Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 265 A Bountiful Harvest and Return to the Wizarding World

After the Battle of the Five Armies, peace was finally restored in the North.

As the greatest contributor to this war, Wayne's deeds spread widely among the dwarves, elves, and various factions around Lake-town. Not only the common people, but also the high-ranking members of various races, the wizards who maintained order in Middle-earth, and even the Elven Queen Galadriel, were all shocked by Wayne's powerful strength.

Thorin and Dain were lucky. Although they managed to withstand the Orcs' attack by building a makeshift shelter in the narrow mines of Lonely Mountain and were starved for several days, they were rescued after the Orc army was wiped out.

As their savior, and even the savior of the entire kingdom of dwarves below the mountain, Wayne received the highest honors from all the dwarves.

Thorin even proposed to forge a twenty-meter-tall golden statue of Wayne in the palace on Lonely Mountain to commemorate his friendship with the dwarves.

As for the woodland kingdom of the Black Forest, King Thranduil expressed similar gratitude, saying that it was because of Wayne's existence that the Silvan elves were able to preserve so many people during the siege of the orc army.

The Elven King stated that if Wayne ever needs any help or makes any requests in the future, their Woodland Kingdom will do its utmost to assist him in repaying this debt of gratitude. The Silvan Elves value their promises, and they remain valid even after hundreds or thousands of years.

As for the hundreds of refugees in Laketown, after several days of consideration, Wayne refused the request to become their king. He proposed that they move back to the abandoned Riverdale and rebuild their homes there.

In order for the peaceful development of Riverdale, Wayne established the Riverdale Council, selecting ten capable and prestigious individuals to serve as councilors. In the future, the entire Riverdale will no longer be governed by a dictatorship, and important matters will be discussed and voted on by the council before being decided. He also left behind the wealth that the former mayor had amassed, as development funds for the entire town.

Of course, Wayne didn't come away empty-handed from the town. He was granted the position of permanent councilor by the council, which allowed him to participate in various town affairs at any time and even gave him veto power.

Before leaving, after discussing with the councilors, he took in twenty members from the surviving orphans in the town. They were all children between the ages of five and ten, and he planned to take them back to Wayne Manor in the Shire for training.

Of course, this is just the official statement. In reality, Wayne plans to take these children back to the wizarding world, to Kaer Morhen, and have them join the Witcher Order to be trained from a young age.

While it's uncertain whether these children will be trained to become witchers, even becoming loyal staff members would be a good outcome.

However, this gain was just a bonus for Wayne. What truly satisfied him was the mission reward after the Battle of the Five Armies.

During the Battle of the Five Armies, including the epic quest and master quest he received from Thorin, plus the master quest he received from King Thranduil, he gained nearly 5,000 experience points, two master chests, and one epic chest.

Besides these two tasks, he also had a master-level quest to eliminate the orcs of the Misty Mountains, which he received from King Elrond and had just completed.

The experience gained from these tasks combined raised Wayne's level by three, bringing him to a full level 20, and he also gained three ability points, bringing his total to eleven.

He couldn't help but sigh, "As expected, leveling up is much faster with high-level missions."

In less than half a year, his journey through Middle-earth had raised his level by seven, and the number of high-level treasure chests he obtained was so large that it felt like a dream.

Currently, his system contains two epic chests, five master chests, over forty expert chests, and nearly two hundred common chests.

He planned to return to the wizarding world, find the goddess of the lake, choose a lucky day, borrow luck from an unlucky person, and then open these treasure chests together.

At that time, his strength will definitely increase significantly, and the treasures in the epic chest are something to look forward to.

Besides the rewards brought by these cheat codes, he also gained a lot from this trip to Middle-earth, including 1.8 billion orens of gold from Lonely Mountain, an order for 10,000 sets of knight armor, 100 top-quality warhorses from Rivendell, the collections of books from the two Elven races, two ancient Elven swords, two finished sets of mithril armor, and a promise of eight sets of mithril armor, etc. These are all extremely rare treasures, and an ordinary person could not obtain any of them even if they spent their entire life on them.

However, the most important gain from this trip to Lonely Mountain was not these material possessions, but the connection or gratitude he formed with the leaders of various races. With this bond, he would have more choices and more opportunities when he encountered any situations that required help in the future.

Unlike the intrigues and schemes among the kings of the Wizarding World, the leaders of Middle-earth are trustworthy and reliable. Their promises are worth a thousand pieces of gold.

