Chapter 31 Request

Night gradually fell, and after eating and drinking, the crowd picked a corner and started snoring.

Halfway through the night, the cool breeze from the distant mountain breeze caressed the small village, but it made it look extra peaceful.

….

"Ah—" Suddenly there was a scream, breaking the quiet night sky.

"Bang bang bang!" The lights in the village began to light up.

Then, there were constant footsteps and a commotion outside the house.

Sorin and the others were woken up and opened their eyes, full of doubts.

What happened?

With suspicion, they all took up their weapons and walked out of the door slowly.

After they went out, they found that there was a large group of people in front of a house not far from them. They were all wearing sackcloth, old or young, all standing there.

"What happened?" Seeing this scene, everyone was puzzled.

As they approached slowly, they gradually heard the chatter coming from the crowd of onlookers.

"This is too cruel."

"Poor Briers, it's so unfortunate."

"Hey~ I saw their family go into the woods to pick fresh fruit this morning, but I didn't expect it, alas."

"What kind of monster is at work? Did Captain Rogge still not catch it?"

"When Captain Rogge came, it was already like this. You know, this is the third time this month."

"Can't we just move from here?"

"..."

Everyone was talking a lot, all lamenting, all saddened, and their anger was inexplicably heavy.

"I'm sorry, what happened?"

In the interrogation room, the dwarves also squeezed through the crowd, witnessing the scene in the house.

The two figures lay on the ground, lifeless. Their limbs were twisted, and their faces bore expressions of horror, as if they had suffered immense torture and abuse before their deaths.

Blood spilled all over the room, and a strong smell of blood permeated the narrow house. These were the bodies of two villagers.

It was a tragedy, and it had just unfolded.

Upon seeing the dwarves, the man who brought them there, Captain Rogge, approached.

His face wore an ugly expression, brows furrowed, displaying unease.

Rogge glanced at the trembling villagers huddled together, their expressions filled with worry and fear.

He suddenly felt that perhaps he lacked the ability to deal with the trouble that had befallen their village.

As he contemplated, he looked at the dwarves before him, feeling a sense of confusion.

His gaze then shifted to the weapons they carried around their waists, and a thought flashed in his mind, followed by a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Yes, the manpower in their village was insufficient, so they could enlist the help of these foreign dwarves.

They could ask them to help deal with the murderers, the monsters, who had come and gone without a trace. Until now, he couldn't catch their shadows.

...

The dwarves were invited to Captain Rogge's house, and the once stern-faced Captain Rogge changed his attitude toward strangers during the day. He even provided tea and cloth seats for everyone.

Witnessing this change in attitude, Dwarf Groin felt quite comfortable. The others were equally surprised by Rogge's behavior.

However, after listening to what he said, I understood what had happened.

The village is called Dasen Village. The residents have lived here for ten years. They peacefully cultivated, hunted, fished, and slowly developed, finally forming the small village they are today.

Everything should have continued like this, but since a month ago, bad things began to happen in the village.

People started to be killed, and children started to disappear.

When the villagers first witnessed this scene, they were very frightened. So the village selected a few strong men, led by Captain Rogge, to find out what was threatening their safety.

However, in the following month, there were still many consecutive murders, and several children were taken captive.

They found nothing.

They failed to resist the erosion of this force and failed to save the lives of innocent villagers from it.

So they became more vigilant and stricter regarding all foreign things. That's why they treated Thorin like this yesterday.

They even sent people to take turns on duty all night, patrolling.

But even so, tonight, tragedy struck again. This proves... what they did seemed to be in vain.

...

Captain Rogge said, his eyes filled with sadness.

In the end, he finally opened his mouth and made his request, looking a little excited and speaking with a trembling voice:

"So, I have a request. Please help us deal with the murderer. Please bring justice for those poor souls and those children."

However, he seemed to realize that he was too excited and a little immodest, so he lowered his voice and continued:

"I can't think of any other way. If you are willing to help me, I am willing to pay any price for this."

Seeing Rogge, who had a determined look and then appeared miserable, the last trace of everyone's emotions towards him dissipated.

It turned out that what he did was for those villagers.

"Don't worry," Groin jumped out and patted him on the shoulder. "Although your request is a bit sudden, we won't stand idly by."

Sorin also nodded slightly. The responsibility of the person in front of him was similar to his own, which made him feel good. He said, "Although we have to hurry and time is limited, your performance surprised me, so... I've decided to stay for a day."

Gandalf and Bilbo naturally disliked the suffering and slaughter of people, and agreed.

Although Carl was looking forward to the Evil Dragon of the Lonely Mountain, it wasn't a bad day. Seeing that everyone agreed, he didn't say anything more.

Everyone reached a friendly agreement, and they all gave up the prejudice they had created before.

...

Captain Rogge was delighted and happily introduced Sorin and the others to the villagers.

He told the villagers that they had the help of heroic dwarves and assured them that the bad news that was coming would soon be resolved.

However, the villagers were still worried.

Because the group of dwarves in front of them was indeed unsettling.

In this strange combination, except for the tall and handsome man and the mighty and majestic one, the rest of the team looked either thin and short or old, weak, and sickly (special).

They appeared like a group of rogue soldiers casually plucked from the mountain. They were unruly and irregular, with neither uniforms nor good looks.

It seemed like... a crude, untrustworthy mercenary group.

And could such a concerning team really help them solve this disaster that had plagued them for so long?

The villagers expressed doubts about the strength of the dwarves and were concerned whether they would give their best efforts.