Chapter 137: The Arrival of Dwarf Craftsmen

Hearing Kael's praise, Bard smiled warmly. After some pleasantries between the two, they got to the main topic. Bard said, "The dwarves wanted to contact you but had no direct means of communication, so they had me forward their letter. They're currently in the city. If you want to see them, I can send someone to notify them right now." Kael nodded. "That would be much appreciated!" Soon, the dwarves were brought to the Lord's Manor by Bard's attendants. "Lord Bard." "Wizard Kael." The dwarf Balin, who entered, bowed in greeting to both men with obvious respect. "Long time no see, Balin. How have you been?" Kael greeted him warmly. As the eldest dwarf, Balin was wiser and steadier than the other dwarves. Kael had always had a good impression of him. Hearing this, Balin nodded cheerfully. "I've been quite well. The Lonely Mountain has been reclaimed, and Durin's Folk are gradually returning. I no longer have to worry about being buried in foreign soil after I die!" "By the way, Kael, the craftsmen you need, we've prepared them for you. It's just that the journey from the Lonely Mountain to Weathertop is too far and unsafe, so we could only contact you to come here." "Also, Lord Dáin Ironfoot has already forged the dragon armor and entrusted us to bring it to you." Hearing Balin's words, Kael's eyes lit up with excitement. "Everything's ready? Where is it?" "All inside the Lonely Mountain. If you need them, Kael, you can take them right away," Balin said. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go now." Kael was somewhat impatient. After bidding farewell to Bard, he used his flying broomstick to take Balin to the Lonely Mountain. Balin, experiencing the flying broomstick again, was very excited. Along the way, he inquired about Bilbo's news and, upon learning he had returned home safely, was also happy for his hobbit companion. The two soon arrived at the gates of the Lonely Mountain. The Lonely Mountain's gates had been restored to their magnificent appearance, with armored dwarf guards at the entrance and dwarf warriors patrolling the walls with vigilant eyes. Since they were here, they naturally had to see Thorin. With Balin, the dwarf elder, leading the way, Kael smoothly entered the Lonely Mountain and finally reached the great hall. Unlike the past when there were only Thorin and a dozen other dwarves, with the return of dwarves from the Blue Mountains and other scattered members of Durin's Folk, the Lonely Mountain was now full of dwarves everywhere, finally showing the appearance of a proper dwarven kingdom. Thorin sat high on his throne, with his nephew Fili standing beside him as heir. "It's been a while, King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield." Kael leaned on his staff and bowed his head in greeting. Thorin on the throne nodded in acknowledgment and said courteously, "Wizard Kael, long time no see. Your bearing is even more impressive than before." Then he waved for someone to summon the dwarf craftsmen. "I once made an agreement with you, Wizard Kael, to help you build a castle. Now I begin to fulfill my promise. I will send a thousand dwarf craftsmen to follow you back until the castle construction is complete." "Also, my cousin Dáin Ironfoot has sent over the forged dragon armor, entrusting me to give it to you. I'll have Balin take you to see it shortly." Hearing Thorin so readily arrange a thousand dwarf craftsmen for him, Kael immediately became happy. "Thank you, Your Majesty Thorin!" This "Your Majesty" from Kael was spoken with genuine feeling. With so many skilled dwarf craftsmen, his Hogwarts castle would surely be completed soon. Then Kael followed Balin to collect the dragon armor first. The dragon armor was placed alone in a spacious hall. As soon as Kael saw it, amazement flashed in his eyes. It was an incredibly massive silver armor set, fully armed from dragon head to tail, completely covered. The armor was assembled from several parts. Under the dwarves' exquisite craftsmanship, the armor moved flexibly and freely. It was covered with intricate patterns and reflected dazzling silver light under the firelight. The whole set was magnificent and imposing, emanating tremendous presence. It was hard to imagine how domineering Smaug would look wearing it! Looking at the enormous armor, Kael secretly clicked his tongue. How had the dwarves forged this armor that could be worn by a dragon? How many tons of metal had they used? No wonder it was placed alone in a spacious hall. Smaller rooms simply couldn't accommodate such massive armor. Fortunately, the armor could be separated into several parts, so Kael's space bag could barely contain this dragon armor set. After collecting the dragon armor, Kael returned to the great hall. The thousand dwarf craftsmen Thorin had assigned were already assembled, along with tools and equipment the dwarves needed to bring. It wasn't realistic to have so many people and things travel overland to Weathertop. Looking at the dense crowd of dwarf craftsmen, Kael said to Balin, "Could you get me a sturdy box? It doesn't need to be too big, just one that a person can carry." Balin naturally wouldn't refuse and had someone find an iron chest. Under the gaze of numerous dwarves, Kael used the Extension Charm to expand the interior space of the iron chest countless times until it could contain all the dwarf craftsmen. He waved his wand again to conjure a ladder and placed it inside the chest. Kael turned to face the group of dwarf craftsmen and invited them with a smile. "The journey to Weathertop is too far. Walking there isn't realistic. So I'll trouble you all to enter the chest for a while, and you can come out when we reach our destination." The dwarf craftsmen looked at the small chest before them, exchanging uncertain glances, unsure whether to