"Congratulations, Master Baggins!"
"Good morning, Mr. Baggins!"
At the crack of dawn, everyone greeted Bilbo as he pushed the door open and stepped out. Seeing their teasing smiles, Bilbo's face, already ringed with dark circles under his eyes, darkened even further!
"Hey! Where did you go last night, Roland? Why do you reek of Orc blood?" Bilbo asked anxiously.
"Oh! Here's what happened. Aragorn and I were drinking at the Green Dragon Inn yesterday, then wandered around outside at night. In the end, we ran into Orcs, and we killed quite a few over there!" Roland explained, pointing at Aragorn for Bilbo to see.
"Hello, Mr. Aragorn! Thank you for fighting for this place!" Bilbo said gratefully.
"It's nothing. Fighting for you... fighting for this place is my honor!" Aragorn nearly misspoke, then hurriedly corrected himself.
"That was far too dangerous of you. How did Orcs get all the way here?" Bilbo did not notice Aragorn's words. He was only busy worrying about the two of them, and wondering how the Orcs had come.
"I actually do know that!" Roland nodded solemnly.
"???" He had not even opened his mouth, but everyone's gazes instantly gathered on him. A few people's eyes began to drift. Damn it, Roland, you're not about to throw your brothers under the cart, are you? Had his conscience finally woken up? Was he about to confess?
"..." Everyone exchanged subtle glances, and all decided that if Roland started spouting nonsense, they would immediately shake their heads, refuse, and deny everything in three straight blows! It did not matter if Roland embarrassed himself, but they could not all throw their dignity onto the ground—especially Thranduil. The others would die after a hundred or two hundred years, but he was different! With his long life, he could personally