Chapter 157: Wayne Manor

Bilbo ran barefoot through the village of Shire, and soon reached the vicinity of the village market.

It was still early morning, and before he even got close, he saw that the entire market was already packed with people, bustling with activity; nearly half the residents of Shire village were crowded here.

The current Magistrate of Shire village, who was also their village head, the eighty-three-year-old Ford Constand, stood on a half-round wooden crate, held a megaphone made of rolled-up oil paper, and shouted loudly: "Villagers of Shire, we are hiring! This is a big project!"

"The honorable Mr. Wayne wishes to recruit some workers from our Shire to go to the birch forest across the river and build a large manor."

"The construction period is one year, the pay is double the market rate, and we now need masons, carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, porters, and handymen; there is no limit on the number. Three meals a day are provided, there are three days of leave per month, and you can even take paid leave on heavy rainy days."

"This is an unheard-of high-paying treatment; Mr. Wayne is truly a generous man."

"Sign up now, work starts the day after tomorrow. Regardless of whether you join this project, Mr. Wayne will invite us villagers of Shire to hold a grand outdoor party next to the birch forest this afternoon."

"This is a noble and generous gentleman. As hospitable Hobbits, we should help this future neighbor of ours even more enthusiastically."

"Alright, Mr. Wayne's ingredients have been purchased. I now need to pick ten Hobbits with excellent culinary skills; bring your cooking utensils later and come with me to the birch forest across the river to prepare food for this outdoor banquet."

"We must use the delicacies that Hobbits are best at to entertain this gentleman who has come from afar."

After saying this, Magistrate Ford smiled and nodded at a handsome man nearly 1.9 meters tall behind him. The handsome man nodded in response, looking at the short Hobbit residents who were only half his height, with a gentle smile on his face.

Then, the old Magistrate picked up the megaphone again and shouted:

"Get moving, get moving, lads! Show your enthusiasm and demonstrate the hospitality of us Hobbits."

"Today will be a happy day, and also a day worth remembering."

Listening to old Ford's rough, smoky voice, Bilbo stood at the very back of the crowd, stood on tiptoe, and finally cleared the heads of his companions to see the appearance of that big man.

A handsome face, golden short hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a gorgeous and fitting silk robe, a strong build, though he did not look very old, with amber pupils and a pair of pointed ears.

He was very different from the big men he had seen decades ago; at the very least, Bilbo had never seen a big man with pointed ears, though he did look somewhat similar to the Elves in legends.

And Bilbo also noticed that although the big man named Wayne was wearing silk clothing that only decent people could afford to have made, he carried a huge precious sword on his back; the length of that sword alone was a head taller than an average Hobbit.

This filled Bilbo, who was born with adventure genes in his blood, with curiosity. He guessed that Wayne must be a man with many stories, and also an experienced warrior.

If he could drink milk tea, eat snacks, and smoke a pipe while listening to these adventure stories from the outside world, it would certainly be an unforgettable time.

Although old Magistrate Ford was old, he was very efficient. Soon, under his leadership, the group marched in a grand procession, went home to pack up pots and pans, and surrounded Wayne as they headed to the birch forest across the lake.

Bilbo also took this opportunity to slip near Wayne, hiding in the crowd to secretly size up this strange big man, especially the huge precious sword with a gorgeous blue scabbard behind him. This size, this weight—at a glance, it was not a weapon an ordinary person could use.

………………

And Wayne, surrounded by a group of Hobbits, also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

This group of cute Halflings was indeed just as they were portrayed in the movies: kind-hearted and hospitable. When facing guests from afar, they would always bring out their best food to entertain them.

He had originally only come with a "try it and see" attitude, finding the village magistrate in hopes of hiring a batch of workers to help him build a house.

He hadn't expected old Magistrate Ford to be so enthusiastic, not only accompanying him through the entire worker recruitment process but also enthusiastically offering advice. Even when he proposed holding an outdoor banquet to entertain his new neighbors, old Ford very enthusiastically helped him arrange the related matters.

