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

Chapter 158: The Black Gate Again?

Bilbo's voice instantly excited Robillia, who had noticed him, but her mouth was stuffed with a rag, so she could only make "woo-woo" sounds.

Bilbo angrily pointed at Robillia, who was hanging outside the door, and demanded, "I'm warning you, don't give me that 'I can save you' look. What's going on in my house?!"

Tanes noticed Bilbo's anger, gently patted him on the back, and said, "Calm down, Bilbo. These two are gagged; they can't answer you if you ask them like that."

At this moment, the round wooden door of Bag End opened outwards, and Roger slowly walked out from inside, bending over. Then he straightened up, and his handsome face instantly broke into a smile when he saw Tanes and Bilbo.

“Ah, you’re finally back. Tanes, and Bilbo. How was your journey to Lonely Mountain?” Roger asked gently.

Then, when his gaze fell upon Melina, a look of surprise appeared on his face. He paused, removed his mage's pointed hat, and bowed to her with his hand on his chest: "It's been a long time, Miss Melina. I'm so glad that you're back by Tanes's side."

"Hello, magician."

Melina gave a slight bow in return.

Tanes and Bilbo both looked surprised; neither of them had expected Roger to appear in Bag End.

Tanes dismounted from Torret, took a few quick steps, gave Roger a big hug, then released him and asked curiously, "What are you doing here? Did you do those two hobbits hanging by ropes outside?"

Bilbo nodded repeatedly as Tanes spoke, having asked all the questions he wanted to ask.

Roger glanced helplessly at the two hobbits hanging outside the door, then looked at Bilbo and explained, "It wasn't me who hung them at the door, it was Darian."

Roger's voice then turned slightly cold as he looked at the two hobbits shaking their heads frantically and said, "However, I don't think Darian did anything wrong this time. When we passed through Hobbiton, we wanted to know if Bilbo had returned from the Lonely Mountain, but we found that these two had somehow managed to open your door and start moving your furniture out. Darian was furious when he saw this and drew his weapon. If I hadn't stopped him, those two wouldn't be just hanging here."

Bilbo gave a speechless look, then looked at Robillia and her husband with disdain: "You two are still up to no good. I've only been away from home for a little while, and you actually tried to break into my house."

Tanes suddenly realized, "So the Hobbitonians avoided Bilbo in a panic because your actions frightened them?"

Roger shook his head slightly: "Yes and no. Although it was only these two hobbits who broke into the house, when Darian and I came by, there were quite a few hobbits gathered outside, waiting for something. They scattered very quickly after they saw us."

“What do you mean by ‘scattered very quickly’? Those cowardly halflings were just hiding to see what we were going to do to Robillia and her husband. They only dispersed when they saw us hanging them at the door.” Darian’s voice came from behind the crowd.

Tanes turned around and saw that Darian was still wearing his gold and silver twin armor, but he was holding something wrapped in cloth in each of his hands.

Judging from the aroma wafting from the bag, it was clear that Darian was holding freshly bought food.

Before Tanes could speak, Darian placed the bag on the stone steps in front of the bag's bottom cave, knelt down on one knee and bowed to Tanes: "Lord Tanes, congratulations on your victory at the Battle of Lonely Mountain."

After Tarnes and Darion stood up, he asked curiously, "How did you know that Bilbo and I had recaptured Lonely Mountain?"

Darian replied firmly, "Lord Tanes, I don't need to hear this from others. I believe that you will surely cleanse the Lonely Mountain of all its evils when you go there!" Roger, seeing Darian's increasingly fanatical tone, sighed slightly and interrupted him to prevent him from becoming truly fanatical in front of Tanes, "Anyway, let's go inside. Darian, please go to the market and buy enough food for three more people."

"It is my honor to serve Lord Tanes and his two friends; there is no trouble at all!"

Without any hesitation, Darian turned around and headed back to the Hobbiton market.

Melina, hiding her face under her hood, looked at Robillia and her husband and asked, "Have they been hanging like this all this time? How long has it been?"

Bilbo sighed and said, "Yes, it's a hassle to have it hanging on my door all the time."

Roger shrugged. "It's only been two days. But don't worry, Darian healed their injuries with prayer after teaching them a lesson. We've also been feeding and watering them these past two days. After all, we only wanted to teach them a lesson, not kill them. Bilbo, you decide what to do with them."

Bilbo looked at Robillia, who was frantically begging for mercy with "uh-uh-uh" sounds, and said to her impatiently, "I'll put you down for now, but then I'll take you to the Hobbiton sheriff's office and let the Shire's laws decide how you should be punished."

Tanes said, "Then let Melina and I go with you to the police station and let us know what's in charge here."

Bilbo nodded, then asked curiously, "What are you going to say?"

Tanes bent down to straighten Bilbo's collar and said, "Of course, I must remind everyone here that your identity is different now. My dear Bilbo Baggins, don't you realize that you are now a friend of me, Lord of the Golden Tree, and Thorin Oakenshield, King of Lonely Mountain?"

Then he straightened up, glanced at Robillia who had an even more desperate expression, and smiled: "And this friend of mine went on a long journey because of the promise of the Lord of the Golden Tree and the invitation of the King of Lonely Mountain, but his home was broken into by thieves during this time. I think the person in charge of Hobbiton will definitely give my friend a fair and just result."

Bilbo blinked after hearing Tanes's words, then said, "To be honest, I've never felt that you and Thorin are like kings. I mean, neither of you seems to put on any royal airs in front of me, so I don't really feel like I'm a friend of a king. Although it does sound like a noble status, I still prefer the way I interact with you and Thorin as we are now."

“I like it this way too,” Tanes said, as he put Robillia and her husband down.

Although Tanes untied the two men, he did not remove the gags from their mouths and led them to the police station under Bilbo's guidance.

When Tanes and Bilbo returned from the sheriff's office, Roger and Darian had already thoughtfully prepared lunch.

During lunch, Tanes also told Roger and Darian about the purpose of his trip.

“Lord Tanes, did you come out this time to find the place of Ocdo and collect their souls? In the past year or so, Roger and I have traveled to many places in Middle-earth, such as Mount Gondabad in the north or the Black Gate in the southeast, both of which meet your requirements,” Darion said.

Hmm, another Black Gate?

Tanes raised an eyebrow; this was the second time he had heard the place name.

In that case, he really needs to go to the Black Gate to investigate.

(End of this chapter)