--- From İgris's Point of View ---
I woke up near dawn, quickly prepared my gear, and headed downstairs. Halt had already started breakfast.
"Good morning, princess! I was starting to worry you wouldn't wake up from your beauty sleep!" he said with a grin. My eyebrow twitched.
"Alright, old man, you're asking for it... sorry, Gilan,"I thought to myself.
"Apologies, old man, we had a new member join us yesterday. I was up late," I said, grinning.
Halt immediately became alert. "Who?" he asked, full of hope and expectation.
"Someone from your world and someone very close to you, someone who's accompanied you most of your life," I said craftily, and it wasn't a lie—Gilan was his first apprentice and also the forest ranger responsible for a neighboring area, and his mission partner.
Halt got excited. "Is it Pauline?" he asked.
I smiled and shrugged. "You'll see," I said, wishing Gilan luck in my heart.
"Who else could it be but my wife? Of course, my one and only Pauline came here!" he said.
I looked at him skeptically and thought to myself, "Alright, cheeky old man, you're bold enough to mock kings to their faces, but you never confessed your love for Lady Pauline until retirement, and in the end, it was her who proposed to you, and it was you who moved into her house."
I continued thinking, "Also, aside from Lady Pauline, the one constant in your life has been your dear horse, Aberlard. Duncan, Crowley, Will, the Baron of Redmount and his cook have been in your life much longer than that," I kept thinking.
A wistful and strange smile appeared on Halt's face, and he asked, "Where is she?"
At that moment, Gilan came downstairs, saw me and Halt from behind, and stealthily approached to surprise Halt. My face twisted slightly, and I silently wished, 'May your soul rest in peace, dear Gilan.'
Gilan came behind Halt, covered his eyes with his hand, and smiled mischievously. But before he could speak, Halt reacted.
"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, MY ONE AND ONLY LOVE!" he shouted, then quickly turned around and gave Gilan a huge hug.
Gilan froze in shock, and I started to giggle, trying to hold back my laughter with my hand over my mouth.
Gilan's face darkened, and he whispered, "Halt!"
Halt froze and rubbed his head up and down Gilan's chest, mumbling, "Why are you so stiff? And why this voice? Isn't my wife's voice supposed to be as soothing as velvet?"
Gilan couldn't take it anymore and, with a dark expression, yelled, "HALT! I'VE MISSED YOU TOO, BUT THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN HUG ME LIKE THIS IS JENNY!"
I couldn't hold it in any longer. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I burst into uncontrollable laughter, my stomach aching, tears streaming down my face.
Halt raised his head and shouted in shock, "GILAN!?"
After half a minute of stunned silence, he jumped on Gilan, grabbing him by the throat. "WHY YOU? WHY? WHERE IS MY ONE AND ONLY WIFE, PAULİNE? GIVE ME BACK MY DREAMS!"
Gilan gasped for air, struggling. "H-H-Halt! I-I can't breathe! L-Let go!"
Halt, now furious, shouted, "GIVE ME MY WIFE BACK!"
I quickly intervened, slipping my arms under Halt's and lifting him off the ground.
"Calm down, old man! Are you really going to kill your own apprentice?"
Halt's feet dangled in the air. "LET ME GO! I'LL KILL THIS WRETCHED FOE WHO STOLE MY HOPES AND DREAMS!"
Gilan staggered up from the ground, coughing. "Wretched foe!? You're the one hugging me!" he shouted.
"GILAN, I'LL ***"
Halt grew even angrier, and I struggled to hold him back. "Halt! If you kill Gilan, Lady Pauline will never forgive you!" I shouted.
And thus, our beautiful day began.
--- Half an hour later, after the well-known incident ---
Eventually, they calmed down, but it had been a tiring start to the day. We made our final preparations, and now we were heading toward the horses. Halt and Gilan were on either side of me. Normally, I'd enjoy this since I liked both of them, but at that moment, I felt like a boundary gate holding the two of them apart and trying to keep the balance.
"Come on, Halt, you're overreacting. You'll be with your wife sooner or later. Besides, are you really taking your wife on a dragon hunt?" I said.
