Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 250 The Flames of War and the Crisis of Changhu Town

It is well known that the woodland elves of Mirkwood and the Lonely Mountain dwarves are inherently incompatible.

The Woodland Kingdom views the Lonely Mountain Dwarves as thieves and swindlers because they refused to return the necklace of the Woodland Elf King's deceased wife as agreed, and even demanded a higher price, breaking their contract.

The Lonely Mountain dwarves harbor resentment because the woodland elves failed to come to their aid when Smaug attacked Lonely Mountain.

The two races had barely met when tensions immediately escalated.

However, unlike the original story, this expedition has the wealthy Lord Wayne as its logistics officer. Every dwarf in the expedition team is now equipped with a mount, fine armor, and various weapons, unlike the unarmed soldiers in the original story.

Although there were significantly more woodland elves around than the expedition team, Deathclaw's earth-shattering roar and the beast's terrifying eight-meter height made the woodland elves realize that it was not someone to be trifled with, leaving them feeling rather helpless.

Both sides held weapons and stared at each other, neither daring to relax, creating a tense atmosphere.

However, the one leading this elf team was a very handsome male elf named Legolas, the prince of the Woodland Elf Kingdom, nicknamed Greenleaf.

This elven prince was exceptionally brave and hated evil. Even when facing the far more powerful Deathclaw, he showed no fear. After observing both sides, he didn't reprimand Wayne for his earlier actions. Instead, he cautiously observed Wayne for a short while before asking the crowd in a serious tone:

"Who are you? This is the territory of the Woodland Kingdom. Outsiders are not allowed to act recklessly here."

As he spoke, he looked at Thorin and the other dwarves, his tone full of suspicion.

"I've seen you before, Thorin Oakenshield, and the other dwarves. You left Lonely Mountain long ago. What brings you back now?"

Although Legolas' tone wasn't exactly aggressive, the inherent arrogance of the elves still made the dwarves uncomfortable.

This time, however, Thorin didn't react too violently. With Gandalf, the grey wizard, also present, before any real conflict could erupt, the white-bearded old man stepped forward and addressed the Elven prince:

"Honorable Elf Prince, I am Gandalf the Grey Wizard."

"You and your father, Thranduil, are old friends."

"Please don't misunderstand, our purpose this time is only to go to Lonely Mountain, and we will not do anything in the Woodland Kingdom that will affect the Woodland Elves."

Seeing Gandalf step forward, Legolas's expression softened slightly, and he carefully examined the grey wizard.

As an outstanding prince, he had read many books and knew that throughout history, there had always been a group of wizards who made silent sacrifices in every battle against the forces of darkness. Therefore, this elven prince had great respect for Gandalf.

He considered for a few seconds, then waved his hand, and all the elven guards around him put away their weapons.

Legolas bowed slightly to Gandalf and said politely:

"Welcome, Grey-robed Wizard."

"If these people are all your friends, I would like to invite you to our banquet."

"Today is the day we are holding a banquet in the palace, and I believe my father would also like to welcome you all."

Although it was an invitation to a banquet, perhaps the elven prince's somewhat arrogant attitude displeased the dwarves. Before Thorin could speak, several other dwarves immediately began to shout:

"We will not attend the elves' banquet."

"Who knows if the elves have any ulterior motives? They're not good people at all."

"Yes, they stood by and watched our people die, allowing us to suffer heavy casualties under Smaug's dragonfire."

Although the dwarves' voices weren't loud, the elves had excellent hearing, and everyone heard them clearly.

The dwarves of Middle-earth are like this: stubborn and obstinate, petty thieves, and extremely greedy for money. It is precisely because of these character flaws, coupled with their birth issues, that the dwarves and elves are constantly separated and united, causing a lot of conflicts.

Seeing that the dwarves' words were becoming increasingly harsh and the elves' expressions were growing more and more unpleasant, Gandalf quickly coughed loudly to interrupt the dwarves' complaints.

However, at this somewhat awkward moment, a beautiful female elf, dressed in a green robe, with a slender figure and carrying a bow and arrows, suddenly leaped from a distance to the side of the elven prince Legolas and whispered in his ear:

"Legolas, we must return to the palace immediately."

"The flames of war have been lit in the west. Judging from the signal, there must be a problem in Changhu Town."

"King Thranduil will surely summon us."

Legolas's expression changed upon hearing this. He bowed slightly to Gandalf and said regretfully:

"I'm sorry, Grey Wizard, there's an urgent military situation in the Woodland Kingdom. Please forgive me for not being able to accompany you back to the palace."

