Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 142 Brief Contact and Time Difference

The Hobbit?

Wayne was delighted to hear that they could understand each other's languages, at least communication was no longer a problem, but he was surprised when he heard the word "Hobbit".

Isn't this the race that only appeared in the very famous Lord of the Rings movie series from my previous life?

Is this the world of Lord of the Rings?

He had certainly seen this series of epic films, but so much time had passed that he had almost forgotten the specific plot details. He only had some vague ideas and some rather famous characters in his mind.

For example, Smaug the dragon, the King of Lonely Mountain, the Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo the Hobbit, and most famously, Gandalf the wizard and Sauron the dark god.

Seeing that the hobbit dressed as a farmer was still looking at him with a friendly expression, Wayne thought for a moment, then asked:

"I am a wizard who travels all over the world. I came across this village by chance, so I came to take a look."

"This is truly a beautiful village, and your houses are very unique, like cave dwellings, yet they look so exquisite and impressive."

Wayne's sincere expression, his words of praise, his handsome appearance, and his elegant demeanor immediately intimidated the simple-minded hobbit in front of him.

He scratched his head, a genuine smile spreading across his face, and said in surprise:

"Wow, I didn't know you were a wizard too. By the way, do you know Gandalf? He's a wizard too, and he sometimes comes to our Shire to celebrate Midsummer's Day."

Gandalf, Shire.

Upon hearing these two familiar names, Wayne exclaimed inwardly, "Sure enough, this is Middle-earth from the Lord of the Rings world!"

He felt a mix of joy and worry about the outcome. Firstly, Middle-earth was extremely dangerous, with terrifying armies of orcs, the demon king Sauron, and various evil gods and monstrous monsters like Balrogs. However, it also had many benevolent gods who protected the world.

Meanwhile, other humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and many other races work together to fight against the orc army and protect this world. Overall, it is a fantasy world where good and evil are clearly distinguished, and the power of the righteous side is greater than that of the evil side.

However, at least for now, the village of Shire, where he is, remains very safe.

Even later, when the Fellowship of the Ring assembled and melted away the One Ring's time, the village remained unharmed by the enemy.

Despite these concerns in his mind, Wayne maintained a friendly smile, carefully choosing his words before speaking:

"I come from a faraway continent and am not a native wizard of Middle-earth, so I do not know the Gandalf you mentioned."

To confirm his current time period, Wayne thought for a moment and asked a question:

"By the way, do you know a hobbit named Bilbo?"

Bilbo is an important character throughout the entire Lord of the Rings series of novels. If we can determine his current age, we can roughly determine which time period the story is currently in.

The hobbit dressed as a farmer tilted his head in confusion, wondering how this wizard knew people from the Shire. However, seeing the wizard's handsome face and friendly demeanor, he spoke in a friendly manner:

"Bilbo Hawkins, of course, of course I know him."

As he spoke, he pointed to a cave dwelling hidden on a hillside, about a few hundred meters away from his house, and said:

"Look, that's Bilbo's house. We had drinks together the other day."

Upon hearing this, Wayne looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw a rather exquisitely crafted cave hut.

However, since it was still early, the doors and windows of the cave hut were closed, and the owner inside probably hadn't gotten up yet.

However, even after confirming that Bilbo was still at home, Wayne still couldn't be sure what time it was or whether the Battle of Lonely Hill or the Battle of the Five Armies had already taken place.

Continuing to ask probing questions would be rather unusual. Looking at the honest-looking hobbit in front of him, he silently apologized, then secretly formed an Axii sign in his hand and quietly used it.

After becoming a Source Warlock, his spell power was significantly enhanced. At this moment, even a simple Axii sign immediately put the hobbit in front of him into a deep hypnotic state.

His eyes became vacant, and he stood at the door of his own house, his body swaying slightly, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.

Wayne, not wanting to attract attention, immediately asked his question:

How old is Bilbo this year?

In his vague memory of the story, Bilbo seemed to have always stayed at home, always wanting to do something great, until he was fifty years old when Gandalf invited him to become a thief in the Dwarf Expedition, and that's when he began his legendary life.

If we can determine Bilbo's age this year, we can roughly estimate how long until the Battle of Lonely Hill and the Battle of the Five Armies.

Although he doesn't yet know what use this information is, and doesn't plan to do anything about it for the time being, as a transmigrator with prophetic abilities, determining the timing of the plot is very important.

Upon hearing Wayne's question, the hobbit in front of him shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. After a few seconds, he slowly said:

"Last year, I attended his 40th birthday party, so he should be 41 now."

At forty-one years old, that means there are still about ten years before the plot officially begins. That's a long time!

Wayne couldn't tell whether he was disappointed or relieved. After receiving this news, he felt like he had heard that a long-awaited game masterpiece was suddenly going to be delayed for ten years.

However, after checking the time, he realized that he had been in Middle-earth for almost half an hour since he crossed the spatial rift. If he stayed any longer, it would be too late by the time he returned to the Witcher world and Triss's family mansion.

The purpose of entering this world is simply to confirm whether it is safe, whether it has any value, and whether it can help him become stronger.

Now that he has the results, he is not yet ready to explore this world. He must return home and make thorough preparations before embarking on his adventure in another world.

Thinking of this, Wayne reached out and formed the Axii sign, strengthening the hypnotic effect on the hobbit before him, and then spoke:

"Alright, you'll wake up automatically after I leave."

"What you just saw, heard, and asked, were all illusions."

"Once you wake up, you will forget our conversation, and you will never have seen me in your memory."

"Do you understand?"

Seeing the hobbit slowly nod, Wayne breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at the beautiful natural world of the Shire, filled with birdsong, fragrant flowers, wheat fields, and orchards, a veritable paradise. He sighed softly in his heart.

Let him finish dealing with other matters before exploring this beautiful scenery.

If I had the chance, I could build a house here and cultivate a few acres of farmland; it would be a great place for leisure and vacation.

And so, Wayne arrived in Shire Village without anyone noticing, and left just as quietly. When he passed through the spatial rift and returned to his own Witcher world...

Suddenly, he discovered something that greatly surprised him. Logically speaking, he had been in Middle-earth for nearly an hour. If time were flowing normally, the sun here should have already completely set and the sky should have turned completely dark.

But when he returned to the world of Witcher, he was surprised to find that the changes in the sky were almost the same as before he left, and perhaps only a few minutes had passed.

This situation led Wayne to a guess.

He took out the pocket watch he always wore, placed it on a stone outside the crevice, checked the time, and then returned to Middle-earth.

In Middle-earth, they counted a thousand seconds using a method that involved counting seconds.

However, when he returned to the world of Witcher, he was surprised to find that the second hand of the pocket watch had only ticked about two hundred times.

Unexpectedly, there is a difference of about five times in the flow of time between Middle-earth and the Witcher world.

In other words, even if you spend five years in Middle-earth, only one year will have passed when you return to the Witcher world.

This situation left Wayne feeling both inexplicably shocked and conflicted.

As a modern person who has been exposed to a great many different kinds of fantasy works, countless strange ideas and thoughts suddenly appeared in his mind.

(End of this chapter)