One can only say that in the Middle-earth world written by old Mr. Tolkien, it really is a fantasy world with clear distinctions between good and evil. In this world, the boundaries between the forces of darkness and light are distinct; the races on the side of light are all kind, brave, and noble, representing various positive emotions.

And the races on the side of darkness are born bad seeds: evil, corrupt, filthy, and hopeless.

In this world, there are not many schemes or tricks, not much deception. As long as you stand on the side of justice, you can be loved, respected, and admired by many, make true friends, and find unforgettable love.

But if you stand on the side of evil, you will be loathed by all righteous races, eroded by the power of darkness, and become a monster through and through.

In short, it is infinitely better than the Witcher world, with its society of mean-spirited people, bloodshed, and barbarism.

After a group of Halflings surrounded him and left the village, one could still see a group of Hobbit children standing at the village entrance, reluctant to leave, watching their group walk further and further away.

Clearly, they were still too young and were not allowed to leave the village.

Wayne, who was sizing up the beautiful environment of Shire village, suddenly noticed a very familiar figure among the group of Halflings following him. After sizing him up for a few glances, he immediately guessed who this person was.

Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist of the Lord of the Rings movie series he once liked very much, a good man who harbored justice and whose heart could not be corrupted even by the One Ring.

Although there were slight differences in appearance from the movie, he could still be recognized overall.

However, seeing him, Wayne did not feel any surprise; this was a situation he had already anticipated.

According to the information he received last time, Bilbo Baggins should be forty-one years old this year, and there were still nine years until his fiftieth birthday and the journey to the Lonely Mountain.

And nine years is quite a long time; even converted to the Witcher world, it would take nearly two years, so there was still plenty of time. He had plenty of time to lay the groundwork and plenty of time to get to know the heroes of this world; he was not in a hurry to contact this future protagonist right now.

Time passed quickly. Under old Ford's direction, the enthusiastic Hobbit villagers soon built a venue for the banquet for Wayne. Things like tables, chairs, benches, pots, and pans were all provided for free by these villagers, saving Wayne quite a lot of trouble.

However, Mr. Wayne was not a man who lacked money. He spent money to buy all the good wine, food, snacks, and fruits in the market. He was not stingy at all about entertaining these future neighbors and took all these things out, letting the villagers enjoy them at will.

Furthermore, to respond to the enthusiastic help of these Hobbit villagers, he personally took action and prepared several signature dishes, such as cream of mushroom soup, roast whole lamb, roast whole pig, roast whole fish, and so on, fully utilizing his superb culinary skills to cook many food recipes from other worlds.

As Hobbits, who pay the most attention to diet and life in the entire Middle-earth world, these little people were immediately conquered by Wayne's superb culinary skills.

Coupled with his handsome appearance, gentle personality, and generous way of doing things, the Hobbit villagers of Shire village soon accepted this Mr. Wayne, who came from out of town and seemed quite mysterious, as their new neighbor.

In the following months, the kind workers of Shire village, receiving high wages and benefits, all transformed into diligent architects under the direction of various foremen and Magistrate old Ford. With the help of the blueprints provided by Wayne, they began to build this huge structure named Wayne Manor.

During this period, Wayne lived a few hundred meters away in a simple wooden cabin built by the small river.

His biggest job every day was training the small ice wolf White Fang and the already-hatched Deathclaw cub, while improving his beast-taming level and establishing a true master-servant relationship with these two little guys.

However, the money spent on building a manor was undoubtedly huge. Although he had Vivienne helping him exchange for Middle-earth currency, which saved him a lot of trouble and expense, sitting around and eating up his savings was not Wayne's personality.

When he had stayed in the Middle-earth world for two or three months and had a certain understanding of the local environment and customs through books bought from the Hobbits.

As a Witcher, a quest-master, he decided to go and take a look at those densely populated gathering points.

In this world full of various magical creatures, there would often be some bounties waiting for warriors to accept.

(There is another chapter tonight. I'll be a bit lazy today and only have two updates. Mwah!) (End of chapter)