After saying this, without waiting for the expedition team's agreement or not, the Elf Prince left one guard to lead the way, and after apologizing, he leaped onto a tree branch and quickly left with the other guards.

Only the elven guard and the members of the expedition team remained, looking at each other in bewilderment.

However, as a witcher, Wayne's hearing was far superior to others, and he had already overheard the conversation between the female elf and Legolas.

He was somewhat surprised. According to the female elf, it seemed that there was danger in Lake Town, so the elves lit the beacon fires.

In his memory, Lake-town should have been safe until Smaug flew out of the Lonely Mountain and the Orc army invaded. Although it was poor, it had not suffered from the ravages of war.

Thinking this, he turned to Gandalf and Thorin and said:

"You should go to the Woodland Elf's palace first. Smaug is the enemy of all the forces in the North. Perhaps we can reach an agreement with the Woodland Elf."

"However, I'll go check on the area where the fire started first, and then I'll come back to you after everything is over."

Thorin hesitated upon hearing this, but after glancing at the elven guard beside him, he remained silent.

Gandalf was somewhat puzzled by Wayne's motives, but he didn't stop him. He simply nodded and told him to be careful.

Without offering any further explanation, Wayne piloted the magic flying carpet into the sky, whistling at Robin on the ground. Upon hearing this, the giant immediately took off running.

One person and one pet, one flying in the sky and the other running on the ground, but they were very fast, much faster than the forest elves.

After flying in the direction of Long Lake Town for about half an hour, Wayne was high enough to barely see what was happening there.

In a small town built of wood and situated by the lake, several places were already ablaze with flames.

The Witcher's excellent eyesight allowed Wayne to see clearly that a large-scale looting seemed to be taking place in the town. A group of people were fighting each other, some were desperately running away, and others were escaping across the lake in small boats.

From a distance, most of the town had fallen, and everything was burning. However, because of the distance, even with the Witcher's eyesight, he could not see the specific details.

However, judging from the size, equipment, and fighting style of the raiding party, it is most likely an army of orcs.

This discovery puzzled Wayne greatly. Why would the orc army attack Laketown before the Battle of the Five Armies?

He thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with an answer. The only one he thought was possible was because he destroyed the orc town and killed Azog when he was in the Misty Mountains.

It is precisely because of these changes from the original work that the butterfly effect has occurred.

However, as the saying goes, "looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death." Although the magic flying carpet is much faster than a galloping horse and can fly in a straight line in the sky, reducing many obstacles, even so, several hours had already passed by the time he flew to Long Lake Town.

He practically watched helplessly as the orcs, laden with spoils and leading groups of prisoners, left Laketown.

Perhaps it was because these orcs' goal was not to completely destroy the residents of Laketown, but rather to plunder Laketown's resources and its population.

After defeating the few guards and soldiers in Laketown, the orc army did not waste much time on killing, but instead focused on gathering supplies and kidnapping prisoners.

Large quantities of food, supplies, and the town's population were packed up and taken away by them.

Excluding the men and soldiers who were killed, the remaining population of the town was estimated to be less than a quarter of the original number, and many of them were seriously injured, lying in the streets and buildings, barely clinging to life and waiting for death.

Moreover, the orcs were very skilled and professional at raiding.

This town, whose main buildings were constructed of wood, was looted in less than half a day. Most of the buildings were set on fire, and the entire town was in imminent danger of collapsing amidst the flames.

After landing in Lake-town on his magic carpet, Wayne considered it for a moment before abandoning the idea of ​​pursuing the orcs.

You can kill the orcs anytime you want, but if you miss the window, all the refugees in the town will probably be dead.

However, looking around now, there are not many people in the entire town who can stand up, and his strength alone is far too limited.

Wayne thought for a moment, then reached into his spatial bracelet and pulled out five white scrolls. These were scrolls he had drawn a long time ago, the ones that summoned skeleton warriors.

Holding the five scrolls in his hands and infusing them with magic, he casually tossed them aside. With a few soft thuds, five skeleton warriors, their bodies made of white bones, appeared on the ground, each wielding a shield and a sword.

Wayne glanced at them and immediately gave the command:

"Put down your weapons and move the wounded from the town here."

The five skeleton warriors, their eyes glowing with eerie blue soul fire, heard his command and, without hesitation, immediately dropped their shields and swords, then headed in different directions into the burning town.

