A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

But this person was dressed in tattered clothes, clearly indicating he had no family background, yet his archery skills were superior to his. It was truly outrageous.

"If you dare to do it again, you'll lose your lives."

No one dared to make a move for a moment. Balin glanced behind the man and immediately felt relieved.

"Excuse me, if I'm not mistaken, are you from Changhu Town?"

"Could we rent that barge over there?"

The man hesitated for a few seconds before slowly putting away his bow and arrows.

“Poor people,” Aaron murmured.

“Anyone with eyes can see that,” Qi Li said in a low voice.

"No, I mean he's short of money, really short of money, but he's not a bad person."

"How can you be so sure?" Bilbo asked, puzzled.

"Although he was alone, he had the advantage of timing and location. With his archery skills, killing a group of unarmed and exhausted people like us would not be difficult at all."

Even if he kills us, the money on us will still be his, but he still chooses to make a deal with us.

"It seems...that makes sense."

The man carried the empty wine barrels onto the boat. "Why do you think I would help you?"

"Your boots are old, and your coat is shabby. You must have several mouths to feed at home!" Balin said with a familiar smile. "How many?"

"One boy and two girls."

"And your wife, she must be a beauty!"

“That’s right.” The man paused for a moment. “He was in life.”

Bahrain's smile froze instantly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Oh, alright, stop pretending to be a good guy," Dvalin said impatiently.

"What's the rush?" the man asked.

"Why are you asking this?" "I want to know who you are and what you're doing here."

“We’re just businessmen from the Blue Mountains,” Bahrain said with a smile. “We’re going to visit some relatives in the Iron Hills.”

The man nodded, then turned his gaze to Aaron, a playful look in his eyes: "Don't tell me he's also going to Iron Hills to visit relatives?"

Aaron's lips twitched, and he was about to explain when Balin interrupted him, "He went to visit a friend."

"Hehe! His parents are really trusting, actually letting a child travel with you through mountains and rivers."

"He ran away from home and joined our group on the way."

You have children of your own, so you should know that children's friendships can sometimes be just that... magical.

"His ability to lie through his teeth is fucking amazing," Aaron thought to himself.

"And what about him?" The man looked at Bilbo again. "If I hadn't looked closely, I might not have noticed that there was a halfling in your group."

“He’s also going to visit a friend.” Balin smiled kindly. “Although Iron Hills is a dwarf kingdom, the dwarves living there are not without friends of other races.”

Chapter 255 Money isn't important, but having money is very important.

“We need supplies, food, and weapons,” Thorin asked the man. “Can you help us?”

"Desperate times call for desperate measures!" Aaron shook his head, rubbing his forehead, utterly speechless.

To be honest, he understood Thorin's feelings. After all, they were about to reach Lonely Mountain, and going to face the dragon unprepared was no different from being handed a free gift.

But if you're going to ask for help, at least find someone with a little financial means!

It's already quite an achievement for this guy to be able to support his family; supplies and food might be a problem, let alone weapons.

The man didn't answer, but instead touched the arrow marks on the wine barrels. "I know where these wine barrels came from."

"what happened?"

"I don't know what kind of business you did with the elves, but it seems the outcome wasn't good."

Only the mayor can bring people into town; doing business with the Woodland King is his only source of income. To avoid angering Thranduil, he'll imprison you.

As the man spoke, he prepared to pack his things and set sail. He could bring ordinary merchants into the town, but these people were clearly not merchants. Bringing people who had offended the elves into the town would involve certain risks.

"Wait a moment," Aaron suddenly said, then took a gold coin from his pocket and tossed it to the man. "What's your name?"

“Bard”.

"Okay, Bud, I completely understand your difficulties, but fortune favors the bold..."

Bard looked at the gold coins in his hand, a struggle flashing in his eyes. "I have children to raise, and I don't really want to take any risks."

“I understand.” Aaron snapped his fingers and slipped another gold coin into his hand. “Risk and reward are proportional, aren’t they?”

"But what if the mayor catches us..."

“There must be another way to get into town!” Aaron patted his shoulder meaningfully. “I don’t think a man who knows that kind of archery is really a nobody.”

