Bounty Hunter

"I'm Gandalf."

The moment the familiar-looking old man spoke, Morgan froze.

He enjoyed fantasy films and TV shows. In his downtime, he had watched The Hobbit Trilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

He wasn't a die-hard fan, but he remembered these two classic fantasy series well enough.

And of the characters who appeared throughout Middle-earth, Gandalf the wizard had left the deepest impression on him.

The appearance, the clothes and everything.

Morgan had no doubt that he had met the real Gandalf.

After all, he had traveled to this world, and he even had the fantastical Time Traveler System.

What was there left for him not to believe?

At that moment, a lot of thoughts came to Morgan.

What interested him most was this: What point in Middle-earth's history am I in?

But Morgan quickly came back to his senses.

He looked at Gandalf and said casually, "Anyone I meet is a friend."

"You're still on the road so late. I doubt you've had dinner yet."

"Cut yourself as much as you like. Don't be shy."

As he spoke, Morgan tossed Gandalf the short knife he had used to cut meat and pointed at the Giant Bear's corpse nearby. Then he added, "Oh, you can call me Morgan."

Gandalf took the knife and gave Morgan another careful look. Seeing his open, untroubled expression, Gandalf smiled. "Then I won't stand on ceremony."

He put away his pipe, took the knife, and went over to cut some meat.

Sometimes friendship between men was simple.

As the true leading man of Middle-earth's six-film saga, Gandalf was righteous and steadfast, with a witty, humorous way of speaking and friends everywhere. One only had to look at how many leaders of Middle-earth's various powers counted him as a friend to see that.

As for Morgan, he was perceptive and straightforward, and he was deliberately trying to befriend Gandalf.

The two sat by the fire eating roasted bear meat, and before long, they had grown familiar with each other.

"Morgan, judging by your appearance, are you some sort of Ranger?"

Gandalf cut a large, bloody, fur-covered piece from the Giant Bear's foreleg, skewered it on a sharpened branch, and held it over the fire again. As it roasted, he asked the question casually.

"Ranger?"

Morgan was taken aback when Gandalf said that.

He had actually already chosen an identity for himself: "bounty hunter."

A bounty hunter was an expert who took on difficult jobs for clients in exchange for handsome rewards.

Bounty hunters and the "Rangers" Gandalf mentioned were somewhat similar. The former were rarer and more powerful than the latter.

But the latter were far better known.

Ordinary people across Middle-earth could usually name one or two Rangers.

But few people knew what a "bounty hunter" was.

"Ranger, more or less."

"But, in fact, I prefer another name: 'bounty hunter'!"

Morgan shook his head with a smile.

"Bounty hunter?"

Gandalf paused at Morgan's words. Bounty hunters were exceptionally rare.

But when he looked at the enormous Giant Bear beside them, nearly three meters tall and evidently killed only recently judging by the warmth of its blood, he had no doubts about Morgan's strength.

A ferocious bear of that size was far beyond what an ordinary person could handle.

That was proof enough of Morgan's abilities.

"That's certainly an unusual profession."

Gandalf looked up at Morgan with a smile.

"Certainly is. I haven't met a single colleague so far."

Of course he hadn't. He had borrowed the title of "bounty hunter" from other fantasy films and TV shows, and had decided to use it as he traveled the world from now on.

As for whether Middle-earth had bounty hunters, he had no doubt about it.

The Rangers of this world were basically a low-tier version of "bounty hunters."

Morgan shook his head with a smile. After looking Gandalf over, he asked, "What about you, Gandalf?"

"You look more like a wandering wizard from the legends."

At Morgan's question, Gandalf smiled and answered without hesitation, "As you can see, I am a wizard."

"Allow me to introduce myself properly: Gandalf the wizard."

"Morgan the bounty hunter."

"Haha."

The two got along famously, and their conversation gradually turned to more topics.

"Morgan, did you come to the Shire on a job?"

Gandalf continued chewing on the roasted bear meat as he asked.

Giant Bear meat was tender and soft, with a wonderful texture, and it sold for a high price in many places.

But Giant Bears were enormous and extraordinarily fierce, so their meat was rarely available on the market.

On the rare occasion one was caught, the local wealthy nobles would quickly buy it up, making it difficult for ordinary people to get any.

And even when Giant Bear meat was available, ordinary people could hardly afford it.

Now that he had chanced upon Morgan, a powerful bounty hunter, and a Giant Bear this enormous, Gandalf really did intend to eat his fill.

"This is the Shire?"

Having already realized he was in Middle-earth, Morgan immediately understood when Gandalf mentioned it.

"If I said I got lost and ended up in the Shire, would you believe me, Gandalf?"

Morgan shook his head, smiling ruefully.

"Hmm, judging by your appearance, of course I believe you!"

Gandalf looked up at Morgan, finished the last bite of roasted bear meat in his hand, wiped the grease from his mouth, and laughed.

As he spoke, he took out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, and offered Morgan a puff.

Morgan waved it away and smiled too.

He knew he looked a little down on his luck.

He had sold all the spoils he'd looted from the two guards in Fero Town, along with his damaged, low-quality armor, just to afford a horse.

Now he wore only a short leather cuirass on his lower body, with an ordinary, open-chested linen shirt on top. He had ripped off the sleeves because they were too hot.

It was basically a short-sleeved shirt with mismatched sleeves.

As for his ordinary Cross Longsword and short knife, they had already belonged to the previous owner when he first arrived.

In a state like this, he was a long way from looking the part of a bounty hunter.

"I haven't taken a job in a long time. I hope you'll forgive my appearance."

Morgan smiled, not the least bit embarrassed by his shabby state.

"You're a wizard, Gandalf. If you hear of any good jobs, remember to send them my way."

Morgan continued, looking entirely at ease.

Gandalf lit his pipe and took a puff. After a moment's thought, he said, "Well, as it happens, I do have a job. It's just..."

Finally, here it comes.

Morgan was secretly delighted. He had spent all this time building a connection with Gandalf for this very moment: to get a job from him and become involved in the story.

So he promptly activated his Talent special skill, "Intimacy."

[Intimacy: Greatly increases the target's favorability toward you for a short time.]

"You treated me to roasted bear meat, Morgan, and I'm finding you a job. That's a fair trade."

"Besides, that job happens to need a bounty hunter of your caliber."

"How about this? Come with me tomorrow, and I guarantee you'll get a very good job."

Gandalf had sounded hesitant at first, but then his tone suddenly shifted. He spoke with a broad smile.