Chapter 71: Allen's Second Maid

Returning to his own territory, Allen looked at the familiar surroundings and responded to the greetings of the townspeople on the road; his heart felt much lighter for a moment.

Wilderness Town was his home in Middle-earth.

Even upon returning home, Allen did not rest immediately, but instead took the time to settle Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins into the guest rooms first.

As for Stephen and his family, who had followed Allen back, they were arranged in an inn; Allen planned to allocate a house to him once this fellow confirmed he could stay in Wilderness Town.

According to the long-standing habits of Wilderness Town and the customs of Middle-earth, after winning a war, one must always arrange a banquet to soothe the spirits of the warriors after their hard fighting.

Of course, in Allen's memory, it was not only those who won who could attend banquets; those who lost were also likely to be forced to join the revelry.

For example, the Lord of Eregion, Celebrimbor.

After Sauron led an Orcish army to break through Eregion, this famous Elf craftsman was forced to join Sauron's revelry.

Sauron pressed him for the whereabouts of the Three Rings of the Elves, and as a descendant of Feanor, Celebrimbor would absolutely not compromise with Sauron; he was subsequently hung on a flagpole by the Orcish and died with arrows piercing his body, his soul returning to the Halls of Mandos.

The banquet of the victor is fragrant and sweet, while the loser is left to be slaughtered.

In fact, according to common sense, this banquet after the Battle of the Five Armies should have been hosted by the host, Thorin.

But this Dwarf Prince was currently overwhelmed and busy, and his supplies were all brought by Dain from the Iron Hills, so hosting it by force would only appear very shabby.

Therefore, Thorin would only arrange the banquet to be held when he welcomed his father back.

Thus, it was necessary for Allen to host a small banquet at his own residence to treat his subordinates who had contributed much in the war, as well as the two friends who had come with him.

Of course, after preparing for a period of time, there would be a large-scale celebration, though it might coincide with the one for the New Year.

But that did not matter; Allen intended to extend the revelry from noon until night, celebrating twice in a single day.

It was just that ever since Yamila became Town Mayor, she had become increasingly busy and could no longer spare the time to personally arrange for someone to look after Allen's daily needs.

So, she entrusted this matter to Duosili, an elderly woman.

Although called elderly, Duosili was only in her fifties this year; it was just that a life of perennial hardship made this woman look very aged.

Her granddaughter, Alice, was often by her side to assist her in completing the work assigned by Yamila.

This was a very young girl; when Allen first saw her five years ago, she was just a little child with messy hair and a dirty face.

At the time, Allen had not even realized that the person often following by Duosili's side was a little girl.

Alice's background was extremely tragic; her parents had died at the hands of the Orcish long ago while defending the village, and Duosili had raised her single-handedly.

As time passed, this little girl had gradually grown up and blossomed into a graceful young woman.

And at this moment, she stood dignified before Allen and said timidly, "Lord, Town Mayor Yamila said that from now on, I will be your maid, responsible for taking care of your daily life."

Allen looked at this well-bred young girl and nodded, feeling moved that Duosili had educated her granddaughter well.

He looked at the young girl before him and asked, "Have you been to school? Have you graduated?"

Allen was not asking casually; he had a lot of work related to writing that needed to be completed by those around him, and it would not do if they had not been to school.

Alice looked at the young Lord before her, feeling an inexplicable nervousness in her heart.

She did not show it too much, however, and quickly nodded, saying, "I have studied, and I have graduated."

Because the fellow villagers who had returned from the battlefield had been loudly proclaiming Allen's performance on the battlefield—things like him killing hundreds of Orcish with his own hands, leading a dozen personal guards to slaughter their way through the enemy ranks until heads were rolling, and his silver-white armor being almost splattered with black, filthy blood—and other such not-so-exaggerated words.

Against the backdrop of these stories, even though Allen was looking at Alice with a calm expression now, it made the fourteen-year-old girl appear exceptionally uneasy.

Allen noticed a little bit of it but did not pay special attention; it was normal for a little girl to be nervous, and not all girls could be as active as Cress.

It was just that he felt Alice was a bit too thin and too quiet, perhaps not quite suitable to be his personal maid.

But Allen would not just reject a young girl like that; it would be too unkind, so he thought carefully for a moment, beckoned to Holimion, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Holimion listened while looking Alice up and down, finally nodding and saying, "Lord Allen, no problem, I think she can give it a try."

Once Holimion said this, Alice, who was already very nervous, became even more nervous, but she still forced herself to remain calm as she looked at the Lord before her, wondering in her heart what her upcoming work would actually entail.

Allen, not thinking so much, looked at Alice with a smile and said softly, "Alice, there is no need to be so nervous."

After a slight pause, he waited for Alice to relax a little before continuing, "Being my maid is a very dangerous job, so I have arranged for Wilderness Town's most powerful Holimion to be your instructor; he will train you to become a qualified warrior. Are you willing to try?"

In fact, Allen had previously thought about replicating the Silvermist Rangers of Pendor; he had originally wanted to find some archers to be trained by the Twilight Knights, as the equipment and horses for the Heavy Cavalry would take a long time to gather, and there was no foundation for training at this time.

Alice just happened to be there at the right time; if this seemingly weak young girl could accept it, then let Alice join the training as well. As for taking care of Allen's daily needs, Allen did not feel he needed that much care.

Once Alice had completed her training, it would be fine for her to become his personal maid then.

After all, Allen must have made a name for himself with Sauron, and in case someone truly lost their mind and tried to assassinate him to report to the Dark Lord, a little girl like Alice, who had no strength to truss a chicken, would be far too dangerous staying by Allen's side.

If Alice did not agree, that would also be easy to handle; Allen would simply refuse Alice's service on the grounds that it was too dangerous.

But seeing the somewhat frail Alice, she agreed without a second thought after hearing Allen's words.

Her grandmother, Duosili, had exhorted Alice when she came to serve the Lord well and to do her utmost to fulfill every one of Allen's requests.

Allen watched Alice agree without hesitation and felt a touch of admiration for the young girl; since she was willing, then let her try—he never felt he had too much combat power.

It was just that the training would not start for a few days, so for now, Alice still had to do some work as the Lord's maid.

Regarding the banquet in the evening, Allen arranged for Alice to coordinate well with Bilbo Baggins.

After all, this Hobbit was the head chef for the banquet tonight.

And Allen also prepared to take this time to go to the cemetery on the east side of Wilderness Town to take a look.