Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 253 The King's Choice

The Dark Forest, also known as the Black Forest, is the largest forest in the north and the home of the Silvan elves.

As the favorites of the creator god, the elves are mostly proud, but they are also kind-hearted and in a state of absolute hostility towards the forces of darkness.

Half a month after the tragedy in Laketown, after a brief discussion, King Thranduil of the Woodland Kingdom temporarily took in the surviving refugees from Laketown, allowing them to stay temporarily in the Woodland Kingdom's territory and providing them with the necessary living supplies.

Of course, this was not free. Although the Silvan elves did not ask for any payment, Wayne, as the temporary leader of these refugees, insisted on paying the corresponding compensation.

As for where this money came from, it was of course obtained from the mayor of Changhu Town, who had previously exploited the people and amassed wealth through extortion.

This bloated, fat fellow wasn't so lucky in this disaster. He and some of his officials were attacked by orcs immediately and died under their blades before they could even escape.

Thus, the wealth amassed by the mayor throughout his life naturally became ownerless. After digging this wealth out of the ruins, Wayne did not choose to keep it for himself. Instead, he used it as funds for the refugees of Laketown to rebuild their homes. This action undoubtedly earned him the gratitude of all the refugees.

That afternoon, while Wayne was discussing how to rebuild Laketown with several of the survivors in charge of its management, the woodland elf prince Legolas came to visit.

The handsome elven prince bowed very politely to Wayne and then spoke:

"Mr. Wayne, my father invites you to a meeting tonight. Gandalf the Grey is departing for Dorguldo tomorrow, and this is the most important meeting before we deal with Smaug."

Wayne nodded upon hearing this, returned the greeting to the elf prince, and agreed to participate in the discussions that evening.

After his success in rescuing the prisoners from Laketown was revealed, he gained the favor and admiration of the entire Silvan Elf race. As a woodland kingdom that had fought against the orcs in the Black Forest for thousands of years, no one did not harbor extreme hatred for the orcs. Moreover, powerful people are welcomed everywhere, and Wayne gladly accepted such goodwill.

After Legolas left, Wayne turned to look at the group of people surrounding him: Bard the archer, Captain Jerry the guard, old William the captain and merchant, and Wengert the scribe.

These four were the most capable and prestigious survivors of Longlake Town. After the orcs' raid, almost half of the townspeople died in the war, and the remaining survivors were mostly the elderly, women, and children. Those who dared to resist had all died under the orcs' swords in the previous confrontations.

Even in the original story, Bard, whose family survived, lost his wife while protecting the children, leaving him to eke out a living with his children.

"Lord Wayne, what's your decision?"

Jerry, the former captain of the guard and now the militia captain of the refugee camp, asked somewhat nervously:

"After our discussions, we wish to elect you as our king to lead us in rebuilding our homeland."

Upon hearing this, Wayne sighed inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged. After exchanging glances with the four of them, he said with a hint of helplessness:

"I'm sorry, but I need to think this through carefully, because I will soon be involved in the hunt for the dragon Smaug."

"I will give you an answer after Smaug is eliminated."

Upon hearing Wayne's answer, the four opponents involuntarily showed expressions of disappointment, while Bard, the sharpshooter, struggled for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and saying:

"Lord Wayne, if you are going to hunt down Smaug, I have some information here that might be of some use."

Wayne nodded slightly. He had a rough idea of ​​what the other party wanted to tell him. To be honest, he was indeed hesitant about whether to accept the position of King of Laketown.

Laketown currently has a population of only about five hundred people. Such a force is not considered powerful, but it still has some value. The only pity is that the portal to Middle-earth is in the Shire, and he cannot stay here to manage the country for long.

But this place is too far from Xia'er, and it would take at least two or three months to go back and forth, which made him feel like he had nothing to eat but couldn't bear to give up, and he was quite melancholy.

Sure enough, as Bard recounted the story of how his ancestor, the King of the Vale, once shot off a dragon scale from Smaug with a black arrow, everyone was somewhat amazed.

Although Wayne already knew about this news, he still expressed his gratitude. At least Mr. Bard was not an ungrateful person who had forgotten his life-saving grace and had not concealed anything, which showed that he was still trustworthy.

Unfortunately, the remaining black arrow in Bard's old house has also disappeared due to the destruction of Lake-town, and it will likely take some effort to find it.

After speaking with the four, Wayne, led by a woodland elf, entered the palace of the Woodland Kingdom.

Unlike the elegant and artistic architectural style of Rivendell, the architectural style of the Sylvan elves is more inclined towards magnificence and practicality.

For thousands of years, the Dark Forest has been plagued by dark forces. The long-term pollution has directly transformed this forest, which was once known as the Great Green Forest, into the Black Forest it is today.

Not only are spiders, orcs, twisted creatures, and all sorts of other monsters thriving here, but the environment itself has also been drastically altered by the distortion of dark forces.

The territory of the Silvan elves has been reduced from the entire forest to just a corner of it.

This wasn't due to the Woodland Kingdom's low combat strength. Compared to the Orcs' ability to reproduce every few years, almost all the Elves in Middle-earth were immortal.

Their long lifespan also led to a low birth rate. Even if an elf could kill ten orcs, the long-term losses from war were unbearable for most elven factions.

Upon entering the palace, the others were already waiting there. King Thranduil, whose handsome appearance was comparable to a work of art, sat on the throne, wearing a magnificent light green robe. Prince Legolas stood beside him, equally handsome.

Prince Thorin and the old dwarf Balin sat to his right, while the grey wizard Gandalf sat opposite the dwarves, smoking a pipe and looking somewhat somber.

When Wayne entered, everyone nodded slightly to him. After he sat down, Gandalf, the only one with no vested interest in any of the three parties, stood up, cleared his throat, and said:

"Gentlemen, now that everyone is here, let's begin our discussion on the matters concerning our fight against Smaug."

Seeing that no one objected, he stroked his beard and continued:

"As we agreed beforehand, our first strategy in dealing with Smaug will be theft."

"Bilbo the Hobbit sneaks into the palace on Lonely Mountain, finds the Arkansas Diamond from the treasures of Lonely Mountain, and ensures the safety of this treasure."

"If the dragon awakens midway, then Mr. Wayne will hunt it down, and they will fight inside Lonely Mountain."

At this point, Gandalf paused slightly, then said:

"If we succeed in hunting him down at this point, then the battle against the evil dragon Smaug will be our victory."

"If Mr. Wayne's hunt fails, we must be prepared for Smaug's retaliation."

"According to our intelligence, the orc clans within the Gray Mountains seem to have received some kind of order and are secretly gathering."

"Prince Thorin has also written to the dwarven kingdom of the Iron Hills, and we will soon receive dwarven reinforcements."

"His Majesty Thranduil is also willing to send troops to fight the orcs together."

"We must work together to stop the alliance between the dragon Smaug and the orcs of the Grey Mountains. We cannot allow these two evil forces to collude."

"The best-case scenario is to concentrate our forces and eliminate one side before any contact occurs between the two sides."

"And regardless of the outcome, Prince Thorin will return His Majesty Thranduil's necklace and is willing to offer a portion of the Lonely Mountain's treasure as compensation for this operation."

(End of this chapter)