Wayne sighed. If he had any help, he wouldn't have wanted to use these easily misunderstood skeleton warriors to assist him.

However, saving lives is the priority; we should save as many as we can.

With that in mind, Wayne didn't wait for the wounded at the dock where he landed. Instead, he joined the rescue team and rushed into the burning town of Long Lake.

The first person he found was a middle-aged man with a stab wound to the abdomen. He was wearing a linen vest that workers often wore, and he was weakly opening his eyes, covering his wound with his hand, trying to stop more blood from flowing out, seemingly waiting to die.

Upon seeing him, Wayne walked straight up to him, slapped him across the face to wake him up, then pried open his jaw and poured a large gulp of the magic flask containing a medium-level healing potion into him. He then took out a needle and thread from his pouch and quickly sewed him up.

After about three minutes of treatment, without even checking if the guy was healed, Wayne handed him a roll of bandages and said:

"Bandage yourself up and then go to the open space at the dock to wait for rescue."

"If you can hold on, you can also go into town to find other people who need rescue and bring them to the dock."

After treating the first person, he found another soldier who had been stabbed in the chest and whose left leg had been severed.

However, thanks to the protection of his armor, the soldier was not fatally wounded. He covered his chest with a rag, his face pale from blood loss, and he was crawling on his hands and feet through the burning town, seemingly trying to escape the surrounding fires.

Upon seeing him, Wayne didn't hesitate. He forced a large mouthful of healing potion down his throat and then used strong liquor to disinfect the area where his leg had been severed.

The pain from the strong liquor seeping into the wound caused the soldier to let out a piercing scream.

However, time was of the essence, and Wayne had no time to be coy with him. He directly used his powerful strength to restrain the struggling body and forcibly bandaged the broken leg.

Then, carrying the soldier, who was dazed from the pain, he returned to the dock where they had first landed.

Meanwhile, the five skeleton warriors he had sent out had brought back five wounded soldiers.

However, due to their limited intelligence, two of the five wounded were already on the verge of death, suffering fatal injuries that were beyond saving. The other three were terrified by the skeleton warrior's terrifying appearance, and their expressions of fear only eased slightly after they saw Wayne.

Wayne glanced at the two who were too badly injured and began treating the other three.

When it comes to medical skills, Wayne's abilities are only very average. He has at most a little experience in surgery and suturing and bandaging wounds, most of which he learned from Kaer Morhen.

He has been in the industry for three or four years and has hardly ever been injured. His ability to treat other people's injuries is still in the theoretical stage.

Fortunately, the effects of intermediate-level healing potions are very powerful. With the vitality of ordinary humans in Middle-earth, as long as the injury is not fatal, a few sips of the potion will generally start to improve the condition and prevent it from worsening.

Most injuries sustained in war are superficial wounds and external injuries. As long as the wounds are stitched up, disinfected, and excessive bleeding is prevented, most people can be saved.

And so, from the beginning when one person treated the wounded, to later when some of the wounded recovered and assisted Wayne in treatment, with him as a leader, more and more people began to unite and help each other.

Several hours later, more than a hundred wounded people in the town had survived thanks to his healing potion.

These survivors, starving, freezing, and terrified, as if they had lost their souls, gradually began to gather here because of Wayne's presence. They comforted each other or wept bitterly to vent their fear.

As night fell, the entire town was reduced to ruins by the fire, but the still-burning flames illuminated everyone's faces.

All the wounded who could be treated were carried out of the town and handed over to Wayne for treatment. The number of survivors gathered around him was close to two or three hundred.

With no food and no shelter, and having experienced both great joy and sorrow, the survivors huddled together, many falling into a deep sleep from grief.

Fortunately, as the owner of the spatial bracelet, Lord Wayne was not short of food. Although he certainly could not supply hundreds of people for a long time, he could still last for a few days.

He took out his food and distributed it to the refugees present. Amidst their profuse thanks, he sighed wearily, feeling not only sympathy and pity, but also intense disgust for the orcs.

This was his first time coming into close contact with these poor people ravaged by war. He spent the entire afternoon treating them. Although many people were saved thanks to the effectiveness of the medicine, thirty or forty wounded soldiers died quickly because their injuries were too severe and fatal.

When Wayne was slaughtering the orcs, he felt no pity or remorse; he simply believed he was killing monsters and beasts.

But when he is facing these ordinary human civilians, he remembers that he is the same race as them.

(End of this chapter)