After finishing his business in the North, Wayne bid farewell to his friends one by one. Although everyone tried to persuade him to stay, the Witcher and his friends were not from the same world and could not stay in the North for long, so they parted with reluctance.

Accompanying him back to the Shire were the twenty children, Bilbo, and King Elrond.

This time, in order to make the return journey faster, Wayne specially had the dwarves build a large, cable car-like carriage, which was hung behind Deathclaw to transport the children. However, given Bilbo's height, he could ride with the children.

In this way, in less than a month, they traversed the Dark Forest and the Misty Mountains, arriving at Rivendell, the home of the Sindar elves, also known as the Valley of the Dead.

In Rivendell, Wayne was once again warmly received by King Elrond, who, to honor his achievements, held a three-day, three-night banquet for him, where he sang, danced, enjoyed fine wine, and shared victory and joy with the entire Sindar elf race.

In this beautiful elven holy land, he also met Princess Arwen and the future human king Aragorn once again.

The beautiful elven princess remained incredibly warm towards Wayne, or perhaps overly so. During their time in Rivendell, the princess would visit him every day, sometimes to chat, sometimes to talk about her lonely experiences in the North, and sometimes to go with him to visit Aragorn, who was diligently practicing his swordsmanship.

This time, perhaps because Wayne's achievements were too dazzling, even King Elrond did not stop his daughter from dating Wayne. However, this was a different kind of torment for Wayne. Sindar elves are very devoted to their feelings. A playboy like him was not a good match for a pure elf like Princess Arwen. He also did not want to win the favor of this elven girl through deception.

So, during one conversation, Wayne deliberately revealed to the princess that he already had girlfriends, and more than one. This immediately changed Princess Arwen's expression, and she left somewhat absentmindedly.

In the days that followed, the elven princess deliberately avoided Wayne, and the two did not see each other again until the day he left Rivendell. However, Aragorn made a surprising decision.

After hearing about Wayne's dazzling achievements, he showed boundless respect and admiration, and tried every means to continue learning swordsmanship from the Witcher.

But Wayne was about to leave Rivendell, and even Middle-earth, and might not return for several years, so he couldn't very well grant the request.

As a result, one day this boy brought King Elrond to his side, and with the Elven King as a witness, he wanted to become Wayne's formal apprentice, go on adventures with him, learn swordsmanship together, and promised to respect Wayne as his father, which greatly surprised him.

King Elrond did not seem to object to such a request, and even seemed to be trying to facilitate it.

After much consideration, Wayne agreed to the request and made a promise with Aragorn that he would teach him swordsmanship and take care of his life until he came of age.

The reason Wayne agreed to this request wasn't because he valued Aragorn's future status as the Human Emperor—though that might be part of it—but primarily because Aragorn was exceptionally sensible and possessed extremely high swordsmanship talent. Even without undergoing the Witcher's Trial of the Grass, his swordsmanship and physical abilities alone would allow him to surpass the vast majority of Witchers and become a top-tier swordsmanship master.

He was also somewhat tempted by such a promising talent. If he could train Aragorn into a master, not to mention a good tool, he would surely reap dozens or even hundreds of times the reward in the future.

When they left Rivendell, in addition to Aragorn, the group was accompanied by a hundred Rivendell elven knights and the hundred elven warhorses that King Elrond had promised to reward Wayne.

This Elf King was truly a benevolent leader. To help Wayne deliver his warhorses to their destination, he simply sent a hundred knights to accompany him. In addition, he also gifted him books on taming these elven warhorses.

So, after leaving Rivendell, Wayne's party suddenly grew much larger. They traveled together for more than half a month, climbing mountains and wading through rivers, crossing towns and wilderness, and finally returned to Wayne Manor in the Shire.

As the owner of the manor, Wayne hosted a grand celebration that lasted for a week after returning to the manor. He not only entertained all the guests who had come from afar, but also made Bilbo, who had participated in the expedition to Lonely Mountain, a famous hero among the hobbits.

Although this kind-hearted hobbit didn't care much about such a reputation, Wayne felt that as a warrior who had fought alongside the expeditionary force against the orc army, he deserved people's respect and praise.

After the revelry, peace returned to the manor.

Wayne finally found an opportunity to return to the wizarding world, bringing with him his bountiful harvest and the people who had traveled with him.

Although about nine months have passed in Middle-earth, less than two months have actually passed in the Wizarding World.

(End of this chapter)