Chapter 45: The Unexpected Thorin Oakenshield

Half a year later, Allen once again stepped onto the Elf Path; in the past, when he came here, it was more with the mindset of visiting a neighbor, but now he was going to participate in a war.

He put on his Ancient Rune Plate Armor, with a Noldor Rune Bow on his back, a bag of Noldor Rune Arrows slung behind his waist, a Knightly Longsword at his left hip, and his Greatsword and Noldor Enchanted Shield hanging from his horse.

Under the influence of various buffs, the injury on his left arm had fully recovered after just one week.

The Vitality Necklace had not been taken back either; it now still rested quietly around Allen's neck.

Following behind him was the Captain of the Personal Guard, Holimion, and the twelve Twilight Knights under his command.

At this moment, their party of fourteen, led by a Woodland Elf, had passed through Mirkwood and was now very close to the junction of the Elf Path and the Magic River.

Walking in the forest, Allen was deep in thought, for he had encountered something he was unwilling to face.

How he hoped that Thorin Oakenshield could keep his promise, avoid conflict with Thranduil, and pass through the Woodland Realm smoothly.

If that were the case, the members of the Expedition would soon be able to reach Long Lake Town to resupply, and by this time, they would likely have already set foot in the Smaug Wasteland.

However, the Silvan Elf who was guiding Allen and his party did not bring good news.

Although this female Elf was extremely curious about the Noldor Elves behind Allen, she still recounted the Dwarves' rudeness and insolence with a look of extreme displeasure.

It turned out that after the Dwarves arrived at the Woodland Realm, they had actually knocked out the Elves who were escorting them along the way, wanting to sneak away right under their noses.

What a breathtaking maneuver; after hearing this, Allen simply could not believe this was something Thorin Oakenshield would do.

But then he thought about it—they had apparently stolen weapons and armor from the people in Long Lake Town; comparing these two incidents, Allen felt that it didn't seem so out of character.

What was most unacceptable was that they hadn't even succeeded in their smuggling attempt; Legolas had led a team of Elves, followed their tracks, and personally captured them and brought them before Thranduil.

The other Dwarves were thrown directly into the King's dungeon, and Dwalin, who had struck the Elf, suffered a bit of physical pain.

As for Thorin Oakenshield, he was brought before Thranduil's throne.

These two fellows, who loved to poke at each other's sore spots whenever they started bickering, didn't even exchange two sentences before they were at each other's throats.

Thranduil was not polite in the slightest; he told Thorin Oakenshield that if he was unwilling to submit, he had plenty of time to wait, even if it took a hundred or two hundred years.

Yes, the Elves with their infinite lives could wait, but Allen could not; he knew that Azog's troops might have already set out.

However, there was some good news: the female Elf only mentioned the Dwarves and did not mention that master burglar, Bilbo Baggins.

This was good news; Allen did not believe the Elves would fail to recognize a Hobbit and lock him up as a Dwarf.

It was more likely that this Hobbit had relied on his racial abilities and that Ring to slip away right under the Elves' noses.

If that were the case, then Allen would not need to worry about the freedom of Thorin Oakenshield and his party.

Soon they would be rescued by Bilbo Baggins, provided that the Elves truly recognized a Hobbit.

Due to Allen's intervention, the time left for Thorin Oakenshield was very generous; it was currently just the beginning of August, and there was at least less than three months until Durin's Day (October 19th to October 23rd).

Allen knew that the Dwarves would not be locked up for too long; he was full of confidence in that Hobbit who could vanish into the void.

It was just that Allen was still thinking about what method he should take to rescue Thorin Oakenshield.

After not considering it for long, Allen gave up; even if he wanted to, there was no good way, at most he could just haggle with Thranduil, and for the rest, he would just wait and see.

Just like that, Allen's party boarded the Elves' boats and arrived at Thranduil's halls, men and horses alike.

Thranduil and Legolas expressed their welcome for Allen's arrival, receiving this human neighbor who often came to visit in the banquet hall.

To the Elves, Allen, who only came once a year, was indeed a frequent visitor.

Allen did not see any sign of being provoked on Thranduil's face; this Elven King's self-restraint was indeed very good.

Instead, this Woodland King looked at the Noldor Elves behind Allen with slight surprise.

Because most of the Twilight Knights following Allen had thick, golden hair, while the remaining few had pure black hair.

And in Arda, the only Elves with these two hair colors in Middle-earth were the Noldor, while the others were the Vanyar who lived in Aman.

In fact, at first, only the Vanyar were golden-haired, and the golden hair of the Noldor came from the Noldor High King's Vanyar wife.

As for the golden hair of Legolas and Thranduil, it was closer to a light gold with a silvery tint, far less thick than that of Holimion and the others.

This hair color meant that these Elves behind Allen were likely of the relatively pure-blooded Noldor.

Thranduil did not have a good impression of most Noldor Elves.

He believed the Noldor were overly proud, and this pride had brought too many disasters to the Elves.

This included the Kin-slaying he had experienced and the fall of Doriath.

Now, these proud fellows were actually serving a human, which forced Thranduil to re-examine this neighbor of his.

However, what Thranduil found strange was that these Noldor Elves seemed different from those he had seen before; it felt very strange.

But soon, Thranduil stopped dwelling on this question because a new discovery attracted his attention.

That was the Emerald Rune Plate Armor on Holimion; he felt a magical fluctuation from it that he had never seen before.

If it were four or five years ago, he might not have been able to sense it, but for some reason, his sensitivity had increased a lot over these years.

