I reforged the glory of the magic ring in Middle-earth

Chapter 154 The Talkative Merchant

When Tanes and Melina arrived at the market in Stoneville, they still caused a commotion.

The two human merchants who were the first to spot Tanes were discussing it with each other.

"Wait, could that figure be the mysterious lord of the Golden Tree?"

"Let me see... Hmm, it really is him, he looks exactly like the statue I saw in the city."

"I heard he was helping the dwarves reclaim Erebor, and now that he's here, it means they've succeeded in taking Erebor? Smaug was actually killed by them?"

"It's also possible that they failed? Look at how anxious he looks. But after all, it's a powerful dragon. Given the strength of the Golden Tree Territory's forces, failure is quite normal."

In the dwarf shop next door, the dwarf shopkeeper who had been listening to their conversation finally couldn't help but shout, "Shut your mouths, or I'll shove my wine cups in! Or would you rather be thrown into the furnace? I won't allow you to speak ill of Lord Tanes, who has done so much for us dwarves, both in terms of his own strength and his troops! Be careful, or I'll smash your blockheads with my hammer."

The two human merchants were startled by the dwarf's sudden loud voice and quickly waved their hands to signal him to be quiet.

Those around who had benefited from the Golden Tree Territory heard the dwarves' voices and began to look at the two human merchants with slightly hostile eyes.

While they might not resort to violence, it will likely be difficult for them to conduct normal transactions here.

Tanes noticed the commotion and, wanting to see what was going on, came over.

"Lord Tanes."

The dwarf raised his head, pounded his chest, and bowed respectfully to Tanes.

The two human merchants who had just been discussing Tanes were also trembling with fear as they bowed to Tanes. When the people around saw Tanes coming over, they gathered around with a sense of curiosity.

After carefully observing the expressions of both sides, Tanes asked, while mentally assessing the situation, "What happened? I saw you two seemed to have just started arguing?"

The dwarf shopkeeper gave the two human merchants a disgruntled snort: "Should you tell me yourselves, or should I?"

The two human merchants immediately knelt on the ground and said, "We are sorry, Lord. We just made unwarranted comments about your affairs in Lonely Mountain."

"Tsk."

The dwarf shopkeeper beside him clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, clearly very unhappy with the two human merchants' evasive wording.
Tanes guessed that Tanes must have said something to upset the hot-tempered dwarf next to him.

“Stand up and talk,” Tanes said, causing the two human merchants to stand up tremblingly.

He actually didn't care what others said about him, but...

Tanes turned to look at the onlookers, knowing that if he didn't handle the situation well, it could seriously damage his reputation.

what can we do about it?

Tanes remained silent, which only made the two human merchants more uneasy. "Why are you all gathered here? Disperse a bit, be careful not to block other people's way. Ah, it's Lord Tanes, what are you doing here?"

A squad of Storm Soldiers patrolling the market noticed the gathering and the captain leading them quickly came over to investigate. Unexpectedly, they heard Tanes's voice after the crowd dispersed slightly.

You came just in time!
Tanes' eyes lit up when he saw the approaching group of storm soldiers. He pointed to the two merchants in front of him and said, "Help me find out where they came from. If they came from Gondor, I need to discuss something with a Gondor caravan."

The leading storm soldier immediately clasped his hands in obedience and ordered his men to disperse the onlookers. He then approached the two merchants and politely inquired, "Please show me your identification documents, specifically the registration booklet you received when you entered the city."

"We...we are indeed members of a caravan from Gondor..."

One merchant groaned in despair. Hearing that Tanes wanted to discuss matters with the Gondorian caravan, his heart sank even further, fearing that his loose tongue had ruined the whole affair.

Otherwise, even if Tanes didn't punish him, the caravan captain would probably have skinned him alive himself.

As he and his companion handed over their identification documents to the storm soldiers, he looked bitterly at Tanes, unsure of what to say to salvage the situation.

After confirming that the certificate was valid, the Storm Soldier Captain returned the manual and then respectfully asked Tanes, "My lord, what are your plans next? Should I inform the Storm Knight in charge of this market area to come and accompany you?"

Tanes shook his head slightly: "No need, you can continue your work, there's no need to bother."

Then he smiled and said to the Storm Soldiers, "Neferi Lu has been praising you to me, saying that your patrol duties are very heavy but no one has complained. But don't worry, more manpower will be coming to help you soon, and I will ask Neferi Lu to give you a few days off."

The storm soldiers' faces immediately lit up with joy. The leading storm soldier thanked Tanes again, then saluted Melina behind him, before leading his team to continue patrolling along the planned route.

Tanes then looked at the two human merchants and said in a calm tone, "Take me to the Gondor caravan's lodgings. I need to speak with your leader. As for your unauthorized discussion about me and Lonely Mountain, it's not a big deal, but it's not insignificant either. However, considering the good relationship between the Kingdom of Gondor and the Golden Tree, I've decided to leave it to your caravan's leader to decide how to deal with you."

“Yes, yes, this way please.” The two merchants from Gondor nodded vigorously and bowed as they led the way for Tanes.

Tanes gestured for the two merchants to wait a moment, then smiled and nodded at the dwarf who had spoken up for him: "The matter at Lonely Mountain has been perfectly resolved, and you dwarves can go home now. However, it will certainly take some time for the news to reach you. You can tell your fellow countrymen this news in advance so that they can prepare to return home."

"Dang Cang——"

The dwarf suddenly dropped the hammer from his hand, which hit the ground with a thud.

The dwarf's eyes were already red, and he struggled to hold back his tears, pounding his chest in gratitude to Tanes: "You are a friend that the dwarf will never betray, Lord Tanes."

Upon hearing this news, the two human merchants were initially delighted, their minds immediately flashing back to the Lonely Mountain Gold recorded in the books.

Having learned of this news in advance, they wonder how much profit they can make by exploiting this information gap.

But the two businessmen's expressions quickly fell, because they realized that their loose tongues had made it impossible for them to earn that money anymore.

(End of this chapter)