Cheers

"Spending 1 Soul Power to strengthen this skill. Proceed?"

Looking at the virtual prompt that had appeared before him, Morgan tapped it.

A pale white light flickered, and the Soul Power value quickly dropped to zero.

"Archery LV2"

As the virtual display before him shifted, Morgan clearly felt a warm current flow into his body.

At the same time, new memories about archery appeared in his mind.

They were about shooting angles, arrow range, and a series of things to keep in mind when shooting.

Quietly absorbing these new memories about archery,

Morgan realized that his previous understanding of archery had been far too shallow.

He now felt an intense urge to pick up a bow and try shooting it out.

But when he opened his eyes and saw the deep night all around him, and the wizard Gandalf sleeping peacefully nearby,

Morgan forcibly suppressed the urge.

Night passed, and dawn came.

When the eastern sky had just begun to brighten, Morgan opened his eyes.

After a quick wash, Morgan and Gandalf ate another breakfast of roasted bear meat.

The Giant Bear's carcass was enormous. Even after the two of them had eaten two meals, there was still far too much meat left.

The Giant Bear's carcass was valuable. Morgan couldn't just leave it behind.

But it was too large, and the two of them had only two horses between them. There was no way they could transport the whole thing.

So Morgan began cutting up the Giant Bear's carcass, and Gandalf lent him a hand.

Gutting the Giant Bear and cutting up its meat didn't take long.

Once all the bloody chunks of bear meat had been hung across the backs of their two horses,

the two of them set off.

As they had agreed the day before,

Morgan rode behind Gandalf, and the two of them hurried toward the distant horizon.

Gandalf's estimate had been right.

Before evening, the two of them could already see rows of low houses appearing in the distance ahead.

"Hobbiton is just up ahead."

With the town now in sight, Gandalf spoke and noticeably slowed his horse.

They had spent the whole day galloping on horseback.

Their backsides had spent the entire time bouncing and rubbing against the saddles.

No one understood that pain better than Morgan.

Hearing Gandalf, Morgan let out a long breath and instinctively slowed his horse.

Their destination was just ahead. There was no need to hurry anymore.

Gandalf had already taken out his long-stemmed pipe. He started pulling tobacco from his pouch, rolling it into small pellets, and packing them into the pipe.

"Whew, I can finally see some living people."

Morgan gazed into the distance and sighed. Gandalf, who had just drawn smoke into his lungs, immediately choked on it and began coughing.

"Cough, cough."

"What does this kid mean? Am I not alive?"

"Was bringing him along to meet Thorin and the others a mistake?"

Gandalf turned and shot Morgan a sidelong glance, muttering to himself.

"Of course, Gandalf, you don't count."

Seeing Gandalf look at him strangely, Morgan quickly said, "I'm not saying you're not a person. Of course you're alive."

"I mean, Gandalf, you're a wizard—"

Seeing Morgan make things worse the more he tried to explain, Gandalf cleared his throat. "Ahem."

"Stop talking. I know what you mean."

"We'd better get into town and sell this bear meat as soon as possible."

"It's been sitting in the sun all day. If we wait any longer, the price will drop through the floor."

Gandalf puffed on his pipe, his expression calm, but he had already decided to make Morgan buy him a meal.

After spending last night together and chatting on the road today, the two of them had grown quite familiar.

They had a decent understanding of each other's personalities and didn't mind joking around.

"You're right."

"But I don't know this place well, so I'll have to trouble you to help me sell this bear meat, Gandalf."

Morgan smiled as he spoke, putting Gandalf to work again.

From the story he remembered, Gandalf was righteous, humorous, and talkative, with a bit of a mischievous side.

After spending time with him, Morgan had found that Gandalf really was much like that.

With someone of that disposition, being open and straightforward was the best way to get along and grow closer.

Morgan had already decided that once they had sold the bear meat, he would treat Gandalf to a big meal and finally give his own stomach a proper feast.

For quite some time now, he had been living almost like a Wildling out in the wilderness.

He'd eaten game at every meal,

but aside from a little salt, he had no other spices or seasonings. No matter how good the game was, it just couldn't taste very good.

With no other utensils, all he could do was roast his food in the simplest way.

After eating it for so long, he was practically sick of the sight of roasted meat.

Even the Giant Bear meat had only been good for a change of pace.

Gandalf continued puffing on his pipe without comment.

The two of them rode briskly toward the town ahead.

As the evening glow spread across the sky,

the two of them rode into town.

Soon, figures began appearing along the road ahead, all of them very short.

Morgan knew where he was. He must have reached the Hobbiton Gandalf had mentioned. The short folk were the locals here, the Hobbits, also known as Halflings.

On the lush green slopes and hills, small, beautifully crafted wooden houses, built like burrows with round doorways, were scattered here and there in an orderly fashion.

Green, rolling hills, little hedges and fences, flowers of every color, paved stone paths, clear rivers, busy little Hobbits, and even smaller Hobbits running barefoot along paths through the hills and woods.

It was a peaceful, leisurely, and breathtakingly beautiful pastoral scene.

As soon as Morgan entered the town, he felt as though he had stepped into a fairy-tale world.

In his previous life, Morgan had personally visited New Zealand, where The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings had been filmed.

The scenery of "Hobbiton" there was still beautiful, but it felt far too artificially crafted.

Here, however, everything was so leisurely and natural.

"Maybe settling down here after I'm old would be a pretty good choice."

The thought that suddenly occurred to him made Morgan shake his head with a laugh.

Retirement was still a long way off, but the thought showed just how much he admired Hobbiton's beautiful pastoral scenery.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"I felt the same way when I first came here."

Watching Morgan look around again and again, Gandalf smiled as he leisurely exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"So this is Hobbiton?"

"It really is beautiful."

Morgan gazed around for a long while and said with a sigh.

"Of course. The home of the Hobbits is one of the most beautiful places in all of Middle-earth."

"I like these hardworking little folk."

After finishing the last puff of his pipe, Gandalf tapped it against his shoe, wiped it clean, then looked up and continued:

"Come on. Standing here won't help us sell the bear meat."

"Follow me."

As he spoke, Gandalf tugged on the reins and turned toward the road ahead.

Morgan quickly followed.

An hour later.

Inside the noisy Blackcurrant Tavern in Hobbiton,

Morgan and Gandalf sat opposite each other at a table, raising their tall wooden tankards and clinking them together with a hearty thump.

"Cheers."