Bud looked at Aaron with surprise, as if he had made up his mind, "How much money are you willing to pay me?"

“We’ll pay double,” Bahrain immediately said.

......

On the other side, in the Woodland Kingdom.

The captured orcs were brought before the throne by Tauriel and Legolas.

After Thranduil finished his perfunctory speech, Legolas began to press Orc for his purpose.

This orc acted extremely arrogantly, showing absolutely no awareness of being a prisoner, yet in some ways he was remarkably cooperative.

First, he told the group that the dwarves were about to suffer casualties, and that Kili had been hit by Mogul's arrow and would soon die.

This news made Tauriel uneasy; if it weren't for the king's orders, she would have killed the orc in a heartbeat.

After that, he utterly scorned Thorin Oakenshield: that dwarf could never become king.

Legolas largely agreed with this view; as long as Smaug was alive, no one would dare enter the Lonely Mountain.

Finally, he stated that the age of orcs was coming, and that his master served the Supreme Being.

Upon hearing the word 'Supreme One', Thranduil lost his composure. Having lived for countless years, he instantly understood many things and directly severed the orc's head.

"The guards on the borders, all roads, and the waterways must be doubled, and no one is allowed to move without my order."

No one can enter this kingdom, and no one can leave it.

Thranduil issued an order to close the kingdom off from the world. He knew that the world might not be peaceful in the future, but that had nothing to do with the Woodland Kingdom. As long as the war didn't reach there, he didn't need to get involved.

Legolas was puzzled, but it was the king's and father's order, and he could only obey.

However, when he ordered the gates to be closed, he learned from the guards in the air that Tarel had gone to the forest fully armed, which made him very uneasy.

Left with no other choice, he had to leave the Woodland Kingdom to find Tarel.

......

Bard steered the boat carefully around the thin ice on the lake, moving slowly through the thick fog.

"Be careful."

Suddenly, Boford shouted, and a large area of ​​broken walls and ruins appeared in the thick fog.

Bud immediately steered the vehicle around the obstacles.

"Not bad skills!" Aaron said meaningfully. "Someone like you shouldn't be doing so badly, with your clothes tattered like this."

"Nothing to do with you."

“But I want to know,” Aaron said. “Right now, all I know is that Laketown has a rather incompetent mayor, and I need to know more.”

Bard sighed helplessly, "It's none of your business, don't make me say it a third time."

"Okay! I'll figure out what I need to figure out."

But before that, I have something else I'd like to ask you.

"What is it?" Bard asked, frowning.

"I need medicine, all the medicines you can find."

Because there's a fool in our group who doesn't want to hold the team back, and he just shoulders his injuries alone, I have to find a way to heal him.

Bud glanced at Chiri. "Is it him?"

“It’s obvious.” Aaron shrugged. “I still need the tools to brew the medicine. Of course, I will pay you accordingly, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.”

"I see."

“Brothers, get the money out,” Bahrain said. “We need to pay our fare.”

The dwarves took out their wallets and collected a pile of silver coins.

Balin counted the coins, his expression turning slightly grim. "There's a little trouble here; we're still short ten silver coins."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone turned their attention to Aaron, who was talking to Bard.

"Hey, hey, hey, why are you all staring at me like that?" Aaron instinctively clutched his purse. "I've paid for most of the expenses along the way. Even if I made a little money along the way, you can't keep ripping off a kid like this!"

No one spoke; they just stared at him intently.

Aaron rolled his eyes, realizing that he probably couldn't refuse to pay.

"It turns out that money isn't important, but having money is very important," Aaron said with emotion, then took out ten gold coins and put them into Bard's pocket. "Consider the extra as a deposit for finding the medicine."

Budd did not refuse; he did need the money.

The boat continued on the lake until he could see the town through the thick fog, at which point he stopped.

"There are guards ahead, hurry up and crawl into the barrel."

If you don't want to be discovered, do as I say.

The group looked at each other, but decided to trust him for the time being.

Bud walked ashore, and Bilbo observed from a distance through a hole in the barrel.