Chapter 78: 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 assign a house to him once this fellow confirmed he could stay in Wilderness Town.

According to the long-standing customs of Wilderness Town and the traditions 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 after winning that one could attend a banquet; even after losing, one might be forced to participate in a revelry.

For example, the Lord of Eregion, Celebrimbor.

After Sauron led an Orcish army to breach Eregion, this famous Elf craftsman was forced to participate in Sauron's revelry.

Sauron interrogated him about 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 victor's banquet 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 busy and overwhelmed, and his supplies were all brought by Dain from the Iron Hills, so hosting it forcibly would only appear very meager.

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

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

Of course, after preparing for a while, 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 an elderly woman named Duosili.

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

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

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 Duosili 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 gradually grew up and blossomed into a graceful young woman.

At this moment, she stood dignifiedly before Allen and said timidly, "My Lord, Town Mayor Yamila said that from now on, I will be your maid, responsible for taking care of your daily needs."

Allen looked at this well-mannered 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 people around him to complete, 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 too much of it, however, and quickly nodded, saying, "I have studied, and I have graduated."

This was because the fellow villagers who had returned from the battlefield had wildly publicized Allen's performance on the battlefield—things like slaying hundreds of Orcish with his own hands, leading a dozen personal guards to kill their way through the enemy ranks until heads rolled, and black, filthy blood nearly splattering his silver-white armor—not particularly exaggerated words of that sort.

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 feel exceptionally uneasy.

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

Ranwen

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

However, 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 so, but she still forced herself to remain calm as she looked at the Lord before her, wondering 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 continued once Alice had relaxed a little: "Being my maid is a very dangerous job, so I have arranged for Wilderness Town's strongest, 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; after all, the equipment and horses for the Heavy Cavalry would take a long time to gather, and there was no foundation for training them at this time.

Alice just happened to be there at the right time. If this seemingly frail young girl could accept it, then let Alice participate in 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 achieved success in her training, it would be fine for her to become his personal maid then.

After all, Allen should have made a name for himself with Sauron, and in the event that someone really lost their mind and came to assassinate him to please the Dark Lord, a young girl like Alice, who had no strength to truss a chicken, would be in too much danger 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.

It was just that Alice, who looked somewhat frail, agreed without a second thought after hearing Allen's words.

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

Allen watched Alice agree without hesitation and felt a bit more admiration for the young girl in his heart. Since she was willing, then let her try; he would never feel that 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 a 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 tonight's banquet.

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