Bilbo's voice instantly excited Lobelia, who had noticed him, though with her mouth gagged by cloth, she could only make "mmph mmph" sounds.
Bilbo angrily pointed at Lobelia hanging outside the door and demanded, "I'm warning you, don't look at me like I can rescue you! What exactly happened to my house!"
Tarnes noticed Bilbo's anger and gently patted his back. "Calm down, Bilbo. These two people's mouths are gagged. You can't get answers by questioning them like this."
At this moment, Bag End's round wooden door opened outward, and Rogier emerged slowly, bending as he came out, then straightened. His handsome face immediately broke into a smile upon seeing Tarnes and Bilbo.
"Ah, you've finally returned. Tarnes, and Bilbo. How was the journey to the Mountain?" Rogier asked warmly.
Then his gaze fell on Melina and he showed a surprised expression. After pausing, he removed his wizard's pointed hat and bowed with a hand to his chest. "Long time no see, Miss Melina. I'm delighted that you can once again accompany Tarnes."
"Hello, sorcerer."
Melina curtsied slightly in return.
Both Tarnes and Bilbo showed surprised expressions. Neither had expected Rogier to be at Bag End.
Tarnes dismounted from Torrent, took a few quick steps and gave Rogier a hearty embrace, then released him and asked curiously, "How are you here? Did you hang these two hobbits tied up outside the door?"
Bilbo nodded repeatedly at Tarnes's words. He had exactly the same questions.
Rogier looked helplessly at the two hobbits hanging outside, then explained to Bilbo, "I wasn't the one who hung them at the door. That was D."
Rogier's voice turned cold as he looked at the two hobbits frantically shaking before him. "But I think D wasn't wrong this time. When we passed through Hobbiton to check if you had returned from the Mountain, we found these two had opened your front door and were carrying your furniture out. D was so furious he drew his weapon. If I hadn't stopped him, these two would be facing consequences far worse than hanging here."
Bilbo rolled his eyes and looked disdainfully at Lobelia and her husband. "You really haven't changed your thieving ways. I was only away from home a little longer, and you tried to break into my house."
Tarnes realized, "So the people of Hobbiton panicked and avoided Bilbo when they saw him because your actions frightened them?"
Rogier shook his head slightly. "Yes and no. Though only these two hobbits broke in, when D and I arrived, quite a few other hobbits had gathered outside the door, waiting for something. They scattered very quickly after seeing us."
"What do you mean 'scattered very quickly'? Those cowardly halflings just hid to watch what we'd do to Lobelia and her husband and only dispersed after seeing us hang these two at the door." D's voice came from behind the group.
Tarnes turned to see Darian still wearing his gold and silver twin armor but holding cloth-wrapped bundles in both hands.
From the aroma wafting from the bundles, it was obvious D'arrian carried freshly purchased food.
Before Tarnes could speak, D set the bundles on the stone steps before Bag End and knelt on one knee to salute. "Lord Tarnes, congratulations on your victory in the Battle of the Mountain."
After D'arrian rose, Tarnes asked curiously, "How did you learn that Bilbo and I had returned from reclaiming the Mountain?"
D replied resolutely, "Lord Tarnes, I need not hear this news from others. I believe that when you went to the Mountain, you would certainly cleanse all evil there!"
Seeing Darian's increasingly fervent tone, Rogier sighed softly and, to prevent him from becoming truly fanatical in front of Tarnes, interrupted, "In any case, let's go inside first. D, please go back to the market and buy food for three more people."
"Serving Lord Tarnes and his two friends is my honor. What trouble could there be!"
Without hesitation, D turned and headed back to Hobbiton's market.
Melina hid her face under her hood and looked at the couple. "Are they just going to keep hanging there? How long has it been?"
Bilbo sighed. "Right, having them constantly hanging at my front door is troublesome too."
Rogier shrugged. "Just two days. Don't worry. After D taught them a lesson, he used incantations to heal their injuries. We've also been giving them water and food these two days. We just wanted to teach them a lesson, not kill anyone. How to deal with them is up to you, Bilbo."
Bilbo looked at Lobelia, who was frantically making "mmph mmph" sounds pleading to him, and said irritably, "I'll take you down first, but then I'm turning you over to Hobbiton's constabulary so the Shire's laws can decide your punishment."
Tarnes said, "Then let Melina and me accompany you to the constabulary and have a word with whoever's in charge there."
Bilbo nodded, then asked curiously, "What do you want to say?"
Tarnes bent down to adjust Bilbo's collar. "Naturally, to remind the people here that your status is different from before. My dear Bilbo Baggins, haven't you realized yet that you're now a close friend of both the Golden Tree lord, me, and Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain?"
He straightened up and looked at Lobelia, whose expression had grown even more despairing, with a smile. "And this friend traveled far due to the Golden Tree lord's promise and the Mountain King's invitation, only to have thieves break into his home during his absence. I'm sure Hobbiton's authorities will give my friend a fair and just outcome."
After hearing Tarnes's words, Bilbo blinked and said, "Honestly, I never really felt like you and Thorin were kings. I mean, you two never put on royal airs around me, so I don't really feel like I'm friends with kings. Though this status sounds noble, I still prefer how things are between us now."
"I like it this way too," Tarnes said while untying Lobelia and her husband.
Though Tarnes freed the two, he didn't remove the cloth gags from their mouths and followed Bilbo's lead to the constabulary.
By the time Tarnes and Bilbo returned from the constabulary, Rogier and D'arrian had already thoughtfully prepared lunch.
During lunch, Tarnes also told Rogier and D about the purpose of his current journey.
"Lord Tarnes, you're seeking places with many Orcs to collect their souls? In the year or so that Rogier and I have traveled Middle-earth, both Mount Gundabad in the north and the Black Gate in the southeast meet your requirements," D'arrian said.
Hmm, the Black Gate again?
Tarnes raised an eyebrow. This was the second time he'd heard this place name.
In that case, he really did need to investigate the Black Gate.