Thranduil speculated in his heart that the runes flickering with a faint green light on this armor were the key to the magical fluctuations.

Immediately after, the Elven King carefully observed all the guests, including Allen.

He discovered that all of their equipment had runes he had never seen before.

Especially Allen, who had a piece of equipment with extremely strong magical fluctuations at his neck.

This made him even more surprised, and he became curious about these runes that could generate magical energy.

After all, the Sindar, except for their king, had never been to Valinor and had not learned those excellent forging techniques.

In this regard, the Noldor's techniques were indeed more powerful.

However, the King did not open his mouth to ask.

Allen could feel Thranduil's gaze, but he was powerless to do anything about it now.

If he could obtain the production methods in the future, he would also discuss the relevant knowledge with the Woodland King before him.

But for now, Allen had other matters he hoped to discuss with the Woodland King.

During the banquet, Allen quickly got to the point.

"Your Majesty, why must you insist on keeping Thorin Oakenshield and his party imprisoned? This does not bring you any benefits."

Thranduil did not address Allen's question directly, but instead asked in return: "How do you think I should treat them?"

Facing this question, Allen did not hesitate at all and said: "I believe you should release them. Only by releasing them will you have a chance to obtain your family heirloom. Keeping them locked up makes the situation like a stagnant pool, but if you release them, there will be infinite possibilities. You have plenty of time, why not give it a try?"

Yawen Library

Thranduil did not directly refuse Allen's request; he was pondering, as he kept Thorin Oakenshield imprisoned only in the hope that this stubborn Dwarf Prince would bow his head and accept his terms.

Up until now, Thranduil had only kept the Dwarves imprisoned for a little over a week.

Even though they had harmed the Elves of the Woodland Realm, Thranduil had not mistreated these Dwarves.

Instead, he treated them to good wine and food every day; apart from restricting their personal freedom, there was no difference between Thorin and his companions and guests staying here.

Thranduil also knew that there was some truth to Allen's words.

It was just that, after only one week, Thranduil felt the time was far from enough; he believed that by using this method, he could make Thorin Oakenshield yield.

Therefore, this Elven King politely declined Allen's request, but as compensation, Allen could visit those Dwarves at any time.

At the banquet, Allen thanked Thranduil for his generosity; after all, one could not simply enter or leave a king's dungeon whenever one wished.

Allen had long anticipated this result; whether it was Thorin Oakenshield or Thranduil, neither of these two was a pushover, and trying to persuade them with mere words was truly too difficult.

Even just being able to confirm the condition of the Dwarves was very important to Allen; at the very least, he could see whether or not Bilbo Baggins had been captured.

After the banquet ended, Allen was led to the dungeon by a guard. Under the guidance of the Elf, Allen met with each Dwarf in turn and spoke a few words of comfort to put them at ease.

Several times Allen passed by the door of Thorin Oakenshield's cell, but he did not stop, choosing instead to visit the others first. Until he had visited all the captives and still had not found that Hobbit, the heart Allen had been holding in his chest finally settled.

In the end, Allen arrived before Thorin Oakenshield's cell and said with an expressionless face.

"Grandson of Thror, son of Thrain, leader of Durin's Folk, the future King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield. I truly could not have imagined that this is the way you would fulfill your promise to me."

Thorin Oakenshield in the dungeon looked at his Human friend, his eyes somewhat unwilling to make contact with Allen.

The Dwarf Prince naturally understood what Allen meant; he had handled this matter very poorly, and it was simply the opposite of Allen's requirements.

At this moment, he looked somewhat haggard, but his face did not reveal any expression of despair; he stood there proudly, as if he had not been captured, but was truly a guest.

Because Bilbo Baggins had indeed not been captured by the Elves; he had met with Thorin long before and promised that he would definitely find a way to lead the group of Dwarves out.

This gave Thorin Oakenshield great confidence.

It was just that this recent malicious incident had caused the security in this place to be tightened significantly, because the Woodland Elves knew that one person had escaped.

At this time, the master burglar of the Expedition, Bilbo Baggins, was wandering around the Woodland Realm, observing the surroundings and looking for an opportunity.

Perhaps he was hiding in some shadow right now, watching the conversation between Allen and Thorin.

Allen's heart was actually somewhat dejected; he had clearly tried his best and made many efforts before the Elves and the Dwarves.

In the end, he still could not avoid the fate of these Dwarves being imprisoned.

However, Allen did not continue to complain, but instead said politely to the Elf beside him: "Could you let me and my friend talk in private?"

The Elf guard looked at Allen, thinking to himself that this was a guest of the King, so he should be more polite.

Furthermore, he had heard that over a dozen Noldor had arrived here, and he wanted to go join the fun and see them, so he nodded and left.

At this moment, Thorin Oakenshield in the dungeon finally looked at Allen.

He suppressed his inner feelings and said in a flat tone: "Allen, I indeed did not complete the agreement between us. If you only came to mock me, then you have succeeded, and you may leave."

Allen looked around, then squatted down to look at the Dwarf Prince before him.

He whispered: "I know Bilbo was not captured, and I also believe that he will definitely come to save you."

Allen said this while ignoring the look of surprise on Thorin Oakenshield's face, glanced toward a certain shadow, and continued: "I will wait for you at Long Lake Town. Take care of yourself; if I have not arrived, you had best wait for me for a few days, as I need to go resolve some matters."

After Allen finished speaking, he did not wait for Thorin Oakenshield to press him further and left the dungeon.