He shot me a sideways glance and muttered something in Welsh. I'll bet you Shadowmane's flesh, he's saying bad things!
"Yes, Halt, you're overdoing it. Don't worry, we'll pretend this hugging moment never happened," Gilan said.
Halt shot him a dirty look and said, "I hope so, Gilan, or I'll spill the blood of my own apprentice."
Gilan smiled. "Of course, Halt. At most, Will, Crowley, Horece, King Duncan, and Lady Pauline will know. So, your secret is in safe hands."
He hit the nail on the head.
"Gilan! Don't even think about it, remember I'm your teacher!" Halt said firmly.
"You didn't have any respect for this relationship when you were trying to strangle me!" Gilan retorted challengingly.
'I'm behind you, Gilan!' I thought to myself and gave him a thumbs-up.
"You misunderstood, my dear student. I still want to strangle you, but remember, I have many dark memories of you. I'm sure Horece, Will, and dear Jennifer would be very interested in them. Which one should I start with? The incident with the horse manure you fell into while riding? Or the time you accidentally hid in the Bear Cave during training? Or the time you shaved the royal ambassadors' heads for a lesson, thinking they were thieves?" Halt said with a cold grin. Alright, old man, you're not to be trifled with. Even I'm intrigued. Poor Gilan, you can't win this battle!
"I think I've forgotten something about this morning... What was it again?" Gilan said coldly.
"Nice decision, you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours!" Halt said calmly.
"Hehehe... HAHAHAHA!" I started laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" Halt asked.
"Because, old man, you can silence Gilan, but you can't silence me! You'll pay for all the jabs you've thrown at me!" I said with a sly grin.
"You wouldn't dare!" he retorted.
"We'll see, old man!"
Ignoring Halt's murderous glare, I quickened my pace. Gilan grinned and followed behind me. Eventually, we reached the horses.
By the horses, there was a forest ranger who resembled Halt's horse, but slightly taller and stronger.
"So, this is Blaze? Really a good partner," I said.
"That's right. For every forest ranger, their horse is a friend and confidant," Gilan replied.
Halt turned to me and grinned. "Forget about Blaze; look at yours. You've got some swelling on your face!"
I looked at Shadowmane and noticed a few bruises. "Seems like you couldn't sit still last night... What am I going to do with you?" I said, covering my face.
Shadowmane gave me an accusing look.
"I was just going to say hello to a mare. I was wronged," he whinnied sadly.
From the side, Aberlard whinnied loudly. "Just say hello? You tried to take her to the forest and get her pregnant! How could you think about leaving your post? And under my supervision!"
"You're terrible, old man. I'm sure you've never had a girlfriend."
"What did you say!?" Aberlard then kicked Shadowmane, and honestly, sometimes I prefer not understanding animals, but I couldn't control it.
I started thinking my horse might have been possessed by Chinese spirits since 80% of the authors of novels I've read with harems were Chinese.
"Please, both of you, stop," Gilan said.
He looked at me oddly. "Can you understand them?" he asked.
I gave him a strange look. "Don't forest rangers talk to their horses?"
"Yes, but after spending a long time with them, we can understand them. We don't understand their speech," he replied.
"I have a similar situation. I can feel the thoughts of the animals I bond with, but it doesn't work with other animals. I think it's due to my other half, my hybrid side," I said.
Halt chimed in, "Nice ability! I spent 40 years with Aberlard, so I can understand him! Forest rangers select their horses by the third month of apprenticeship."
I nodded and turned to Aberlard.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, Aberlard. Here are the apples I promised," I said, taking the apples from the storage and placing them in front of him.
He looked at me with pity. "Really tough for you, huh?" he said, and started eating the apples. After he finished three, Halt snatched them away.
"That's enough! We need to go. Also, I don't want you eating too many apples before the mission, you'll have trouble running," he said.
Aberlard shot Halt a look full of hate. "Murderous, spiteful bastard."
"Alright, let's get moving, the dwarves are already at the meeting spot," I said, and we set off.
