me what the purpose of these dwarves' expedition is?" Even though he already knew, he asked just to have a chat with Gandalf.
Hearing Aldril's question, Gandalf shook his head. "This is not the time to explain. Let Thorin finish eating, and he will explain."
The feast lasted a while. After they finished eating, everyone cleared the table and sat down, this time without making much noise. Aldril knew that soon the serious talk about the expedition would begin. And he was right, for seeing that everyone was seated, Balin spoke up.
"By the way, Thorin, what happened at the Ered Luin meeting? Did everyone go?"
Thorin nodded with a smile. "Yes, envoys from the seven kingdoms—all of them!"
The dwarf Dwalin, hearing what Thorin said, quickly rushed to ask, "And what did the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Will Dáin help us?"
Thorin shook his head, his smile disappearing. Then he spoke seriously. "They will not come. They say this is our adventure, ours alone."
At that moment, Bilbo interrupted, "Adventure? They're going on an adventure?"
At the interruption, Thorin was silent. That silence was broken by Gandalf, who kindly said, "Bilbo, my dear friend, would you be so kind as to bring a candle?"
Handing the candle to Gandalf, he placed it on the table and then took out a scroll and unfolded it. On it, mountains, rivers, and forests were clearly drawn; it was clearly a map.
"In the far east, over mountains and rivers, through forests and wastelands, stands a mountain: the Lonely Mountain," Gandalf said as he glanced at all the dwarves.
"Yes, Óin has interpreted the signs, and the signs indicate that the time has come," said Glóin.
"You have seen ravens fly back to the mountain, as the prophecy tells us: when the ancestral birds return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end," said Óin, complementing what Glóin had said.
"Beast? What beast?" Bilbo, who felt drawn into the conversation, asked suddenly from the side.
"It is a reference to Smaug the Terrible, the greatest and chief calamity of our age. He flies and spits fire, he has teeth like razors, claws like hooks, he is very fond of precious metals," Bofur said as he smoked from his pipe and exaggerated his tone to frighten Bilbo.
At Bofur's description, Óri stood up dramatically and exclaimed, "I am not afraid of him! I am ready! I'll make him taste the hard metal of the dwarves and shove it up his ass!"
"Don't think about it; it would be very difficult, even with the support of an army, not to mention that we are only a dozen, we are not the best, and not the smartest either," Balin said, pouring cold water on Óri's fantasies, while with his last comment, he looked at Dwalin.
"Hey, what do you mean? Who are you calling stupid?"
"We're not stupid!"
As the dwarves began to bicker, Fíli stood up and caught everyone's attention. "We may be few in number, but we are all warriors, every single one of us, down to the last dwarf!"
Backing up his brother, Kili said, "Have you already forgotten that we have an adventurer and a wizard on our team? Gandalf has killed hundreds of dragons."
"Uh, no, wait, I wouldn't say..." Gandalf said quickly, then spoke so that all attention was directed to Aldril.
"And you, Aldril, would you be able to slay the dragon?"
Looking at Gandalf, who had just made all the dwarves turn their attention to him, Aldril felt a small twitch in his eye. Sure, I've hardly killed bears, though I guess I was wrong to lie that I've killed trolls, Aldril thought.
Looking at Aldril, who remained silent, the dwarves began to despair, and just as they were about to start rushing him for an answer, Balin spoke up.
"By bearing the title of adventurer, it means you are strong, so tell me, boy, would you lose to Smaug?"
At Balin's words, something stirred inside Aldril, and with a confidence he didn't know where it came from, he said something that would make the dwarves look at him with wide eyes.
"Nah, I'd win."
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Hey, here's your favorite author.
Our Aldril is arrogant, because he thinks he will be able to do better on the journey and there is an important moment coming up about Aldril's identity, who do you think his parents are and his lineage? Give me your predictions...
By the way, I was reading a Chinese novel in which the Mc is reincarnated in Naruto's world as the Uzumaki patriarch, so he recreates uzushiogakure with Bleach's Gotei 13, but my goodness! The captains are nerfed to the max.
How come the raikage is at yoruichi's speed level?
How does the third Hokage force Byakuya to use his Bankai in their fight?
Anyway, remember to join my patreon for advance chapters. "patreon.com/Mrnevercry"