Being an otaku in the world of American comics

#138 - Elven vegetable salad banquet

Facing the returning Elven knights, the dwarves appeared very cautious, each gripping their weapons and subconsciously huddling back-to-back, wary of a possible sudden attack.

However, the elves clearly didn't take them seriously. Elrond, leading the group, simply circled the dwarves in their defensive stance before dismounting and exchanging greetings with Gandalf.

In fact, according to the storyline of this Hobbit world, not all elves harbored animosity towards dwarves.

However, as the delivery date approached, the dwarves unexpectedly went back on their word and raised the price. Thranduil considered this a breach of the trade agreement between them, and angrily stormed off.

The discord between the two sides was thus sown.

Until the dragon Smaug attacked the dwarven kingdom of Erebor, the Dwarven Kingdom sent a request for help to the elves.

As a result, Thranduil led the army of woodland elves to the scene, but out of resentment towards the dwarves, he ultimately did not offer assistance, and just watched as the dwarves fled in defeat.

Thus, the feud between the two sides was established.

King Thranduil of the Woodland Elves believed that the dwarves had broken the contract first, so his side wasn't obliged to sacrifice the lives of many elven warriors for them.

The dwarves, on the other hand, believed that business was business, but when their race was invaded by external forces, the elves didn't come to their rescue, and watched their kingdom collapse and suffer heavy losses.

This violated the principle of racial alliance and defense, and was a true display of a loss of racial integrity.

Therefore, both sides believed that the other had violated the contract, and thus harbored deep hatred. The longer the time dragged on, the more they disliked each other's races, and eventually they became estranged.

Liang Yue, as an outsider and a bystander, had naturally understood all of this, but if he were to explicitly state which side was at fault...

This guy really couldn't make up his mind.

Firstly, the greed of the Dwarven Kingdom planted the seeds of resentment between the two races. The dwarves were at fault first, that much was certain.

But later, during the invasion of the dragon Smaug, and the orc raid on the dwarven race, Thranduil didn't send troops to rescue his allies because of his personal grievances, and watched the situation worsen.

This was a bit much for a king.

It indicated that the King of the Woodland Elves was somewhat petty in character, giving people a feeling that his virtue didn't match his position.

Of course, Liang Yue, as an intruder from another world, would definitely not intervene in the conflict between these races.

Occasionally eating melons, tempering himself, and brushing up on orcs when he had nothing to do, these were the things Liang Yue should really be doing.

Although it wouldn't be too difficult to resolve the conflict between the two races, as long as he could get the white gem from the treasure vault of the Dwarven Kingdom at the right time, and return it to Thranduil, the conflict could be alleviated immediately.

But this kind of thing should be left to Bilbo Baggins, the little hobbit, anyway, this plot belonged to him in the original story...

......

After a brief meeting and conversation, King Elrond invited the dwarves to be guests in the Elven Kingdom, and offered to host a banquet for them.

The dwarves, who had been running wildly for most of the day and were quite exhausted, naturally wouldn't refuse at this time.

Liang Yue, on the other hand, was lurking in the middle of his companions, continuing to walk along the road taking pictures and videos with the spherical camera in his hand, recording all the surrounding scenery.

The location of the banquet was an elegant open-air stone platform, surrounded by several elves skilled in musical instruments, playing unknown songs.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, gazing at the beautiful scenery not far away, with the gentle breeze blowing from the valley from time to time, everything seemed so beautiful.

Unfortunately, the dwarves, who were short in stature and had a rough personality, didn't seem to appreciate the aesthetics of the Elven race.

Liang Yue's teammates had all their attention on the dishes on the table, while still complaining incessantly.

Unlike the dwarves, who were used to eating large pieces of meat and drinking large bowls of wine, the elves were basically vegetarians.

Therefore, most of the meals in front of them were just washed cabbage leaves, onions, carrots, potatoes, etc., not even cooked, just placed on the plate and eaten raw.

Therefore, the dwarves at the table, except for the wine, which they found palatable, could hardly swallow anything else.

In a bad mood, even the music in their ears was regarded as noise by the dwarves.

Liang Yue watched the excitement from the side, but he didn't say much. Instead, he casually sipped the Elven race's wine and occasionally ate a few bites of vegetables.

Although this guy's storage space also contained a lot of meat pies, wine, milk, and even various finished dishes prepared in advance by Komuro Saya and Takagi Yuriko.

But now was obviously not a good time to take them out and enjoy them.

After all, this was a banquet specially prepared by the Elven race to entertain them. Even Gandalf, King Elrond, and the dwarven prince Thorin on the other table were eating these things.

If Liang Yue took out his own food to eat at this time, the dwarves at the table would definitely be happy, but his actions would undoubtedly be slapping the Elven race in the face.

......

After the banquet ended, night slowly fell, and candles were lit in the Elven Kingdom, but the moon in the sky was what really provided illumination.

Liang Yue didn't know if it was just his own illusion, but he felt that the moonlight seemed particularly bright in the place where the elves lived at this time.

Although it couldn't compare to the sun during the day, it was enough to illuminate everything around.

Gandalf, King Elrond, Thorin, the little hobbit Bilbo, and an old dwarf with a white beard had separated from the others and entered a room alone for conversation.

If Liang Yue remembered correctly, they should be deciphering a riddle on a map of the dwarven city at this time. During the process, they seemed to need the help of moonlight at a specific moment.

Then the final answer they got was~

"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole."

To be honest, Liang Yue didn't care about the answer to this riddle at all...

Because as far as this guy was concerned, as long as he could get to the foot of Erebor smoothly, not to mention the stone walls of the dwarven city that had already been sealed.

Even if the walls were made of pure metal, he could successfully dig a passage for you.

The so-called secret key and the gate hidden in the stone were just tricks to deceive people.