---10 minutes later, North of the Shire, Bindbole Forest---
Normally, the Erebor dwarf group would have left Hobbiton and headed to Bree to restock and then travel east through the mountains. However, at my suggestion, the plan changed. We would meet in Bindbole Forest, then travel about 20 kilometers north before heading east, crossing the small river, circling around Bree, getting closer to the Midgewater Marshes, and finally rejoining the main road to continue east.
Following the original plan and sticking to the main road through Bree would only expose our location. Taking the detour north of the Weather Hills would bring more trouble, as orc tribes are active in the area, and we'd be getting closer to the Dark High Orcs' territory. I know they're active in Angmar and Mordor, and they are definitely a type of orc I wouldn't want to encounter. The Dark Orcs are extremely intelligent, at the top of the predator hierarchy, specialists in night ambushes, and very close to the types of demons that exist in this world. Yes, demons exist, and in this world, Morgoth would rank among the mid-tier demons at the highest level. During the Great War, he was incredibly hard to kill. That war was a clash of true light and darkness; on the light side, the leaders were the Dragons, while on the dark side, the enemy leaders were demons and demonic dragons. The war submerged half of Middle-earth, creating the map we know today, and in the end, light triumphed.
I'm telling you all this in this cliché manner because I'm too lazy to go into details, and it's not really relevant to our current topic, but I'll explain it properly at a more convenient time. Where was I? Oh yes, the Dark Orcs are a mutated orc species created by Sauron's experiments. This despicable bastard somehow made it hereditary and used them as royal guards, which just shows how powerful they are! The worst part is their ability to learn, which is why the alliance forces tried to wipe them out completely after Sauron's death, but they weren't successful. The Dark Orcs took up residence in the mountains of Angmar, controlling the orc legions there and creating a kind of small orc kingdom. I say small because the territory is tiny, but like the dwarves, they live within the mountains and have an organized orc army. They also have an uncertain alliance with the vampire kingdom and played an important role in the fall of the Kingdom of Arnor! Now, do you understand what kind of enemy they are and how dangerous they can be? I really don't want to even think that this is still the normal Middle-earth, I feel like I'm probably in a different version of Middle-earth, almost like the Marvel and DC multiverses, and I'm certain of that!
We arrived at the meeting point. We stayed alert on the way; after all, there are still some jackals around, and they're probably not the only ones. Looks like we'll have some fun on the road!
Thorin looked at us and said calmly, "You're late!"
"I'm sorry, I had to stop an old crazy man from killing his poor student," I said.
"He was really pathetic and innocent!" Gilan added dramatically.
"Hah!" Halt grunted loudly.
Clearing my throat, I became serious. "Thorin, this is Gilan, he joined us last night. He's Halt's student and an extremely talented ranger." I said.
Gilan stepped forward and shook Thorin's hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Thorin Oakenshield."
"Likewise," Thorin replied, and they shook hands with a display of strength. Thorin looked at me. "Not bad, a good swordsman," he said, smiling.
"Did you have any trouble last night?" I asked.
"No, my men and I took turns standing guard, but nothing noteworthy happened. Also, we arrived at the meeting point from different routes, and there was an experienced person in each group watching out for anything suspicious. We're sure we weren't followed," he replied.
"Still, let's stay alert just in case. I had a conversation with the head of the hobbits and gently convinced him to tell those jackals looking for us that we'd be heading east from the south of Dunland. I also gave the innkeeper some money and asked him to spread a rumor. This will buy us some time to get through the mountains," I said, and Thorin was surprised.
"Good plan, and circling around Bree to the north will hide us, but it's risky, especially since our location has been exposed," he said.
"I know, but going to Bree through the main road is too risky. The jackals' men are greedy and will try to take the reward for themselves, so they won't inform anyone. But if different groups get involved, it'll cause us trouble, especially if high-ranking groups get involved. That's when it will become a problem. We don't have enough strong men to fight them. I know your group is loyal to you, Thorin, but half of them haven't seen blood for a long time. As we move forward, they'll become a burden, so we need to clean their rust during the breaks," I said, and Thorin thought for a moment before nodding.
He turned to the group and shouted, "We're moving out!"