Chapter 143

The spring in Rhovanion was very pleasant; the sun in the sky was not harsh, warming those it touched, and a harmonious breeze occasionally swept over Ioviah's head, bending the lush green crops in the fields and wiping the sweat of hard work from the faces of the farming family.

On such a relaxed and pleasant afternoon, a fully armed young man sat stern-faced under a roadside pavilion drinking tea; beside him sat a stout dwarf, but the young man had no intention of chatting with the dwarf, instead occasionally glancing southward, indicating he was waiting for someone.

Behind the young man stood over a dozen guards in identical attire, their handsome faces equally stern, holding longbows engraved with intricate floral patterns, ready to attack at any moment.

Further away, over a hundred sturdy, well-equipped guards rode strong steeds, constantly patrolling several hundred meters out, all of which suggested the master of this place was not particularly welcoming of the impending guest.

This young man was Allen; Saruman's team had just left Orthanc not long ago, and the swift-flying bird brought this news to Wilderness Town.

Regarding Saruman's arrival, Allen was still somewhat nervous, after all this White Wizard possessed various incredible abilities; even without the conditions to unleash large-scale destructive spells, merely that voice capable of bewitching hearts gave Allen a considerable headache.

If they truly had to fight, deploying formations and launching a battle with the resolve to fight to the death, Allen believed he would ultimately win; though he lacked Gandalf's top-tier combat power, he had many elites, while Saruman's forces, aside from himself, were all useless, so a fight was still possible.

However, this meeting was merely a simple transaction; although their relationship had already become tense to a certain extent, it was not to the point of fighting upon first meeting, after all, on the surface both still belonged to the Free Peoples' faction.

Having already tracked Saruman's movements, Allen, to prevent this White Wizard from causing trouble among his own people in his territory and also to demonstrate his own strength, had his subordinates erect a shelter on Saruman's necessary route, doing all this to inform the arriving Saruman: I know your movements, you had better obediently complete the transaction, then you return to your Orthanc, I return to my Wilderness Town, do not cause trouble, or we will go to war.

Although Saruman's knowledge of animals paled in comparison to Gandalf's and Radagast's, he was not entirely devoid of such ability; several crebain living in Dunland, flapping their black wings, reported the conditions ahead to the white-robed Wizard wrapped in a cloak.

Upon Allen's action, Saruman's heart welled with angry thoughts, and within that anger lay a hint of fear at having his thoughts seen through; before even stepping out of Orthanc, Saruman completely covered his white robes with his cloak, having originally intended not to face Allen personally for this transaction.

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That treasure originally belonging to the Arnor Kingdom had already been handed over by Saruman to his capable subordinate, while he himself disguised himself and blended into the group.

Since attending the White Council meeting held in Lothlorien, Saruman, on his return journey to Orthanc, had been constantly reviewing everything that happened at the meeting; he always felt that this young human had, through some means, probed many of his secrets, whether it was the Star of Earendil belonging to Elendil or the Palantir crystal placed in Orthanc, both were extremely obscure facts; even he himself had only obtained this precious knowledge after scrolling through countless scrolls in Minas Tirith, a process that took him decades.

In Saruman's view, even if Allen possessed Númenórean blood, his age could not exceed sixty, for Allen's appearance was truly too young; ordinary Númenóreans enter middle age after sixty, yet Allen's face showed not a trace of aging.

Thinking this, Saruman immediately wondered whether Allen, like himself, also possessed a lost Palantir crystal; upon returning to Orthanc, Saruman immediately used the crystal to verify this information, but found no trace.

Saruman then thought of another method: using his own power to cultivate some spies around Allen; in his view, this was the best strategy, and his abilities could indeed influence Allen's mind without alerting the target, making him serve Saruman.

In fact, Saruman had wanted to implement this plan the first time he came to Wilderness Town, but before he could begin, the power from Varda on Allen's body drove him away; though this power dissipated quickly after teaching Sauron a lesson, by the time Allen attended the meeting, it had become very faint, so only then did Saruman dare to act against Allen.

Meanwhile, Allen's actions at this moment completely ruined Saruman's plan; he was not stupid, Allen could wait for him on the road, so he knew his disappearance had been exposed; wanting to do something was now impossible.

However, Saruman would not therefore abandon the idea of spying on Allen's information; after the transaction is completed, he will arrange some loyal spies and informants to lurk in Wilderness Town to gather information about Allen, though this method is not clever, as sudden strangers will inevitably attract much attention.

When Saruman's party arrived before Allen's eyes, it was already approaching dusk; unknown whether Saruman did this intentionally or had some other plan, they hard-marched less than two kilometers for nearly two hours, though they were on horseback; Allen, to facilitate diplomacy with Lothlorien, had already begun road construction in this wilderness, and no matter how viewed, these people's speed was truly too slow.

Since Saruman had no intention of showing his face, the one conducting the transaction was a sturdy mercenary wearing a drab gray outer garment; from within the clothing gleamed silver light, indicating he wore a finely crafted steel-woven hauberk, his waist bore a longsword, and the ruby set into its hilt, flashing with light, told Allen this sword was likely costly.

"It seems Saruman is not as stingy as I imagined; this fellow before me appears to have received considerable rewards."

Looking at the mercenary bowing before him, Allen silently muttered, he did not rise but leaned on the wooden chair, casually waving his hand and saying: "Your master, the wise White Wizard Saruman, did not come?"

