Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 237 The Troll's Treasure and the Elf Sword

The experience of fleeing their home from Lonely Mountain and heading south to the Blue Mountains has always been deeply etched in the hearts of the Turin dwarves.

These are unforgettable memories for them. Even after hundreds of years, these surviving dwarves will never forget the pain and hardship of their southward journey, as well as the relatives and friends who died along the way.

Therefore, with a group of dwarves leading the way, the route to Lonely Mountain was not unfamiliar to them.

After the group departed from Wayne Manor, the expedition quickly got on track.

After the rest of the expedition team learned that Wayne possessed a magical item that could store large quantities of supplies, the task of managing the logistical supplies fell to him.

Among the traveling party, he was in charge of cooking, while Deathclaw Robin was in charge of hunting and capturing wild animals from the dangerous wilderness. He single-handedly took on most of the work during the trip.

With this behemoth at the rear, its towering two-story-high size and terrifying aura deterred any wild beasts from daring to attack the group during their journey.

In addition, Wayne's occasional displays of magic and use of magical items made everyone in the team feel even more connected to him.

Bilbo even joked with Gandalf, saying:

"Gandalf, between you and Wayne, who is the real wizard? We have never seen you use magic."

This joke made everyone burst into laughter, including Gandalf himself.

Two weeks later, the expedition team left the Hobbit kingdom and entered a primeval forest.

Middle-earth is a vast world. Although it has many races such as elves, dwarves, orcs, and humans, their total numbers are not very large. The total population of the entire continent does not exceed two million. Most of the land is covered by forests and wilderness, and there are no people around.

Each race lacks stable routes, which makes long journeys difficult. Apart from those areas where trade is thriving and the regions have been fully explored, few people are able to leave their homes to travel to other places.

The vast wilderness, ferocious beasts, and other man-eating monsters were the biggest challenges on their journey.

That night, when all the dwarves in the expeditionary force were fast asleep, and it was Wayne's turn to keep watch, they all slept soundly, trusting in his abilities, and were not worried about any danger.

After an unknown amount of time, Bilbo was suddenly awakened by some noise, the faint sound of horses neighing in panic.

He groggily opened his eyes, rubbed his eye sockets, and first looked up towards the fire.

Wayne, who was supposed to be sitting there keeping watch, was nowhere to be found, and Deathclaw Robin, the most reliable fighter in the group, was not lying beside his master as usual; his huge figure had also disappeared.

This discovery startled Bilbo, and he was much more awake than before. He instinctively got up and looked toward where the horses were kept.

Sure enough, it was discovered that of the fourteen horses that were tied to the tree stump, only ten remained, and the whereabouts of the other four were unknown.

He glanced back at the campfire and saw that all the dwarves in the group, including Prince Thorin, were sleeping soundly, covered with the expensive sleeping bags provided by Wayne, snoring loudly, and no one noticed anything amiss with the horses.

Bilbo tried to nudge the youngest dwarves, Kili and Fili, but the two were fast asleep and didn't respond even after several nudges.

Seeing this, Bilbo didn't press the matter further. He wasn't sure if there was really a problem and didn't want to wake everyone up by making a fuss.

So he carefully climbed out of his sleeping bag and then quietly walked in the direction from which he had just heard the sound.

Hobbits are short in stature and agile. In addition, their feet are different from those of other races. They never wear shoes and are barefoot all year round. They are born with a structure that can eliminate sound, so they move without making a sound. Just as Gandalf thought, they are indeed very suitable to become thieves.

After chasing for several hundred meters, following the sounds and traces left behind, Bilbo rounded a cave hidden by rocks, where a burst of firelight came into view.

He parted the weeds that were taller than him, rubbed his eyes, and looked toward the firelight.

Three enormous humanoid creatures, with rough skin, wearing only fur skirts, gray bodies, ugly appearances, and bald heads, were stirring and discussing how to cook them in a huge iron pot over a fire.

Beside these monsters, the four Shire horses brought from the Hobbiton were being timidly tied to a corner by the fire by the ogres, trembling as if they too sensed their impending fate of being eaten.

Bilbo was terrified by the scene. Living in a peaceful village, he had never seen such a monster before. He quickly covered his mouth and tried to back away.

However, he suddenly remembered the distrust the dwarf prince Thorin had shown him along the way, who thought that a hobbit like him, who was immersed in peaceful times, was incapable of completing the Little Snitch's mission and was not worthy of joining them on this expedition to Lonely Mountain.

However, although Bilbo was a coward, he was also a man of great courage. He inherited the good blood of his father and mother and the pure kindness of the hobbits. After gritting his teeth and considering for a few seconds, he decided to prove his courage with action and try to rescue the horses that were tied up.