listen to him. They could only look to Thorin on the throne. Thorin naturally knew Kael had the magical ability to expand spaces, so he nodded to the dwarf craftsmen. With the king's approval, the dwarf craftsmen lined up one by one to enter the chest. The thinner dwarves were fine, but some with big bellies got stuck at the chest opening, then were pushed by companions behind them in line, immediately causing laughter and good-natured curses from inside the chest. The space inside the chest was vast. Even with a thousand dwarf craftsmen inside, they could move freely. "You're going too, Balin?" Kael was somewhat surprised to see Balin also about to enter the chest space. Thorin on the throne explained, "Balin is the team leader for this mission. He's responsible for the entire construction project." Balin also smiled and said, "We'll be spending time together from now on, Kael. If you have any requirements for the castle design, you can tell me. I consider my level in architecture to be quite good!" "Then I'll be troubling you in the coming days, Balin!" Kael nodded. Having Balin, this familiar dwarf elder, manage the dwarf craftsmen made him feel more at ease. Then Kael, carrying the chest containing a thousand dwarf craftsmen, and Balin bid farewell to Thorin and returned directly to Dale. Then he teleported back to Weathertop through the fireplace. As soon as he emerged from the fireplace, Edward immediately came forward. "My lord, you're back!" Kael nodded, then instructed, "I've brought guests back, quite a few people. You'll need to arrange their accommodation later." "I understand, Lord Kael!" Edward immediately nodded, but his eyes looked toward the fireplace, not seeing any signs of people coming out. Seeing his confusion, Kael smiled and pointed to the chest in his hands. "Don't look there. They're in here." He placed the chest flat on the ground, opened it, and called inside, "You can come out now!" After a while, Balin was the first to climb out on the ladder, looking around in surprise. "We're here already? That was fast!" Then, under Edward's shocked gaze, noisy dwarves climbed out of the chest one by one. When fat dwarves got stuck at the chest opening and couldn't get out, the companions who had already emerged would shout commands like "pull radishes" and forcefully pull them out. Soon, the first-floor hall became crowded and very noisy. Dwarves always spoke loudly, and now with a thousand dwarves gathered together, it was a huge source of noise. Poor Edward had never seen such a scene and was stunned in place, not knowing what to do. "Alright, everyone!" Kael used a voice amplification spell to suppress everyone's voices. When everyone looked at him, he continued, "You've all arrived at Weathertop. Please settle in first, and tonight we'll hold a welcome banquet for everyone!" Hearing about a banquet, all the dwarves' eyes lit up. They loved banquets. Originally, Kael had planned to have the dwarves stay on various floors of the tower. After all, the tower had sixty floors, each with many rooms. Even accommodating a thousand dwarves would be more than sufficient. And even if there weren't enough rooms, he could use the Extension Charm to expand them. But Balin refused, saying that if they had tents, they would prefer to stay outside. Seeing this, Kael had to conjure several tents outside the tower and use the Extension Charm to expand the interior spaces so all the dwarves could fit inside. At night, Amon Sûl Tower was brightly lit. In the first-floor great hall, the infinitely expanded hall accommodated over a thousand dwarves plus several hundred villagers from Hogsmeade. They were all attending the banquet together. When Kael wanted to hold a banquet, the villagers, as his subjects, spontaneously came to help. Under village chief Luke's organization, they divided the work, taking responsibility as stewards, cooks, servants, bakers, meat cutters, and so on. Edward even went through the fireplace to Bree, purchasing all the food and drink needed for the banquet. To avoid embarrassing their lord in front of guests, the villagers each tried hard to present themselves properly. The banquet atmosphere was perfect, with laughter and joy everywhere. Kael sat in the head seat, with dwarf elder Balin and Bilbo on his left and village chief Luke and Edward on his right. The long tables on both sides seated dwarf craftsmen and villagers from Hogsmeade. Yes, Bilbo had also attended the banquet. After receiving Kael's message, he had immediately come to Weathertop through the fireplace, choosing to sit with his old friend Balin. The two reminisced about their adventure experiences on the expedition, while Kael listened with a smile or exchanged a few words with Luke and Edward on the other side. Seeing the dwarves below drinking happily and bursting into song, he also smiled and waved his wand, conjuring countless instruments that automatically accompanied the dwarves' singing. For a moment, the banquet atmosphere was elevated, with dwarves clapping and cheering. The villagers also competed by performing cheerful country dances. Everyone was happy, except for the dragon in the cellar, who was sad about having lost a bit more treasure. Even gaining a magnificent armor set didn't help his mood. The banquet continued until late at night. Bilbo had long since returned to his Bag End. The villagers, illuminated by moonlight, descended along the mountain path. Still not having emerged from the banquet atmosphere, they returned to the village full of excitement and joy. The drunken dwarves, after returning to their respective tents, still gathered together singing songs with no intention of sleeping. Kael stood at the tower window, looking at the scenes outside the tower and down the mountain, his eyes shining brightly. He thought that being a lord was actually quite nice.