Being an otaku in the world of American comics

#159 - Dignity, Honor and Responsibility

"Liang Yue, in this matter, did I make a mistake?"

Liang Yue's transaction with Thranduil was progressing very smoothly~

With the steps that he主动 sent over, and the promise of returning the white gemstone unconditionally afterward, all that Thranduil had to give was letting Thorin and the others leave and allowing the dwarves to pass through the lands of the Woodland Realm.

This kind of transaction was almost no different from the demands that the King of the Woodland Realm had previously made to Thorin.

The only difference was that there was an extra Liang Yue as an intermediary between the two parties.

Thranduil readily agreed at the time, as it preserved his face, got what he wanted, and saved him from having to deal with the stubborn and ill-tempered dwarves.

Correspondingly, Thorin, on his side, felt a little unhappy at that time, and even had a vague feeling of being betrayed.

He even wanted to rush up to stop and question Liang Yue on the spot, but he was stopped in time by the white-haired dwarf beside him.

At this time, the group had successfully left the elven settlement and were back on the road along the river.

Compared to the original plot, where the dwarves were trapped in the elven dungeon for a whole night, only to be rescued by Bilbo using the Ring's invisibility the next day,

they had only stayed there for half an hour~

And so, after coming out of the elven caves, the group walked along the river, their steps were light, their morale was high, and their moods were all very good.

Only Thorin lowered his head, and all the way he looked preoccupied and absent-minded.

After a while, the dwarf prince suddenly raised his head, then looked at Liang Yue beside him, and asked the question in his heart.

"Made a mistake? This~ should be related to your identity and your positioning of yourself, Thorin."

Hearing this, Liang Yue understood the other party's thoughts very well, so he patiently said to this dwarf prince, who was extremely proud and stubborn in character.

"Why, why do you say that?"

Thorin seemed a little confused at this time. He may have never thought about this theory of 'your position determines your perspective', which almost everyone in modern society can talk about.

"If you are still a prince, then pursuing glory, adhering to the justice in your heart, and sticking to your views on past affairs, that's fine.

After all, King Thranduil was indeed wrong in sending troops to support the dwarves. From his previous words, I can also see that he has the intention of compromising with you.

But if you really want to become a king, you must also learn to compromise."

In fact, it's not just about being a prince or a king or anything like that. As long as you are a person, as long as you want to survive in a crowd, then you will more or less face a situation of compromise.

They were forced to choose to wander and were plundered by alien races. Your people suffered heavy losses. Therefore, taking back Lonely Mountain from the hands of the dragon and rectifying the homeland.

Re-establishing a land where your people can live in peace is the responsibility you should fulfill. Apart from this, any personal dignity, honor, hatred.

Or past betrayals, etc., should be temporarily put aside. You can keep these in your heart, or wait until one day.

When the strength of the Dwarf Kingdom is strong enough, then go to find those past opponents to regain your dignity, but now is not the time."

"...Are you saying that my main responsibility now is to take back Lonely Mountain as soon as possible, so that my people can have a homeland to rely on again, and everything else can be put aside for the time being."

"Of course, you have to distinguish between the primary and secondary tasks, Thorin, especially when doing big things."

Looking at the dwarf prince in front of him, whose eyes were gradually becoming brighter and hotter, Liang Yue smiled slightly. This guy was secretly thinking, could it be that he also has the talent of persuasion?

Or is it that the dwarf race is too old-fashioned, and only at a specific moment can they listen to other people's advice...

"You are right, Liang Yue. Now, for us dwarves, the most important thing is to take back our former land. Everything else is not important. Thank you for what you have done for us dwarves before.

That white gemstone, I think I will personally return it to Thranduil after taking back Lonely Mountain!"

...

The conversation between Liang Yue and Thorin was not deliberately avoided by others, so naturally it was heard by the surrounding dwarves.

It can be seen from Thorin's current words that his persuasion to this dwarf prince and his answers to the doubts in his heart have obviously had some positive effects.

This is definitely good news for the dwarves~

Looking at Thorin's eyes, which were becoming more and more crystal clear, and the increasingly mature demeanor on his body, the dwarves were naturally more satisfied with their leader in their hearts.

By the way, Liang Yue's position in their hearts has of course risen higher and higher.

If, when the dwarves looked at him before, their eyes contained a kind of goodwill, trust, and a trace of awe for this guy's magical abilities as a teammate.

Then now, when they look at Liang Yue, they have begun to become sincere respect!

"Whoosh~" "Ah!!"

Just then, a short sound of air being pierced suddenly sounded in the distance, followed by a hoarse scream.

Everyone immediately looked in the direction of the sound, only to see that Arwen, who was responsible for the task of scout on the periphery, had discovered traces of the enemy at this time, so he drew his arrow and shot it.

Directly shot through the neck of an orc hidden behind a patch of dead grass dozens of meters away!

"It's an orc ambush, pay attention to concealment, prepare to fight!"

Seeing this, Thorin immediately drew the Orcrist from his waist, and at the same time did not forget to shout to the surrounding teammates.

Subsequently, the dwarves would naturally not stay in place and obediently accept the orc's surprise attack.

As a group of well-trained and battle-hardened warriors, they almost immediately grasped the weapons in their hands and quickly hid behind the nearby cover.

Sure enough, after realizing that their ambush had been exposed, the orcs who were concentrated in the area in front of the river appeared one after another.

After an ugly roar, some of them held rough blades in their hands and charged forward directly, while others set up bows and arrows in the rear and began to launch arrow attacks here.

At this time, Liang Yue would naturally not let Arwen, who was on sentry duty in the distance, fight alone, so he turned his sleeves and took out an assault rifle from the storage space.

The whole person hid behind a big tree and was about to launch a counterattack.

However, at this moment, Liang Yue suddenly saw Bilbo Baggins, who was a little at a loss, hiding behind a rock next to him.

This little hobbit was obviously unable to keep up with the rhythm of the people around him. He was holding the short sword that he had given him, and his face was full of eagerness to try.

But he also knew very well that he was not the kind of person who charged into battle on the battlefield, so at this time, the little hobbit seemed very tangled, and he was somewhat lost in his heart.

Seeing this, Liang Yue blinked his eyes twice, then turned his sleeves and took out a spruce shield from the storage space, enough to cover Bilbo's entire body, and then threw it to him.

His idea was also very simple, that is, since you can't be a good attacker, you might as well specialize in defense~

Liang Yue himself, after quickly checking the gun in his hand, officially entered the battle state.