Wayne's presence in the team gave him this confidence. He believed that the strange occurrences here would soon be discovered by the powerful human adventurer, and that these three humanoid monsters were nothing to fear in the face of that terrifying Deathclaw.

Just as he drew the dagger from his waist, about to take action, a tall figure suddenly emerged from the bushes beside him. Holding a huge, ornate two-handed sword in one hand, he looked coldly at the three humanoid monsters, his eyes devoid of any emotion, seemingly not taking them seriously. It was Wayne from the group.

Just as Bilbo was about to speak, he suddenly saw Wayne raise his left hand, and a huge blue fireball shot out from his palm, hitting one of the monsters.

The scorching blue flames instantly enveloped the monster, turning it into a giant burning torch while simultaneously unleashing a mournful howl.

A few seconds later, while the other two monsters were still in a daze, the monster enveloped in blue flames suddenly exploded, shattering into countless fragments. Foul-smelling blood and chunks of flesh were splattered everywhere, completely terrifying the other two monsters.

Bilbo, huddled in the grass, was equally terrified; the hobbits had never seen such a bloody scene before.

He stared blankly at Wayne, the courage he had just mustered vanished, and he could only ask stupidly:

"Where have you been, Wayne?"

"I thought you went somewhere else. Even Robin didn't know where you went."

Wayne held his sword level, aimed it at the remaining two trolls, glanced back at Bilbo, and said with a smile:

"I discovered the traces of these monsters a long time ago. The reason I let them take the horses was just to find out where their lair was so I could wipe them out and prevent future troubles."

"As for Robin, I sent him to wander around somewhere else. If he were here, these monsters wouldn't dare come near our camp."

Bilbo somewhat dejectedly sheathed his dagger. He knew that with Wayne present, he wouldn't need to lift a finger for what was to come.

And what happened next was exactly as Bilbo had predicted.

The remaining two trolls, after dying the instant they saw their companion, were blasted into pieces by the explosive effect of the Igni Sign. They were stunned for several seconds, and then one of the trolls, for some unknown reason, suddenly roared, picked up a spiked club from the ground, and charged at Wayne.

But the Witcher didn't give it a chance to attack. It raised its spiked club, roared, and charged forward. It had only taken a few steps when it suddenly felt a figure appear on its shoulder. The figure appeared instantly and it had no idea how the figure had climbed onto its shoulder.

Before his foolish mind could even process the problem, Excalibur in Wayne's hand, imbued with immense power, transformed into a blur and slammed into the ogre's neck.

Trolls are monsters belonging to the forces of darkness, and Excalibur, as a sacred weapon, is naturally very effective against them.

The troll, its neck slashed, didn't even have time to let out a wail before its head flew off with a snap, the severed neck gushing out like a fountain, leaving it a headless corpse.

As for the last troll, it did not escape its fate of death. Although it had seen two of its companions killed by the humans in front of it in less than half a minute, it had already chosen to surrender and was about to kneel down.

But Wayne felt no pity. As three gangs of cannibalistic monsters who had lived for who knows how long, they had probably eaten countless lives. This was a crime that could not be forgiven by kneeling and surrendering.

After the cooldown of Blink ended, Wayne instantly appeared behind the last troll, and without mercy, he plunged Excalibur into the back of the troll's head, piercing through its brain and exiting through its mouth, ending this evil life.

After killing the three ogres, Wayne's expression remained unchanged. He whistled at Bilbo, who was hiding in the bushes, still somewhat dazed, and said in a gentle tone:

"My friend, go and rescue our horses. I need to go check out the ogre's cave."

Hearing Wayne's voice, Bilbo, stunned by his ruthless and decisive fighting style, couldn't help but shiver. He then hurriedly nodded and replied:

"Don't worry, leave it to me, Wayne."

Wayne nodded, took out a crystal ball that was constantly emitting light from his spatial bracers, and then walked into the ogre's cave without looking back.

He remembered very clearly that this cave not only contained many treasures left behind by the elves during the First Age, but also three elven swords from the First Age.

These three elven swords are the work of an ancient elf, and now that he has killed all three trolls, the spoils here rightfully belong to him.

Rather than leaving these good things to the ungrateful Thorin, it's better to let him keep them for himself.

When the rest of the expedition team heard the noise and rushed over, they found the ground littered with blood and flesh: a headless corpse, an ogre with its head pierced through, and countless fragments of remains.

Wayne, who had just entered the ogre cave, came out covering his nose.

He had already pocketed all the treasures and swords in the cave, as well as anything of value.

He was not prepared to share this news.

(End of this chapter)