"What's happening? What's going on?"
Waking up from his sleep, the Master of Lake-town felt like the sky was falling. Why were all the townspeople packing their things with such urgency? Were they not going to live here anymore?
Grabbing the leftover buttered mushroom baked sheep eggs from the table and taking a bite, then drinking an entire cup of strong liquor in one gulp, wiping his hands on his clothes, the Master shouted:
"Alfrid!"
"Where is everyone?"
"Can someone tell me what's happening?"
He hurriedly ran out of his house, grabbed a townsperson outside, and asked with growing panic: "What are you all doing?"
"The orc army is coming soon. We're going to the Lonely Mountain for refuge."
The townsperson said this and immediately shook off the Master's greasy hand in disgust, taking a detour to quickly get away.
"What army? What Lonely Mountain? What are you all doing?"
The Master angrily shouted: "Why wasn't I told about something so important?!"
"If you still have any sense, quickly pack your things and leave."
Just as the Master was raging helplessly, a familiar voice came from nearby.
"Bard."
"Weren't you imprisoned? How dare you escape from jail."
"Guards! Where are the guards? Arrest him quickly!"
The Master shouted at the top of his lungs, attracting the attention of people around him. Soon several guards came over and whispered some words in his ear, briefly explaining the current situation.
Now the Master calmed down. He squinted and looked at Bard for quite a while.
Whether it was the dragon or the people of Lake-town, neither mattered to him. What mattered was whether his future days could be better.
A dragon-slaying hero. That was a good selling point, very helpful for Lake-town's commercial development.
"Master of Lake-town, you need to get your guards organized right now to protect townspeople during the evacuation."
A calm voice called from behind. The Master spun around to see an elderly man in weathered grey robes addressing him.
Disgust immediately twisted his features as he hastily drew out a handkerchief to shield his nose.
"Where did this filthy beggar crawl out from?"
Gandalf drew a measured breath and mastered his mounting ire:
""I am no beggar, Master. I am Gandalf the Grey, a wizard. Wizards bear tidings and counsel to those who would hear them, therefore I beseech you..."
"I don't care if you're a beggar or a wizard. Get away from me. I have no obligation to listen to you."
Pack!
The Master knocked Gandalf aside and strode toward his house. Over his shoulder, he barked at the guards:
"What are you idiots waiting for? Forget about those people. Help me pack my valuables!"
The guards exchanged uncertain glances between Bard and the Master, clearly torn between whose orders to follow.
Gandalf gripped his staff tightly.
Bard looked at Gandalf and nodded.
Thud!
A staff blow much harder than before struck the Master's head, making this fellow no slimmer than Bombur fall straight down, crushing a pile of debris beneath his considerable weight.
"Go help the townspeople."
Gandalf said calmly to the guards, who didn't dare delay even a second and quickly left.
Scattered applause came from around them.
Under the call of the dragon-slaying hero and the wizard, people quickly organized, taking their belongings and enough food for a period of time as they migrated toward the Lonely Mountain.
On the road, Bard was sweating profusely as he arranged various matters with growing responsibility.
For some reason, both the Master and Master's deputy had fainted and missed the departure time. At this moment, he had become the actual decision-maker here.
But before this, Bard had never had experience handling an entire town's affairs. It was only with Gandalf's assistance that he could ensure this group moved forward smoothly without major problems.
People walked silently like this, moving forward. Most of the time, even meals were just dry rations, with no hot food all day.
"What is that?"
When approaching Erebor, someone turned around and suddenly shouted, pointing in another direction.
This shout immediately attracted many people's attention.
"Is that a city wall? So high!"
A group of people exclaimed in wonder.
Gandalf also squinted and looked into the distance.
"If I remember correctly, that direction is Dale?"
"It is indeed, Dale."
Bard said with certainty: "I'm very familiar with that place."
"But that city was already destroyed..."
Whoosh!
Just as he was speaking, suddenly the sound of a firework being launched came from above Dale.
Gandalf immediately felt relieved.
"Oh, then that's definitely right. I think we don't need to go to Erebor. Let's go directly to the ruins of Dale."
"That doesn't look like ruins."
Bard said in amazement: "Clearly there was nothing here two days ago. I don't think my memory would be wrong."
"Perhaps that's indeed the case. How about we go take a look first?"
Bard nodded, choosing to trust this wise old man.
Actually, he didn't know exactly what a wizard was, since he'd never sat in a ruler's position.
But he knew one thing. This wizard was with Levi Stonecraft. They appeared together in the rumors passed among refugees, so they probably weren't bad people.
"Is anyone there?"
In front of the towering city wall's great gate, Gandalf looked up and called out.
Creak.
With the sound of a mechanism activating, three heavy iron gates rose one after another, and the city gate opened just like that.
"Gandalf."
Levi greeted him from the top of the wall.
"I knew you were here, Levi."
Gandalf tapped the city wall, estimating it must be about six meters thick, solid, and nearly thirty meters high.
Just this wall alone. Though thick and high, it had nothing on top, completely bare, as if it were made of stone pillars put together and hadn't been finished yet.
But as a temporary defensive measure, it was sufficient.
And also...
Gandalf looked down and felt the gate area was a bit hot, as if there was something underneath.
"Don't just stand there. Come in!"
Levi shouted from above.
Bard glanced at Gandalf, and only after Gandalf nodded did he feel comfortable arranging for the townspeople to move forward.
The townspeople stared wide-eyed at this reassuring wall, marveling as they entered the city and rested in the open space.
"Light fires and cook. We'll rest here temporarily."
After giving orders and arranging for his family, Bard and Gandalf walked over together to meet Levi, who had jumped down from the wall.
"So this is what you meant by building walls? I thought you just wanted to reinforce Erebor's defenses. This is really unexpected."
"What's there to fix about Erebor's walls? They're not broken."
Shrugging, Levi quickly built stairs on the spot, inviting Gandalf and Bard to climb the wall together and overlook the valley.
Dale was located in the valley between the Lonely Mountain's southwestern and southeastern ridges, with only one way leading into the city.
In other words, defending the city only required building one wall, which saved Levi a lot of effort.
Before the residents evacuated here, he had already built the wall's framework and set up many lava traps and deep pits. Just pulling a lever would make enemies above fall down.
Looking at this solid high wall, Gandalf couldn't help but light his pipe, overjoyed.
"This is much harder than ordinary walls. They build walls block by block, but your wall seems like large stone blocks dug directly from underground. Naturally integrated without any gaps."
"What are you talking about? What does building walls mean? Was this wall just built?"
Bard couldn't hold back anymore:
"I can't imagine. Even mobilizing all of Lake-town's people together, with no shortage of materials or supplies, building such a high wall would take years."
"There are many things you can't imagine."
Gandalf blew out a smoke ring, acting like 'what's so strange about this kind of thing,' making Bard open and close his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping.
The old man continued: "But speaking of which, since you can build walls, then can your golems also..."
"Not right now."
"Then what's that pumpkin field down there for?" Gandalf pointed to a patch of farmland below the wall.
"I remember you saying that creating those golems requires pumpkins, right?"
"That's why I said not now. I didn't say, Not in the future."
"What do you mean?"
"This matter mainly depends on our descendant of the Dale lord."
Levi walked up to Bard, who was still scratching his head, and said ominously: "Lord Bard, you wouldn't want to see the residents of Lake-town suffer, would you?"