After saying this, Allen began observing the person's movements; sometimes those with poor psychological fortitude might sneak a glance at the person he mentioned, after all, most of the dozens from Orthanc wore drab gray clothing, some even wrapped themselves tightly in cloaks; after careful observation, Allen saw no trace of white robes or multicolored robes.

"Yes, my lord, my master's affairs are numerous, so he arranged for me to come complete this transaction; hope the magnanimous you will not mind, oh, by the way, you may call me Alanden, wise King Allen."

Naturally, Alanden's ability to earn Saruman's favor was beyond question; Allen's small probe could not possibly make him reveal any flaw, but the keen-eyed and experienced Alanden, on his way over, also saw the guards behind Allen and the elite cavalry patrolling several hundred meters away.

Faced with such formidable power, his demeanor was very humble, for he knew his subordinates could not withstand a single charge from the enemy's elite; moreover, from his master's words full of resentment, he also heard that the relationship between the two sides was extremely poor; thus, to save his life, he would do anything without hesitation.

Alanden, feeling some fear in his heart, respectfully presented the box containing the Star of Earendil, gently placing it on the table before Allen, and gestured for the king to first examine the goods' authenticity.

"Elta is what? I know now."

Allen said this with his mouth, but in his heart he thought: this matter is so important, Saruman must be nearby; if not hidden in the group, then he must be lurking nearby; but since a wizard has made up his mind not to appear, Allen can do nothing but be more careful.

Allen's vigilance rapidly heightened, yet he showed no abnormality; instead, his face relaxed as he opened the box before him, seeing only soft silk lining the box, upon which sat a silver-shimmering headband, at whose center lay a gem like a white star, emitting light under the setting sun that in an instant captivated Allen's heart and mind.

However, this state lasted only an extremely short time; Allen then pushed the box to Furei sitting opposite him; Allen had no study of gems or mithril, so even if Saruman produced a fake, he could not tell; thus bringing a dwarf knowledgeable in this was necessary.

As for whether Furei might harbor greed, kill himself in public to steal the gem, Allen thought the probability of such an event extremely low; he believed his longtime acquaintance Furei would not do this, and also considered this item, after all, not Nauglamir augmented with Silmarils, thus lacking such great power.

But upon seeing Furei's expression at the sight of the Star of Earendil, his face instantly showed an intoxicated look; in the Second Age, jewelry crafted by Elven hands naturally possesses unparalleled allure; though Allen paid no mind to this, liking gems is not wrong, liking to look is fine, just look a bit more, as long as you don't reach out to grab.

And upon seeing Furei's expression, Allen naturally knew the object before him was not a counterfeit; he then produced the ring taken from the remains of a Nazgûl, casually tossed it onto the table, gesturing for Alanden to take it.

To this day, Allen still does not know how many of Dol Guldur's officers he destroyed, the one called Khamul of the Eastern Shadow.

Alanden, having prepared under his master's instructions, gently lifted the box from the table, slowly opened it, and took the ring from within.

And thus the gold ring set with a sapphire lay bathed in sunset light, emitting a captivating glow; under Allen's somewhat surprised gaze, Alanden placed the ring on the middle finger of his left hand, whereupon his figure vanished before everyone's eyes, he had entered the Unseen World; at this moment, the Twilight Knight behind Allen instantly drew his longbow to full, aiming at the spot where Alanden had stood.

Allen gestured to stop his personal guards' action; his surprise lay only in that this middle-aged mercenary dared so casually to don this ring, for know that doing so is equivalent to laying oneself bare before the other eight Nazgûl and the Dark Lord Sauron.

Of course, Allen could likewise see Alanden who had entered the Unseen World, so he was not nervous, but rather interestedly observed the middle-aged man's expression, shifting from a face of intoxication to one of terror, until finally, the Alanden who had entered the Unseen World seemed unable to control himself to remove the ring, now kneeling painfully before Allen's eyes, as if begging for Allen's help.

"Well, you should know this thing is genuine now."

Speaking, Allen casually took the ring from Alanden's hand, threw it into the box, then shoved the wooden box into the sweat-drenched Alanden's hands.

This ring, once belonging to Humans, after all is not the One Ring, its power and status are not so high; yet the backdoor left by the ring will cause any rash person who wears it to constantly be under the gaze of evil eyes; at present, the slight pain endured, compared to the Nazgûl enslaved for a thousand years, amounts to nothing.

Everything Allen can see, Saruman can naturally see as well; Maiar inherently possess the ability to see through the Unseen World, and even after leaving Valinor, they have not lost this ability; and the White Wizard, who has studied the ring extensively, naturally knows that wearing this master ring may entail certain dangers, but he did not inform his subordinate of this.

Saruman fundamentally does not care about these subordinates' lives, and under his bewitchment, Alanden will soon forget today's pain, instead continuing to serve Saruman faithfully.

After the transaction was completed, Alanden rose and bowed to Allen, indicating he should depart; Allen did not detain him, he sat by the roadside drinking tea in the spring breeze, having waited all afternoon merely to prevent this group from approaching his territory; of course, he could not possibly act to invite wolves into the house.

Even as Alanden slowly led his people out of Allen's sight, he did not lower his guard on this group; instead, he had the youths graduated from Beorn's Garden continue to arrange animal friends to monitor them, lest they do anything threatening to his domain.

However, as Allen expected, Saruman indeed dispatched several people from the group, having them cross the Anduin River, disguising themselves as travelers from Eriador come to Wilderness Town, with orders to lurk in Wilderness Town.

And this news was delivered to Allen's hands two days later at dawn.